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“Good morning, Sir Howard. Thank you for coming. We’ve been expecting you.”
“Morning, August. You’re here already. Working as fast as ever, I see.”
“We received word from the temple yesterday, so we were ready first thing this morning,” August explained.

Turning to Susie, Howard said, “Come here, Susie, let me introduce you. This is August Dulles. He’s the chief of this village.”
“So this is the child.”
“Pleasure… meet you… Name… Susie.”

Although she was surprised by the mention of the village chief, Susie quickly composed herself, introduced herself, and bowed respectfully.

August appeared as a well-dressed gentleman. His rounded belly seemed to be composed of more muscle than fat, and his muscular, hairy forearms, visible through his rolled-up sleeves, hinted at his strength. His brown hair was neatly cut, giving him a clean and orderly look.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Susie. I am August Dulles, this village’s chief,” he said, returning her greeting with an unexpected politeness from a man of his build and strength.
“Boss!”

Seeing Howard, one of the men in the back of a wagon, who was stacking the body of the Boa, shouted.

“You’re here? As expected of our Boss! You took down this Two-Headed Boa in one strike! And I heard you weren’t even wearing any equipment! Only you could do such a feat without any armour on, Boss!”

The large, dark-haired, moustached man, visibly pleased, approached Howard.

“Really?” Howard replied, slightly shocked. “There are plenty of others who could manage that.”

The man insisted, “No, no! Bert from the Haggard Family could probably take down a boa with one hand,” he said, pointing back to the carriage. “But cutting it in two so cleanly? Only you could pull off something like that, Boss!”

Curious, Susie turned to look at the carriage and glanced at Howard, silently asking for permission to take a closer look. Howard nodded with a smile, and she trotted over eagerly. Once there, Susie began chatting with a young boy who was helping to load the body.

“W-Who is the young lady?” the man asked Howard, only just noticing Susie.
“She’s with me, Frank. I’ll introduce you later,” Howard replied, keeping his gaze on Susie.
“With you, Boss? I see… Still!”

Frank’s expression darkened slightly, but he quickly shifted topics, his tone brightening again.

“The cut on the Boa is impressive, but what’s more is that Gray Wolf! The cut on it left me speechless! Didn’t it, August!”
“Indeed it did, Frank. I’ve never seen such a precise cut!” August responded.
“Exactly! Even the tips of the fur were perfectly sliced! I can’t help but wonder what kind of sword and what kind of technique must have been used to produce such a beautiful cut!”

Frank continued, speaking with growing excitement.

“If you were to hold the parts together, I bet they’d look like they were never cut at all!”

Howard chuckled, patting the longsword hanging from his waist.

“This sword is responsible for it.”
“Really? I knew it!”
“Just what do you do to maintain it?”

Frank and August exclaimed, full of admiration.

But then, Howard, with a mischievous glint in his eye, nodded toward Susie.

“The one who cut down the wolf with this was that kid,” he said, pointing at her with a smile.

“What?!!!” Frank and August both exclaimed in shock.

“If I close my eyes, I can still see it. That beautiful slash. A precise, beautiful arc. It’s so vivid that I doubt I’ll ever forget it.”
“B-Boss, i-is this true?!”
“A-Are you speaking the truth, Sir Howard? Did that child do this?!”
“Team Leader! Team Leader!”

As both Frank and August’s eyes were filled with shock, a young man came into the clearing from deep inside the forest.

“Oh, it’s you, Fred. What’s going on?”
“I checked around the area like you asked… and I found other dead wolves!”
“What did you say?!” Frank exclaimed.
“I knew there were more,” Howard remarked.
“And it’s not just a few; there are 10 of them! The three of us couldn’t carry them all, so I came back alone to report it.”
“What?!”

Fred’s report left the men momentarily speechless.

“So that’s how it is. So she’s been protecting me from the start. Haha.” Howard chuckled.
“Sir Howard?”
“Fred, what about the other two?”
“Randolph and Rufino are still looking around to see if they can find anything else,” Fred replied.
“Susie! Can you come here for a moment?” Howard called out for her.

Susie thanked the boy she’d been speaking to near the carriage and ran over to Howard, her steps light.

Howard observed her calmly as she approached, one hand on her hat, looking up at him with a slight tilt of her head and asking, “What’s wrong?”

“Susie… They just found ten wolf carcasses nearby.”

Howard said gently. Susie’s eyes began to dart nervously, her cheeks reddening as a nervous sweat broke out. Noticing her reaction, Howard held back a laugh, covering his mouth with his hand.

“Susie, I’m not accusing you of anything.”
“U-Um… But… But… One… Escaped… So…”

Susie stammered, clasping her hands, and looked up at him with a pleading expression.

“And… Sir Cloud… Got… Hurt… Sorry!” She whispered, clutching Howard’s sleeve tightly, her eyes filling with tears.

Howard placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, crouching down to meet her gaze.

“Susie, it’s okay. There’s no need to apologize. You were protecting me, weren’t you? Thank you. Let me say this again. I’m alive and well thanks to you. It was all thanks to you that I was able to go back home to Sonia. Thank you, truly.”
“S-Sir Cloud… Okay… I’m glad…” Susie murmured, a relieved smile spreading across her face.

Meanwhile, Frank nudged August, whispering, “Hey, August, what’s going on? What’s the Boss saying?”
“I too would like to know. For now, let’s focus on clearing out the Gray Wolf carcasses quickly.”
“You’re right! We can’t leave ten of them lying around. They’ll start rotting and attract other Demonic Beasts!”

At the mention of Demonic Beast, Susie suddenly froze, her eyes widening with worry.

“Frank, I’ll head back to Amukham alongside Sir Howard to prepare more carriages and gather men. In the meantime, I want the five of you to gather the wolves here.” August instructed.
“Got it! It won’t be wise to go back and forth to the village after all! Make sure to bring a large enough carriage to handle all these wolves! Fred! Lead the way! Irvine, let’s move!”

Frank called to the two boys loading the wolves into the wagon, then headed deeper into the woods with them. Before he followed after Frank and Fred, Irvine glanced back at Susie and gave her a quick wave, which she returned with a small wave of her own. Howard observed the exchange with a warm smile.

“That’s the third son of the Haggard Family, isn’t he? Good.” Howard murmured to himself.
“I’ll return to the town hall right away. Sir Howard, I imagine you’ve got business to tend to there as well?”
“Yes, please let us accompany you,” Howard replied with a nod.
“Let’s go then.”

August climbed into his carriage and left the clearing, heading through the forest, with Howard and Susie’s carriage following close behind.

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