The Stupid Devil’s Slave’s Travelogue

Chapter 7: Metamorphosis

─Wolf.

The transition from annoyance to bewilderment was instantaneous.

It wasn’t an unfounded claim.

Even my father had once pointed out the possibility.

An ogre, a draconian, or a wolf might have entered the mountain.

Beastfolk wasn’t a beast; they possessed intelligence.

Therefore, he wouldn’t fail to deduce that the scent of the beast-repelling medicine was an artificial trace of something.

If that were the case, the alchemist’s elixir would be a ‘signal’ to them.

‘Heaven has helped us.’

If I had spent today idly at home, Damien, Stella, myself, and even this Terup mother and daughter would all have been dead!

What is a wolf?

The most belligerent and savage Beastfolk in the world.

─Thump!

My heart pounded fiercely, trembling as if foretelling a heart attack.

What if my father and mother were inside? Or worse, what if the wolf, like the one in Red Riding Hood, was waiting for them?

“Inside, by any chance─”

“There’s only the wolf.”

“Just in case─”

“There’s only the wolf!”

The Terup’s hand led me away.

I could only follow wherever the Terup was guiding me, dazed.

The fur of the Terup’s tail, which was leading me, was bristling.

As we distanced ourselves from the house, reality became clear.

I needed to calm my fluttering mind somehow.

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

Now, I had to remain calm.

‘Excessive tension is never helpful.’

“Did the wolf do that to your parents too?”

She wasn’t listening to me.

She was more scared than I was.

‘Is that what happens to everyone who sees the true nature of a wolf?’

The traces of brutal torture flashed through my mind.

If I didn’t do something, my parents could end up torn apart and tortured like the Terup’s parents.

‘They’re good people.’

It’s okay if I die.

I’ll be reborn anyway.

So even if it means dying, I must protect them.

Usually, I only ate breakfast and dinner when I had work, but on days off, I’d always come back home to have lunch together.

Judging by the position of the sun, it was around 11 o’clock.

They would be back soon.

Father didn’t bring a weapon because he was only going down to the village. Even if he returns, he can’t handle it.

The path down the mountain is rugged.

I’ve never been down to the village, and I don’t know the geography.

It would take a long time.

‘What if we miss each other during that time?’

It was obvious that a disaster would occur.

Father said wolves are faster, stronger, and more brutal than kobolds.

He explicitly stated that they are hostile to humans.

What should I do? What can I do?

“Maal-nim… please, save us…”

The Terup began to pray to the deity.

I know there’s a god, but would one really help in a situation like this? Probably not.

Especially not in something that involves me.

I knew nothing about wolves.

Except that they are abnormally dangerous.

Based on what I know about Terup, it’s possible that wolves are as savage as kobolds.

Purpose, weakness, appearance, habits, skills—I knew nothing.

I only knew that the wolf that had come up this mountain enjoyed torturing and tearing apart its prey.

No, I do know one weakness.

“Do you know where the place with the most Widow Vipers in this mountain is?”

“We’re going to die. Mother will be caught too. If the wind blows toward the wolf, we’ll all die!”

Terup was breathing heavily, seemingly in a panic attack.

“Hey! Snap out of it!”

I shook Terup’s shoulders as he spewed nonsense.

I grabbed the Terup’s shoulders with both hands and looked her straight in the eyes.

“Focus. Have you ever seen a Widow Viper?”

Perhaps because we made eye contact, she seemed to regain some composure.

“…What’s that?”

“A snake that changes colors.”

The Terup’s eyes narrowed.

“What does that have to do with anything right now?”

“We’re going to kill the wolf.”

“What…?”

I couldn’t read her expression, but the slight parting of her lips suggested disbelief.

“When the Reptilians fought the wolves, they coated their weapons with Widow Viper venom.”

“Do you even know what a wolf is…?”

I didn’t, but I knew a lot about canines.

In any case, it wasn’t really an animal—it was an Beastfolk.

Even though I talked about killing it, I wasn’t sure if I could actually do it.

“An uninvited guest in my home.”

Terup stepped back, shaking his head.

He seemed to want no part of this, as if he was saying it was impossible.

He might just abandon his parents and run away.

That was the normal reaction.

I was the crazy one.

Suddenly, I wondered.

‘Why am I doing something so insane?’

No, I knew. I understood what comes after death.

That was the difference between Terup and me.

“You’re crazy.”

“Even a rat bares its teeth when in danger.”

Death isn’t the end.

I have to help the parents who brought me into this world.

No matter what happens to me. Terup closed her mouth.

She stared at me blankly, like someone facing a madman.

“It’s your choice not to help me, but don’t forget that your mother is also in danger.”

At the mention of her mother, worry deepened in the Terup’s eyes.

Just as parents care for their children, children also care for their parents. In the end, Terup nodded.

“…I’ll do it.”

“Then hurry up and catch one.”

The Terup nodded and bolted off on all fours.

I assumed she knew where a bunch of snakes lived.

‘At worst, all I can do is die, right?’

As the tension eased, I found myself a bit more relaxed.

First, I took out all the weapons I had.

A practice bow and five arrows for kids.

A single dagger with its edge chipped and jagged like a saw.

‘…I’m really screwed.’

I needed to coat one of these weapons with snake venom.

I once saw a documentary on TV about extracting venom. They made the snake bite into a jar or a bowl, and venom would come out when they pressed its head.

But I remember only a few drops came out.

I had to choose the weapon to coat with venom carefully.

I didn’t want to coat the dagger.

Father said that if bitten by this snake, you’d die within 30 minutes.

If I managed to stab it with this dagger, I’d have to run for 30 minutes afterward, which wasn’t realistically possible.

Swinging a dagger coated in venom would mean I’m already in a situation where my life is at risk. I painfully realized how slow my running speed was when I chased the deer today.

Shooting with the bow and then running away seemed like the best chance for survival.

But I also had to consider the possibility of a mutual kill.

Because I’m terribly bad at shooting with a bow.

For that to happen, the wolf needed to come out of the house. How should I do it? Should I make noise by throwing a rock like in the movies?

Even if I managed to throw a rock, it would be lucky if it flew 20 meters, and it probably wouldn’t even go that far. There’s also the issue of whether the wolf would react to the sound of the stone.

Instead, it might just stay on guard inside the house.

How should I lure it out?

I wasn’t sure if Terup would agree, but sending the Terup out in front to make the wolf lower its guard, then shooting it with my bow, seemed like the most fitting strategy.

If I could get a shot off while it was off guard, it wouldn’t be able to immediately pinpoint my location, and in the confusion, both of us could run away to somewhere safe.

Of course, I’d run away immediately, but if the wolf chased me, I’d almost certaining get caught.

In the worst case, I might miss. To prepare for that, it would be a good idea to coat the knife with venom. That way, I could at least go for a mutual kill.

If the wolf chased the Terup instead of me, it would come down to whether a terup was faster than the wolf. I had considered waiting until my parents arrived… but I couldn’t choose that option.

The problem was, as the Terup had said, that the wind was blowing in our favor. Paradoxically, this meant that the wolf could smell my parents getting closer.

Could even my superhuman father defeat an ambushing wolf without a weapon? Since they went down together, they’d come back up together.

Father could easily look after himself, but what about Mother?

I heard a rustling sound from behind.

“I caught them.”

It was the Terup.

Panting heavily, she extended her hands toward me.

In her small, delicate hands were two snakes, one of which was cut in half.

‘Isn’t that the snake Father killed yesterday?’

A dry laugh escaped me.

I took the living snake first, made it bite the blade, and pressed down on its head, causing yellow venom to ooze out.

I thought the dead snake wouldn’t produce venom, but luckily, it did.

Since there were only a few drops and it felt wasteful to spread them around, I dripped a drop onto each arrowhead.

Father had advised me to kill these snakes whenever I saw them. After handing the knife to Terup, I crushed the head of the snake that had been drained of venom.

“There’s something I want to ask first.”

The biggest issue was whether Terup would help me or not. If Terup helped, I’d have more options.

I had to persuade him. When I turned to look at the Terup—

“What’s wrong?”

The Terup was frozen.

“T-The wind is blowing toward the wolf…!”

“So what?”

Terror beyond words appeared on her face.

“We’re all dead!”

Creeeeak─…

At the same time as the Terup’s scream, I heard the sound of a hinge creaking.

Thump─!

My heart started pounding wildly.

‘Don’t panic!’

Think rationally.

Before I die, just once. I just need to injure it once.

It’s simple, right? I can do it, can’t I? Right?

Position-wise, I was hidden on a small hill above the house, making it a great spot to shoot with the bow.

…Though, I wasn’t sure if it was actually good.

I only knew that having the high ground was advantageous from what I learned in the military.

I slightly peeked out to gauge my position.

What caught my eye first were—

─blue eyes staring directly at me.

We made eye contact!

I immediately ducked back down.

The wolf looked similar to Terup.

But its size was different.

Its head was probably one or two sizes bigger than Father’s.

The biggest problem was that it was armed with metal weapons.

It wore leather armor layered with chainmail, and at its waist hung a massive, reverse-curved sword.

‘It’s on another level.’

Just by looking at it, it was clear that it was a seasoned fighter.

The fleeting courage I had flickered out like a candle in the wind.

Even if I shot an arrow, it probably wouldn’t even pierce.

The sword resembled a kukri, but it was as thick as my palm. It was clearly over 10 kg.

In contrast, the weight of human weapons rarely exceeded 3 kg.

I once saw a video online of a kukri slicing through a pig’s neck in a single stroke. It was impressive, even though I couldn’t quite make out the pig’s neck.

But this massive wolf carried a sword longer than my body.

‘Forget a pig’s neck; it could easily split a human in two.’

There was no way a human could win.

This was the Beastfolk nicknamed ‘wolf.’

─Hosot.

I must be insane!

Did I really think I could take that thing down?

No way! How am I supposed to handle that…?

Every strategy I had imagined crumbled.

No matter what I attempted, nothing would work.

It was almost impossible to imagine that wolf dying.

“Oppaaa…?”

“Huh…?”

Stella was approaching me, trembling with fear.

Seeing her like that ignited something in me.

“──────!”

A surge of duty tore through my fear.

‘How can you be scared at a time like this?!’

Jeon Si-hyeon, aren’t you a 28-year-old proud Korean man?

If not me, no one else would step up.

I exposed myself from the mound and nocked an arrow.

I wasn’t sure if I could speak right now.

It was still too far.

The distance was easily over 20 meters.

Father had said that an arrow shot from within 24 cubits (12 m) could be detected.

In other words, I couldn’t attack recklessly.

‘Still, we’re both Beastfolk, so we should at least be able to communicate, right?’

I stood up abruptly.

“Hello!”