Chapter 296: Hire Selene blinked her eyes open. For a long second, she didn’t know where she was. The light filtering through the window looked too bright. Her throat felt dry and her whole boy ached... not the type of ache that came from simple exhaustion, but the kind that sat deep in her bones. "I... lost," she muttered softly. The words tasted bitter. She tried to move, but her muscles refused. A sharp sting went up her arm. "And he became the new lord..." It was hard to accept. The outsider... that human had completely defeated her and Vargan in front of everyone. He had crushed their pride and seized Lycas like it was nothing. She couldn’t even call him human anymore. No human could have done what he did. Maybe he was something else... something wearing human skin. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to calm the twisting in her chest. But when she opened them again, she froze. The hut... looked different. The usual rough walls were smooth now. The straw-filled mats that served as beds were gone, replaced with real ones... soft mattresses covered in thick blankets. Even the wooden floor had a shine to them. Her eyes darted around. Vargan was sleeping nearby, his massive body bandaged. She glanced at the others... the wounded and the sick. They, too, were resting soundly, covered with fresh sheets. ’What happened?’ she thought, blinking in disbelief. It was like she had woken up in a dream. And then... the door creaked open. Light poured into the hut, and standing there was him. Azel. The "human." Her chest tightened as her eyes caught the black bone crown on his head. It glowed, marking him unmistakably as the new Lord of Lycas. She wanted to glare at him, but the effort wasn’t worth it. He had earned that crown fair and square. But something else froze her completely. Three werewolf cubs... small, fluffy, bright-eyed were playing around his feet as he entered, laughing and tugging at his cloak. He was... smiling with them. Selene’s breath hitched. When was the last time she had seen that? Cubs playing freely in Lycas? That sight had vanished years ago. Not since Vargan’s reign and even the one before him... Nobody dared to let the young run loose. Azel held the cubs’ hands as he stepped inside. "Oh, good afternoon," he said casually, as though walking into a war-torn recovery ward was the most normal thing in the world. "Like the new design?" Selene blinked, still trying to process everything. "What sort of... magic..." she began, her throat tightening painfully, "...did you use?" Azel shrugged, stepping closer. "Something." Then he threw something at her. She caught it by instinct... a small brown lump, oddly shaped. It looked like a potato, except the edges were smoother, and one side had a bite mark on it. "Eat it," he said simply. She blinked at him. "...What?" "Eat it," he repeated. She hesitated. It was probably some strange human food. Maybe poison. Maybe worse. But she was too tired to argue. Taking a deep breath, she bit into it. And her eyes went wide instantly. Flavors... dozens of them flooded her tongue all at once. It was like swallowing an entire feast in one bite. A warm wave spread through her body. The ache in her stomach vanished. For the first time in months, she felt full. She swallowed, staring at the half-eaten piece in her hand. "...This is... incredible," she whispered. Azel smirked faintly. "Thought so." He walked closer, his boots clicking softly against the newly restored floor, and rested a hand on her head. "Stay still." Selene’s body stiffened immediately. Her face turned a light shade of red as she looked away. "Wh-what do you want to do...?" she muttered nervously. "I understand you defeated me, but you shouldn’t do it out here with the children around." Azel blinked. ’What is she on about?’ He sighed, ignoring her words. A golden glow spread from his hand, seeping into her scalp. The warmth spread through her body. She gasped as the pain in her bones faded, slowly at first, then completely. Her muscles loosened and her body stopped trembling. The bruises along her skin lightened, and even the dull ache in her ribs vanished entirely. She sat there, completely stunned. ’He has... healing magic?’ Her gaze flicked toward the others. ’Then that means... he can heal everyone here?’ Around them were at least twenty more beds, each filled with sick or wounded werewolves. Some had been suffering for weeks. If he could heal all of them, Lycas would finally be whole again. "I wanted to ask something," Azel said suddenly, breaking her thoughts. Selene looked up, eyes still wide. "What would you have done if you’d become the Lord of Lycas?" he asked. He wanted to know if it was Vargan or her that would attack Karan Town and prompt Empire intervention. She hesitated, then sighed. "I... I wanted to head to the surface world." "And?" "...And kill everyone for resources." Azel stared at her. How could someone manage to look shy while admitting to genocide? He sighed inwardly. ’Well, ladies and gentlemen, we have our tyrant.’ "That isn’t nice," he said flatly, rubbing his temple. "But we can work with it." Before she could respond, the blanket behind him rustled. A powerful arm shot out from beneath it... Azel turned just in time to catch the fist in his palm. The air around them trembled from the impact. The blow had enough force to crush stone, yet Azel didn’t even flinch. The wind from it sent nearby blankets fluttering. "Don’t get your panties in a twist," Azel said dryly, holding the fist steady. "Both of you... I came here for a reason." A deep growl came from under the blanket as Vargan sat up. His golden eyes narrowed, and his chest heaved with restrained anger. But when he saw the black crown resting on Azel’s head, the tension drained from his body. He pulled his arm back slowly, exhaling through his nose. "What is your wish, my lord?" Vargan said, bowing his head slightly. Selene’s eyes widened. Vargan? The same proud beast who once ruled Lycas with an iron fist... now calling someone "my lord"? It was shocking. Azel crossed his arms and studied the two of them quietly. "I’d like to hire the both of you," he said.