Morning sunlight spilled across the newly built wooden cabin. Warm rays slid through the cracks, lighting the floor and revealing a fluffy scatter of Frost's fur. Airi stretched beneath her blanket, hair messy and cheeks slightly puffed.
Haruto stepped out first, stretching his arms as the cold morning air touched his skin. The grass outside shimmered with morning dew. Birds sang. The forest felt peaceful, like it existed only for them.
Airi appeared at the doorway, blinking sleepily.
"Onii Chan… breakfast?"
"I cooked already," Haruto said, voice soft. "It is inside."
Her eyes widened and her entire soul seemed to power back on.
"You are the best."
Frost was resting near the shade of the cabin, silver fur glowing like frost against sunlight. When they finished breakfast, he lazily raised his head.
"So, what are we doing today?"
Airi shot her hand into the air like she was answering a question in school.
"Shopping. We need clothes, plates, bowls, spices, and cute hair clips."
Haruto blinked. "We do not have money."
"That is why we go to the nearest kingdom," Airi declared as if this were the most obvious answer in the world.
Frost stood up immediately.
"I will accompany you. Humans are unpredictable."
Haruto hesitated, but Airi was already holding his sleeve with her small hands.
"Adventure."
There was no surviving that smile.
The Road Toward Civilization
The journey took hours. Trees eventually opened into rolling fields, and a breeze carried the scent of warm bread and smoke from chimneys.
Airi walked ahead, humming and skipping like a child discovering life for the first time.
"So peaceful," she said softly.
Haruto nodded. "Yeah. Different from our old world."
He could feel mana everywhere: in the grass, in insects, in the distant trees. Humans had mana too, but theirs was so faint he almost could not sense it.
Airi glanced back at him with a gentle smile.
"We finally get to shop."
The First Kingdom
Tall stone walls emerged on the horizon. Guards stood at the gate, watching travelers pass.
But the moment the people saw Frost walking beside them…
Movement stopped.
"Mama... that… that wolf…"
"That is not a wolf. That is a disaster waiting to eat us."
"Move. Move aside!"
People shifted away, creating a path without being asked.
Haruto frowned. "Why are they acting scared?"
Frost flicked his tail. "Because we are strong."
Airi crossed her arms. "We did nothing wrong."
But even she could feel it. Haruto's mana leaked naturally, dense and overwhelming. Frost's mere presence screamed danger.
And Airi…
Even without trying, her mana pressed gently against space. It pulled attention. It demanded instinctive respect.
Guards whispered among themselves.
"That wolf… those eyes… intelligence."
"And that boy's mana. It feels like it is crushing my lungs."
"Could he be… a demon lord…"
Airi leaned closer to Haruto.
"Do we look scary?"
Haruto shrugged. "Maybe they have bad eyesight."
The Arrow
A rookie guard trembled. Fear twisted his thoughts.
"They will attack. I know they will."
"Stand down," another guard ordered.
The rookie ignored him.
"S-stay away!"
Haruto lifted his hand calmly. "We come in peace. We just want to—"
twang
The arrow flew.
Airi did not breathe.
Haruto did not move.
The arrow pierced his chest.
His eyes widened. He staggered back, silence surrounding him as the world stopped.
"Onii Chan…"
Her voice broke.
He collapsed.
Airi lunged and caught him before he hit the ground. Blood touched her hands. Her heartbeat thrashed wildly in her chest.
For a moment the world folded inward. A single image slammed into her mind like glass: her mother falling, a warm hand going limp, a scream echoing through a hallway. The smell of gunpowder and the sharp metallic taste of fear. Her mother's face as she reached for Airi, eyes wide and pleading.
"No," Airi whispered. The memory burned.
Something cold settled in the air around her. It was not the forest. It was not the cabin. It was the old world's cruelty returning, raw and alive.
A deadly, raw killing intent rose in her like a tide.
"This time… no. Not anymore. I will kill you all."
The words tore from her throat, not a plea but a vow.
Around her, the air stiffened. Trees leaned away. Even Frost paused, ears pinned back, sensing the change.
Haruto's hand trembled where her fingers clutched his shirt. His breath came shallow, the wound gaping.
He saw the heat in her eyes, the sharpness coiled under the softness. He saw the little girl who would not be stolen again, who could not watch another life end and stay silent.
He reached up and gripped her wrist gently.
"Airi."
His voice was a blade wrapped in silk. It cut through the roar inside her and touched the one steady thing she trusted.
"It is me. I am here. I am here with you."
Time shifted.
The murderous tide faltered.
Airi's fingers tightened around his shirt, then loosened. Haruto's grip steadied her like a lighthouse in a storm.
She swallowed, tears mixing with the blood on her palms.
Then light began to bloom from her hands. Not cold and sharp, but warm and living. She focused on the one steady truth in that chaos: Haruto's hand in hers, his promise of presence.
Her voice was small.
"Please… do not leave."
"I never will," he whispered.
Auri's hands glowed. Golden energy spilled over Haruto's wound and the blood stopped as if time itself had been rewound. Tissue knitted, muscles sealed. The arrow slid free as if it had never lodged.
Haruto drew a breath, then another. Strength returned to his limbs.
Airi sobbed quietly, clutching him.
Haruto brushed her hair back, voice gentle and steady.
"You calmed it. That was good."
She looked up through tear blurred eyes. Frost was still poised, the air humming with tension, but not with blind fury now. The dangerous edge had passed.
Wolf Lord Frost
Frost's fur smoothed. His eyes remained bright, but the tension left his limbs like a receding storm.
"You hurt him," he rumbled earlier, and though his rage had ebbed, the warning in his tone lingered.
Haruto rose, steady on his feet, hands cupping Airi's face for a heartbeat.
"Frost. Stop."
Frost obeyed. His claws retracted. He lowered his head slowly, the ground beneath his paws settling back into silence.
Haruto turned to the guards, who cowered like small birds.
"We do not hurt the innocent just because they acted out of fear," he said quietly. "They do not know us. They panicked."
He bowed once, small and formal, then turned back toward Airi.
"We will leave now," he told them.
He took her hand, not to pull her away in fear but to steady her after the storm.
She took it, fingers trembling.
Not because she was scared.
Because she could not bear to lose him again.
The Shadow Who Watch
High on a rooftop, a hooded man observed.
"So the prophecy was real."
He watched Airi heal Haruto with power no human should have. Frost obeyed Haruto. The air around them trembled with unnatural mana.
"They are not demon lords."
He smirked.
"They are far more dangerous."
Aftermath
Once the kingdom was far behind, Airi clung to Haruto's sleeve.
"I thought I lost you."
Haruto squeezed her hand.
"You will never lose me."
Frost walked in silence. For once, even he looked shaken.
Haruto glanced at the distant walls, expression serious.
"We cannot trust humans easily."
Airi nodded, wiping her eyes.
"We do not need them. We have each other."
Haruto smiled softly.
"That is enough."
None of them realized it yet.
But the world had just learned their names.
And it trembled.
End of Chapter 4