Fairy Tale: Little Red Riding Hood's Wolf Mentor

"A spatial teleportation spell that leaves no time for reaction?"

Poro narrowed his eyes and carefully sensed the flow of magic around him. In an instant, he determined the situation he was facing - he was distorted by space and taken to an unknown location.

This forest maze was much more dangerous than he had anticipated.

"The controller of the forest maze is a devil?"

Poro thought of the direction where the devil had just appeared and made a judgment, but quickly denied it, "No, in addition to the devil, there should be a spellcaster who is the real control."

Poro analyzed the structure of the forest maze.

Most of the time, the host of the maze would not go outside the forest if he wanted to initiate such changes.

“Everyone was separated.”

Poro sensed it in his heart. Although [Circular Return: The Clever Little Tailor, the Bear and the Princess] separated him from Lake, he could still vaguely sense her approximate location through a mental connection.

"In short, at least we should get along first and then do other things. Lake should think so too."

Thinking of this, Poro walked towards where Lake was.

The forest is huge, and perhaps it will take a long time. Maybe I will meet other hunters first?
The canopy above his head rustled in the breeze and the sound of birds flying by. The tip of Poro's nose twitched slightly - the smell of blood and the sound of animals.

However, the law of the jungle among animals is common in any forest.

animal?

Poro was not very afraid. After all, he was also a wolf. His sense of smell, hearing and vision made him the best hunter in this forest.

But this time, among the fleeting faint sounds, there was a somewhat harsh sound.

The sound of metal—that was not something an animal could master.

Such a battle can only come from humans, those hunters who have just been separated by the maze!

"Hunters have started hunting so soon?"

Poro thought so, but it still felt a little strange.

After all, any mature hunter, after encountering such a sudden change and facing an unfamiliar environment, would never actively hunt first.

That is... being attacked by a wild beast?
The moment he was distracted by the maze, he encountered a ferocious beast - what an unlucky hunter!
Following the smell of blood carried by the wind, the Poro passed through the bushes silently. The black shadow merged with the shade of the trees and moved at a speed that was difficult to see.

The smell of blood became stronger.

Poro slowed down his pace and poked his head through the bushes. A feathered arrow was stuck in a tree trunk not far away, and there was also an empty arrow that fell on the grass beside it.

"Powerful archery, but it missed."

Poro made a judgment and looked towards the source of the strong smell of blood——

A broken wooden bow and several broken fingers, the white finger bones were entangled with bright red blood.

"It was bitten off by sharp teeth. Judging from the tooth marks, it must have been a tiger?"

Poro carefully observed the cross-section of the finger bone, made some guesses, and then looked towards a place not far away, following the dripping blood.

In that direction, the smell of blood became stronger.

"There's less blood from the beast on the ground. It looks like the hunter is at a disadvantage."

Poro twitched his nose and found some bloodstains with slightly different smells. The yellow hair on one of the pools of blood reflected some of his speculations, but at the same time, it also brought other puzzles.

"But this shouldn't be the case? Did this hunter encounter a sudden change in the environment and was attacked before he could react?"

After all, in King Hunt's screening, every hunter had killed the beast with minor injuries or even no injuries in at least a one-on-one situation.

"Come along and take a look?"

Thinking of this, Poro continued to follow the smell of blood.

The flattened grass stems and footprints in the mud did not extend far, and soon, Poro saw a hunter...the mutilated body.

In the memory of [Spiral Beacon: The Wise], he recognized this hunter as one of the hunters who entered the forest together.

The corpse's eyes were wide open, and there was still a trace of fear on his face.

The leather armor on his body was torn to pieces, and scratches and bite wounds tore through his body, leaving blood and bones exposed.

The hunting knife fell to the side, with some blood on the blade, but the beast's body was not there.

"Just killed. The murderer... must be a tiger."

The Poro looked at the hunter's broken body, which was like a rag doll, with its head torn in half and one ear missing.

"But the tiger attacked the hunter, so why didn't they drag away his body?"

But soon, Poro noticed something strange.

After all, in the forest, humans can be said to be a kind of "food" to wild animals, and killing hunters but not eating them is as wasteful as throwing away fresh food that is right in your mouth.

"tiger……"

The Poro's nose twitched as he looked at a row of inconspicuous bloody claw marks on the ground. In fact, based on the smell, he was sure that the murderous tiger had not walked far.

The wolf's claws stepped silently on the soft meadow.

The Poro saw the hunter, whose fur was still stained with blood, and it was indeed a tiger.

But on top of the tiger's head, there was a bird standing.

A turtledove with gray-red fur.

……

On the other side of the forest, Lake leaned against a tree. She carefully sensed the location of the Poro, then wiped a wild fruit in her hand and continued to move forward.

Not long after she left, she heard some human voices talking in the distance.

"It's the hunters? Weren't they separated by the maze's teleportation?"

Lake thought in surprise, "Are they just a few lucky people? Or... they're not hunters?"

Lake thought about it, then changed direction slightly and walked over silently.

Under the light of the torch, Lake saw the appearance of those people and breathed a sigh of relief.

There are three hunters.

Although she didn't have the memory of a Poro, Lake recognized that these three hunters were just some of the ordinary people who entered the forest together, and these hunters did not seem to have extraordinary powers.

So, they were lucky hunters who gathered together first?

But the hunters were whispering to each other. One of the scarred hunters was holding something like a map in his hand. He was pointing at a hill not far away and outlining something on the map with a pen.

"Is it this way?"

"It should be about the same. After all, we have a map, but those other guys don't."

"What just happened?"

"It's called a maze, but don't worry, we have a map. Others might get lost, but we won't be in danger."

"Let's set up camp first, and then we can take our time..."

Lake's ears twitched slightly, and she watched the hunters stop talking and start setting up the camp. After thinking for a while, she no longer hid and walked forward.

"Hello, sir."

Lake bowed slightly and looked at the map in the hunter's hand, but the hunter had rolled it up, so Lake couldn't see the specific pattern on it. Hearing Lake's voice, the hunters froze. The youngest one subconsciously reached for the dagger at his waist, but was held down by the wrist by the scarred, older hunter beside him.

They also remember Lake's iconic red cape.

"Miss, how did you find your way here? Did you follow one of us?"

The scarred old hunter narrowed his eyes and asked, his hoarse voice carrying a hint of murderous intent. An ordinary person would definitely not be able to suppress the fear in his heart under such power!

"Just after the fog, I suddenly appeared in an unfamiliar forest."

But Lake was clearly not affected by the evil spirits of ordinary people, and answered frankly, "I came here because I heard your voices."

As he spoke, Lake raised his hand and pointed at the map in a hunter's hand and asked:
"I see you have a map. Could you... sell me one?"

After hearing this, the three hunters shook their heads.

"A lost lady should follow the shepherd's bell home. The wolves in the woods don't care about your gender."

The scarred old hunter in the lead had a gloomy expression on his face and continued, "We won't sell you anything."

"I'll pay for it."

Lake was not surprised. Instead, she took out a few gold coins from her pocket and put them in her hand. "I just want a map. Or, do you know some information about this forest? Can you tell me..."

Unexpectedly, when they heard the word "information", the expressions of several hunters changed.

The younger hunter, seeing the gold coins in Lake's hand, looked at the scarred old hunter in the lead with a flicker of greed in his eyes.
"We have some remaining maps, perhaps..."

As if afraid that the old hunter would object, he made a downward cutting gesture with his hand from an angle where Lake couldn't see, "Of course, we have three people, so we can also..."

"no!"

But the old hunter simply shook his head, staring at Lake intently, and even drew the knife from his waist, taking a defensive posture. "Miss, we won't make any deal with you. Now, leave here, and don't dare to follow us again, otherwise - you will die by my knife first!"

Lake was stunned for a moment, showing a hint of regret, but such a result was reasonable. After all, trust is always difficult in a forest like this.

What's more, the maps of these hunters obviously carry some kind of secret?

Lake took back the gold coins. She thought of some records about the Kingdom of Hunt that she had seen before coming here, as well as the devil's breath that the bear-skinned man had felt.

"This forest is very dangerous for ordinary people. If you can leave at all—it's best to leave early."

Lake thought about it and reminded the three hunters.

"Oh? Danger? Miss, we are all hunters who have fought our way out of danger!"

Hearing Lake's words, the scarred old hunter seemed to have misunderstood her. He looked at Lake with a hint of mockery and disdain in his eyes, "Are you scared already? Miss? Every time we start a hunt, the hunters are prepared. We won't leave. We can't lose to a beast."

The other two hunters also said:

"Miss, are you scared by the forest and want to follow us?"

"Haha, I was saying, how could a woman have the courage to participate in such a battle?"

"Little girl, if you are afraid, just cry and beg those beasts to see if they will spare your life!"

"Hey!"

Listening to what the hunters said, Lake raised her eyebrows, but closed her mouth and gave up the idea of ​​arguing. She just took a deep breath, said nothing more, turned around and continued walking towards the direction where the Poro was.

Although she had no map, Lake was not worried about getting lost in the forest.

As long as I can find the Poro, no matter how big the maze is, I can't be trapped here!

The faint connection in the heart is like a safety rope.

Warm and reassuring.

As they watched Lake leave, the three hunters looked at the map in their hands and continued walking towards a certain direction of the forest.

"Boss, why didn't you just sell a copy of the map? We could have earned a few more gold coins by erasing the important legends! Besides, we have more people than a timid noble lady. If we just rob her, what can she do?"

"No matter how timid a woman is, she can still kill a bear. You killed two wolves and got injured. Do you dare to say you can defeat her?!"

The scarred old hunter looked at the young hunter and angrily said, "And when we find the old country's treasure—are we still missing those few gold coins?"

"Uh, sorry, Boss."

"Humph, this time we can only come in with the help of the king's court wizard, find the treasure, and then take it out. This is the most important thing. Compared with the treasure, even the reward from His Majesty the King is nothing."

The scarred old hunter then glared at the young hunter and said, "Be cautious and don't make things complicated."

"So, next we..."

"Let's go to the second gathering point. It's sheltered from the wind and close to the treasure hunt. It's getting dark, so let's camp there."

The scarred old hunter pointed to a special mark on the map in his hand and said, "There are two more people. They should have been sent to a farther place by the maze. But since we have the map, they will move towards that place."

The old hunter rolled up the map and put it back into the bag behind him. "Maybe they have already arrived there and started setting up a temporary camp."

"Understood, boss!"

As the hunters talked, they looked around cautiously and walked into the shade of the trees.

But they didn't pay attention to the pair of eyes above their heads that were closely following their movements, and the owner of the eyes was not a beast or a monster.

But it was an ordinary-looking sparrow.

But compared with its peers around it, this sparrow seemed extremely quiet and did not make a single sound.

It didn't spread its wings until the three hunters were out of sight, and then it flew away through the bushes.

As time went by, the sky became a little darker.

Under the cover of dense shade, the forest seemed to have arrived at dusk early, and the "second gathering place" planned by the three hunters on the map was in a relatively open area.

Under the dim skylight, a wisp of green smoke rose from behind a small hill not far away.

"Hey, those two guys really got here first. They're really quick. Have they already set up the campfire?"

"Barbecuing?"

"But, will this attract other hunters?"

They felt much more relaxed. Even though they were all excellent hunters, they would not remain tense all the time.

But when they climbed over the hill, the scarred old hunter in the lead suddenly wrinkled his nose and looked a little hesitant.

"What's wrong? Boss?"

"I feel something is wrong. There's a hint of blood."

The scarred old hunter said, "This is a bit strange."

"They must have killed their prey and are bleeding them out? That's not surprising, right?"

The young hunter beside him was stunned for a moment, but still spoke.

"I also hope that I am just being paranoid. After all, in ten years, I will be really old."

The scarred old hunter thought about it and did not refute. Several people raised their hands and climbed over the hillock, looking at the flat area on the other side.

But things backfired.

What they saw was a shambling, extinguished bonfire and a—

The hunter's body was torn to pieces by the beast! (End of this chapter)