[R1999] Short Stories' Collection

Mondlicht & Pavia (1): The Wolf and The Girl in Red Cloak

Their first encounter was definitely not an optimistic one.

It would have almost caused a bloodshed if it wasn't for Vertin and Sonetto who happened to pass by and stopped them.

That time, Mondlicht was intensely agitated to the point that Sonetto had to cast an immobilized arcane skill to restrain her fierce resistance. Meanwhile, Vertin was in charge of blocking Pavia's attacks as his survival instinct was temporarily awakened by the dense killing intent of the young huntress.

Luckily, the man soon regained his calm and walked away without showing any curiosity before the vengeful eyes of the little girl in the red cloak. Even after his figure was nowhere to be seen, it took Mondlicht a while to return to normal.

Although she felt angry and confused at the same time, she still patiently waited for her new friends to explain why they prevented her from killing the big bad wolf.

Yes, the big bad wolves. The monsters that had taken away many lives of hunters, huntresses and children of Mondlicht's village throughout a century once the night fell.

The red hunter's cloak that she was wearing was passed down to her great grandmother, her mother and to the last one who was still alive, her. Its color came from the blood of those who had sacrificed in the long war with those ferocious monsters since that fateful night as well as every night afterwards.

If she heard their howls, she shot.

If she smelt their stench, she slashed.

If she saw their fangs, she cut down their heads.

Those were the reflexes that had penetrated deep into her blood, her bones and every muscle of her body through fierce battles of survival with the big bad wolves, despite the fact that she was just 10 years old.

When it came to big bad wolves, it was always her instincts that came first, then was her mind. Every hesitation would make her lose the initiative to kill those brutal monsters and become a damaged corpse in no time. Therefore, the young huntress would attack promptly if she detected the presence of a big bad wolf.

However, Vertin said the man wearing sunglasses she saw earlier wasn't a big bad wolf. Though he may use rude words, show malice to others, have sharp fangs, summon his wolf pack, howl under a full moon and stay active at night, he wouldn't have the intention to harm innocent people without any particular reason.

Then the orange-haired girl, whom Vertin called Sonetto, looked at Vertin with confusion and asked:

"Weren't the things that you had listed both a bad person and a wolf's traits?"

Vertin nodded and replied.

"Still, Pavia was different from the big bad wolves that Mondlicht had described."

As if seeing the little girl didn't agree with her points yet, the gray-haired girl asked Mondlicht a favor.

"Whenever you are free, can you take some time to observe him to see if he is actually a big bad wolf?"

"Yes, I will." Mondlicht answered seriously.

"But until you have the answer and tell me about it, you can't attack him."

That condition of her was rather difficult for the young huntress as she needed to control her vengeance in front of which she had detected as a big bad wolf.

"I... will."

In the end, the trust she gave Vertin was something that could influence her decision and make her rethink a little.

Since then, Mondlicht had started her secret observation on Pavia from a safe distance. She followed everywhere he went, except for the men's toilet because others told her that only men could enter there and his room, as he locked the door and she didn't want to destroy Vertin's furniture.

The young huntress didn't omit any detail that related to the outlaw mercenary. From his appearance, his smell and his sound to his food and his habits, she had memorized them in her head.

Sometimes, watching Sonetto writing the report of their investigation made the little girl think if she had a chance to go to school, she could write down all of her findings and her opinions in detail on the paper. Then Vertin would receive a better and more precise answer from her.

After a week had passed, Mondlicht found the task that Vertin gave her was about to complete. Based on her observation, Pavia had many traits that were similar to the big bad wolves, yet he was also far different from them.

The girl in the red cloak slowly listed his characteristics one by one.

Beginning with his size, the man was just more than a half of the common size of a big bad wolf.

He didn't have much hair and thick wolf's fur like them.

Though his fangs were sharp, there was no claw on his hands.

Most of the time he smelt like sweets, still there was a faint stench of human's blood lingering on his body when he returned from the mission last Friday.

Miss Sonetto said it was an escort mission and had failed because the person they needed to escort turned to attack them. Thanks to Pavia's quick reaction, no one on the scene was injured, except for the attacker. It was good news, but somehow her eyes looked a bit sad.

That man didn't howl much. He used human's language more often, even when he communicated with his wolf's pack. Moreover, each wolf in his pack had their own name. All of these names were well ones she supposed.

When it came to eating, he always gobbled a very large portion of food for a meal, as if he had been starving for a long time. There was no leftovers, even if it was just a crumb of a bread or a single drop in the milk bottle.

The food he ate didn't include any human's flesh or blood. They were made from normal ingredients like fruits, vegetables and animals.

He seemed to prefer sweets to other kinds of dishes.

Mondlicht saw him eat ice creams and lollipops at least five times a day, seven days a week. In the suitcase, there was a weird object that they called a fridge containing a lot of his ice creams.

The last thing about him was his fighting style. He used two guns and a knife, sometimes calling his wolves over from his shadow to attack the enemies. And above all, the way he finished them was very quick and didn't have any redundant movements.

Contrary to him, though the big bad wolves had sharp claws, fangs and enormous strength, they still played around with their helpless prey, tormenting their minds before brutally tearing them apart.

After reviewing all the details, Mondlicht believed that she could give Vertin a complete answer right now.

But before that, she needed to meet Pavia face-to-face first.