How to Raise a Dumb Wolf - Chapter 109

After saying it aloud, Aisha could not help becoming terribly nervous. She unconsciously clutched Major General Wolf’s clothes, looked at him intently, and waited in silence for his response.

Les paused, evidently not expecting Aisha to begin considering graduation so soon. But he quickly recovered and was happy for her. The corners of his mouth rose into a faint smile. He stroked her head and said, “Congratulations.”

Aisha: “…”

Her boyfriend looked very handsome when he smiled, and her heart skipped a beat despite herself, but he had completely missed her point. QAQ

Aisha pressed her lips together. Before now, she had believed graduation would not happen anytime soon, and they had only recently begun dating. She feared that discussing the distant future would place too much pressure on Les. But it was not as though she did not care. They had been together for more than half a year now, and if she rounded generously, that was practically a year, so…

It was still rather embarrassing.

Aisha lowered her gaze. In truth, she had thought long and hard before telling him she might graduate soon. Graduation was now genuinely part of her plans. Rather than continuing to worry alone, perhaps it would be better to consider the matter together with Les…

After composing herself, Aisha forced herself to speak. “Les.”

“…?”

“You know, after I graduate, I may return home… And you are an officer of Beast, so you cannot remain in Wold forever either. So… what do you think… we should do?”

Aisha spoke slowly. Partly, she was anxious about Les’s reaction and possible answer. At the same time, she wanted to express herself as clearly as possible, including the precise source of her worries. By the time she finished, a thin layer of cold sweat covered her hands.

Les paused, unsure how to answer.

It was not that he had never considered the question. Their races and nationalities, as well as Aisha’s family, all stood between them. When he first learned Aisha was Tina’s daughter, he had decided to give her up. After rescuing her from the darkfolk palace in Dimska, he chose to follow the Beast Emperor back to his estate in Beast. Yet…

He wanted to see her.

That had been his answer then.

When he imagined Aisha falling in love with another man, marrying him, and bearing his children, animal instinct boiled through Les’s body and filled him with agony he could not endure. He did not want their story to end that way. He wanted to compete, to win, to defeat every rival, to make her love him. The instinct was stronger than desire—perhaps because he was beastfolk, or perhaps simply because he was a man…

Now that Aisha willingly embraced and kissed him, now that she could sit on his lap and rest in his arms as she did at this moment, the agitation had eased somewhat. But Les knew the instinct remained. It was what had driven him to return to her.

Even now, his answer had not changed. He loved her and wanted to remain beside her forever. If he could not relinquish her while merely courting her, he was even less capable of doing so after Aisha chose him. Still, some objective difficulties were genuinely hard to overcome and impossible to resolve perfectly.

“…There will be no war in the immediate future. With His Majesty’s permission, I can remain away from the army for long periods and complete my work elsewhere. If you do not wish to leave Helman, I can apply for a long-term travel permit. Or…” Les’s blue-gray eyes focused on Aisha. “I could apply for a long-term diplomatic posting abroad. It would be similar to my previous visit to Helman, but much longer. Unless a war required my presence, I would not need to leave.”

Les spoke calmly. His face remained as expressionless as ever, but the resolve in his eyes made it impossible to doubt his sincerity. His answer, however, was entirely different from anything Aisha had imagined. Between the two of them, if one truly considered the issue, it would surely be easier for Aisha—the one who remained a student and had not settled on a career—to change her living environment.

“W-would that truly be all right? Soldiers care greatly about honor, don’t they?” Aisha could not help asking.

“Mm.”

Les nodded, then paused.

To tell the truth, he liked life in the army. Friends and comrades he valued were there, along with the way of life to which he was accustomed. He also enjoyed battle, and winning honor for His Majesty was a source of pride. But…

“I actually… do not particularly like war.”

War was not the struggle and competition one experienced at school or against a worthy, evenly matched opponent. It was the slaughter of blood and flesh. Both sides fought for their countries and for honor, but the battlefield did not care whether one’s opponent stood at the same level. In fact, an enemy who could be crushed was preferable. Cold weapons and claws were everywhere, along with hot blood…

Ever since Carter III signed the peace treaty with the humans, he had been an astonishingly moderate ruler in political affairs. Nearly every war afterward had been fought to repel darkfolk invasions. Yet this did nothing to diminish the horror of war. Claiming to enjoy such a scene would be terrifying.

Besides, war was not the only way for a soldier to earn honor.

Les reassuringly stroked Aisha’s head.

“But… but you hold a title and lands in Beast, don’t you?” Aisha asked, still worried.

That could indeed present some difficulty.

After a moment’s thought, Les answered with characteristic bluntness. “Our… children?”

Aisha: “…”

“…”

“…”

Aisha’s face visibly turned scarlet at astonishing speed. She stared blankly at Les, opening her mouth for a long time without finding any natural response.

Seeing her hesitant expression and the sudden helplessness in her brown-green eyes, Les stiffened slightly. He seemed to realize that he had gone too far and probably frightened her. He regretted his blunt phrasing, but felt utterly at a loss in the present situation.

So he simply cupped Aisha’s face and kissed her lips. At such close range, neither could see the other’s expression, which in one sense allowed them to avoid the embarrassment.

…Probably.

“…There may be other, better methods.”

Les shifted his gaze and changed the subject.

“I… have an elder who has experienced a cross-racial relationship. I… can ask for advice.”

“Mm, yes! All right!”

Aisha kept her head lowered and spoke with extreme stiffness. Perhaps because she was trying too hard to appear natural, her reply came far too quickly and sounded profoundly guilty.

“Then… thank you for doing that.”

She was so nervous that even her tone became formal.

“…All right.”

Les nodded. At a moment like this, he too had no idea how to return the atmosphere to normal.

Once they finished speaking, they looked at each other in silence, then awkwardly turned their eyes away.

…

Even after returning to the Tower of Magic, Aisha still felt dazed. To tell the truth, she had worried about the matter for quite some time, but she had never expected Les to move even faster than she did. He had shown no hesitation whatsoever. She could not tell whether he had made the decision on the spot, or whether…

He had already considered it before and… formed such plans?

Sitting on her bed, Aisha pressed her lips together.

Les’s answer had been better than anything she imagined and deeply considerate of her. Honestly, she was happy, filled with bliss, and greatly relieved. But…

It somehow felt as though he were the only one making concessions.

Just as living in Beast would leave Aisha surrounded entirely by beastfolk, living in Helman would put Les in the opposite position: one beastfolk surrounded entirely by humans. Because Les’s beast form was a wolf, his beastfolk traits remained readily apparent in his appearance. Helman and Beast were now at peace, and humans were certainly more accepting of beastfolk than of darkfolk. But that did not mean a foreigner would never encounter trouble in another country. Every kind of cultural and racial conflict would still exist. Making Les bear them did not make those problems disappear.

Was there… a better solution?

Aisha had no idea. Apart from beastfolk and darkfolk capable of flight, only ships traveled regularly between Beast and Helman. The fastest eagle beastfolk and darkfolk needed an entire night to cross the Divine Sea. Ships were much slower, sometimes requiring more than a month and frequently stopping at ports along the way. Relying on eagle beastfolk for constant travel was hardly realistic…

Unable to find an answer, Aisha irritably and distractedly leafed through her magical-study notebook. She knew that nothing she had learned could be applied to this problem. The greatest distance over which current spatial magic could move something was no more than two hundred meters (about 660 feet). It had certainly not developed enough to cross the Divine Sea; otherwise, wars would have expanded long ago. And because she had recently focused so much on the spell in Elizabeth’s wrist, most of her notes concerned that transfer magic…

Suddenly, Aisha stopped. Her hand rested upon one page of records concerning the magic inside Elizabeth’s wrist and did not move.

…

Elsewhere, Les was speaking with Carter III through communication magic.

Because he had promised Aisha that he would consult his elder, Les carefully explained his circumstances when Carter III contacted him that day.

In truth, Les still did not fully understand His Majesty’s situation or know the identity of the person the emperor loved. Carter III’s vague remark before registering for the World Tournament—“My affairs are progressing smoothly as well”—gave him almost nothing from which to draw a conclusion.

Of course, Les’s purpose was not to investigate His Majesty’s private feelings. He primarily sought the emperor’s wisdom. After Les described the situation, Carter III remained silent for a very long time, and Les could not help growing nervous.

At last, the cat emperor spoke. “Les.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Les’s heart sank as he listened intently.

After pondering for a while, Carter III said, “Why don’t you… ask her to marry you?”