"Little devil, what raised you?" Kayal didn't pay attention to her talk of "being devoured by the Hundred Thousand Mountains" but instead asked, looking at her stubbornly.
The little girl was very angry. In fact, Kayal was very fond of this black-haired, black-eyed little girl. After all, in such a Western world, how rare it was to encounter an Eastern girl.
"Wolves." Under Kayal's leisurely gaze, the little girl unhappily spat out a single word.
"Eh…" Kayal thought to himself, it couldn't be that coincidental, could it? Raised by Holo? Because Holo was the only talking she-wolf Kayal had ever seen.
"You blasphemers of the great mountain will definitely end up in the Mountain God's belly," the little girl threatened.
Kayal immediately lost his composure, put her down, and half-crouched to meet her gaze, saying, "How about we make a bet?"
"What?" The little girl bared her teeth, her normally quiet face filled with wildness and violence.
"You lead us to the Mountain God. If the Mountain God agrees to our actions, you leave the forest and I'll raise you. How about it?" Kayal said with a smile.
"What if the Mountain God doesn't agree?" The little girl was very alert. This was a decision that would affect her entire life. If she fell for this hateful human's trick, she would truly regret it.
Kayal admired her quick thinking, but ultimately, her perspective was limited. Kayal shook his head and chuckled, "According to you, the Mountain God is short-tempered and doesn't mind eating humans. If negotiations fail, do you think we would still be standing in front of you?"
The child, suddenly enlightened, hadn't thought of luring these people to be killed by the great Mountain God, but rather felt that Kayal was a good person and the game was very interesting. She was very excited.
Just as she was about to agree, a hurricane swept through. The knights, like taut bows, instantly shot out three knights who stood in front of Kayal, Artoria, and the little girl.
Boom, boom, boom… After three dull thuds, the three knights fell to the ground but didn't lose their balance. After a slight genuflection, they immediately stood up like three straight razors: "Your Majesty, Sage, step back!"
The figures that had collided with the three, having lost their speed, were now visible to everyone. Although the knights didn't see what it was, it didn't hinder their actions—after a series of clanging footsteps, the knights surrounded the enemy.
However, when the three figures were revealed, everyone was startled.
Three incomparably huge wolves. It was clear from their size that the one in the middle was much larger than the other two, almost on par with Holo in Kayal's estimation, while the other two were a size smaller, yet still as large as horses. Kayal didn't know if one horse was enough for one of these wolves to eat, but it was clear that one person was definitely not enough for them to eat!
"Mom!" The girl, like a flash of lightning, darted past the others and rushed towards the giant wolf. Everyone was startled, but the girl had already hugged the giant wolf's neck and rubbed against it intimately: "Mom, why did you come?"
The giant wolf's eyes were very human-like, looking at her with a reproaching gaze, only emitting a low growl from its throat, as if speaking to her.
"Heh…" She stuck out her tongue sheepishly: "I'm fine, but what do we do now?"
One wolf and one human looked up at the knights who had already drawn their weapons and surrounded them, their faces full of vigilance.
"Don't be nervous, relax." Kayal waved his hand, "Can you communicate with me?" Kayal slowly approached the giant wolf, extending his hand as he asked.
"Sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff…" The leading she-wolf gently twitched her nose, then looked at Kayal with a confused expression, turning her head to let out a low growl at the little girl.
"Mom says you have the scent of our people. Who are you?" Ultimately, the little girl was human, and her structure was no different from a human's, completely different from a giant wolf with a hundred thousand olfactory cells in its nose. She hadn't noticed the wolf's scent on Kayal earlier.
"It's a wolf from the northern forest… Why is it here?" Wolves have a strong sense of tribalism and clanism. Siberian steppe wolves and forest wolves often fight, not to mention wolves from two completely different regions. Although there was a sense of familiarity, this she-wolf, driven by her wolf instincts, was still full of hostility towards Kayal. Of course, the above words were spoken through the little girl.
"I don't know why, but it's a fact that I adopted a huge, gluttonous idiot (a certain brown wolf, who was looking forward to Kayal visiting again, let out a huge sneeze)," Kayal smiled and shrugged: "We have no hostility towards you, but in the future, our people will enter here to cultivate. You know that you are an unstable factor and will definitely regard my people as prey. To avoid losses and such incidents, as a nation, we must strike first."
"Roar… Roar!"
"It's because you cut down the forest first that led to our attacks!" Wild beasts completely failed to understand the difference between Scotland and Camelot. To them, all humans looked the same.
"But can you guarantee that no magical beasts will consider humans to be weak and easily bullied, the best source of food?" Kayal took a step forward and pressed the question.
The she-wolf fell silent, and the little girl bared her teeth at Kayal.
"However, there is a solution now." Kayal smiled: "Since you have a leader called the Mountain God, I think we can have high-level communication between both sides. This might lead to unexpected results." Just kidding, do you think how much money 60,000 infantrymen's daily rations cost? Do you also think how much compensation I would have to pay if they were killed by magical beasts! And do you think how much money I currently have in the national treasury!
Kayal, of course, knew the answers to the three questions above… So he was more inclined to solve the problem through peace talks. As long as the magical beasts of Scotland could be self-sufficient through the food chain, then he wasn't too keen on eradicating them. He was willing to make Scotland a food base, but he disliked wars that offered no benefits.
"That's impossible. Disappear, human. Otherwise, the wrath of the great Mountain God is something you cannot bear." The she-wolf said, then turned and walked into the forest. It was clear that the other party had no intention of communicating with Kayal, and the little girl, still thinking about her bet with Kayal, was sulking.
Kayal gently patted her head three times, smiled slightly, and winked at the other knights. The knights dispersed, allowing them to disappear from sight.
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