The Saintess' Observations

The saintess' steps through the dungeon were heavy.

She had no plan to defeat the black wolf. Yet she had no intention of running either.

There was a saying in the Holy Kingdom: "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." The saintess was challenging this dungeon with that mindset. But unable to fully commit, she dragged her feet while effortlessly sweeping aside the golems.

"… Hm? Was there a wall here?"

No, that couldn't be right. This was strange. According to her [Mapping] skill, there should definitely be a passage here. The labyrinth's walls should have been fixed by [Treaty]'s effect, so had it already worn off?

… That couldn't be it. If the effect had ended, the recoil would leave her unable to exert any power near the dungeon. She wasn't in that drained state yet. The saintess reconsidered.

With no path available, she had no choice but to take a detour.

There were walls where there shouldn't be walls, and passages where there should have been walls.

… Both [Mapping] and [Dungeon Trap Detection] were somehow useless in this dungeon… Really, what a mysterious dungeon.

… And then she arrived at the black wolf's room.

Given her reluctance, it had taken quite a while.

"… Now… what should I do?"

She stopped before entering the room to decide on a course of action.

Should she start chanting a spell… or should she take a little more time to think?

"Hey."

"… Hm?"

"Hey, you."

She heard a voice from somewhere… Was it an adventurer? Had another adventurer made it this deep besides her? She couldn't see anyone… It was a terrifying voice that seemed to seep out of the shadows.

"… Where are you?"

"Above."

She looked up as instructed… The black wolf was there.

Standing on the ceiling with all four legs.

"… Wha…?"

It walked so naturally on the ceiling that she felt the illusion that she was the one upside down.

No, there was something more pressing on her mind.

Who was the owner of that voice? No. She had already guessed. There was no one else in this place. And above all, the wolf's mouth was moving.

"Good of you, to come, human."

Not a howl, but clumsy speech that seemed to break off in fragments. The words unmistakably came from the wolf's mouth.

"Y-you can understand human speech…?"

"What's so, strange, about that? I can speak, other languages, too. Grrrrr… gau, how's that?"

"I don't understand wolf language."

"… I see."

Certainly, highly intelligent monsters could understand and even speak human language. Dragons were famous for this. It wasn't impossible for a wolf this strong to speak human language.

Moreover, this reinforced the saintess' belief that the black wolf had come from outside the dungeon. It was hard to imagine a monster that had only lived in the dungeon would interact with humans enough to learn their language. Besides, few humans came here. It was more reasonable to assume it had learned the language elsewhere before settling here.

The black wolf suddenly pushed off from the ceiling, made a half-turn in the air, and landed on the ground with a thud. The saintess instinctively heightened her guard and took a stance. But it showed no sign of attacking.

"… Why were you on the ceiling?"

"Killing, time?"

Apparently there was no deeper meaning. What was that about… How did it even stick up there?

But if it had ambushed her from that position, she would have died without even time to scream. In other words, this wolf had no intention of killing the saintess… at least not right now.

She didn't know what its purpose was. Probably just a whim, toying with prey it could kill at any moment. No different from a cat batting at a ball of yarn. All the power to decide rested with the black wolf.

Even so, this was fine. For the saintess, this was also a good opportunity to observe the black wolf. Even if the Hero came to defeat it later, she could contribute by leaving behind information.

She had gained new information: it could understand human speech. And conversation was… working, at least for now.

Even if it was due to carelessness, this was precious time, and precious information.

"… So, what do you want?"

"You're, delicious."

"… Well, unfortunately I've never eaten myself."

"In other words, you've been, offering, food to me, right?"

The saintess smiled bitterly to herself. In the end, this wolf only saw her as food. All her desperate fighting, her life-or-death struggles, the attack she thought had finally landed a blow—to the wolf, it was probably just adorable resistance, like a lively morsel hopping off the plate before jumping into its mouth.

And she was delicious food that kept coming back to be eaten.

The gap in their abilities was too great.

"H-hmph. So, what do you intend to do?"

"Ah."

The black wolf chuckled.

Every glimpse of those fangs that could end her life in an instant sent chills down the saintess' spine.

"I'll make you, my follower."

… What did it just say? It took the saintess about thirty seconds to process those words.