The Beast to Beauty

Chapter 2 Safe House

After leaving the restaurant, Elwin led Deven into a deserted alley. Once they had moved far enough away from the crowds, Elwin stopped and turned to Deven. “You probably don’t know what a safe house means for us, do you?”

Deven was a bit taken aback by Elwin’s sudden lack of urgency.

Not again. Why does he always turn into a teacher whenever there’s something new to learn?

Since meeting Elwin, Deven had found herself being taught something new almost every day. Growing up in a wolf village, Deven, being a werewolf, knew little beyond basic human language. She had no knowledge of common human customs. When Elwin and Deven first met, they had clashed due to a misunderstanding. This left Elwin with the impression that Deven was a wild, albeit attractive, savage. At that time, Deven had lost half of her werewolf powers due to a curse by a dark witch, leading to her defeat in a fight against Elwin. After resolving their misunderstanding, Elwin had semi-coerced Deven into joining the church and staying by his side.

To help Deven adapt to human female life, Elwin and their housekeeper, Amity, patiently guided her through the new lifestyle. Despite her initial reluctance, Deven began to change under their warmth, though she still occasionally acted out.

“I’ll keep it simple. A safe house serves two main purposes. First, it’s a place to exchange information. Any church member can go there to sell valuable information. The second purpose is transportation. Each country has church safe houses, but since you’re only a half-member, you don’t have the right to use the transport channels freely. You need a full member to accompany you.” As he finished speaking, Elwin pulled out a strip of white paper and a special magical pen from his pocket.

“This paper is just ordinary paper. The key is this pen. It’s called a ‘Guiding Pen.’ It helps find directions and even ordinary people can use it.”

“All you need to do is use this pen to get to the safe house, right? Hurry up and use it.” Deven urged Elwin.

I really don’t feel like listening to a lecture right now!

“I want to teach you how to use this pen. Here, take it.” Elwin calmly handed the pen and paper to Deven, who reluctantly accepted them.

“Seriously? Isn’t this an emergency? Why are you teaching me this now?” Deven protested.

Why does he always do this? Every time there’s some simple magic involved, he insists on teaching me how to use it. He should just be a teacher!

“Calm down. You’ll need this someday. Now, write ‘Safe House 005’ with the pen and activate the magic with the incantation.” Elwin guided Deven patiently.

Deven did as Elwin instructed, writing the words with her still-improving handwriting, which was at least legible now.

“What’s the incantation?”

“I taught you the related incantation the day before yesterday, didn’t I? Never mind, follow my lead.” Elwin sighed.

“Fine.” Deven shrugged nonchalantly.

After reciting the incantation along with Elwin, the paper with the magic writing folded itself into a small paper butterfly and began to flutter away in a specific direction.

“Good job, Deven. Now, we just follow the butterfly.” Elwin patted Deven’s head, only for Deven to swat his hand away.

“Don’t treat me like a child. Let’s go.” Deven, blushing, ran after the butterfly.

“Remember how to store items in your magic pocket ring? Don’t forget to put the pen away.” Elwin reminded, following close behind.

“Got it, got it, teacher.”

Deven murmured the incantation softly, and the pen turned into liquid and was absorbed by the ring on her middle finger.

The paper butterfly led them through many alleys. Fortunately, there were only some stray cats and dogs around. If anyone had seen a man and a woman chasing a butterfly, they would have been laughed at.

Before long, the paper butterfly led them to an underground bar and then disappeared. The underground bar was located in an inconspicuous corner that ordinary people would have a hard time finding. They descended the narrow stairs to the entrance of the bar. Inside, the dimly lit bar had a few patrons talking and drinking. The clinking of glasses and low murmurs filled the air. Most of the people inside wore the church’s necklaces, indicating they were non-humans. The place felt oddly reassuring, with some non-humans even passed out drunk on the floor without a care.

Deven disliked the strong smell of alcohol, cigarettes, and other beasts inside. As they moved further in, the smell intensified, forcing her to pinch her nose and follow Elwin closely. Seeing Deven's pained expression, Elwin leaned in close to her ear and said, “You can wait for me by the exit. I need to talk to the bartender.”

Deven, uninterested in the conversation, agreed to Elwin’s suggestion. She nodded and said, “Hurry up. I can’t stand the smell here.” She then ran to the exit to get some fresh air.

Deven sat on the steps at the bar entrance, using her werewolf senses to discern the bar's patrons. Despite the unpleasant odors, she could gather some information, noting that there were 17 people in the bar: 8 beastmen, 5 humans, and the rest were indeterminate, likely masking their scents. Deven was surprised to detect a werewolf among them, a rare occurrence since her curse by the dark witch had cut off most of her contact with the wolf clan. She decided to greet her fellow werewolf and inquire about the clan’s recent news.

Determined to greet her fellow werewolf, she reentered the bar, noticing Elwin still talking with the bartender. Following the werewolf scent, she found the individual near the bar counter. Deven didn’t want to draw Elwin’s attention, so she quietly approached the werewolf. As she passed by a drunken man, he suddenly stood up. The drunk man was tall, with brown hair and eyes, and a somewhat handsome face with some stubble. His body began to grow brown fur, revealing his true form as a brown bear beastman.

The bear beastman blocked Deven’s path with a drunken grin, slurring, “Hey there, pretty lady. Want to join me? Haha, I’ll take you to a good place.”

I'm a man, damn it. Take your filthy bear paw off me, you bastard. I mustn't cause trouble. Can't hit him, can't hit him.

“Sorry, I'm not interested. Please let go of me,” Deven said through gritted teeth, trying to remain polite. A part of the bar's patrons began watching the scene unfold.

“Haha, don’t be shy. You’re so cute. Let me give you a kiss.” The bear beastman tried to hug Deven and kiss her. Just then, a coin flew through the air and hit the bear beastman on the forehead, interrupting the attempted kiss. This gave Deven a chance to punch the drunken bear, but her fist was caught. She used the moment to escape his grasp and then punched his face, but again, the bear caught her fist.

I don’t know who threw that coin, but thank you for saving me from losing my first kiss.

“Who threw that coin?” The bear beastman looked around, but no one admitted it. He couldn’t tell who had interfered, and asking around yielded no answers. He was furious.

To think this guy, even drunk, can catch my punches. He must be pretty skilled. I thought I could easily knock him out. It would be more satisfying if he wasn’t drunk. Beating him now wouldn’t be much of an achievement.

Deven sighed in frustration at not being able to enjoy a proper fight. She didn’t want to waste time brawling here. As the bear beastman momentarily lost focus, Deven quietly slipped away, only to have her hand kissed by the beastman. Deven felt a shiver of disgust.

“Where are you going, miss?” His voice was greasy.

At that moment, a hand grabbed the bear beastman’s paw holding Deven’s hand. It was Elwin. Although Elwin was smiling, his eyes glinted with menace as he addressed the bear beastman, “Regan, could you stop harassing my companion?”

Regan released his grip in pain. Now somewhat sober, he wanted to teach this newcomer a lesson, but upon seeing Elwin’s face, his anger turned to fear, and he became respectful.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t know she was with you, Mr. Elwin. I apologize. Please forgive me.” Regan looked at Elwin as if he had seen something terrifying.

Is Elwin really that scary?

Deven was dumbfounded by the scene.

“You should apologize properly to the lady,” Elwin said.

Regan turned to Deven, bowing his head in apology.

“If you want my forgiveness, let’s have a proper fight when you’re sober,” Deven suggested. She didn’t want to let him off easily for what he had done, so she proposed a challenge.

Regan glanced at Elwin for permission and, seeing no objection, reluctantly agreed to Deven’s request.

“To make it easier to find you, can I get your phone number so it’s easier to find you next time?” Deven started to take out her phone, but Elwin stopped her.

“I have his number in my phone. If you want to contact him, you can go through me.”

“...Fine. I’m not very good with phones anyway.” Deven didn’t mind much.

“Regan, see you next time. I hope you won’t act so unchivalrous again. You may leave now.” Elwin patted Regan on the shoulder.

“Yes, I’ll go now.” Regan quickly left the bar. A few other patrons also began to leave.

“What did you do to him before? Why is he so afraid of you?”

“I was his senior before. Maybe I was too strict with him back then,” Elwin said, leading Deven to the bar’s restroom. “You should wash your hands.”

Deven didn’t ask more questions and went straight into the men’s restroom. Elwin sighed but didn’t interfere since there was no one else inside.

After washing her hands, Deven shook off the water. Elwin handed her some paper towels he had grabbed from the bar. Deven wiped her hands and tossed the towels into the nearby trash can.

When they returned to the bar, the unpleasant smell had lessened. Deven was disappointed she didn’t see the other werewolf, as the bar now only had four or five people left.

The bartender smiled and handed Elwin a small, intricate key. “Take this, go to the door at the back of the bar, and use this key to open it. That will get you to your destination. By the way, you two really look like a couple, haha.”

“You love to joke. We’re just very close partners,” Elwin replied.

Deven rolled her eyes. Elwin smiled, thanked the bartender, and led Deven to the door.

“Are you ready for everything, Deven? We need to be cautious since we don’t know what’s behind this door.”

“Got it, just open it already.”

Elwin inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it. The key vanished from Elwin's hand, and the doorway transformed into a portal.

To prevent Deven from being sent to a different location, Elwin decided to hold onto her arm.

This was Deven’s first time using a teleportation door, and she felt quite dizzy. Thankfully, Elwin held onto her, or she might have tripped. When Deven opened her eyes, they had already arrived in Motos.

“It’s so peaceful here,” Deven observed the quiet city. The air was filled with birdsong and the sounds of people going about their business. It didn’t seem like there had been any attack by the Dark Witch.

Deven and Elwin were puzzled by the current situation.