Superstar 792
by CristaeA world where magic and monsters existed.
At the center of a vast continent, there was a massive mountain range rumored to be home to dragons.
The ranges that branched out from this great mountain spine—
In the large, deep mountains near the Dragon Mountains, enormous and dangerous monsters had claimed territories of their own. In the smaller mountains, smaller monsters and powerful animals coexisted. And in the forests near human villages, small animals lived in groups.
“/Don’t go deep into the forest!/”
“/Okaaay!/”
This was a world where village elders warned children in such ways.
Even in such a perilous world, new life was born.
Here, deep in the mountains, even the small monsters were easily taken care of by a pack of gray wolves—and within that pack, new life was being born.
A den made soft and warm with well-dried grass.
In front of it, a father wolf paced nervously back and forth. Other wolves from the pack snickered as they watched the rookie father-to-be.
“Sit down. You’re making me dizzy.”
“Yes, sir!”
Though he sat on his haunches at the command of the alpha wolf, his bushy tail, thick with dark gray fur, wagged wildly. The pups of the other wolf couples had been born days ago—only his mate was still in labor.
Then, the sound of whining pups came from within the den. The father wolf jumped up, ready to dash inside at any moment.
“Can I go in now?!”
“…Wait.”
Inside the den were the alpha female and the mother wolf. As it was her first delivery, the alpha female had stayed to help keep her calm. Usually, once the newborn pups took their first breath, the helper would come out to report how many were born and whether the mother was healthy—but this time, oddly, it was taking a while.
The alpha wolf held back a sigh.
Something seemed off.
‘…Did one of them die?’
Stillborn pups were rare, but not unheard of.
The other wolves, having sensed the situation, stopped laughing and quietly watched the nervous rookie father, who could barely keep still.
But such was nature—and this was their life.
After a while, the alpha female emerged from the den. She didn’t look sad, as one would expect if a pup had died, but rather bewildered.
“Can I go in now!?”
“…Go ahead.”
The father wolf, who had been waiting desperately for the go-ahead, rushed into the den.
The alpha wolf turned to his mate.
“What happened?”
“Well…”
Before she could even respond, the father wolf shot back out of the den like lightning.
“Alpha!”
His yellow-tinted eyes were wide as saucers.
“One of the pups is white?!”
Not just the alpha—every wolf’s eyes went wide.
Firstborn: female, gray.
Second: male, gray.
Youngest: male, white…?
Kiiyung— kiiyung—
The three tiny pups squirmed beneath their mother’s warmth, eyes still unopened. The wolf pack, upon seeing them, immediately called a meeting. The father wolf, who had been staring at the squirming, chubby newborns with a dopey grin, was dragged out of the den.
“Black ones have been born from time to time, but white?”
“Could it be sick?”
“It might be.”
The father wolf, who had been beaming like a proud fool at his adorable pups, snapped to attention at the serious tone of the adult wolves’ conversation.
“Is the youngest sick!?”
“We don’t know. It’s the first time we’ve seen one like that.”
“It could be a disease… and if it spreads…”
Even with some intelligence, animals were still animals.
In fact, back on Earth, before people understood what “albino” meant, similar reactions had occurred.
“Besides, if its fur is white, it stands out too much.”
“Right. Even if this is our territory, enemies could show up anytime. That could endanger the other wolves.”
“And if it can’t hide properly, it won’t even be able to hunt.”
The joy of welcoming new life quickly gave way to concern.
Sensing the meaning in the heavy silence, the father wolf began to stomp his feet. Then he quickly spoke up.
“It might be because it’s just been born! The fur could change color as it grows!”
“What if it’s a disease?”
The father wolf, now thinking harder than he ever had for the sake of his family, looked at the alpha wolf with desperate eyes and shouted,
“T-Then, until the alpha declares it safe, our family will live a little apart from the pack. Once it’s clear the youngest isn’t sick, please let us rejoin!”
Seeing the alpha wolf remain silent, the father quickly added,
“By then, the fur might have turned gray too!”
The alpha wolf fell into thought.
As the silence dragged on, the other wolves also grew quiet. They trusted the alpha to make a wise decision.
Though he understood the father’s desire to protect his pup, the alpha also had to consider the pack.
Just then, the alpha’s mate wrapped her tail around his hind leg.
“…Very well. Until winter comes.”
“Yes, sir!”
The father wolf answered energetically.
Our youngest is healthy, a fine gray wolf.
Surely, before winter arrived—when food would grow scarce and enemies more plentiful—the fur would change to gray.
“Attack the youngest!”
“Raaawr!”
Two baby wolves, covered in fluffy gray down as soft as dandelion tufts, pounced on the baby wolf with soft, cloud-like white fur.
“Kyaaah!”
A scream-like giggle burst from the mouth of the white-furred pup, now flattened like a rice cake under his sister and brother. Laughing, the siblings rolled over the soft body of their youngest sibling.
“The youngest has it rough.”
The mother and father wolves laughed.
Having passed their early days when they could barely walk, the three pups now ran about the grassy field, playing hunting games as if to prove they too were wolves.
“My turn now!”
“Run away!”
“Catch me if you can!”
The youngest, with pure white fur and twinkling red eyes, chased after his sister and brother.
There was no sign of illness, and he was even healthier than most. But as they watched the youngest, concern flickered in the yellow eyes of the wolf parents.
White fur and crimson eyes.
After the youngest opened his eyes, the distance between their family and the pack grew.
Even as summer passed and autumn came, the youngest’s fur remained blindingly white.
Discrimination against the youngest was becoming more obvious.
“–! –! Come play with us!”
When their friends howled from afar, calling them, the sister and brother, who had been playing with the youngest, hesitated. Seeing that, the youngest smiled and clumsily waddled over to his parents, rubbing up against them.
“You two go play with them! I’ll play with Mom and Dad!”
“…Okay!”
“Alright!”
Still too young to understand the youngest’s thoughtfulness, the siblings ran off happily to join their friends.
Our kind-hearted youngest.
Our clever youngest.
Maybe he wouldn’t live long.
We waited for the day his fur would turn gray.
Our youngest, not even given a name yet.
…What will we do when winter comes?
The parents pushed aside their worries and lovingly licked the youngest, who giggled as he chased their swaying tails, trying to bite them.
It was a rainy day.
The gray wolf pack halted their movement and settled in a place that could shelter them from the rain. In the distance, the pups of the pack were seen playing.
“Mom, why don’t we go with the other families?”
In a tree hollow a bit apart from the rest, their family had made their den.
At the question from the brother, the quick-witted sister smacked his snout with her forepaw. Yowling, the brother covered his nose with both front paws.
“Why’d you hit me?!”
“Shut your mouth.”
Growling, the sister glared. The brother fell silent. Their mother and father smiled wryly and comforted the sniffling brother with soft coos.
As they watched their family, the youngest said nothing, resting his chin on his forepaws, his tail and ears drooping low. The clever youngest had already understood—from the stories in the Library of Life, and from the eyes of the adult wolves—that the reason was him.
‘Hng…’
The youngest’s crimson eyes rolled toward his forepaws. His damp white fur was slightly soaked from the humidity. He flipped over a paw—soft, pink pads. His ears and tail drooped even lower.
Sadly, no matter how diligently he read the books of life each day, there was no ability among them that could change his fur or eye color.
He just wanted to become a normal gray wolf quickly and rejoin the pack with his family.
If that happened, his brother and sister would be so happy!
And his mom and dad, too!
Just imagining it made him excited, and his fluffy white tail swayed up and down without permission. Something moving in front of his eyes triggered a wolf’s instinct. The youngest locked eyes with the white object, ready to pounce. He knew it was his own tail—but he still wanted to catch it!
Just as he lowered his body the way his parents had taught him for a hunt, his bright red eyes suddenly went wide.
He had spotted something.
The next morning.
“Mom! Dad! Look at this!”
The rain must have stopped during the night. Instead of raindrops, the youngest’s lively voice filled the ears of the wolf parents. They smiled unconsciously at his cheerful tone.
“I turned into a black wolf!”
“Wow! Our youngest is so cool!”
Hearing the sister and brother, who had woken earlier than the parents, the wolf couple jolted awake in alarm.
And when they saw the scene in front of them, their hearts sank.
“Hehehe—”
The youngest, completely covered in wet mud, was wagging his tail excitedly.
His tail, legs, belly, back, ears, head, and even snout—he had rolled so thoroughly in the muddy puddle that there wasn’t even a trace of “white” left.
Thud— plop—
With every wag of his tail and every little movement, wet clumps of mud dropped onto the ground.
“Achoo—!”
He sneezed, probably from rolling in cold mud since dawn, and resisted the urge to shake his body, worried the mud would fall off. The wolf couple sighed at the sight of their youngest, then gently bit the scruff of his neck and carried him toward the water’s edge.
“Wash up.”
“Whaaa— But I finally became a gray wolf…”
At the stern, silent gaze of his parents, the youngest pouted and stepped into the water, washing off the mud.
With the water, the muck and dirt were rinsed away.
And just like that, as if he’d never been black, the soaked white baby wolf reappeared.
His tail tucked and ears drooping, the youngest was carried back to the hollow by the scruff of his neck. The wolf couple gently licked him to help his fur dry. His sister and brother clumsily joined in to help.
“You’re the prettiest in white!”
“Black was cool too, though!!”
Heeheehee!
Loved and licked from head to paw by his family, the youngest giggled in delight and rolled around. His sister and brother, forgetting how dignified they had just been, rolled with him, laughing all the while.
Time passed.
And then, the cold winds of winter arrived.
“It’s time to decide.”
The alpha wolf said, then turned away.
The parents looked at their youngest, playing with his siblings.
The youngest had grown well, strong and healthy—but white fur was far too conspicuous in the forest. And they had to think about the gray-furred sister and brother, too.
There were two choices:
Leave the pack and form a new one—or leave the youngest behind, alone…
The wolf couple shut their eyes tightly.
Just then—
Awooooo—!!!
A howl rang out from a scout.
The alpha wolf shouted immediately.
“Everyone, run!!”
Families with pups, families without—they all bolted at the call. The three siblings and the wolf couple, who had been apart from the rest, also ran without hesitation.
As the wolves fled, flocks of birds flapped up from the trees, flying in a panic. Squirrels and small animals, even tiny monsters scattered without looking back.
The youngest remembered what he’d been taught by his parents.
That howl meant an overwhelming threat, something even the entire wolf pack couldn’t fight.
What kind of monster could it be?
Curious, the youngest and his brother glanced behind them—only for their father to shout:
“Eyes forward! Run!!”
Startled, the youngest and his brother didn’t even make a sound as they ran full speed.
Then, a massive roar echoed through the forest.
KRRRAAAAHH!!
The sound made their fur bristle. Instinctively, the wolves turned their heads.
All of them, wide-eyed and alert.
It was an ogre—a colossal monster that shouldn’t have been anywhere near here.