-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Training the Wolf
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Not long ago, the Dayamor family had cleaned the empty annex.
Nibelria had been thrown into the work to pay off her debt.
They confirmed just how overgrown with weeds the area around the annex was, then tore down the dust-caked curtains alongside the maids.
Her grandparents and their guest would be staying in that annex.
"Will you keep living there?"
Solles couldn't hide his disappointment.
It was just moving next door, but it felt needlessly lonely.
Muniel and Ardores gazed fondly at their grandson.
"If it gets boring later, they might return to the main house. For now, they just plan to stay there until the child gets used to the mansion."
"Sorry for not explaining ahead of time."
Seletrina offered an awkward smile.
"I know it must've caught you off guard. Truth is, we've been searching for that child this whole time. We happened to learn where he was staying, and since Duke Degladis was passing nearby, we asked him to bring the boy over."
The one most shocked by her explanation was the boy himself.
'They were looking for me?'
He was just like any other orphan.
He knew nothing of his parents' faces, and his earliest memory was staring blankly at the sky from a secluded corner of the orphanage garden.
The boy was too dazed by the nonstop barrage of surprises to think straight.
"You probably don't remember, but..."
Kaleo spoke in a gentle tone.
"Our family owes you a great debt."
"......"
"You helped us immensely. And shamefully, we only just learned of it. Sorry it took us so long to find you."
It wasn't just Kaleo.
The Dayamor family adults all regarded the boy with sincere gratitude.
Ardores lifted his glass.
The rest of the family followed suit, raising theirs high. Solles and Nibelria lifted their child-sized glasses too. Nibelria gripped hers with both hands.
"Wolf, do it like this."
"......"
"Do it!"
At Nibelria's gentle scolding, the boy hastily raised his glass.
Glasses rose all around.
Ardores led the toast.
"Welcoming you into the family."
Welcoming!
After dinner.
"Grandma!"
"Yes? What is it?"
Nibelria called out to Muniel, who was heading back to the annex.
"Should Nini sleep with Wolf tonight?"
Her walnut-sized chin thrust upward in smug pride—it was so cute and obnoxious that Muniel gladly refused.
"No."
The sulky Nibelria flopped face-down on the floor.
"I'm gonna sleep with Wolf! Gonna sleep with Wolf!"
"But would Wolf really like a cat who's whining and throwing a tantrum like this?"
"Uh."
"Really?"
"...Maybe a tiny bit no?"
Nibelria peeked up, fidgeting with her fingers clutched before her chest. Sadness clouded her face.
"Hey, Grandma..."
She flapped her tiny hand like a hummingbird's wing, urging her to lean in close. Muniel stifled a laugh and bent down obligingly.
Nibelria whispered.
"Wolf... doesn't seem to know Nini..."
"......"
"Makes me sad. But everyone's not as smart as Nini, so they don't remember the old days, right? Wolf's the same?"
"That's right."
Muniel stroked Nibelria's head tenderly.
Nibelria closed her eyes, savoring the gentle touch.
"The crying this morning—was that 'cause Wolf doesn't remember Nini? Got me so upset?"
"Yeah."
Nibelria nodded vigorously.
She'd waited her whole life since birth for this reunion with Wolf. Yet Wolf remembered nothing.
Those red eyes wary of a stranger.
Even to little Nibelria, it felt scary and upsetting—a heartbreaking distance that tore at her chest.
Muniel pulled the crestfallen Nibelria into a hug.
"So what should Nini do now? Any ideas?"
"Yeah."
Nibelria nodded.
"Gotta teach him all over again!"
Her voice rang out bright and strong.
"From one to ten! Roll him over and over! That thing, uh, the stuff inside..."
"...The guts?"
"Yeah! Train till the guts come out! Stuff 'em back in when they do, then train more till they come out again!"
"We never should've taken you to the battlefield..."
Muttering it was a mistake for the ages, Muniel hugged the fist-pumping Nibelria even tighter.
In truth, Nibelria had one secret everyone knew.
She'd been a cat in her past life.
A white long-haired cat that Saintess Muniel had kept in her youth, no less.
Its fur was snow-white and fluffy, earning it the name Nini—from the old word for snow, "Nix."
"Nini was really a cat."
"I see."
Morning.
Dether was brushing Nibelria's silvery-white hair.
In the mirror, Nibelria poked at her chubby cheeks, sharing her secret once more.
"Everyone was scared of Nini. Couldn't be helped. Nini was way too dangerous and strong."
"How'd they act scared?"
"Soon as they saw me, they'd shake like this, tremble like that."
"Like folks who go weak in the knees 'cause cats are so cute?"
Nibelria's past life story was already famous in the Dayamor household.
Everyone listened without judgment.
They chalked it up to a child's pure, quirky imagination. It was entertaining enough that they paid close attention.
Though perhaps a few secretly believed it was true.
"If anyone tried petting me, whoosh—I'd swipe my paw like that. Back then, this was a paw. Wild, huh?"
"I love cat paw pads. Meatballs, right? Those pink squishy ones are adorable."
"Not adorable! Nini was a fearsome beast!"
Once grooming was done, Nibelria hopped down from the vanity chair.
Twin tails tied high like cat ears, a cozy warm red dress, and though she claimed cat, her face evoked a gentle pup.
Nibelria swung her fisted arm through the air.
"Like this, whoosh. But now I'm human, so I can't just whack people or there's that... law thing."
The white cat Nini, who'd tumbled across battlefields with the saintess, was a ruthless predator.
She hunted rats pilfering rations, gnawed at enemy scalps ripped apart by the saintess and holy knights.
Though she often hacked up furballs from all the grooming.
But as human Nibelria, she was adapting to society's rules.
"Laws are kinda scary."
"Realizing that makes you a proper lady now."
"Guess so. Kinda... got experience."
"Two lifetimes' worth."
Nibelria hurried to the dining room.
Kaleo and Seletrina were just finishing breakfast.
"Mom! Dad!"
Nibelria dashed over, circling them gleefully.
"Full of energy already? Nini sleep good?"
"Lemme check—no fever?"
Seletrina's cool hand met her forehead; Nibelria beamed and puffed up proudly.
"Not sick at all? All better?"
"Great. Mom's off to the department store then."
"Dad's heading to work."
"Nini's working today too!"
They parted with cheers of mutual encouragement.
Solles was still at breakfast in the dining room. No sign of Wolf, alas.
"Nini sleep well?"
"Good morning! Nini's on the job today!"
"More business?"
"Training Wolf. And now just one debt left? Awesome, right?"
"Wanna eat with brother then head to the annex together?"
"Yeah!"
After breakfast, Nibelria took Solles' hand and set off for the annex.
The red-brick building loomed closer.
"Nini cleaned in there? Pretty great, huh?"
"Nini's so hardworking."
"Gotta be, or no money. Mom says sweat-earned cash is the real deal."
"Yup. Tricking for money? That's wrong."
"Do wrong, and it's prison—torture, flaying, noose. Nini knows."
"...Where'd you pick that up?"
Solles eyed his sister—proudly reciting taboo knowledge—with worry, then turned aside.
A massive tree stood there.
Beneath its lush green canopy, Muniel and Ardores sat with the boy. The three were burying something at the trunk's base.
Whoosh. Nibelria drew a huge breath.
Solles wisely plugged his ears.
"Wolf!"
Her booming shout made the boy drop his trowel.
The instant he whipped around in shock, Nibelria was there, smothering him in a hug.
She stretched her arms to ruffle his blond hair.
"Mhm!"
Satisfied, Nibelria nodded.
"Wolf, sleep okay?"
"...Yes."
"Breakfast? Grandma and grandpa starve you?"
"Young master can talk now."
Muniel sidled up, prodding Nibelria's temples lightly. Nibelria squealed and played it up.
"Haha, ow!"
"Say 'good morning, sir' first."
"Good morning! Good morning!"
Finally escaping, Nibelria rubbed her temples.
"Feels smarter already."
"Then vouch for him to Grandpa?"
Ardores asked from nearby, his burly hand adorably clutching the trowel.
"Nope! Not even family vouches!"
"Truly clever now."
Ardores gestured to the tree's base.
A tidy mound of soil.
"What'd you plant?"
Solles asked.
"Fertilizer. Old tree like this needs occasional meds by the roots."
Ardores laid a hand on the towering trunk. The kids looked up, mimicking him.
"So, what's the visit for?"
Muniel asked, straightening Nibelria's crooked ribbon.
Nibelria pointed at the boy.
"Training!"
