"Ethan, honestly… becoming a werewolf has a lot of benefits."
Ivy seemed to have completely forgotten she was speaking to a man who'd studied werewolf ecology in painful detail.
"Great strength, lightning speed, regeneration beyond compare. Followers of the Goddess of the Hunt need years of living like wolves to become one—and they have to eat human flesh. But you? You only need to wear this collar!"
Her eyes sparkled so brightly she looked like a salesman in a cheap commercial.
Don't pay 19,998! Pay 998 and take it home today!
Ethan punctured her pitch immediately. "But you get stupid."
He had always considered himself an intelligence-type hero. For a mage, strength and agility were secondary stats.
Ivy lifted the collar again and displayed the "product." "Don't you think the craftsmanship is exquisite? It's prettier than most expensive jewelry."
"Once you become a werewolf, you can't turn back."
Ethan remained unmoved.
"Old demon hunter Augustus wrote in Getting to Know 100 Types of Dark Creatures that he's never met a case of a werewolf turning back into a human."
"It's fine. I can keep you."
How could that possibly be fine?!
Ethan saw through Ivy's little scheme instantly. This Society of Enlightenment believer wanted to study the cursed object—and the changes it caused.
He shot a glare at the tuft of blond hair on her head, wordlessly demanding, Can you control your girl?
The tuft clearly couldn't stand it either. It threw itself at Ivy's head in a full-force headbutt, but the effect was minimal. It couldn't interrupt Ivy's "chant" at all.
Ivy kept going, listing benefits as if reading a brochure.
"You'll move into a big house—much bigger than this. Every meal will be top-grade beef. I can even hire a professional chef for you. If you want, I can get you a groomer to take care of your fur. Your teeth and claws can get regular maintenance too—"
"I refuse."
Ethan's tone was firm. Then he changed direction smoothly.
"However, I have a plan. We can recruit a volunteer."
This was a problem they'd have to face sooner or later.
Before the Containment Bureau arrived, how would they store the cursed object safely?
As the book had warned, if anything went wrong during storage, the casualties would be catastrophic.
Based on Ivy's summarized traits, rotating shifts of multiple guards at the guild seemed the safest method in theory.
In practice… it wouldn't work.
Because besides the Containment Bureau, this world had black markets.
Imperial nobles loved collecting strange objects to show off their "unique taste."
A suspicious tier-three cursed object could be sold for enough to keep someone from ever living on the edge of a blade again.
When Ethan imagined the guards killing each other first over who got to "own" it, he decided that the fewer people who knew about the collar's existence, the better.
Keeping watch while resisting the cursed object's "attraction" was exhausting and unrewarding.
So Ethan chose the reverse approach—
If one volunteer wore the cursed object first, then its "attraction" would no longer affect everyone else.
Which left only one final question.
Who should be the volunteer?
Once the collar went on, there was no going back.
Ivy lifted her head and watched Ethan quietly, waiting for the next step.
"Miss Chloe is a very suitable candidate," Ethan said calmly. "She's an only child. Her parents died in an accident. They left her nothing but a shabby house. More importantly… even if she disappears, no one will notice."
In these chaotic times, everyone knew that a lone, helpless girl like Miss Chloe wouldn't last long.
"Instead of dying uselessly of hunger or illness, it would be better for her to contribute to the town. When the time comes, people can carve her name onto the memorial monument in the town square. That should align with the Society's ideals."
Just as Ethan expected, Ivy's brows relaxed. She was clearly pleased with the proposal.
As for moral guilt…
That was never something Society devotees bothered to consider.
"I'll go convince Miss Chloe," Ethan said at once.
He returned to the guild with the "good news" in less than half an hour.
When he entered, Ivy was seated in a corner of the first floor, holding a parchment book.
The moment she saw Ethan, she asked, "Where's Miss Chloe?"
"Miss Chloe is very understanding. Once she learned why I came, she agreed quickly."
"How much resettlement money does she need?" Ivy asked smoothly, as if she'd done this countless times. "If we treat researching the cursed object as a project, I can apply for funding from the Society."
In an era where most people lived below the poverty line, the Society of Enlightenment could always find volunteers willing to sell themselves at a good price.
"No need," Ethan said. "I already paid the resettlement fee. Miss Chloe is waiting for us outside town."
Ivy nodded, and offered Ethan a compliment without hesitation. "I've always felt you had the potential to join the Society."
It was polite, nothing more. Ethan simply smiled and walked out of the guild.
The Society belonged to the respectable class. Most who joined were nobles or wealthy merchants.
People starving didn't have the luxury to chase truth.
At the southwestern edge of town, near the river, there stood a small wooden cabin. It had once belonged to an old hunter. After his death, it had been abandoned.
Ethan had seen it in the guild's records.
When he first began practicing Fireball, he'd "borrowed" this place. Later, after his proficiency rose and he unlocked long-range casting, he rarely came here.
The "understanding" Miss Chloe waited outside the decaying cabin.
A thick rope was tied around her neck.
Hearing their footsteps, she came trotting over excitedly, letting out an enthusiastic—
"Goo-goo-goo!"
Miss Chloe was a gentle young lady. When Ethan carried her here, she had rested quietly on his forearm—no struggling, no pecking.
The resettlement fee was half a piece of wheat bread.
Miss Chloe had eaten it very happily.
"…This is the Miss Chloe you meant?" Ivy's face darkened as she stared at the lively little hen. The tuft of blond hair on her head bristled upright, also deeply suspicious of Ethan.
"I've watched Miss Chloe grow up," Ethan said solemnly. "After her parents had an accident, she was left all alone—lonely in the chicken coop."
The cause of the accident was simple.
Last year, the town had suffered a brutal winter. Food was scarce. On one blizzard night, townsfolk broke into her home—
Ethan looked down at the little hen bouncing around his boots and forced himself to shove the unpleasant memory aside.
Chickens in this world weren't much different from those on Earth. If you raised one from a chick, it would always follow you around.
"I believe this is the best solution right now," Ethan said evenly. "Even if the cursed object twists Miss Chloe's soul, it will minimize harm to the town."
Aside from… not being ideal for Ivy's research.
But Ethan believed humans were creatures of compromise.
If he demanded a Society devotee abandon curiosity, she would refuse.
But if he offered a second-best option—and even provided a small animal to cooperate with experimentation—they would concede.
Ivy was silent for a long time. Finally, she took a deep breath.
She pulled out a notebook and handed the collar to Ethan.
"You put it on her. I'll record."
Ethan admitted that when the collar rested in his hands, his heart was full of unease.
Especially when he met Miss Chloe's innocent, guileless eyes—
A wave of guilt hit him harder than anything before.
"I'll carve your name onto the town's monument," he promised her.
Then he fastened the collar around her neck with his own hands.
The change happened almost instantly.
Her gentle clucking turned into a sharp screech.
Her body swelled several times over. With a mere shake, she knocked Ethan aside. Her down grew at a visible speed.
The entire transformation lasted nearly a full minute.
When it ended, Miss Chloe had become a hulking beast nearly up to Ethan's waist.
Man and chicken stared at each other for a long moment.
Then—
For the first time in his life, Ethan was pounced by a chicken.
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