"Kawaii…"
Rem's expression hardly changed, but the delight in her eyes was impossible to miss.
She crouched down and carefully reached out, placing her right hand on the puppy's little face.
The soft warmth seemed immediately addictive, and there was even a faint puppy smell in the air.
Just as Rem's fingers slid gently up toward the top of its head—
The puppy, which had been pretending to sleep, suddenly opened its eyes, bared its tiny fangs, and let out a warning growl.
"Rem, watch out!"
Grin had already been on guard.
He shot his right hand forward and covered Rem's hand.
At that same instant, the puppy in Meili's arms snapped its head around and bit down.
Splat.
Sharp little teeth sank into Grin's palm.
Rem panicked at once and reached in to pry the puppy's mouth open.
"Grin, are you alright?"
Grin raised his hand and glanced at it.
There were four small puncture marks in his palm, though not much blood was coming out.
"It's fine, Rem. Just a small wound."
Meili quickly pulled the puppy tightly into her arms and began bowing over and over to the injured Grin.
"I-I'm sorry, big brother. It didn't mean to."
Petra hurriedly took a clean white handkerchief from her pocket and carefully wrapped Grin's hand.
"Brother Grin, dog teeth are dirty. We need to put some herbal medicine on it."
The other children crowded around too.
Some tried to comfort him, while others immediately started blaming Meili.
"Brother Grin, I got bitten by dogs all the time before. If you smear saliva on it, it gets better!"
"Meili, what did you do? You raised a wolf cub!"
"Brother Grin, just castrate it right now!"
Grin waved a hand and silenced the whole noisy group.
And as he looked at Meili, he thought to himself that this girl really was a born actress.
If he had not already known who she was, he might actually have been fooled by that pitiful little performance.
He bent down and gave her shoulder a light, almost comforting pat.
"It's alright, little sister. Don't worry too much. A wound like this heals in a day or two."
Then his tone shifted just a little.
"It's much easier to recover from than having your stomach cut open."
Meili's expression froze for the briefest instant.
Then she quickly recovered and answered in a trembling voice,
"I'm really sorry, big brother. Meili knows she was wrong. Please… please don't say scary things like that anymore. Meili is a little scared…"
As she spoke, her eyes began to glisten as if she might burst into tears at any moment.
Petra immediately ran over, hugged Meili, and turned back to Grin with a reproachful look.
"Brother Grin is so mean, scaring a little girl like this… There, there, Meili, stop crying. I already scolded him for you…"
Grin only shrugged and smiled helplessly.
Petra was obviously still a child herself, but she was already acting like a little grown-up.
Even so, Grin occasionally cast glances toward the forest beyond the fence, where the magic stone maintaining the barrier hung.
It was still bright out.
But he could already feel that something was wrong.
Meili would not be sitting here for no reason.
Disrupting the barrier and releasing the demon beasts was clearly part of her mission.
After watching a while longer, Grin shifted his gaze back to Meili—
Only to find that Meili had been quietly watching him too.
Her eyes were mocking and cold, like she was looking at someone already marked for death.
That stupid-looking dog in her arms was abnormally dangerous.
Even if he and Rem worked together, they probably could not defeat it head-on.
Grin quietly clenched his injured right hand, feeling a tearing pain spread from the bite marks.
The next time they met, he would have to deal with this hidden threat completely.
Rem glanced at the lowering sun and came over to urge him along.
"Grin, it's getting late. We should return to the mansion. Your hand needs to be properly bandaged."
"Haha, Rem, just admit you're worried about me."
Grin gave her a reassuring look.
This little maid was always so reserved.
But her eyes gave her away; they kept drifting back to his wounded hand.
Rem's earlobes reddened slightly, and she turned her eyes away from his gaze.
"Rem is not worried at all. It's just that if we get back too late, Sister will become an old woman."
"Even your sister says that? Ram would cry if she heard you."
Grin walked over and took the sack from Rem's hands, slinging it over his shoulder.
The instant he lifted it, a heavy weight pressed down on him.
"Whoa. I was going to show off a bit, but this thing is seriously heavy."
Rem answered calmly,
"It's mostly sweet potatoes. Grin-kun will be able to enjoy Sister's delicious cooking tonight."
"Of course, if it's too heavy, you don't have to force yourself."
Grin bounced the sack once on his shoulder and pretended to look completely at ease.
"No problem. Rem, go bring the dragon carriage around first. That way I won't have to carry this for too long."
Rem nodded and headed back toward where the carriage had been parked.
Once Grin watched her disappear from sight, he turned back and called softly,
"Petra, can you come with me for a second?"
Petra tilted her head in confusion.
"Just me? Everyone can walk you back together."
"That's right, Brother Grin is being biased."
"Does Petra get secret food all to herself?"
Grin immediately cut off the protests.
"Hey, don't start making noise. I have something important to discuss with Petra. If anyone else follows, then the tree cake is canceled."
At the mention of tree cake, the other children could only stop where they were.
After walking a little farther and putting some distance between themselves and Meili, Grin finally leaned closer to Petra.
"Petra, I need to ask you an important favor."
Petra nodded with complete seriousness.
"Yes, Brother Grin. Please say it. I don't know if I can do it, but I'll try my best."
Grin lowered his voice and whispered into her ear,
"Wolves have entered the village. I need you to protect the other children."
Petra's small body trembled, and her voice came out shaky.
"Really? If there are wolves, shouldn't we tell Grandma, the village chief, right away?"
Grin took Petra's small hand, trying to steady her.
"Listen to me, Petra. You don't need to fight the wolves yourself. You only need to quietly tell all the children except Meili to go home before sunset and not come back out."
Petra looked even more confused.
"Why… why is Meili excluded?"
"Because she's with the wolves."
The words hit like a dark whisper.
Petra's thoughts seemed to freeze, and even her speech became unsteady.
"H-How can that be? Meili-chan looks so kind…"
Grin gently patted Petra on the head.
"Be strong, Petra. Be brave like Little Red Riding Hood, alright?"