Even after that, Jio had to spend quite a while insisting he was human.

“Do I still look like a ghost to you? I don't smell like a corpse, my heart is beating, and though you can't see it now, I'll bleed if you prick me. Do I truly not look human?”

“Not really.”

“How very firm of you.”

Not that the wolf ever believed him.

“... Well, if you really find it that hard to believe.”

Jio was a responsible adult who embraced all the world's diversity. Judging by that reaction, humans had apparently been extinct for quite some time. In that case, he could understand the response to a degree.

Instead, he sought an explanation.

“I'm curious what happened leading up to this place's destruction. Could you explain it to me? If you keep me company, I'll be sure to reward you. Just to ask, do you like eating?”

“By a reward... you mean food?”

“I know this Black Forest, once called the Abilas rainforest, quite well myself. Some things seem to have changed while I was away, but food would still be a great help, wouldn't it? What do you say?”

“How much effort I put in might depend on what you're offering...”

“I thought you were young, but you know how to look out for yourself. How admirable.”

Arjio took the wolf's enormous head in both hands and gave it a vigorous rub. The wolf had flinched and stiffened when Jio first took hold of its face, but his dazzling handiwork impressed it into docility.

“Oh, there. That's the spot. Ooh, that feels good.”

“That is the touch of a human hand, my wolf.”

“How do you know exactly where it itches? Is this magic?”

“I do have my talents.”

Appearances aside, Arjio had shared a roof with his beast family ever since childhood. No one was more of an expert on where and how to scratch an animal to make it feel good.

'And this one can even talk, which makes it all the more straightforward.'

After enjoying the petting for a while, the wolf edged away with a satisfied expression.

“This doesn't count as my reward. You did it without being asked.”

“Trying to sound firm with such a blissful face isn't very convincing.”

“Ahem. Anyway, it doesn't count, and that's that.”

“Of course. Go on, see if you can pick me clean to the bone.”

Arjio adored cunning beasts.

“Now, may I have that explanation?”

“You mean the story leading up to the extinction?”

Perhaps their conversation and his petting had eased its fear that he might be a ghost. Looking much more comfortable, the wolf plopped down in front of Jio. Despite its enormous bulk settling onto the ground, the Black Forest remained quiet.

'This place was never so polite before.'

Whether or not it knew what Jio was wondering, the wolf spoke.

“In the interests of a fair trade, I should tell you that I don't know much about the time of the destruction myself. I've only heard the stories passed down from our ancestors. Strictly speaking, I'm not even sure exactly which period you mean by 'destruction.'”

“Were there that many?”

“The first destruction would have been around when beast races like ours came into existence.”

It probably meant the time when Arjio had died as a human, and the beasts had gained intelligence and reason equal to humanity's.

'I seem to remember the heroes who visited from time to time bringing up something similar...'

But those memories were somewhat hazy to the Arjio of today. Back then, he had been out of his mind, buried in rage and hatred. Or perhaps it felt that way because his assimilation was still incomplete.

'More importantly, I don't really know what happened after I was sealed away. Other than that they fought among themselves and destroyed everything...'

This seemed like a chance to hear the finer details. He was curious about the history this descendant would recount. Jio listened with interest as the wolf continued.

“They say wolf folk like me emerged then too, but it doesn't really feel real to me. Even in the days of my ancestors' ancestors' ancestors, we were wolf folk, no different from how we are now.”

“You distinguish between ordinary wolves and wolf folk?”

“Yes. In human terms, wouldn't it be like the difference between humans and monkeys? Of course, there were monkey folk too, but they're only a race in the history books now. I heard they went extinct fighting frequent wars with humans.”

“Oh dear. Then how many races are left?”

“Still living...”

The wolf fell silent for a moment before continuing.

“Only three.”

Wolf folk, crow folk, and fox folk.

“Mother told me that wolf folk survived because we value family, crow folk because they're wise, and fox folk because they're good at swindling.”

“That last one sounds a little odd.”

“You should watch yourself if you meet any fox folk. They're all swindling bastards.”

“You're even baring your teeth. Isn't your language getting rather rough?”

Well, at least it was clear that wolf folk weren't very fond of fox folk. Judging by its tone, the two races clashed often, while the crow folk seemed adept at staying neutral.

The wolf snorted.

“We wouldn't have to bare our teeth if they didn't keep provoking us. Obnoxious little shits. They think they're the cleverest creatures in the world. Honorless fucking animals...”

“What did I just say about your language?”

“The next destruction would have been the birth of the evil god.”

“Hmm.”

“They say it was a god of rage and war, but hardly any information about it remains. The stories of when the evil god threw the whole world into chaos were so horrifying and cruel that they weren't recorded.”

He remembered the evil god Arjio's appearance being quite well known. Red braided hair, a body adorned with treasures and bone ornaments. Beast fur. Even his features were striking enough to make him unmistakable.

Yet seeing me—Arjio—it had kept coming out with nonsense about ghosts.

'So the records of me were erased.'

A wise decision. If word spread that the humans had actually brought the calamity upon themselves, the world would have fallen into even greater chaos. Though it seemed they had destroyed themselves regardless...

“I know the stories of the evil god. A monster that caused plagues, carried off the innocent, and tore people apart to eat them alive, wasn't it? I also heard it threw the world into chaos by granting mindless beasts powers on par with humans.”

“That last part brought our races into being, so we're grateful for it. That's why we didn't have much aversion to the Divinity called the evil god. It's our parent god, after all.”

“A parent god... What a unique perspective.”

Paternal affection suddenly welled up inside him.

'These new races were born because chance and inevitability aligned, but hearing myself called their parent feels rather good. Yes, I am their father too...'

Arjio smiled.

“Do you still feel no aversion to the evil god?”

“It would be different if I actually came face-to-face with that calamity, but it's just... an old story.”

“I see.”

By now, the tales of the evil god Arjio seemed to have passed into legend. The wolf seemed aware that they had actually happened, but perhaps they simply didn't feel real.

“But I heard the evil god was sealed away.”

“There was another destruction connected to that.”

As the conversation grew longer, sitting upright apparently became uncomfortable. The wolf eased itself down, then rested its enormous head on the ground. Arjio sat beside it and stroked its head.

Seemingly quite content with his touch, the wolf let its eyes drift closed and continued.

“Even after the evil god was sealed away, the wisdom and powers granted to the beasts didn't disappear. They say the humans were taken aback. They'd recklessly poured all their resources into sealing it, thinking everything would go back to the way it was.”

“How foolish.”

“Exactly. Who ever told them, 'Just seal away the evil god and it'll all be over'?”

The wolf wrinkled its muzzle, apparently finding the extinct human race just as pathetic. Liking the feel of the short-furred skin bunching up in folds, he gently rubbed it, and the wrinkles soon relaxed.

“They say the good, strong humans had already died in the process of sealing the evil god. Those who survived were condemned as monsters and ostracized by the weakened humans. The heroes scattered, and it was common for them to turn up dead—or disappear altogether.”

“How pitiful. Don't you agree?”

“I think they were stupid.”

Both the heroes who had sacrificed everything to seal the evil god, only to be abandoned by the humans left behind, and the humans who had failed to recognize their own limitations and driven those powerful heroes away instead of rallying around them.

“And even with the evil god dead, the plague flowing out of the Black Forest didn't dissipate. It only kept spreading. All life gradually became tainted with poison, withered away, and, well... anyway, the place became a horrible wasteland with nothing to eat, apparently.”

The wolf was very familiar with the current environment, but for the creatures of that time, it must have been a great calamity. Eventually, as small conflicts piled up, humans and beasts began waging an enormous war.

“A war?”

“To eat one another, they say.”

“Hmm. Even though they spoke the same language?”

“Yes.”

“How very... entertaining.”

Didn't that mean the beasts that had thought themselves human had finally found their true identity? What a shame he hadn't been there to see that adorable sight for himself. It sounded as though so many entertaining things had happened.

“And then?”

“They say the wars went on and on. After countless wars, large and small—too many to even record as history—the humans and beasts realized, 'Ah, we can't live here anymore.'”

“Because the environment had deteriorated that badly? The poison flowing out of the Black Forest would have played a part, and all those wars must have depleted their resources.”

“Yes, so...”

The wolf opened its eyes and looked at the ceiling.

“They killed a god.”

“... A god? Do you mean the evil god you mentioned?”

“No, the Creator. The very first god, who made this earth and sky.”

“I never imagined that would be possible.”

“I don't really know much about it. I've only been told that it happened.”

“Why did they kill a god, when even begging on their knees for salvation might not have been enough?”

“It seems they begged and begged, but no salvation came. So they wanted to obtain it even if they had to kill for it. They say that's what separated the ground from the sky.”

The humans had sought to remake the world with the powers they gained by killing a god.

“It was the god of life and creation, after all.”

They had believed it was possible.

“So they planned to bury the old, ruined, polluted world underground and build a new world on top of it. They say they had no choice. If they erased the existing dimension outright, the humans would have nowhere to stand while they made the new world.”

“So they couldn't erase it entirely and hid it beneath the ground instead?”

“That's what I've heard.”

But they had failed.

“As you can see, the world aboveground is unfinished.”

The wolf didn't know how the humans had killed a god and stolen its powers, or how they had intended to wield that enormous strength deftly enough to create a world.

It only knew that it had happened, that they had failed, and that this was the result.

“With the Creator dead, the real sun and moon vanished. The humans tried to make replacements for those too with the powers they'd plundered, but failed. They couldn't even give the moon a shape, so only the sun hangs in the sky.”

“So that's what you meant by the sun being fake.”

“The sun up there isn't the same as the 'sun' from before the destruction. They say the old one brought life into bloom simply by existing. This one's only an imitation, an empty shell. It looks as if sunlight is shining down, but it isn't warm. Sometimes it's cold, and sometimes it's scorching. That's no environment for living things.”

“No wonder there wasn't a single blade of grass.”

“It would have frozen to death or burned up long ago.”

The wolf snorted.

“Maybe it was the result of unworthy beings tampering with a god's powers, but the world started shrinking and falling apart. Mother said this Black Forest is all that's left of the 'ground' now.”

Jio knew what that meant.

'It looks like dungeonization began.'

It was the process of a world turning into one enormous game board.

“Has everywhere other than this forest disappeared?”

“Yes. It's reached the point where this place looks like the underground, and up there looks like the surface.”

“Then are there really no other living things besides your three races?”

“There are the creatures that originally lived in the Black Forest.”

The wolf closed its eyes again.

“We had no choice.”

“...”

Jio thought he now understood why creatures from the ruined Abilas rainforest had been invading through his frame. To protect themselves, the three races here had driven out or killed all the animals that originally lived in the forest.

'So the animals that were driven out or fled occasionally ended up at my cabin. That would explain why they were so frenzied even for beasts of the Black Forest.'

Having lost their homes, they could hardly be in good spirits as they were driven out or fled. And aboveground, a false sun hung in the sky, wearing living things down and ravaging them. After languishing in such a place before finding and crossing through his frame, it would have been strange if the beasts had been in good shape.

“... Hmm...”

Still, he had sent them off painlessly with a single blow. That should be all right.

'That is the way of nature, you poor beasts.'

For a moment, the gentler sensibilities of Seo Jio and Giovanni surged up, bringing a thought with them: 'Huh? Then did I eat creatures that had lost their homes, wandered dangerous roads, and finally found somewhere peaceful?' But what could he do? He had already eaten them.

'Besides, that's how I've always lived in the Black Forest. What's there to feel sorry about now?'

Moreover, every beast that had invaded Jio's home back then had been mad beyond any apparent hope of recovery. Perhaps they could have recovered if he had devoted himself to caring for them, but, well.

'Why bother?'

They were neither his family nor his friends.

“... Haha.”

“... Why are you laughing?”

“I'm making excuses.”

“Out of nowhere...?”

The very fact that he was rambling to himself like this meant he felt considerably guilty and sorry. Arjio thought, 'Why should I care?' Yet at the same time, he couldn't help thinking, 'Ah, but I do feel bad for them.'

'Will this gap keep getting wider?'

He could only hope the other 'Jios' he would host in the future could reach an amicable agreement.

“...”

Still.

'Then who on earth called me?'

It was one of two things. Either a beast, now sharing equally in the power of language, had called him, or humans had dwindled enough to be called extinct but a tiny handful remained.

“... Well, all right. Is there nothing you'd like to know about me?”

“...”

“Silence is a wise answer too.”

Jio nodded, then said, “Ah,” and turned to the wolf.

“There's something else I'm curious about.”

“What?”

“Have you ever seen a deer?”

“... A deer?”

The wolf blinked.

“I haven't, at least.”

“It was an ordinary deer that only made animal cries.”

“Then I have even less of an idea. I've heard that there were deer folk, but they went extinct long ago. I've never even seen a deer other than the ones in this Black Forest.”

“Are there members of the other races who don't use language?”

The wolf considered for a moment before answering.

“... It's not impossible, is it? Language is something you learn, after all. If no one teaches you, even a beast belonging to one of the races would only be intelligent, without ever learning the language.”

“Then young beasts wouldn't be able to speak.”

“Isn't that the same for human young?”

The wolf got to its feet.

“Now give me my food. I know I'm in no position to ask for much when all I've done is recite old stories. But my children will be eating it too, so I'd appreciate a generous payment.”

“My goodness, you have children?”

“I don't know why that makes you happy... but of course. Our race can't survive if we don't have young. Protecting them from the poison is difficult in this environment, but breeding is an important duty for our race.”

“If that's the case, you needn't worry, my friend. I may not look it, but I'm very generous with portions. To think you really are a boy supporting a family. It makes my heart race...”

“Who are you calling a boy supporting a family!”

“So, how old are you?”

“...”

The wolf answered in a tiny voice.

“... Seven...”

“My goodness!”

Jio was overwhelmed with emotion.

(To be continued)