Forsaken Priest of the Hero's Party-Chapter 10: A Wolf Does Not Run Away

Thinking about it, I was always a spoiled child.

But no one let me be that way.

I was born with the potential of the Sun.

And born with the Lunar Magic.

I would become the future leader of the Azure Wolf Tribe.

I was the flower expected to bloom beautifully.

-Child. As of now, only the Lunar magic has bloomed within you, however......

That’s what Granny Andes, the eldest Elder of the Tribe, said.

The Tribe Leader, the most respected figure within the tribe, and also my father continued after Granny.

-You also have the potential of the sun within you. The Sun and the Moon. That’s the rarest and most powerful magical attribute. That’s why one day you will become the Sun that will guide our Tribe.

No...Father was wrong. I wasn’t strong enough to lead the Tribe.

Just thinking about it made me choke up.

-That’s why this old woman will name you.

Yet, I couldn’t bear to disappoint them.

-Sol De Roka. One day you will become the Sun of the Tribe and shine on our kin even after this old woman is gone. How about it? Not a bad name at all right, lass?

Father always had high expectations for me.

Because of this, my brothers and sisters were always jealous.

Mother was also strict with me. So, naturally, I grew up to be a rigid child.

However, the truth couldn’t be far from that. I was just a child using a mask to hide my cowardice and fear.

That was me. When Father died, when Mother died when my older sisters were brutally killed...The reason tucked my tail between my legs rather than baring my teeth was because my mask shattered.

Just like a crab that can’t regrow its shell once is broken,

My mask shattered along with my self-esteem as I was kicked and whipped. What remained was just a pitiful child who had no choice but to reveal her true and cowardly face. In other words, Me.

But I couldn’t understand why would Master be like that for a worthless slave like me.

Eup.

He would always look at me with those warm eyes,

Always preparing delicious meals for me, and leaving clean clothes at my door.

He never forced himself on me,

And he would always smile and pray.

Pray to a God I couldn’t understand. A God I didn’t even know the name.

At first, I was scared.

No matter how much I thought about it, there was no reason for him to show such kindness to me.

But as time passed, my wariness dulled. He asked nothing of me.

And that made me feel even more uncomfortable.

I am a beast, an animal.

A slave.

I’m not worthy of such treatment.

But he kept treating me like a person.

Every time I received that caring gaze, my body stiffened.

With my mask shattered, I didn’t dare to face that gaze. I ran away, fled, or hid.

If...If I didn’t...It felt like something inside me would burst.

That’s why I thought I could just ignore my Master.

But I couldn’t do that at all. It’s not because I was afraid he would scold me.

On the contrary, if he were to whip me, at least I would know that the fault was mine, that I had done something to deserve the aggression.

Then, on that night. The night when the moon was shining brightly.

The day I dared to ride on something my Master had done.

I thought I would be punished, but instead, he pushed my back.

At that moment I became certain of something,

-My Lord. Please, allow this child to have a happy life.

It was a small and quiet prayer, so quiet that the wind almost buried it.

But I managed to hear it.

-Please. I beg you.

The Master...My Master, who always served his God devoutly.

Asked something of his God for the first time.

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For me. For something like me. This worthless slave. He prayed to his God.

I wanted to pretend I hadn’t heard it, but I couldn’t do it. All I could do was just hurriedly run away after finishing the swing ride.

Without being able to say a single word of thanks,

I could only run away without showing the tears welling up in my eyes.

As time passed and passed, I became more and more distressed.

I desperately tried to build some walls around my heart. I wanted to block those raging emotions.

But I didn’t know that every wall I built was already cracked to begin with. I simply built and built.

Then, I realized it,

The reason I was struggling to ignore him.

The reason I was struggling to distance myself.

It’s because in the end, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t ignore him.

As I tried to ignore him again and again,

As I continued to build more walls,

The simple thought of Master abandoning me made it hard to breathe.

I felt like I was going to cry. I couldn’t handle it.

Sneakily.

Hurriedly.

With my courage and self-esteem at the bottom,

With my mask shattered, revealing my true self,

I didn’t even have the courage to say a single word of thanks. All I could do was just approach him and bump my head against him. Even while doing that, my mind was filled with fear.

What if my Master were to see me and get mad?

What if he were to think - ‘What is this filthy beast doing now?’

What if he got angry?

I really felt like I was going to die.

“It’s okay. You can cry. Don’t hold back.”

But despite my fears, he did something completely different.

He held me tightly. He said it was okay to cry.

His eyes were still warm, his voice was still gentle.

That was the last straw. All my faulty walls, which I desperately built, crumbled down.

The feelings I bottled inside surged alongside my tears.

“Roka...Always remember this. You’re a person. Someone who is free to cry whenever they want. You are free to act spoiled when you want. And you’re free to lean on others when it’s necessary.”

I cried and cried. I clung to him while crying and wailing.

Then, he unlocked my Slave Collar, saying I was a person. That I was free.

“In the name of my Lord. You’re free Roka. Free.”

A flame ignited by Divine Power. The single candle on the table completely burned the Slave Contract.

I kept crying. All this while, I wanted to be compensated for all the suffering I endured.

As the Divine Candle burned the contract, I was freed from my status as a Slave.

No...That’s wrong. Rather, I ended up becoming a slave yet again.

The moment Master released me, he bound me once more.

The wolf that was free became a dog that couldn’t live without her Master.

I couldn’t live without him now.

But I had already fallen for him, so I couldn’t help it. Master had hunted me.

As his prey, I have no choice but to live for him.

That way, even if Master abandons me in the end, I won’t regret it.

Because a wolf never runs away from its own decisions.

Master. My Master. The man who made me a Person.

My Master. The one who prayed for me.

I, Sol de Roka. Will follow you.

Forever.

*****After that day, my relationship with Roka changed.

The Child’s attitude towards me changed completely. Whenever I went, she followed me closely.

When I sat down, she would rest her head on my lap, and when I stood up, she would lick my hand and act cute.

Even when I warned her not to do it because my hands were dirty, she stubbornly ignored it.

Every time I petted her head, her eyes would sparkle.

“Master? Are you back?”

“...I told you that there’s no need to call me that.”

However, the strangest thing that happened, is that Roka insist on calling me her Master.

Despite burning her slave contract, making her a free person.

While there are those who are better than me,

No one is worse than me.

For everyone is equally inferior before the Lord.

So, what’s the point of trying to figure out who is inferior?

If I think about how the Lord sees me, why would I look down on a slave?

It would be as pathetic as a dwarf making fun of another dwarf for being small.

In the Lord’s eyes, everyone is inferior.

We are all foolish existences, blind to the truth.

We are fools who can’t even watch their steps.

Take this for example,

If a cripple and a blind man,

Despise each other and are at odds, it’s not only a ridiculous situation, but it makes their already difficult lives even harder. Just like two wild boars stuck in the mud continue to fight each other instead of trying to find a way out.

But if these two help each other, if one becomes the eyes and the other becomes the legs...

Only then can they overcome their limitations.

People should help each other, not look down on each other.

That’s why I tried to stop Roka,

But every time, she always resisted.

“Roka, you...”

“This is what I want. My Will.”

Chomp.

She bit my hand. It wasn’t hard enough to draw blood, but just enough to hurt a little.

There was even a rather cute growl involved, as a flame burned within her eyes.

Ah. My Lord...I wasn’t as great as You after all.

Perhaps this was my limit an imperfect being. I couldn’t liberate her. This is my fault. This servant is ashamed.

“Hm? Did you release her collar?”

Later, when Mr. Rubert heard the story of me freeing Roka, he came to see me and check on the Child’s condition.

He then warned me.

“......Your Holiness....You see, beastkin are very different from us Humans...And they also grow up fast.”

“Oh?”

“A wolf pup might be cute, but when they grow, they might eat their owner.”

I don’t know why he gave such a warning.

“Please be careful.”