Mikael was riding lazily on his mare Ebony as he passed a village somewhere in Redania, when he noticed there's quite a ruckus in the middle of the village. There were people crying, and a man was being dragged from his house, a noose was trying to be tied around his neck.
"I didn't do it! I swear!" the man desperately trying to break free of the grasps of the villagers.
"Silence you monster!" the ealdorman spat. "You murdered little Tilly with your cursed hands and you still won't admit it?!"
"I did not murder Tilly!" shrieked the man in defense. "I am her uncle for gods' sake!"
"We will not hear of this!" The ealdorman didn't care about his plea. He just kept dragging the man to a tree nearby.
Mikael, quite curious about the situation, walked towards the group. "What's going on here?"
The ealdorman turned to Mikael. "This is none of your business outsider, move along now."
"Please!" shouted the man that was being dragged. "Please help me! I'm not guilty, I swear!"
"Shut your mouth wolf!" hissed the Ealdorman.
"Wolf?"
"Yeah! He's a werewolf!" shouted another man. "Killed little Tilly, poor girl…"
Mikael frowned, and jumped from Ebony. He took something from his pouch, and herb. "Well, if he's a werewolf, we'll know once he eats this," said Mikael.
"What's that?"
"Wolfsbane." answered Mikael. "It mitigates the werewolf symptoms, but also can detect if someone is actually a werewolf or not, because if he's not, the herb won't do anything to him."
The ealdorman frowned. "Are you sure it will work?"
"I know what I'm doing." snorted Mikael as he walked towards the dragged man. "Eat this, let me see if you're truly a werewolf or not."
The man then chewed the wolfsbane, and nothing happened.
"See! Am not a werewolf!" shouted the man. "You accused me of a crime I didn't do!"
"Then if you're not the werewolf, who is?" questioned the Ealdorman. "You're the one who's been found beside the body!"
"I was drunk!" refuted the man. "I was crying! But I passed out because I was drunk!"
"Excuses!"
"Stop!" shouted Mikael. "Let me find the werewolf for you. How about it?"
The ealdorman frowned. "We don't have any money, hunter."
"I'll do it for free, just give me some food or something."
"Very well hunter, thank you for your generosity." said the Ealdorman slowly. "If you found the wolf among us, bring me his or her head."
"Will do."
—
Mikael was now kneeling beside the corpse of Tilly. Her body was mangled, scratches around her body, and worst of all, her throat was practically missing.
"Hmm… wolf bite, definitely." murmured Mikael. "But… small teeths… a young wolf? Or a young werewolf?"
He continued to examine her body. "Again… small scratches… too big for a normal werewolf's hands…"
"I- It was Danny!" someone shouted suddenly. Mikael turned around, and saw a little girl, being silenced by her mother.
"Danny?" questioned Mikael.
"Betty, be quiet! The hunter's working!" shouted the mother. "Apologies… Betty's not always like this…"
"No no, it's fine. Please tell me about Danny."
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"Tilly got into a fight with Danny yesterday…" murmured Betty. "She stole his necklace, saying that boys shouldn't wear necklaces…"
"That's enough Betty…" the mother scolded Betty. "Continue your job master hunter, please don't mind my daughter…"
"Ah… sure…" murmured Mikael. He turned around to the body again. After a couple of minutes of examining, he spotted something. Footsteps.
It was a footsteps of something, a werewolf probably, but it was a small footstep.
He followed the footsteps towards the forest, where he saw a piece of clothing, belonging to that of a child.
"This is… not good…" Mikael frowned as he took the clothing. He then spotted another footsteps, now, it was footsteps of humans, a child.
Mikael followed the footsteps, around the area, he found some more clothing, and a pair of torn up shoes. Finally, as he arrived at the end of the footsteps, he arrived at a shack, it was a shabby shack, and it was at the edge of the village.
Mikael gulped, he looked around, and saw that the people were getting back to their normal routines. He then sat just outside of the shack, waiting for nighttime.
—
As nighttime arrived, he finally stood up. He walked to the shack once again, and knocked on the door. Sounds of ruffles could be heard inside, and finally, the door opened.
It was a young woman, probably not yet thirty.
"C-Can I help you hunter?" stuttered the woman.
"I know this sounds strange… but… do you have a child miss?"
"A-A child?" the woman turned pale at the mention of a child. "N-No, I don't…"
"Mummy? Who's that?" Suddenly a voice sounded from the inside.
Mikael raised his eyebrow. "You were saying?'
The woman turned pale again, and closed the door for a little bit. "Danny! Could you please wait a moment!?"
The door opened once again, and the woman sighed. "Y-Yes… I have, his name is Danny."
"Has Danny developed any symptoms lately?"
"W-What symptoms?"
"Wolf-like symptoms." continued Mikael.
The woman gulped. "P-Please sir… he's just a child…"
"He killed a girl…"
"I-It was an accident! I-I didn't know…"
"You didn't know?" frowned Mikael. "You didn't know you laid with a werewolf?"
"L-Like I said, I didn't know!" pleaded the woman. "P-Please, spare us!"
Mikael sighed. "Listen lady… you have to get out of this village quickly. And please, find the boy's father."
"T-The boy's father… h-he's dead…"
"Then I suggest you live in isolation." said Mikael. "The boy was born with lycanthropy, which means he could control it. Try your best to tell him to train himself."
"I-I'll try… just… thank you hunter…"
"Quickly get out of this place," said Mikael. "I'll tell the Ealdorman that the werewolf comes from the forest, so it'll divert his attention a bit."
"Truly… Thank you…"