499 – Male Shepherd
Cities require a lot of resources to maintain their size. Food, clothing, fuel, water, etc. That’s why cities are usually located in resource-rich areas, but it’s rare to find a perfect terrain that has everything.
So cities build facilities to produce the resources they lack.
Originally, there were no sheep in the Enger Plains. Among the herbivores, only the strong species survived in the Enger Plains, such as the sturdy water buffalo, the fast zebras, and the robust antelopes. The only reason sheep could graze on this land was because humans raised them.
The boy shepherd yawned widely and looked at the moving flock of sheep.
“This is boring….”
Shepherds are mostly dog-kin and sheep-kin. Dog-kin are good at herding without learning, and sheep-kin instinctively communicate with sheep. Experience can be gained, but communicating with sheep is impossible without being born with it, so Ende, which has many capable kin, chose the high point instead of the low point.
Male, a sheep-kin who was in charge of herding sheep, smacked his lips as he looked at the plains full of sheep and grass.
“It’s better than having problems… but it’s too boring.”
Originally, being a shepherd wasn’t such a boring job. This is the edge of Ende. Lions and wild dogs that have strayed from the pack appear, and it is common for one or two sheep to disappear when they open their eyes in the morning. It was normal to check and fix traps and repair fences every day.
But lately, nothing has happened. Strangely so.
The boy shepherd looked at his flock again.
The sky over the Enger Plains, which has entered the dry season, is wide and clear. The brown and green battle on the plains was gradually being pushed back by the green front, thanks to the efforts of the sheep. The sound of the wind brushing against the grass was mixed with the full cries of the sheep.
A peaceful and idyllic life. People with many worries in the world might find joy in this peace, but for Male, who had big dreams, it was too boring.
“I wonder if something interesting will happen….”
They say that even if you talk about a tiger, it will come. The sheepdog, who had been yawning beside him, stood up abruptly. The boy shepherd also felt his hair stand on end and gathered his hands and stared into the distance.
Far away, at a distance that could be called the edge of the plains. Something with gray fur was approaching this place.
-It’s a wolf.
Abundant fur. A sharp body. The fierce eyes seem to be burning with hostility. Although it was quite far away, the sheep-kin, who felt fear, moved instinctively.
“Bark! I’ll leave the sheep to you!”
“Bark!”
The boy shepherd, who had left his place to the sheepdog, ran straight down the slope. The boy shepherd, who ran so fast that his fur fluttered, arrived at the outpost and rang the alarm bell noisily and shouted.
“It’s a wolf! A wolf has appeared!”
The guard post was turned upside down.
The guards, armed with weapons, came running in a hurry. The guards, armed with thick leather armor, exhaled heavily and headed towards the pasture, following the boy shepherd’s guidance.
What they saw when they arrived was a flock of sheep grazing leisurely and a sheepdog with its tail up and teeth bared. The guards looked around and asked.
From Noble mtl dot com
“Where’s the wolf?”
“Over there, a little while ago! It was coming this way from the plains below!”
The boy shepherd pointed far away, but the wolves, which had definitely come quite close, had disappeared. The guards, who had become sensitive because of their sudden sortie, shouted irritably.
“There’s nothing there!”
“I definitely saw it!”
“Did you see it wrong? Or did you see something wrong?”
“No! Do you think I can’t tell the difference? It was definitely a wolf!””You’re saying the wolf just showed its face for a moment and then disappeared? Are you kidding me?”
Despite his earnest plea, the guards eyed him with suspicion. A wolf that had started hunting would be relentless. It would stalk its prey, gnawing at its nerves until it collapsed from exhaustion, and then it would seize its chance to bite its neck. It would never simply vanish before their very eyes.
Furious, the boy shepherd turned to his partner, the sheepdog.
“It’s true! Woofie. You saw it too, right?”
“Woof! Grrr, woof!”
But the only beast that could speak the language of men was the king of beasts. The guards seemed unconvinced even by the dog’s barking.
“Hmph. Fine. We’ll leave it at that.”
The guards grumbled and returned to their post. Even without words, it was clear that they considered the boy shepherd a liar. The boy shepherd was furious at the guards’ attitude.
“A wolf really did come, and this is how you react?! If the sheep all disappear, you’ll blame me!”
“Woof woof!”
“That’s right. Woofie. You did a good job. But what on earth was that wolf?”
It had disappeared while he was briefly away from the flock. It certainly didn’t behave like a wolf. The Enger Plains were vast. To hide in the featureless plain, one would have to retreat a considerable distance.
To approach and then simply retreat. Beasts didn’t make such inefficient movements. And it wasn’t a human playing a trick.
The boy shepherd let his imagination run wild.
“Maybe it was a wolf that had been cast out from its pack. It might have approached and then retreated because there were too many sheep.”
“Grrr!”
“Or maybe it ran away after seeing our Woofie’s majestic appearance!”
“Woof!”
The boy shepherd chattered on about the mysterious wolf for a while. The sheepdog, though unable to understand his words, responded enthusiastically.
Still, there was one good thing about the wolf’s appearance.
It had certainly kept him from getting bored.
A few days later, the boy shepherd was walking along the fence, yawning, when he spotted the faint shadow of a wolf in the distance. It was still far away, but it was closer than before.
Seized by sudden fear, the boy shepherd ran straight to the outpost.
“Wolf! A wolf has appeared!”
This time, the guards were accompanied by a squad of orc mercenaries. They arrived with gleaming weapons and sniffed the air around them.
He had wondered why they had come, since it wasn’t an obelisk or a pig-man, but Ende had been short-handed for days. Perhaps they had been hired to hunt the wolf. The shepherd, who was always late with the news, dismissed it as usual.
The orc mercenaries looked around and asked,
“Where’s the wolf?”
“It was over there, near the big rock beyond the fence!”
The orc mercenaries looked at the large rock, but there was no sign of the wolf. The orc mercenaries grimaced even more and said,
“We can’t see anything. Sniff sniff. We can’t smell any blood either. Was there really a wolf?”
“There really was! It was right there, wagging its big tail and glaring at me!”
He beat his chest and shouted the truth, but once again, he was met with suspicious looks rather than praise for doing well.
“Then show us yourself! There should be huge wolf tracks there!”
Furious, the boy shepherd climbed over the fence and said. The orc mercenaries followed the boy.
“It was big and scary. It was so big that it was hidden by this rock! There must be footprints as big as my head!”
The boy, full of conviction, led the orc mercenaries to the rock. If they saw the tracks, his innocence would be proven.However, contrary to the boy’s expectations, there were no footprints left near the rock.
The Orc mercenaries who were searching the surroundings spoke harshly.
“There’s nothing here.”
“Huh? Huh? This is strange. Why aren’t there any?”
“He must have been scared and saw things. That’s why cowardly sheep shouldn’t be shepherds.”
The accusations were harsh, but it was unfair to blame the boy shepherd. He had clearly told the truth and had been faithful to his job, but he couldn’t bear the situation where he was being made a liar and condemned by everyone.
“It’s true! A large wolf was standing here staring at us!”
“Why aren’t there any footprints?”
“What, did the wolf use some kind of magic to hide its footprints?”
“Nonsense. If it was a wolf that could use magic, this guy would have been bitten already.”
“In the first place, it’s strange that he only saw one wolf when wolves usually come in packs.”
“Did you see a wolf that dies if you look at it three times?”
“You’ll die soon! hahahaha!”
The boy’s only crime was being faithful. He had spoken what he saw and conveyed what he had experienced, but he had somehow become a liar.
Even the guards who had come out with him pointed fingers at the boy shepherd.
“Don’t listen to him too much. That guy, he rang the alarm bell last time saying that wolves had come, but it was a false alarm. He was just trying to make fun of the piggies who had just arrived.”
The Orc mercenaries retorted harshly.
“Piggies?”
“Oh, sorry. Orcs…was it?”
“Watch your words. We Orcs have the authority to punish those who use racially discriminatory words against us.”
Anyway. Even after searching further, not a single wolf footprint or even a single hair was found. The Orc mercenaries, who had been cursing, shouted at the boy.
“If you call us out with a lie again, you’ll be in big trouble.”
“We’re already on edge because of the wolf stories, and now the shepherds are making a mess of things.”
“If you’re among sheep, you won’t know that you’re a shepherd. How can you take care of something that’s more intelligent than you?”
“It’s well known that sheep have bad eyesight. They’re dim-witted and they run around in fear.”
Even you guys are dirty pigs…he had enough sense not to say that. The boy shepherd kept his mouth shut and swallowed his anger until the mercenaries left.
“Tsk. There was a wolf. I was telling the truth….”
It was the first time in his life that he had felt so wronged and resentful. He had done nothing wrong, but it seemed like the whole world had conspired to scold him. No matter how much he shouted, they just laughed and made fun of him.
The boy, who thought of himself as brave, considered crying to be a disgrace. The boy shepherd, who was desperately holding back his tears, sniffed and buried his face in the neck of his sheepdog.
“I’m not going to ring the alarm bell even if I die. Just you wait. You’ll regret it when all the sheep are dead and you have to believe me.”
The beast could not speak human language, but it could comfort human emotions.
The sheepdog silently comforted its master, who was wiping away his tears with its fur.
The next day.
This time too, the wolf appeared. The large black wolf stared at the flock from a distance, just like before.
It was the same as before, but this time, the boy shepherd’s attitude towards the wolf had changed. The boy shepherd ignored the wolf and gathered straw.
“Woof! Woof!”
“It’s okay, boy. Let the wolf take a few sheep.”
“Woof! Woof! Woof!”
“They won’t believe me even if I ring the alarm bell anyway.”
“Woof! Woof! Woof! Whine, woof! Woof….”
“There’s no need to try to protect them. They’ll know they’ve been taken when they see sheep’s blood splattered everywhere.”As the shepherd dog’s desperate cry was met with a cold sneer from the shepherd,
The dog’s cries abruptly ceased.
The shepherd turned his head at the ominous silence. A black wolf, its approach unnoticed, was staring at the shepherd. Its large frame and glossy fur left no doubt in the shepherd’s mind that this was the wolf he had seen before.
In the wolf’s jaws, the shepherd dog, its neck snapped without a proper fight, hung limply.
The sheep, catching the scent of blood, scattered in panic. Even as its prey ran amok, the wolf kept its gaze fixed on the shepherd. Thud. The body of the loyal dog hit the ground with a dull thud. Only then, at the sight of his companion’s death, did the shepherd realize his own predicament.
The wolf had not come for the sheep.
It had come for the shepherd.
The wolf’s hunt for the city began.