SWNOVELXO Chapter 5 Part 14
Is that it?
Isn’t that it?
That has to be it.
I felt a deep sense of certainty.
Yet, I had no basis for it.
However, appearing at this very moment in that unmistakable attire left me with no choice but to be convinced.
This must be fate.
“We’re going after him, Sophie!”
The moment I said that, I immediately pushed my way through the crowd in pursuit of the man.
But with so many people around, I couldn’t move as fast as I wanted.
At this rate, I was going to lose him.
“Then…!”
I swiftly climbed up onto the wall beside me and stood on top of it.
As the passersby turned their eyes toward me, I pointed straight at the man in the orange mountain parka.
“You there! The guy in the orange mountain parka! Stop right there!”
The moment I shouted, the man flinched and turned to look at me before taking off running.
“Hey! Wait up, you! Don’t run!”
I dashed along the top of the wall in pursuit.
My balance was second nature. There was no way I’d let him get away so easily.
As I ran, the man pushed through the crowd and slipped into a deserted alleyway. I couldn’t follow him from up here.
“Like hell I’m letting you escape!”
I gathered magic at my fingertips, drawing a spell pattern onto both of my feet and activating it.
Visualizing the magical structure in my mind, I output it as a simplified magic circle and cast it. Ever since I opened the Gate to the Otherworld, I had gained the ability to construct these kinds of spell formulas.
What I activated was a spell that nullified gravity.
My feet broke free from the chains of gravity, and as I kicked off the wall, my body floated as if I were in space.
Without losing momentum, I soared into the alleyway, dispelled the magic, and landed smoothly.
“Hold it right there!”
The man’s back was just within reach.
As he desperately fled, I chased him at full speed.
I nimbly jumped over a toppled trash can and effortlessly dodged a cat that had been wandering the alley. Don’t underestimate my physical prowess.
But ahead lay the main street.
If he blended into the crowd there, finding him again would be nearly impossible.
I had to do something, fast.
Just then, a wall came into view.
Was there always a wall there?
I tilted my head in confusion, but the man didn’t seem to notice. He simply changed direction and ran deeper into another alleyway.
A dead end.
Just as I had predicted, the man stopped in his tracks, trapped.
Panting heavily, saliva dripping from my mouth, I cornered him.
“Heh… heheh… I got you now.”
The man pressed his back against the wall.
I was about to close in when a voice called out from behind me.
“Zuberi.”
I snapped back to reality.
“Sophie, where’d you go?”
“I circled around and set up an illusion spell to make a fake wall.”
“Ah, I see.”
“If you hadn’t chased him so aggressively, I could have trapped him more naturally.”
“Right…”
So that mysterious wall was Sophie’s doing.
But when did she manage to get around him?
The Seven Sages really are on another level.
The man, now staring at us, was visibly trembling—completely unfitting for someone of his large stature.
“W-Who are you people?”
“We won’t do anything bad to you. We just need you to come with us for a bit.”
“N-No way…”
“Oh, enough of this! Just accept your fate already! Let’s see your face!”
I lunged at him and pulled off his hood.
At that moment, both Sophie and I fell silent.
“D-Don’t look at me!”
“You’re…!”
Thick fur, a long snout, and sharp eyes.
The man… was a werewolf.
“You were hiding it… Because you didn’t want people to know.”
Finally calming down, the werewolf sat on the ground and spoke in a quiet voice.
He had been hiding his face so that no one would realize he was from the Otherworld.
“This time of year, the streets are full of Otherworlders. You don’t have to hide it. There are demons, elves, even lizardmen here.”
“I’ve been coming to this town since I was a kid. Back then, people mistook me for a real wolf. So, I tried not to scare anyone.”
“Is that why you ran from me?”
“Well… you were chasing me with such a scary look on your face…”
“You think I’m scary?”
I turned to Sophie, and she nodded solemnly.
“You had the eyes of a predator hunting its prey. The eyes of a terrifying murderer.”
“I was aiming for a look filled with compassion and mercy.”
“Don’t do that. Ever again.”
“Wow, harsh…”
“So, why were you guys chasing me?”
Oh, right.
I had been so shocked that he was a werewolf, I had completely forgotten our main reason for finding him.
“Actually, we were asked to look for you by a certain woman.”
“Someone’s… looking for me?”
“We’re not sure, but… last year at the Otherworld Festival, did you help a woman?”
“Ah…”
The werewolf reacted to my words.
Sophie and I exchanged glances.
Looks like we had found the right person.
“Do you remember?”
“Yeah… That night at the festival, there was someone who seemed unwell, so I helped her. We talked and watched the fireworks together.”
“That woman has been looking for you.”
“Why…?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Because she wants to see you again. Because she hasn’t been able to forget you.”
“She… does?”
For a brief moment, the werewolf’s face brightened.
But soon, he shook his head, as if rejecting the thought.
“I can’t see her.”
“Why not?”
“If she finds out the person she was looking for isn’t a human but an ugly werewolf like me… she’ll be disappointed.”
I wanted to say, “That’s not true,” but I couldn’t.
There were certainly people who feared those with inhuman appearances.
“So, I can’t meet her.”
“But… is that really okay with you?”
“Eh…?”
“You were happy when you heard she was looking for you, weren’t you? You want to see her again, don’t you?”
The werewolf’s expression darkened slightly.
“Well… she was kind, mature… a wonderful person. If I could, I’d like to talk to her again.”
“Then don’t give up so easily!”
I pointed straight at him.
“Don’t decide for her! Let her make that choice!”