Chapter 8 Becoming a Landlord?

Lief silently traveled through the forest, following the bird who discovered the possible threat. Although Silvester already said that the creature had no hostile intent towards himself or the forest, that didn't mean the creature didn't have hostile intent towards others living in the forest. What if the creature hurt his neighbors, the birds and rabbits who lived near his treehouse?

He had no connection to the rabbits, he hadn't even officially greeted them yet, but the birds were definitely his friends! And as their friend, he should protect them from danger, especially since one of the birds came to him specifically because it was worried.

It didn't take all that long to reach the unknown creature's location. The bird hid in a high tree branch while Lief went to confront the creature.

It resembled a wolf, but the humans he had met previously would've only reached to its shoulders.

It had two long and twisted horns that resembled deer antlers, eyes like obsidian, and long spines along its back the same color as its eyes. The wolf also had fur that was a dark greyish color on most of its body except the red color that resembled blood on its back and the top of its head.

To his surprise, as soon as the wolf saw him it immediately bowed politely, lowering its front half to the ground.

Then, his surprise and shock grew as the wolf opened its mouth and spoke.

"Are you the landlord of this forest? I am Krow, previously of the Renir Pack."

Lief didn't want to seem rude so he tried to hide his surprise and respond calmly. Luckily the wolf called Krow didn't seem to have any malicious intent.

"Well hello. I am Lief, the guardian of this forest. I suppose you could consider me a landlord, though I don't require any payment for others to remain here. May I ask why you have come here Mister Krow?"

Krow stood up straight before responding.

"I was exiled from my pack. I know many believe that Blood variant Dark Wolves such as myself are creatures that represent doom and destruction and all that, but please don't worry, the exile wasn't because of a fault in my character or a tragic incident. I am the youngest son of the former pack leader. Our pack tradition states that, as the child of a previous leader who was defeated in fair trial by an opponent, I can either challenge the new leader to take back control of the pack or be exiled and either form a new pack or wander alone. I have no wish to lead a pack, and chose to wander until I found a place to settle down. Unfortunately, many turned me away once they saw that I was a Blood variant."

Silvester suddenly appeared from behind a tree to inspect the wolf, as well as to provide some helpful information about knowledge that would be common sense to aboriginals of this world.

[Dark Wolves are a species of demon beasts known for their high levels of stamina and excellent coordination between pack members. Demon beasts are any species of non-humans that are able to use some level of magic and have intelligence comparable to or even higher than humans. Blood variants of the Dark Wolf species are often seen as omens of doom, but the red coloring in their fur is usually just because of their higher level of magic. Most are quite honest. You probably don't need to worry if you want to let this wolf stay. He'll also help prevent the herbivores from overpopulating the forest when he hunts.]

Lief nodded imperceptibly towards Silvester. He didn't know anything about demon beasts previously.

"Mister Krow, you can stay here if you like, though the animals that live within the vicinity of my home are off limits for hunting."

Krow bowed once more, his tail wagging slightly.

"Thank you very much, Guardian Lief."

Lief let Krow go off to find a suitable place to live, then returned to the treehouse with Silvester and the bird in tow, the latter of whom seemed quite relieved that the wolf had promised to avoid hunting it and its family.

Lief returned to his woodcarving room and started to get back to work on the carving before a question suddenly popped into his mind.

"Hey, Silvester, would I be considered a demon beast? I think I fulfill all the criteria. I am most definitely a non-human now. I can use my skills, which should be some sort of magic. And although I'm no Einstein, I think I'm as smart as an average human. Maybe that's why me and Krow can communicate? Because we're both speaking demon beast language?"

Silvester laid down beside Lief where the sunshine came in to the room from the window.

[Although I do not know who Einstein is, you would be considered a species of demon beasts. Though nothing in my database matches your appearance, so humans would most likely have to come up with a new species name.]

Speaking of humans, an image came to Lief's mind of several scientist looking people arguing over a name while looking at an image of himself. He remembered back in his old world, scientists would sometimes fight over the right to name a newly discovered species of animal. Usually, the first to discover the animal got the right to name it.

The (first and only so far) group of humans he met previously should've warned the other humans about him by now, right?

Hopefully they wouldn't come to bother him again.

Lief eventually picked up his carving again and got to work, throwing his extra thoughts away as he tried to focus on finally getting a carving right.