Virtual Idol in the Beast World: Five Clans Fight Over Me

When Seth heard Gu Ning’s voice, his pupils constricted slightly.

’Whoa, whoa, whoa! Oh my god! I heard the little boss speak!’

’But... why is his voice so high-pitched? It sounds surprisingly nice.’

Seth wagged his tail and spun around twice in the snow, overjoyed. His mind was so filled with the thought that the little boss could actually talk, he momentarily overlooked the fact that his voice was different from that of a normal male Beastman.

’After all, Mixed Breeds are different from them to begin with.’

’Among Mixed Breeds, only the atavistic ones could communicate normally. He had almost never seen a Dwarf hybrid who could speak properly.’

Seth let out an AWOO in reply, and with Gu Ning on his back, he trotted briskly toward the gate.

Seeing them make a beeline for the main gate, Cyril immediately moved to follow.

He had just taken a single step when several wolf-like shadows suddenly appeared on either side of him.

The beast-form wolves stared intently at Cyril, their eyes holding a silent warning. The leader bared its fangs slightly, as if ready to pounce should he move any closer.

Cyril froze. His nostrils twitched, and he caught a familiar scent on the cold air.

It was Alex’s pack.

Cyril’s gaze swept across the unfamiliar wolves. He withdrew his forward foot and stepped back onto the top of the stairs.

As expected, the wolves retreated back into the shadows.

Seeing this, a glint of interest flashed in Cyril’s otherwise cold eyes.

’Alex is surprisingly invested in this little Mixed Breed, sending so many wolves to protect him in secret.’

’But whether this is just the pack being protective of its own, or Alex being unhappy about the General interfering in his business, remains to be seen.’

「At the main gate.」

The Beastman guard looked up from the Detection Device, sized up the Mixed Breed and the beast-form wolf before him, and asked, "Which squad are you with?"

There were a dozen or so Wolf Clan squads stationed at the North Wall construction site, and he only recognized the captains.

If it were a normal Beastman, the guard usually wouldn’t stop them as long as they passed the Detection Device.

But that didn’t apply to Mixed Breeds.

However, this little Mixed Breed had probably only recently devolved; after all, his aberration value was only 25%.

Such a low aberration value made the guard lower his defenses, so he only asked a simple question.

He didn’t care what they were going out to do, but he needed to know which squad they belonged to so he would have an answer if questioned later.

Seth let out two AWOOs.

The Beastman guard: "Use your words."

"..." Seth: "AWOO AWOO AWOO!"

The Beastman guard: "Can’t understand you. Use your words."

Seth was so anxious he started pawing at the ground, wishing he could just change back right then and there.

Gu Ning saw that the Beastman guard didn’t recognize Seth. She took out a pen, preparing to write Alex’s name on a slip of paper, but changed her mind just as the tip touched the page.

She glanced back over her shoulder, wrote a name on the paper, and handed it to the guard.

The guard saw the name and didn’t question them further. After reading the note, he let Gu Ning go.

Just as Cyril saw the little Mixed Breed exit the main gate and was about to disappear from view, he decided to ignore the wolves’ warning and follow. But as he moved, a hand suddenly pressed down heavily on his shoulder.

He turned his head. It was Alex.

"Alex." Cyril’s expression paused. "Is the meeting over?"

Alex said coolly, "Adjutant Cyril, thanks for the trouble of looking after my Mixed Breed. I can take it from here." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Cyril replied, "At a time like this, are you sure it’s safe to just let it go out?"

"You don’t need to worry about that, Adjutant," Alex said. "If she wants to go out and play, she can go out and play. She can come back whenever she wants. Just make sure you keep an eye on those dogs, and don’t let what just happened occur again."

Hearing the warning hidden in Alex’s calm tone, Cyril chuckled. "I’m just a humble adjutant who handles menial tasks for the General. I have no authority over the various leaders of the Dog and Wolf Clans."

Alex didn’t waste any more words on him, stepping past him into the snow.

Cyril stared at his back, the smile fading from his lips. Alex’s appearance, along with his attitude toward the little Mixed Breed, made the answer to his earlier question start to become clear.

An indescribably odd feeling surfaced within him.

Cyril’s gaze shifted toward the main gate.

The little Mixed Breed was already gone.

*

After leaving the construction site, Gu Ning had Seth take her back to where she used to live.

Seth had been secretly protecting Gu Ning under Alex’s orders before, so he had a good idea of where she wanted to go. He figured her old place was just across from the site, so there was no harm in taking her back for a look.

He dashed across the road.

Halfway across, he failed to notice a small mound bulging under the snow and stepped right on it.

"YIP!"

The mound of snow he had stepped on let out a sound like a yelping puppy.

Startled, Seth leaped back. He caught the scent of a Mixed Breed and immediately dropped into a defensive stance.

The sudden turn of events put Gu Ning on alert along with Seth.

She gripped the fur on Seth’s back, her eyes fixed, like his, on the shifting "mound of snow" before them.

A familiar head shot up from the snow.

"Woof?"

Gu Ning cried out in shock, "Cook?!"

"WOOF!"

Overjoyed at the sight of Gu Ning, Cook lunged toward her.

Seth recognized Cook, so he didn’t immediately try to block him.

Cook, however, showed hostility toward Seth. He let out a low growl, bared his teeth, and bumped Seth’s head with his own before lifting Gu Ning off the wolf’s back.

Good-naturedly, Seth just scraped his paws, not responding to the pup’s hostility. He simply watched him, making sure he wouldn’t harm Gu Ning.

Having not seen him for a few days, he noticed Cook had gotten bigger. He looked to be over two meters tall now—a fluffy, humanoid puppy.

That wasn’t the size of a Dwarf hybrid, but it didn’t quite reach the scale of a giant hybrid either.

Seth tilted his head, sizing up Cook with curiosity.

Cook held Gu Ning, whining and woofing pitifully as his tail wagged frantically behind him.

Cook hugged Gu Ning so tightly she could barely breathe, forcing her to tug on a handful of the pup’s fur.

Only then did Cook let her go, setting her gently on the ground before nuzzling his head against her chest.

"Cook, what are you doing here?" Gu Ning was knocked back into the snow by his nuzzling. She reached out and ruffled the big pup’s head. "You haven’t been waiting here this whole time I’ve been gone, have you?"

"Was..." Cook helped her up, then grabbed her hand and gave it a lick.

He had originally been waiting at the main gate, but the guards wouldn’t let him stay there. He had no choice but to wait across the street, hoping Ningning would come back for him.

He had remembered Barto’s words and avoided conflict with anyone, not wanting to cause trouble for Ningning.

And now, he had finally found her.

Hearing his reply and seeing his pitiful expression, Gu Ning realized that Cook had probably been waiting here for her the entire time she was gone. Her heart ached for him, and she threw her arms around his big head to comfort him.

Seth watched the two interact, tilting his head this way and that, his eyes filled with confusion.

At the same time, he felt a strange urge to have the little boss hug his head and comfort him, too.

’What a strange impulse.’

"Where’s Barto?" Gu Ning asked quietly, pinching the big pup’s ear.

A few vague syllables rumbled in Cook’s throat. He picked her up and started walking toward their dwelling.