Catato Patch 

Dude, couldn’t you have just said so from the start! Couldn’t you have just communicated like a normal person, weren’t we all adults here!? Did we really have to partake in this childish game at our age!?

 

As if he had predicted this would happen, George’s face remained calm as ever as he said: “Sigh...I’ve heard about your situation. Don’t you hate the Wolf’s Fang?”

 

“Hate? Why should I hate them?”

 

Bro, wasn’t your girlfriend kidnapped by them?  Don’t you know how important a girl was to an eternal bachelor like me? They’re more important than life itself!! Couldn’t you show even a tiny bit of anger? Wasn’t this the legendary grudge of a stolen wife? Don’t just treat it as nothing!!

 

“I heard you were there when they took Elona away. Are you really going to swallow this humiliation? Are you really going to accept what they did? As long as you’re willing to join us, the combined forces of our four villages and these two mages should be enough to defeat those bandits.”

 

“In fact, we have a high chance of winning since they’ve lost Doran, and Io is already preparing for battle. As long as we join together, our experts won’t lose out to theirs.”

 

“...”

 

No matter how much he tried to persuade the man, George’s entreatments seemed to have no effect on him as he continued to sip his wine quietly. Seeing that this persuasion was going nowhere, he decided to adopt a more aggressive tactic:

 

“If you’re really man, you should be itching to wash away this humiliation with their blood! Do you really have no desire to do so!? If you’re still a man, you’ll aid us in this fight and at the same time aid yourself! Right now, there’s an opportunity to do so right in front of you! Take it and come defeat Dawson with us and save your wife!”

 

“Elona isn’t my wife.” Moranthal slammed the wine cup onto the table; the loud slam was a clear sign of his anger. Yet he didn’t lose his temper as expected, but merely suppressed it once more.

 

“We weren’t married yet! That’s right, we weren’t married! She’s not my wife, she’s not!” He spat out phrase after phrase as if he was trying to convince himself of something.

 

You even repeated yourself twice. Each time. You definitely mind what they did so why are you trying to avoid reality? Could you really call yourself a man then?

 

Everyone: “…”

 

Having had enough of his escapism, Dioh rushed forth to voice his opinions once more: “Rather than her being kidnapped, I bet you offered up your girlfriend instead to appease Dawson!”

 

I guess we’re turning this into an all-out war now…

 

No matter how trashy Moranthal was, being censured by a junior wasn’t something he could simply ignore. His face immediately flushed red, but seeing as Dioh was just a junior, he chose not to vent his anger on him. Instead, he suppressed his anger once more and said after a long sigh: “My relationship with her...you won’t understand it.”

 

“How can I not understand it?! You’re just a masochist who loves being cuckolded. I know exactly what I’m talking about, you’re just a wimp who can’t protect his fiancee! Just by looking at that wuss of a face of yours I can tell that you’re a natural born CUCKOLD!!!!”

 

“Shut up!” The temples on his forehead began to pulsate like an earthworm was burrowing underneath his skin. “What does a brat like you know!”

 

“How am I not understanding the situation!? Your lover should be someone you protect with your life!”

 

“And that’s why I say you don’t know a thing.”

 

“You keep saying I don’t know what I’m talking about, why don’t you enlighten me then!? Go on, you cuckold boy!”

 

Cuckold boy...when you think about it, it had the same meaning as cuckold but it seemed to stab even deeper into his psyche than anything. Just looking at the myriad of changes Moranthal’s face underwent was more than enough to tell us how much this nickname affected him.

 

While Dioh wasn’t much help in a fight, no one could deny his value as verbal artillery. A couple of taunts from him was even more painful than having a knife shoved down one’s throat. Not bad, this kid’s a talent worth grooming.

 

“Elona left willingly!” Having been pushed to the brink, he blurted out what was plaguing his heart all this while and laid down on the table with his hands over his trembling head. From the looks of it, he was probably crying right now. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a storm brewing underneath those arms right now. However since he didn’t let out a single sound, all these were merely speculation on my part.

 

Hearing his shameful admission, Dioh’s face immediately froze up...it was the kind of surprise one experienced when they undercovered a major scoop.

 

So Moranthal’s woman wasn’t kidnapped...she dumped him...no wonder he didn’t give a damn when George came to him with that proposal. He didn’t even want to take revenge on them from the beginning.

 

Even so, this was a pretty interesting development in of itself. At the side, Ancarin’s eyes practically lit up as she smelled the potential bit of gossip.

 

Having given into despair, while lying prone on the table Moranthal revealed the entire sordid affair of how his woman fell in love with Dawson at first sight…

 

In my mind, I pictured two figures with question marks for heads, one male and one female. As for their body...since I had never seen them before, I assumed that one was a hunk while the other was a voluptuous lady.

 

In actuality, it was a really simple story. Not too long ago, Dawson brought his trained wolves out on a stroll during which those mutts came upon Elona who was busy picking herbs. Having been trained well, they knew not to attack a defenseless girl like her and instead surrounded her.

 

Damaged goods weren’t worth money after all so the trained wolves were specifically told beforehand not to attack any woman who seemed harmless.

 

A terrified Elona began waving the tiny hoe in her hand hoping to chase away the wolves. Thankfully, the wolves were smart enough to know that this wasn’t an attack, if not she would’ve liked died there. Moranthal who was nearby searching for herbs immediately came to her aid upon hearing her terrified cries.

 

Moranthal immediately recognized those wolves and began retreating slowly out of the circle with his wife. He was very familiar with Dawson’s personality and the consequences of killing these wolves. If anything were to happen to them, Dawson would definitely raid their village and perhaps even kill him.

 

Unfortunately for him, the wolves were only told not to attack defenseless women, there was nothing in their instructions that forbade them from attacking a man who seemed bent on resisting them. The intelligent mutts immediately realized that the man was trying to escape with their prey, so began to attack in hopes of delaying the man.

 

As he didn’t dare to injure the wolves, what was originally an easy battle became a complicated one. Thankfully, the wolves didn’t try to pounce on Elona, so he was able to focus solely on fending off the wolves. Being a three-star warrior, these wolves were naturally no match for him, the only difficult thing was that he couldn’t harm them.

 

It was at this moment that Dawson showed up. The bandit chief clearly knew who Moranthal was and upon seeing him take their attacks so passively, decided not to trouble the young man any further. With a loud and clear whistle, he called off the wolves and threw down a parting threat: “Don’t let me see you here again.”

 

Moranthal’s body froze up from the tension as he watched the bandit chief appear and leave so abruptly. He held his breath and stared unblinkingly at the man’s back until he finally disappeared from his sight.

 

This was Elona’s first encounter with Dawson and it was from that moment on that the tragedy began.

 

From that day onwards, Elona would frequently sneak off to that same region without the knowledge of Moranthal. However, her frequent disappearance wasn’t something that could be kept secret for long. He began to notice her strange behavior and her sudden aloofness. It got to the point where she flat out despised him.

 

Suspecting that something was up he secretly followed her, and to his horror, discovered that she...was having a tryst with Dawson...in fact it seemed like this wasn’t the first time they had done it together…

 

And now comes the climax of this story.  For the most part, Dawson treated the girl with a cold aloofness. After all, he was merely toying with her. Since her boyfriend showed up, there was really no reason to keep this sort of used goods.

 

Even so, Elona was dead set on following him even after he rejected her multiple times. And yet her shamelessness knew no bounds as she tried one last tactic. She threw her boyfriend under the bus without any hesitation, and right in front of a stranger, humiliated him with the worst possible insults ever.

 

She said that Dawson was “the only man for her” and that she suspected that “this wuss couldn’t even get it up”...

 

Hearing her call him a wuss and an impotent, his heart crumbled in an instant especially since he clearly saw that this wasn’t the first time they had done it either!

 

However it was precisely these two phrases that proved to us and Moranthal, the love she had for Dawson...probably.

 

What the heck! Did you think I protected and cherished you so much so that I abstained myself until our wedding!?... And yet my good will was seen as “can’t get it up”?! You actually tumbled in bed with another man behind my back...well I guess, it’s only a pile of leaves and shrubbery here...but still!

 

By now, he could tell that his woman’s heart had completely left him for Dawson. Compared to that stoic bandit, he was nothing more than a loser.

 

Seeing the once-loving couple break up, Dawson coldly said: “Seeing as we were together for some time...I’ll allow you to follow me if that’s what you wish.”

 

And so, the world gained one more tragic man and at the same time, the Wolf’s Fang Troupe gained a new female leader…