ACT 2
That same evening, a gathering of rather prominent individuals was taking place in a room in the palace in Iárnviðr.
There was Second-in-Command Jörgen, the Wolf Clan’s top officer.
Felicia, Yuuto’s adjutant and younger sibling subordinate.
Ingrid, chief of the Mótsognir Workshop, who last month had risen to seventh ranked in the clan.
Sigrún, captain of Yuuto’s personal guard, who had also risen last month from fifteenth to eighth rank, an extraordinary promotion.
The twin sisters Albertina and Kristina, who weren’t as high in rank but were still high in status as princesses of the neighboring Claw Clan.
Linnea, patriarch of the neighboring Horn Clan, who had elected to stay in Iárnviðr after the twins’ Chalice Ceremony in order to observe Yuuto’s governing style.
And lastly...
“Wh-why? Why is Ephy here...?!”
The slave girl Ephelia, who felt so overwhelmingly nervous at how out of place she was that she was trembling and on the verge of tears, was also there.
In a way, her reaction was perfectly natural.
From her perspective, these were all people so far above her in status that they might as well live a different world.
“The way I hear it, Father took quite a liking to you the other day.” Jörgen flashed Ephelia a broad smile. “If so, then you have just as much of a right to be here.”
His fierce-looking face bore scars across his brow and cheek. To a child of only ten like Ephelia, Jörgen’s smile didn’t make his face look any less frightening.
Linnea tensed up slightly and fixed her stare on Ephelia, closely watching her. “Big Brother... took a liking to you?”
“Ah... augh...” Ephelia became even more pitifully frightened, her body shaking so much it looked like she was having convulsions.
Just when it looked like she had passed her mental limit and might faint away from the stress...
“Good grief.” Ingrid gave an exasperated sigh, scratching the back of her head with a hand, and used the other to hoist Ephelia up by her collar.
“Hwah?!”
“Just calm down, okay?” Ingrid sat Ephelia on her lap, and hugged her tightly. Ingrid had a rough and forceful way of speaking, but she was the kind of girl who took care of others.
“That’s right, you have nothing to worry about. See?” Patting Ephelia on the head, Felicia hummed a quiet, gentle tune.
“Ah... okay...” Ephelia soon found that the scary feelings had mysteriously faded from her heart, and her shuddering had stopped.
The touch of human skin and the sound of a person’s heartbeat were well known for their calming effects. Perhaps it was also reminiscent of the feeling of her own mother’s embrace. The effects of Felicia’s galldr surely also played a part.
Even so, the situation was still no less overwhelming for Ephelia, and she was now meek as a lamb, clinging stiffly to Ingrid.
That seemed to tug at Ingrid’s heartstrings, and a delighted expression washed over her as she squeezed Ephelia even more tightly, whispering to herself under her breath.
“Ohh... little children really are so cute. One day, he and I will...”
“Nnn...” Being squeezed so tightly was a little painful, but Ephelia could also feel the affection Ingrid was showing her, and found herself unable to put up any resistance. She gave a small whimper, but nothing more.
When the room had settled down once more, Jörgen stood up. He began by turning to his left and bowing to Linnea, who sat at the head of the table.
“Aunt Linnea, first I must apologize and ask your forgiveness for so impudently summoning you here of my own accord.”
“No, I don’t mind at all,” she said. “The Wolf and Horn Clans are family now. I’m grateful to receive an opportunity to interact with and deepen my bonds with my nieces and nephews like this.”
“That is a great relief to hear.” After giving one more bow to Linnea, Jörgen turned to the other seated girls and met each of their eyes in turn, before declaring in a bombastic tone: “There is but one reason I have called you all here so late at night. It has to do with Father.”
“...!” Every person seated at the table tensed up, and their faces instantly grew more concerned.
In the world of Yggdrasil, the relationships formed by the Oath of the Chalice were special. One could not choose the parents they were born to, but they could choose the parent they swore their oath to. And, because that choice had been made of a person’s free will, they were expected to be completely loyal, body and soul, to their sworn parent or older sibling.
Of course, that was just the official concept. It was the proper shape of things, as far as society was concerned. It wasn’t as if all relationships formed by the Oath of the Chalice lived up to that ideal; it was quite common for gain, loss, and leverage to play a role in the affairs of the Chalice, both before and after the oaths were exchanged. However, at the very least, every person present at that table held a degree of genuine loyalty and affection for Yuuto.
The fact that they had all been deliberately gathered here to discuss Yuuto was more than enough for them to treat this as a serious matter.
“Father possesses a great variety of knowledge from beyond the heavens, and has shown great brilliance in both state and military matters, yet he is not arrogant or haughty,” Jörgen said. “He is the type of person who continuously works to temper his own abilities through hard work. Furthermore, he is tolerant and kind by nature; and yet, when the situation calls for it, he shows a resolute strength of will greater than anyone’s, and guides us all on the right path. I would say he is without flaw, clearly born destined to be a ruler. Surely no one here would deny that the prosperity we of the Wolf Clan see today is entirely thanks to Father.”
At those words, everyone else nodded deeply.
There was no way any of them would have denied it, for almost every one of them was awash in the awareness that, had that young man not arrived in Yggdrasil when he had, the Wolf Clan would long since have been extinguished from this world. (Ephelia and Albertina were the two exceptions.)
“Father shows no signs of abusing his power and status to engage in idle merrymaking, and instead spends every day applying himself fully to his duties,” Jörgen went on. “I’ve heard that, just the other day, those efforts once again bore fruit. Under Father’s leadership, I have no doubts the Wolf Clan will surely continue on its path of growth and development. However, I am also concerned... personally, I wonder if Father is working himself too hard.”
Jörgen’s brow furrowed, and with a grave expression, he continued.
“It will soon be a year and a half since Father became the patriarch. The fact that he pushes himself constantly for the sake of our clan and its people leaves me feeling deeply humbled, but it will all be for nothing if he ruins his health because of it. In the end, we of the Wolf Clan cannot exist without him.”
Jörgen’s words were not mere flattery or humility, but directly voicing his true feelings.
As part of his role as the second-in-command, there were many occasions during which he served as the acting patriarch in Yuuto’s absence. If anything were to happen to Yuuto, he was first in the line of succession.
Jörgen himself was a respectable figure who had climbed his way to his current position due to his own skill and efforts. He had not been without his own aspirations of one day becoming leader of the clan.
However, having lived past the age of forty, he had begun to have a better understanding of his own strengths and limitations. He was not conceited enough to think that he would serve as an equally worthy replacement for Yuuto.
“And so, I am of the opinion that we should make it so Father can relax and have some fun once in a while,” the man continued. “While it may be true that everyone is busy due to our current shortage of personnel, at the same time, there are no urgent matters that require Father’s direct command. Rest assured, I can manage things here for four or five days.”
Jörgen thumped a hand against his chest in emphasis.
During times of war, he had been entrusted with staying behind to protect and lead the city while Yuuto headed out with the army, and so he had performed administrative duties by himself for weeks and even months at a time. He had plenty of confidence that he could hold things down without problems for a few days.
Sigrún raised a hand and spoke up. “I’m in full agreement with getting Father to take a break to rest and relax, but what is it you want me to do, exactly?”
Sigrún had no understanding of politics or administration.
She was more than willing to do anything to make her sworn father happy, but as someone who had spent her life concerned only with training in the martial arts, regrettably she did not see how there was any way she would be of help.
“She’s right, I wanna see Yuu— I mean, Father, get some rest too, but if I had to take on some of his work, it’s... you know, I don’t know the first thing about that stuff.” Ingrid, who only had knowledge of the work as a craftsman she devoted herself to, was likewise uncomfortable.
Jörgen dismissed their concerns with a hearty laugh.
“Ha ha ha, you don’t have to worry about that. As I just said, I’ll take care of things here by myself. I would like to have all of you do something else.”
“Something else, you say?” Felicia repeated quizzically.
“Father is a serious man with a strong sense of responsibility,” Jörgen said. “As long as he is here in Iárnviðr, he will surely be reminded of one important task or another, and won’t allow himself to truly rest and forget about work. That’s why I’m planning to have him go on a trip to the base of Mount Surtsey, and get in his relaxation there. The autumn leaves should be at their most beautiful there this time of year. And... I’m sure that Father would enjoy himself even more if there were beautiful flowers there as well. Don’t you?”
At that last line, Jörgen gave the girls a meaningful glance.
Jörgen was a tough-looking man with a scarred face, but he was not simple or unsociable. In fact, with three wives and eight children, he was the most well-versed and experienced person there when it came to the subtleties of relations between man and woman.
Jörgen paused for a moment, once again looking at each of the girls in turn, and then delivered the finishing blow.
“I think this proposition would work in your favors, as well. Normally, Father is always busy with his duties, but on a trip to new and unfamiliar surroundings, he will be able to forget his responsibilities and become much more free at heart. Don’t you think that would be the perfect chance to become more intimate with him?”
In an instant, the look in the eyes of several of the girls in that room changed completely.
Indeed, they had all become wolves.
Meanwhile...
“Wah!” There was a sudden cry from the smartphone’s speaker.
“Huh? What’s wrong, Mitsuki?!” Yuuto asked, slightly panicked.
The strength of the signal his phone received was influenced considerably by the current phase of the moon. It was only a couple of nights after the new moon, and so Yuuto had made his way all the way up the steps of the Hliðskjálf, the Wolf Clan’s sacred tower, to the sanctuary chamber, or hörgr, at its very top.
Out of the corner of his eye, Yuuto could see a familiar member of his palace guard standing still and quiet off to the side. Apparently, Felicia and Sigrún had been called by Jörgen to some kind of meeting, and this man was standing in.
It was already well into the latter half of autumn, and in places up in the mountains like Iárnviðr, the nights were plenty cold. Yuuto felt guilty at making other people tag along with him in this cold for something selfish like this.
“Ah, n-no, sorry, Yuu-kun. There’s nothing wrong. It’s just, I felt this strange chill run down my back. I wonder what that was?” Mitsuki trailed off.
Yuuto could easily picture her now, tilting her head to the side in puzzlement.
“You sure you didn’t catch a cold or something?” Yuuto said with a small laugh. “Make sure to watch your health. It’s already gotten pretty cold over there, too, right?”
“Hmm, I don’t really feel like that’s what it is. ...Yuu-kun, you be careful too, okay?””
“Ah, I’ll be fine. I’m making sure to dress warm.”
“Umm, that’s not really what I mean... just, be careful.”
“Right, I know. I’ll be careful.”
He wasn’t sure what exactly he was supposed to be careful of, but he went along with her anyway, nodding.
As always, she’s such a worrywart, Yuuto thought to himself with a wry smile, but in reality he had in fact done things to make her worry over and over again, so he couldn’t really blame her for it.
Still, this time at least, he figured Mitsuki was worrying over nothing.
“Don’t worry about me,” he said. “It’s true that you never know what’s going to happen over here, but for the time being, things are peaceful.”
“Ugh... I don’t know why, but hearing that just made me more anxious.” Mitsuki’s voice, coming from the speaker, sounded troubled.
Indeed, it was just as Yuuto had said: Things were currently busy and hectic in Iárnviðr, but they were peaceful.
However, there were also incidents which could only occur during times of peace.
The intuition of a woman was truly a fearsome thing indeed.
Several days had passed without incident, and the unsuspecting sheep — Yuuto Suoh — found himself riding atop a horse.
Yuuto wasn’t skilled enough to ride by himself yet, so he was sitting behind Felicia.
Mount Surtsey, where they were headed, wasn’t a very developed area, so the roads weren’t well maintained. The carriage they normally used for travel would have taken two days, but by traveling directly on horseback instead, they were going to be able to arrive before sundown today.
Being able to shave two days off of the travel time was hugely important when things were as busy as they had been lately.
“Still, even with how busy things are, I really should have properly taken the time to practice horse riding...” Yuuto grumbled as he looked up at the clear blue sky, rare weather for this late in autumn.
A ruler needed to project an image of able-bodied strength to his subjects at all times, regardless of the actual truth. If the person in charge were seen as weak, his rule wouldn’t be as effective.
Machiavelli’s opinion about the topic, as stated in The Prince, was: “A Prince must be wary, strictly and above all else, of being disrespected or looked down upon.”
Yuuto found it pathetic that all of the girls traveling along with him were handling their horses just fine by themselves, and yet he couldn’t ride yet. He felt that this was exactly the kind of shameful display that would lead people to look down on him.
Of course, the truth was that traveling with such a large group of beautiful maidens in tow, one of them seated with him on his horse, projected an image of such strength that his own subjects trembled at his power, but he had no way of knowing that.
But Yuuto and his grumbling were immediately admonished by Felicia, as well as Sigrún, who riding beside them.
“Oh, come now, Big Brother!” Felicia said cheerfully. “Let us not worry about such things today.”
“She is right, Father,” Sigrún put in. “At least for the duration of this trip, please forget such formal worries and relax yourself.”
The stated aim of this trip was for the normally overworked Yuuto to have a chance for some rest and relaxation.
When they had first proposed the idea to him, Yuuto had refused, saying, “I can’t take a vacation while everyone else is so busy.” But with his second-in-command, the assistant to the second, the head of the clan elders, and all of his trusted Einherjar subordinates begging him to “please take a break just this once,” even a sovereign undefeated in war like Yuuto had found himself forced to admit defeat.
“I really am a lucky bastard, to have such loyal and devoted worrywarts in my family,” Yuuto whispered wryly with a sigh, but it was an irony tinged with truth.
Now that he was getting a chance to think about it, ever since becoming patriarch, it had been a continuous stream of crises and uncertainty. He’d spent every day working without really having had the chance to take a vacation.
The tightly wound thread cuts easily, as the saying went. He probably should take it easy and loosen up once in a while.
Yuuto felt a bit guilty for having made his subordinates worry so much about him, and at the same time, he felt a great warmth in his heart that they all thought so much about him.
“Well, I suppose I’ll take them up on their kindness this time and enjoy myself.” Yuuto took in the pleasant feeling of the crisp autumn wind against his face, and the sights of the passing scenery.
Traveling the road on horseback felt quite different from the experience of riding in a carriage.
First and foremost, there was the motion of the horse’s back under him, the sense that he was riding atop a living thing. He could clearly feel not only the horse’s footsteps, but even small motions like the turning of its head or the waving of its tail. That sort of sensation would have been impossible to experience riding in a carriage.
The height of his point of view was also drastically different. It made the surrounding scenery feel different and new to him.
Looking at all this makes me realize, a lot of the “natural scenery” back in Japan was pretty man-made, Yuuto thought.
Even the designated “natural parks” back home were places where trees were planted with a priority on visual beauty, with cherry blossoms blooming in the spring and maple leaves coloring in the autumn.
The small town where Yuuto had grown up was surrounded by mountains, but all the trees there were Japanese cedars, planted for their fast growth cycle and ease of use for residential areas.
By comparison, the nature in Yggdrasil was completely untouched. There were scattered rocks and boulders everywhere, and the diverse array of plant life was growing all jumbled together haphazardly, in a way that looked much less beautiful than the nature of Japan.
But it was truly natural.
For a good while, Yuuto simply let himself be absorbed in the majesty of that scenery.
Mount Surtsey was an active volcano, located to the southeast of Iárnviðr. Yuuto’s party had managed to arrive at the patriarch’s villa at the base of the mountain before sunset.
Though it was called a villa, it was a far cry from the palace in Iárnviðr — nothing more than a simple, if slightly large, log cabin, between two smaller buildings of similar make.
Inside, there were only a few beds, a desk, and grey wolf pelts on the floor in place of carpet.
According to Jörgen, it had been built by the third Wolf Clan patriarch as a place for taking therapeutic hot spring baths, back during the era when the Wolf Clan had been in control of most of the territory in the Bifröst Basin.
Yuuto’s predecessor Fárbauti had also apparently visited several times.
There was a small settlement of huntsman nearby who lived by selling the meat and pelts from the deer and boars they hunted. They had been informed of Yuuto’s coming, and so the women of their village had come by and thoroughly cleaned the place from corner to corner.
It looked to Yuuto like a perfectly comfortable place to spend the next couple of days.
So as soon as Yuuto entered the building, he made straight for the bed and flopped onto it face down. “Whew! I’m so tired...”
Riding a horse and being pulled by one in a carriage were completely different experiences, though they might have the horse in common. Horse riding was an official sport on its own, after all. In modern-day Japan, there were electronic exercise machines that simulated horse riding being sold for use in weight-loss, due to the fact that it put a lot of work on the body’s muscles to maintain one’s balance while riding.
The reason Yuuto was lying face down was that his butt hurt after making such a long trip on horseback.
Still, he had taken frequent breaks, and had been sure to apply an ointment made from horse oil to his thighs beforehand, so he’d fortunately been spared the pain of chafed thighs. That was an important accomplishment in itself.
He’d come here for a healing dip in the hot springs, so it wouldn’t have been funny if he had arrived with chafed thighs, unable to get in the hot water.
Felicia quickly opened up their luggage and came over to him carrying a large linen towel. “Big Brother, what do you say to entering the hot springs right away, to heal some of the tiredness from your journey?”
Yuuto had the urge to just sleep like a rock just where he was, but he also felt gross being soaked in sweat down to his underwear.
“Yeah, I think I will.” Yuuto forced his tired body to get up again.
Since the girls outnumbered him by so many, he felt a little bad using the baths before them. But, putting himself in their shoes, they couldn’t exactly feel comfortable as subordinates with the idea of going before their patriarch, and even if they did, they surely wouldn’t be able to take their time and enjoy themselves.
As their superior, the considerate thing to do in this situation would be to hurry up and take a quick dip, so the rest of them could use the baths without any concern.
“All right, then,” he said. “Hope you don’t mind, but I’ll go ahead and go first. Go ahead and tell the others for me.”
He wanted to avoid any situation where he and the girls came across each other in the baths, at all costs.
As a man, it wasn’t like he’d never fantasized about that sort of situation, but the mere thought of Mitsuki finding out didn’t just send a chill down his spine, it actively made his stomach ache.
Admittedly, about two months ago, in the palace in the Horn Clan capital, he’d ended up having to enter the bath with Felicia and Sigrún due to the security concerns of being in a foreign nation. But he was fully within Wolf Clan territory right now.
Yuuto took the towel from Felicia and unfurled it quickly with a satisfying snap! before slinging it over his shoulder. He then made his way outside, toward the hot springs in the area around back of the building.
“Ahhh, now this is how you appreciate nature,” he murmured, appreciating the scenery.
There was a clear, knee-deep mountain stream flowing by, and behind it stretched a lush expanse of trees, some of them with leaves stained a beautiful red.
There were rocks and boulders strewn about along the riverbank, and over in one area, there was a bit of a cliff, below which Yuuto could see white steam rising. It didn’t look all that different from a normal pool of water, but that had to be the hot springs. On one side of it was a small pavilion-like structure, likely serving both as shelter from the elements and a changing room.
“Nice! Nice!” Yuuto immediately took a liking to this place, and despite how tired he felt, he found his steps lightening as he entered the pavilion.
With excitement, he quickly undressed and stuck his hand in the water to test it. It felt perhaps a bit too hot for his liking, but not so much that he couldn’t handle it.
In Yuuto’s modern day Japan, hot springs resorts and hotels had the temperature of the water on display. Going by his experience at those places, this water was probably around 42 degrees Celsius. If he got in and let his body get used to it, it was actually going to be a great temperature for a hot spring bath.
“Whoa, that’s hot!” Yuuto used a bucket he found in the pavilion to wash the sweat off of himself with the hot water, then stepped slowly into the pool, and lowered himself down.
“Whewee, this is heaven...”
There was a really conveniently-shaped boulder nearby, so Yuuto leaned back against it and took a deep breath.
It felt like all of his fatigue was melting away into the hot waters of the spring.
And gazing out at the majesty of nature gave him a feeling of peace. He could feel his heart becoming lighter, freed from the constant pressures of his duty as the patriarch.
I’m really glad I came here, Yuuto reflected.
And just as he did...
“Wooow, hot springs, hot spriiings!”
“Al, please don’t run around recklessly like a small child.”
“D-don’t say that, Kris, I’m not a child!”
“Well then, let’s see, the last time you wet the bed was...”
“Awawawa, what are you saying all of a sudden, what are you saying?!”
“And by the way, that trickling sound I heard earlier...”
“Th-that wasn’t me, okay?! I didn’t do it!”
“Oh, I was only talking about the sound of the stream. But you certainly sounded a bit defensive, there. Did something come to mind?”
“N-no no no, nothing! I haven’t wet myself in, like, forever!”
“Well, I guess that’s true, even for someone like you, Al. You’re not that much of a toddler.”
“Uh huh, that’s right.”
“Just a little bit from nerves the first time you met Father, right?”
“Don’t talk about that when he’s right here in front of us!”
Two familiar voices pulled Yuuto out of his dreamy state of mind and right back into reality.
As he frantically turned in the direction of the voices, he saw the young twins, bantering back and forth just like always.
“Why did you two come in here?!” Yuuto raised his voice to question them, but Kristina just stared back at him blankly.
“Whatever do you mean? We’ve been right next to you this whole time.”
“What, seriously?!” Yuuto hadn’t noticed in the slightest.
Of course, that was perfectly understandable. The two of them were unmatched within the Wolf Clan when it came to the art of concealing their presence. Yuuto was not much better than an amateur when it came to the martial arts, so there was no way he could have perceived them.
“Yes, and we got an ample, thorough, extensive look at you,” Kristina grinned.
“Yeah, I was so surprised his was so much bigger than our father’s!”
“Indeed, and considering our father’s is far larger than that of the average man... As expected of the Infamous Wolf, Hróðvitnir! You must me making women moan with pleasure every night.”
“Don’t go casually spouting harmful rumors like that!” Yuuto shouted, and though he knew it was already too late, he instinctively covered his crotch with his hands.
His face felt unbearably hot. Even if they were just kids, being seen naked by someone of the opposite sex like this was embarrassing. He angrily made a shooing motion at both of the twins with one hand.
“J-just get out of here for now. This trip is supposed to be so I can relax, so at least let me bathe in peace for a while. As long as you two are here, I couldn’t relax even if I wanted to.”
“That won’t do,” Kristina insisted. “We are supposed to be guarding you, after all.”
“I don’t need you to. There aren’t any bandits in these parts.” Yuuto spat out the words, growing more irritated.
The hot springs was surrounded in three of its four directions by the villa buildings, and blocked by a wall of rock on the fourth. The buildings had been constructed with an eye on easily defending the patriarch’s personal healing bath. And Yuuto’s veteran Einherjar warriors were currently in those buildings. It was hardly a place where criminals would be able to sneak in.
That was exactly how Jörgen had recommended the place to him, saying, “You will have no worries of being accosted by bandits in that place. You’ll be able to fully enjoy the hot springs without a care.”
“It is true that I doubt bandits will attack us here, but there are wild deer and monkeys in the woods that sometimes come here, so the second-in-command told us to make sure to guard you vigilantly, Father.”
“Wha—?!” Yuuto’s eyes widened. This was the first he’d heard of that. “B-but, it’s not like the two of you would be able to do anything against wild animals.” Yuuto seized on what seemed like a good opportunity. “G-go call Rún or somebody else instead.”
Kristina wasn’t skilled in combat, and while Albertina was a master of assassination techniques who could move even faster than Sigrún, she lacked the pure strength necessary for fighting off wild beasts.
Using that as an excuse, he would send them off to get someone else, and then use that time to hurry and put his clothes back on.
By responding to such an unanticipated situation with such quick thinking, he wished he could say that he’d lived up to his reputation as an undefeated strategist, but he had to admit Kristina was one level above him, considering that the little devil had carefully managed to put him in such a trap in the first place.
Still, everything would be fine now.
“You are right, and that’s why everyone else should be arriving any moment now.”
“Huh...?” Yuuto was dumbfounded. “Everyone... else?”
“That’s right. Look.” With a devilish grin, Kristina turned around and pointed.
“Wha... what...” Yuuto’s gaze followed her lead, and he was dumbstruck.
He had been so absorbed in arguing with Kristina that he hadn’t noticed, but all of the other girls were now approaching, towels in hand!
“Y-you tricked me, didn’t you, Kris?!” he shouted.
“Heh heh, whatever are you talking about?”
“Urgh, y-you scheming little fox!” Yuuto yelled in exasperation at his sworn daughter, who only smirked coolly in response.
It was said that the great Carthaginian general Hannibal had used cunning tactics to surround and wipe out a much larger enemy force at the Battle of Cannae, sending a huge shockwave through the Roman Republic of that era.
And during Japan’s own Sengoku Period, during the Battle of Okitanawate, the Shimazu clan had used a now-famous military tactic called the “fisher and bandit” to fake out and surround a force several times larger than their own, defeating them.
On the field of battle, surrounding one’s enemies granted incredible tactical superiority. Enough to bring victory to a numerically much weaker force.
By contrast, right now, Yuuto was a lone man being surrounded by seven women.
The situation on his battlefield was, by all accounts, quite hopeless.
“This truly feels like paradise,” Felicia said, sighing with pleasure. She was resting her back against one of the boulders, with just her legs soaking in the springs.
As she exhaled, her large breasts swayed slightly. Despite their size, they were firm enough that her protruding nipples were tilted slightly upward. And with her tight waist, her figure drew the envious stares of all the girls present.
“Yes, this is the perfect place for Father to get some rest.” Sigrún stood in the center of the pool, her well-toned naked form fully exposed. Her figure was tight and muscled, yet still feminine and supple, reminiscent of a large predatory cat.
She still carried a sword in hand, and it made her look even more like some goddess out of myth, with an air of sacred dignity about her.
“Y-y-yeah, i-it’s really great, yeah!” Ingrid’s response was to shout in a disproportionately loud and shrill voice, her face as red as a ripe apple.
Just like Felicia, she was resting against a boulder with just her feet in the water, but perhaps out of embarrassment, she was securely covering herself with her towel. Still, with the top half of her breasts exposed, and the line of her thin waist, the feminine curves of her body were still plain to see.
“This is my first time visiting a hot springs, but it’s really good. Ahh...” Linnea was leaning forward against a rock, resting on her arms, with her lower body in the spring, letting out sighs of pleasure.
The expression on her flushed face somehow looked erotic. The image of her slender back and well-shaped bottom wavered beneath the ripples of the steamy water.
“Wheee, the wind feels so gooood!” Albertina giggled as she ran this way and that, up and down the riverbank.
She was also completely naked.
She seemed healthy and full of energy, at least.
Kristina sighed. “Really, Al, one of these days you need to learn proper modesty as a woman.” As she followed her sister with her eyes, she gave an exasperated sigh.
Kristina was busy scooping up water with both hands and then letting it fall back down, over and over. The ripples created by that managed to just conceal her naked form in any way that seemed almost like a magical illusion.
The effect of almost being able to see, but not quite, had a strangely fascinating effect.
“C-can a slave girl like Ephy really be allowed to be in such an amazing place as this?” Ephelia was sitting in the pool clutching her knees, and trembling nervously.
She had originally intended to remain in the pavilion and guard everyone’s clothes, but Felicia and Ingrid had insisted she get in too, and she hadn’t been able to fully refuse them.
Yuuto, meanwhile, sat with his back facing the girls, trapped in an internal spiral of regrets. “Dammit, I should have just made a run for it when I had the chance.”
He couldn’t very well stand up and get out of the pool naked with all of those girls watching, and he found himself sitting there, waiting for an opening to escape.
The common wisdom stated that retreat was the most difficult aspect of fighting a battle. Once a general realized the situation was too disadvantageous, he or she should be prepared to accept some losses and retreat immediately.
That was how the logic went, but people had a tendency to lose the ability to act unemotionally rational when faced with a real crisis situation.
In that sense, Oda Nobunaga had truly been an incredible figure. During the Siege of Kanegasaki in 1570 A.D., Nobunaga had sensed the danger that his forces might be caught in a pincer attack, and despite how successfully the battle had gone in his favor so far, he’d swiftly ordered a retreat.
“But how was I supposed to have predicted this...?” Yuuto continued grumbling to himself quietly.
Back in Iárnviðr, he had been sure to make things clear to everyone several times, and so after that, he’d been able to take baths alone without having to say anything in particular.
The incident at the baths in the Horn Clan capital had been only an exception under emergency circumstances, and Yuuto had made sure that his little sisters and daughters understood that.
Yuuto was fully aware of his own shortcomings. That was exactly why he chose to place his trust in others, relying on them to help him.
That heartfelt trust made a deep impression on his subordinates, inspiring a deep loyalty within their hearts and a willingness to do anything for him.
That was, indeed, the rare quality belonging to a true ruler and sovereign. But specifically in times like this, it had negative side effects.
Often, a person’s strengths and weaknesses were two sides of the same coin. Yuuto never had any particular obsession with his own power or authority, and so he was woefully unguarded when it came to his own allies.
“Father? Instead of shrinking yourself into the corner like that, why don’t you come over here and relax more?” Kristina called.
“You think I can do that right now?!”
“It’s all right, Father. I assure you, yours is a splendid and extraordinary specimen, so you have nothing to worry about.”
“Get off that subject already! Actually, I’ve been in here long enough already! I’m getting out!” Yuuto shouted angrily without looking in Kristina’s direction, and climbed up out of the water. At this point, he was angry enough that he couldn’t care anymore if they saw him naked once.
The girls had arrived right after he’d undressed and gotten in the water, with eerily good timing that had made it difficult for him to get away. And the first two of them had been the twins, the experts in stealth operations. That alone was enough for Yuuto to understand that this had been planned.
So even if he had waited around for the storm to pass, as it were, they were unlikely to give him that opportunity. It was clear that staying here would just lead to things continually getting worse.
Sigrún and Felicia moved, with incredible swiftness, to stand in front of the changing room and block the path out.
“Please wait, Father,” Sigrún said quickly. “I was unable to wash your back during that time in the Horn Clan palace, so I beg of you to grant me another chance!”
“That’s right, Big Brother,” Felicia said. “You granted that wish to Elder Sister Linnea the last time, but not giving those of us within your own clan that same privilege is far too cold. I am quite saddened that it feels as if you have put distance between us.”
Neither of them were making any effort to cover themselves.
Yuuto found himself turning his head away to the right out of embarrassment. But when he did that, the figures of the other girls still bathing entered his field of vision, so he was forced to shut his eyes, and couldn’t move. He finally realized, all too late, that he was in checkmate.
Yuuto hung his head. “...Fine, do whatever you like.”
At this point, it was all he could do just to say those words.
“...What the hell is this situation?!” Yuuto was out of the water, sitting on a conveniently shaped rock, and completely at a loss.
His eyes were still closed, so he didn’t have a full grasp of the situation, but he could tell that the girls were crowded around him closely from the sounds of their breathing.
“This is the result of countless discussions we had, taking a lesson from the failure at the Horn Clan bath, about how everyone could be able to properly show their devotion to you, Big Brother.”
“Why is this one little thing such a big freaking deal to you?!” Yuuto shouted in a high-pitched voice.
One popular saying goes that men are from Mars and women are from Venus. Even in the modern age of the 21st century, it was still a complete mystery to men what goes on in the heads of women.
And indeed, the same was true for Yuuto in that moment. Nothing about this made sense to him.
“Calling it ‘one little thing’ is too much,” Felicia scolded. “I cannot allow you to say that, Big Brother. Every one of us is grateful to you from the bottom of our hearts, and we wish to express that feeling through washing your back, yet until now we have been unable to do so. We could not possibly let such a rare opportunity escape.”
“Incidentally, we determined our positions fairly by drawing lots,” Kristina said, holding onto Yuuto’s left arm. He could tell by the tone of her voice that she was enjoying watching him in this situation.
Albertina was holding onto his left arm. Sigrún was next to his right leg, and Ingrid was next to his left, blushing and muttering, “Oh geez, oh geez,” to herself.
Linnea was right in front of him, with both knees on the ground and leaning over him with a towel.
And his trusty adjutant Felicia just so happened to have drawn the lot for his back, it would seem.
Yuuto had fought to the last to leave his crotch out of this. The towel wrapped around his waist was his final act of resistance against them. Never before in his life had a single piece of cloth felt so important to him.
Incidentally, Ephelia had turned down drawing lots. The patriarch’s direct subordinates, who had exchanged the sacred Oath of the Chalice with him, were fervently awaiting the chance to fulfill the desire they had been denied for so long. She found the idea of a slave girl like her participating as well to be unthinkably impudent.
“Augh, just get it over with already! But once this is over, we’re going straight home! Got it?!” Yuuto’s pronouncement was defeated and slightly resentful. He felt like a slab of meat on the chopping block.
The self-restraint Yuuto had to not open his eyes was commendable.
He was an old-fashioned type of man from the countryside. The world of Yggdrasil wasn’t one where the choice of whom and whether to marry was a matter of personal freedom, like in 21st century Japan.
Just like how things had once been in Japan in the centuries before the postwar economic boom, and just like Felicia had experienced firsthand, society in Yggdrasil was cold towards women who couldn’t get married.
In a world with those values, Yuuto was firmly committed not to look at an unmarried naked woman, since he was unable to take responsibility the old-fashioned way and marry her.
But he also couldn’t deny that same commitment to his values had cut off his means of escaping this situation in the first place.
“All right, I’m going to begin, Big Brother.” Yuuto heard Linnea’s voice, and he felt a wet towel begin to scrub against his chest.
“By your leave, Father!”
“Well then, Father...”
“Let’s begin, Big Brother.”
He felt the same sensation beginning on his arms and legs. It tickled a bit, but also felt really good. Having another person wash his body was actually an intensely pleasurable experience. And the ones washing him were all outstandingly beautiful girls.
Even though his eyes were closed, he couldn’t help thinking about it. He could feel the area between his legs growing hotter.
This wasn’t that sort of act between man and woman, it was nothing more than an expression of filial piety from the girls to their sworn big brother and father. Yuuto repeated that to himself over and over in his mind, but—
Squish.
“Uwagh?! M-miss F-Felicia, j-just what are you using to wash my back?!” Yuuto was so completely astonished that he spoke to Felicia in polite language.
Felicia responded by whispering into his ear, in a voice filled with sensuality. “That is obvious... I am washing you with my chest.”
“Wh-wh-whyyyy?!”
“Washing my beloved big brother’s back with a mere tool or cloth would be the height of crudeness. I would say that washing you using my own body is the most loyal and pure way to express my devotion to you!”
“There’s definitely something wrong withaaaagh?!” Yuuto suddenly felt something wet against the sole of his left foot.
“R-R-Rún! Wh-what did you do just now?!”
Just what was that? Yuuto hadn’t the slightest idea. It was a sensation he had never felt before in his life.
“I was licking your foot, Father. Um, i-it did not hurt, I hope?”
“L-l-licking?!”
“Yes, I was worried that a clumsy soldier such as myself might harm your precious skin, so I asked Felicia for her counsel, and she responded that I should just use my tongue.”
“Felicia, what the hell kind of advice are you giving Rún?!”
“Kh...! As expected of the two people closest to Big Brother! I can’t afford to be afraid in this situation!”
“Ah... w-w-well, I’ve got j-just as much gratitude toward Yuuto as all of you, and I’m not gonna lose!” Ingrid cried.
“The two of you need to take that competitive streak and use it for something else!”
Yuuto’s desperate cries didn’t reach their ears. He began to feel warm, soft sensations on his chest and right leg that weren’t cloth. He didn’t want to think about what it was, and truthfully didn’t have the capacity to think about it anymore.
He’d already been in the steaming hot springs for quite a long time, and he was starting to feel faint. His current situation wasn’t helping. In fact, it was actively making it worse.
“All right, I’ll try it, too!” Albertina exclaimed.
“Al, you’re still too young for something like that, so let’s just both use these linen rags to scrub him, okay?” Kristina said coolly.
“Wow, wow, that l-looks so amazing, Master!” Ephy cried.
The fact that the youngest girls weren’t participating in this dead heat competition was some consolation at least, but it didn’t stop the rest of them.
“Ah... oh... crap...” Yuuto got the sense that something had come out of his nose. But, he no longer had the ability to think about what it was.
As his consciousness began to fade, he only felt the sensation of his head spinning, and the odd feeling of not knowing which way was up.
“Big Brother?!”
“Father?!”
“Big Brother?!”
“Y-Yuuto?!”
“Father?!”
“Master?!”
The faint, distant sound of the girls’ voices was the last thing Yuuto heard before he finally lost consciousness.
“We are truly sorry! Please forgive us.”
When Yuuto next came to, he was on a bed inside the villa.
He opened his eyes to see seven pairs of worried eyes looking down at him.
After moment of joy that he’d regained consciousness, the girls all stepped back from his bed, got down on both knees, and began apologizing profusely.
“Umm...” Yuuto was still lightheaded, and wasn’t sure exactly how to respond.
He shook his head, clearing his mind, and tried to get a grasp of the situation.
He must have been carried here while he was unconscious. There weren’t any other men accompanying him on this trip, so the girls would have to have been the ones to do it.
He was wearing loose-fitting night clothes, and clearly the girls must have dressed him in those, as well. They would have seen everything. It was so incredibly embarrassing. Just thinking about it made his face start to feel hot.
“B-Big Brother?! Y-you shouldn’t...” Felicia began to hurry over to his side, but Yuuto held up a hand to stop her.
“No, I’m fine, Felicia.”
While in the hot springs, the heat and the rush of blood to his head had combined with his flustered reaction to the girls’ naked bodies, and he hadn’t been able to think straight. But now he had regained a sound state of mind.
Before anything else, there were questions that needed to be asked.
“So, why did you all do that? I’m pretty sure I said that I wanted to bathe alone. Right?”
“That is... wild animals sometimes approach the hot springs, so, I thought I needed to be there, just in case...” In faltering words, Sigrún began to give the exact same defense that Kristina had used earlier.
It was true that carnivores such as wolves weren’t the only wild animals to be wary of; even monkeys and deer could be exceedingly dangerous.
Seriously though, that second-in-command of mine really dropped the ball by forgetting to warn me about something that important, Yuuto thought to himself with a deep sigh.
That explained the actions of his military officer, at least. Yuuto then turned his gaze to the other girls.
“Um, I did say as much in the hot springs, but we owe you such an enormous debt of gratitude, Big Brother,” Felicia said, her eyes not leaving the floor. “We wanted you to allow us to attend to you and express that feeling. And since you will eventually be returning home, we wanted to do it now, while we had the chance to.”
Several of the other girls nodded in agreement.
Yuuto was weak against that line of argument. He knew that the girls gathered in this room had sincere love and respect for him. And the feelings of wanting to do something for the closest people in one’s life were also feelings he understood. Including the fact that those feelings were all the more strong when one knew there was not much time.
When his late mother had fallen terminally ill, Yuuto had been full of regret. He had been angry at himself, wondering Why couldn’t I have been a more devoted son?
He had owed so much to his sworn older brother as well, but in the end had only managed to repay him in misery, a memory which still made his heart ache.
“...All right. I’m at fault here, too.” Yuuto took a deep breath, and as he exhaled, he released the tension from his face.
He had always refused to allow the girls to personally attend to him up until now. Of course, the biggest reason for that was his obligation towards Mitsuki, but a major part of it was also the feelings of awkwardness and shame he carried with their roots in the values and mores of modern day Japan.
However, in this world of Yggdrasil, with a culture that placed more emphasis on the family bonds formed by the Chalice than on blood ties and demanded full loyalty and service from one’s heart, Yuuto’s attitude towards the girls might really have been too distant and reserved.
His stubbornness had only caused their feelings of wanting to serve him to build and build, inviting the sort of incident that had just happened, where they had gone too far.
“When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” as the saying went. Perhaps it was necessary for everyone to blow off a little steam once in a while.
For the sake of Yuuto’s safety, if nothing else.
“All right, fine,” he said. “For the rest of this trip, I’ll let you serve me however you like. But you’re gonna be wearing clothes! And you can’t get too touchy-feely, either! All right?!”
“Th-thank you so much!!” All of the girls shouted their thanks in unison, their faces alight with beaming joy.
Is it really something to get that happy over? Yuuto thought wryly, but he also felt a pang of guilt for having rejected them for so long up till now.
He’d been so adamantly speaking and thinking of them as his family, but maybe at some level he’d kept some distance between himself and them.
After that, the girls lavishly attended to Yuuto’s every need (within moderation), and Yuuto spent the remainder of his vacation in every comfort.
He departed on his return trip to Iárnviðr with his body rested and his spirit refreshed.
Having completed his five-day mission of serving as the acting patriarch, Yuuto was now in the middle of leisurely making his way down the street towards his home.
The Wolf Clan’s second-in-command Jörgen suddenly stopped, turned around and called out to the darkness behind him. “Did you need something from me?”
In the darkness of that night, the only light to speak of was from the moon in the sky and the small torch he held. Yuuto could scarcely see anything five elles ahead. (An elle was an ancient form of measurement in Yggdrasil equal to about 50 centimeters.) Even so, the eyes of the veteran warrior were locked firmly on to one point ahead in the darkness.
“I was fairly sure I erased my presence, too. Truly, you are a fearsome man, Second-in-Command! ?”
With those last words in a sing-song tone, the owner of the voice slipped out of the darkness and into Jörgen’s field of vision. It was a very young girl, which would normally seem out of place on a dark road at night. But one couldn’t judge by appearances alone.
Despite her age, she was a person of great skill and potential, and she had just the other day exchanged the Oath of the Chalice directly with Patriarch Yuuto, becoming his sworn daughter. Her name was Kristina, as Jörgen recalled.
“I could say the same of you; you’ve spent the last two years even further polishing your ability to blend in with the shadows, haven’t you?” The corner of Jörgen’s mouth pulled upwards in a smirk.
The Wolf and Claw Clans had once been mutual enemies, and Kristina had attempted to infiltrate the palace in Iárnviðr on more than one occasion. Each time, what had forced her to give up and turn back was the presence of Jörgen and Skáviðr, the two old veteran warriors of the clan.
“So you know about that, too,” Kristina said. “At the least, I was sure that I had never been visibly spotted...”
“You weren’t, which was really quite impressive. I only became certain just now that it was you. I remember this unsettling skin-crawling sensation, after all.” Jörgen rolled up his sleeve to reveal the goosebumps on his arm.
The pure intuition of a warrior who had made it through battle after battle, walking the razor’s edge, was not something that could be explained with logic. No matter how successfully the opponent could conceal their killing intent, or their presence, this man could still feel something. His skin reacted.
Jörgen did not hold a rune, but he held a well-honed instinct that was no less extraordinary than an Einherjar’s ability. Accumulated experience, at times, could prove more powerful than raw ability.
“Well, it would certainly be very convenient for us if you used that technique for Father’s sake,” Jörgen said.
“Hee hee, of course that is what I’ll do. Isn’t that obvious? I am his daughter now, you know.”
“I know better than to trust the words of a fox.”
“Good gracious, and I was being honest, too.” Kristina sighed, looking terribly sad.
Jörgen paid that no mind, and stared at her with even greater pressure, as if trying to dig out her true feelings. “So, I’ll ask again: Did you need something from me?”
“No, nothing important, really,” Kristina said. “I just wanted to come and thank you for having acted so quickly.”
“No, no, I should be the one thanking you. You did a great thing in informing me.”
“Oh, but what could you mean? I did nothing more than ask you a question or two, out of concern for Father.”
“Ahh, that is what you did, isn’t it?”
“Indeed it is.” Kristina giggled suggestively.
She had gone to Jörgen, claiming to be collecting information for Yuuto’s research.
“Father is searching for information on famous wielders of seiðr magic. Do you know anything about them?” That was how she had worded it. And she had planned to report anything she learned back to Yuuto.
What a thoughtful and devoted daughter I am to Father, she would have said.
And, of course, whatever conclusions Jörgen might draw after hearing her question, and what actions he might take, were all within her plans anyway.
“This whole affair is a headache,” Jörgen said. “First he asked the imperial goði Alexis if there was any technique for crossing between worlds, and he has been fervently collecting old legends and records from all over the land. And now, he’s looking into the wielders of seiðr. It appears that Father has finally begun to focus his full efforts in returning to his kingdom beyond the heavens.”
Jörgen shook his head, his face pained.
He didn’t have any intention of blaming Yuuto or calling him irresponsible. The young man had never intended to set foot in this world in the first place, and had instead been called here against his will. His wish to return to his homeland was as natural and right for him as it was for any human.
Nor had he aspired to the throne of patriarch. Instead, the previous patriarch had practically forced the position onto him. And despite that, the young man had saved the Wolf Clan from one crisis after another, and had helped them grow and prosper again.
Under any normal circumstances, in the face of such a great debt of gratitude, the right thing to do would be for the whole Wolf Clan to join together in helping him search for a way home, and then see him off with a fond farewell.
“It’s just as I said during our previous meeting, in the end, we of the Wolf Clan are nothing without Father,” Jörgen mourned. “No one can take his place.”
Now that the Claw and Horn Clans were officially in service to the Wolf Clan, the Wheat and Mountain Dog Clans were trying to enter into their protection, as well. But they weren’t actually pledging themselves in service to the Wolf Clan — merely to Yuuto, an overwhelmingly powerful and charismatic figure.
Jörgen believed that he did not have what it would take to maintain those same international relationships if he succeeded Yuuto, not by a mile. And Jörgen’s reasoning had already proven to be right on the mark.
That black-haired young man known as Yuuto Suoh was a far greater figure to the Wolf Clan than Yuuto himself was aware of. Indeed, he was too great.
“We must make Father give up on leaving, no matter what.” Jörgen spoke the words aloud to himself, with resolute determination.
Personally, he sympathized with Yuuto and felt guilty about it, but as a public servant thinking about the security and prosperity of the Wolf Clan, it was the only conclusion he could reach.
However, Yuuto was the ultimate authority within the clan, so naturally the use of force was out of the question.
That left persuasion, but though Yuuto might appear mild-mannered, once he’d decided on something, he would stubbornly follow through on it to the end, with an indomitable will.
As things stood now, even if everyone got together and implored him to stay behind, it would do nothing more than upset him. There was no chance he would relent.
At least, not yet.
“If at all possible, I was hoping that one of you would have taken the chance to get more intimately acquainted with him,” said Jörgen. “I’m not sure whether I should be more disappointed in my clan sisters, who couldn’t even seduce a single man despite being given the perfect opportunity, or whether I should be praising Father’s ironclad fidelity, for being able to restrain himself despite being surrounded by so many beautiful women. It’s vexing either way.”
Jörgen sighed, a hard look on his scarred face.
At Yuuto’s return, there had been no sense that he and any of the girls shared the kind of awkward, romantic, and sweet tension that was unique to a newly intimate couple.
Even without having traveled with them, Jörgen could tell right away that no such pairing had come of the trip.
“Heh heh, that does remind me. Supposedly there is a rumor passed down from olden times that those who visit that hot springs shall be blessed with children.” Kristina gave Jörgen a suggestive, all-knowing look.
Jörgen responded with a broad, self-satisfied smile. “Well then, you’ve got sharp ears, little fox. Yes, I had figured that if perhaps Father were to conceive a child, that would tip the scales of his heart a little more in our favor. Well, it does seem like there was at least some small amount of progress made this time around, so I suppose I’ll have to be satisfied with that for now. We still have time. We can create as many more opportunities as we need.”
“Oh, impressive. As expected of the Wolf Clan’s second-in-command, you have quite a knack for this sort of plotting.”
“I’m nothing compared to your birth father, though.”
During Jörgen’s long rise to his current position, he had survived through multiple internal political power struggles.
One could not influence people with a forceful approach alone.
Jörgen’s fearsome, scarred face belied his true talent: He excelled at backdoor politics, managing competing interests and laying the groundwork so that plans moved forward smoothly. His status as the second-in-command was no coincidence.
Although, with his tendency to always focus inward on cooperation and internal affairs, he was limited in his ability to see things from a wider perspective.
“Still, I was a bit surprised at you,” Jörgen added. “Won’t it be more convenient for the Claw Clan if Father leaves this world?”
“I am a direct child subordinate of the Wolf Clan patriarch now, you know. But, all right, if I were going out of my way to speak as the daughter by birth of Claw Clan Patriarch Botvid, I would say this: Rather than foolishly trying to undermine the Wolf Clan and rob them of their wealth, it would be more prudent, and far more profitable, to maintain allegiance to them and receive a share of their prosperity. That is how powerful, and how great, Father is.”
“...Hm, I see.”
I’d say the little fox still isn’t letting on to all of her intentions, but it sounded like she believed what she was saying just now, Jörgen reflected.
After the Claw Clan’s great defeat at the Siege of Iárnviðr, and the retaliatory campaign by the Wolf Clan after Yuuto’s ascendance to patriarch, the Claw Clan had lost quite a lot of its territory and soldiers. Perhaps the domestic situation there was even worse than the Wolf Clan believed.
“Still, it’s impressive that you have such keen insight for someone so young,” Jörgen said. “I fear for the future.”
“Goodness, must I repeat myself? I am a direct subordinate of the Wolf Clan patriarch. I wish you would say you have high hopes for me.” Kristina puffed out her cheek in a show of childish irritation.
Going by her personality, it was clearly an act.
Jörgen smiled, then responded with a long, affected sigh. “From my point of view, it feels like we’re nursing a snake in our bosom.”
“How cruel! First I’m a fox, and now you are comparing me to a snake? I’m not sure what you might think, but I am still a girl with feelings...”
“You should take it as a compliment that I think you’re too clever and dangerous to ignore. Well, at least on the point of not wanting to lose our master and benefactor, it seems the Wolf and Claw Clans share a mutual interest. Learning that was valuable in itself.” He nodded deeply to himself, then flashed a broad grin. “Here’s hoping this is the start of a long-lasting friendship. Ha ha ha!”
In the light of a small torch in the darkness, Jörgen’s shoulders shook with his booming, cheerful laugh.
He had confirmed that, at least for the time being, the cunning little fox in their midst would work to bring profit to the Claw Clan by working loyally for the Wolf Clan.
It was delightful bit of news for him, and a huge weight off of his mind.
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