[Western Fantasy] When a Mage Picks Up a Little Wolf Cub

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Morrana, a pint-sized mage who had fretted about her height for years, had spent a century shut away in her own mage tower. The only company there, besides round little slimes, was a single magical plant vine.

One day, she unexpectedly brought home a stray wolf cub.

The little wolf was filthy and insecure, but incredibly well-behaved. Whenever he saw Morrana, he would wag his tail happily.

Morrana kept a cool expression, but flipped through parenting books with a rustle, staying up all night to name him Dreiga.

Morrana adored the cub's fluffy ears and tail. More importantly, the wolf cub was short, making tiny Morrana look tall and imposing.

Morrana lifted her chin proudly and declared that she would protect this little wolf.

Somehow, though, the tables eventually turned, and the mature, dependable wolf cub ended up looking after Morrana, who knew nothing about everyday life.

Time flowed quietly through the almost unchanging mage tower. Then one day, Morrana realized that her adorable little cub had grown into a nearly two-meter-tall, muscular beastman with wolf ears, and that he was paying her far too much attention. Morrana was alarmed.

She packed up her XXL-sized cub overnight and sent him off to the Academy of Magic.

Dreiga only wanted to stay by Morrana's side, and his mind was full of her. With a dark, obsessive gaze, he decided to blow up the school and return to her.

Fortunately, Morrana had stayed at the academy as an instructor, too.

Dreiga took Morrana's beloved fluffy wolf ears and placed them in her hands, pretending to be a good boy who wasn't up to anything.

Only after taking on students herself did Morrana realize how normal her own child was, at most a little dependent on her, compared with the rest of them.

The strange students included a transmigrated Saintess of the Church of Light, a reborn villainess, and the current Hero, who had both transmigrated and been reborn.

Excerpt 1: At the opening ceremony of the world-famous Saint Verno Academy, Passerby A cautiously poked the person in front of him, hoping to strike up a conversation and ease his nerves.

The person ahead looked at him expressionlessly, radiating oppressive gloom. The dark gray wolf ears atop his head twitched impatiently. He was tall, and with his ears standing straight up, he was almost two meters tall. Even beneath his clothes, his explosive muscles were impossible to miss.

"What is it?"

"N-Nothing. Sorry to bother you." Passerby A shook his head, too intimidated to argue. His heart pounded. Good grief, that beastman student was terrifying. He looked like he could take on ten people at once.

A sudden burst of excited commotion came from up front. Passerby A stood on tiptoe and saw the principal introducing the academy's new instructor, the Great Archmage Morrana. The Great Archmage, who looked far too young, raised a hand and waved in their direction.

A rush of wind made him look down. The beastman student's dark gray tail was wagging like crazy. The gloomy atmosphere from a few minutes ago was nowhere to be seen.

Passerby A: ??? Who are you, exactly?

Excerpt 2: The students had heard that their instructor was the legendary Great Archmage Morrana, known for being arrogant and ruthless, and they were all uneasy until she appeared in person.

A silver-haired little boy stood before them with a stern expression, looking up at them. His cheeks still had a touch of baby fat.

The two white-haired transmigrated students who were fans of white-haired characters couldn't hold back: How is this arrogant and ruthless? She's obviously my adorable, tsundere little darling. Though that handsome guy beside her, with beast ears on his head, is looking at us terrifyingly.

Then they watched with their own eyes as their adorable little-boy instructor raised a hand and turned a building-sized Fugelro beast into an ice sculpture that glittered with rainbow colors in the sunlight.

The students: ???!

A proud on the outside, childish at heart, eternally boyish mage × an obsessive wolf beastman who cares about nothing but the mage

Reader's note:

1. "Little boy" refers to appearance, not age. The mage is legally a little boy, and later on he has an adult form.

2. The mage is the strongest fighter.

3. The romance begins after he reaches adulthood physically.

Coming soon

A Survival Guide for a Comic's Cannon Fodder

Shen Zhaobai is the only son of a powerful financial family and an S-rank ice-type esper. In the comic Esper Frenzy, he is a cannon-fodder character who fights the protagonist to the death and ultimately dies in the mouth of a mutant beast because of his arrogance and underestimation of his opponent.

That was what the System that showed up on his doorstep yesterday told him.

The game System claimed it could help him change his fate and let him observe the comic and its forums. He could also exchange the affection of the comic's readers for items in its shop.

Shen Zhaobai raised an eyebrow, a trace of disdain appearing on his refined, haughty face. When had the young master of the Shen family ever needed to live off the affection of an audience? What could he not get just by lifting a finger?

Still, he decided to go take a look at the "comic's protagonist," who would supposedly make him a cannon-fodder character in the future.

Shen Zhaobai had his butler search for information on everyone named Ji Yang.

In the end, they found the protagonist lying on the ground in the arena of an esper prison, like a heap of mud.

The man by his feet was practically a corpse already, barely breathing, but his eyes were still as wary as a stray dog's.

Shen Zhaobai raised an eyebrow and said, "This just got interesting."

The game System shrieked, "Stop copying the villain! You can't let the protagonist die here!"

In the end, Shen Zhaobai, all bark and a soft heart, still held out his hand and saved the stray dog.

Ji Yang, the most brutal "mad dog" in the esper prison, inmate number Zero.

He had been thrown into prison to struggle for decades. Shen Zhaobai was the only person who had ever reached out to help him, asking:

"Can you still stand?"

That one sentence was all it took for the mad dog to accept a master.

Born in prison, Ji Yang had never seen sunlight. Then a person with shining golden hair reached out to him, and in that moment, Ji Yang felt as if he were bathing in sunshine.

He wanted that sunshine all to himself. So he crawled out of his deepest nightmare.

Half a year later, Shen Zhaobai ran into a black-haired boy wearing an electronic shackle at the academy gate. The boy smiled brightly, like a stray dog who had finally found its owner.

"Hello, Young Master Shen. I'm Ji Yang, the new transfer student."

Shen Zhaobai: What the heck? Why has the male lead's characterization changed?

After that, Shen Zhaobai followed the comic and sabotaged the male lead, wanting to see whether he had really turned into a little sun.

The protagonist took it all in stride.

Shen Zhaobai was baffled.

Until he looked through the comic and noticed that the comments floating by during their confrontations all said things like, "Rivals are just spouses in the making..."

Shen Zhaobai exploded. Him and that mad dog? Absolutely impossible!

Ji Yang: Woof, woof, woof!

Theme: Love is magic