Vol 3 Chapter 27 – Henderson Scale 1.0 Ver 0.2

The girl named Eliza seethed with regret.

Before leaving home, she had fussed with her hair—even though no one would see—and that delay put her behind. She forgot the wolf-warding charm her grandmother had pressed into her hand. Worst of all, she stepped past the tall pine she was forbidden to cross, tempted by wild raspberries.

If she had avoided even one of those mistakes, she would be home eating supper right now.

Instead, deep in the forest where the sun was gone and moonlight barely reached, Eliza had lost her way—and was about to become supper herself.

Huddled against a tree root, tears streaming down her face, she found herself surrounded by wolves. Their silhouettes resembled the farm’s sheepdogs, yet the sharp hunger in their eyes was nothing like the pets she knew.

One look into those starving eyes told her she would die here. They were the same golden hue as her two beloved dogs, yet utterly unlike the gentle gaze that greeted her each morning.

To the wolves, she was small, convenient prey.

Even so, the pack hesitated.

Wolves are cautious. A human child is still larger than their usual game, and the big two-legged creatures that accompany such young ones are terrifying.

Without doctors, even a small wound can be fatal for them, so they weigh every hunt carefully.

But no fearsome adult appeared, and instinct told them the trembling prey could not fight back.

Easy quarry. With the decision made, the wolves barked excitedly, and one stepped forward.

She was a magnificent female—the alpha’s mate and leader of the hunt.

Experienced, she knew even small prey sometimes resisted, so she aimed to finish this with a single, killing bite. She leapt—

—and collided with a golden streak shooting out of the darkness, which hurled her aside in mid-air.

She rolled twice, three times, kicking up dust, then somehow landed on her feet. Snarling at the interloper that dared steal their meal, she—and the entire pack—fell silent.

What had burst from the brush without a hint of sound was a great wolf cloaked in radiance. Its fur gleamed like moonlight, and the eyes that measured them were a clear midsummer blue.

Faced with a creature so clearly of another rank, the pack’s will to fight vanished. Wolves still possessed instincts long lost to most humans.

Those instincts screamed: Do not challenge this great wolf—do not even consider it.

While they backed away step by step, the moon-furred wolf never broke eye contact. Only after the pack turned and fled did it watch, motionless, until their presence had fully vanished.

At last, convinced the danger was gone, the great wolf faced Eliza.

Even pierced by eyes as blue as bottomless lakes, she felt no fear—perhaps her mind could not keep up. Gazing up at that majestic, near-divine form, she could only breathe, “Beautiful…”

The gulf between them was too vast; fear or despair had no meaning. All a tiny human could do before such grandeur was feel.

The radiant wolf glided closer, moon-colored fur rippling, and extended its tongue to gently lick away her tears—the last traces of emotion shining in those blue eyes.

The tongue was soft, lacking the normal animal odor or wetness, and the taut thread of her fear snapped with a quiet putsun as darkness closed in.

How long passed? She floated in warmth and the sweet scent of an unfamiliar flower.

Opening her eyes, she saw shimmering gold everywhere—the wolf’s fur.

“Kyah!”

The wolf had curled itself around her, shielding her unconscious body from forest chill and lurking malice.

When it sensed she was awake, it rose slowly, freeing her. The night air bit at her small frame, and the sudden cold left her feeling utterly alone.

Yet the wolf did not leave. Instead, it lowered its head and stared, as if inviting her to climb on.

“Are… are you helping me?”

Rather than nod, the wolf simply blinked its jewel-bright eyes.

Trembling, Eliza swung a leg over. The great wolf lifted her so smoothly she barely felt a jolt; compared with the horse she once rode on her father’s lap, this was bliss itself.

Cradled by that steady, unhesitating gait, she soon realized they were on the very path she had searched for—the road home she had thought lost forever. In mere minutes the wolf crossed the endless night she had wandered.

I can go home! Tears of joy shimmered in her eyes as she hugged the wolf’s neck more tightly.

Finally, her house appeared. Though everyone should have been asleep, lights still burned.

“It’s my house! I’m home! I’m really home!”

Lowering its head so she could dismount, the wolf quietly stepped back.

Hearing her cry, someone opened the door—her father, still in rough work clothes and holding a burnt-out torch from the search. Behind him came her mother, eyes swollen from tears, and even her grandmother, bad leg forgotten in her rush.

“Eliza!”

“Oh, thank the gods!”

“Eliza, are you safe? Is it really you?!”

As her parents wrapped her in trembling arms, she turned to introduce the wolf that had brought her back—but all she saw was a gentle trace of gold dissolving into the night.

【Tips】 Wolves roam widely throughout the Triple Empire, but most are gray or black pack wolves.

“Aah, that would be an Okuri-ōkami, a Schutz Wolf.”

“An Okuri-ōkami?”

Days later, after countless scoldings from her parents and lectures from the adults who had joined the search, Eliza finally calmed down enough to tell her grandmother about the majestic wolf. She had to know what it was.

A wolf so huge a normal wolf looked like a pup—and so divine—was beyond her experience. If anyone knew, it would be her grandmother.

Indeed, the old woman did.

“Yes, they’re called Okuri-ōkami: fairy Alv spoken of here since time immemorial. They help lost children, travelers, even adventurers—truly blessed spirits.”

“Fairies? But it was a wolf.”

“Exactly. The wolf comes because the fairy brings it. Your grandpa—may he rest in peace—was saved by one when he was only four. Said a cute black girl was with the wolf that time.”

Grandmother patted Eliza’s grain-colored hair and smiled. “The fairy must have helped you because you’re a good girl.”

“The Okuri-ōkami… Its fur was moon-colored, and it was so big.”

“That it was. If an Okuri-ōkami helps you, you have to give thanks… At the autumn festival we’ll leave ice confections in the forest as an offering.”

“Ice confections?”

“Indeed. Okuri-ōkami love them.”

A wolf that likes sweets? Grandmother laughed and said, “Must have a sweet tooth.”

“How strange.”

Even so, Eliza vowed to save her allowance and offer ice confections in the forest.

【Tips】Also called the Moon-lit Great Wolf, the Okuri-ōkami is a fairy of folklore and children’s tales widely told in the southern Triple Empire. In recent years it has been recognized as a real fairy species. It runs through border forests, guiding children and the lost back home or to roads. Its fur is said to shine like the moon. Adventurers once entered the forest seeking its pelt, but none ever returned; now no one hunts it.

The hill was a strange hill. From its gentle rise one could see both a hazy moon and sun hanging over the ridge. No matter how long you watched, twilight never deepened; an eternal dusk bathed everything in gentle light.

In that soft glow of perpetual dusk, I settled at the base of the great tree that served as my usual seat and began my daily grooming.

Where, I wonder, did my life go wrong?

The first mistake must have been choosing an “eye” rather than a “mouth,” thinking it would be convenient.

After that I apparently took far too much from the fairies, and before I knew it, I had become this.

A fairy wolf of Twilight Hill—that is what I am now. No trace remains of the human boy born in some manor; only this “me,” who has lived so long I have lost count.

Upon becoming a fairy, I learned they are far more troublesome than I had imagined as a human.

One cannot defy the instincts etched into the soul; one simply acts on them.

Perhaps that is why I cannot ignore a wounded child in the forest.

My kin chide me—“Don’t overdo it!”—as they dance where they please, but I cannot stop.

A child adventurer lost in the woods, a youngster seeking berries who missed the time to turn back, a child abandoned by parents with no choice but to wander until death—I simply cannot leave them.

Reaching out even to adventurers must be a lingering admiration. I do feel remorse, yet no amount of scolding from higher fairies can make me quit.

“What are you daydreaming about?”

While I watched my kin dance above the hill, Ursula plopped onto my belly, her brown skin burrowing into my fur. Not even a spark of “Why, you!” stirred in me now. Long ago, when I first fell to this state, we played a furious game of chase, but having realized my own foolishness, those days feel distant.

“Nothing. Just reminiscing.”

“Oh? Was the past so lovely? You wear that form far better now.”

Indeed. How many centuries has it been since I became like this?

During that time, the Triple Empire hardly changed. It weathered wars and rebellions, expanding its borders yet remaining steadfast. Tools new to me and fresh spell formulas have appeared, but humans are still human—

—for better and for worse.

Left behind by unchanging humanity, I have gone from human child to simply “me.” I can no longer truly grasp what it means to mourn that fact. I remember father, mother, and childhood friends only faintly—just their hair colors, gentle voices, warm hands, and this cherry-pink earring that still adorns my ear.

Ah, even their names escape me now.

Because what choice do I have? I can no longer recall who I once was.

With a lonely snort, I flicked my ear, and the ornament chimed chirin in the twilight breeze.

“Oh, she’s come again.”

Whenever this earring rings, a visitor arrives: someone precious to the person I once was, clad in light akin to my moonlit sheen. She approaches and tries to strip “me” from me, raising a terrifying sword—

Such a frightening blade, yet it feels achingly familiar.

Having carried out a good deed today, I lack the energy to face her eyes. They stir my heart too violently—so violently I fear I might tear silver, green, or azure things to shreds.

Did I once? Did I try and fail? Or did I succeed?

I cannot remember, so I leap away to escape that familiar presence.

The Okuri-ōkami is a fairy that helps the troubled. Its feet stride past space itself, treading over the despair of those who cannot return. And it carries me to those in the depths of hopelessness.

“Whoa!? What the—! Damn it! I come to another world and it’s all like this?!”

【Tips】The man who had once been someone is here to achieve his goal no matter what. The bodhisattva flung him into this world so that, no matter how he may change or stray, at the very end he will not err…