Taming the Protagonist

Chapter 71: The End of Childhood, Part One

As Saville said, Hitana, back in her village, was doing well, having gained what she wanted most.

In Chishuang City, driven by self-interest, she now returned to her simplest, purest self, free from worrying about anything. The terrifying, saddening, despairing things were gone.

Gulping down food, the girl swallowed fresh meat and raised her shiny plate, shouting, “More!”

“Hitana’s appetite has gotten so big?”

Ruiyota, hands propping her cheeks, marveled. “You didn’t eat this much before you left, right?”

“Did I?” Hitana scratched her head. “I don’t really keep track.”

In truth, the girl knew her appetite well.

If she ate freely, her family would have nothing left, so she’d always controlled it growing up.

Though never satisfied, hunger was nothing compared to her family’s pain.

“Eat more, eat more.” The woman brought another plate of fragrant roasted meat, her gaze at Hitana full of joy and warmth.

“We have all this because of you, Hitana. Eat as much as you want.”

Hitana blushed at the praise.

Always confident and proud, she wasn’t usually moved by compliments, but the genuine emotion in Ruiyota’s mother’s words touched her.

It was what she’d lost in Chishuang City—people who loved her and those she loved.

So she cherished everything she had now.

The moment she returned to the village, Hitana felt boundless loneliness and desolation, but after just three days, she let it go.

The village had changed, its people had changed, but so what?

These three days, everything she heard, saw, and felt proved that what she cherished had never betrayed her.

Every one of them loved her.

This village, her home for sixteen years, no matter how much it changed, remained the place that always embraced and protected her.

“Hitana, Hitana, let’s go hunting!”

Ruiyota excitedly tugged at the gobbling Hitana.

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you hunt!”

The great cold wave was devastating for humans, but not for animals.

Simple reason: the beasts surviving in the North had ways to endure it, or they’d have gone extinct.

Most were hibernating now, though, so hunting was more like a carefree outing.

Finding the game was a happy accident.

But Hitana was different.

Able to provide for a family of four, she always brought back prey.

Only hunters knew how remarkable that was.

“Well…” Hitana chewed her meat, mumbling, “The cold wave just ended. There won’t be many animals. My parents go hunting just for fun now.”

Her father, once heartbroken by his ailments, now wielded bow and knife not for survival but for pleasure.

The first time Hitana realized this, she felt an indescribable pang, but it eventually dissolved with her complex feelings.

Life has gotten better—why cling to the past?

“Hm… true, but not in Blackwater Forest.”

Ruiyota nodded, then shook her head vigorously. “A few days before you came back… two or three days? I forgot, but an earthquake drove lots of animals out of Blackwater Forest.”

“…Huh?”

The wolf paused mid-bite, puzzled. “Earthquake… drove them out?”

“Yeah, even that giant wolf you couldn’t take down showed up, scaring everyone! Good thing Blackwater City’s sorcerers were there—they killed it.”

Ruiyota giggled. “We all got a lot of money from selling that wolf!”

Hitana stopped eating, thoughtfully. “That’s not a good sign. That big guy ruled Blackwater Forest. A mere earthquake wouldn’t make it abandon its territory.”

“Uncle Orlan and Dad said the same, but Blackwater City folks investigated and found nothing.”

Hitana’s friend stuck out her tongue. “But I think there’s treasure there! Blackwater City wants to keep it secret and take it all.”

“Let them keep it,” Hitana said indifferently. “Blackwater Forest isn’t ours; we’re just close. And if there’s something like that, taking it would cause trouble for the village.”

“No way!”

Ruiyota shot back. “You’re Lord Hydra’s person! Who’d dare say anything if you took it?”

“…” Hitana opened her mouth, feeling a phantom pain in her neck.

She didn’t say what she intended, staying silent before swatting Ruiyota with a laugh. “So, you little sneak, all this talk was to get me to grab that treasure?”

“Come on, you’re so strong and with Lord Hydra—taking it’s no big deal!”

Ruiyota swung Hitana’s arm.

She wasn’t being unreasonable; in her eyes, and the villagers’, Hitana was that kind of person.

—The Hitana I know would never let nobles take that stuff!

The girl who knew Hitana so well thought this.

Ruiyota wasn’t greedy.

Her words were to spark Hitana’s greed.

The simple girl just wanted a grand adventure with her friend after over a month apart.

Hitana thought for a moment, then laughed heartily. “You’re right. Let’s go then! Hm… bring Will, and we can call Gregin, Carver, and Lala too!”

“Yay!”

This was exactly what Ruiyota wanted—a real adventure with her best friends, how romantic!

And no worry about trouble—how could those nobles disrespect Lord Hydra?

Watching her friend’s joy, Hitana suddenly felt an indescribable emptiness.

She quickly understood Ruiyota’s true intent, but before she could feel touched by her friend’s enthusiasm, that emptiness swept over her.

Because she knew what drove Ruiyota’s fearlessness, what underpinned her friend’s boldness.

[Hitana is Lord Hydra’s person.]

She’d heard that phrase countless times these three days.

No matter how much she let go or moved on, hearing it still brought an irrepressible numbness and sorrow.

It not only made her resolve to abandon everything as a cruel joke but trapped her in the one painful vortex she couldn’t escape.

Yes, her family, her friends, everything she cherished, all loved her.

This love, despite the shift from poverty to prosperity, remained untainted by any impurities, at most carrying a simple gratitude.

But Hitana, the powerful hunter who brought pride to the village and every villager, no longer existed.

In their eyes, the one who lived now was only "Hydra’s Hitana."

[Hydra’s]—this prefix had become a heavy, cold shackle, a chain strangling Hitana, and each time it was mentioned, a slight tug was enough to make her feel suffocating pain.

And Hitana… seemed forever unable to break free from it.

Because she would never want the smiles on her family and friends’ faces to disappear.

Their lives were so wonderful now, and this beauty should not be destroyed by her own selfishness.

This is what Hydra owes me.

Why should I reject all this because of that meaningless pride?

The wolf could only use this reason, tearing at this distorted pain with all her strength, as well as the emptiness and resentment born from this distortion.

***

"Your ether manipulation techniques are truly astonishing."

Professor Polynea did not return to Tianlu Tower.

At Anselm’s enthusiastic invitation, she stayed in Chishuang City for two days, and those two days alone were enough to make her choose to linger on the third day.

This scholar possessed a very plain sense of compassion, perhaps because she herself came from a commoner background and found a slim chance to rise at Tianlu Tower, or perhaps because she focused on academics and rarely touched the dark underbelly of this absurd society.

In short, she was one of those rare individuals who hoped the world could become better in a moral sense.

Thus, upon seeing the unbelievable changes in Chishuang City, Polynea wished to witness more hopeful, more beautiful scenes.

When Anselm read the books of that world and studied its philosophies, he often admired the great figures who left bold marks in that world’s history.

For that world, which was immensely significant, there was a certain concept—capital—that, to some extent, could be equated with the supernatural power of his own world during its developmental stage.

A great figure had proposed that capital alienates people.

Though his theories could not be applied in this world, many of his ideas had been adapted by Anselm to suit local conditions.

Capital alienates people, and so does power—or rather… the alienation caused by power is more direct, more terrifying, and more… grotesque.

The supernatural strips people from their original social concepts, distorts them, and turns them into something else, something incompatible with the society that birthed the essence of "humanity."

Thus, people like Professor Polynea and Hitana, who had not been alienated by the supernatural, were exceedingly rare and precious.

To get back to the point, at this moment, Polynea was in the backyard of Anselm’s residence, demonstrating her unique ether manipulation techniques to him.

"These are just immature techniques that haven’t been perfected."

Though no longer young, the professor, who rarely interacted with others, seemed somewhat embarrassed: "In your eyes, they’re hardly noteworthy."

"That’s not true anymore."

Anselm pointed at his head with a smile: "Even now, I only have one head, hardly a powerhouse."

Hydra’s Contract Heads were no secret among the Empire’s upper echelons or the first- and second-tier powerhouses, and they all found it strange that Anselm had yet to choose his Contract Heads.

After all, nearly ninety-nine percent of Hydra’s power had been divided in this way, leaving only the primal essence of this apocalyptic beast, which could not be split.

Though still powerful, if the other "heads" had not been born or grown, this source alone could not stand on its own.

Watching Anselm’s smiling face, Polynea gradually clenched her fists, as if resolving herself to something.

"Hydra… Your Excellency!"

This professor, destined to become a top-tier powerhouse, seemed so humble and small before Anselm, her voice trembling as she asked: "Regarding your… Contract Heads, may I ask a question?"

"Of course."

Anselm raised an eyebrow: "As long as it’s not too secretive, I won’t refuse to answer."

"You know, the things you’ve done recently have spread widely in the North and the Empire, and along with that… Hitana, that child, her name has… entered many people’s sights."

Polynea lowered her head slightly: "In truth, many have approached me to learn about her.

I’ve turned many away, but some people… you know, even I, or the headmaster, might not be able to refuse."

"I understand, and so does Hitana.

Besides, her situation isn’t exactly a big secret, is it?"

Hydra smiled, not taking Polynea’s "betrayal" of Hitana’s information to heart: "She’s a genius, and a genius’s deeds are an unshroudable brilliance.

Even if you didn’t say anything, they’d find ways to know."

Polynea fell silent for a moment, then said with some bitterness: "Thank you for your understanding, but… that’s not what I wanted to ask."

"I… I’ve heard from their conversations and the rumors circulating recently…"

"You’ve already chosen Hitana as your Contract Head, haven’t you?"

Her former student had become the Contract Head of Hydra, a figure of immense significance throughout the Empire’s millennium-long history and even in the Celestial Conquest Dynasty before it—what an honor that inspired intense envy!

Yet Polynea’s eyes and expression revealed the scholar’s inner panic and unease.

What was she uneasy about?

She might have thought only she knew, but Anselm, who took it all in, had a slight upward curve at the corner of his mouth.

The young Hydra did not expose the professor’s unease but answered openly and calmly:

"That’s right, I’ve acknowledged Hitana, seeing her as my kin, a part of me."

He raised his hand, looking at his hands adorned with only one ring, and sighed: "It’s been empty here for sixteen years; it’s time to add a new ring."

"Hitana, with her astonishing physique that rivals etheric beasts, her supernatural intuition that can create infinite possibilities, and her indomitable will that never yields to any hardship."

Anselm’s smile grew brighter, ignoring Polynea’s increasingly uneasy expression, as he proudly declared:

"And such a Hitana, bearing Hydra’s power that can shatter mountains with a flick of its tail, a body even the Dragon Clan cannot tear apart, and a self-healing ability that can recover even from the flames of the Flame-Feasting Royalty—after becoming the ‘Head of Strength’ that governs the immense physical form of Hydra’s true body—"

At this moment, Anselm’s passion and joy were entirely genuine.

"Hitana will become the greatest warrior in history, the mightiest war chariot capable of crushing everything for me."

"I promise you, Lady Polynea."

Hydra squinted with a smile, the shadowy figure condensed from cunning malice flicking its tongue at the "professor."

"Hitana will, together with me, have a wonderful future."

"Ah… ah… yes, that’s… truly wonderful."

Polynea’s gaze flickered, and she bit her lip lightly: "I believe you, Your Excellency Hydra."

Anselm smiled: "So, is there anything else?

I can take you to visit other cities."

"…"

The professor was silent for a moment; she seemed to have nearly let something slip but held it back.

"I’d like to ask… Do you know where Hitana has gone?" she asked tactfully.

"Lady Polynea, you want to see her?Now?"

Anselm shook his head: "That’s not a good choice.Hitana needs to cool off, and I’m happy to give her space and time.I don’t want anyone disturbing her."

"I… I’m sorry."

Polynea sighed: "I miss her, truly, and I want to apologize to her properly and say so many things to her."

"Don’t worry, there’s plenty of time for that."

Anselm’s smile was sincere and warm, reassuring: "Once Hitana calms down, she’ll return to my side, and then you’ll have the chance to see her."

"After all, under my watch, who would have the reason or ability to harm her?"

***

Hitana and her group ultimately found no treasure in Blackwater Forest, and they were on their way back to the village.

"Yota, are you serious?"

A tall, slightly burly boy looked indignant: "We went deep into the parts even Dad wouldn’t let us go, and still found nothing."

"Then tell me, Carver, why did something so strange happen in Blackwater Forest, yet the people from the city said there’s no special reason?"

Ruiyota retorted: "No matter how you think about it, it’s weird.

Maybe the treasure’s already been taken."

"Then we wasted our trip!

So boring!

It’s so cold; staying home would’ve been so much warmer."

"Idiot!

Is adventuring with everyone boring?

You’ve been this dense since we were kids, so stupid!"

"What!

You little coal ball, say that again!"

The fat dog Will barked around Hitana, and the girl, who had become the group’s backbone, covered her forehead, exasperated: "Why don’t you two just fight it out?

So noisy."

Ruiyota made a face at Carver, then hid beside Hitana: "Hear that?

Careful, or I’ll have Hitana beat you up!"

Carver’s face was full of resentment, but seeing Hitana’s sidelong glance, he wisely chose not to argue with a woman.

Feeling all this, listening to her friends’ chatter and playful bickering, the shadow lingering in Hitana’s heart faded significantly.

If adding [Hydra’s] before her name could make everything this good, Hitana wasn’t entirely unwilling to accept it—of course, on the condition that she’d have no contact with Anselm and absolutely wouldn’t work for him anymore.

That guy, though sinister and cunning, was undeniably generous, and with Marina handling things for her, even if she left Hydra, the village wouldn’t suffer.

Living like this until old age didn’t seem so bad.

Hitana thought as much.

"Whoa!

Finally back at the village."

Carver cheered: "I can’t take it anymore!

I’m going to enjoy the warmth!"

"Hey!

We were supposed to have a snowball fight… Carver!

Come back!"

Ruiyota shouted angrily at the boy’s fleeing figure, stomping her foot in frustration.

"That guy’s so annoying… don’t you think, Hitana… Hitana?"

The girl noticed her close friend staring blankly at a corner of the village entrance, so she followed her gaze.

There stood a tall, robust man, so intimidatingly strong he inspired awe, hauling timber.

"Who… is that guy?"

Hitana stared at the beastly, muscular man, asking in a low voice: "Why haven’t I seen him these past few days?He’s not from the village, is he?"

"Oh, you mean Snow Monster?"

Ruiyota, also looking at the towering man, said knowingly: "He’s been chopping wood whenever he’s free these past few days, so of course you wouldn’t have seen him."

The wolf narrowed her eyes at the man carrying massive logs: "Is he a new member of the village?He doesn’t look ordinary."

"Uh, kinda.

I think it was… two weeks ago, or earlier?

I forget, but anyway, Snow Monster, this big guy, collapsed at our village entrance, nearly starved to death.

Grandpa Wangkade couldn’t bear it and took him in and gave him a meal."

"You’re not afraid of bringing in a bad person?"

Hitana turned to Ruiyota, a flash of ferocity in her dark red eyes startling the girl into stepping back half a pace.

"Because, because you’re Hydra’s person, Hitana, who would dare…"

Two veins bulged on the wolf’s forehead; she took a deep breath, then closed her eyes: "I’m fine.

Go on."

Seeing Hitana’s mood improve slightly, Ruiyota’s voice became less cautious as she continued: "So, Snow Monster woke up, right?

He told us he escaped from somewhere near Chishuang Territory, a place called… Mirror Lake Territory, I think.

His family was killed by a noble sorcerer, who toyed with him, forced him to drink some weird potion that turned him into this terrifying form."

Ruiyota gestured at Snow Monster’s massive frame: "He’s strong, sure, but Snow Monster says he doesn’t have long to live.

The village saw how pitiful he was and took him in for now.

Anyway, you’re—"

"I’m Hydra’s person, I know!"

Hitana cut Ruiyota off, struggling to keep her expression at "normal dissatisfaction": "But that’s too risky.

The village is so prosperous now—what if he’s a bad person?"

"Oh, don’t worry about that.

People from Blackwater City come by every few days—warriors, sorcerers, bringing us tons of stuff.

Grandpa Village Chief was cautious, had a sorcerer check him.

Snow Monster really is one of those可怜 people; they say his organs are all deformed, pretty scary!"

Ruiyota waved her hand dismissively: "That noble from Blackwater City is doing everything to please us.

Now that you’re here, Hitana, I bet if you make any request, that guy’ll come running!"

Hitana’s attention was fixed on this "Snow Monster."

She relaxed slightly upon hearing he’d been inspected but still felt a lingering cloud of doubt.

After all, Anselm’s words had cast too great a shadow over her.

The sense of powerlessness and despair, knowing her every thought and action was under his control, made Hitana both hypersensitive and afraid to think too deeply.

Because she feared that the happiness and joy she now had were all fake.

"Ugh, whatever, we’ve played enough.

Let’s head home and rest; I’m feeling a bit cold."

Ruiyota stomped her feet, hugged Hitana: "I’m coming to your place for dinner tonight—tell Aunt Yarlana to make my favorite rabbit leg!"

Snapping back to reality, Hitana hugged Ruiyota back, smiling: "Alright, so demanding."

The ordinary village girl giggled and scampered happily back to her home.

Hitana took one last look at the beastly "Snow Monster," a trace of vigilance lingering in her heart as she headed home.

"Ah, Hit!"

A woman sunning herself and weaving in the village square stood up in delight, waving at Hitana: "Come here, come here, see how this scarf looks on you… so pretty!

Hit’s already a beautiful young lady!"

The girl, awkwardly wrapped in the scarf, smiled shyly: "Thanks, Aunt Kailin!"

"Thank me for what?

I haven’t even properly thanked you, kid.

Come to my place for dinner tomorrow—you can’t say you’re busy again; it’s my turn, right?"

The woman pinched the girl’s cheek: "You used to make a mess at my house all the time as a kid, and now you’re so distant."

"No way… I’ll definitely come tomorrow."

The girl mumbled vaguely.

Along the way, everyone who saw Hitana greeted her, gave her gifts, or invited her to their homes.

What truly brought Hitana happiness and comfort was that this warmth and kindness wasn’t driven by self-interest but came from heartfelt joy and pride.

If it weren’t so, how could Hitana’s nature have become what Anselm called "protection and recognition of her kind"?

How could Hitana be so torn between happiness and pain?

In time, the wolf licking her wounds alone would surely let go of it all, finding true peace and living happily with her family and friends.

Finally reaching her doorstep, arms full of gifts, Hitana rubbed her hands excitedly and pushed the door open: "Mom, Dad, I’m back—huh?!"

The warmth she’d grown accustomed to over the past three days was absent.

Inside the exquisite villa, only a chilling wind prowled.

“Hiss… Hit?”

The gentle and virtuous Yarlana poked her head out from the kitchen, smiling wryly: “The magic crystal for heating this week seems to have run out. Are you cold?”

“I’m fine… Mom, are you cold—ah, why are your hands so red!”

Hitana walked into the kitchen, saw her mother’s frozen, reddened hands, and immediately held them to her chest with heartache.

“I thought I could tough it out. Maybe because I haven’t been cold these past few days and always wore gloves when going out, I’m not used to it now.”

The woman sighed helplessly: “I wanted to make you something nice to eat, so it’d be ready when you got back… but now the soup’s gone cold.”

“Forget the soup… where’s the coal?Let’s go warm up by the fireplace first.”

Hitana firmly pulled her mother to sit in the living room, then went to the storage room to find coal, saying as she searched: “That magic crystal thing, is someone supplying it regularly?”

“Yes, the baron from Blackwater City sends it to the village every week.”

Really?

Hitana muttered to herself, remembering how expensive those things were.

The baron was actually willing to supply the village for so long?

“Did he not send it this week?” Hitana asked.

“Usually, it arrives early in the morning.”

Yarlana responded: “I don’t know why, but it hasn’t come today.Maybe something came up.”

Hitana’s movements stiffened as she rummaged for coal.

She grabbed pieces of coal and put them into a basket, forcing a smile: “Probably… anyway, let’s warm up by the fire until the magic crystal arrives.”

As the coal was lit, the fireplace’s flames drove away the biting chill left by the great cold wave.

Orlan had gone to the city to buy supplies, leaving only the mother and daughter at home.

Yarlana held Hitana in her arms, the two wrapped in a blanket, chatting and laughing peacefully and warmly by the fireplace.

This simple warmth enveloped Hitana, dispelling the increasingly heavy gloom in her heart.

No matter how cruel the world was to her, it still left a haven for her soul.

Here, Hitana couldn’t fulfill her ambitions or unleash her wild nature, but after enduring so much pain in just over a month, she seemed to have abandoned those once-tangible dreams.

The wild beast in her soul had quieted, no longer roaring.

Perhaps this was Hitana Lansmarlos’s endpoint, an ordinary place made up of family, friends, and everyone who loved her deeply—a remote village without passion or blazing glory.

But that was fine, far from all the noise and suffering, far from the city that brought her despair, far from the devil who gave her everything and then took it all away.

If this village was to be her grave, then Hitana welcomed it gladly.

Because in this world, there was no happier end than to die surrounded by those she loved and who loved her deeply.

But Hitana hadn’t expected that her happiness… would be so fleeting, vanishing as briefly as the sun sank behind the mountains.

Unlike the sun, which would rise again, the fragile happiness she cherished now seemed gone forever.

Because the village not only failed to receive the supplies they needed but also received… news that no one could accept.

Hitana’s return to the village wasn’t the triumphant homecoming of a warrior, honored with recognition and blessings.

It was the self-exile of a guilty soul.