Unexpectedly, Grigori spoke up, “Naur, the next record.”
“Beginning Chapter 32, My Goddess.” Naur replied immediately.
<Chapter 32: You (7)>
“Tell me.”
“Yes.”
The two of them got right to the point without beating around the bush. Choi Han straightened up, as he started to speak.
“Everything was fine until I met Rosalyn.”
TCF!Rosalyn merely shrugs when TBOAH!Rosalyn looks at her as if to ask if she’d known about this. For TCF!Rosalyn this was such a long time ago, and after everything they had all been through together, she’s actually grateful that Cale had sent TCF!Choi Han to find her even if at the time he’d merely been doing so in order to follow the original plotline of the guide.
“Continue.”
“I arrived at the city Cale-nim mentioned. Once I got there, I found the merchant guild heading for the capital as you described. Well, it was just a small brigade of five people rather than a guild.” That small group was better described as a merchant group rather than a merchant guild. “They happened to be looking for two mercenaries to guard them. Their usual guard was injured.”
Choi Han and Rosalyn became the two mercenaries.
TBOAH!Rosalyn and TBOAH!Choi Han nodded wordlessly stating that this was the same thing that had happened to them.
“That group was planning on staying at the village that Cale-nim mentioned I would find Lock residing in for a few days before continuing onward on their journey.”
“But something happened once we arrived at that small village.”
Cale became alert. The story was important from here.
Since the Cale on the Palantír seemed to be paying close attention here, naturally everyone else followed suit hoping to glean information and learn something new now that they were seeing things from a different person’s perspective.
“Right around when we arrived at the village, I learned that the guard was a Beast Person. I also learned that the village they were planning to meet the Blue Wolf Tribe member to trade was the village that Cale-nim had mentioned as well.”
Cale nodded his head at Choi Han’s words. He knew Choi Han would easily recognize that much.
“That was why I believed that I just needed to follow the tribe member that was going to show up at the village to find Lock.”
“But nobody showed up to make the trade. When that happened, the merchant asked us for some extra help.”
Cale thought about what that request would have been.
“It was if we could go visit the Blue Wolf Village with the injured guard.”
“And you agreed?”
“Yes. I agreed. Rosalyn agreed as well.”
“Everything up to this point is the same…” TBOAH!Choi Han commented. However, TCF!Rosalyn shook her head, only to maintain her silence after objecting.
“No… I think there’s a difference, but I’m not sure yet.” TBOAH!Rosalyn agreed with her counterpart’s objection of TBOAH!Choi Han’s comment.
As if the Cale on the Palantír was following their lines of thought, he helpfully provided them with valuable information with which to compare the two timelines.
In, ‘The Birth of a Hero,’ Choi Han and Rosalyn arrive at the Blue Wolf Village with the guard warrior, only to find the village destroyed and the secret organization’s assassins trying to leave. Choi Han recalls what happened to Harris Village, and immediately starts to attack them. The guard warrior also goes crazy and starts to kill the assassins. He is injured even more in the process, and ends up dying.
‘That is when Rosalyn learns of Choi Han’s strength.’
Rosalyn, who had been hiding her strength and masquerading as a beginner mage, learns of Choi Han’s strength and officially asks him to escort her back to Breck Kingdom. Of course, the compensation she offered him was huge.
‘They then find Lock hiding in that destroyed village.’
The coward wolf boy, Lock. Until Choi Han found him, Lock had been hiding as the chief had told him. The Lock at that point is very much a coward, a weakling, and kind of slow.
TCF!Lock stiffened, and a deep frown moved across his face. His instincts honed from following Cale around on the frontlines and learning to be a Shieldman from Lord Sherritt were telling him something here was wrong. His muscles began to tense, and his skin prickled with apprehension. His instincts were telling him a blow had landed, but he hadn’t caught or noticed it. His frown deepened.
“Cale-nim.”
“Yeah?”
‘But why would the timing of the transformation be pulled forward by a year?’
“I saw something I was familiar with there.”
“What did you see?”
Choi Han nodded his head at Cale’s question.
“A red star and five white stars.”
Cale’s expression stiffened. He could feel his heart sink. Choi Han was saying that, instead of the assassination team, official members of the secret organization showed up at the Blue Wolf Tribe.
TBOAH!Choi Han went rigid, TCF!Choi Han went rigid, and then a groan came from TCF!Lock as he realized what he’d missed earlier. Cale upon the Palantír affirmed his assumption. Sherritt reached out and clasped his hand into her own. TCF!Lock’s heart began to shake, and he tried to steady his breathing in order to keep control of his beast form that suddenly wanted to take over.
Cale could not understand why. In the novel, the Blue Wolf Tribe was the target of assassination.
TBOAH!Lock pulled away from Grigori. He sat up straight. This was what happened to him. This was the fate he had endured. He’d been a coward back then, but he had changed, and he’d grown incredibly stronger – apparently not soon enough, though. However, something about the information on the Palantír and the way his Hyung and Noona were reacting toward it made him sit up and pay attention – they seemed to notice something that he had missed, so he now was trying to catch up.
Choi Han looked at Cale’s cold expression and recalled the past for a moment. He subconsciously started to clench his fists. His fists were shaking with anger. The houses in the village deep in the mountains were simple and small. But all of them were destroyed. Most importantly, the corpses of the Wolf Tribe were completely black, as if they were burnt to a crisp on the floor. The black corpses, what smelled like burnt flesh, and the blood that was still pouring out of their open wounds. Most of the Wolf Tribe members died with their eyes still open.
Many people grimaced while some even shut their eyes to block out the horrifying sight being shown upon the Palantír – TCF!Lock and TBOAH!Lock refused to look away or shut their eyes. They stared intently at the scene, ravenously devouring the information the recording upon the Palantír was showing them in order to find out what clue they’d missed earlier.
“The mountain village was already destroyed when we got there. Many of the Wolf Tribe members were dead as well.”
The Blue Wolf Tribe was known for their strength, so how did the secret organization kill them? Wolves put their family, herd, and friends before themselves. Weak members who had not experienced their first berserk mode transformation. The secret organization used those weak members as hostages, before using divine items to weaken the adult wolves. After killing the adults, they then killed the young hostages.
TCF!Lock loosened his grip on Sherritt’s hand and tilted his head, frowning again at the information being narrated from the Palantír. Something deep in his conscious whispered to him.
“That didn’t happen… that part is wrong. They didn’t kill the young hostages…”
Fractured memories from years ago began to drag back into the light of his mind’s eye, and he confirmed what he knew and what his instincts as the Wolf King were whispering to him. The difference between himself and his counterpart – TCF!Lock could feel it. It was coming.
There were a few adult wolves that tried to attack them in frenzy, but the secret organization had Holy Water to use against those few wolves. The secret organization was a very strong organization, that even had access to divine items. They used the fact that the Wolf Tribe was disowned by the gods to their advantage. These cruel bastards had no issues using young children as hostages to kill their mothers, fathers, and the rest of the tribe members, while the poor young children watched in horror.
Those who had children, those who were guardians, and even those who had younger people under their care began to scowl and emit aura’s of animosity and malice toward the actions done by Arm. The things Cale on the Palantír was talking about had already happened – twice, in fact – but it didn’t make that any easier to let go of the anger it invoked within everyone.
‘The novel didn’t say which of the divine items they brought.’
If Cale knew what the divine item was, he would be able to get one step closer to the identity of the secret organization. Unfortunately, the novel only described how the Wolf Tribe became weak because of the divine item. He had no way to determine the identity of the secret organization.
Cale slowly asked. “Were they all dead?”
Choi Han shook his head. Cale’s expression stiffened again.
“They were trying to capture the young children.”
Across the room, a chair arm shattered, and Grigori deftly waved her hand immediately, causing misty tendrils of crimson aura specked with gold glittering dust to form like chains. They wrapped around TBOAH!Lock and dragged him back into the seat beside her. The frame of the lounger which had broken beneath the weight of TBOAH!Lock’s berserk transformation was almost instantaneously repaired. As if to explain for those who didn’t get it, the record once more continued to helpfully explain.
‘Capture? Originally, they killed them all. Why would they want the young Wolf Tribe children?’ Cale’s mind started to become complicated. Choi Han made eye contact with the Cale who was thinking deeply.
“The chief was dying when we arrived at the entrance of the Blue Wolf Tribe’s village.”
TBOAH!Rosalyn gasped and TBOAH!Choi Han’s eyes widened in sudden understanding, now even TBOAH!Lock understands as well – he realizes a great sin had been committed and he’d been blind and ignorant toward his mistake all this time.
“Early. You were early. You got there earlier than we did!” TBOAH!Rosalyn spoke in a choked gasp at TCF!Choi Han’s gaze of questioning concern.
There were less than 100 members of the Blue Wolf Tribe.
A chill went through everyone from TBOAH!World. Grigori raised an eyebrow and sighed softly, but TCF!Lock didn’t need to be restrained even though silver fur with a soft blue hue adorned his enormous form. He was huge – much larger than the TBOAH!Lock, and the fur of his berserk form resembled the early morning. His evolved berserk form is intimidating, it boldly proclaims a prowess surpassing any of their imagination. It’s obvious now why TCF!Lock holds the title of Wolf King.
“And they were trying to take 10 children with them.”
Although TCF!Lock appears calm and composed, the icy aura bleeding out of him is suffocating for the people of the TBOAH!World. Cale stirred, raising his hand to touch first Raon, who was curled up on top of his chest and then raising his gaze to look up at TCF!Alberu who offered him only a quiet shake of his head. Cale sighed softly and then looked over at the Palantír as the record continued. After watching for a few minutes, he understood why TCF!Lock was acting the way he was. However, he still glanced toward Grigori to see if he should spread out his Dominating Aura again to calm the situation.
Grigori looked his way the moment his gaze landed upon her. She smiled demurely and reassuringly shook her head.
“Don’t worry… Leave this to me.” She telepathically reassures him, so Cale relents glancing toward the kittens and finding Raon had placed a barrier around them already so they wouldn’t get frightened. Cale exhaled slowly and returned his head onto TCF!Alberu’s lap and stifled a yawn before closing his eyes once more.