Trying to Act as a "Werewolf"

In the cab, Wagner, the furniture merchant built like a brown bear, puffed on a cigar and laughed. "I was worried about this operation earlier. I thought you might actually make a mess of things."

He told Raphael Collins sincerely, "Mr. Collins, your intelligence and your grasp of human nature are admirable."

Raphael smiled politely. "Their desires were simply too obvious."

Wagner shook his head, clearly unconvinced by Raphael's modest words.

He then asked, "When do we make our next move?"

"The day after tomorrow, or the day after that," Raphael said. "I have something very important to attend to tomorrow."

He paused before adding, "Hmm, but we can pay the grain merchant Holm a visit tonight, in case he hears the news and flees Backlund."

Tomorrow would be the night of the full moon, his first since advancing to Werewolf. To be safe, Raphael decided to transform in a forest outside Backlund.

The group returned to headquarters, where the Mafia members had already bought dinner.

Before the operation, Raphael had sent men to keep an eye on the grain merchant Holm.

Now, Raphael listened to his subordinate's report while eating dinner.

At around five that afternoon, one of Senator Wood's subordinates had arrived at Holm's house. The grain merchant had immediately begun packing. Without even stopping for dinner, he had taken his entire family and left by carriage.

The Mafia members had already followed in a carriage.

Raphael twirled a forkful of Feynapotter fried noodles from his plate. "Wait until he's out of the city before making a move."

With that, he put the noodles into his mouth.

The group quickly finished dinner, then immediately boarded their carriage and set off in pursuit.

The grain merchant Holm and his family were not moving particularly fast, having left in a hurry with plenty of luggage and family members in tow.

By sometime after nine that evening, Raphael and the others had caught up by taking another road.

With a square cloth covering his face, Carter drove their carriage across the road outside the city, blocking the Holm family's convoy.

Amid startled cries, Raphael calmly stepped out of the carriage. He had not covered his face. "I'd like a private word with Mr. Holm."

As he spoke, he walked unhurriedly to the second carriage and opened its door. Wagner, still dressed as a hired thug, followed close behind him.

Inside sat Holm, whose leg was broken, along with his wife and two children.

The family were already trembling with fear or crying.

Raphael said, "Madam, please take the children and get out."

But Holm's wife shook her head, weeping.

Raphael's expression turned cold. "Get out!"

Only then did they scramble out of the carriage. Raphael climbed inside, while Wagner stood guard at the door with an indifferent expression.

Inside the carriage, Holm wiped away his sweat as he said, "Your Excellency Collins, I'm sure this must be a misunderstanding."

Raphael took off his coat instead. "Mr. Holm, perhaps you don't know me very well yet.

"I've always treated my friends quite well. Whatever they ask of me, I do my best to help.

"But when it comes to enemies, I never show mercy."

As he spoke, he took off his waistcoat as well.

Holm hurriedly said, "We're friends, not enemies."

Just then, Raphael's eyes turned brown. A thick layer of short black fur sprouted over his body, his mouth elongated, and his nails lengthened. In an instant, he had become a werewolf.

Astonishment filled Holm's eyes, and his expression swiftly shifted from bewilderment to shock and terror. "Good heavens, what is this..."

Raphael grinned, baring his teeth. "You want to be my friend?"

Before Holm could say anything, Raphael reached out and tore a large chunk of flesh from his throat, ripping open his windpipe.

Spurt!

Blood sprayed out, filling the entire carriage with its metallic stench.

Outside the door, Wagner was momentarily taken aback. He had guessed that Raphael was a Beyonder, but had not expected him to already be a Sequence 7 Werewolf.

At that level, he could even compete for the position of Oracle.

Still, Wagner could not quite understand why Raphael had transformed just to kill an ordinary man.

By then, Raphael had returned to his human form, put his waistcoat and coat back on, and stepped out of the carriage.

Wiping the blood from his face, he said, "Let's go."

Raphael had done this as an experiment, to see whether it would help him digest his potion.

The experience he had obtained from the Temperance Faction regarding digestion of the Werewolf potion stated that inducing an emotion somewhere between fear and surprise in others made the potion easiest to digest.

Raphael had immediately felt enlightened. He had already considered that the core of acting as a Werewolf should not be bloodlust and slaughter, but being an "outsider."

At the time, however, he had not come up with a specific way to act. The information provided by the Temperance Faction had given him a direction at once.

The emotions people felt toward outsiders were complicated. At first, there would be disgust and estrangement. But if the outsider was too powerful, then besides terror, people would also feel the sort of confusion and incomprehension they experienced when confronting the unknown.

This also explained why he had managed to digest a little of his potion during his earlier battle with the Zombie Ackerman.

Many of those present had seen Raphael after his transformation and felt terrified, but they had not experienced the sense of confronting the unknown. As a result, he had digested only a little of his potion.

Now, Raphael walked toward his own carriage without looking back. Soon, screams rang out behind him. Someone had discovered Holm's gruesome death and was screaming in terror.

Back in his carriage, Raphael sensed that he had indeed digested another small portion of his potion.

Sitting inside, Raphael quietly reflected on the experience. In the end, he concluded that besides terrifying his targets and catching them off guard, he could also arrange the crime scene to make more people experience the emotions of confronting an outsider.

This was clearer than his previous line of thought, a more detailed guide to follow.

Early the next morning, while taking a cab out of the city, Raphael read in the newspaper that the grain merchant Holm had been killed by a wild beast outside the city. The relevant authorities reminded residents to travel in groups if they left the city at night.

He smiled faintly at that. Since Isaacs had already helped him, it would be time to fulfill his promise once his full-moon transformation was over.

On the way out of the city, Raphael recalled the information on the Stinger Gang and began devising a rough plan.

When the cab reached the outskirts, Raphael hired another carriage in a nearby village, then changed carriages twice more before finally leaving Backlund behind.

Finally, disguised as a hunter, Raphael strode toward the forest west of Backlund.

After entering the forest, Raphael noticed several wheel tracks along the road.

He frowned, wondering who had entered the forest together.

Once inside the forest, Raphael no longer concealed his speed. He ran swiftly, reaching a valley deep in the forest before dark.

When night fell, a round crimson moon hung in the sky.

Raphael suddenly seemed to feel some kind of summons. He let out one bestial growl after another and involuntarily began to transform.