Wanted to See You One Last Time

33

With silver fur, it tore through the night fields like a streak of lightning.

Bombs rained down from airborne magical weaponry, traps littered the ground, but it ran on, uncaring.

Its body had already reached its limit.

Once beautifully glossy, its fur was now dull, dark blood trickling from festering wounds.

Muscles and tendons were torn, on the verge of snapping.

The accumulated, searing pain and exhaustion should have felled it long ago.

So what?

Despite it all, it ran.

Repeating this act of running, transcending every boundary.

And against it, an unrelenting storm of violence crashed.

“You infuriating pest! Just give it up and die already!”

At the Necromancer’s command, the dead rose from the ground, lunging to overwhelm it.

It made no effort to fight back.

If they stopped to fight here, they’d surely be caught by those pursuing from behind.

With movements so graceful and swift as to defy the notion of a four-legged creature, it dodged the encroaching undead, breaking through the horde with the barest of motions.

Oracle executive, ＜The Undertaker＞, Ragna Walter, watched its form disappear into the distant darkness, sighed, and lowered his arms.

“Missed it again.”

Interpreting the data Hans Wolf had handed over to the Oracle, and finding it, was the easy part.

Its movements were so elusive, finding it was difficult enough, but even after locating it, it slipped away with uncanny skill every time. There was nothing they could do.

“If only we could secure that Named Seeker or whatever, things would be much smoother.”

Ragna sighed, already anticipating the need to repeat this tiresome search again, when, a short distance away, it observed the situation.

Soon, Ragna and the Oracle operatives departed.

Confirming that the immediate danger had passed, it also turned away, stumbling slightly.

The small box attached to the silver wolf’s collar glinted in the moonlight.

—

“Kreeeee! It hurts! It hurts so much!”

＜Ice Devil＞’s curse, inflicted through her homunculus, was causing Alena’s brain and heart to freeze, wracking her with unbearable pain, and she moaned.

A moment of carelessness would surely mean a frozen brain and heart, instant death. She couldn’t afford to relax until she had completely neutralized the curse.

Hours later, Alena, gasping for breath after finally dispelling the curse, watched as another casualty of the mission limped into the lobby.

“What’s this? You look remarkably fine. Was I the only one who went through hell?”

Alena flipped Erich the bird, as he waved the stump of his severed left arm.

“Screw you. I almost died too.”

“That’s a little harsh to say to someone who lost an arm, don’t you think?!”

Alena snorted.

“Hah. In your case, you can just ask Sibylla to reattach it, no problem.”

“That’s true, but it still hurt like crazy, you know.”

“Honestly, I’ve never seen you get beaten that badly before.”

Erich shrugged at Alena’s surprised tone.

“The Director wasn’t there, but the Third Order was waiting instead.”

The Third Order.

At those words, Alena recalled the name of the individual listed directly below the Director on the Imperial Special Forces list she had received from ＜The Red Spider＞.

“Francesca Zirner? She was that powerful?”

“She was a monster, plain and simple. Put her against Matthias, and you might see a decent match.”

Alina resolved that no matter what happened in the future, she would never face Francesca Zirner.

“Who was on their side besides the Owls?”

“The Ice Demon.”

“Angela Barmut? Sounded like bad luck all around.”

“Shut up. Unlike you, I only got to use half my power.”

More precisely, the maximum power she could exert while controlling her familiar was only half of what she could do normally.

“So you’re saying you wouldn’t lose in a one-on-one?”

“Of course not.”

“Hmm. Would be quite a sight, the two of you going at it. Invite me if they set a date.”

“Get lost.”

Erich went upstairs, and Alina, alone once more, clutched at her still-cold head and chest, gritting her teeth.

‘The day I earn my star, I’ll return this pain tenfold, Barmut.’

—

Carrying the bluebird perched on my shoulder, I returned to the ministerial office alone and greeted the bird that had hopped onto my desk.

“I offer my respects after a long absence, Your Majesty. My apologies for the long silence.”

The Queen of the Elves responded through the bluebird.

[The passage of time, as humans perceive it, is a curious thing. Yes, Minister, it has been a while. I have much I wish to discuss with you on a personal level, but the time we can remain connected is limited, so let us proceed directly to the matter at hand.]

At the Queen’s words, I unfolded a map on the desk. The bluebird, with tiny steps, scurried about and tapped a specific location with its beak.

[We have received reports of a group, believed to be Oracles, chasing a certain wolf near the borders of our Elven Kingdom.]

Oh, the Elves know about the Oracles too.

Their intelligence network is quite impressive.

Regardless.

“A wolf…you say?”

Were they merely hunting? Surely the Elven Queen wouldn’t contact me personally just to tell me about a common wolf.

[Indeed. A wolf with silver fur, it seems.]

A wolf with silver fur?!

How magnificent.

I simply must see it!

[Given that the Oracles are in pursuit, it is highly probable that it is connected to the Key they seek. Since the last sighting indicates it was headed toward the Empire, perhaps you, Minister, could investigate?]

“Even unbidden, that was my intent.

Such things deserve to be witnessed firsthand.

“I appreciate the shared intelligence. But may I inquire as to the reason you’d entrust me with such vital information?”

As I subtly fretted she might demand a king’s ransom for the tip, the Elf Queen chuckled.

[Heh heh. The reason is simple, really. The Oracle is a common enemy, wouldn’t you agree? They are a threat to the Elves as well. Cooperation is essential in the face of such a danger.]

Such magnanimity.

I sincerely hoped that the various heads of national intelligence, who were being so miserly with their information despite our prior agreement to share, would take note of the Elf Queen’s attitude and reflect on their own behavior.

Myself included, naturally.

More importantly, how did they know about the “common enemy” part?

Elves truly were capable.

[Well, I will be concluding our call now. Ah, and should your schedule permit, I would be delighted if you might visit the Elven Kingdom again. There are several things I would like to discuss with you regarding my daughter.]

“Yes.”

I resolved absolutely never to go, as the bluebird that had flown from my desk took flight out the window.

Each time I saw it, I couldn’t help but think how convenient they were.

Why didn’t we have something like that?

With that thought, I rummaged through my desk drawer, retrieved the Named Seeker, and stood.

A silver-furred wolf? There was no question – I had to see it for myself!

Finding it would be a task for my subordinates, of course, but regardless, I was firmly resolved to witness it with my own eyes as I departed the Minister’s office.

—

‘This is troublesome.’

After days of searching using the Named Seeker, the intelligence operatives, having finally located the silver-furred wolf the Minister had commanded them to find, felt a sense of unease.

The Minister had stressed that they were absolutely not to attack or harm the wolf.

They were only to observe it from a distance, ensuring they didn’t lose track of it until he arrived.

At first, they had thought it a simple enough order, but the operatives realized how wrong they were almost immediately after encountering the wolf.

‘Fast, strong, and intelligent… is that *really* a wolf?!’

They hated to admit it, but they were certain that had they not possessed the Named Seeker, they would have lost it several times over already. The wolf was unbelievably swift.

It not only sensed their approach with uncanny accuracy, but sometimes even counter-attacked.

Fortunately, no one had been seriously injured or killed, but the general consensus was that if the wolf had been in prime condition, at least three of them would be dead.

“It looks like it hasn’t been eating or drinking properly… how can it move like that with those wounds…”

It was after days of observation, after the agents had slowly begun to feel even a sort of reverence for the wolf, that the Minister arrived.

Escorted by Owls, the Minister entered the forest where the agents had been watching the wolf. The words he spoke were astonishing.

“No one approach.”

So saying, the Minister took a step forward, towards the direction of the wolf.

Naturally, the Owls and the agents were horrified and attempted to stop him, but the next instant, they were forced to halt.

The wolf had revealed itself.

“Minister…!”

Christina and several others, thinking it was dangerous, tried to leap forward, but John restrained them.

“Trust the Minister.”

“But…!”

It was then.

The wolf charged toward the Minister.

If they were Owls, they could have rushed forward before the wolf reached the Minister and brought the wolf’s neck crashing down.

But they couldn’t.

In the instant they were about to move, they saw it.

The Minister, smiling as the wolf lunged at him.

“…Huh?”

The Minister was smiling.

He was laughing with such a pure sound.

That alone was shocking enough to paralyze them, but the situation that followed was even more incomprehensible.

The wolf that had charged the Minister stood on its hind legs and began to lick his face wildly.

Wagging its tail so fiercely, one would think it might break.

“What in the…?”

“That wolf, was it always so friendly?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Do you know how many times we almost died because of that beast?”

The fierce aspect, the one that had tried to tear the throats of the agents pursuing it, was nowhere to be seen.

As if the majestic presence that had inspired reverence had vanished, the wolf, clinging to the Minister and behaving like an affectionate puppy, suddenly lowered itself to the ground. It then removed the collar around its neck, took it in its mouth, and offered it to the Minister.

The Minister took it, stroked the wolf’s head, and then tossed the collar toward the Owls.

“…A box?”

John picked up the leash, noticing a small box dangling from it. He opened it.

It was empty.

While they deciphered the meaning of the empty box, the Minister pulled a remedy from his pocket, applying it to the wolf’s wound. He fed it the water and meat he’d brought.

Afterward, he covered himself and the wolf with two blankets.

Pressed close, the two spent the night like that.

Occasionally, as if in jest, the Minister would stroke the wolf’s head, or the wolf would lick the Minister’s face. That was all. No other action was seen.

Then, morning arrived.

The wolf no longer stirred.

Having done all it needed to do, it had drifted into a long sleep, its face content.