This Child Cannot Be Kept

(This chapter may contain dark content. If you dislike it, feel free to skip it. And for those who love small animals, please don't scold me, as I love them too. It's just that I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I pushed myself to write it.)

Because of the railing, these Wolf didn't charge directly. Instead, they bared their teeth and seemed to roar at Lin Yun.

If it were someone more timid, they might have turned and left, or opened the gate and faced them head-on. Of course, they could also try to use animal taming to calm them down.

But... Lin Yun hadn't forgotten what he had just done, or rather, what had been done to him. He was almost bitten to death by a giant Wolf, and then a young warrior killed it. Without a doubt, that giant Wolf must have been their leader.

If he were a druid, he might have tried to communicate with them out of role-playing necessity. However, unfortunately, Lin Yun didn't know how to talk to animals, and his animal taming skill wasn't high. Most importantly, they weren't in their best condition right now. It wouldn't be strange if these Wolf hunted them down if they weren't careful.

Therefore, Lin Yun's command was: "Attack with crossbows."

Simple and clear words.

"Wait, Lord Silent, these are just animals, not evil creatures like Goblin. There's no need for that." Goddess Priestess instinctively tried to persuade Lin Yun.

However, before Lin Yun could reply, the Female Mage beside him had already raised her Light Crossbow, aimed at one of the Wolf that was warily watching them, and said, "Indeed, they are not Goblin, but they were basically raised by Goblin. Animals that have been tamed will ultimately die without their keepers. Moreover, look at the ground." As Female Mage spoke, she pulled the trigger.

She had plenty of time to aim, so the shot was accurate, hitting one of the Wolf's head and causing it to howl in pain. The other Wolf, upon seeing their attack, considered Lin Yun and the others as enemies. They began to thrash against the railing, hoping to break free.

But the railing's original purpose was to prevent them from running out freely. After all, for Wolf, Goblin were also food, and not just Goblin.

"Those are..." Goddess Priestess looked at the ground subconsciously, following Female Mage's words. She was startled and her legs went weak, almost causing her to fall. Fortunately, Lin Yun was prepared and caught her.

"Those are undoubtedly human bones. These Wolf, having become accustomed to eating human flesh, will only eat humans for the rest of their lives, even if they survive. They've tasted human meat, just like us humans." Female Mage loaded another bolt, her words carrying a rational coldness.

She then aimed at the previously injured Wolf again and pulled the trigger. This time, the shot was still very accurate, hitting the Wolf directly in the head. The arrow penetrated deeply, though not as much as the previous shot where almost the entire bolt went in. At least it was in there.

This Wolf could no longer stand and collapsed to the ground.

Watching the Wolf fall, the small, fluffy cubs that had been sheltered by the older Wolf in a corner began to emerge. They went to the side of the fallen Wolf and started whimpering, emitting mournful cries.

"This is too cruel. What's the difference between us and Goblin?" Looking at the few small Wolf whimpering around the fallen Wolf with heartbreaking cries, Goddess Priestess covered her mouth, feeling a sense of disgust for her own humanity.

"There is a difference. At least we aren't killing for entertainment. We are killing to survive and to let more people survive." Since Goddess Priestess was unable to bring herself to attack, the young warrior took the Light Crossbow from her hand and patted her shoulder. "If you really can't bear it, turn around. You can also keep watch for any enemies approaching from behind." The young warrior said with great resolve.

Although he was just a novice, having grown up in a tavern, he knew quite a bit. Mercy might be good, but sometimes, mercy shouldn't be shown to enemies.

Even though the small Wolf were crying, they knew who their enemies were. They would surely remember this object of hatred, the scent of their enemies, and wait for an opportunity to pounce and tear their enemy's throat out with their jaws.

Wolf were inherently vengeful creatures. Even if they were young, one couldn't let their guard down. And if they were dealing with a transmigrator, they might even think, "Perhaps someone has transmigrated into this Wolf, and if we're not careful, we could be flipped."

Therefore, the only thing they could do was have Goddess Priestess, who was the kindest and had only been able to pull the trigger with her eyes closed until now, turn around and watch their backs.

Lin Yun didn't make a sound. On one hand, as someone who loved small animals, especially dogs, and therefore didn't eat dog meat, Lin Yun didn't want to strike. But he knew very well that if he didn't act now, more people would die later, just as Female Mage had said.

Once they tasted human flesh, these Wolf would attack humans. And often, humans acted in groups, so even if they couldn't eat everyone, many would die. Considering that Lin Yun, who had just leveled up to 2, had a tough time here, let alone ordinary civilians.

Even if it seemed a bit too saintly, even a bit extreme, for the sake of more lives, please die.

Lin Yun could only remain silent, watching as if two butchers were about to slaughter animals.

Female Mage's crossbow bolts continued to hit another Wolf with pinpoint accuracy. The young warrior, however, seemed to be wavering internally, his hand trembling. He missed his shot, the bolt merely embedding itself in the wall.

Perhaps his hand was too heavy, for it carried the weight of lives. Although they had already engaged in combat, from a certain perspective, what they had done before was just fighting. Now... it was a slaughter. Unless the railing broke, the Wolf on the other side had no power to resist.

The Goblin hadn't expected that the railing, originally built to protect their kin and prevent the young Wolf cubs from running around, would become an advantage for Lin Yun and his companions.

Loading her crossbow bolts with numb movements, Female Mage looked up at the Wolf she had injured and mechanically pulled the trigger.

The bolt flew from Female Mage's Light Crossbow and entered the Wolf's mouth, brushing past teeth that smelled of rotten human flesh. It then penetrated deeply into the Wolf's throat, piercing through its body for more than half its length before lodging inside, having lost its momentum.

This Wolf, severely wounded, collapsed to the ground and died instantly.

And this was just the prelude. The young warrior had begun to recover slightly. The Light Crossbow in his hand fired a bolt, hitting another Wolf in the leg, causing it to yelp in pain.

Thus, under the continuous barrage of shots from the two, and after using almost all their bolts, including the fluffy little Wolf cubs, all had fallen to the ground. Only then did Lin Yun take out his heavy mace and smash it against the railing's mechanism.

"D20+2+2=20, hit." For the destruction of specific items, first Nature must hit, and then as long as it exceeds the defense, it can deal damage. Of course, due to the different hardness of items, there will be some reduction, but that's not something Lin Yun can see.

"D8+3=10." A powerful swing, combined with the fact that the mechanism on the railing had already been significantly damaged by the earlier thrashing of the Wolf, this single blow directly opened the railing.

Just then, a shadow darted quickly from a corner, seemingly trying to escape past Lin Yun.

Lin Yun's expression behind his helmet shifted. Fortunately, his passive perception was high enough to detect this cunning little creature. Clearly, this little Wolf cub hadn't been whimpering with its companions but had hidden in the corner, waiting for an opportunity to escape.

Unexpectedly, Lin Yun spotted it. Although he hesitated for a moment, Lin Yun still picked up his heavy mace and swung it down.

"D20+2=14, hit." An attack from above. This time, however, the +2 hit bonus for weapon mastery was gone. Lin Yun successfully struck the little cub.

"D8+2=7." It hadn't fully grown yet. This little cub wasn't as resilient as its elders. The heavy mace came down, directly knocking the cub to the ground.

But what Lin Yun didn't expect was that at this moment, another gray shadow darted out from the corner. It was truly unexpected that Wolf, and even small Wolf cubs, would possess such intelligence.

The desire to survive? Or familial affection?