"Weren't you acting all tough and menacing just a moment ago? Why do you look so scared now?" Onean jibed.

Only then did he realize that Onean had said that to scare him.

"If I get the same disease as them, I'll make sure to rub up against you and pass it onto you as well," Erwin grumbled.

"Curses are nothing more than a type of magic," Onean said as she took a glance at Erwin. "The only thing special about curses is that they remain in effect for longer than normal spells. When she says that the condition is contagious, I'm assuming she means it's only contagious among her brethren, so what are you getting all worked up for?"

"How can you be so sure of that?"

"I approached them just now, and I didn't sense any magic energy invade my body, so it should be fine," Onean explained.

The leader of the wereleopards seemed to have identified Erwin's concerns, and she hurriedly did a bunch of explaining in an urgent voice. This time, Erwin was able to roughly understand what she was saying, and it seemed that the curse that her brethren had been afflicted by had been cast by a dragon.

So the enemy that she mentioned just now is also a dragon, Erwin thought to himself. Just as Onean said, this so-called curse is most likely the result of a spell from that dragon. However, she saw that projection of the ice dragon that Onean conjured up just now, and their enemy shouldn't be the same species of dragon. In that case, what use do they have for this dragon's heart? Could it be that they think that this heart is some sort of miracle medicine capable of curing all diseases?

Erwin was rather perplexed about why the elderly female wereleopard was so desperate to secure the dragon's heart.

The female leader of the wereleopards also specifically mentioned that this disease only spread among wereleopards, and that generally speaking, only male wereleopards were susceptible to it. Erwin was very relieved to receive confirmation that the disease wasn't something that he could catch.

"If they're so sure that this dragon's heart can save the lives of their brethren, then let's just give it to them, shall we?" Onean suggested as she turned to look at Erwin.

The female wereleopard could tell that Onean was taking her side, and she immediately picked up Onean's hand with a grateful look in her teary eyes, then prayed to the heavens once again, genuinely praying for the future wellbeing of this kind-hearted human woman.

Erwin couldn't help but be impressed by the female wereleopard's magnanimity upon seeing this. Onean had just killed and injured quite a few of her brethren, yet not only was she willing to let bygones be bygones, she was even thanking Onean for her kindness.

"I'm not opposed to that, but as we can already tell, these wereleopards clearly weren't injured by the ice dragon, so..." Before Erwin had a chance to finish what he was saying to Onean, a small child rushed out from the group of wereleopards that were kneeling on the ground.

This young wereleopard had a pair of sharp blue eyes that were both fierce and alert, and it was clear just from a single glance that it was different from the normal wereleopards. All of the other wereleopards had been knocked over by the spell that Onean had just unleashed, but this little guy reacted very quickly, dodging to the side early so it remained completely unscathed.

The little guy rushed over to Onean with its wings flapping behind it in an energetic manner, then wound its arms around Onean's calf, looking up at her with a pitiful expression.

"What a smart little guy you are! How do you know that he'll listen to what I say?" Onean looked down with an amused smile at the young wereleopard, which looked as if it were on the verge of tears. She then picked up the little guy and cradled it in her arms before turning to Erwin with a smile on her face.

The little wereleopard sat in Onean's arms, staring blankly at her smile, and its eyes were almost bulging out of their sockets. Its chest was heaving in a rather exaggerated motion, causing the grayish-white fur on its chest to rise and fall incessantly as well. It had only rushed out to beg Onean out of desperation, but the sight of her smile had made it relinquish its wariness toward these two humans. It may have already forgotten that the human woman it was being held by was a fearsome magician.

As it turned out, an appreciation for beauty was universal across all races and ages.

Erwin heaved a faint sigh to himself at the sight of Onean's warm smile.

She's always too kind for her own good, Erwin thought to himself as he looked at Onean. I don't know if I should admire her kindness or be concerned for her.

He then turned to the leader of the wereleopards before nodding to give his approval.

The female wereleopard immediately fell to her knees in front of Erwin once again, and she was saying something with a grateful expression. All of the wereleopards behind her were also ecstatic to see Erwin's gesture of approval, but they didn't dare to get up to celebrate without an order from their leader.

Erwin helped the elderly wereleopard up from the ground and didn't say anything further.

The little wereleopard was dancing with excitement in Onean's arms, and its clear blue eyes were filled with joy. Onean gently set it down onto the ground, and it quickly skipped over to the female wereleopard before jumping into her arms.

Only upon seeing their display of affection did Erwin realize that the young wereleopard was the child of the female wereleopard.

No wonder the looks in their eyes are a little similar, he thought to himself.

...

After receiving the dragon's heart thanks to Erwin's generosity, the leader of the wereleopards immediately returned to overseeing the proceedings of the ritual. The dozen or so wereleopards accompanying her naturally returned to work as well, and on this occasion, she wasn't opposed to Erwin and Onean spectating on the side.

Meanwhile, the young female wereleopards returned to the wooden stretchers before carrying the unconscious warriors back, then set the stretchers down near the altar. It seemed that their job was solely to look after these sickly warriors.

However, what was very strange to Erwin and Onean was that the bodies of the wereleopards that they had killed were being left to lie on the spot, completely ignored by all of their brethren. All of the wereleopards had clear duties that were delegated to them, but not even a single one was displaying any intention of gathering the bodies of their fallen companions, and that was rather inexplicable to Erwin. Furthermore, it was rather absurd that he had to consider such a problem when he was one of the culprits responsible for killing those wereleopards.

Just a moment ago, the female leader of the wereleopards had been denouncing Erwin for killing her brethren, yet it seemed that she had forgotten all about them since then.

Onean could tell what Erwins was thinking, and thus, she snapped her fingers at the little wereleopard that had clung onto her earlier. The little wereleopard's mother was busy at work, so there was no one supervising it, and it eagerly rushed over to Onean with an expectant expression.

The little wereleopard was very smart, and Onean only had to point at the bodies of the fallen wereleopards for it to understand what she wanted to ask.

It pointed at the fallen wereleopards before shaking its head, then pointed at the sickly wereleopards on the wooden stretchers before nodding its head.

Erwin and Onean had a rough idea of what that sequence of gestures entailed, but they were still quite shocked to see this. As the little guy was looking at its fallen brethren, there wasn't any grief or sympathy in its eyes. It was as if in its eyes, those bodies were no different from the fallen leaves on the ground.

Perhaps this could be attributed to a cultural difference. In the eyes of the wereleopards, those who were dead no longer had any value. In contrast, even though the wereleopards that had been afflicted by the dragon's curse were on the brink of death, they were still alive, so every effort had to be made to save them.

Erwin and Onean didn't make any comments on this. Just as Onean had said, these magic beasts had their own civilization, and by extension, their own culture. Perhaps it was exactly because of this philosophy that they had managed to survive to this point, and as a pair of outsiders, they certainly didn't have the right to criticize the wereleopards' way of life.

They knew that it would be nothing short of idiotic to use human standards to judge creatures that weren't even part of the human race.

The little wereleopard clearly hadn't ever interacted with humans in the past, and it didn't know why the beautiful human woman's expression had suddenly darkened. It gently scratched its claws back and forth over Onean's calf with a guilty pout, thinking that it had done something to displease Onean.

Onean knew that there was no way to communicate the reason for her sudden change in mood to a child, particularly when there was a language barrier between them, so she put on a faint smile and squatted down to stroke the little guy's head.

The sight of the smile returning to Onean's face immediately instilled the little wereleopard with renewed vigor, and it flapped its wings in a joyful manner.

"Why do I feel like the little guy's taken a liking to you?" Erwin chuckled with an amused expression.

"Surely not. It's just a child," Onean said as she took a glance at Erwin.

She picked up the little wereleopard as she spoke, then raised it high above her own head before carefully inspecting it with a curious gaze.

This was the first time that the little wereleopard had been scrutinized so closely by such an exquisite beauty, and it was unable to bear the weight of Onean's gaze. Its eyes began to dart around in a slightly panicked manner, and it was unwilling to meet Onean's gaze, looking very uncomfortable all of a sudden.

As it turned out, it was quite a shy little wereleopard.

"What did I tell you?" Erwin chuckled once again at the sight of the little wereleopard's embarrassed display.

"Looks like all men really are birds of a feather," Onean said in a slightly exasperated manner as she pinched the little wereleopard's cheeks. The little wereleopard was only around three to five years of age, and the skin on its face was still quite delicate, unlike that of its adult counterparts, so its cheeks had a great texture for squeezing.

The little wereleopard couldn't understand exactly what the two of them were saying, but it was clear that they were making fun of it. Thus, it struggled its way out of Onean's grasp, then ran back to its mother in a panicked manner, turning its head occasionally to look back at Onean along the way.

"I can't believe this tiny little magic beast is eying up my woman!" Erwin said as he turned to Onean with a feigned expression of indignation.

Onean merely rolled her eyes at him with a faint smile.

Not long after the little wereleopard returned to its mother side, the ritual set up by the wereleopards was finally about to begin.

Erwin and Onean were both quite curious about what the process of this ritual was going to be, as well as how these wereleopards were going to use the dragon's heart.

They had thought that there would be a complex procedure involved, but that turned out not to be the case.

A few of the wereleopards carried out a dilapidated cauldron, then set it down at the center of the altar. It was clear just from a single glance that the cauldron had seen far more than its fair share of use. The outside of the cauldron was severely burned with layers upon layers of black residue caked over one another, to the point that it was impossible to tell what material it was constructed from. Looking at the cauldron, Erwin couldn't help but wonder if the wereleopards had taken the cauldron from somewhere or if they had already developed metalworking skills.

The esteemed leader of the wereleopard was standing at the forefront of the group, and with a wave of her staff, the wood that had been gathered beneath the cauldron was set alight, much to the excitement of her brethren, all of whom let loose cries of joy.

Erwin speculated that the female wereleopard was most likely one of the few wereleopards capable of using magic. Of course, igniting a flame was a spell so rudimentary that it didn't even qualify as an elementary spell, so her magical prowess was certainly far from exceptional. Any random seven or eight-year-old elementary magician from the advanced academies in Sarus most likely possessed far superior magical prowess than the leader of these wereleopards.

Shortly thereafter, a pair of wereleopards strode onto the altar, carrying a large chunk of flesh that they had just cut off from the dragon's heart. Erwin could see that green blood was still dripping down from the chunk of flesh.

The massive piece of dragon's flesh filled up the entirety of the cauldron, and as soon as the chunk of flesh was placed into the cauldron, the two wereleopards responsible for carrying it quickly rushed off the altar.

After that, the leader of the wereleopards closed her eyes and began to chant an incantation, while all of the wereleopards behind her reflexively took a step backward.

It was clear that these wereleopards held an innate fear of magic.

Erwin listened carefully to the incantation, and he discovered that the language being used wasn't the normal wereleopard language. At this point, he had already heard the female wereleopard speak extensively, so he had a rough idea of what the language sounded like, and the language being used to chant the incarnation was clearly something different.

"So they put on this massive show and even built a makeshift altar just so they could brew some magic potion in a cauldron," Erwin said with a shake of his head, clearly unimpressed by this anticlimactic development.

Onean chuckled with amusement upon hearing this, then said, "The magic language that she's using is quite unique."