Chapter 63: Tribute
[A/N: People, at the end of the chapter I will leave a notice with the chapter schedules, please read it so you can be aware of it.]
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"But even though you made a mistake worthy of a puppy, I can't understand why you're sad..."
"B-because I feel bad for what I did *Sniff* and for you."
"..." Looking at Saya for a few seconds, Fenrir tilted his head and asked "You think I'm mad?"
"N-you're not *Sniff*?"
"Why would I be?" With genuine confusion, Fenrir continued "You made a mistake, that's clear, but... I already expressed my annoyance and I already told you why I reacted that way... why should I still be angry?"
"R-really you're not angry anymore?" looking at Fenrir's eyes with doubt, Saya stammered.
"I don't understand why I should be..." Blinking with confusion, Fenrir continued "I expressed my anger and my feelings to you... you managed to understand them and that's enough... isn't that the reason why we express these feelings? So that others can understand you and act based on that..."
Just like when Shizuka tried to calm Fenrir down so he wouldn't attack Saya's father, Fenrir doesn't really hold grudges, he never has.
Well, he may have happily eaten the bear that tore his arm off and he certainly enjoyed eating every last snake that poisoned him, but that doesn't mean he's a vengeful being who never forgets grievances.
Literally Fenrir is like any other animal, kick him once and he will bite you, give him food and he will see you with good eyes, although well, every animal has its limit and certainly Fenrir is the most extreme case.
But all this is not because Fenrir is submissive or afraid, but unfortunately that kind of personality was formed in Siberia.
If Fenrir had been a being that holds grudges for every little grievance, no doubt his death would have been premature and his legend would not be being narrated today.
"You..." Looking at Fenrir's confused face, Saya bit her lips and lowered her gaze "You are incredibly pure..."
"Yuriko always tells me that... though I can't quite understand what it means."
'He doesn't understand almost anything about emotions yet...' Wiping tears from her face, Saya thought 'Just expressing your anger to others is enough? Of course not... if it were, there wouldn't be people getting angry in solitude and venting it on random objects... the feelings are much more complex... but well, he'll figure that out in the future'
"So... are you hungry?" watching Saeko return from the forest with a large boar, Fenrir asked.
"*Sniff* Mn."
***
After that short moment of tension, peace returned to the forest and the routine continued.
Hunt, eat, rest and sleep.
The routine couldn't be easier and more pleasant.
But this time in the daily session where Fenrir used to learn from the girls about human knowledge, something totally vital was added.
A book created by Saya based on the knowledge she managed to get from Satooji's book.
More than anything a book with all the beasts known in the area and even created a map with where a certain beast is supposed to reign.
Although today the map does not work at all thanks to the constant expansion of Fenrir's territory, it certainly has its usefulness, especially certain territories hundreds of kilometers away painted in black with skulls indicating the residence of incredibly powerful beasts such as dragons and even a poisonous hydra.
But this novelty is certainly not the most interesting of late and right now the group is experiencing something completely new.
Sitting in his large wolf form outside his cave, Fenrir looked at the large row of different animals in front of him and focused on the small rabbit leading the group.
"*Squeak*" Ducking his head in submission, the small rabbit dropped a mysterious, glowing purple rock in front of Fenrir, while his entire small body trembled heavily from instinctive fear.
Standing next to Fenrir, Saya looked with a sincere surprise at this unexpected event and murmured "I think I understand what's going on here..."
"Can you explain it to me?" Turning her gaze to Saya, Fenrir asked with confusion.
How could he not be confused?
His food gathered en masse to come to his cave and the first I know he sees, drops a rare glowing stone in front of him for no reason.
"They're giving you an offering" Smiling softly, Yuriko crouched down in front of the rabbit and gently stroked its head, completely ignoring the rabbit's crimson eyes and sharp fangs "It wants your protection in exchange for that nice stone it found."
"My protection?" lowering his gaze to the rabbit, Fenrir focuses on the glowing stone and thinks for a few seconds, then looks at Yuriko and asks "Should I accept?"
"That's for you to decide" Chuckling, Yuriko lifted her gaze to Fenrir and continued "You like his stone?"
"Mmmm" Staring at the stone, Fenrir touched it with his fingernail and tilted his head slightly, then nodded and replied "I like the way it shines."
"So you'd like to let this rabbit live in your territory? Obviously not as food, but as a friend of your pack or perhaps as one of your pack"
"To join my pack?" Frowning slightly, Fenrir stared at the small rabbit, then sniffed it for a few seconds and muttered "But it's not a wolf..."
"But if we leave Saeko aside, neither are we" Raising her eyebrows, Yuriko commented.
"..." Looking at Yuriko for a few seconds, Fenrir lowered his gaze to the trembling rabbit and kept silent, then turning his gaze to the wolves watching the rest of the animals with sharp eyes and growling softly "The rabbit... it's from the pack."
Smiling softly, Yuriko nodded and looked down at the rabbit, then picked up the stone and set it down next to Fenrir.
Raising its fearful gaze to Fenrir's face, the rabbit squealed for a few seconds and slowly moved off to the side, standing somewhat cautiously along with the giant wolves surrounding the area.
With the rabbit integrated into the ranks, Fenrir looked at the next animal that approached him and muttered "A boar... but what is that?"
Touching his fingernail to his offering, Fenrir turned to Yuriko and asked "What is this?"
"Mmmm...I don't know" Approaching towards what the boar left on the ground, Yuriko looked at it closely and commented strangely "It seems to be a tree branch... but its color is certainly peculiar".
The offering offered by the boar is certainly something rare for Fenrir and his pack.
It is not because it is something extremely technological or something extremely bright, but it seems to be a simple tree branch but with a strange color of a phosphorescent green that makes it glow even in the daytime.
"Do you like this branch?" Looking up at Fenrir, Yuriko asked with interest.
"Well..." Touching the branch with her fingernail, Fenrir blinked for a few seconds and nodded "It's shiny... I like its color... it's pretty."
Laughing at the simplicity, Yuriko thought 'It's so easy to make him happy'.
"Is this normal?" looking at the whole situation, Rika turned to Saya and asked curiously.
"Not at all, at least not according to what I managed to learn from Satooji-san" Shaking her head, Saya continued "It's really amazing to think how these animals agreed to give offerings... more so to think how they managed to think of giving offerings, since it sounds more like a human idea or any more intelligent being"
"But if you notice, almost all the offerings are shiny objects" Looking at the large amount of shiny stones and branches next to Fenrir, Rika continued with an amused smile "It looks like they looked for the shiniest thing they could find and brought it, I even see a couple of shiny zetas that actually look poisonous"
"Almost all animals are attracted to shiny things, I wouldn't be surprised if these are their most prized objects" Shrugging, Saya continued "I also wouldn't be surprised if when Kiriko arrives she goes crazy over so many shiny objects and acts with the typical greed of a dragon from the stories."
"But is it really okay for Fenrir to do this?" looking at the large line of animals with tributes, Rika continued "The pack is already big enough.... now with all these animals that were once considered prey joining in... what will the wolves eat?"
Raising her eyebrows, Saya rubbed her chin and nodded "Certainly it might become a little difficult to get food... but I also doubt that these are all the animals in the area, there don't seem to be more than 200 animals and we already know that around these parts there are thousands of them."
"I think it's the most intelligent animals who came" Reaching Saya's side, Yuriko continued with a small smile "There are some families in these animals and they are all of different species, but there are no more than 5 wild boars or 10 rabbits, a very low number for the large number in the area... so that gives me to understand that these animals have a much higher intelligence than average and based on that, they managed to think of giving tributes to achieve to join"
"That's a viable theory" Nodding, Saya looked at Fenrir accepting all the tributes with bright eyes and smiled "He looks happy"
"Have you ever thought that we never gave anything to Fenrir?" looking at Saya and Rika seriously, Yuriko continued "We never celebrated his birthday, we never made him a cake, just like we never gave him anything... now that I think about it, it makes me feel really bad".
"But isn't it normal for everyone? Since we lived together we never celebrated a birthday" Looking at Fenrir, Rika continued "Food was scarce and in the face of this new lifestyle, a birthday didn't seem important."
"But for someone who never received anything like a gift or had anything just made for him.... Such an event must be incredible" Looking at Fenrir with sadness in her eyes, Yuriko murmured "We'll have to plan something together."
"We could celebrate everyone's birthday on the same day."
"In some future yes, but I think we should do something just for Fenrir first" Shaking her head, Yuriko continued "We already know that feeling of a birthday, we know what it's like to eat a cake while your loved ones are with you... but Fenrir never experienced that, he never experienced new year, he never experienced Christmas, he never experienced anything close to affection before us... I think he deserves to have that, he deserves to experience it"
"..." Turning her gaze to the wolf who accepts every offering no matter how ugly it looks, Rika lowered her gaze and nodded softly "We'll have to order everything we need to make a great cake."
"We need to add it to the shopping list for Satooji-san to take care of."
"Mn."
***
Lying in his wolf form around many stones, branches, pieces of wood, herbs and bright flowers, Fenrir rested happily in a much smaller size than usual.
After having received many tributes from the new members of the pack, the girls took the time to take all the flowers that still had relics and plant them in the middle of the cave.
Although they would die sooner or later due to the lack of sun, they would undoubtedly remain long enough for Fenrir to enjoy for a while.
So, having a circle of flowers and all kinds of objects, Fenrir formed his own nest and rested every day in the same place with tranquility, causing the girls to smile when they saw him as happy as a child for something as simple as objects that you would find anywhere on the ground.
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Edited By:
Discord: https://discord.gg/VtHg4GqXtq
Pa treon: https://www. pa treon.com /Eroos
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We have a new chapter upload schedule.
Monday: Reversal and Savage
Tuesday: Reversal
Wednesday: Reversal and Savage
Thursday: Reversal
Friday: Reversal and Savage
Saturday: Savage
Sunday: Free.
Each chapter will be around 2000 words as usual.
This schedule will start working from Thursday and it is something that I will have no problem to keep since it is adjusted to my schedule.
The chapters will be previously programmed and will be uploaded automatically, so the time should be punctual every day.
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