Sister, Dining This Well in Secret?

A short while later, Faust and Alkin sat inside a cafe located along the street.

Under the glow of the fireplace, the classically decorated room provided a warm and comfortable atmosphere.

Alkin stirred the rich coffee in her bone china cup with a spoon, dropping in one sugar cube after another.

As the morning mist dissipated, passersby in a hurry already appeared on the street outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

They seemed to have no memory of what had occurred the previous night, lingering for a moment at various breakfast shops before rushing off to their workplaces, appearing just like any other ordinary morning in a small town.

"My Lord, your order..."

The shop owner cautiously approached Faust and Alkin's table, placing the hearty breakfast from the tray onto the table.

There were meat patties in cream sauce, accompanied by carrots, potatoes, cabbage, macaroni, and baked beans in tomato sauce, along with a large piece of white bread—a simple meal, but the spices were plentiful, and the aroma alone was enough to whet the appetite.

When Alkin prepared to take out her money, the shop owner hurriedly waved his hands, bowing and scraping with a fawning yet fearful smile.

"No, no, no! How could I dare take your money, My Lord? Your presence in my humble shop is already a great honor!"

At such blatant flattery, the smile on Alkin's handsome and pretty face vanished, and she lowered her gaze toward the shop owner.

"Every effort deserves a reward; I am simply conducting a fair exchange. Does your shop provide breakfast to everyone for free?"

Alkin placed several coins onto the tray and said calmly, "Since I have consumed, I must pay. That is what civilization is. The Fog Moon Kingdom is a civilized nation, is it not?"

"Yes, My Lord..."

Seeing this, the shop owner had no choice but to accept the money and respectfully backed away.

"Please call me whenever you have need of anything."

Faust took a sip of the scalding coffee and remarked, "Your status seems to be quite high."

Alkin propped her cheek up with one hand and said, "The wolf pack was originally the kin of the Great Moon, and after the night of the hunt began, the pack's transcendent status became even more secure."

"Today, though the situation is delicate, the hunter troupe has become the supreme authority in the Fog Moon Kingdom, standing above all else."

This development matched his expectations; given the hunting rules of the blood moon that encouraged slaughter, only the faction capable of hunting beasts could hold power in a locked-down kingdom.

The girl's beast ears drooped as she scratched her silver-gray hair, seemingly unwilling to continue on this topic.

"Let's leave the matters of the Fog Moon Kingdom at that for now. If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me later. Tell me about the world outside!"

"After the deity locked down the kingdom, our contact with the outside world has been far too limited."

Although for most kingdoms, whether there was mutual communication didn't matter—each being an expert at isolationism—it was still somewhat uncomfortable to be completely without exchange.

"Of course. It just so happens that my experiences during this period have been quite rich."

Faust's silver tongue needed no introduction; even though he had only recently left his own country, it didn't stop the prince from eloquently describing the local customs and people of various places.

Alkin listened with rapt attention, her lake-blue eyes sparkling as she nodded repeatedly.

"So that's what the outside kingdoms are like. Just hearing you speak makes it sound incredibly exciting."

Faust tapped his plate with a fork and asked, "If you're so curious, why not go see for yourself?"

"Go outside...? Until the Ancient Ones are completely eradicated, as the kin of the blood moon, we cannot and must not leave the kingdom."

Alkin shook her head and said, "Only when the true light of civilization fills the kingdom and dispels all the beasts will the lockdown be lifted. The Great Moon initiated the hunt in the Fog Moon Kingdom precisely because it did not want the filth of the Ancient Ones to spread outward."

Faust did not ask Alkin directly, instead questioning the fairy in his mind.

Fortunately, Mephistopheles hadn't flown off so far that it couldn't answer even this, and it immediately provided a response.

【Exemplars among the Son of the Beast, beasts that feasted on celestial dew in ancient times and became higher beings.】

【In a sense, they were the earliest deities. The divine authority later condensed by the wheel of destiny was likely just an imitation of the Ancient Ones.】

Faust thought, So, they're quite powerful then?

【Ultimately, they are just minor gods of the mortal realm. Fate intends to push the son of man onto the stage, and the Son of the Beast of the past can only be swept into the dust of history. However, some of the Ancient Ones were unwilling to exit the stage. The mission of my fellow fairy was to purge them, but it ended up entangled with the Ancient Ones among the Son of the Beast instead.】

【I wondered why it would fail here. If it was for the "witches' feast," then it's not surprising. The poor fellow was chosen as a background character and has since fallen into madness.】

Having obtained the desired information from Mephistopheles, Faust nodded and said to the white-haired girl, "So, the current situation in the Fog Moon Kingdom is that you're maintaining civilization while seeking an opportunity to slay the Ancient Ones?"

Alkin's eyes widened in admiration as she praised him, "Faust, you're amazing. Yes, that is the task of the wolf pack and the mission of the kingdom. However, I cannot agree with the wolf pack's current definition of... civilization."

Just as Alkin hesitated to speak further, a loud crash echoed from outside the window.

Boom—

From the corner of his eye, Faust saw a figure falling from a high building, crashing heavily onto the roof of a carriage parked by the street.

A moment later, several kin of the wolf dressed in hunting gear emerged from the bank building, dragging a group of bank employees out and pinning them against the wall.

Then, the leading Hunter pulled a flintlock pistol from their coat and pressed it against the back of one person's head.

Bang—

The firearm discharged, and the employee collapsed.

Then came the next one, shot after shot, until all those employees were executed.

Faust's brow twitched at the sight.

As the hunters acted in this manner, the pedestrians on the street were all as silent as cicadas in winter, each quickening their pace and lowering their heads as if they had seen nothing.

A suffocating sense of oppression washed over them. Faust glanced at Alkin and found the white-haired wolf-eared girl looking gloomy, her eyes downcast.

Clearly, Alkin strongly disliked this phenomenon, yet she was not surprised by it.

After finishing the executions, those hunters looked toward the cafe across the street and began walking over.

Ding-ling—

Accompanied by the chime of the door opening, a faint scent of blood wafted into the cafe.

"Ah, it's truly warm in here. After being busy all night and through the morning, I really need a cup of coffee to warm my stomach."

Several kin of the wolf took off their hunting gear coats and tossed them casually onto the sofas. One of them, a young female Hunter, was the very person who had just carried out the executions.

She had long, grayish-black hair cascading over her shoulders and a tall, well-proportioned figure. Her gaze swept through the shop before finally locking onto Alkin, and she smiled.

"Oh my, look what I've found. It seems one of our sisters has already arrived. And it's none other than... the champion hunter of our Fenrir family."

As soon as she spoke, the other hunters began whispering among themselves.

"【Little Red Riding Hood】?"

"That lone wolf? How rare. Why is she sitting with someone else?"

"He's not a fellow member of the wolf pack. Is he a slave?"

Alkin quietly met the gaze of her kin and said, "Stella... I am not a lone wolf; I simply do not wish to associate with your kind."

"Is that so? But within the family, you are the eccentric lone wolf, the one who doesn't fit in. Let me see, who exactly is dining with a lone wolf?"

The Hunter named Stella approached the table, originally intending to continue her mockery of Alkin.

!!!

But when she clearly saw Faust's face, she instantly forgot what she was going to say, her eyes widening.

After a long pause, Stella finally swallowed hard.

"Sister, you're keeping such a fine treat all to yourself?"