Pig the Red Riding Hood and Wolf The Hunter (8)(PigxWolf)
Fifteen years later, Samantha was the caretaker of an orphanage. When the support money stopped coming, she ran out of cash and the children were starving. She met Joshua again, who was now a full-time hunter. After she owed him money for food many times and it became a problem, Joshua offered her a deal: her "body" in exchange for "food" to feed the children.
...8 years ago…
Twenty-two-year-old Samantha stepped down from the mayor's office carriage. She wore a long dress and a crimson headscarf. Her grandmother had sewn and gifted her this new scarf as a present for starting her new job as a full-fledged social worker.
"I'll be back to pick you up in a while," the squirrel driver shouted down. The female pig nodded, standing and watching the carriage gallop away to drop off the other officers.
The carriage had long disappeared from sight, leaving behind only a cloud of dust from its wooden wheels. Samantha stood alone by the roadside. She tightened her grip on the leather bag containing her data collection equipment.
This area was the edge of the forest, with very few residential houses. The people who lived around here were often called Outcasts—usually recluses or those who couldn't easily get along with others.
Samantha's duty today was to survey them to understand their living conditions and see what kind of help they needed.
Not far away, a cabin sat right on the edge of the woods. It was surrounded by apple and pear trees.
Samantha walked along the damp dirt path, pushing through grass saturated from last night's rain, heading straight for the cabin.
Before her was an ordinary, medium-sized, dark log cabin—neither old nor new, but sturdy-looking. It had a low chimney puffing out white smoke. The dirt yard in front of the house had firewood neatly arranged, both stacked under an awning beside the house and piled high near a small wooden shed on the right. On the left side of the house, several animal skins hung to dry on a wooden rack.
Samantha walked up the small wooden steps to the front porch and stopped at the door. She straightened her skirt, secured her headscarf tightly behind her ears, and took a deep breath before raising her hand to knock twice on the wooden door.
The smell of burning wood, the pungent scent of animal skins drying on frames, and the fragrant aroma of the wild forest drifted in the air. The young pig took it all in as she waited for the owner to open the door.
There was the sound of clinking dishes, followed by the creaking of footsteps on a wooden floor, and then the door opened. An old female wolf stood there. Her fur had begun turning from brown to gray, and the fur around her snout was ashen. Her eyes were a cloudy yellow but still sharp. Her clothes were not new but clean—an apron patched with blue thread worn over a faded dress. When she spoke, her voice was raspy.
"What do you want?"
Samantha put on her best official government smile. "Hello, ma'am. My name is Samantha, a social worker. We are conducting a census to see who might need assistance with food or medical care."
The old wolf's gaze swept over Samantha's entire body, pausing for a moment.
"I can hear you," she said. "Come on in. Please wipe your feet."
Samantha wiped her feet and stepped into the house. It was darker inside than she had expected, the light filtering through the windows almost begrudgingly. A massive stone fireplace dominated one wall, with a black pot hanging over faintly glowing embers. The air was filled with the scent of sage, and bundles of dried leaves hung from the rafters. Above the fireplace rested a heavily used rifle.
Next to it was a faded photograph of a young male wolf—muscular and looking proud—flanked by two children. The old wolf gestured toward a wooden table by the window, where two wooden chairs sat.
"Care for some tea?" she asked, reaching for the kettle.
Samantha hesitated before politely declining. "No, thank you. I won't take up much of your time."
They sat down. Samantha readied her clipboard and pencil, while the old wolf dropped into the chair opposite the pig.
"May I confirm your name, please?" Samantha opened the census report she had been given. Some households were newly added; others were no longer occupied.
The wolf answered clearly and slowly, "Maria... Maria Rarewolf."
...And in this house... Maria was still here, just as before…
Samantha nodded, writing the name at the top of the form. "And the other household members?"
"Right now, it's just me and my son."
Samantha went through her list of questions: Sources of income ("My son sells foraged goods and meat at the market. I cook and mend clothes for the men sometimes."), Medical needs ("My eyes aren't as good as they used to be, and my hearing is going."), Food security ("We have a pantry for meat and wild goods.").
The young pig asked every question on the form with a gentle tone until they were all completed.
She was about to express her thanks when, suddenly, there was a noise at the door.
The sound of heavy boots was followed by the brisk stomping of mud off soles. Maria's posture changed; her back straightened slightly, and her ears perked up. Samantha turned toward the source of the sound.
The door swung open, and a young male wolf stepped inside. His mere presence seemed to instantly make the house shrink. He held the carcass of a wild goose in one hand and had a hunting rifle slung over his other shoulder.
His fur was a darker brown than his mother's, and despite his massive frame, he moved with the agility of an animal that had spent its entire life outdoors.
His face looked more mature, his skin darker, and there were scars lining his features.
Samantha recognized Joshua immediately.
Even though he had grown larger and looked more hardened than she remembered, with scars marking his face and his appearance changed since the last time they met, one thing remained the same: he was still exactly her type.
His eyes widened upon seeing Samantha sitting in his house, but quickly settled back into a calm, indifferent expression. The young wolf stood by the door for a moment, his gaze sweeping between the two females, then carefully leaned his catch and his rifle against the wall.
"Hello," Joshua said. "What's going on here?"
His mother explained that Samantha was a government official who had come to collect census data.
Joshua didn't reply. He placed the goose carcass in the kitchen, wiped his claws on his pants, and spoke to Maria in a flat tone tinged with underlying warmth, telling her to go rest in her room and that he would take care of the guest.
The old wolf retreated into her room as the sound of the door clicked shut.
Now, it was just Joshua and Samantha left alone. The young pig hesitated on what to say to him—whether she should greet him as a former classmate or maintain a professional demeanor suited for a government official.
"Long time no see," the wolf was the first to speak.
"Yeah, it has been a long time. How have you been?"
"Doing fine, under the circumstances," Joshua replied in his usual flat, nonchalant tone.
"Some tea?"
"No, thank you. I shouldn't impose, it's a waste of your time," Samantha replied, but Joshua didn't seem to care about her answer. He placed some chamomile tea into the pot, poured it into a cup, and slid it over to her.
"Try it. I made it myself," Joshua said before slumping into the chair opposite her. His sheer size made the chair look tiny. The wolf hunter leaned back in a relaxed posture, his yellow eyes locking onto Samantha.
"My mom is hard of hearing. It's better if I answer your questions."
...Why didn't you tell me that you weren't coming back to school?... This was the question Samantha wanted to ask the most, but she didn't dare to say it.
"Oh, I've already finished asking them," Samantha told him.
"In that case," he drew out the words, placing one of his claws almost touching Samantha's hand, "Can I ask you something in return?"
"Sure," she replied, assuming it would be about the lives of their old classmates.
"Are you engaged?"
Joshua's question startled the young pig. If anyone had to know about this, she didn't want it to be him.
...The answer was yes... She was betrothed in an arranged marriage, which was quite normal among pigs anyway.
"Yes," Samantha finally answered. The wolf tilted his head in response to the news... seemingly caring... yet seemingly not.
"Your boyfriend... how long have you been dating?" Joshua probed.
Samantha didn't know why he was so eager to know. She herself didn't even want to know anything about her own fiancé.
"He's not my boyfriend... It was arranged by the Pig Association... I have to marry him to be a..." Samantha sighed, "Breeder."
"Well, he's handsome enough," Joshua offered encouragingly, but she could sense that it wasn't what he truly wanted to say.
'Ourois' was a good-looking wild boar. His father was a board member of the Pig Association and owned a flour mill. If he could outcompete his siblings, he might get to run that factory, but for now…
"He doesn't really work, and he likes to gamble. Honestly, our personalities don't mesh very well," Samantha explained. She knew she shouldn't speak about her future husband like this, but Joshua made her want to open up.
The young pig wanted to slap herself in the face... Why did she say that? Did she want the wolf to take her and run away?
"By the way, how did you know?" Samantha asked in return.
The wolf shrugged, giving a wolfish smile—both cunning and sexy. "My friends told me."
"Is that so? Why didn't those friends ever tell me anything about you?" Samantha retorted. Ever since the day he disappeared from school, she had tried asking around for news of him, only to find out that he had dropped out to become a forest hunter.
Where did he live? How had he been after leaving school? Samantha was never able to find out any of this. If she hadn't coincidentally come here for work today, she still wouldn't have found him.
"Well, you were the class president. News about you is dead easy to find," Joshua replied, smiling to show off his wolf fangs. His tongue was large and thick; Samantha wanted a mouth like that to lick her all over.
The two didn't discuss anything significant after that. Samantha sat and waited in Joshua's house until the carriage returned to pick her up. The young pig pretended to drink her tea, secretly stealing glances at Joshua whenever he looked away, burning the image of his face and the color of his fur into her memory. She would remember him for as long as she possibly could.
Finally, the carriage came back around. Joshua volunteered to walk her out to it.
They walked side-by-side for the short distance. Samantha felt the back of his hand brush against hers as it swung while they walked.
"Goodbye," the young pig turned to say her farewell before stepping into the carriage.
"Good luck," the wolf bid her farewell, then closed the carriage door for her.
The carriage rolled away. Samantha peeked at Joshua through the gap in the curtains, trying to hold onto his image for as long as possible.
Joshua watched the carriage until it disappeared from sight, then let out a heavy sigh of sheer desperation. The early evening began to cast its first ripples of blue shadows, and the wind shifted direction, carrying the mingled scents of drying animal skins and firewood.
He turned around and walked toward the yard. There was still wood to be chopped. A chopping block sat waiting; its surface was cracked, faded, and battered, with an axe embedded upright in the center like a gravestone.
He grabbed the axe with both hands, positioned a log, set his stance, and began to work.
He chopped piece of wood after piece of wood. He worked until sweat poured down his body, his shirt sticking wetly to his back. Both of his arms began to go numb. The pile of chopped firewood grew higher and higher.
Finally, Joshua stopped, leaning his weight against the axe, his head bowed. His breath turned into plumes of white vapor. The sun had completely set; the only light came from the kitchen window.
He bent low, burying his face in his hands, and groaned in agony, "Why couldn't it be me? Why?"