“This is the one.” Kali led Hilda in front of the house. This house was built differently from the other houses in the village.

“Could it be the house of the village chief?”

Kali shook her head before responding, “we have already secured the house of the village chief. This house was used as a village warehouse. According to those who were alive, this house was used by the barbarian chief.”

“And the thing that injured those two soldiers was inside this house?” Hilda took another look at the house before asking.

Kali nodded, answering, “Should I call the captain to go with you?”

“No need. Tell Cyan to keep an eye on Viscount Rook all the time, and don’t let him meet anybody.”

Although Kali nodded, Hilda felt she was still hesitating about something. "Are you worried about something?" Hilda asked. 

“What are you going to do about them?” 

Looking at her serious face, Hilda sighed in her heart. “Who are they? The villagers? Or…”

Kali didn’t answer her, but her hesitation was enough confirmation she had needed. “It’s better if you stay someplace far from the village. You can rest at Ridic’s camp. I think he is quite affectionate to you.”

Kali looked at Hilda with pleading eyes, asking, “can’t you just kill them? Keeping them alive would create more problems.”

Hilda ruffled her hair, saying, “It’s a part of the war.”

“But…”

“Kali, I understand. But, stopping them would make me unpopular.” Hilda sighed, adding, "Talk to Ridic. He might be able to explain it better than I can."

“But doing the same thing they had did to the villagers…” 

“Tell the guard unit to bury all the dead bodies.” Hilda didn’t wait for her to speak up again and went towards the door.

However, before entering, Hilda said, “And you should learn to control your emotions. Or it will get you killed.” Hilda opened the door and entered the house.

[Dodge.] 

Scarlett spoke in her mind. Hilda was still in werewolf form, so she had no trouble avoiding it. However, the attack didn’t end there.

Her silver eyes glowed, and she couldn't help but notice the blade aimed at her face. And the individual who was holding it was a deer faun with red hair. In the dark, the golden eyes shone even brighter.

‘It isn’t time for that’ Hilda quickly released her beast intent. And with the immense pressure she released was enough for the blade wielder to shiver a little.

Hilda had no problem grabbing the wrist. However, the faun didn’t stop. The faun turned around and tried to stab Hilda with the dagger hidden in the other hand.

Hilda didn’t give it any chance. She threw it away with one hand. From her movements, Hilda was sure that it was an experienced fighter. 

But it wasn’t like Hilda would just stand there and let it attack her. Hilda moved in a blink. And when the faun understood what was happening, it shouted, “Noooo.”

As soon as Hilda entered the room, she realized that the faun wasn’t the only one in the house. It was protecting something. A gap in its attacks was enough for Hilda to locate the other.

“Stop if you don’t want them to die.” Hilda raised the half-deer child in the air threatening the faun.

“How dare you attack a child?” 

Hilda didn’t hate listening to the angry girly voice, but she was in the middle of a fight. She didn’t dare to be careless. 

She tightened her grip as the deer child screamed in fear. Hilda looked at the pair of golden eyes, saying, “Try me.”

“Helen, you should stop.” 

Although Hilda had sensed the presence of the children in the room, she never noticed the big centaur deer woman hiding in the room.

As soon as Hilda looked at her, her heart skipped a beat. Her body color was similar to a human, and the only other color on her body was her black-colored deer leg.

Her breast was small, and she had antlers similar to a male deer. Her hair was black, and so were her eyes. And the thin silkware was just there to make her more enticing.

Hilda felt that she was nothing special. 

Yet, she couldn’t take her eyes off her. And when she met her black eyes, she felt the blood start to rush towards her nether region.

‘I want to have her.’ Hilda had never felt such an insatiable urge to copulate with her.

“If you let them go, I will stay behind.”

‘Can she read minds?’ Hilda couldn’t help wondering.

[No one needs to read your mind. Your desire is written all over your face.]

Hilda took another look, feeling as if she was drunk till now. She took another look at the woman, thinking, ‘Is she also a descendant of a scared beast?’

[Took you long enough.]

Hilda knew Scarlet was being sarcastic, but she explained nonetheless.

[She isn’t a direct descendent. But she is special.]

‘A guardian beast!? A sacred beast? Is it more powerful?’

However, Scarlet ignored her question and asked. [You want her to bear your children?]

‘Yes.’ Hilda didn’t deny it. As soon as she put down the half deer child, it ran towards the charming deer centaur. Along with the other children, it quickly hid behind her.

“Noooo!” The knife-wielding deer faun gave a dramatic shout before charging at Hilda. The attack shouldn't have caused too many problems, but it did scrape a patch of Hilda's fur.

It raised its head to meet Hilda's gaze, only to discover that Hilda was smirking at her. Before it could understand what was happening, Hilda’s punch threw her in the air.

“Sister…” A childish voice cried in fear as the faun landed on her back. She groaned in pain as she tried to get up.

“Who are you?”

“Symona.” the deer centaur answered as she hid the children behind her. But before Hilda could ask the next question, she said, “I can guide you through our forest.”

“Why do you think I need your help?”

“I can hear everything.”

“Huh! What type of explanation is that?” 

“I can hear the voice of the spirit.”

“Spirit?” Spending long hours in the imperial library, Hilda wasn’t alien to the word ‘Spirit.’ However, there was no proof.

“They exist. Even you have…”As Symona tried to explain, she tried to look at Hilda but was afraid of something standing behind Hilda.

“What is it? Is there something behind me?” Hilda looked back but couldn’t find anyone.

“There is,” Symona said with a determined voice. “A spirit king. It…”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t have said anything about it.” Hilda was well aware of the owner of the voice, who stopped Symona.

“Scarlet?” Hilda looked around to find a fox cub coming out of the shadow.

[No. That is my descendent.]

Scarlet answered in Hilda’s mind. When Hilda looked again, she found that the fox had only three tails. 

“My liege, I have come to guide you during your journey through the barbarian forest.” The fox cub looked cute but said with all seriousness.

Hilda wanted to rub its belly. However, she was curious about different things. She looked at Symona, asking, “Spirit king? What is spirit king?” 

[You shouldn’t ask the question, you don’t want to know the answer.]

“Why?” 

[They will let you know when they want to.]

Hilda couldn’t help wondering why the fearless Scarlet would be so secretive about the spirit king. And for the same reason, she was more curious about why Symona could talk about them.

[She is the descendant of an elder spirit.]

Scarlet's descendant was working for her while she was speaking with Hilda. The fox moved towards Symona, saying, “You should be grateful that my liege wants you to bear her child.”

Symona couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She looked at Hilda. Looking at her eyes, Hilda couldn’t understand what kind of emotion she was showing. However, it was not fear.

“But…”

Scarlet was far less dominant than the fox cub. Even Hilda was surprised by its action. The fox didn’t let Symona complete her words, stating, “your opinion doesn’t matter. As long as the…”

“You can stop now.” As soon as Hilda spoke, the fox stopped talking without a single sound. Satisfied with the fox’s reaction, Hilda turned towards Symona, saying, “but what it said is true. You have no other way. Or…”

Realising Hilda was looking at the children, she quickly explained, “It isn’t like that. I have no problem, as long as you let them go.” She hesitated before adding, “I can’t bear a child.”

Hilda was a little surprised. She pointed at the children, asking, “Aren’t they yours?”

“My lady, you shouldn’t,” The faun supported herself against the wall to stand up. “You shouldn’t sell yourself for us.”

Hilda knew her last punch had broken a few of her ribs. So the faun’s tenacity surprised her. Hilda paid no attention to her and turned towards Symona.

“They are the children of the humans. Their mother had died while giving birth to them.” She also added, “In the last 100 years, I was never able to have a child once. My blood is cursed.”

Looking at her facial expression, Hilda understood that she had accepted the fact a long time ago. After all, 100 years was a long time.

“Fool.” The silent fox spoke again. “My liege is the apostle of the god. She is a sacred futanari. No female in the world couldn’t bear her child.”

Hilda ignored the fox's grandiose explanation and turned to face Symona, who was looking at her expectantly.

Hilda shook her head, saying, “It doesn’t matter whether you can or not. But from today onwards, you are my woman.”

“I am.” Symona agreed but quickly added, “as long as you let them go.”

“They can go. However…” As soon as Hilda said those words, all eyes turned toward Hilda. She smiled, adding, “Even if their mothers were human, I don’t know what would be the soldiers do to them.”

Symona gaped at Hilda with a shocking expression. Hilda continued, “Even if they are just children, they would be slaughtered.”

“I knew it.” The faun, named Helen, shouted, “We shouldn’t believe this bastard. I…” She couldn’t end her words when Hilda appeared in front of her.

“No…” It happened so fast that by the time Symona cried, Hilda’s fist was an inches away from the faun. 

At such proximity, Hilda realized the faun wasn’t half bad. Even if one ignored the beautiful red har and golden dotted brown lower limbs, her big breast was too much to overlook.

Hilda was tempted to squeeze them. However, she had promised Symona. She looked at her, saying, “You have dared to attack me. Do you think you can leave unscratched?”

“My liege,” Symona copied the fox and pleaded, “please, you can punish me as much as you want. Please, let Helen go.”

“Do you really want your lady to suffer?” Hilda had already grasped her weakness. She wanted to taste her, but she had a much more important role for her.

“Do something for me, and I will let you and those children leave this place. Not a single soldier will touch any of them. If you defy me, you and your lady will suffer a fate far worse than death.”