75. Travel

75. Travel

“T-tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

I couldn’t hide my shock at Sister’s words that we would be leaving for the Magi Republic tomorrow.

Just a year ago, Sister tried to hide the identity of the Magi Republic from me. While it was surprising that she was taking me there, that wasn’t the only reason for my shock.

What surprised me was Sister’s action of telling me about the departure to the Magi Republic, which was happening tomorrow, only now!

I don’t know how far the Magi Republic is, but I know it’s not close. Even if I had nothing to pack, telling me about such a long journey the day before!

I shouted at Sister.

“You’re telling me now that we’re leaving tomorrow?!”

“… Actually, the decision to go was made three days ago, but I forgot to tell Seol-ah.”

“Sister….”

Sister avoided my gaze with an embarrassed expression. Seeing her tail wag awkwardly, it seemed Sister’s words were the truth, not an excuse.

My goodness….

My goodness!

Sister acting so fox-like…!

“How far is the Magi Republic…?”

“It takes a little over four days to reach the nearest village. If the weather is bad, it might take longer… and the place we’re going is a bit further from there, so it’s about a two-week journey one way.”

“T-two weeks…!”

A two-week one-way trip means a four-week round trip. Telling me about a month-long trip the day before was something even Seol-gu wouldn’t do.

My illusion of Sister as a cool and dependable figure shattered like a glass hit by a stone.

… Actually, my illusion of Sister had already crumbled to dust long ago, so the blow wasn’t that severe. Just last time, I found out Sister’s secret of trying to play shadow puppets with a flashlight.

Rather than that, I’m just taken aback by the fact that we’re suddenly going on a month-long trip.

“W-well, it takes about two weeks if it’s long, but if we go a few more days from the first village, there’s something we can ride separately, so it’ll actually be a bit shorter than two weeks.”

As my face turned to shock, Sister frantically wagged her tail, trying to explain. But that wouldn’t alleviate the shock. Even if it’s shorter than two weeks, it still takes a long time.

“Aren’t you curious about what we’ll ride? You’ll see something you’ve never seen before.”

“… What are we riding?”

Sister, perhaps embarrassed by her mistake, blushed and tried to divert my attention by changing the subject. I, with my sharp mind, decided to play along with her diversion for the sake of her dignity. Of course, without hiding my suspicion.

Sister seemed a little relieved and answered in an excited tone, as if she was certain I would be amazed.

“It’s a giant rectangular box, big enough for you to fit inside. That box is lined up in rows, and it moves on round wheels by itself, traveling incredibly fast along the road….”

“A train?”

“Ah, you know about it?”

Who am I? I am Rang Seol-ah, the youngest daughter of the wolf tribe leader and a smart wolf who can use magic.

Since I’ve been diligently studying letters lately, I was able to quickly figure out what kind of vehicle Sister was talking about.

When I said I already knew about trains, Sister looked very disappointed and became dejected. She must have hoped I would exclaim “Huk!!!” in surprise.

“Yes… I see. Seol-ah is smart… You even know about trains that Sister never taught you….”

“Uh, yeah.”

Normally, I would have puffed out my chest with pride upon receiving praise, but seeing Sister so dejected, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

Did she want to surprise me that much?

In moments like these, being a smart wolf is a bit of a drawback. If I were a little more foolish, Sister’s surprise plan might have succeeded.

But I was born a talented and outstanding wolf, so there’s nothing I can do.

I cleared my throat and called out to Sister. I knew very well what to do when someone was in a bad mood.

“Sister, um… want to touch my tail?”

“Yes.”

Sister reacted as if she’d heard a ghost and started stroking my big tail.

Fluffy, soft.

With each stroke of Sister’s hand, the soft fur lay down along the grain, and soon it regained its usual fluffiness.

I think it’s a very pretty tail myself. The only other tail comparable to this would be Seol-gu’s furball tail.

Of course, even that is less so than mine!

“You seem a little disheveled since you just woke up. Sister will brush it for you.”

“Yeah!”

Sister brought a brush that had been tossed aside in the corner of my room and started brushing my tail. Swish, swish. A pleasant sound echoed.

I closed my eyes and slowly enjoyed the sensation.

Come to think of it, I should brush Seol-gu’s fur sometime too.

Brushing fur isn’t just about maintaining its appearance. It’s also a process of removing old, worn-out hairs and making space for new, healthy hairs to grow.

Therefore, delicate brushing is essential for tail health. It’s the same for Seol-gu.

In fact, unlike me, a wolf-suin, Seol-gu is covered in fur all over his body, so I’ll have to brush him even more diligently than I brush my tail.

Oh dear, what a high-maintenance fox.

I glanced at Seol-gu, who was sprawled asleep on the rubber ball.

… Huk!

Seol-gu was performing a bizarre balancing act, using his tail to maintain his weight even in his sleep.

If it shifts even slightly, he’ll fall off the ball, but I don’t know how he maintains his balance like that while sleeping.

Should I try it later…?

“Seol-ah, don’t tense your tail.”

“Ah, yes.”

Just imagining balancing made my tail move on its own, so Sister, who was brushing it, warned me. I quickly relaxed my tail.

Swish, swish.

Silence returned, and only the sound of brushing could be heard endlessly.

While passing the time by swinging my legs up and down, I asked Sister a question that suddenly came to mind.

“By the way, Sister, why are we suddenly going to the Magi Republic?”

This is a question I should have asked long ago. If the plan was made three days ago, there must be a reason, but I still have no clue.

Sister patted my head and replied.

“You know those machines Seol-ah caught diligently last time?”

“Yeah!”

“We’re going to confront them about that. Originally, I didn’t plan to go all the way to the Magi Republic, but the person who was supposed to come hasn’t, and there are a few things I need to look into….”

The person who was supposed to come?

When I tilted my head in confusion, Sister paused for a moment and then spoke.

“William. Do you remember him?”

“Uh, yeah.”

He’s that bad blonde person who tried to steal my stone before. If I had lost this magic stone then… ugh, I don’t even want to imagine it.

“That person was supposed to come but didn’t, so we’re going to find him, and also, there are things to investigate about Seol-gu, and about Seol-ah’s stone….”

“Seol-gu? The stone?”

The reason is more complicated than I thought. To be honest, I even vaguely suspected we were just going for sightseeing, but it seems there’s something else going on.

“Yes. Whether there are really no other Arctic foxes, what Seol-gu’s true identity is, I’m going to find out. I’ll look into the stone too while we’re at it. Recently, I’ve started to get some leads.”

“Oh….”

Leads? What kind of leads? I was really curious about Seol-gu’s identity, and I want to hear about it.

Seeing my slightly excited expression, Sister chuckled lightly and said.

“It might not be that Seol-gu was particularly special among foxes, but perhaps all Arctic foxes were special like Seol-gu. Even though they’ve all disappeared….”

“Huk….”

All foxes are special?

Does that mean all Arctic foxes can sense danger, understand speech, use magic, and perform the feat of sleeping while balancing with their tails?

My goodness!

If that’s true, I might need to re-evaluate my perception of Arctic foxes. Of course, even so, they’re still no match for the fur on a wolf’s tail.

“This is all thanks to Seol-ah. Thanks to what Seol-ah told me last time, we’ve made a lot of progress. Thank you.”

“Heh heh… It’s nothing!”

I had told Sister about the fight with the worm in the water last time. About how the stone got stronger when I called it a fox and weaker when I called it a wolf.

I felt happy that it helped Sister. I put my hands on my hips and chuckled. My tail was being brushed by Sister’s hand, so I couldn’t do a somersault.

Sister said.

“Ah, and only Sister, Seol-ah, and Father are going to the Magi Republic. Mother will stay home and look after the tribe members.”

“Yeah.”

“And… that’s it. Your tail is brushed nicely. Anyway, we’re leaving tomorrow, so prepare anything you need in advance. Got it?”

“Got it.”

Sister patted my head again and then went out of the room to dispose of the enormous white furball that had been born from my tail.

Meanwhile, I looked around the room, carefully considering what items to bring. I couldn’t take everything, so I had to pack selectively.

And then… the next day arrived.