Shadow Wolf Hunt

The nameless man, commonly known as Mani, was trembling in fear.

Undercover Agent No. 13 of the Luktia Church. That was the name and number given to him. He was also known as part of the Shadow Wolf Unit.

In order to spread the Church’s glory throughout the world, he had sometimes won people over with bribes, sometimes fabricated miracles, and sometimes bloodied his hands to make people obey the Church.

All for the great God of Light, Luktia.

Mani believed in God with fanatical devotion.

The Church was also essential to spreading God’s name.

He had been completely convinced that everything he had done until now was righteous.

Yes, until now.

At dusk, when the sky was dyed red.

Outside the gate in the outer wall surrounding the Royal Capital, Mani, wearing his robe pulled low, stared blankly at the subspace.

At a glance, he looked like a thin, shabby man, so no one paid him any attention.

“What… is that…?”

Because he had worked in the shadows, he sensed it instinctively.

—This is bad. That thing is bad.

A gigantic black cube the likes of which he had never seen.

It should have had nothing to do with him, but he could not stop feeling a terrible premonition.

He had only handed over medicine to turn a Great Boar into a Tyrant Boar, so he should have had absolutely nothing to do with this black cube.

Even so, he could not help sensing the worst possibility.

Originally, all he had to do was welcome Yoanes after he defeated the Tyrant Boar and praise his great achievement.

Then the Holy Papal State would appoint Yoanes as a hero.

After that, if they fabricated something that looked like the Demon King, the Fortis Kingdom would have no choice but to recognize the hero’s great achievement, and Yoanes would likely become the next king.

Even though he had lost his right of succession, there was no doubt that he was of royal blood.

They would be able to reform the current Fortis from the top down, a country that did as it pleased and refused to obey the Church’s glory.

It should have been such a simple job.

Once he finished observing, Mani hurried toward the inn where he was staying.

When he entered the poor private room, he took a crystal ball from a hidden bag.

He used it to contact his homeland.

The face of a bald old man appeared inside the transparent crystal ball. He was thin, but his expression was cunning.

He wore a purple robe that indicated his high rank as a bishop.

“What is it, No. 13? It should still be too early for the schedule.”

“An abnormality has occurred. Please guide me with the words of God.”

“What happened?”

“A gigantic black cube, so enormous I had to look up at it, appeared.”

“Hah? I do not understand what you mean. …Does it have some connection?”

“…It is intuition. I have a bad feeling. The medicine may be involved.”

“That alone gives us nothing to work with… However, if the covert operation is exposed, it will be troublesome. If it seems likely to be discovered, prioritize destroying the evidence.”

“The thing is… Prince Yoanes and the medicine are inside that cube… According to what I heard from adventurers, it has become something called a subspace.”

“What did you say! —I do not know the cause, but it would be reasonable to consider the operation a failure. Destroy whatever evidence you can, then return to the homeland immediately.”

“Understood. —Glory to the God Luktia!”

Mani shouted with bloodshot eyes, but the bishop frowned in annoyance. However, only the movement of his hand drew a circular sign, as if bestowing grace upon a believer.

Then the image in the crystal ball was cut off.

Mani immediately gathered his luggage and checked out of the inn.

He entered a tavern near the knights’ station and listened carefully while eating and drinking.

It was a tavern often used by knights, so although it was only casual conversation, he could obtain information there the fastest.

His plan was to confirm whether he could dispose of Yoanes and the medicine, then flee.

Everyone’s concern was, of course, the subspace that had suddenly appeared.

While people presented their own theories, they also asked the knights who came in to rest about the situation at the site.

Mani confirmed the details while sipping his alcohol little by little.

—Then.

Time passed, and by the time night had completely fallen.

Mani concluded that the subspace was something human hands could do nothing about.

He decided to give up on cleaning up Yoanes and the medicine and flee.

At that moment, a man and woman appeared at the entrance of the shop.

One was a man who looked like an adventurer. The other was a woman wearing a nun’s habit.

Mani grew tense at the appearance of someone related to the Church.

While pretending to be calm so that his inner thoughts would not be noticed, he casually looked away and drank his alcohol.

Even though they were of the same Luktia faith, the believers of the Fortis Kingdom were heretics who did not obey the authority of the Church headquarters.

To Mani, they were practically enemies.

However, now was not a situation where he could stir things up.

While pulling his luggage closer, he pretended not to know anything and prepared to leave.

However, the woman wearing the nun’s habit pointed at Mani.

The man nodded and headed straight toward Mani.

Mani stood up from the table while holding his cup, then headed toward the back of the tavern as if he were going to get another drink.

The adventurer’s voice flew at his back.

“You’re Mani, aren’t you? Wait.”

Mani did not wait. He silently broke into a run. In an instant, he reached top speed. It was a speed unimaginable from his dead-branch-like body.

He passed through the open door and entered the kitchen. The shop staff made a commotion, but he ignored them and ran through.

He went out the back door, entered a narrow alley, and kept running.

While running, Mani glanced back.

The pair was nowhere to be seen. Even when he strained his ears, he heard no running footsteps.

It seemed they were not pursuing him.

When it came to running while blending into the darkness, this was his greatest specialty.

…They probably could not catch up now.

Thinking that, Mani’s tension relaxed slightly.

However, at the same time, doubts welled up inside him.

—But how did they know? Not only my appearance, but even my name!

He should not have left any evidence behind. How did they identify me!?

Mani did not know.

With Liricia’s detection and the Monocle, the discovery rate became cheat-level.

Mani continued running through the alley while paying attention behind him.

Gradually, the high outer wall surrounding the Royal Capital came into view.

The gate should have been closed, so he intended to climb over the wall.

For Mani, climbing over an ordinary wall was an easy task.

However, near the end of the alley, a huge shadow attacked from directly above.

“Whoa!”

Mani twisted his body on reflex, but a heavy impact ran through his shoulder.

When he looked, there was a pure-white dog at the alley’s exit. It was no ordinary dog, but as large as a carriage.

His surprise and confusion created an opening, and the dog kicked off the ground and bore down on him.

Because of its huge body, it filled the alley’s entire width, leaving Mani nowhere to escape.

He was knocked down onto the ground and pinned by a gigantic front paw.

A cute girl’s voice came from the dog’s back.

“Alec-sama~ over here, over here.”

Mani was terrified by the dog’s face before his eyes. A huge mouth lined with sharp fangs.

He thought it was white fur, but on closer inspection, it was giving off a silver glow.

“That’s not a dog—Fenrir!”

Fenrir corrected him with a growl.

“I am the sacred beast White Fang.”

“That’s a lie, Fenri—”

“White Fang.”

“Fenr—gweh.”

Fenrir put his weight onto his front paw and cut off the man’s words.

However, perhaps because he was too strong, Mani lost consciousness.

At a glance, he looked dead.

Teti, sitting on his fluffy back, raised her voice in reproach.

“Ah! What are you doing? You can’t kill him!”

“Hmph, what are you saying? Do you think I would make such a mistake? I know how to hold back properly. I am good at rough work, after all.”

“So he’s alive. Then that’s fine.”

As they were talking, Alec and Liricia arrived beside them.

“Fenrir, Teti, you did well. Great work.”

“Ehehe~ I worked hard, Alec-sama.”

“The chief only rode on top, though.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Just being cute gives me value for existing!”

“Now, now, both of you. You did well. Come on, let’s take him.”

“Okay.”

“Understood—hm?”

Fenrir answered solemnly, but for some reason, he did not move a single step.

Teti, riding on his fluffy back, tilted her head.

“What’s wrong, Fenrir?”

“…I am stuck in the alley and cannot move.”

“And you still had the nerve to say, ‘I am good at rough work, hmph.’”

“Ugh! Chief, do not say that.”

Fenrir flattened his ears in embarrassment and became dejected.

The sight was so funny that Alec and the others could not help laughing.

The Royal Capital at night.

I was walking with Liricia through the castle located in the north of the Royal Capital.

I felt the soft carpet beneath the soles of my shoes.

I was scheduled to meet the king.

As I walked down the wide corridor, I frowned.

“This is bad.”

“Yes. Even if it was accidental, I never thought something like a subspace would be created.”

“No, not that. He’ll probably tell me to return to being a hero.”

“Huh? Why would he?”

“Apparently, there’s no food in the subspace. Even if they defeat beasts, they vanish like mist. That means we have to rescue them as soon as possible.”

“Yes, that is true?”

“We need to go to the Luktia Holy Papal State and receive Rāna’s Jewel Orb… but if we exchange messages through normal procedures, it will take time. We need to meet an important person, explain the situation, and have them agree to hand over the Jewel Orb.”

When I said that with a frown still on my face, Liricia widened her eyes and raised a surprised voice.

“—Ah, I see! Through ordinary means, it would take at least a week to receive a reply, even at the fastest.”

“On top of that, the Holy Papal State doesn’t think well of Fortis. They’re willing to plot against us. They might delay their reply evasively.”

“The subspace is the work of the Papal State side, but the crucial physical evidence is inside the subspace. In fact, if they do not hand over the Jewel Orb, the decisive evidence can never be obtained, so they may not be held responsible at all. —And that is why you would become the hero?”

“Right. A hero can suddenly meet someone without an appointment, even if the other party is a king or noble. If there’s an urgent need to consult them about defeating the Demon King, you can’t leisurely go through the procedure for an audience. It’s one of the hero’s privileges.”

“I see… To resolve the situation quickly, having you return as the hero would be best… Though Master does not seem enthusiastic about it.”

“I don’t want to do it. I’d have to defeat the Demon King, and I’d end up parting from Liricia too.”

I said that with a sigh.

It might have been one thing if there were no Demon King, but I had already met him.

Liricia also clouded her beautiful face sadly.

“Is there no good method…?”

“I can’t think of anything right now. I’ll try to think of some way to gloss over it.”

“Yes, I will think as well.”

Liricia grasped my hand with her supple fingers.

Without saying anything, I could only squeeze her hand back with my feelings in it.

While we were talking like that, we arrived at the room deeper inside the castle that was our destination.

The king was not in the audience chamber, but in another room.

I knocked and announced our visit.