Chapter 7

What could be the cause for those people to chase after him?

Was what Kazal pondered about since a while ago. Kazal had eyed Shawn several times since their first encounter and had made several possible scenarios, but he is a scrawny, mild-looking, and gloomy kid. There doesn’t seem to be any redeeming features on him, and to add, the only family members Kazal had seen so far was his uncle named Hans who lived with him. They are a normal family with normal living circumstances. If he were to opt out Shawn’s ability to morph into a wolf beastmen, the young man literally had nothing special in himself, as far as he had known.

That being said, the group who pursued him didn’t feel like a normal group. As someone who was an adventurer and also a merchant, Kazal had witnessed people with bloodlust before, and that guy with a scar on one of his eyes had the largest bloodlust he had ever seen since he came into this world. Does he perhaps harbour malicious intent towards Shawn? But for what reason?

Kazal convinced himself that he won’t get any answers if he didn’t ask the very person himself. But asking that much probably requires a high level of trust, and Kazal wasn’t sure if he would stay with him or not. He suddenly recalled a moment from their conversation.

“About the pursuers, can you keep it a secret from uncle Hans?”

Just like that, Kazal managed to obtain one of Shawn’s secrets. That made them equal as Kazal had told him about the fact that he wasn’t a person of this world. That secret’s degree of importance lies upon the surroundings, and as far as he could see it, Shawn’s secret bears more weight than his.

As the dog merchant pondered, he was sitting on the alcove of Shawn’s bedroom while staring outside the window. Unlike what happened last night, the neighbourhood felt calm. Kazal stared far into the distance to see rows of semi-detached houses across the road, some contraption that could move like horse carriages were parked on the side of the road, and people are wearing clothes unfamiliar to his eyes.

Suddenly he caught a glimpse of a couple walking down the street. A big smile were plastered on their faces as they paced together, with a cup of a dark coloured liquid, presumably coffee, in their hands. What attracted Kazal wasn’t due to their smiles, or the topic of their chatters, his eyes were glued to the hem of their checker long coat that that flowed freely against the blowing wind. One of them is wearing a darker brown colour than the other, yet those outfits, a long sleeved shirt with a collar that covered the entirety of their necks, looked so comfortable in his eyes, especially for someone like Kazal who likes clothes that could hide his features.

Back in his old world, there is no such thing as a law prohibiting beastmen to show their claws or teeth, and Kazal’s appearance might be milder than other beastmen, as he was born as a Golden Retriever, one of the friendliest breeds in the world, but it was a matter of manners for Kazal. He believed that the first key to a good communication is through mutual understanding, and not fear. And despite the increasing number of demi-humans living among humans, humans couldn’t help but still fear the demi-humans’ features.

Kazal continued on eyeing the couple until they were gone from his sight. If he were to retain his original features, would he be able to wear those clothes?

Kazal then shifted his gaze back to the surroundings, and saw some grey clouds hanging on the sky at a distance. The chilling air outside signals a cold season, probably autumn or winter, and by those heavy looking clouds, there might be rain incoming soon.

The dog then leaped down from the alcove and sauntered to the side of Shawn’s futon. The injured Shawn was sleeping soundly without a care of the world, different from the gloomy Shawn that was talking to him just a few hours ago. After their conversation ended, uncle Hans gave Shawn some food and medicine before telling him to sleep after eating. Then, uncle Hans gave Kazal a container of wet dog food, which until now, is left untouched by Kazal as the container sat at the corner.

There was a meaty smell coming from the food, and throughout his life, he seldom ate raw food. However, Kazal is slowly getting hungry as time passed by, but he couldn’t even ask uncle Hans to prepare a cooked meal for him because he would get busted that way, so while feeling hesitant, the dog merchant tried to eat the dog food.

It tasted strangely edible, yet Kazal is still in denial.

After finishing the food, Kazal was back to sitting beside Shawn. He took the time when Shawn was sleeping to circulate his Mana, while at the same time, occasionally eyeing Shawn’s condition so it didn’t get worse all of a sudden.

Truth to be told, Kazal couldn’t believe his eyes that a scrawny kid like Shawn could sustain his werewolf form. His werewolf form is too majestic and too big for his own good; a coat with a shade of dark blue almost like the night sky, and a pair of piercing odd-coloured eyes, one frosty blue and one emerald green. His beast form displayed a perfectly toned muscle fit for combat, but his human form was thin, thin enough to label him as a boy, not a man.

Was his form the reason why those people chase after him?

Kazal couldn’t think about a more plausible cause.

Suddenly, Shawn’s expression contorted into a terrified look and he began to sweat profusely. He was grunting occasionally while shifting his body here and there. Kazal just quietly stared at the young man as he faced his nightmares, intently gathering intel from his body language.

“Mom… Dad…” Was what he mumbled after experiencing the nightmare for some time.

“Mom and dad, huh?” The dog blinked his eyes and stayed silent after that.

***

Most of Shawn’s injuries have healed that night. While the young man changed his bandages and changed his clothes, Kazal sat down on the alcove and stared at Shawn.

“It had occurred in my mind before, but you are extremely thin, worryingly so.” He started to speak.

Shawn flinched a bit, before turning his back to Kazal. His expression is mixed between shock, troubled, and anxious written all over his face. “…Well, this is my normal body. I tried to gain weight before, but it just didn’t work.”

“Then you might have done a wrong method.” Kazal crossed his front paws. “If you didn’t increase your weight, your body won’t be able to sustain your beast form, even for a short period of time.”

His troubled face changed into a frown. “…I don’t want this wolf of mine. I didn’t even hope to change into him again in the future.”

The air turned quiet.

Kazal didn’t know that Shawn was thinking about hiding his werewolf form. The kid looked so angry when Kazal brought the topic up, yet an inexplicable sense of sorrow welled up in every sentence that he said. From their short conversation, Kazal could confirm that the kid seemed to hide something more complicated than Kazal thought, and that his wolf seemed transferrable(?).

“…Is it alright if I call you Shawn?” Kazal started.

Shawn’s expression lit up a bit, particularly from confusion, as he said, “Sure, uhm…”

“Kazal. Just Kazal.” The dog shifted his front paws again.

The young man nodded.

“Pardon me if I say this again as it might disturb you, but did you say that you can transfer your wolf? How does that happen?”

For a moment, Shawn froze in shock. Kazal wasn’t sure which part of his question was funny when the young man suddenly laughed after that. Despite that, he stayed still, allowing the young man to finish his laughter.

“T-That was pretty funny.” Shawn wiped his tears.

“Hm.” Kazal replied short. Inconsistent display of emotions. This kid is quite a trouble.

After stabilizing his breath, Shawn heaved a huge sigh before he answered. “Under normal circumstances, it’s impossible to transfer your wolf once you get them. After each pup turned 18, they will have a wolf of their own. And that wolf will stay with them until they die. The only kind of wolves who didn’t die after their partner dies are the mythical one, the ones possessing magic and has a lore of their own.”

“So then,” Kazal cut in. “What type of wolf is your wolf, Shawn?”

Shawn fell silent. Once again, the air between them went deathly still. And once again, Shawn had that conflicted look on his face.

Kazal heaved a sharp sigh, breaking the silence, and was about to retract his question, when suddenly Shawn groaned. One of his ears perked upon hearing that groan, which sounded more like a growl. When Shawn knelt down on the floor and hugged himself, as of sustaining something within him, Kazal shot up from his relaxed sitting position to sitting on his hindlegs.

Something was about to happen.