Everyone, including the tied-up kidnappers, turned towards the direction that the voice was coming from.
As it turned out, the one barking was a big but terribly skinny black wolf with an orange glint to its fur, while the one calling after it was a short brown-haired young woman riding a giant blue griffin.
But that wasn't all, the girl was followed by another six black wolves - each and every single one of them had a slight difference like in the color their fur was glinting or their features.
There was even one that had a green belly, and another one, the one in the back of the group, that had very short jaws but massive front claws that looked almost like daggers.
"Miss Mary...?"
To Corvus's and Mika's great surprise, the one who called out to the approaching girl was the copper-eyed Ti.
And she did that in a rather familiar manner too...!
The skinny wolf approached them and started sniffing around, boldly walking between the surprised people without a moment of hesitation - which was already uncommon for the usually careful wolf monsters.
Yet, it was hard for anyone to keep marveling at the confident wolf when a tamed emperor griffin of all things, was approaching them.
Adult emperor griffins' were known to ruthlessly pursue dragonewts and even full-on dragons if those had crossed their territory.
In short.
Having one tamed was a ridiculously impressive feat that had never been done before.
"Raor."
While they were busy staring at the almost legendary monster, the skinny wolf approached the tied-up kidnappers, put a paw on the man's shoulder, and growled, baring its fangs and salivating hungrily.
"Raor, raor...!"
The wolf's eyes and jaws started glowing with orange light as its head was inching closer and closer to the petrified captive.
In response to that, the short jawed wolf with long claws got on its hind legs, eerily similar to a werewolf but much more beastly and inhuman, and nimbly jumped to the skinny wolf that was about to devour the tied up man.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"Raa!"
It let out a short bark and smacked the skinny wolf's head with the dull side of its claws.
"Good job Cinnamon. Arion, bad boy! You can't eat people! Come back here!"
The brown-haired girl riding on the emperor griffin praised the short jawed wolf and scolded the skinny one.
"...raor..."
The skinny wolf, Arion, sulked and dragged behind as he and the short jawed wolf with long claws, Cinnamon, returned to their master's side.
"Ah?! Hey, aren't you three the bodyguards of prince Roan's mother?! What are you doing here...?"
Mary gasped in confusion looking at Ti, Cal, and Cri.
"Same to you, miss Mary. Weren't you staying with the young prince as he was recovering from the aftereffects of the charm skill?"
Ti asked instead of answering and smiled lightly.
"I was, but what prince Roan needs now is peace and quiet and not the constant racket of my menagerie."
Mary laughed and gestured at all her monsters.
"I was actually on my way to my father's territory, but along the way I've heard a story about serial kidnappings that the adventurers guild didn't want to look into... and so here I am!"
She added and opened her arms to show how transparent she was with her motives.
"Then again, what about you three... umm... you five...?"
Mary glanced at Mika and Corvus and hurriedly changed what she was saying.
Well, well, well, wasn't that just the situation that Corvus was waiting for?
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"Unbelievable! We have just stumbled upon those men chasing after the cleverly disguised kidnappers, and heard the very same story!"
The white-haired man clasped his hands together and took a step forward.
"Miss Mary, right?"
He added casually getting on a first-name basis with the newly arrived girl.
"My name is Corvus Wrath, and this is my younger sister, Mika."
He introduced himself and the ashen-haired girl - who didn't look too happy about his eagerness to talk with other women nor how he introduced her as his sibling - and slightly bowed his head.
".You..? It's not time for your route yet though...?"
The brown-haired girl furrowed her brows and looked at Corvus as if he was a less than desirable surprise that she stepped into.
"Ummm... Sorry for that, I guess...?"
The white-haired man got taken aback, shocked by the odd comment.
"Ah! I'm sorry! Please forget what I've said! What were you about to tell me?"
Mary got flustered and repeatably bowed her head in apaology.
"Okay... Originally, we were on a different mission, but upon stumbling on such a serious situation, we've decided to help those people too."
Corvus didn't let her say it twice and declared while glancing at the three bodyguards, expecting to see them get agitated.
"Right! We cannot just ignore such a serious matter!"
Mika confirmed Corvus's words while sticking to his side and grabbing his hand in an attempt to show the weird girl their close relationship.
But that was the only reaction from their side.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Neither Ti, Cri, nor Cal, said a word against Corvus's selfish change of plans.
Quite the opposite, really.
They all look relieved and almost happy?
Corvus squinted his eyes in suspicion, but only for a moment since he was still in the middle of a conversation.
In the meantime, Marry got down her griffin and gracefully curtsied.
"Young lord Wrath, young lady Wrath. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Mary Hope and I'm a tamer."
She greeted them back and raised her head.
"Well then, miss Mary, since our objectives seem to ma..."
"Eh?! Are you the same Mary Hope who received a class right after her initiation and tamed a monster during her fist kill party?!"
Corvus wanted to go straight to proposing cooperation, but Mika - out of all people - gasped and asked excitedly.
"Yes, that's me."
Mary nodded her head with a smile and patted the large skinny wolf that was still eyeing out the captives while salivating.
"And this is Arion, my first monster. Please, pardon his behavior, he is a real glutton, and his appetite seems to grow with each day."
The brown-haired girl introduced the wolf and bowed her head apologetically.
"It's not a problem at all!"
Mika shook her head and assured.
"Scaring those awful people may be a correct way to go. After all, we need to interrogate them about what were they going to do with this little one and what they know about all the other children and their whereabouts."
Corvus slid back into the conversation and put it back on the right track.
"That's right! The missing children!"
Mika flinched, blushing slightly from the embarrassment of her own excitement, and turned to the captured kidnappers.
