Reaching Bristall

The next couple of days were pretty uneventful. The Alpha could run at high speeds for hours at a time before he needed a short rest. His stamina was quite impressive.

I killed a Great Tortoise along the way and cooked it with fire magic. I brought with my own food from home, but I needed something to feed my new mount. He really seemed to enjoy it. As we continued traveling I would occasionally kill more monsters we passed to feed him.

By the third day, the Alpha Fenris was acting more like a pet than a monster. He wags his fiery tails as I approach him and kneels down to make it easier for me to climb up onto his neck. As silly as it sounds, he kind of reminds me of Byt, Aisha's pet Treant.

'No, I can't think like that. This guy is so huge there's no way he'd have space to live at my house. Not to mention his flaming tails would be a huge fire hazard. Still though, if we're traveling together, the least I could do is name him.'

"From now on, I'm going to call you Fenrir", I told my new friend.

He... didn't seem to understand. Rather, he looked at me the same way as when I say anything to him. These wolves are intelligent for monsters, but it's not like they can understand human speech like Leo.

By the end of the third day we finally reached the outskirts of Bristall. The city was secured by clay walls about three meters tall surrounding its entire perimeter that wasn't coastline. It was dark out by the time the city came within view, but I could make out a couple proper entrances to the city from a distance thanks to some lit flames that were likely torches.

Fenrir could easily jump over the walls if I wanted him to, but the panic that would inevitably ensue would only make my job harder.

"Our short time together has been nice, but I think it's time we part ways, Fenrir."

He looked at me inquisitively.

"Go on then, shoo!", I said as I tried to shoo him away by making the motions with my hands.

He just kept looking at me.

I pulled some jerky from my traveling sack and showed it to him.

"Go get it boy!", I said as I hurled the jerky as far as I could off into the distance. I powered up my throw with [Gravity Magic] as well.

Fenrir bolted off after the tasty treat while I ran towards the city in the opposite direction.

As I got closer to the city's outer wall I got a clearer picture of the gate. A torch was lit on each side of the gate and two guards stood in front of it, one on each side. One guard looked almost human with the exception that she had pink skin and red eyes while the other had the face of a horse. Perhaps he is a relative of Nokopara's?

"Hmm? It's a bit late for a kid like you to be wandering around out here by yourself don't you think?", The horse-faced man asked me.

"It is a bit late, yes. I'm hoping I can get in town to rest for the night."

"Do you have parents or relatives living here?"

"No. I'm just passing through."

"Huh. Well, it shouldn't be a problem. Don't cause any trouble and- Wha!? Hah!?!?"

The guard stopped mid sentence and pulled out his spear as he yelled out in fear.

"It's a Fenris Wolf! Sound the Alarm!"

I turned around and just as I thought Fenrir was approaching us at high speeds, his two fiery tails could be clearly seen in the darkness.

"What!? A Fenris Wolf!? What is it doing all the way out here? They never venture this far from the mountains!", the female guard yelled in surprise.

Fenrir came to an abrupt stop and sat down on the ground beside me, his two fiery tails wagging behind him and his tongue as he panted.

"Eek!"

"What are you doing kid!? Get inside, we'll hold him off!"

The female guard was hurriedly trying to open the gate while the Horse faced man gritted his teeth and gripped his spear tightly. He looked like he was preparing himself for a fight to the death.

"Now now, calm down. Everything's ok", I said as I motioned with my hands to indicate as much. "I know he's a bit intimidating, but Fenrir here is perfectly friendly."

As I said this, I turned to motion over to my new pet only to see him growling and baring his teeth as he stared down the man with the spear who I'm pretty sure has just wet himself.

"No! Bad Dog!"

I pulled out a rolled up paper scroll from my traveling sack and whacked Fenrir on the nose with it. He whimpered and walked back a couple steps while he held his head to the ground in penance.

 "See. He's perfectly tamed. You've nothing to worry about."

"..."

Both guards just stood there with their mouths gaped open in silence.

*BONG BONG*

A loud bell rang, the sound echoing through the otherwise mostly silent night.

Within a couple of minutes several more guards came rushing through the gate. At this point, Fenrir had curled up on the ground and had his snout nuzzled into his paws with his eyes peeking out just above.

"What's going on?", one of the guards yelled out.

"C-Captain Falco!", the horse faced man answered. "As you can see... a Fenris Wolf approached the city."

"I can see that... but... what is it doing? Is it sick?"

"No. It would seem as though this boy... tamed the monster?"

"That's impossible!", the captain yelled back. "Fenris wolves are among the deadliest monsters on the continent. They aren't monsters that can be tamed."

"I know, but... how do you explain this?"

Falco looked back over at Fenrir as I had walked over to him and was giving him scratches behind his ear. It must have looked rather peculiar as Fenrir's head alone was nearly as tall as I am. Fenrir began kicking up dirt behind him as he leaned into my scratches.

"Who... are you?", the captain asked with a blank face.

"I'm Rudeus. I'm an A-ranked adventurer, in a party called 'Dead End'. We used to be active around these parts a couple years ago."

"Dead End? I've heard of them!", One of the other guards mentioned.

"Rudeus? Isn't that Kennel Master Rudeus?"

"Yeah! I heard he was a legendary beast tamer. He even tamed 'Mad Dog Eris'!"

"Woah!"

"Ahem!", Falco cleared his throat, silencing the gossip of his guards behind him. "I understand now who you are, but I'm afraid that I can't allow your beast inside the city. I'm sorry but we have rules here and your beast will surely cause a panic if we let him inside."

"I totally get that", I answered him. "Rules are rules, of course."

The captain's expression visibly relaxed while several of the guards sighed in relief.

"Do you have any stables outside the city wall where I could leave him while I visit?"

"Uh... I don't think any of our stables are equipped to deal with his, err... size."

"Yeah, I guess that's true", I said as I put my hand to my chin in thought. "I'll just have to make a temporary shelter for him to stay at for a day or two. I hope that's alright."

"You're going to 'Make', a shelter?"

Rather than answering him, I turned around and conjured a stone pillar using the [Earth Lance] spell and then created a large doghouse for Fenrir using the [Earth Fortress] spell. Lastly, I conjured a thin stone collar around his neck and large food and bowls and placed them right outside the doghouse.

"Does anyone in town have any rope I could purchase? I'll tie Fenrir to this pole here to keep him from following me into town."

"I'm sure we can find something..."

Falco sent two of his guards into town and they returned some time later, leading a wagon that carried a considerably thick chain link rope.

'Heh. They really don't want Fenrir getting loose. Can't say I blame them to be honest.'

I secured Fenrir to the rope and filled his water bowl with cold water using a combination of the [Waterfall] and [Icicle Field] spells.

The guards escorted me into town and I purchased some straw to make a bed for Fenrir and ordered food and water to be delivered to him daily. I walked with the merchant as he delivered the first order of food just to show him that it was safe.

Thankfully the prices of everything were so cheap here that everything amounted to basically pocket change for me.

After spending the rest of the night at an Inn, I made my way to the Adventurer's Guild to start asking around about Gorp. I figured asking the receptionist would be a good place to start.

"Welcome to Bristall's Adventurer's Guild branch. How may I help you?"

"I'm looking for a man named Gorp. Do you know of him? I'll post an official request if I need to."

"Gorp? Yes, I know him. He's registered with our guild."

"Oh, he's an adventurer? That's perfect. I'll just wait for him here if you don't mind. If you see him, could you please let him know I'm looking for him?"

"Sure. Could I please have your name?"

"Rudeus. I'm an A-ranked adventurer as well."

I showed her my adventurer's card. Good thing I had the foresight to bring this with me.

"Oh my! You're partied with 'Dead End'? You guys made quite a name for yourselves a while back."

"I'm glad people still remember us. It's been a while since we were active."

"Dead End?"

"For real?"

"I heard the kennel master was in town!"

"Is that him?"

I could hear several people in the guild start whispering rumors about me. It sure brings back memories of the days Ruijerd and Eris spent together.

Just then a burly woman who almost had an orc-like appearance approached me while holding one of the job postings. Her eyes were red and it looked as though she had been crying.

"Are you really the Kennel Master from dead end?", she asked with a sob.

"Please, my party was exploring a dungeon south of here when the rest of them fell in a trap. I tried to save them but I was chased out by the monsters. I'm the only one who made it back safe", she gripped the stone job posting tightly as she pleaded to me. "Please help me! I beg you! My husband is with them!"

I really wanted to help the poor woman but I was in a time crunch. The election tournament was only a week away and I still need to find Gorp.

The woman reached out with the job posting trying to hand it to me as I debated internally on what I should do. As I looked down at the job posting, something caught my eye.

One of the names on the missing persons list. It was Gorp.