Translator: Nox

30

Juliet blinked, facing a giant wolf she had never seen before.

Grrr.

Thankfully, the giant wolf inside the iron bars was tightly bound with chains all over its body.

It was the first time she had seen a silver-gray wolf.

No, it was the first time she had even known that such a huge wolf existed.

'They say the East is teeming with Magical Creatures, so is this one of them?'

If so, it was definitely a very, very rare Magical Creature.

Its beautiful silver-gray fur was so luscious that she would have wanted to go near and stroke it if not for the situation.

"Spread out and search!"

"!"

"Lord Roy! Where are you!"

...It seemed the men outside were looking for this wolf.

She couldn't have imagined that 'Lord Roy' would be a wolf, not a person.

Slightly confused, Juliet tilted her head.

"Did you get kidnapped or something, doggy?"

Grrr.

A threatening rumble flowed from the giant wolf's throat.

It seemed it didn't like the nickname.

'Well...'

Even if it was a spiritual creature, it wouldn't understand human speech.

After pondering for a moment, Juliet decided to proceed with her original plan.

"Good boy, doggy."

After carefully observing how the wolf was bound, Juliet cautiously reached out towards the dark iron bars.

"I'm going to let you out now... Anyway, you can't eat me. Okay?"

Even as she made that promise, Juliet didn't forget to secure an escape route in case things went wrong.

Approaching cautiously, Juliet examined the structure of how the wolf was bound.

Not only the iron bars of the cage but also the chains tightly binding the wolf's entire body were locked with several layers of large padlocks.

"......?"

And the most noticeable thing was the unidentified cylinder embedded in the wolf's neck.

Inside the glass tube, a suspicious crimson liquid sloshed around.

What is that?

Some kind of sedative for wolves?

The cylinder, which looked like a large syringe, was stuck tightly around the wolf's neck, and the sight of it looked quite painful, causing Juliet to frown involuntarily.

'Even if everything else is fine, I think I'll have to pull that out by hand.'

Juliet hesitated, then slowly approached.

Kreung.

Sensing something unusual, the wolf writhed threateningly.

Ironically, thanks to being bound by chains, the wolf couldn't move an inch.

"Just a moment... Just stay still for a moment. Good boy, doggy?"

Juliet barely managed to reach in and pull out the cylinder in one swift motion.

Kieang!

The wolf twisted its body with a short groan.

The train car shook.

However, Juliet didn't drop the cylinder. What was pulled out was like a syringe needle.

"Sorry, I won't do anything painful anymore."

Juliet became anxious and thought she should finish as quickly as possible.

The chains binding the wolf were not just simple restraints. It seemed they couldn't be unlocked without some special key.

But Juliet wasn't too worried.

Three or four small butterflies emitting a bluish light appeared from the darkness. They looked like blue fireflies.

Startled by the appearance of the suspicious light masses, the wolf bristled.

As the butterflies disappeared into the locking device, the chains were instantly released.

Click.

Suddenly, the restraints that had been constricting its body fell away, and the wolf seemed a little surprised.

A pair of golden eyes stared meaningfully at Juliet.

'Surely, it's not an ungrateful beast, is it?'

Juliet was slightly nervous, but fortunately, the wolf didn't attack her.

After that, there was nothing more Juliet could do to help.

As soon as the large wolf lightly shook its body, the tangled chains and iron bars shattered all at once.

Grrr.

The wolf stretched once, then dashed through the open door into the next car.

---

After the wolf escaped, Juliet closed the door to the luggage compartment.

Since the outside was in chaos, she judged that, paradoxically, the safest place on the train was here.

Juliet counted to 100 before opening the door to the luggage compartment and coming out.

'This should be enough.'

The inside of the train was a mess, as if a storm had swept through.

Still, the thugs wielding swords seemed to have been subdued to some extent.

"Kyaaak!"

Just as she was thinking that and crossing about three cabins, Juliet spotted a man brandishing a knife at a mother and daughter huddled in a corner.

Without thinking, a butterfly fluttered from her fingertips and flew up.

It was at that moment.

"Get out of the way!"

Juliet lost her balance and was pushed over by someone.

Thud!

Golden.

Suddenly pushed to the floor, Juliet frowned at the sunlight pouring in.

The person who pushed her was a young man with a rather handsome appearance.

It must have been to protect her.

"Mom!"

Fortunately, people who had rushed in at that moment rescued the mother and daughter.

The knife-wielding thug ran away.

If she had waited a little longer, she could have finished him off, but her concentration was broken at the last moment, and the Illusion magic was dispelled.

With a shattering impact, Juliet couldn't come to her senses.

Juliet immediately realized the cause of this sudden situation.

'Swordmaster?'

She had only experienced this once in the past seven years. It was when someone who was immune to Illusion magic had intervened.

Normally, the butterflies would have warned her, but the butterflies, who were excited and running wild, were not responsive.

As the Illusion magic was broken, the butterflies disappeared in an instant.

The damage from the Illusion magic being broken in the middle was entirely returned to Juliet. Juliet felt a splitting headache and nausea.

"Heuk."

"Are you alright! Miss..."

She felt the uninvited guest who had suddenly pushed her to the floor flinch in surprise.

Why?

It felt like her insides would spill out if she opened her mouth.

Juliet hurriedly covered her mouth and glared at the person who had interfered with her.

Thanks to that, her eyes met directly with this meddler's golden eyes.

Thanks to being pushed over by him, the black veil she was wearing had fallen far away.

And Juliet then realized that this unwelcome guest was on top of her in a rather strange position.

The man whose eyes met hers had a remarkably handsome appearance. If not for this situation, Juliet would have been attracted to him as well.

His clear-cut features made him a handsome young man that anyone could see.

Somehow like a wolf.

'...Wolf?'

But handsome or not, Juliet was in a very sharp mood due to the side effects of having her Illusion magic interfered with.

"Get off."

"Yes?"

"Get off me!"

"Ah... Yes!"

The man who hurriedly stepped back seemed to apologize, saying he was sorry and had been rude, but Juliet didn't hear him as she was looking around, having pushed the man away.

The hairpin that had been holding her long hair in place had also flown off from the impact of being pushed.

Juliet staggered and got up.

"...My hairpin."

But soon she staggered again and touched the floor again. Her long hair flowed down.

It felt like she would vomit blood if she opened her mouth.

"Lady, are you alright?"

A hand that had come closer asked, picking up the hairpin and offering it to her.

'...Do I look alright?'

Not in a state to answer, Juliet barely leaned against a chair and caught her breath.

The man approached her, knelt down, and apologized while meeting her eye level.

"Really, I don't know how to apologize... I'm sorry. Were you very surprised?"

A tall figure with silver-gray hair.

A man with mesmerizing golden eyes was impressive.

And more impressive than that was the fact that the man was not wearing anything on his upper body.

The man kept apologizing to Juliet and was at a loss.

The owner of a handsome and excellent body was kneeling in front of her, not knowing what to do, so Juliet felt a little strange.

If she were to be exact, it wasn't his fault since she didn't know that such a young man would be a Swordmaster, but he was at a loss like a puppy scolded by its owner.

Forgotten Juliet