SLV Chapter 11: Jealous Milya
April 12
That desert wolf really did have a remarkably human quality about her.
Lin En thought for a moment, then picked up the clay pot and looked at the sand cakes inside.
Yesterday they had used up all the flour at once, and quite a few cakes remained.
There was no way to finish them in a single day.
Besides, he still had to go to the inner city to buy mountain copper later. He could bring back better flour on the way home.
So he simply took one out, stuffed half into his own mouth, and tossed the other half toward the desert wolf.
He figured the wolf seemed smart enough that it was worth trying to tame her. The cost was practically nothing.
This age had no domesticated wolves, which is to say no dogs.
The reason was simple: slaves were far more useful than dogs but Lin En knew there were areas where dogs had a clear edge over people.
Alertness, above all.
If he could actually tame a wolf, his oasis would have a decent sentry.
A wolf's ability to sense danger was considerably sharper than a human's and this lame she-wolf had managed to survive alone after being driven from the pack, which suggested her alertness might even surpass that of an ordinary desert wolf.
At the thud of the half cake landing in the sand, the lame she-wolf turned immediately, fixing her gaze on the spot, as though weighing something then she stood, lowered her head, and moved on three legs, each step growing slower as she drew closer.
Once she reached the cake, she snatched it up quickly, then loped back to her original spot on those three legs with surprising agility.
"Didn't expect the lame wolf to be that fast."
The sight made Lin En chuckle. He then walked toward Milya.
"Milya, how many source stones do you have so far?"
"Master, I've only found fifteen."
Milya answered in a voice that sounded like a child who had done something wrong.
"Fifteen."
Even combined with what he already had, it wasn't enough to guarantee he could buy mountain copper and still have enough left over for the upgrade.
He needed at least twenty to be safe, with some to spare so the trip wasn't wasted.
Without wasting any more time, Lin En was about to start searching the remains himself.
He had barely finished checking a few piles when he looked up and noticed the lame she-wolf not far away, apparently gnawing at something but on closer inspection, she wasn't.
Her two front paws were digging at the sand. Then she plunged her muzzle down and came back up with a source stone in her teeth.
The next moment, she turned and looked straight at him.
Man and wolf stared at each other. Lin En's mouth fell open.
Could this she-wolf actually smell where source stones were buried?
And what he hadn't expected at all was what came next. The she-wolf's tail, which had been hanging limp, slowly lifted, and began to wag, stiffly and unpracticed, as though the motion were new to her.
"Come here. Come on."
Lin En called out to the lame she-wolf.
To his genuine surprise, she came.
She walked toward him in a lopsided gait, stopping at a still-comfortable distance, then lowered her head and set the source stone down.
"That's it. Good. Keep going."
Lin En pointed at the source stone, then gestured toward the stretches of skeletal remains that hadn't been searched yet.
The wolf tilted her head at him, then seemed to understand. She turned and started sniffing her way along the ground.
Before long, her front paws were digging again.
She lowered her muzzle.
Another source stone.
"Ha! Good wolf. Actually, can I call you a good dog now?"
Lin En felt a surge of delight.
Picking up the stones was easy. Finding them was the hard part.
Without knowing which patch of ground had a stone buried beneath it, an enormous amount of time was lost to blind searching but if the lame she-wolf could pinpoint locations directly, moving fast on three legs with her nose to the ground, the speed of clearing the nightly battlefield would improve by far more than ten times.
Watching the second stone get carried back, Lin En wasted no time and pulled a whole sand cake out of the clay pot he had just put away.
The she-wolf jumped up, caught it mid-air, and swallowed it in a few bites.
"Master, careful, Mas..."
Milya, who had been carefully searching for source stones, finally noticed the lame she-wolf launching herself at Lin En.
She ran over at once, ready to protect him, and possibly already bracing herself to apply pressure to a bleeding wound but seeing what was actually happening, her face shifted into an expression of bewilderment and disbelief.
"It's all right. She's not really a wolf anymore, in a manner of speaking. That said, Milya, keep your distance from her."
Lin En looked at Milya and said it with a steady smile.
He had no idea how much of the wolf's wild nature remained, and if she suddenly turned aggressive, that would be a serious problem.
Even if the first step toward taming had been taken, it was still worth staying cautious.
This time, once the she-wolf had finished her food, she didn't wait for any command. She went straight back to searching for source stones without a pause.
Lin En fed her cake whenever the moment allowed, using it as a reward to reinforce the loop he was building with her.
If she could eventually take over the whole job of clearing the battlefield and collecting source stones, the work would probably be finished before dawn. There would be no risk of anyone noticing anything unusual about the oasis.
Behind Lin En, Milya stood with an expression that was difficult to read.
"Master... now that Master has this desert wolf to find source stones, will Master... not need me anymore."
The thought surfaced, and a sudden sense of alarm rose in Milya's chest. She came back to herself and felt again the weight of the linen bag in her hand, fifteen source stones inside.
"Hmm. Since she's already taken the first step from wolf to dog, I should probably give her a name."
"Lucky? Prosperous? They express a certain longing for home, but they're a bit stale."
"How about... Fortune."
Lin En turned it over and decided it suited her.
The meaning was good, and it wasn't a cliché. In this world, fortune meant source stones, the very things tied directly to survival, wealth in the truest and most immediate sense.
Lin En naturally wanted as many source stones as could possibly come his way.
He was about to try calling the name aloud when he heard the sound of pages turning in his mind.
"Hm? What changed now?"
Lin En turned his attention to the Slaveowner's Manual and found that the change was in Milya's entry.
Only one trait had shifted. The score for Heavy Dependence on Slaveowner had increased by one more point.
What was going on?
He turned to look at Milya, and found her bending over at remarkable speed, picking up source stones one after another.
The desert temperature was still low at this hour, barely around ten degrees yet Milya was soaked through, her slave robe clinging to her skin, and beads of sweat were visibly rolling from her temples.
What was happening?
Why had she suddenly started collecting in such a frantic rush?
Could it be...
Lin En thought back to what he had just been piecing together then he looked at Fortune again.
At this moment, Milya and Fortune appeared to be in direct competition with each other and then it clicked.
Was Milya actually jealous? Jealous of a she-wolf?
…
"Wait, both of you, stop!"
When Milya and the lame she-wolf zeroed in on the same source stone at the same moment, both clearly about to make a grab for it, Lin En stepped in immediately.
"Milya, you've done very well."
"Here, Fortune. This is for you."
He praised Milya and gave Fortune a bowl of water at the same time.
Hearing Lin En's words, the worry on Milya's face finally faded.
Back inside the shack, Lin En counted up the night's haul.
53 source stones in total. Milya had found 21, and the rest were all Fortune's contribution.
Added to the reward from the Slaveowner's Manual, he now had 96 source stones in hand.
Barely enough.
Yesterday he had spent nearly all his source stones repairing and charging the remaining two sand spirit arrow towers.
Two more towers, but the yield hadn't doubled.
"It seems we've hit the limit of what passive defense can clear. Unless I find a way to actively draw the undead wandering out in the wilderness toward the towers..."
But who would do the drawing?
Lin En rubbed his chin. It certainly couldn't be him or Milya. Deliberately luring undead was genuinely dangerous.
Fortune?
He glanced outside at Fortune, who was drinking water vigorously, her injured hind leg folded awkwardly beneath her as though it had no real purpose.
He let that idea go too.
He didn't spend long on the question. The blood moon was tonight, and that was the immediate priority.
He still needed to make a quick trip to the inner city, in case he ran out of time.
"Master, what will I learn today?"
Milya waited until Lin En had finished counting the source stones before she spoke.
"Today, you stay here and review what I've already taught you."
"I'm going to the inner city to buy some things."
"The inner city..."
Hearing this, Milya's face filled with sharp concern.
"Master, could Milya please come with you?"
"No."
Lin En stood up, gave Milya a pat on the head, grabbed his bag, and headed out without stopping.
As a slave, Milya had no protection under the Law Codes, which meant she could easily find herself in danger and the Law Codes only extended to protecting his own life.
When catastrophe struck, it was always the most chaotic time.
If something went wrong, he would have no way to protect Milya.
For now, the moment he stepped off the oasis, he was still very weak, without the kind of power that made others afraid, the way the nobility had.
He came around the side of the shack and spotted Fortune sitting at the edge of the oasis, licking at her matted fur.
"You do have a good sense of boundaries."
Lin En smiled faintly, and was about to set off down the main road toward the inner city then he turned his head, and saw a figure not far off.
The same familiar Bactrian camel, still chewing its cud steadily, its cheeks working in and out in a slow, rhythmic grind.
The person standing beside it had changed into an entirely different outfit, something that appeared to be made of lighter, thinner linen.
Kalil?
The widow Medya's son, that arrogant one. Why had he come again today?
And this time it looked as though he had come specifically to find him.
What did he want?
Lin En's brow creased, but before he could say anything, Kalil raised his chin and spoke.
"Lin En. My mother wishes to see you."
The widow Medya wanted to see him?
Kalil wore that same haughty look, and the impatience on his face as he glanced at Lin En was plain.
Lin En felt a flicker of irritation.
This Kalil really had a face that was asking for trouble.
Going to see Medya was perfectly fine. It might even give him the chance to borrow a camel, which would take care of his worry about not making it back in time and besides, the wisdom of keeping good relations with one's neighbors applied just as well in this land.
Word had it that this widow's assets were quite considerable, putting at least 3 source stones into the heart well every five days.
The only thing that puzzled him was that he had never had any dealings with this wealthy widow before.
Why would she suddenly want to see him?
Surely she hadn't developed some sudden interest and taken a liking to him?
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