RD | Chapter 22

Sema was tied up with his limbs bound tightly, his eyes and mouth covered. Trapped in a rattling carriage, he thought.

‘Lord Ian!’ He wanted to cry.

He intended to do his best to complete the mission entrusted to him by Ian. And in his mind, “doing his best” certainly did not include “running away as soon as the enemy appears.”

So Sema yelled. “Everyone, run! I’ll hold them off!”

Sema hadn’t expected everyone to actually listen to his words and flee.

What could he do? All his close worker friends knew just how useless he was as a wizard. That was what they always remembered.

But they looked at him with expressions that said, ‘Sema must have some plan,’ shouted “Yes!” and then all ran away in unison.

“Understood, Mage Sema. We will call for reinforcements!”

‘Huh?’

Sema flailed his arms. In doing so, he failed to cast <Water Ball> again.

‘No! Don’t go!’

Sema realized. Because of Lord Ian, everyone’s expectations had gotten too high. This was the side effect of believing in some method when a superior gives an order!

This was how Sema ended up being captured.

Sema, exhausted and dejected, shed tears. His blindfold got soaked, his body shook with the bumps, and he fell asleep from crying.

When he opened his eyes again, he was in front of a beast’s cage.

The smell of the beast pierced his nose, and the growling sound in his ears was unmistakable.

“Wake up. Get in!”

“Mmm!”

The human hunter removed the blindfold and shoved Sema into the beast’s cage. Only then did Sema realize what kind of beast he was sharing the cage with. Inside the cramped cage was a half-man, half-beast creature—a werewolf.

“Mmm! Mmmmmm!”

“Shut up! Can’t you be quiet?” The human hunter kicked Sema.

Sema collapsed in front of the werewolf. The werewolf, who had been sleeping, opened his eyes slightly while exhaling through his nose. Then, his eyes widened like a cat ready to pounce, staring at Sema.

“Yeah, eat well and fight well.”

The human hunter chuckled as he closed the cage door. Sema was trapped under the werewolf’s grip as he lunged forward.

“Mmm!”

It hurts! I’m going to die! It feels like I’m going to die from pain!

“Mmm! Mmm! Mmm! Mmm!”

“Quiet down.”

Just then, a little girl emerged from behind the werewolf.

“It shouldn’t even hurt that much. Why are you making such a fuss? The guard will come back.”

“Mmm! Mmm? …Mmm?”

Sema cautiously raised his body.

The growling werewolf spoke in a deep, rumbling voice. “Did it hurt? I apologize. I had to act like I saw you as prey in front of the guard.”

“Mmm!”

‘He talks!’

The werewolf can speak!

Of course, Sema knew that werewolves were half-human. But according to the lore, weren’t werewolves ultimately ‘monsters’? Even the Magic Tower had concluded so, as their madness could not be controlled.

Werewolves hunted humans, and humans hunted them. ‘Monsters’. Such a werewolf courteously untied the cloth from Sema’s mouth.

Sema cautiously backed away from the towering werewolf, who stood over two meters tall.

The werewolf’s hair grew wildly, seamlessly connecting with the fur on his back and chest. His overall build was muscular, with broad shoulders, a well-developed chest, and powerful thigh muscles. Yet, he was quite handsome—which only confused Sema even more.

“You, you looked almost like a wolf just moments ago…”

The werewolf’s mouth split wide, his face transforming into that of a beast.

“That’s also part of me. I can’t deny it.”

“Aaah!”

“I told you to be quiet!”

The little girl yelled. Despite keeping her voice down, the cunningness of the girl, who seemed about ten years old, was evident.

“Who, who are you?” Sema asked the girl. A werewolf with a little girl, what kind of combination is this?

“I’m the bait before you. What else could I be?”

“Bait?” The girl pointed at Sema.

Sema was confused whether he should argue that he wasn’t bait or ask something else!

“How are you still alive?”

“I don’t eat humans. Those demons think I’d naturally consider humans as food, so they send ‘human bait’ to me…. My mother was human. How could I eat humans?”

The werewolf said in a composed manner.

“……!”

“But I’m here in the coliseum, captured to hunt humans, so I pretend to take the bait. I’ll hide you and this child, so play dead for now. It’s desperate, but don’t lose hope. At least, we should save the child.”

He spoke so rationally and nobly that Sema felt dizzy.

The werewolf’s expression darkened.

“Especially if I go berserk… please save Momisia.”

“Don’t say such things. I’m not leaving you behind.”

The little girl in a red hood clung to the werewolf’s clothes.

“You’re the one being cheeky for a kid. Now that an adult man has come, it’s perfect. Promise me you’ll escape with him when you get the chance.”

“No. I won’t.”

“You heard her? She’s stubborn.When the time comes, carry Momisia and escape. I’ll make the opportunity.”

“Don’t do that! I’ll curse you for life!”

“That’s not something a child should say.”

“You always tell me not to speak! Then what am I supposed to say?”

“You only say bad things, that’s why.”

The two seemed like father and daughter. However, the atmosphere was quite somber, indicating they were prepared for death. But Sema was not prepared for death. He hadn’t even despaired because he believed his master would come to his rescue.

Wouldn’t Lord Ian naturally come to save him? After all, he had some usefulness when Lord Ian needed him…

‘…Right?!’ Sema couldn’t be sure.

Anyway, Lord Ian, though rough-handed, was a good person, so he would come to save him.

Sema swallowed hard and spoke. “Um… Werewolf sir?”

“It’s Contacca. ‘Werewolf sir’ is as strange a title as ‘human sir’.” Contacca laughed in a deep, pleasant voice.

Sema instantly liked him—a man who protected children. He hoped he wouldn’t die.

The known facts about werewolves must have been distorted. Wasn’t Lord Ian the same? Protecting Louise while insisting he shouldn’t be blamed for his past mistakes…

“My master will come to rescue me. Let’s all escape together then.”

“You have a master? That’s good… But there’s no time.”

“Huh?”

Contacca silently looked up at the small window in the cell. Sema also looked at it. But there was only a crescent moon in the sky.

“It’s not a full moon. So why…?”

Meanwhile, at the top of the coliseum.

The demons who came to watch the southern coliseum felt the atmosphere buzzing.

‘It’s a mess.’

Pitting humans against monsters, or monsters against each other in the coliseum was good entertainment. At the same time, it was an event to display the majesty of the Demon Archduke.

Ambitious demons were quick to think of rebellion at any sign of weakness from their superiors. Virtues like respect, affection, and trust did not exist among them.

The current structure—where four grand dukes exist under the Demon King, and each grand duke’s territory is supported by nobles—could only be maintained due to the overwhelming power of the Demon King and the grand dukes.

Yet, with the Southern Grand Duke not present, it was inevitable that the nobles would be restless.

After all, there was no one to mediate them.

Two nobles from the south, who didn’t get along, were already eyeing each other.

“The Grand Duke seems busy.”

“As always.”

“Aren’t you supposed to assist the Grand Duke? It’s your job to keep him from being busy.”

“Yes, I am one of the Grand Duke’s assistants, and you are not. You have no right to criticize the Grand Duke’s affairs.”

“Did you just say ‘right’?”

“You started this argument.”

‘Those two are always like this.’

A noble from the west, who had come to spy on the Southern Grand Duke at the coliseum, scoffed.

However, once the Grand Duke appeared, all this commotion would quiet down as if it never happened…