WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 494: The Boy Who Cried Wolf

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A city required vast resources to sustain itself. Food, clothing, fuel, water, and more. Cities were usually built in resource-rich places, but terrain that had everything was rare.

So cities built facilities to produce whatever they lacked.

There had originally been no flocks of sheep on the Enger Plain. Among grazing animals, only hardy species like water buffalo, swift zebras, and sturdy antelope could survive there. There was only one reason sheep could come to this land and graze.

Humans raised them.

The shepherd boy let out a huge yawn as he watched the flock move.

"I'm bored..."

Shepherding was usually handled by dog beastkin and sheep beastkin. Dog beastkin were naturally skilled at it without training, while sheep beastkin could instinctively commune with sheep. Experience could be gained, but communion with sheep was impossible without being born with it, so Ende chose a higher ceiling over a safer baseline, thanks to its many capable beastkin.

The boy, a sheep beastkin assigned to tend sheep, smacked his lips as he looked over the grassy plain and flock.

"It's better than having problems... but it's way too boring."

Shepherding had not always been such a boring job. This was the edge of Ende. Lions or wild dogs separated from their packs appeared here, and waking up to find one or two sheep gone was an everyday occurrence. Normally, he had to inspect and repair traps and mend fences every day.

Lately, though, nothing had happened.

Strangely so.

The shepherd boy looked at his flock again.

The sky above the Enger Plain, now in its dry season, was wide and clear. Across the plain, brown and green battled for dominance, but the flock's efforts were gradually pushing back the green. Contented bleating mingled with the sound of wind brushing through the grass.

It was a peaceful, pastoral life. Someone burdened with many worries might have found joy in that peace.

To a boy with big dreams, it was unbearably dull.

"Won't something interesting happen..."

Speak of the tiger, and it appears. The sheepdog yawning beside him suddenly sprang to its feet. The shepherd boy felt his fur stand on end too, clasped his hands together, and stared into the distance.

Far away, near what could be called the edge of the plain, something with gray fur was approaching.

A wolf.

Thick fur. A sleek body. Its eyes were filled with ferocity, as though ghostly flames burned within them. Though it was still far away, the frightened sheep beastkin moved on instinct.

"Woof! Watch the sheep!"

"Woof!"

Leaving the sheepdog in charge, the shepherd boy ran straight down the slope. He arrived at the guard post with his fur flying behind him, rang the alarm bell loudly, and shouted.

"A wolf! There's a wolf!"

The guard post erupted into chaos.

Guards hurried over with their weapons. Dressed in thick leather armor, they followed the shepherd boy toward the pasture, breathing hard.

What they found was a flock peacefully grazing and a sheepdog baring its teeth with its tail raised.

The guards looked around and asked, "Where's the wolf?"

"It was there just a moment ago! It was coming this way from down on the plain!"

The shepherd boy pointed into the distance, but the wolves that had clearly come quite close had vanished.

The guards, irritated after being called out so suddenly, snapped at him.

"There's nothing here!"

"I definitely saw it!"

"Didn't you see it wrong? Or maybe you imagined it."

"No! Do you think I can't tell the difference? It was definitely a wolf!"

"A wolf showed its face for a moment, then disappeared? Does that make any sense?"

He pleaded sincerely, but the guards only looked at him with suspicion. A wolf that began hunting was persistent. It would wear down its prey's nerves until they collapsed from exhaustion, then bite their throat the moment they let their guard down. It did not simply vanish in front of its prey.

Frustrated, the shepherd boy spoke to his partner, the sheepdog.

"It really happened! Woof, you saw it too, didn't you?"

"Woof! Grrr, woof!"

But only the Beast King could speak human language. Even the dog's barking did not seem to convince the guards.

"Hmph. Fine. Let's say that's what happened."

The guards grumbled as they returned to the guard post. They did not have to say it for the shepherd boy to know they thought he was a liar. He grew angry at their attitude.

"A wolf really came, and this is how you treat me?! You'll blame me when the whole flock disappears!"

"Woof woof!"

"Yeah, Woof. You worked hard. Still, what was that wolf supposed to be?"

It had approached the flock, only to vanish while he had briefly left his post. That was certainly not wolf-like. The Enger Plain was vast. To hide on a plain with no obstacles, it would have needed to retreat very far away.

Approaching closely and then simply withdrawing. Animals did not move that inefficiently.

It was not as if the wolf were a human carrying out a deception.

The shepherd boy let his imagination run wild.

"Maybe it was a wolf kicked out of its pack. It might've come closer, then backed off because there were too many sheep."

"Grrr!"

"Or maybe it ran away after seeing how mighty our Woof is!"

"Woof!"

For quite a while, the shepherd boy chattered about the mysterious wolf. The sheepdog could not understand his words, but enthusiastically responded anyway.

Still, there was one good thing about the wolf appearing.

He definitely was not bored anymore.

Several days passed.

After walking along the fence while yawning, the shepherd boy spotted another distant wolf-shaped shadow. It was still far away, but closer than last time.

Frightened, the shepherd boy immediately ran all the way down to the guard post.

"A wolf! There's a wolf!"

This time, an orc mercenary band arrived with the guards. They came carrying flashy weapons, snorting as they looked around.

He wondered why pig beastkin had come instead of the Obelisks, but Ende had never had enough hands to spare. They had probably been hired to hunt the wolf. The shepherd boy, who was always slow to hear news, did not think much of it.

The orc mercenaries searched the area and asked, "Where's the wolf?"

"It was over there, near the big rock beyond the fence!"

The orc mercenaries looked at the big rock, but not even a wolf's shadow could be seen. Their already displeased faces twisted further.

"I don't see anything. Sniff, sniff. I don't smell any blood either. Was there really a wolf?"

"There was! It was right there, wagging its huge tail and glaring at me!"

He beat his chest and shouted the truth, but once again, he received suspicious looks instead of praise.

"Then see for yourselves! There should be huge wolf tracks over there!"

Unable to bear it any longer, the shepherd boy climbed over the fence himself. The orc mercenaries followed him.

"It was huge and terrifying. It was so big, it completely hid that rock! There'll definitely be tracks as big as its head!"

Certain of himself, the boy led the orc mercenaries to the rock. Once they saw the traces, his grievance would be proven.

Yet contrary to his expectations, not a single footprint remained near the rock.

After searching around, the orc mercenaries said grimly, "There's nothing here."

"Huh? Huh? That's strange. Why isn't there?"

"Looks like you got scared and imagined it. This is why cowardly sheep shouldn't be shepherds."

The accusation was bad enough, but what tormented the shepherd boy was the injustice of it. He had clearly told the truth and only done his job faithfully, yet he had become a liar condemned by everyone. It was more than he could bear.

"It's true! A huge wolf was standing right here, glaring at us!"

"Then why aren't there any tracks?"

"What, did the wolf use Earth Qi Art to hide its footprints?"

"Nonsense. If it were a wolf that could use qigong, this brat would've been carried off in its jaws already."

"Wolves come in packs to begin with. Saying you saw only one is strange."

"Maybe you saw a wolf that kills you after you see it three times?"

"Then you'll die soon! Hahaha!"

The boy's only crime was being diligent. He said what he saw and reported what he experienced, only to become a liar before he knew it.

Even the guards who had come with him pointed fingers at the shepherd boy.

"Don't listen to him too much. That brat rang the alarm last time too, saying a wolf had come, and we got nothing. He wanted to mess with you Pigi because you just arrived."

"Pigi?"

"Ah, sorry. Orc... was it?"

"Watch your words. Orcma has been granted the authority to punish racial slurs at our discretion."

In any case, no matter how much they searched, they found neither wolf tracks nor a single strand of fur. The orc mercenaries cursed and barked at the boy.

"If you call us out with lies again, you'll be sorry."

"Things are already chaotic enough because of all this wolf business, and now the shepherds are causing trouble too."

"When he's among the flock, you can't even tell he's a shepherd. How does he expect to take care of something smarter than himself?"

"Everyone knows sheep have poor eyesight. His vision must be blurry, and he came running because he got scared."

He had enough sense not to say that they were filthy Pigi too. The shepherd boy kept his mouth tightly shut and swallowed his anger until the mercenaries left.

"Ugh. There was a wolf. I only told the truth..."

Never in his life had he felt so wronged and furious. I haven't done anything wrong, yet it feels as if the whole world has joined forces to scold me. No matter how much I shout, they only laugh and mock me.

The boy considered himself brave, and he saw crying as shameful. Holding back his tears desperately, the shepherd boy sniffled and buried his face in the sheepdog's neck.

"I'm never ringing the alarm again, even if I die. Hmph, just wait. Once all the sheep are dead, they'll regret not believing me."

Animals could not speak human language, but they could comfort human emotions.

The sheepdog silently consoled its master as he wiped away tears with its fur.

The next day.

The wolf appeared again. A huge black wolf stared at the flock from a distance, just as before.

Everything was the same as before, but the shepherd boy's attitude toward the wolf had changed. Ignoring it, he gathered straw.

"Bark! Bark!"

"It's fine, Woof. Let it take a few sheep."

"Bark! Bark! Bark!"

"They won't believe me anyway, even if I ring the alarm."

"Bark! Bark! Bark! Whine, bark, bark..."

"You don't have to try so hard to protect them. Once sheep blood is scattered everywhere, they'll know they were taken."

As the shepherd boy replied cynically to the sheepdog's desperate cries, the dog's barking abruptly stopped.

The shepherd boy turned toward the ominous silence. The black wolf, which had somehow approached without him noticing, was staring at him. Its massive body and glossy fur made it unmistakably the wolf he had seen before.

Hanging limply from the wolf's jaws was the sheepdog, its neck broken before it could put up any real resistance.

The flock smelled blood and fled in blind panic. Even while prey scattered in every direction, the wolf continued to stare only at the shepherd boy.

Thud.

The loyal dog's body rolled helplessly across the ground. Only after seeing his friend's death did the shepherd boy understand his own situation.

The wolf had not been after the sheep.

It was after the shepherd.

The wolf's hunt for the city had begun.

Footnotes:

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