21 Guardian and Ainos the tribe of the fores (1/2)

Joonbum almost screamed as he thought that he might have been killed just now. His leg started to shake.

”We're looking for the baby.”

He heard the man say something, but he couldn't understand as the language was not something he recognized. His mind was filled with fear and didn't let him think correctly. But the sight of Galfus walking up beside the man gave him some relief.

Galfus walked beside the man, growling at him. The man was startled at Galfus' action and lowered his bow, unconvinced.

'Ah…'

He felt touched. As Joonbum watched, Galfus nudged the man's back with her nose and moved herself next to the basket. The man quickly ran toward it and more men came through the fortress' entrance. Joonbum tensed at the sight of more men.

The men discussed with each other, talking in a different language, looking around at the fortress and checking out the baby and wolf cubs inside the basket. After they examined those in the basket, they started taking up their interest inside the fortress.

As the men discussed, Joonbum noticed that they were pointing to various things in the fortress and they glanced at Joonbum multiple times. They also had a confused look when they saw Galfus. She was sitting right behind Joonbum as if she was protecting him.

Galfus' gigantic head that stayed right next to Joonbum meant only one thing.

'What in the world…?'

Joonbum was still holding his rifle, but he slowly regained consciousness as the men talked. His heart was still pounding and he still could not relax entirely.

One of men came toward him and started speaking, but Joonbum could not understand. However, he was able to recognize that the man was greeting him through his actions.

”Uh, wel-welcome. I'm Joonbum Jang.”

Joonbum bowed slightly at the men. Some of the men looked surprised, confused, and curious.

'They don't recognize my words either.'

”Joonbum, Joonbum Jang.”

Joonbum pointed himself while he repeated his name. The men followed him.

”Howen.”

”Doral!”

”Bartras.”

”Pree-an.”

”Gazlow.”

Joonbum felt relieved as the five men introduced themselves. Color returned to his pale face. Joonbum set up a spot on the table, brought out orange juice, and poured it into each cup.

The men watched each other, then peered at Joonbum. Ten eyes moved in unison. They had no sign of hostility but nobody moved to drink up.

'They're here with Galfus. They came for the baby.'

Joonbum continued with his theory as he felt a surge of relief.

'How did they avoid all the traps? Well, I guess they were crude.'

The men seemed to be used to Galfus' presence and so was Galfus. This proved that they acknowledged each other's existences and stayed relatively close, regardless of whatever kind of relationship that might be.

'I should've known…'

-A wild wolf can never be tamed.-

-You can't tame it. It's not like a dog. If you give it food, that's all. You need to be really close like family with it, but no human can do that.-

-Not all are like that though. If you raise a cub from the moment it opens its eyes, there's a possibility. But it's not possible for adults. Oh, but if you can protect a baby, maybe…-

Joonbum realized everything at the sight of the men and Galfus' interactions.

'Then the baby…'

He slowly understood what happened with the baby also. He realized that the baby belonged to these people, hence the reason why Galfus was protecting it.

Joonbum broke out from his thoughts and turned to his visitors.

'Anyways…'

Sweat ran down his cheek to his chin. He was standing opposite them, with only the table in between. They stayed quiet for a while.

'They don't understand anything, so I can't…'

”Oh.”

Joonbum's eye widened as all the men, including Joonbum, turned their heads to the man at the far right. His belly was rumbling rampantly, and when he started voicing something out loud, his face blushed with shame. Even other men seemed to be ashamed.

It was easy to see that they were hungry. Joonbum eyed the pasta he hadn't started yet. It still gave out a mouth-watering smell as it was just the right temperature to eat it. It was obvious that the smell triggered the man's hunger.

'I need a plate.'

Joonbum moved to bring out disposable plates and forks and started serving the pasta.

'Would have been better if I had a real dish.'

He thought about a porcelain dish, but shook it off. He had to work with what he had at the moment. The men started to relax as Joonbum started moving. They glared at the man who let out the rumble.

”It's pasta, but you can have some. I don't have a lot though, it's only enough for five people. Hope it will satisfy your hunger at least.”

The mouth-watering smell spread as Joonbum prepared each dish with pasta. It included onions, mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes that could be seen between the noodles.

The sound of a man swallowing his throat was heard. Joonbum swallowed too while bringing out the dish. When he was finished preparing, he watched them for a while and started eating with a fork. Sounds of him chewing on the pasta spread. Joonbum showed how to pick up the noodles with a fork and acted as if he was putting it into his mouth. The men slowly started to eat one by one.