48. Cave

48. Cave

“Are we there?”

“Kkang.”

As Seol-gu cried out to Sister, an echo reverberated from deep within the cave.

Kkang… Kkang… Kkang… the sound of the echo. Hearing that sound, I imagined three little Seol-gus standing side-by-side and crying. I giggled and clasped my paws together, barking towards the cave.

“Foxxxx~”

Then, a howling of a brave, strong, and powerful wolf reflected back from the cave. Naturally, it was my voice.

Sister stroked my head without a word, then lifted the lantern and illuminated the interior of the cave. The light flickered.

“It’s huge….”

The cave was incredibly large. Just by its diameter, it was long enough for ten of me to fit.

The interior space was as large and long as its grand entrance; it felt like looking at a burrow dug by a giant earthworm with a diameter of 10 meters.

I poked the cave walls and then turned back to Sister, asking.

“Was there a cave near our house?”

“No… not near the house, at least. I think we’ve come quite far.”

I see.

I trotted around, looking at my surroundings, and then returned to Sister. It was so dark that there was nothing to see, so I quickly lost interest.

The cave continued deep inside, but the lantern’s weak light couldn’t reach its end.

However, because it was such a large cave, even if I had a super-powerful flashlight in my hand, I don’t think I could have illuminated the entire interior.

“Let’s rest here for a bit. Seol-ah, aren’t you hungry?”

“Yes.”

I hadn’t realized it, but my stomach was rumbling, crying out for food. As I nodded, Sister took out a picnic mat from her backpack and then sat down in a suitable spot in a corner of the cave.

I trotted over and sat on Sister’s lap. It’s my usual seat, which I’ve used since I was much younger.

“Heehee….”

If I raise my tail and lean against her back like this, combined with the fact that I’m in Sister’s warm embrace and the soft touch of my giant tail, an indescribable comfort gently enveloped my body.

I smiled brightly at Sister. Sister responded by kissing my forehead.

“Kkang!”

“Yes?”

It was then that Seol-gu cried out. Seol-gu spun around in place and then barked, pointing towards the interior of the cave, seemingly saying that there was no time to rest here.

But… if not here, then where else can we rest? It was hard enough to get here, and now we have to explore the endless depths of the cave.

No matter how strong a wolf I am, this is too much. Although I didn’t show it, my legs are incredibly sore.

“Seol-gu, I’m tired….”

“Seol-gu.”

Sister spoke. Seol-gu puffed up his tail and flinched.

“I know you’re in a hurry, but we just came through a blizzard to get here. We’re hungry and tired. Moving further in this condition is difficult. We might even get hurt trying to force ourselves. It’s more efficient to rest here for a moment before moving.”

“Kkang….”

I nodded and chimed in.

“Sister is right, Seol-gu. Let’s just rest for a bit!”

Seol-gu looked at me, his expression one of unfairness, as if asking why I wasn’t on his side. But unfortunately, as a polar wolf suin, it was natural for me to side with my fellow wolf.

I hope you’re born a cool wolf like me someday!

“Like this… Done.”

Sister lingered at the cave entrance for a moment and then came back with an armful of branches. Sister brushed the snow off the branches she brought and gathered them together, then started a campfire with the flint she took from her bag.

As the metal rubbed, sparks flew, and the branches blazed. It looked like magic, so I asked Sister with shining eyes.

“Sister, I want to try too!”

“Yes?”

Sister shifted her gaze from the slowly burning campfire and looked back at me.

Sister’s blue eyes looked at my tail, then at the flint, and finally back at my tail. Then, Sister opened her mouth.

“No.”

“Why?!”

It was a very firm refusal with no room for argument. I shook my tail wildly and complained to Sister. Then, Sister grabbed my tail, lifted it, and said, hugging me.

“If Seol-ah uses the flint….”

“If I use…?”

“Sparks will surely fly and catch your tail on fire.”

“Huk…!”

“Do you want to see your tail burning brightly, Seol-ah?”

The flint rubs, sparks fly, and that tiny seed flies towards me… and then my fur becomes fuel, burning my tail! Then I’ll become Ghost Rider Rang Seol-ah!

If my tail burns up, it might look a little cool at that moment. But after the sparks consume all my tail fur? My tail will surely become pathetically thin! My proud, fluffy, giant tail will disappear from the world forever!

“No!!”

I quickly shook my head. Such a future must never come, never!

“Sister wants Seol-ah’s tail to be okay too. So, let’s try using the flint when Seol-ah is older and can handle fire better. Okay?”

“Yes….”

The blazing campfire suddenly felt scary. I got down from Sister’s lap and retreated to a spot on the mat a little further from the campfire.

Meanwhile, Sister took food out of her bag.

“Is it jerky?”

“Yes. Seol-ah hasn’t tried it before, right?”

Cured jerky. I had seen nomadic people carry it when they went hunting far away, but it was food I had never eaten. I showed a little interest, my eyes sparkling. Seol-gu also seemed hungry when he smelled the food, and he cautiously approached and tilted his head.

“You can’t eat it as is; you have to put it in water and boil it to remove the salt.”

“I see….”

I watched Sister’s hands as she cooked the soup. It was a simple task of tearing the jerky and dropping it into boiling water, but it felt different when Sister did it.

Watching her slender white hands move skillfully to prepare the food. In my past life, I always just ate convenience store food, so every single one of these processes felt new and amazing to me.

I watched Sister without even noticing Seol-gu sitting on my lap.

Someday I’ll go hunting far away too, so I should know how to handle preserved food like this. I tried my best to memorize every step.

“It’s done. It might not taste very good, but try to eat it.”

“Huk!”

Finally, Sister handed me a bowl of meat. I was so hungry that I didn’t hesitate and swallowed the meat immediately….

“Salty!!”

I writhed and convulsed from the incredibly salty taste.

It was so salty that I worried it might be like the taste of the sea concentrated 900 times.

It was so salty that my tail naturally puffed up. It seemed that this taste was perceived the same way by foxes as by wolves, because Seol-gu also received the meat and started rolling on the floor. Seol-gu’s tail had also puffed up like mine.

“Sister, water!!!”

“Here.”

I took water into my mouth, gargled, and rinsed out the saltiness. After rinsing and spitting water a couple more times, I finally managed to calm down.

“It’s too salty… and it tastes bad.”

The meat wasn’t just salty. It was surprisingly tasteless too. Having to eat something like this felt like a blow to my wolf pride.

“That’s why Sister said it wouldn’t taste good. Can’t you eat it?”

Sister, as if she had anticipated my reaction, chuckled as she looked at me trembling.

Instead of answering, I gave Sister a pleading look. That was enough for Sister to understand my feelings.

“Then, let’s have a proper meal later, and for now, let’s just have a snack. Is that okay?”

“Yes….”

Instead of the salty lump of salt, what came out of Sister’s bag was….

Marshmallows.

“Huk.”

“Kkang!”

The marshmallows, emitting a sweet scent that made even Seol-gu, who had been rolling on the ground, jump up. With their pure white and soft appearance, we were both captivated.

“Seol-ah, you’re eating this for the first time, right? This is called marshmallow….”

Sister, as if she had wanted our reaction, started explaining about marshmallows with a strangely pleased expression.

Perhaps she was being considerate of me, who had just turned 8, but I actually already knew what marshmallows were. After all, I wasn’t an 8-year-old wolf, but a reincarnator!

However, I didn’t want to interrupt Sister’s pleased expression, so I quietly listened to her words. Seol-gu also sat down next to me at some point and listened to Sister.

“… You eat them by roasting them over a fire like this. Then the outside becomes crispy, and the inside melts, making it really delicious… Seol-ah? Are you listening?”

“Uh, yes!”

I was so hungry that I couldn’t hear Sister’s words clearly. I drooled as I watched the marshmallows roasting golden brown over the campfire.

“It’s done. Seol-ah, take it.”

“Yes!”

A moment later, the deliciously roasted marshmallows. I took the skewer Sister offered me. Just by the smell, it was so sweet that saliva went down my throat.

I smiled broadly and swallowed the marshmallow.

… No, I was about to swallow it.

“I’ll be right….”

“Kkang!”

But just before I put the marshmallow in my mouth, a ball of white fur flew from somewhere and snatched my marshmallow away…!

As a result, my mouth, which had been fully prepared to swallow the marshmallow, just gaped at the air like a fool. I turned my head, creaking, and looked at Seol-gu.

That ungrateful, super-foolish, idiotic fox…!

“Rang Seol-gu!!”

“Kkang… slurp slurp.”

Not only did he steal my share of the marshmallow, but he was also eating it with a disgusting slurping sound. I will never forgive him!

Filled with rage, I lunged at Seol-gu.