Silence settled over the camp after Kieran stepped forward.
The flames had begun to die down.
The wounded had been taken away.
Yet nobody lowered their weapons.
Nobody relaxed.
Because despite the agreement, both sides still stood only a few steps away from killing each other.
Alaric's eyes rested upon Kieran.
The Wolf King's words still echoed in his mind.
"If my clan breaks the agreement, you may hold me responsible."
Alaric knew the weight those words carried.
The wolf clans were known for many things.
Their pride.
Their stubbornness.
Their honor.
And for a leader to give his own word...
That was not something offered lightly.
The Division Commander remained silent for several moments.
His fingers gently tapped against the hilt of his sword.
Thinking.
Calculating.
Eventually, he spoke.
"And what about his return?"
His gaze drifted toward Leo.
Still kneeling atop the boulder.
Still somehow alive.
Kieran followed his gaze.
"Once my people reach safety, I will send my finest warriors to escort him back."
Before Alaric could answer, one of the hyena beastmen suddenly stepped forward.
The black cloak hanging from his shoulders swayed as his claws tightened.
"What is this?"
His yellow eyes narrowed.
"Are you seriously considering making a deal with them?"
Several of the hyena beastmen growled in agreement.
Alaric didn't even look at him.
His eyes remained fixed on Kieran.
"We don't have a choice."
The beastman snarled.
"That wasn't the agreement our Emperor made with yours."
Only then did Alaric turn.
His expression remained calm.
Almost too calm.
"Unfortunately..."
He glanced toward Leo.
"Saving that bastard's life is worth more."
The hyena's eyes widened.
"What?"
"That isn't your decision to make!"
For the first time that night, the warmth vanished from Alaric's eyes.
He took a single step forward.
The hyena instinctively took one back.
"At the moment..."
Alaric's voice was quiet.
Dangerously quiet.
"You are under my command."
The soldiers behind him slowly tightened their grips on their weapons.
Several Royal Knights turned toward the hyena beastmen.
The message was clear.
Alaric continued.
"So whether you like it or not..."
His gaze hardened.
"It is my decision."
The beastman gritted his teeth.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Then he finally turned away.
"You will regret this."
The cloaked beastman walked back toward his companions.
The tension remained.
But the argument was over.
Alaric eventually turned back toward Kieran.
"Even so..."
His eyes narrowed.
"I don't trust you."
Kieran didn't seem surprised.
"I want one of my people to accompany your clan."
Several wolves immediately growled.
Sasha's grip around Leo tightened.
From atop the boulder, Leo suddenly spoke.
"Adrian."
Sasha blinked.
She looked down at him.
"What?"
Leo tilted his head upward.
"Tell him Adrian will do it."
Sasha frowned.
"We don't even know if we can trust him."
Leo sighed.
"It's either him or one of Alaric's men."
His eyes drifted toward the knights below.
"And we definitely can't trust them."
Sasha still hesitated.
Leo looked exhausted.
"Just say it."
She groaned.
"Fine."
Then she raised her voice.
"Adrian will do it!"
The entire camp went silent once again.
Alaric slowly looked up.
"And who is Adrian?"
Kieran turned toward the boulder.
His eyes landed on Leo.
Leo simply looked back.
Completely expressionless.
The Wolf King stared for several seconds.
Then sighed.
Because somehow this had become his problem.
"One of the prisoners."
Alaric's eyebrow rose.
"A prisoner?"
"He belonged to the other commander's squad."
The Division Commander fell silent.
The firelight danced across his armor.
His fingers lightly tapped against his sword once more.
Thinking.
Calculating.
Eventually, he spoke.
"I would like to speak with him."
Kieran remained silent.
He still wasn't sure.
Adrian was a human.
A Royal Knight.
An enemy.
Yet Leo seemed strangely confident.
And for reasons Kieran still couldn't understand—
The cursed child had been right about nearly everything tonight.
The Wolf King finally turned toward one of his warriors.
"Bring Adrian here."
The camp remained silent after Kieran gave the order.
For several moments, nobody moved.
The fires still burned around them, their orange glow dancing across broken tents and scorched ground. Smoke drifted into the night sky while wounded wolves were slowly carried away from the battlefield.
And in the middle of it all, both sides waited.
A few moments later, two wolf warriors emerged from the darkness.
Between them walked Adrian.
His hands remained bound in front of him, and his armor was still stained with dirt and blood from the earlier battle. He looked exhausted, yet his back remained straight.
As he stepped into the clearing, his eyes immediately landed on Alaric Thornvale.
The young knight visibly froze.
Among all the people he expected to see tonight, the Fifteenth Division Commander was certainly not one of them.
His eyes briefly drifted toward the boulder.
Toward Leo.
The human simply sat there with his hands tied behind his back as if being held hostage was a perfectly normal occurrence.
Adrian had stopped trying to understand him several hours ago.
Alaric studied the young knight for a few moments before finally speaking.
"Your name."
Adrian immediately straightened.
"Adrian Westfield, sir."
The Division Commander gave a small nod.
The camp once again fell silent.
Even the hyena beastmen had stopped complaining. Everyone could sense that something important was about to happen.
Alaric slowly turned his gaze toward the wolves surrounding the clearing.
His eyes passed over Kieran.
Over Sasha.
Over the injured wolves being treated nearby.
Finally, he looked back at Adrian.
"Tell me something."
Adrian remained silent.
"Can they be trusted?"
The question caught everyone by surprise.
Several wolves frowned.
Sasha's ears twitched.
Even Kieran looked slightly surprised.
For a few moments, Adrian didn't answer.
Instead, his eyes slowly shifted toward Kieran.
The Wolf King stood calmly among his people, his expression unreadable.
Then Adrian looked at the wolves surrounding him.
The same wolves who had killed his comrades.
The same wolves who had taken him prisoner.
The same wolves who, by all logic, should have already killed him.
Yet they hadn't.
His gaze eventually found Leo.
The young noble still sat atop the boulder with a claw against his throat, somehow looking more annoyed than frightened.
The image itself felt absurd.
The cursed child of House Radiance.
A prisoner among wolves.
Risking his own life to save them.
Adrian still couldn't understand it.
But one thing had become clear.
If these wolves truly wanted Leo dead...
He would already be dead.
The silence stretched longer.
Several knights waited anxiously.
The hyena beastmen looked irritated.
Even Alaric patiently waited for his answer.
Finally, Adrian lifted his head.
"Yes."
The single word echoed through the clearing.
The hyena beastmen immediately growled.
Several knights exchanged surprised looks.
Alaric's expression remained unchanged.
"You sound certain."
Adrian took a slow breath.
His eyes briefly drifted toward Leo.
"If they wanted him dead..."
He paused.
"...he would already be dead."
The camp once again fell silent.
Nobody argued.
Because nobody could.
Adrian continued.
"They had countless opportunities."
"They still do."
His gaze shifted toward Kieran.
Then toward Sasha.
"But they haven't harmed him."
"And they had every reason to."
Sasha looked away.
Kieran remained silent.
Even Leo seemed slightly surprised.
For the first time that night, Alaric looked genuinely thoughtful.
His fingers tapped lightly against the hilt of his sword.
Thinking.
Calculating.
Eventually, he nodded.
"Very well."
He took a step toward Adrian.
The young knight immediately straightened.
"You will accompany them."
Adrian's eyes widened slightly.
Alaric continued.
"You will observe them."
"And you will bring Leo Radiance back safely."
The Division Commander's gaze sharpened.
"If you accomplish that..."
The entire camp listened.
Even the wolves seemed curious.
"I will personally speak to His Majesty."
Several knights visibly stiffened.
Adrian himself looked stunned.
Alaric continued.
"And I will ensure your actions are rewarded accordingly."
The weight behind those words was enormous.
A recommendation from a Division Commander.
Recognition from the Emperor himself.
A future.
The very thing Adrian had spent years chasing.
The young knight lowered his head.
"Yes, sir."
Alaric nodded once.
Then he turned.
His cloak swayed behind him as he began walking away.
The Royal Knights immediately moved to follow.
Several of the hyena beastmen looked furious, but not one of them dared to object.
Before disappearing into the darkness, Alaric stopped.
Without turning around, he spoke one final time.
"Do not make me regret this, Adrian."
The young knight clenched his fists.
"I won't, sir."
The Division Commander resumed walking.
One by one, the knights disappeared into the forest.
The hyena beastmen reluctantly followed after them.
The sounds of armor and footsteps gradually faded into the night.
Only the burning camp remained.
Only the wolves.
Only the silence left behind after battle.
And somewhere atop the boulder, Leo finally let out a long breath.
"Well..."
He looked down at Sasha.
"That went surprisingly well."
Adrian remained standing long after the Royal Knights had disappeared into the darkness.
The sounds of armor and marching footsteps gradually faded into the night until only the crackling of burning wood remained. Around the camp, the wolves had finally begun tending to the wounded. Some carried the injured toward the remaining tents while others worked to extinguish the fires left behind by the attack.
The battle was over.
Yet the heaviness it left behind still lingered in the air.
Adrian continued staring toward the forest where Alaric and the others had vanished.
His commander.
His comrades.
His people.
And yet...
He remained behind.
Neither a prisoner.
Nor an ally.
He wasn't entirely sure what he had become.
Footsteps approached him.
Leo.
The ropes around his hands had finally been removed, and despite nearly dying several times during the night, he somehow looked perfectly normal.
He stopped beside Adrian and followed his gaze toward the dark forest.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
Then Leo finally broke the silence.
"So..."
A small smile appeared on his face.
"Can I take that as you agreeing to help us?"
Adrian lowered his eyes.
The answer didn't come immediately.
Everything had happened too quickly.
Only a few hours ago, these people had been his enemies.
Only a few hours ago, Goldy had still been giving orders.
Only a few hours ago, he himself had drawn his sword against these wolves.
And now...
He was standing among them.
"I..."
The words never came.
Leo quietly watched him.
His eyes slowly drifted toward the iron cuffs still wrapped around Adrian's wrists.
He looked toward one of the nearby wolf warriors.
"He won't be needing those anymore."
The warrior frowned.
His eyes immediately shifted toward Kieran.
The Wolf King still stood several meters away, silently observing the camp.
For several moments, Kieran said nothing.
Then he gave a small nod.
The wolf warrior stepped forward.
The lock clicked.
The chains fell.
The sound of metal hitting the ground echoed softly through the camp.
Adrian stared at the broken cuffs.
The weight around his wrists had disappeared.
Yet somehow, the choice before him felt far heavier.
Leo stepped beside him.
His voice became quieter.
More serious.
"I understand your hesitation."
Adrian remained silent.
Leo continued.
"And I think you understand ours."
The young knight slowly raised his eyes.
His gaze eventually landed on Alya.
The little girl sat beside several wounded wolves, helping wrap bandages around one of them. The moment she noticed Adrian looking at her, she quickly hid behind one of the elders.
The image made his chest tighten.
He remembered the cave.
The children.
The fear in their eyes.
He remembered Goldy.
He remembered the order.
His fingers slowly clenched.
After a long silence, Adrian finally took a deep breath.
"We need to head north."
Leo looked at him.
Even Kieran turned his attention toward the young knight.
Adrian continued.
"I don't know if it's the place you're looking for."
His eyes drifted toward the distant darkness beyond the camp.
"But during one of my previous missions, we traveled through the northern part of this forest."
He paused.
Trying to remember the details.
"Several days from here..."
"...there's a massive crater."
Sasha frowned.
"A crater?"
Adrian nodded.
"Nearly six kilometers wide."
Several wolves exchanged uncertain glances.
Even Kieran looked surprised.
"Nobody truly knows how it was formed."
The fire crackled nearby.
The night seemed quieter now.
Adrian continued.
"Some say a fallen star struck the earth there long ago."
His gaze lowered.
"Others believe the crater was created during a battle."
Leo's eyes narrowed.
Adrian slowly looked toward the northern forest.
"According to the stories, an ancient creature descended upon this land thousands of years ago."
"Something powerful enough to leave a scar upon the earth itself."
The wolves listened quietly.
Even Sasha had stopped interrupting.
"Some believe it died there."
"Others believe it simply disappeared."
His voice grew quieter.
"But everyone agrees on one thing."
He looked back toward them.
"Something happened there."
Silence followed.
The flames danced softly around the camp.
The smoke drifted toward the moonlit sky.
Leo slowly raised his eyes.
First toward the moon.
Then toward the north.
The direction Adrian had pointed.
"Follow the path where old ones died."
The words left his lips quietly.
Almost as though he were speaking to himself.
A small smile slowly appeared on his face.
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear."
Adrian looked at him.
"You really think that's the place?"
Leo didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he turned toward Kieran.
The excitement had already returned to his eyes.
He pointed dramatically toward the northern forest.
"Alright!"
Several wolves jumped.
Even Sasha flinched.
"Pack your things!"
He pointed north.
"We're heading north!"
The camp fell silent.
Kieran stared at him.
Sasha stared at him.
Adrian stared at him.
Leo slowly lowered his hand.
His confidence faded slightly.
"...That sounded much cooler in my head."