Forgotten Juliet

“Oh?”

Veronica, who had been sitting at the library entrance counter seriously conversing with a few people, widened her eyes upon spotting Juliet.

“My goodness, I wasn’t paying attention. Did you finish your tour?”

“Yes, thanks to you.”

As Juliet smiled and greeted her, about to leave the library, the crowd of people at the entrance feigned surprise.

“Oh, is this the lady who came for a visit?”

As it was a small town, rumors seemed to spread quickly.

Quickly scanning their attire, Juliet recognized the clothes from the group she had seen a lot in the town square.

As hospitable as the merchants usually were, they unhesitatingly struck up a conversation with the stranger, Juliet.

“You saw some trouble as soon as you arrived, didn’t you?”

“It doesn’t always happen like this. You’re not hurt, are you?”

Juliet, who had been wondering what they were talking about, realized they were referring to the incident where she had bumped into a pickpocket.

“Oh, I’m fine. I’m unharmed.”

They introduced themselves as the Ash Merchant Group. It seemed they were also in the square when the incident happened yesterday.

“If you’re heading back to the square, it might be good to wait and take a carriage together.”

Juliet, finding no reason to refuse, readily agreed.

She had wondered why the merchants were in the library, and it turned out they needed a map of the forest kept in the library.

‘A map of the forest? Don’t they have more maps in their guild?’

What was so important that they had to come all the way to the library?

That’s when Juliet noticed the map the group was moving.

‘Ah, so that’s it..’

The map of the forest was not made of paper. A large relief of the forest, carved into wooden blocks like a puzzle, was laid out in front of her.

While the merchants disassembled and moved the forest model onto a carriage, Juliet sat at the entrance and perused the books on display.

Given the region, many of the books were related to herbalism and history.

Juliet picked out and looked over one book with a particularly interesting title.

Meanwhile, a merchant and Veronica were having a serious conversation.

“This could make the problem more serious.”

“It’s already a mess because of the slave traders. They’re indiscriminately capturing the representatives of mixed races…”

“Do you think that’s related to what happened this time?”

“What about the lord of Aquitaine?”

“When did you ever see the great lord concerned about something like this?”

“The Silver Forest won’t sit still either.”

“Are you talking about lycanthrope?”

…Lycanthrope?

Juliet had not intended to eavesdrop but paused in her reading.

‘The Silver Forest.’

It was the title of the book she was reading. Juliet turned the page of the book.

There was a picture of a giant wolf and accompanying text. Juliet, her lips slightly ajar, suddenly became curious.

Roy.

‘Did he make it home safely?’

The Empire had abolished slavery.

But in the East, the number of half-breeds was far greater than that of humans. Imperial laws didn’t apply to these races.

Most of the beast people regarded humans with hostility and, as she had heard, lived in closed-off areas like ‘The Silver Forest’.

But because of that, the forest people were also an attractive target.

Anyway, humans are the problem wherever you go.

Juliet thought back to the image of the wolf tied with chains, unable to move, and clicked her tongue lightly.

‘They might not have caught him just as a rare game, but with the intent to use as a slave.’

She remembered hearing something during her time in the North.

Among the idle rich in the South, there were those who enjoyed buying half-breeds and using them as slaves.

However, having only ever lived in the Empire’s capital and the North, Juliet had never seen a beast person until she came to the East. Therefore, she couldn’t imagine it.

The werewolf she met on the train was the first she had ever seen in her life.

Since then, she had passed through two cities, but she hadn’t seen any half-breeds, only ordinary people, as commonly as in the Empire. From that, it seemed they weren’t as common in the East as she had thought.

Veronica said that she could borrow and read any book she wanted, but Juliet decided to come back later and followed the merchant to load into the carriage.

The merchants were exchanging words that were hard for Juliet to understand.

“You’re not planning to go that way, are you?”

“Why?”

“Oh, the atmosphere around there is no joke right now. The rumors are really bad.”

“It seems that the Lord has changed.”

“Suddenly?”

“Then what should I do to get to Perinas?”

“Our manager was just talking about that yesterday…”

The people of the Ash Merchant Group looked worried.

For merchants, who rely heavily on distribution networks, it seemed to be a problem how to bypass the Silver Forest, which occupies a large area in the middle of the East.

“If you were planning to go near Katia, it would be better not to go now.”

Given the seriousness of the situation, the merchants gave Juliet quite serious advice. After all, she had no plans to visit the forest.

Juliet nodded her head lightly and asked what she had been curious about.

“What is a Lord?”

“It refers to the King of the Werewolves.”

“Ah, I see.”

Juliet looked like she understood, but the merchants explained in more detail.

“Unlike humans, werewolves have a long lifespan, so changing the Lord is not a common event.”

“Is it that important?”

“It is. At least in the East, the Werewolf Lord has much more right to be called a king than a great lord of Aquitaine.”

“Is it that serious?”

Juliet blinked in surprise.

Aquitaine was the largest city in the East, where the Eastern Gate was located. It was also the capital of the ancient kingdom.

Aquitaine has been ruled by the Aquitas family for generations, roughly equivalent to the position of the Duke of Carlyle ruling the North.

However, it was difficult for Juliet, with her knowledge, to accept that the werewolf Lord, even the king of another race, had more influence and importance than the Archduke of the territory.

“It’s because of the Silver Forest.”

The merchants rushed to explain.

The Silver Forest.

‘That was the title of the book I saw earlier.’

It was the name referring to a large forest in the Katia region of the East.

“It would be nice to know the temperament of the new Lord.”

According to their explanation, the influence of the Werewolf Lord on the people of the forest was as great as the influence of the Emperor in the Empire.

In addition, depending on how hostile the Lord is to humans, the nature of the forest also changes.

Naturally, for merchants who have to move long distances and transport goods, they had no choice but to be sensitive to this issue.

“Do you know who became the Lord?”

“It’s hard to know. Moreover, these days, poaching is rampant. They will be even more hostile to humans.”

A merchant explained with a frown.

According to him, several small guilds had started to kidnap young humanoid creatures near the forest and sell them at slave auctions for a few years now.

That was what had happened.

‘So that’s what I saw.’

Juliet frowned. She finally learned the identity of the strange men she had encountered on the train.

They seemed to be a guild involved in this illegal business.

They had chains and unidentified violet tranquilizers in cylinders, and it seemed like an organized crime.

‘I got wrapped up in a troublesome matter.’

Juliet regretted helping the wolf a bit, thinking that it could be bothersome if she got tangled with an illegal organization in the underworld.

However, Juliet shrugged her head lightly and pushed this issue to the back of her mind. She didn’t want to worry about it anymore.

But given the situation, Juliet began to feel sorry for parting with Roy without even saying goodbye.

‘What if he’s caught by a bad person?’

She was a little worried.

‘He was too naive.’

He still looked young. Juliet recalled Roy’s face, which was always smiling and responding diligently to her commands.

“We have arrived.”

While Juliet was lost in thought, the carriage they were in arrived at the village square.

Juliet thanked them and got off the carriage.

But before she could take a few steps…

‘…?’

Juliet turned around abruptly, feeling a moment of discomfort.

“Hmm? Why are you doing that?”

“No, just now, over there…”

She felt like someone was watching.

Juliet walked over to the suspicious corner where she had felt the presence, but there was nothing around.

That’s strange. Was it a mistake because she was tired?

Juliet lightly rubbed her nape.