CH 4.1

Chapter 4 Part 1: I Never Heard Anything About Being Wolf Beastman! Part 3

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The next morning, I woke up to the voice of someone calling my name. 

“Melodia, Melodia.”

“Mom, just… Five more minutes… Mmhm…”

“I’m not your mother!”

“Huh?”

The voice that answered me wasn’t my mother’s voice. As soon as I got up, I immediately tried to sort my mind out, organizing the available information in my head. In front of me, there was Captain Millie. The voice that called out to me also belonged to Captain Millie. I was also in Captain Millie’s house. 

Taken aback, the realization finally sunk in. I scrambled to get up before I realized I was stark naked. 

“Uwah!”

I pulled the sheet up, trying to cover myself and then I looked around the bed, searching for my clothes restlessly. 

“Magic Soldier Melodia, calm down.”

“U-Uwawah! Captain Millie!”

“Everything is fine. Just calm down first then we can talk.”

“Y-Yes…”

Just what is going on? Why am I sleeping naked next to Captain Millie?

The memories of last night resuscitated, like unraveling twisted threads. 

“Y-Yesterday, after I parted ways with Captain Millie, I suddenly had a seizure. I couldn’t even stay standing up because of the pain and then I fainted. When I regained consciousness, I had already turned into a dog.”

“Magic Soldier Melodia, are your parents a beastman?”

“No, they never said anything about that at all.”

A beastman was the generic name for someone whose appearance resembled a beast. 

“What do you know about beastman?”

“I’m sorry to admit it but I don’t know much about them.”

“If that’s the case then allow me to give you a quick rundown.”

It seemed there were various types of ‘beastman’. 

“There are three generally recognized types of beastman. The first one is the ‘normal beastman’, they look like a beast but they walk on two-feet like a human. This type of beastman is the most numerous type in this world. Their appearance resembles a beast and most of them are ferocious by nature. They rarely ever appear in human settlement. The next one is ‘partial beastmen’. Part of their body resembled that of a beast, like their ears, hands and or leg. A lot of children born from a beastman and human couple become a ‘partial beastman’. The third one is ‘transforming beastman’. They can take on the form of a beast under a certain condition. They are extremely rare and it was said they only existed in fairy-tales…”

So that means I’m a ‘transforming beastman’?

“Magic Soldier Melodia, your parents… They…”

“They’re both dead. They both don’t have any other relatives either so I’m all that’s left.”

My parents were just ordinary humans. They weren’t a beastman so how come I, their daughter, became a beastman? Could it be… I was adopted? But… I inherited my light purple hair from my mother and my green eyes from my father. Furthermore, me and my mother looked exactly alike. There was no way we weren’t blood related. 

And yet… Just how did things end up this way? I just can’t understand it. No matter how hard I think about it, I just can’t find any answer.

“By the looks of it, it seems you’ve never heard anything about it?”

“Yes.”

Why did they never tell me anything…..

It was then I suddenly remembered about the existence of a letter that my parents had left for me. 

“Ah!”

Maybe in my parents’ letter, there was something that could explain why I turned into a dog. 

“Magic Soldier Melodia, what’s the matter?”

“My parents had left me a letter. They told me to open it on my 18th birthday.”

“Perhaps, yesterday was your 18th birthday?”

“Yes!”

“I understand. Then we better go check it up. I’ll come with you.”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

I was about to get down from the bed when I remembered I was still naked. 

“Your clothes… They’re in your dorm?”

“Th-That’s right….”

“Then I’ll lend you my clothes.”

I borrowed Captain Millie’s underclothes, shirt and trousers. I also borrowed a cloak. Captain Millie’s plain clothes were too baggy for my petite frame. I looked like a child wearing an adult’s clothes. Captain Millie couldn’t contain her strained laugh as she stared at me. 

“My apologies. Unfortunately you need to bear with it until we reach your dorm.”

“No,no. I’m the one who’s grateful here. Thank you for lending your clothes to me.”

We half-jogged toward the dorm. My stomach grumbled along the way but… That was not our main objective now! Still, I was glad today was our day off. If today were our working day, I’d have been in a great panic by now. 

The knight stationed on the door gave us an inquisitive look as he saw me returning to the dorm in baggy clothes but he quickly averted his gaze when Captain Millie tapped him on the shoulder. The knight’s dormitory was already 30 years old. This building definitely had seen better days. The front door made a loud creaky noise as I opened it and the floorboards kept on making creaking sounds like the chorus of frogs. 

“How nostalgic.”

“Captain Millie, you used to live here too?”

“I did. For about 15 years.”

“15 years?!”

“Even after I reached my current position, I still lived here. Living in the dorm is much cheaper than living in your own house after all.”

As expected from Captain Millie who had made her way through the world with just one single sword in hand. She had been living her life frugally for a long time. 

“After all, it’s hard for a woman to live on her own.”

“That’s… True.”

“To be honest, I don’t know how long I can continue to keep working as a knight.”

It was at this moment I finally realized. Both me and Captain Millie, we had been working as a knight with the same concern in mind. Captain Millie must’ve sensed this early on, that was why she was so kind to me. 

“Captain Millie, thank you very much.”

“Huh? Why did you thank me out of the blue?”

“I just suddenly wanted to thank you.”

Captain Millie then gently patted me on the head. I was truly blessed to have someone like her as my boss. Really, nothing could make me happier than this. 

“This is my room.”

“You can go ahead and read your letter. I’ll just wait here.”

“No, no! Please, come in!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

There was no way I could leave Captain Millie standing in the hallway all by herself. I urged her to come inside with me. 

“It’s a mess here…”

The door to my private room also made an ominous creaking sound. Inside, there was only a simple bedroom slash living room along with a space for a simple washstand. Things like a chair were a luxury. I didn’t have a chair here. I told Captain Millie to sit on my bed since I didn’t have any chair. It’d be nice if I had some fruits of sweets to serve but unfortunately I had already run out of money. I needed to wait for my next paycheck. 

“My apologies, I don’t have anything to offer.”

“No need to worry about me. You can just go on and read your letter.”

“Yes.”

I pulled out a wooden box I had kept hidden under my bed and took out a letter from the box. My fingers were trembling as I broke the seal of the letter. I wonder, what was the content of the letter? Gathering my courage, I opened the letter. There were 3 papers inside. Each of them were carefully written by my father.