C5. A Wolf's Meal

The hundreds of tiny stores lined the wide street of the town, each specializing in its own field.

'Elin's Weaponry' one of the many signs readout, catching my attention.

The wooden door creaked open as I peeked in. Within were rows and shelves of all kinds of weapons. From bows and crossbows hung on the left-hand wall to swords, daggers, and other melee weapons carefully placed on shelves and boxes.

"Welcome!" An enthusiastic voice rang out from within a small room behind the counter, before it swung open, revealing a bulky-sized man, walking his sooty hands on a towel. "Welcome to Elin's weaponry. I'm Elin, how may I help you," He looked towards me with a smile, his eyes slightly darkened as he saw my appearance.

Ignoring him, I made my way towards the sword aisle, amazed at the difference of the quality between the ones that were sold compared to the iron sword given to me.

I glanced down at the price tag and sucked in a breath of air. 2100 Cels.

I quickly looked over to the sword beside it. 2400 Cels.

"C-Customer," I saw the store owner waddle over to me, with a weary smile. "If you don't have enough money, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave."

I turned my head to look at him with a frown.

"Why?" I asked.

"I-It's bad for business," He explained, waving his arm towards my torn-up clothes in an extremely flustered manner.

"How am I affecting your business? There was no one in here to begin with."

"T-That. That's because they all left right before you came." He retorted. I could feel the cogs in his brain turning furiously.

"So they all just suddenly gain telepathic powers and left your store the moment they sensed I was walking near here?" I continued to question him.

"Yes." He shamelessly nodded his head in confirmation.

"You-" I was speechless. How was this guy so unbelievably stubborn.

Rubbing my head in frustration, I was ready to continue this ridiculous argument when I could feel my stomach growling once more. However this time, the hunger seemed almost unbearable as I felt my mouth begin salivating.

I instantly held my stomach and covered my mouth, looking over at the store owner. In a small corner of my mind, I could feel a voice urging me to rip him apart and feast on his flesh, however, my common sense was holding me back. But just barely.

"A-Are you okay…? The owner, stared at me with confusion, seeing me suddenly eyeing him weirdly.

"I'll leave," I muttered under my breath, running out the door in desperation.

I entered the street as I could suddenly feel my nose being bombarded with the smell of what seemed most similar to the roasted turkey I've seen people eat during Thanksgiving dinners.

'Nope. Nope. Nope." I glanced around and made my way into a small alley, where a portion of the town wall was located.

Transforming my legs, I boosted myself off the ground and bolted up the wall, successfully leaving town.

I could slowly feel my consciousness slipping as my hunger began to take over.

Entering the forest within seconds, my sense of smell instantly traced the scent of something delicious. The smell of perfectly roasted turkey.

'Transform.' I unconsciously cast, gaining speed instantly as I ran through the forest, a desperate howl escaping my lungs.

—————

I slowly gained consciousness again as I groaned and sat up with a throbbing headache.

"What the hell happened," I muttered looking around, my eyes widened in shock.

All around me was the sight of spluttered blood and a handful of ripped-up corpses. Behind me laid a toppled-over carriage and a few dozen collapsed trees, each tree broke in a fashion which seemed to look as if some monster forcefully pushed it aside.

"What happened?" I muttered, slowly wiping my mouth with my arm and looking down.

"Oh," I quickly connected the puzzle as I saw clumps of blood on my sleeves and a funny taste in my mouth.

'Status,'

[Name: Sen

Level: 6

Age: 19

Species: Werewolf (Demonic)

Class: N/A

HP: 147/150

MP: 150/150

Strength: 80

Intelligence: 15

Constitution:15

Dexterity: 80

Charisma: 15

Proficiency:-

Sword: 4.9%

Skills:-

Passive:

Night Vision

Active:

Transform (partial/full)

Howl (unavailable)

Corruption (20MP)]

Seeing only a small change in stats, I was about to close my status page in disappointment when I remembered about my bloodline change during all my previous fights, so I tapped the species tab.

[Species:

Demonic Werewolf 100%

- Human (67%)

- Demonic Wolf (33%)]

"Hm," I shrugged at the minimal change in that screen too.

I closed the screen of the status and looked back at the mess I had caused. The carriage was in an unrepairable state. Literally torn into two. However, when I looked inside, there were boxes on boxes of clothing.

"Were these people moving?" I muttered to myself as I rummaged through the gift given to my poor victims. Well if they weren't able to wear it anymore, it'll be such a waste to just leave it out here. Hopefully, they were kind enough to have something my size. I quickly measured each shirt against myself and threw out the ones which didn't fit.

"Ah," I smiled as I held out a simple white long-sleeved shirt with black fitting pants. Opening another box, I dug through and found some nice shiny thick boots which looked to be newly bought.

I quickly changed out of the rugged clothing and into my new outfit, a sense of cleanliness washing over me.

"Do they have money?" I suddenly thought, looking back at the carriage with a small smile.

Before I knew it, I was back rummaging through the carriage, opening and tipping the boxes inside out, taking out any coin which fell out.

"52 coins," I counted, tossing them into my pocket and looking over at the bodies, and hesitantly dug through their pockets as well.

"Oh, here's something," I grinned as I felt a small leather bag from within the pocket of a half-decapitated man in a fancy black suit and gloves.

I pulled the hefty thing out and to my surprise, I could feel the coins within it rolling off my fingers as I grasped the bag tightly. I held my breath, crossed my fingers, and opened up the bag, hoping it wasn't just some pebbles.

"Jackpot," I smiled, seeing the gleaming bronze gold color of the coin reflecting back at me.

"Hm?" I suddenly noticed a small piece of paper snuggly attached to the side of the bag and an important-looking silver-colored badge beside it.

I put down the bag beside me and took out the badge and letter.

"To Lenso,

My dearest son. I know you may not view me in a positive light, however, I wish to thank you for reading my letters and agree for us to see each other for the first time.

Ever since your mother and I had our separation 19 years ago, her taking the only heir from our family the moment he was born was the most devastating event in my long and tedious life. The thought of my own blood living a life as a commoner, or even captured by slave merchets had kept me up for many nights.

I know we have our differences. Our perspective in life be altered from our environments, but now, due to the tragedy of the passing of your mother, I wish to give you a better home in which you can grow up. Please thank about your answer and I shall eagerly await your arrival.

From Your Loving Father,

The Grand Duke of Suin, Jeion Si Einsoi