The Blind Great Wolf

Inside a room that was way too fancy for its own good, two men were having a little heart-to-heart.

One was a merchant who looked like a bloated frog. The other was a blind beastkin.

“So, you’re telling me one of my FOUR LEAVES got whacked?”

The blind guy’s voice was a low, menacing growl. He was a Wolf-kin with sleek black fur and a face that meant business, though his eyes had been turned into useless souvenirs by a deep, horizontal sword wound.

“He was one of the four you personally favored, Master Gettan. Apparently, someone jumped him while he was playing bandit and trying to raid a Mitsugoshi Company carriage,” the frog-merchant said, practically vibrating as he tried to read Gettan’s expression.

Now, the FOUR LEAVES were supposed to be the cream of the crop—the four elite fighters Gettan had hand-picked from the Garter Company’s Private Corps.

“So he’s dead... Garter, who did it?”

“We don’t know. The body was clean-cut—one strike to the neck. Total pro work. Given the circumstances, it was probably a spellsword hired by the Mitsugoshi Company...”

The frog in the expensive suit was Garter himself, the head of the Garter Company. On paper, he was the boss and Gettan was the hired muscle, but looking at them, you’d think it was the other way around.

“The Mitsugoshi Company... they just don’t know when to quit.”

Gettan’s murmur sounded more like a wolf’s snarl.

The plan to crush the Mitsugoshi Company was supposed to be a slam dunk. His private corps, playing dress-up as bandits, had scared the local peddlers into ditching Mitsugoshi products. Their stock was rotting on the shelves, and suddenly, nobody wanted to touch a Mitsugoshi Company Note with a ten-foot pole. Instead, everyone was flocking to the Great Commerce Alliance’s goods and using the Great Commerce Alliance Note.

It was all going exactly according to the "How to Build a Monopoly" playbook.

But for some reason, the Mitsugoshi Company wasn’t flinching.

The Garter Company had tried hitting their transport carriages too, but the guards Mitsugoshi hired were actual monsters. None of the raiding parties ever made it back to complain.

Because of that, the urban shops were still doing business like nothing had happened. The only people feeling the heat were the poor peddlers hauling junk to the middle of nowhere for the commoners.

And let’s be real, there’s a massive gap between the city and the sticks.

The city is where the nobles and the rich folks hang out, throwing money at everything from daily bread to the latest shiny toys. Meanwhile, out in the country, everyone’s a farmer. They grow their own food, fix their own clothes, and only spend money when they absolutely have to. They might see a peddler once a month, but they don't exactly have a "shopping habit."

Mitsugoshi was trying to change that by flooding the countryside with cheap, high-quality stuff, but they were only halfway through that project.

As it stood, losing their rural sales didn't even put a dent in Mitsugoshi’s bottom line. They’d already built a fortress of a foundation in the city.

The Alliance figured that if they just printed their own paper money and sold knock-offs, the customers would jump ship immediately. That was the plan.

But the customers stayed put. Why? Because the Mitsugoshi Company’s stuff was actually good. You can’t just copy-paste that kind of quality.

Plus, Mitsugoshi had all these "miracle products" with secret manufacturing methods that the Alliance couldn't wrap their heads around. They were supposed to steal those secrets by raiding the carriages, but well... we see how that turned out.

“Tch...”

Gettan clicked his tongue, and Garter’s shoulders did a little dance of pure terror.

They’d underestimated Mitsugoshi. They thought they were just a bunch of upstarts who were good at math but couldn't handle a punch to the gut.

Turns out, Mitsugoshi’s guards were terrifyingly strong.

If this kept up, the company wasn't going to break. And the longer this dragged on, the higher the risk that people would start panicking and try to cash in their Great Commerce Alliance Notes all at once.

Gettan realized he had to get his hands dirty.

“Take the rest of the FOUR LEAVES and raid the Mitsugoshi Company directly.”

“Yes, sir!”

“I want their cash and their manufacturing secrets. Don't screw this up.”

Garter bowed his head without a word and scrambled out of the room like his life depended on it.

Gettan stared after him with those ruined eyes, looking for all the world like he could see right through the guy.

“Useless trash...”

Left alone, Gettan bared his fangs and growled.

This guy had spent his whole life taking whatever he wanted with overwhelming force. That was his brand. That was his whole deal. Usually, everything went exactly the way he wanted.

...And yet!

The scar on his eye started acting up. It was an old wound from a lifetime ago, a permanent reminder of the one time he’d messed up.

“...!”

He whispered a name—a name that represented the very first stain on his perfect record.

And now, the Mitsugoshi Company was standing in his way.

This was officially the second stain on his life of glorious thievery.

He ground his teeth together so hard they creaked. The old rage was bubbling back up.

It was unforgivable.

A sin that demanded a heavy price.

If they failed again—

“I’ll take everything they have and grind them into the dirt.”

The time for playing by the rules was over.

The legend once feared as the GREAT WOLF was about to remind everyone why they were afraid of the dark.