Our Family Has Fallen

But Lance hadn’t expected that his hasty glance would scare Amanda out of her wits.

Amanda was pondering something. Upon hearing the noise, she lifted her head and met those eyes. Although it was only for an instant, the pressure felt as tangible as a physical assault, leaving her mind blank and her heart nearly stopping.

It was as if she had been targeted by the World-Ending Evil Dragon from legends; terror and despair flooded her mind instantly.

It took her a long while to recover after he had left, realizing the extent of the terror she had experienced!

Even her own surprise attack hadn’t elicited such a reaction before. What on earth had happened at the farm to enrage him so?

Now, she was somewhat relieved that Susan had held her back—nobody would want to provoke Lance in such a state.

However, she suddenly realized that this could be an opportunity; perhaps today was the day to turn the tables.

With this thought, Amanda raised her hand and wiped across her chest, somehow producing a black card with an intricate, golden-threaded border.

Before acting, she habitually consulted tarot cards for omens, and she couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise upon seeing its content.

”Is following him really this thrilling!” she wondered aloud.

Because in her hand was the most auspicious card, akin to a grand fortune—a rarity to draw.

Lance didn’t believe in fate, but Amanda and the Romani people did dabble in such things, hence they believed it was a favor from the goddess of luck.

Now, feeling favored by the goddess herself, Amanda hesitated no longer and hastily set out to follow, hoping to clutch at the hem of Lady Luck’s dress.

「…」

”It can’t escape.”

The Warwolf, wielding a massive axe, and the One-Eyed Wolf King led the way.

They had become much more cautious since that unfortunate incident with the sacrifice. In truth, if not for the chaos where everyone and every wolf had lost their minds in the frenzy, they wouldn’t have so easily fallen for the trap.

But dwelling on it now was useless. Having learned from their mistake, they now demonstrated the skill of the Mountain Barbarian Tribe. Each time the sacrifice attempted to lead them into the dens of powerful beasts, they saw through the ploy, steadily narrowing the distance between them.

With the coming of dawn, their pace of closing in quickened as the scent of the sacrifice grew stronger, right up until this very moment.

The Warwolf suddenly halted, his face shifting through a series of strange expressions, starting with disbelief.

Once he confirmed the unique scent in the air, his expression quickly turned savage, his massive jaws parting to reveal sharp teeth like Wolf Fangs.

He was laughing!

”I knew it... I knew it... you’ve been waiting for me... my love!” he proclaimed.

The scent sent the Warwolf into an almost frenzied, aroused state. His fur bristled as he clenched his fists, arched his back slightly, puffed out his chest, lifted his head, and let out a long howl.

”OOOOOW!”

His inhuman howl was like that of an alpha signaling his presence to the wolf pack. The accumulated pressure from the journey’s tribulations dissipated swiftly in this tide of emotion. He roared triumphantly—his Wolf pride was back!

The other warriors, already at their mental limits from the journey, realized what was happening and felt some pressure lift from their shoulders.

After all, for them, it was a stroke of fortune that the sacrifice had led them to her.

”Let’s go, we move forward,” the Warwolf commanded, pointing his axe ahead and charging forward.

He wasn’t concerned she would notice his approach; he even deliberately made his presence known as a warning.

This wasn’t the Mountains, with no complex terrain, dangerous environment, or strong Extraordinary creatures to provide cover for her to escape. Those stupid spiders didn’t count, the Warwolf thought, dismissing the disgrace.

The Warwolf knew Grendel wouldn’t submit easily, but it never mattered to him. Once she was brought back to the tribe, she wouldn’t have a say.

This was the way of the Mountains, and also a reason why the Barbarian Tribes were scorned and mocked by the Imperial People—their behavior was considered too barbaric.

Though Imperial Nobles also liked to take women by force, they at least put on a front and acted with some discretion.

Yet these Barbarians showed no restraint and even took pride in it, for only the strong could take women.

Why had the strength of the Mountain Barbarian Tribe dwindled year after year after Bastia sealed the Mountains?

Because they could no longer descend to seize food and women.

In the harsh environment of the Mountains, seven out of ten newborns perished. Especially when heavy snow fell and the cold wind blew, the death toll could rise to a horrifying nine out of ten.

The strong constitution of these Barbarians was the result of natural selection, which is why the ratio of elites among them was much higher than in the Empire; the weak simply did not survive.

The Warwolf and his followers charged ahead. Gradually, the dense forest thinned, showing signs of logging, with many felled trees scattered about, but with no people in sight.

In fact, these signs had already indicated to the Warwolf and his followers the presence of human activity, but they proceeded undeterred, not even pausing to scout.

In their eyes, these ordinary Imperial People were even less significant than the spiders—at least spiders would bravely fight, and in sufficient numbers, even the Warwolf couldn’t withstand them.

And those people? They’d freeze in fear if only a couple fell, not even resisting when a knife was put to their throats.

The cowardly Imperial People were not worth stopping for.

The Warwolf and the others burst out of the woodland. The felled trees and leveled land allowed an unobstructed view. The first things they saw were the houses on the open ground and the conspicuous column of smoke.