Chapter 243: I can hear you, Rhydan Greyfang.

"Brother, why did you let him go?"

Once the Enclave group separated from Lucian’s, Dorian, who had been holding himself back all this while, questioned his brother.

And it wasn’t just Dorian—

"I do not understand it either. They have eleven Waymarks. If we got them all, we would have had a total of fifteen."

"And they weren’t particularly strong either. One was a mere Relic Hunter, the second was a new recruit, then there was the ordinary girl with no power.

The only capable person with them was the Witch and even she wouldn’t be much of a threat since she didn’t have much time to prepare."

The other Enclave members questioned him as well.

Alaric listened to them all, then—

"Silence."

He silenced them.

Then, he glared at Dorian.

"Stop making trouble everywhere you go."

"What do you mean?"

Dorian frowned.

"Did I not tell you before? Stay clear of him.

He is far stronger than you think."

Dorian’s face distorted.

"So what if he is strong? We had the advantage.

If we had fought, we would have eliminated him and his party in less than ten minu—"

Before Dorian could complete his words—

[Commander!]

A voice came from Alaric’s comm.

It was a scout they had sent forward.

"What?"

Alaric asked as he brought the mic next to his mouth.

[Rhydan Greyfang, h-he and his companions are right in front of me.]

The scout answered, the stutter in his voice alone was enough for the others to realise how nervous he was. Heck, if it weren’t for the Enclave’s advanced comms, Alaric and the others wouldn’t have even heard what he was saying, considering how softly he was whispering into the comm, terrified of the possibility of being found by the Wolf.

And this was when he was a few hundred metres away from him.

"Rhydan...?"

Alaric’s expression changed.

He obviously knew who Rhydan was. Everyone from the younger generation did.

[What do we do?]

The scout asked.

"Do what? Leave."

The answer came almost instantly. Rhydan was one of the few beings Alaric did not wish to come across and not a single person there questioned that decision.

They didn’t even ask how many Waymarks the Wolf had or calculate whether it was ’worth the risk’ to attack him.

Even Dorian was very, very silent.

The decision was obvious.

"Stay clear of him. Do not attract his attention.

Under no circumstances are we going to face him."

Alaric spoke in a careful tone, giving clear instructions to the scout to get away as silently as possible, but then—

[That’s the response from the Enclave’s official team? Disappointing.]

A different voice came from the comm.

It was Rhydan.

Clearly, the Wolf had located the scout and taken him down.

Alaric’s face turned grim.

Dorian’s face turned pale the instant he heard that voice. The others seemed on edge as well.

[What? You people can’t hear me? Is this thing not working?]

Rhydan frowned.

Thak Thak Thak

Alaric and the others then heard the Wolf hitting the comm, thinking it would work if he slapped it enough times.

"I can hear you, Rhydan Greyfang."

That was when Alaric spoke up.

At the same time, he also gestured for his team to move away.

Yes, they were going to retreat while Alaric distracted the Wolf.

As for the compromised scout?

Well, he was a necessary sacrifice.

Besides, it wasn’t like he was going to die. At worst, he would only be eliminated. If anything, he had actually fulfilled his role as a scout quite well. He had managed to inform them of the enemy so they could retreat.

What else could a scout want?

[Oh? You can? Who are you?]

Rhydan asked from the other side.

"My name is Alaric Ashcroft."

[You are an Ashcroft?]

Rhydan seemed surprised.

[I was told you people were braver, though...

Were you perhaps removed from your pack?

That makes sense. To think of retreating from a battlefield where you can gain invaluable battle experience without the risk of dying, not many packs would accept you.]

"..."

Alaric didn’t say anything.

He wasn’t particularly concerned about what the Wolf was saying. Such taunts were meaningless. His focus was on escaping.

On the other side, Rhydan seemed to have mistaken his silence for embarrassment and he frowned—

[Do not feel too down, Ashcroft. While I understand why your pack would remove you considering your response just now, that does not mean it is the end of the world.

If you work hard enough and become a little braver, you might manage to rejoin your pack.]

Rhydan spoke, trying to cheer Alaric up.

And Alaric—

"Yes, I understand."

He simply nodded, playing along with the Wolf.

Again, those words did not matter. As long as he could use the Wolf’s straightforwardness and foolishness to his benefit, everything was alrig—

[Are you far enough away yet?]

That was when Rhydan said something that froze Alaric’s thoughts.

"...you knew?"

[What do you think?]

Alaric could practically hear the Wolf grinning from the other side.

"...why were you playing along?"

He asked.

[I simply wanted to see how far you would go.]

Rhydan shrugged.

[First, you completely abandoned your companion, not even asking about his well-being. Then, when you were taunted and your family name was being tarnished, you continued retreating.

That’s... quite disappointing.

I expected better from the Ashcroft Heir.]

The Wolf shook his head in disappointment, then, as he thought about a certain violet-eyed Human grinning at him, he let out a hollow laugh.

[Or perhaps... my expectations were too high.]

"..."

Again, Alaric did not say anything.

However, this time, it seemed like Rhydan’s words were getting to him, probably because the Wolf knew his identity as the Ashcroft Heir.

[You can slow down, Ashcroft. I do not plan to come after your group.

I do not chase enemies who are running away, not that I would lower myself to consider you my enemy.]

Saying those words, Rhydan broke the comm he was holding, ending the connection.

Alaric and the other Enclave Hunters turned silent. Every single one of them could feel the embarrassment.

Dorian also kept his head down.

Then, he stared at his brother and—

"...this wouldn’t have happened if we had attacked that contaminated case’s party."

He spoke in a low voice.

Alaric silenced him with a glare.