Still dark when Tenma woke up suddenly.
All around him, the fur of the other puppies prevented him from seeing what was in front of him, so he separated from them and left the den without the mother wolf noticing.
He had fallen asleep after huddling with the other puppies, but after a long nap, he felt like something was wrong.
Tenma couldn't stop thinking about the squirrel.
Even though everything seemed fine between them, Tenma still remembered the moment when he had to kill him to survive when he was still a living corpse. When he saw him, memories of when he wanted to attack him came to his mind.
And he felt bad for thinking that way about the squirrel, when he clearly wanted to help.
But now, they had both gone their separate ways.
Tenma turned to look at the wolf, who was sleeping at the entrance of the cave after keeping watch. He approached him trying not to make noise, noticing how he woke up anyway.
Both ended up looking into each other's eyes for a moment, and the silence lingered.
"Angel... Are you still there?" Tenma asked, but the wolf looked away from the puppy, then continued to keep watch.
Of the two friends he had before, he had none now.
He had lost sight of them.
He was alone.
That was a feeling that Tenma hated. He hated it more than anything. But he couldn't deny that being able to stay in a place as comfortable as the one he was in now was a place that couldn't satisfy him.
But he felt like he was doing something wrong.
"Why are you ignoring me...? I know it's you, I see you in the wolf's eyes" he barked, putting his paw on the wolf's back. "Why can't you talk to me... like before?"
The wolf father, who had been listening to the puppy's barks, turned to him, confused. And he barked at him, then licked him behind the ears to calm him down.
Neither understood each other, but the wolf felt that the puppy was feeling somewhat sad, so he couldn't sleep well.
Tenma would try to leave the cave to get some fresh air, and if possible, see if the squirrel was nearby, but the wolf prevented him by pushing him away with his paw. The puppy would try again, but it would be the same result.
Before a small fight could start, the wolf got up, grabbed the puppy by the neck, and took him back to the others in the den.
It took a while for Tenma to make sure the wolf wasn't watching him, starting to take steps out of the den once again.
He wanted to go look for the squirrel, or at least detect if his scent was nearby. He worried about him.
He searched his inventory for something that could be useful, and although he could throw any of the things he had, it wouldn't be feasible, or he would easily be punished by the wolf, and it wasn't a viable option.
He also hesitated for a moment to sneak out when he fell asleep, but he realized he had very keen hearing. That would make it very difficult.
But, most likely, he would end up in danger or possibly dead if he went out to look for the squirrel when everything was still dark.
"Tomorrow morning I'll go look for him." —he told himself, bowing his head again and curling up against the other puppies.
Meanwhile, the mother licked Tenma's head. And he fell asleep again.
***
Now, back with more energy, Tenma would wake up with more enthusiasm, having a calmer thought than the night before.
In front of him, the mother wolf was playing with her puppies, apparently they had let him sleep too long. Ignoring that, he would get back on track.
Thinking for a moment, and so that no one would notice that he was leaving, he took out of his inventory the toy ball that the sea monster had given them. If he left that place, at least he could leave something of value that could serve the wolf puppies more than him.
He took the ball and rolled it on the floor, causing the puppies to stop playing with each other to react to the ball. Immediately, they went to catch it; and Tenma took advantage to run out of the den.
Although, he felt someone stopping him by grabbing his tail. It was the mother wolf, who looked at the puppy with her ears down. Tenma knew that meant the wolf was worried about him, but he had to go look for the squirrel. He couldn't give up his best friend and live under those conditions for the rest of his life.
Yet he longed to return to his human body.
So, looking into the eyes of the wolf, he turned with a sudden movement, separating from her. In an attempt to catch him again, Tenma rolled on the ground to avoid it, standing up at once and then running away.
Tenma looked back at the wolf, making sure she wasn't following him. And she wasn't, strangely.
Until he figured out why, being caught at once by the teeth of the wolf that was guarding him.
He would hold him firmly, taking him back to the mother wolf, barking at him.
He didn't know why they even wanted to keep him there.
"Why... are you keeping me? Understand, I want to leave. I'm not your puppy."
No matter how much he barked at them, they seemed not to understand him.
Something strange was going on, he knew wolves didn't adopt just like that. And less someone of a different breed like him.
Were they really so... friendly?
rs of his guild knew him, lay sprawled in the adjacent room. He watched the scene in astonishment, partly unwilling to intervene.
But that call brought out an impulse in him.
"Shinma!"
"Woof!"
Leaping into action, Shinma ran out and bit Doris's leg. She jumped in fright, trying to shake off the puppy. However, he bit down with all his might, refusing to let go.
Melman approached Eva to tie her arms. Then, between him and Gorgon, they pinned her to the ground. The swordsman knelt to grab the girl's chin, but she spat at him.
"Disgusting! It got in my mouth!"
Tenma saw his owner fall to the ground, moaning in pain. It was a strange feeling, but he didn't want her to die.
"Get out of here, Shinma," Doris told him, grabbing him by the scruff and lifting him. "You don't need to see all this. Just go, and we'll come back for you later."
Tenma whined a little, disheartened by his weakness against someone who wasn't even using a weapon on him.
"Woof!"
"Shinma... you're going to make me kill you if you keep insisting—"
Suddenly, Melman drove his sword through Doris's back, leaving everyone stunned.
"You... what do you think you're doing?" Doris demanded, releasing Shinma to cover her mouth, ending up spitting blood. "Melman..."
Melman still held the sword firmly, seemingly unwilling to retract his attack.
Hysterical, Doris looked to Gorgon.
"Gorgon, stop Melman!"
Gorgon kicked his boss hard to prevent her from getting up, heading toward Melman.
But he changed direction and aimed his fist at Doris, punching her square in the face.
Doris, in pain, looked at her two comrades going against her. She began to stutter and tremble, not understanding a thing that was happening.
"The government... won't leave me alone, huh?"
Getting up carefully, Eva stood, adjusting the tie of her suit. Her face was bloody, and her suit dirty, but she kept the strength to look firmly at Doris.
"What's happening...? What is this?"
Eva picked up the knife Gorgon had left on the ground. Melman stepped back, drawing his sword, and Gorgon kept the girl held by the neck.
"How did you find me? Were all our adventures... fake?" the leader asked, pointing the knife at the girl.
In a desperate attempt, Doris raised her gun and shot at Eva, but she deflected it with her sword, causing it to ricochet and hit Melman. He fell to the floor.
"Answer. Was everything fake?!"
Doris began to cry, anguished by the pain and the betrayal of her comrades who were not responding to her calls. When she looked again at Eva, she exclaimed:
"We're just... bounty hunters. No one would join you. You are... the threat the government seeks to eliminate," the girl replied, spitting blood. "The assassin we sent to kill you... didn't do his job... and we paid him in advance. Why couldn't you die there?"
Eva stared at the traitor. She took the gun from her hands and pulled out the explosive material, throwing it to the ground.
Doris was stunned, trying to call out to her comrades to stop her. She screamed in alarm.
Tenma watched everything, scared. He was picked up by Eva and carried to the bar's exit.
"Melman! Gorgon! Why aren't you responding?!"
But both remained still. Doris tried to escape from the explosive material, getting up as best she could, leaving blood in her wake.
But Eva was already at the exit, with an explosive berry in her hand.
"Explosion... goodbye, friends."
With a flick of her thumb, she threw the berry at high speed, making it land on the explosive material.
Causing a massive explosion in the place, with the three guild members inside.
"Woof....! Woof..."
"Shinma...."
Eva hugged her pet in her arms, trying to calm him.
"Forget... everything you saw today. Okay?"
"Woof...!"
...
Eva kept walking, stroking her dog's head until dawn.
Leaving town before anyone could discover she was responsible for the disastrous fire.