Rowan started setting up rope and noisy string lines at strategic spots to create a safety perimeter. He couldn't cover everywhere, so he had to settle for installing them sporadically.
Hunter Geric accepted the idea without complaint and even took charge of it.
"The wolves are gonna get quite a scare."
"Will it work as a wolf deterrent?"
"Not bad. They're sensitive to noise, but it won't last more than a few days. They're clever—they'll get used to it quickly."
That was unexpected, because it meant they could learn. For Rowan, who'd lived on modern Earth where humans ruled as the supreme species, this kind of anxiety was new, and the wolves' intelligence hit him with an unsettling jab to the heart.
"Rabbit."
At hunter Geric's words, Rowan's head turned. The creature staring at them blankly looked pretty healthy. Then it just disappeared with a hop. The two weren't disappointed. Since it had seen people first, it had reason to be that relaxed.
"Confident rabbit."
"Who knows? Maybe it's already been toyed with by a few villagers trying to catch it."
At that, Geric laughed like air had filled his lungs. Rowan's joke—calm yet turning the villagers into a laughingstock—was mean-spirited but funny as hell.
"Guess we got played too."
"Heh heh heh."
They finished the work while joking around. Hunting success rates would drop, but the wolves' movements were troubling. Hunter Geric had said so loudly, and Rowan agreed. Rowan didn't think wolves were that threatening, but he was doing this because of hunter Geric's reaction.
'I found out where to place the traps too.'
He would've just learned wrong if he'd only put them where they hid well. Hunter Geric knew the paths wolves liked to take. Rowan had deliberately made a big deal of things to steal Geric's know-how.
Though they'd thought nothing would happen, Rowan and Geric, upon exiting the forest, ran into an anxious-looking Rakson at the village entrance.
"What's wrong, Rakson?"
Geric quickened his pace. Since there was a difference in stride, Rowan had to jog a bit.
"What's wrong? I was thinking about the wolves, and I keep feeling like I was too hasty."
"We took the necessary precautions. Dug traps pretty deep in and set up lots of noise ropes at the midpoint."
"Will that be effective?"
"Yesterday you said we should do exactly that. What are you talking about?"
Rakson scratched his head irritably. That was true. After preparing for a whole month, canceling the hunting competition wasn't an easy decision. Still, not listening to Geric's advice brought belated regret.
"I guess we should end it early. Ring the big bell!"
Blacksmith Malrux, a non-participant who'd been resting comfortably in his chair, deliberately groaned and struck the bell with a club in the late afternoon—not sunset, but an awkward in-between time.
Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!
The bell rang out earlier than expected. Rowan thought this was actually better because he'd been uneasy. You could say it was a bit delayed, but just having it reach Rakson was enough.
"You said till sunset!"
The first group to arrive cursed, having come up empty. They were especially nasty about a clever white rabbit, cussing it out loudly.
"That damn rabbit bastard. Just sitting there staring!"
"Can't even hit a stationary rabbit!"
"Damn it, it's because the bow's crap."
"Even if you'd driven that rabbit well, the distance was too far."
"Always blaming others."
Rakson patted their shoulders.
"Shut it and go inside for some drinks. Not catching a single one! Keh heh heh!"
Hunter Geric patted Rowan's shoulder.
"Good work. Looks like it'll end without any trouble."
Seeing people arriving one after another, Geric relaxed. Rowan shrugged. It was pointless anxiety. After all, they'd only seen the Mavros lyko when they went really deep. Nobody would've gone that deep.
Amidst the commotion, Rakson climbed onto the platform and wrote down each group's catches on parchment one by one, finishing the tally while a round of drinks went around.
"Bueric the woodcutter has become the hunting king!"
Rakson yelled. Everyone was shocked.
Bueric, who looked incredibly simple-minded, raised both arms high. His thick, kind-looking jowls folded.
"Oo heh heh heh heh!"
In dealing with him, Bueric was ordinary, but his laugh sounded dumb, so he was always a joke. Getting excited, he climbed straight onto the platform and laughed loudly. Rowan particularly liked that laugh.
Also, he was a lightweight, so his face was already bright red. One drink and his face turned red like a tomato.
"Hey, you bastards! Can't even shoot a bow, what kind of men are you! Cut off your dicks!"
The prize of three silver coins was tied to his wrist in a pretty good quality leather pouch.
After that came the feast, naturally. Not just Rakson, but those with means provided alcohol and food, and the cooking was handled by women with spare time.
Rowan drank merrily there. He went around talking about what he'd done for the villagers.
"That rope, you did that? I tripped over it!"
One guy showed his scraped forearm and ruffled Rowan's hair.
"I was so startled by the noise. Why'd you set that up?"
There were others telling their experiences too. It was more effective than expected. Rather than making wolves run away, it startled people or made them trip and turn back.
'In the end, nobody went deep into the forest, so it all worked out. The wolves were quiet too.'
Late in the evening, the three fathers and sons entered the ranch with their arms around each other's shoulders.
"Get some rest!"
"You worked hard today too!"
Rowan rinsed his mouth with salt, roughly washed his face, and then fell into sleep.
Bang bang bang!
"Haldanak! Sernhac! Rowan!"
Bang bang!
"Come out quick!"
Rowan jolted awake at the commotion. Through the cracks of the wooden shuttered window, he saw the orange glow of torches. He hurriedly gathered his equipment.
His heart pounded. He put on his leather armor and fastened his shortsword and dagger at his waist. He slung his short bow over his shoulder and hung the quiver on his thigh. The arrows were held snugly by rubber rings so they wouldn't fall even if he ran.
"What's going on?"
Since he came down last, fully armed, eyes naturally turned to Rowan.
Five people had gathered, holding everything from torches to farming tools and spears. Haldanak and Sernhac were in their underwear. Thanks to that difference, a villager opened his mouth while looking at Rowan.
"Alec's kids are missing. His wife thought Alec had them, and Alec thought his wife had them. Both of them suddenly jolted awake from sleep. They were so drunk they only just realized."
"That tomboy and troublemaker were quiet."
"Did you search the whole village?"
"They're not in the village. People shouted all around, but they didn't come out. If they were here, they should've been at the feast."
Shouts could be heard from far away. Mixed cries of "Meee."
"What about Rakson?"
"He's at the village entrance. He was urgently looking for you. Go quick."
Rowan ran.
The village scenery was filled with the orange glow of torches, as if a festival were happening. Everywhere, people were shouting names like Mary, Grant, or Tommy.
"Sleeping through all this chaos in the village?"
Three kids had gotten caught up in the competition he'd organized. Though this world treated kids as expendable, that also meant children were assets. Of course, the village was in chaos. It was a huge issue, and those families' bonds were different.
'This absolutely cannot happen.'
For Rakson, there couldn't be a major incident.
"The ranch is far away. Are you going into the forest?"
Ten fairly muscular village men had gathered around Rakson. Hunter Geric was among them.
"Manuel's not here yet."
"That chronic latecomer."
The village men were all on edge. Alec was the ultimate brewer with the know-how to make alcohol taste the best and make whatever was requested. From sweet to hard liquor, there was nothing he couldn't make, and with his diverse and complex flavors, he was a village treasure.
Especially, everyone knew he loved kids. He was a good-natured person, so nobody in the village disliked him, and there was nobody who wasn't close to him.
"Giden and Vinny stay here till Manuel comes, then join the search! We need to move fast."
They wrapped torches around spears to secure them, and the village men holding farming tools or clubs split into two groups.
"Rowan! What are you gonna do?"
Rowan thought briefly. Moving through the forest would be easier following hunter Geric, but that wouldn't be efficient.
"Rakson, I'll lead. I've been around with hunter Geric, so I know this area well too."
"Big talk! Hurry up and lead."
They rushed into the forest.
"Maaaryyy!!!"
"Grant! Come out, you little troublemaker!!!"
"Tommy!"
Rowan suddenly shouted at Kaiya, who'd landed on his shoulder.
"It's urgent! Find the kids. Smaller than me!"
He said it several times and made shapes with his hands. Kaiya flew up.
"The crow understands pretty well."
"He's smart."
"More like cunning. I don't like crows."
Five people moved forward with blazing torches leading the way. In the dark forest, nothing was visible because the torches were close by. Darkness appeared even darker because of the light.
Rowan deliberately moved ahead of the torches. He didn't even look back.
To at least see the outlines in the darkness properly.
"Would they have entered the forest?"
"That's Mary, famous for being a tomboy, and her brother goes without saying."
The hunting competition had stirred up the village. Of course, they'd want to do it too. Rowan scratched his head hard and moved forward. The forest path was hard to walk in the darkness, but with his body lowered slightly, even if Rowan stumbled, he could quickly correct his posture.
The clouds cleared, and silver moonlight shone down.
From there, Rowan picked up speed. The villagers, relying on torchlight, struggled just to keep up.
Nothing could be found at the forest's edge. Then the man following behind Rowan suddenly screamed.
"This!!!!"
Rowan turned around. His eyes hurt from the intense torchlight. Squinting, he saw people gathered in one spot.
"It's a ribbon."
Rakson snatched it and smelled it. Then his eyes blazed.
"Blood smell."
Rowan took it and carefully smelled from the end upward.
"There's a slight wolf smell."
"Damn it!"
One village man exploded in rage. He punched a tree with a thud. Leaves fell.
"But it's strange there's so little blood."
Either way, searching this area came first.
The place where the children met their death was pretty far from there. Rowan passed the noise rope he'd installed.
Jingle, jingle!
One slow-bodied man got caught, and it made a noise. A cool night breeze blew. Rowan could smell blood.
"You smell blood?"
"Yeah."
The frequency of cursing steadily increased.
The scene was horrific.
"Urgh."
One village man turned around. Then, as the wind blew, bringing the thick scent of blood, he vomited what was inside him. It was too strong. Dozens of times worse than eating your own nosebleed.
He'd never smelled such a scent so intensely, and thinking it was the children's above all made him vomit right there.
"Urp. Gwuuegh!"
When one guy threw up, another turned away too.
Rakson and Rowan were unfazed. Rakson was a retired veteran, and Rowan was a greenhorn who'd experienced his first real combat more severely than others and had even gotten into wolf hunting and butchering.
"Haah..."
Rakson sighed and lowered his torch to the ground, walking around checking. Rowan carefully examined the bodies.
Pure white hands were sprawled in the dirt. At the ends were only roughly torn traces. The soft children's bones would've been torn like chicken cartilage by the wolf's jaw strength and teeth.
"Rowan."
The strange thing was that starting with the hands, forearms were visible too, and though shoulders were smashed by teeth, they retained their shape. The heads too.
"Rowan!"
"Yes?"
Rakson raised the torch high to show the massacre scene broadly.
"Stand up and look."
He corrected his bent posture and scanned the area widely.
"This is..."