Chapter 235: Monsterization (3)

Pitch-black dawn. Moonlight was hidden by clouds, and the world was submerged in silent darkness.

Yuria, who was resting in the room Johnny had assigned her, couldn’t overcome the stifling feeling and came outside.

Crunch- crunch-

Her heart felt insanely frustrated because of what had happened just a while ago.

Although it was a little, she thought she could resolve the piled-up conflict. But Ianco seemed to have no such intention at all.

‘Really…… do you intend to cut ties completely?’

Looking at Ianco’s expression and attitude, such intention was evident.

But Yuria still couldn’t understand.

Yes, she knows.

That burning down the factory, which could be called the livelihood of the family members, without a single word of consultation was a huge incident and a mistake to him.

But Yuria wasn’t without things to say either.

Just before that happened, she had asked several times to fold the Spiritbeast business, and each time, Ianco clearly answered he would do so.

‘But it was a lie.’

She discovered the factory and even directly witnessed the terrible tragedy happening inside.

The coldly cooled carcasses of Spiritbeasts and the pitiful gazes of Spiritbeasts trembling in fear trapped inside iron cages.

Contrary to Ianco’s words, the factory of death was still in operation.

‘You said you would clear it up?’

At that time, there was only anger.

And she only thought that this was a place that shouldn’t exist in the world.

So she burned it down.

Everything.

Although it was a thoroughly emotional act, she didn’t think it was a wrong act even now.

What Yuria wanted to say was that there were parts where she was also angry and disappointed with her father, Ianco.

Nevertheless, she didn’t think of cutting ties with Ianco.

It was natural.

Because he’s her dad.

‘Who gave birth to me and raised me.’

Since her mother passed away when she was young, she didn’t remember her face well, but thanks to the love Ianco showed, Yuria had never felt the absence of a mother.

Ianco was the one and only family in this world to Yuria.

Honestly, she could accept that he kicked her out in anger now.

As she said, she wasn’t without fault either.

‘Coming here now is also because I want to repent even a little for the mistake back then.’

If she said there was no disappointment at all, that would be a lie, but──,

She missed him.

It was an emotion that would be entirely resolved with just this one phrase.

Right.

What Yuria wanted from Ianco was exactly something like this.

I missed you.

Have you been well during that time, things like that.

Ordinary yet warm expressions of love that parents offer to children they meet after a long time.

Honestly, she almost burst into tears earlier.

Although she had been tipped off by Johnny beforehand.

When she faced the sleeve fluttering in the wind, the single eye, and the body that had become so gaunt it was unrecognizable and the smaller back.

‘If I say I was wrong first, will he accept it? Ah. I shouldn’t have gotten so annoyed earlier.’

It was something that happened as disappointment exploded at Ianco’s cold treatment and continuous ignoring, but regretting it after venting all her annoyance was already too late.

Yuria clutched her forehead and sighed.

‘It’s frustrating. There isn’t much time either.’

She intended to stay until the problem of the monsterization phenomenon was resolved as much as possible, but that didn’t mean she could invest indefinite time here.

Because next week was the start of the semester, Yuria had to return to the Academy before then.

‘Right. For now, let’s focus on finding the Half-Moon Wolf’s cub. The problem with Dad, another opportunity will come if we are together.’

Completely unaware of her father’s heart deliberately pushing her away for her sake, Yuria decided to deal with the urgent matter immediately.

It was then.

A carcass hidden by straw mats caught Yuria’s eye as she wandered around.

It was the Half-Moon Wolf’s.

“……Why is this still kept here?”

Yuria frowned.

It had been several hours since it died, and because it was a hot summer, decomposition was already occurring.

Since it was separated from the building, direct damage like stench or insects gathering would be minimal, but it wasn’t good aesthetically.

Above all, treating a sentient being called a Spiritbeast like this wasn’t good.

‘Did they not say they strive for Spiritbeast protection?’

In the meantime, a presence was heard.

“What. Yu, Yuria?”

It was Johnny.

For some reason, he looked quite flustered.

“What are you doing here?”

“What about you, Uncle?”

“Me? I was just passing by.”

“Then please continue passing by.”

Johnny didn’t do that.

Smirking, he naturally stood next to Yuria.

Then, pretending to look at the carcass together, he examined her expression.

“Seems something bad happened?”

“Why?”

“Um. Because your expression doesn’t look good?”

Yuria’s face hardened coldly.

“Of course it’s not good. This carcass is unpleasant to see, and there was that incident during the day too.”

“……Aha. That’s right.”

“And should I even smile when I meet Uncle.”

“Uh? That’s not it.”

He scratched his cheek awkwardly.

“This, you see. We put it here because they say the cub might return to the mother. You know canines have a good sense of smell, right? Since Half-Moon Wolves are canines if you look broadly, we thought if we leave it like this, the cub might smell it and come find it.”

“……Whose idea is it?”

“Who would it be? Of course it’s the Doctor.”

Isn’t he smart?

Johnny asked, but Yuria hardened her expression even more.

“That is too cruel.”

It came to find its mother, but what’s there is a corpse.

What on earth do they think of Spiritbeasts?

For what purpose are they trying to solve the monsterization phenomenon? Wasn’t it to protect Spiritbeasts?

Whether he knew such thoughts of Yuria or not, Johnny shrugged his shoulders.

“It can’t be helped. To solve the monsterization phenomenon, finding the cub is the urgent priority for now, and to do that, this method is the most certain.”

“…….”

“Also, I’m sorry about that part too. Actually, I looked for you. Since you weren’t in the room, I wondered if you were outside.”

Yuria looked at Johnny.

“About treating you like that when we went for the interview. I’m sorry. There was no time and I was kind of urgent back then. Please understand.”

“……I got it.”

“And honestly, you. You want to make up with Big Brother, right?”

“Does it look like that?”

Johnny grinned.

“Although the person who practically raised you might be Big Brother, the one who played with you the most is me. Do I not know you?”

Yuria recalled old thoughts.

It was true.

Unlike Ianco who was busy running the business without his daughter knowing, Johnny, who had relatively more free time, used to look after Yuria.

As she recalled old memories, a faint smile hung around Yuria’s mouth before she knew it.

“I’m right, huh? Honestly, you want to reconcile. I’m saying this because I can help.”

“Uncle will help me? How?”

“Hehe. You don’t know well because you’re still young? How important a person giving support in the middle is in this kind of situation. Also, how long have I spent with Big Brother? Huh? Just listen for now.”

The method Johnny explained was simple.

Sounding out Ianco’s heart by his side and informing Yuria of it.

And subtly leaking to Ianco that Yuria wants to talk.

“How is it. It’s okay, right? Not awkward either. It’s natural.”

It was true.

Of course, since the person who brought it up was Uncle Johnny, she didn’t have much trust, but it’s an undeniable fact that he is the person closest to Ianco.

“There’s also that Uncle is personally sorry to you, Yuria. And you came all the way here to grant our request, so can I not even help this much. Honestly, you should have something to gain too. I’ll help you!”

Refusing when he talked up to this point also seemed strange.

And, should I say he looks quite sincere.

It seemed he was really sorry about what happened in the reception room.

At least, it was reflected that way in Yuria’s eyes.

“Okay, Uncle. Please do so.”

The expression of Yuria nodding her head had completely relaxed before she knew it.

Checking that, Johnny giggled and patted Yuria’s shoulder.

“Good, good. Just trust this Uncle. You just have to focus on finding the cub.”

“Okay.”

“Right. Now hurry and go into your room. We don’t know when the wolf cub will appear, so you should rest when you can.”

“Yes. Good night, Uncle.”

“Yeah. Sleep well.”

Johnny waving his hand while smiling towards Yuria’s back.

Soon Yuria disappeared into the darkness.

And simultaneously, the smile around Johnny’s mouth disappeared as if washed away.

“Fuck. Almost got fucked.”

Johnny’s savage glare headed towards the carcass.

There was a long slit wound on the chest part of the Half-Moon Wolf.

It was definitely a wound that wasn’t there during the day.

The blood around the affected area had dried up in the state it poured out, looking as if something had been taken out from the inside.

“I told these crazy bastards to move it to a place where it can’t be seen as soon as the extraction is finished. I came out just in case and…….”

Johnny immediately headed to the accommodation where the subordinates stayed.

The light that was off turned on again.

Not long after, the sound of threshing thud rang inside the accommodation.

***

“Yuria!”

At Johnny’s voice heard from afar, Yuria put down her spoon and stood up.

The urgency contained in the voice.

And as expected.

Burst, from the mouth of Johnny who opened the room door and entered, the words she waited for burst out.

“The cub!”

“Where is it?”

“Follow me!”

Yuria ran following Johnny’s back.

Inside the forest near the camp.

As she entered, the shouting sounds of mercenaries ringing from here and there struck her eardrums.

It was the sound of mercenaries driving the cub.

Before long.

“Over there!”

A small shadow moving quickly between the bushes entered Yuria’s eyes.

Although the overall silhouette was revealed for a moment, Yuria’s eyes captured it without missing.

That thing the size of a small dog was clearly a sub-adult of a Half-Moon Wolf.

‘It was real! Dr. Edric’s words were true.’

Until just then, she was uncertain about whether the cub really existed, but with this, the Doctor’s guess was proven to be true, and that immediately converted into a clear sense of purpose.

Excluding the mercenaries out elsewhere, all mercenaries waiting at the camp popped out and tracked the cub in an instant. Yuria was also together in that formation.

Fortunately, the cub was in a state where monsterization hadn’t progressed.

Seeing that, she could know that monsterization doesn’t affect heredity.

After capturing it, Yuria’s role was important, and she recalled what things she could find out through the cub.

First, she had to find the nest.

Yuria was suspecting external factors as the cause of the monsterization phenomenon, and among them, the environment of the habitat as the biggest cause.

Poisoned food nearby. For example, it might have mistakenly ingested toxic substances, or something else exerting a negative influence might exist.

The second external factor was precisely humans.

The monsterization phenomenon was not a naturally occurring phenomenon.

A strange phenomenon that has never happened until now.

And the only existence that would cause such a strange phenomenon is humans, who are the greediest in the world.

Actually, if you search history, there were many such cases, and Yuria herself had experienced actual cases a few times.

That was also something from just two months ago.

The existence tracked back then was a young boy who became a werewolf by the Beltus Cult’s biological experiment.

And now, the cub of a Half-Moon Wolf that died from monsterization…….

‘……Uh? Come to think of it, Roenberg City is also near here.’

An ominous déjà vu.

Don’t tell me, is a research facility that wasn’t discovered back then still remaining?

‘Ey. The senior said he handled it perfectly.’

Trying hard to hide the strange unpleasant feeling, Yuria focused on finding the cub.

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