"Hmm..."
"What's wrong, Alice?"
As I absentmindedly made a subtle expression while looking at the city, Kyeong-min asked what was going on.
The reason was obvious.
"I ca here to stop Little Red Riding Hood, but with the Jas incident and the fact that there are two Rulers, it feels like things are getting out of hand."
Who would've thought there'd be two Rulers?
And they're both quite powerful enemies. I could go and beat up the Cosmic Bird right now, but!
From what I've heard, it seems like it's been tornting the Institution for a long ti...
Why did Jas get caught up in such a big ss!
...Well, it's not like he wanted to get involved.
But since Jas is part of the Institution, maybe it's natural for him to be deployed?
"That's true. But I think a little complexity is good."
"Why?"
I was about to tell Kyeong-min that if he slipped up with his words, I'd let him know that saying it's good for people to turn into wolves and for there to be two enemy Rulers would instantly make him trash.
"Because we can help Alice when she's in trouble?"
"Oh my. Really? Ufufu..."
I laughed, touched by the unexpected words.
Eun-jeong pointed her finger at and shouted.
"Kyeong-min is comfortable with you!"
"Eun-jeong, don't force it."
While giving Eun-jeong a light flick on her forehead, Kyeong-min shared his opinion with .
"Let's take things step by step. We chased away the devil Little Red Riding Hood, but I think we should prioritize finding Jas first, then her, and then clean up the monsters. It's better to tackle small tasks one at a ti."
"It feels much better now that you've organized it. Thanks."
"Don't expect any rewards for praising ."
Kyeong-min scratched his cheek, looking embarrassed.
I pointed to the pocket of his pants and said.
"You have chocolate in your pocket."
"?"
I created a mirror next to his pocket and took out the chocolate.
I popped it into my mouth.
The chillingly sweet sensation tingled at the back of my head.
I never get tired of this. Ah, this makes life worth living.
Ignoring Kyeong-min's bewildered look, I stretched as much as I could.
"O~kay! Energy fully charged. Let's go find Jas first, as you said. Let's see, the remote mirror attached to Jas..."
I planned to use the remote mirror attached to Jas to jump to his location.
But contrary to my expectations, the mirror was broken.
This ant I couldn't reach Jas through the mirror.
Unable to hide my disappointnt, I told the kids.
"The mirror broke while I wasn't looking."
"What? You didn't notice until now?"
No, this is unfair.
Just because there's CCTV doesn't an I'm constantly monitoring it.
It's not like I'm on duty.
Besides, the farther away it is, the duller the sensation becos, so I usually don't notice if it breaks.
As subtle glances gathered on , my mouth imdiately started making excuses as if a defense chanism had kicked in.
"You guys forgot about the mirror too, didn't you!"
"How would we know if Alice's mirror broke!"
"Hmph, reflect on yourself!"
...Well, it is my fault.
I puffed out my chest and spoke confidently.
"I'll make up for it. Hmm, any good ideas?"
"Hmph, you say you'll make up for it but imdiately ask for others' opinions? How shaless!"
"Noisy!"
As I growled like a wolf.
Ha-rim approached and said she had an idea.
As expected, only Ha-rim would do that.
I feel like giving her a praise sticker.
Ha-rim paused for a mont, then shared her thoughts.
"If the fish are imitating humans, they might have imitated systems too."
"Systems... Like security?"
"Yes. Since we've been running over monsters, those long, fast creatures like the cutlassfish have been chasing us. They must be like the police."
I nodded, listening to Ha-rim's words, encouraging her to continue.
Then she pointed at the moon, which had already risen and darkened.
"Jas turned into a Moon Wolf, right? If Moon Wolves show their ferocity only to monsters, it's natural for them to co to this city full of monsters. But, out of all the wolves, did only Jas co here?"
Kyeong-min, who was listening to Ha-rim, seed to realize sothing and added.
"That's right. If other wolves with the sa goal caused chaos in the city, those cutlassfish would move."
Finally, Suho continued.
"If we chase them instead, there's a high chance we'll find Jas at the end... Right?"
"Eh, what's this? Why is everyone so smart? I feel left out."
Eun-jeong pouted.
I carefully asked, conscious of her feeling left out.
"Are you upset?"
"Maybe it's good that my brain is comfortable."
"Hmm, I see..."
It was an unnecessary worry.
Still, I gave her a pat on the head and approached Kyeong-min, who was holding binoculars.
"Looks like you found sothing."
"Over there, running- no, swimming- a group of cutlassfish. Let's chase them!"
I imdiately summoned a monster we could ride and gave each kid a monster they liked.
When Suho asked if we could use the lion and unicorn he raised at school, I explained that carelessly bringing them out in enemy territory could escalate things.
They're also not suitable as mounts until they unleash their power, and if they did, the city would be half-destroyed, so it's not the right situation to bring them out.
"Here."
The place we arrived at was filled with the blood of fish monsters.
It must have been a fierce battle, as claw marks were everywhere on the buildings, and the minced flesh of monsters squird like in a blender.
"Urgh. This is a bit much..."
"It slls disgusting..."
Even the brave kids were repulsed by this grueso scene.
Good.
Anyway, as we followed the claw marks deeper inside, we found chopped-up cutlassfish monsters and a bipedal wolf with white fur stained red standing there.
"Must be a Moon Wolf. Doesn't seem like Jas."
Though it was close to rags, it was wearing clothes.
Its attire was very different from Jas, and more importantly, its aura was distinct.
If Jas had a neat and sharp aura, this one was scattered and more ferocious.
"That outfit... Looks like a military uniform."
"Now that you ntion it, it does. I've seen similar uniforms at the Institution."
Since the Institution's agents were dispatched, so of them must have turned into Moon Wolves.
After a brief observation, we watched the Moon Wolf's movents.
Fish monsters trying to stop the wolf, and the wolf easily slaughtering them.
I was impressed by its strength.
"A normal person wielding such power against monsters would be quite an advantage, right?"
If only they could return to being human... As the cutlassfish, who seed to act as police, all fell, the monsters watching from behind began performing a ritual using the blood pooling on the ground.
I wondered what they were trying to do.
Bubbles rose from the pool of blood, which then turned black as if connected to sowhere.
Splash-!
The black water rippled, and a giant fishn's hand grabbed the wolf.
Like snatching prey, it was too fast to react.
We could only watch, holding our breath, as the wolf was dragged into the water.
"The owner of that hand seems pretty strong."
Must be the one who caught The Brocken Spectre.
Still, it's not an opponent we can't handle.
"We lost it. What now?"
The kids looked despondent. I offered a solution so they wouldn't be too disappointed.
"What now? We'll open the heads of the ones left here."
I pointed at the remaining fish monsters.
As we sneaked closer to the fish, they seed to sense sothing was off and tried to flee imdiately.
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