A silver wolf powerfully sprinted through the forest as the midday sun hung over the sky and the sunlight filtered through the trees.

(Hmm, my senses are becoming sharper… So this is Beastification!)

Currently, I am about 180cm long in my large Wolf dog form (excluding the tail), and my standing height with all four paws on the ground is approximately 105cm. It was amusing how fast I went as my feet instinctively kicked the ground and my claws scratched the earth, but…

“Guoh!? Wafah!” (Whoa! That was close!)

I was so carried away that I was heading into a tree so I jumped to the side in a rush and slowed down till I came to a stop.

(Kuh, I can’t go fast in the woods…)

I wonder how fast I could go if I ran at full power? If I trained, I might even go as fast as a well-trained warhorse.

I couldn’t help but be excited just thinking about it…

“Wau?” (Hnn?)

My heightened sense of smell picks up the scent of prey nearby, so I was brought back from the pure ecstasy I felt from running and remembered that I was originally in charge of securing food for lunch.

Of course, Lenaide and the other Elves had brought a fair amount of food and supplies with them when they set out, but they did not expect that the Black Elf girls that were rescued from the Goblin village would be joining us.

Since we had to make up for the shortage in supplies by procuring them locally, I left the Elves by the riverside to set up camp and I went out to hunt and try out the Beastification ability that I had gained recently.

When I came back to my senses, I hid my presence as much as I could and relied on my sense of smell as I carefully approached my prey from downwind… As I stealthily peeked through the grass, I found a large badger.

The badger belongs to a family of carnivorous mammals called Mustelids, and its meat is so delicious that just thinking about it made me drool.

(This one looks like it has a good amount of meat in it and is just the right size…)

However, as I got ready to hunt it down, a realization hit me.

(I don’t have a bow… Tsk, and I call myself an archer.)

The only thing I brought with me was my leather pouch that I hung around my neck with some hemp cord. So I meditated for a bit and tried to see if I could use magic in my current state…

(Hmm, it’s impossible after all… But if I train, I might be able to.)

Because some parts of my body had changed, it was hard to control the flow of magic inside my body, so I stopped trying to use magic and tried the skill that I discovered that I could use while in my Beast form instead. 

And so, I put all my power into my legs and energetically jumped towards my prey!

“K-kuwawah!?”

“Voruaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

The roar I released became a sound blast that forcibly flung the badger into the base of a tree.

“Ah… wawauh… kkuu…”

I approached the badger which continued to struggle while it convulsed and drove my fangs into its throat, killing it and draining its blood from the laceration.

(Guess I’ll have to take a bath on the way to wash off all this blood on my mouth…)

After getting myself in order, I offered my prayers for the life I took, picked up the prey with my mouth, and went back to the place where I left Lenaide and the others.

……………

………

…

“Mm~ I didn’t know badger meat could taste this good.”

“Gau, kuruua gaui waoo garuaaaoou.” [Well, the werecats and the humans usually eat this type of meat.]

While watching Lenaide eat the salted and grilled badger meat, I remembered that Wallace, the cat-eared gentleman, mentioned that it was Liz’s favorite food. He also mentioned that this meat goes with all sorts of stews… Maybe I can bring this as a gift the next time I do business in Lucua village.

“…Kredi ruu.” (…It’s delicious.)

“Serato…” (You’re right…)

I don’t know Elvish, but it seems the others liked the meat from their reactions as well. Besides, it was just grilled meat, so if the ingredient was fresh, then it would naturally turn out delicious… I bit off a piece of meat from the wooden skewer that was made from a tree branch and ate some nuts that Lenaide and the others had picked.

“Sir Archer, we’ll be reaching Elfast this evening… But I must warn you, you shouldn’t climb the World Tree again, alright? Listy was furious when she found out.”

“Kuruua? Gua, valgau…” [Listy? Oh, she’s the World Tree priestess, right?]

It was normal for Aristia to be involved with these matters, but why would the World Tree priestess, whom I have barely interacted with, suddenly come up in the conversation? As I was pondering this, I heard something absurd.

“You’ll be living with us for a while, so making a good first impression is important.”

“… Wafu?” [… Excuse me?]

“After all, an Elf will always be present in places where there are World Trees!!”

It was the sacred duty of the ancient Elves to watch over the growth of a World Tree that was sprouted by those of High Elf blood… So unless there are unexpected circumstances, it seems that they would have to manage the sprout’s development at least until it was stable enough.

Owing to this, it was decided that the Elves will dispatch the World Tree priestess Listy and her escort Lenaide to watch over the seedling.

“Ah, but the remaining members of our team who will be selected know the Kobo language, so don’t worry!!”

As was typical of White Elves, Lenaide’s long ears moved up and down as it peeked from her short, blonde hair and she leaned forward while clasping her hands tightly…

Based on Aristia’s incident where she was captured by slavers, it was evident that Elves were rare and valuable among the Humans, so there was a chance of attracting unnecessary trouble if they were discovered.  

(Our territory has already been declared a sanctuary, so we could avoid being spotted by the Humans, but…)

Even though the hunters from Viel village are treated as an exception and are allowed to enter the sanctuary forest, we still have to be careful even if our relations with their village aren’t bad.

Of course, I could also refuse to take the Elves in, but… as religious matters are always complicated, there was a high possibility that I wouldn’t be able to refuse since this was an ancient sacred practice for them.

(Anyway, I have to check this with Aristia as well…)

Lunchtime passed as we were immersed in discussing the matter at hand and we restarted our trek back to the Kingdom in the afternoon.