Chapter 4

## Chapter Guide

**Plans** (作戦 (さくせん) , *Sakusen*?) is the fourth chapter of Yuki Kawaguchi's *The Hunters Guild: Red Hood* series.

## Summary

Velou and Dodou's battle of wits comes to a head, as Grimm plays the role of bait.

Meanwhile, other, more sinister events, are being put into motion; and nothing will ever be the same again.

## Plot Details

From his hiding spot behind a chimney, Velou thinks to himself that he needs to take Dodou down, here and now. All the while, the hulking werewolf coughs, surrounded by the Gas Shells' pungent gas. He can't see and he can't smell, Dodou contemplates, but he refuses to run. If he runs, he becomes the prey, and a real werewolf is *always* the hunter.

With his eyes and nose out of commission, Dodou uses his ears to find his targets instead. With his superhuman hearing, he pinpoints the sound of a click coming from behind him, and makes for the rooftop where Grimm has been hiding. She manages to dodge, hopping to safety on another roof, as Dodou smashes the house down.

Grimm admits that he was able to spot her, and the Dodou retorts, telling her that she shouldn't underestimate a werewolf's hearing. As he begins to climb up onto the roof, he goes on, listing the villagers crammed in the meeting house, their clothes, their fidgety footsteps, their breath; he can hear it all.

Even the sound of a finger on a trigger, he shouts, turning around to see Velou on another house opposite them. The boy is peeking out from his hiding spot, his rifle raised up. He takes the shot, but Dodou blocks it with his arms.

The werewolf now knows where both of the hunters are, and he surmises that Grimm must be the decoy. He taunts them, saying that *he* is the real hunter, and they are just prey. Grimm retorts quite bluntly, and tells Dodou that if those bullets don't work on him, then he should regenerate and come try to kill her then.

Dodou says that she doesn't have to tell him twice, and looks down at his bullet wound. The impacted flesh throbs, and Dodou's eyes widen, as he begins to claw at his arm. He demands that they tell him what they did, and what is stopping his wounds from regenerating. At that, Grimm says that since he was kind enough to tell them his secret, she'll let him in on theirs.

The huntress informs Dodou that yes, Werewolves do indeed have the innate ability to regenerate from wounds; however, the Hunters Guild have discovered a means to negate this ability. There are two ways to kill a werewolf: one of which is to burn them, the other is to rend their flesh with a special metal, she explains.

Dodou immediately assumes that this special metal is silver, to which Grimm further expounds. Silver does have properties that slow that regenerative ability, but as far as metals go, silver is very light; it can't pierce a werewolf's hide. The material that Hunters use instead, is known as "Wolfonium".

Possessing the regeneration cancelling properties of silver, while also being harder and heavier than lead; Wolfonium bullets can not only pierce a werewolf's hide, but also kill in one shot if they hit a vital point. These heavier slugs, however, require more gunpowder; an amount that normal guns wouldn't be able to handle. This is why the Hunters Guild developed the Chekhov Series, Grimm explains as she pulls a rifle from her case.

Before she can use it however, Dodou promptly grabs it by the barrel and twists it. Grimm reacts with fleeting surprise, as the werewolf thanks her for her rambling lecture. Dodou was unsure about whether or not the bullets were magic or poison, but since they aren't, all he has to do is avoid them and he should be fine. He glances back to see Velou's gun still smoking from behind the chimney, and tells Grimm that he'll start with the young boy, but that she will be the main dish.

The huntress says that that sounds fun, and asks Dodou where Velou is then. The werewolf immediately whirls around, thinking to himself that his nose is clearing up, and yet, he can't smell the kid at all. Behind the chimney, Velou's Chekhov Series rifle stands propped up, as Grimm reaches into her case and pulls out another gun.

She proclaims that there are no children here, and tells Dodou that it's too late, before she proceeds to blast holes in each of his legs. The werewolf collapses on the roof, and Grimm says that she wasn't supposed to shoot, as she thinks back to an earlier conversation with Velou.

Before the Gas Shells' gas had dispersed, Grimm and Velou went about discussing their plan. Grimm explained to Velou how Wolfonium and the Chekhov Series works, but warned him that, given Dodou's size, even with Wolfonium bullets, inflicting a mortal wound would be hard. The huntress told the young boy to think, and create a plan that would work against clever werewolves.

Velou thought for a moment, and then, an idea came to him: the clams. If they are called Gas Shells, then their mist must be flammable, he posited. Grimm began to catch on to what the boy was getting at, and confirmed his theory. Although, the gas is heavier than air so it naturally sinks, she warned. And at that, Velou knew his next course of action.

Back in the present, Dodou finally begins to realize what has been happening. This was all just a ploy to buy time; Grimm, the gun, the blabbing. It was all meant to hold Dodou there, and buy time. All the while, Velou was just below them, inside the house, making his preparations. Grimm proudly tells the werewolf, that the moment he chose this village, his fate was sealed. The victor in this battle of wits...is Velou.

Suddenly, a blast of fire explodes out of the chimney from under Dodou. The blast violently shakes the house, as Dodou goes up in flames, and Grimm hops off the roof. Velou is sent flying out of the house from the explosion, and the werewolf lets out one final anguished scream, before he is sent flying in two charred pieces. The huntress lands before Velou, and asks him if he's still alive.

Letting the gas build up in the chimney, then lighting it to create an impromptu cannon; it was rough around the edges, but it was still a good plan, Grimm admits. A plan that didn't involve any blood or tears, she says, as she tosses a cloth onto Velou's head. The boy looks forlorn, as the villagers begin to gather around the two of them, and he apologizes for the destruction he caused from the explosion.

The villager rush towards Velou, and one of them - a large burly man - embraces him. He thanks Velou, grateful that everyone in the village is okay. An old lady says that it was all thanks to the young boy's warning, and another man in the crowd pipes up, saying that he thought Velou was just a kid, but he's grown up. He protected the hamlet.

Tears of relief begin to fall from Velou's eyes as the large man holds him; when suddenly, mysterious puffs of smoke open up in air above them. Out of one flies a girl on a broom, and from the other, appears the massive head of a wolf. The girl says that this must be Kasoka Village, and remarks that the hamlet is super boonies. The wolf simply takes in a breath, and says the air is fresh.

Grimm is alarmed by their sudden appearance, as the wolf's giant foot crashes down in the village. Velou and the other villagers look on it shock, and one of the citizens comments on the wolf's massive size.

Large and imposing, the wolf towers over the village, dressed in a long black cloak. Meanwhile, the girl on the broom floats in the sky next to him. She waves a wand, smoking at the tip, in her hand, and points out the "bumpkins" staring up at them.

It was a day that Velou would never forget. So many lives were lost, and everything the boy knew, was reduced to ash. It was the day he became a hunter.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

* Velou
* Dodou
* Grimm
* Cinderella
* Lycaon

## Battles & Events

* Velou & Grimm vs. Dodou & Naraoia (Concluded)