CH 19

Chapter 19 : In Pursuit of The Wolf Witch Part 9

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After we regained our composure, we went on to search for a clue on how to defeat the Wolf Witch from my parents’ belongings. Something that we had tried to do yesterday but before that, Gilbert-sama told me the result of his research about Lou Garou family. 

“It was said Lou Garou is a family of proud wolf beastman. They live deep in the forest, rarely seen by humans.”

During the day, they lived as an ordinary human but at night, their appearance transformed into that of a wolf. Their wolf form was a mysterious one. They were also called the ‘Forest Spirit’ because according to legend they would guide travelers who had lost their way in the forest. 

“Legend has it that they excel in magic and can exercise evil beings.”

“I see. Maybe my father was trying to get the Lou Garou family to help them in defeating the Wolf Witch.”

“But big brother, the Lou Garou family is something from the legend. They don’t actually exist.”

Upon hearing Gilbert-sama’s statement, Dietrich-sama and I looked at each other. I didn’t have any reason to hide the fact that I was a Lou Garou from Gilbert-sama so I decided to reveal my secret to him too. 

“Umm… Gilbert-sama, this is actually very difficult for me to say it myself but….”

“What is it?”

It will be alright. Gilbert-sama has already done proper research on what kind of people Lou Garou are. He won’t be afraid of me. 

I clutched my hand tightly on my lap and then, Dietrich-sama put his paw on top of my hand, offering his support. The squishy feeling of his paw gave me the courage to continue on. 

“I’m a Lou Garou.”

“Huh?”

“Gilbert, her parents came to the royal capital from Lou Garou’s forest to spend their life here.”

“I-I see. So Melodia-san will take on the form of a wolf during nighttime?”

“Yes.”

“You must’ve been through a lot, huh?”

“Ah…. Well… But when I transformed into a wolf, my superior, whom I trust a lot, helped me out.”

“Her name is Millie Toll, right? I heard she’s an excellent knight.”

“Yes.”

It turned out, Dietrich-sama knew about Captain Millie. It made me somehow happy. 

“I’m sorry for going off track. Anyway, my parents are also a Lou Garou. I was wondering if there is any clue on how to defeat the Wolf Witch in my parents’ belongings so I thought we should check them out now.”

“Ah, so that’s what you meant when you said you wanted to check on your parents’ memento.”

When Gilbert-sama heard I wanted to check on my parents’ belongings, he had been wondering why. Now, he finally understood the reason.

“My parents didn’t have many belongings though.”

I put the bag on top of the table and opened it up. The first thing I saw was my father’s toolbox, stored in a square can. I slowly opened the lid and the scent of polishing cream wafted to the tip of my nose. This was the scent that always stuck to my father. The scent made me feel nostalgic and at the same time, made my heart clenched in pain. 

“Melodia’s father, he was a shoemaker, right?”

“Yes, he was.”

“Your father really loved me when I was ‘Fulmoff’.”

Dietrich-sama muttered as he held the hammer that he picked up from my father’s toolbox in his hand. He looked solemn.

“My father really loved dogs after all.”

I received my father’s hammer from Dietrich-sama. I held the hammer close to my chest and the memories of my childhood flooded back to me. 

Every year, on my birthday, my father would give me a wonderful pair of shoes as a present. 

“Shoes with pretty ribbons like what a princess would wear, shoes that resembled ballerina pointe shoes and even flower fairy’s shoes from the fairy-tale book. My father would make them all for me.”

“Flower fairy’s shoes, huh. Melodia must’ve looked like a resident of fairyland when you wore them.”

Although to be fair, Dietrich-sama, who had turned into a talking dog, looked the most like the resident of a fairyland. Gilbert-sama must’ve had the same thought as me since he was desperately holding his mouth trying his best not to laugh. 

And then, we started to check each item one by one. 

“This is my mother’s embroidery box.”

Something that looked like an intricately embroidered tablecloth was in that box. 

“What a masterpiece.”

“Indeed.”

There were strange patterns and letters I had never seen before embroidered into that cloth. My mother really liked doing embroidery so each stitch was precisely done. 

Let’s take my time to look at the embroidery later. 

“Ah!”

What is it? Did you find something?”

“No, my apologies. It’s just, I found my mother’s recipe book.”

“Oooh! That’s a great find though!”

“Yes!”

My mother was an excellent cook and she had written her recipe in great detail. 

“From whole chicken pilaf, bean soup, rabbit pie and even raspberry tart!”

She had written the recipe for my favorite dishes in this book without omitting anything. I always cooked without paying much attention to anything so she must’ve written this book with the intention of teaching me her recipe. I had never really cooked anything before but now I felt like I wanted to try my hand at cooking. I really needed to thank my mother in heaven. 

I finally regained my composure after being too engrossed in the excitement upon finding my mother’s cooking book. It turned out Dietrich-sama had been staring at me with a kind glint on his eyes. 

“Ah… My apologies. I got carried away.”

“No, it’s fine. If there’s something you want to look thoroughly at then don’t hesitate. Take your time. These things are important to you after all.”

“Thank you very much.”

Up until today, I hadn’t been able to get myself to look at my parents’ belongings. Because I had come to this mansion, I was able to look at them. I really couldn’t thank Dietrich-sama enough. Each and every of my parents’ belongings were filled to the brim with the memories of my family. 

“Next one is my father’s diary.”

There was only mundane and ordinary daily life written there. I had expected to read something about their meeting with the head of Fenrir family but there wasn’t anything of that sort written here. As I read through the diary, my father had written about the day when I stood up for the first time, the day when I spoke for the first time and what my father had felt during that time. The diary was written as it was, without any elaborate wording. I was feeling embarrassed because it was really just an ordinary diary about the daily life of my family. 

“Umm…. My apologies.”

“No, the things written here are important though. I will take my time to read it thoroughly later.”

“We might be able to find something important after we read them over.”

“No, there’s nothing but an inside joke of my family there though.”

I didn’t know my father had written a diary like this before. Slowly, my whole face started to heat up. Then, Dietrich-sama delivered the final blow to me. 

“Melodia, you were raised in such a loving family. I also ought to treat you preciously just like them.”

“My goodness, thank you very much for your kindness.”

Gilbert-sama’s gaze was piercing through me and so, I continued to look through my parents’ belongings. I looked through the other stuff but it seemed there wasn’t anything related to the Wolf Witch in there. 

“I’m sorry we couldn’t find anything even though you’ve all taken your time to look through them.”

“No, I’m very happy I get to take a glimpse at Melodia’s parents’ love.”

“Is-Is that so.”

Though it’d be better if we could find any clue on how to defeat the Wolf Witch. 

“Umm, Melodia-san.”

“Yes?”

“This diary, it seems there’s some sort of hidden mechanism in this diary.”

“Huh?”

As Gilbert-sama turned the diary on both sides, he noticed something strange. 

“This diary is heavier than a normal diary.”

“Heavier?”

“Yes. Although it’s not that obvious, it’s heavier enough to make you feel there’s something weird in it.”

When I tried to hold the diary in my hand again, I could certainly feel the diary was a bit heavier. I tried to shake the diary when Dietrich-sama suddenly showed a reaction.

“Hm?”

“Dietrich-sama, did you feel something?”

“Somehow, I can hear the sound of water splashing.”

Because Dietrich-sama said that, I tried to bring the diary close to my ear and shook it again but I couldn’t hear anything.