"My friends, I watch over you from the other end of time and bless you. Though I have been dead for many years, I am still with you."
The girl smiling at the flames intended to leave those words behind for Shade and the others who found the bark to see, and she looked forward to their moved expressions.
Her wolf ears twitched again, and she heard footsteps once more. But this time, she did not ignore them. She rose with a grave expression. They were human footsteps. Living alone, the girl did not think it normal to encounter humans in a place like this.
Pushing aside the clumps of withered grass, three women in crisp black formal suits arrived at the edge of the campfire's glow. They wore matching outfits and hairstyles, yet none of them were human.
An elf, a Bloodkin, and a dwarf—such a combination was rare even for a well-traveled wolf girl.
"Good night, Shibel Beast."
The High Elf at their head greeted her using the form of greeting employed only by elf clans that revered the Moon. Thus, even the wary wolf girl had no choice but to respond:
"Good night. Have you come looking for me? What are you?"
But the tall elf did not introduce herself.
"Memories of that destroyed world should not be retained by a witch beyond the Thirteenth Order. Even if they can be retained, they absolutely should not be recorded upon the bark of the World Tree. Miss Bister, you have violated the rules of time."
The Gray Wolf Girl examined the three of them and frowned slightly.
"So you have come to punish me? Or to reclaim this piece of bark?"
As she spoke, she prepared herself for battle. She had heard the secret legends about these people,