"Help you?" I repeated, staring down at the bowing wolf princess. She nodded her head, slowly looking up at me.
"My name is Raya, and my father is the Great Wolf King," She said, confirming my suspicions, "It's nice to meet you, Mr…"
"Valon," I supplied, and she nodded gratefully.
"Mr. Valon," She said, smiling at me, which showed off the fangs in her mouth. I don't know why she's calling me 'Mr.,' as I'm barely 20 and she doesn't look that much younger than me. I'd bet a year or two at most.
"So, what did you need help with?" I asked, bringing her back to the point.
"R-Right, as I was saying," Raya continued, blushing slightly, "My father is the Great Wolf King. We've noticed your… activities in the area, Mr. Valon, so I came to ask you…"
She bowed down again, her huge mane of hair flopping over her head and covering her face entirely, "Please kill my father!"
I blinked in surprise, staring at the bowing girl.
Did she just ask me to kill her dad? I was going to anyway, but…
"Why?" I asked, still not completely certain this wasn't a trap.
"My father is leading our species to our doom," Raya said, looking back up at me, "Please stop him!"
"Your doom?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, and she nodded.
"Until recently, my grandfather was the king of our race. About a hundred moons ago, my father… killed him," Raya explained, her voice breaking slightly as she spoke, "My father is much more reckless than my grandfather was. He has no qualms about sending the four-legged ones of our race to their deaths."
Yeah, I figured that much from the way hundreds of dire wolves had been throwing themselves into me constantly.
I was already planning on killing the Great Wolf King anyway, but I might as well get something out of this!
"Alright, I'll take him down," I nodded, and her eyes lit up at my words, "But, in return, I need some information from you."
"Information?" She asked, tilting her head at me.
"About the forest," I clarified, "I'm a bit new here. Tell me more about it - the layout, the territories, everything. Just explain it to me like I don't know anything."
Raya nodded at my words, then walked over to a pile of dirt surrounding a nearby tree. She gestured for me to follow her, and then crouched down. I walked over, also crouching down in front of the dirt.
"This is the forest," Raya said, drawing a circle in the dirt with her finger. Then, she drew two more crossing lines, dividing the circle into four.
"This is where we are - the lands of the Great Wolf King," Raya continued to explain, pointing to the northeast quadrant of the circle, "The forest is divided into four large territories - One ruled by the Great Wolf King, one by the Blue One, and two ruled by… other races?"
The blue one? That could be a lot of things, but a couple immediately came to mind - a giant slime, a water or ice-based monster, or, most concerning, a certain dragon.
…hopefully it wasn't the last one. The idea of taking on a dragon isn't very appealing.
Raya looked uncertain at the final part, looking at him apologetically, "I don't actually know much about the other two. I have never left these lands, and neither my father nor grandfather told me much about the rest of the forest. As a woman, I was never intended to rule, as one of my brothers will inherit the kingdom."
The dire wolves have a male-led system of ruling? How unsurprising!
"The Blue One?" I pushed for more information.
"I also don't know much about them," Raya said, looking apologetically at him again, "But, they are very powerful. Powerful enough to make my father feel invincible with their backing."
I looked at her questioningly, and she continued to explain, "The lands between each territory are known as the 'wildlands.' They are the home to various species, but are used as a hunting ground by each territory."
She pointed to the small lines she had drawn to separate the four areas, and I nodded. That was where I had been hunting the demon birds, gremlins, trolls, and slimes, as well as where my territory was set up.
It made sense that it was a hunting ground, as I never encountered anyone over level 9 there, whereas I had taken down dozens of level 10+ 'pack leaders' as I ventured further into the dire wolf lands.
"The forest has always been in a delicate balance. Each ruler knows not to push beyond their boundaries, as that would risk war for encroaching on hunting grounds," Raya explained, pointing at the small gap separating the four territories.
"My grandfather always said that it was necessary to not overstep our boundaries. If we greed for more land, it'll only end in our deaths. However…" She trailed off again, her fist clenching.
"My father wanted power. He's wanted to rule our race for decades, but my grandfather refused to give up control. He was too strong for him to defeat, so my father went to the Blue One for help," Raya continued.
"They killed my grandfather, and now my father is pushing further and further into the wildlands. He's being reckless. He imprisoned the old generals and formed new ones loyal to him. He wants to claim the whole forest for himself, and he'll send thousands of our kind to their deaths to do so. He thinks that having the Blue One's support makes us undefeatable."
Fair enough, but…
"Why me?" I said bluntly, "He's sending wolves to their deaths, but I'm the one killing them, y'know?"
It didn't make sense - she wanted her father to be defeated to save her people, but she went to the person killing her people for help.
"I won't try to sugarcoat it," Raya said, looking over and locking eyes with me, "There are spies everywhere in our territory. I have seen how strong you are, and how you keep becoming stronger. You might be stronger than my father - than anyone I've ever seen. You've come here to kill him right now, right? That's why you're venturing so deep into our territory?"
"I am," I replied honestly.
"After him, I doubt you will stop. You will keep becoming stronger, and eventually take the whole forest for yourself," Raya continued. Then, she leaned forward again, bowing at me.
"I will give you whatever you - whatever I can. My loyalty, my body, my power - anything. In return, when you take this place for yourself, please protect my race!" Raya bowed forward, her eyes locked on the ground.
Ah, I get what's going on now. She's smart.
She realized I would win against her father - after all, I had taken down one of his generals effortlessly. She isn't really asking for my help to kill him - she's asking for my help after I kill him.
"You know I'll rule this forest one day," I said, looking appreciatively at her, "So, you want to get on my good side early."
"Yes," Raya answered honestly, "I know that we stand no chance against you. You have every right to wipe out my entire race - we have done nothing but attack you relentlessly, but I beg you…"
She bowed even lower, if that was possible, "My father is the one ordering them to attack you, so please focus your anger on him! Please forgive the rest of my kind!"
Honestly, it was kinda weird being constantly bowed at. I get that we're in a 'kill or be killed' type of forest, but she's really reading my personality wrong.
While I have no qualms about killing the monsters in the forest to become stronger, I'm not some kind of genocide-inducing maniac. I'm just going after her father to complete the quest - I hadn't planned on trying to wipe out the rest of the dire wolves or anything after.
But, she doesn't know that. A beautiful woman is offering her loyalty to me, and all I have to do is something I was already going to? Why would I turned that down?
More importantly, a very useful beautiful woman. She had a lot of information about the forest, and she was essential for the dire wolf territory. While killing the Great Wolf King was necessary for the quest, his territory was necessary for a different quest.
I glanced over at my quest log, one quest in particular sitting at the top.
[Quest Alert!]
Conqueror the Familiar Forest
Rewards:
[Beast King] Title
[Tutorial] Completion
Failure:
Death.
I still had to conqueror the entire forest to complete the tutorial, and that meant taking the Great Wolf King's territory. While I could just kill him, take the land for the quest, and then never bother doing anything with it, there was a much more appealing option.
Raya was their Princess, so all I need to do is make her the new Queen after her fathers death. A Queen that can command the dire wolves without backlash, but is loyal only to me.
I could already see the benefits of having an entire army of dire wolves at my disposal.
"I'll do it," I said finally, grinning down at the bowing Princess, "Stay by my side, and I'll make sure no harm comes to you or your kind after I kill the king."
I held out my hand, and Raya gave me a slight smile as she straightened her back. She took my hand, shaking it to confirm our deal.
"In return, I'll do whatever you ask," Raya confirmed, dipping her head slightly at me.
"I'd say I don't need your help, but," I hummed, causing her to lock eyes with me again, "I could use a guide. Wandering aimlessly through the forest and being constantly attacked by wolves isn't all that fun. You should know this place pretty well, right? Take me to the nearest general."
"A general?" Raya asked, looking at me with a confused look on her face.
I mostly just needed to track them down for the quest, but there was also another reason.
"I imagine they won't just accept me taking down their king," I started to explain.
It was pretty easy to understand the situation from Raya's words - her father killed the old king and then booted out the old guard with him. The generals are new ones loyal to him, which means they could act one of two ways:
Either be cowards who swear their flimsy loyalty to me the second I kill their king, or be loyal dogs who will try their hardest to gather forces to oppose me.
I didn't like either option - either I get generals under my command who will turn at the drop of a hat, or I have to waste time slaughtering wolves that could be used as soldiers.
"I'd like to take them down first. It'll make the transition of power cleaner," I finished, and Raya nodded at my words.
"I agree. They are fiercely loyal to my father, it would be smart to take them down first. Are you ready to fight right away?" Raya asked.
"Of course," I grinned, my teeth bared. I raised my fist, the muscles on my arm rippling.
Raya nodded, then turned around and started walking in a seemingly random direction.
"My father will be shocked," Raya muttered, barely audible as she led him into the forest, "He thinks he's invincible, and yet…"
"His whole kingdom is gonna fall in one day," I finished for her with a slight, barely noticeable, glint in my eyes.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: Took a little break, but I'm back. Gonna try to update this story twice a week, and I put a chapter ahead on Patreon, Patreon.com/Koyon , with more to be coming soon! Thanks for reading!