Spice and Wolf

Unfortunately, dreams were beautiful, but reality was always cruel.

Even after they searched every corner of the dungeon, they failed to find any of the "valuable magic items" Frieren had mentioned. To be precise, there wasn't even a single gold coin.

"Are Parasitic Demon pupae worth anything? They're a valuable magical material, at least."

Lorenzo couldn't accept that the dungeon he had spent so much time exploring had yielded nothing, so he came up with a bold idea.

"They don't have much value."

"They're completely worthless?"

"Yeah."

"What about making potions?"

"No."

"Making magic items?"

"Not that either. They'd contaminate the other materials."

Lorenzo fell silent for a moment.

"There must be some use for them, right?"

Frieren gave it serious thought. After ten-odd seconds, she finally said:

"They can be used to breed Parasitic Demons."

Damn, why didn't you say so sooner?

That was probably the one use that would not only bring no profit but might also get them wanted by the local lord. On second thought, though, it did seem like an option, particularly for angry people whose lives weren't going well, who thought it was all the world's fault and were ready to take revenge on society. In that case, they'd probably pay quite a bit for them.

Lorenzo looked at Frieren and abandoned the idea. She definitely wouldn't agree, and he didn't want to go around causing trouble in a village or city just because he had nothing better to do.

"Then let's get going again. Onward to the Holy City."

More than ten days passed after that, and Lorenzo and Frieren walked side by side down a dusty country road.

Fully ripened wheat fields stretched along both sides of the road.

Heavy heads of wheat swayed gently in the wind, forming an endless golden sea. Every now and then, a few small gray-brown birds landed in the fields, only to be startled into flight by a farmer in the distance tasked with driving them away.

"Speaking of which, did you know that in some places, wolves are considered gods of the harvest? People compare the wheat swaying in the wind to wolves running, and when the harvest is poor, they think the wolves have eaten the wheat."

As Lorenzo looked at the wheat fields, he seemed to remember something and couldn't help telling Frieren about it.

"Is that so?"

Lorenzo's story had clearly piqued Frieren's interest, so she asked.

"Of course. Some villages even hold a 'harvest festival' every year. During the ceremony, people shout, 'There's a wolf!' Legend has it that the harvest god hides in the last wheat to be cut and possesses the reaper. The possessed person plays the 'wolf' and runs away, while the villagers give chase to pray for a good harvest the following year."

"So, should we buy the last sheaf they harvest? Maybe there really will be a wolf hiding inside."

Lorenzo spoke with a perfectly serious expression.

"If you want to buy it, go ahead. I'm not interested. And why did you suddenly start talking about wolves and wheat?"

Frieren asked.

"Because I saw the wheat fields."

"But we saw them before, too."

"Weren't we busy harvesting then? I couldn't very well help with the farmwork while telling a farmer's wife there might be a wolf living in her wheat. She definitely would've thought I was a weirdo."

The two continued along the dirt road.

Once again, the wind swept through the wheat fields. The heads of wheat bowed together, sending golden ripples spreading rapidly into the distance.

Lorenzo instinctively followed the ripples with his eyes.

But this time, he seemed to have actually seen something: a grayish-white figure darted through the wheat field not far from the road.

It wasn't large, but it was fast. The dense stalks completely concealed its body, leaving only a pair of pointed ears and a fluffy tail occasionally visible as they swept above the wheat.

There can't really be a wolf, can there? I was just talking. Surely a wise wolf of the harvest and all that doesn't really exist in this world?

Frieren, however, frowned, summoned her staff and said to Lorenzo:

"There are several Demon Wolves in the wheat field."

Hearing that, Lorenzo breathed a sigh of relief.

So they're just Demon Wolves.

The fluffy tail that had flashed above the wheat a moment ago had really brought a very troubling association to mind.

He had almost thought that, after casually mentioning the legend of wheat and wolves, he had summoned a certain being who dwelt in the wheat fields and called herself a wise wolf of the harvest.

If that were really the case, it would probably have been hundreds of times more terrifying than running into a few Demon Wolves. After all, if a character who existed only in fiction suddenly emerged from a wheat field in another world, Lorenzo would probably have to give serious thought to how many other things that didn't belong here had made their way into this world.

"Why are Demon Wolves in a wheat field?"

Looking at the constantly swaying wheat, Lorenzo couldn't help saying:

"Their range is way too wide."

They had encountered a pack near the mountains and forests not long ago, and now, after traveling for more than ten days to a plain surrounded by vast stretches of farmland, they had run into the same thing again.

It was as if the same monsters would jump out of every patch of grass they entered. There were so many of them that they were practically like stray dogs on the roadside.

"Who knows? Maybe there's nothing to eat in their original habitat, so they came out looking for food. There are field mice, wild rabbits, and birds that come to eat the wheat in the fields, after all."

At Frieren's words, Lorenzo looked toward the wheat field.

The mature stalks were waist-high, so the Demon Wolves only had to crouch a little to conceal their entire bodies. With the scents of small animals everywhere in the field, it really was an ideal place to ambush prey.

Of course, it was also ideal for ambushing humans passing by.

"How many?"

"Seven. From the look of them, they're planning to surround us, but I don't think we'll need to do anything."

Frieren suddenly spoke.

She put her staff away without even casting a defensive spell. She simply stood where she was, silently watching the wheat field ahead.

She looked entirely confident.

Just then, a rustling sound came from deep in the field. At first, it sounded like the ordinary noise of wind blowing through the wheat, but soon the rustling spread throughout the entire field.

If anyone had looked at the ground just then, they would have seen slender strands of brown hair threading between the stalks, spreading rapidly in the direction the seven Demon Wolves were moving.

One of the Demon Wolves seemed to sense danger. Its legs trembled, and it was on the verge of fleeing.

But before it could leap away, dozens of strands of hair suddenly tightened around its limbs and neck.

Pfft.

With a soft sound,

the Demon Wolf's body was torn apart in an instant, splattering blood among the golden heads of wheat.

And that was only the beginning. Almost at the same moment, the other six Demon Wolves came under the same attack.

Some had their skulls pierced by the hair, while others had their necks strangled until they broke. Two more had just leaped out of the wheat when crossing strands of hair sliced their bodies into several pieces...

The entire process lasted no more than a few seconds. All seven Demon Wolves were dead before they could even finish a howl of pain.

The wheat field fell silent again, though the scene was rather bloody. It probably would have been enough to stop a child from crying at night.