62. Errand

62. Errand

On the way to Uncle Polar Bear’s house for Sister’s errand.

I realized I had left my room without cleaning it about 5 minutes after leaving the house.

“Huk….”

I hope she doesn’t find out?

I even told her that Seol-gu didn’t need to be fed. There’s no reason for Sister to suddenly enter Seol-ah’s room when Seol-ah isn’t there. What is there to see in my room?

Besides, it would take too long to go back home now. Sister would also find it strange if I suddenly turned back.

All I could do was close my eyes tightly, clasp my hands, and pray to the heavens, ‘Please don’t let Sister enter my room.’

“Well… I can’t help it.”

Worrying about things I can’t control is something a foolish fox would do. Wolves are smart and don’t do that.

If I get caught by Sister and have to get my butt spanked, as a manly wolf, it would be right to offer my backside. If she spanked my right buttock, then spank my left buttock too!

“B-but getting my butt spanked hurts….”

Thinking about it again, it didn’t seem like a good idea. If one buttock gets spanked, the other should remain intact. If both get spanked, it’s hard to sleep.

It seems best not to get caught.

I shook my head and started walking forward again. It seemed much better to finish the errand quickly.

If I just drag my feet, it would only increase the chances of Sister entering my room.

It was at that very moment that a small arctic hamster appeared before me.

“Kkang?!”

“Chik?!”

A fist-sized ball of fur emerged from the ground. I cried out in surprise, and the hamster, as if equally startled, cried out “Chik!” at me.

“Kkang!”

“Chik!”

“Kkae-aeng!!”

“Jjiiik!!”

An intense battle of nerves ensued.

The hamster was blocking the path I needed to take, and I was blocking the path the hamster needed to take. It was a hair-trigger situation, a life-or-death struggle for our very existences.

Since it was a vast snowy field, I could just go around it, but it felt like losing.

You can call it childish stubbornness. You can call it immature. But I absolutely did not want to lose to the hamster.

Sparks flew between the hamster’s bright eyes and mine, and then-

“Chik.”

“Huh? Hey! Where are you going!”

The hamster snorted and started to go its own way, circling around.

In the end, I was left alone in the snowy field.

I stared blankly at the spot where the hamster had disappeared for a long time, then expressed my frustration by stomping my tail on the ground.

A mature hamster and a childish wolf. What kind of strange combination is that in the world?

“Kkang….”

I felt inexplicably down. I checked that the bundle from Sister’s errand was securely tied around my waist, then trudged along listlessly.

Perhaps it was because I focused only on walking and stopped daydreaming, but I arrived at Uncle Polar Bear’s house much faster than I expected.

I knocked on the door of the solitary house standing alone in the snowy field.

“Uncle~”

Knock, knock, knock-knock-knock.

After knocking rhythmically for a while, the door creaked open. I lifted my head.

I could see Uncle’s… large belly. I couldn’t see his face.

“What brings you here all of a sudden?”

“Sister told me to return this! … Ugh!”

As I lifted my head high into the sky to see Uncle’s face, my body tilted further and further, and unable to maintain the angle, I fell backward with a thud.

“Kkang….”

My butt hurts.

“Be more careful… Come in for now.”

“Yes!”

I took Uncle’s hand and stood up. Uncle Polar Bear’s house, where I entered after dusting off my butt, was unchanged from a month ago.

It was cluttered and messy, the kind of house you’d expect Uncle to live in.

As Uncle sat on his sofa, he asked how I was doing. The sofa creaked as if groaning under his weight, but I tried to ignore it.

“Have you been well? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Yes!”

“Good.”

Silence descended. I had nothing to say.

I stood there blankly for a while, then opened my mouth.

“Don’t you miss me, Uncle? We haven’t seen each other in a month!”

“Not really? I’ve been sleeping all through the polar night, so it doesn’t feel like much time has passed… By the way, why do you have a comb stuck in your tail?”

“My tail?”

I turned my head and looked at my tail. My tail, which Sister had meticulously combed, was as lustrous and fluffy as ever, but looking closely at the tip, I saw my comb stuck right in it.

“Huk!”

I walked all the way here without realizing this. It’s like going out with a comb stuck in my hair.

I quickly pulled out the comb and shoved it into my tail.

Uncle looked at me with an expression of disbelief.

“… Anyway, you said you came to return something, right?”

“Ah, yes. Here!”

I untied the bundle from my waist and placed it on the table. I hadn’t seen the contents yet, and I was curious about what Sister had borrowed from Uncle.

Uncle’s large hand took the bundle. When the bundle that was tied around my waist was held in Uncle’s hand, it felt as small as a coin purse.

Uncle slowly opened the bundle and took out the item inside.

It was a cylindrical, unidentifiable object… with a handle on the side.

The object was made of a dark gray metal material, and I couldn’t get a sense of what it was.

“What is that?”

“A flashlight.”

Kuaaak! It’s too bright!!

I quickly turned my face away and shouted.

“Turn it off immediately!!!”

“Okay.”

After the sound of a button click, I could see properly again.

Goodness, the afterimage of the flashlight still seems to be lingering before my eyes. I wonder if the animals felt this way when I set off the magic stone flashbang to eat Ice fruit.

“Why is the flashlight so bright?!”

“Huh? You know what a flashlight is? I thought you were seeing it for the first time.”

Of course, I know. Because I’m a smart wolf. I haven’t used one since I was born as Rang Seol-ah, but I know this tool from my past life.

However, the flashlights in my memory weren’t this bright. This level of brightness is like putting the sun inside it.

“It’s not for everyday use; it’s a flashlight for going underwater. It’s very dark deep in the water.”

“Ah… but I’ve never seen you use a flashlight.”

“There hasn’t been a reason to use it. I haven’t gone deep enough into the water for it to be necessary. Honestly, I regretted buying it, but Seol-yeon borrowed it the other day.”

“Really? Why?”

I asked Uncle Polar Bear again. I hadn’t really seen Sister use a flashlight before. She used a lantern during the polar night…

“She said she wanted to play shadow puppets.”

“Shadow… puppets?”

“Yes.”

You know, the thing I know? Playing with your hands like this and that with a flashlight?

I pictured Sister playing shadow puppets. A tall, strong, cool wolf laughing and playing with a flashlight.

… It’s incredibly incongruous. Did Sister really do that? I tilted my head, with many question marks floating around my head.

“She said it was too bright to play with, but she took it anyway, saying she wanted to try.”

“And then?”

“She took it to your house, so how would I know what happened after that?”

Uncle fiddled with the bundle and found something inside. It was a letter written in Sister’s handwriting.

“… ‘You didn’t mention the flashlight was this bright. I wanted to show it to Seol-ah. Please buy a less bright one next time.'”

“….”

It seems she was trying to play shadow puppets with me.

Thinking back to how she carefully observed my reactions when I ate strawberries and other fruits, Sister seemed to enjoy surprising me with new things.

If I were a pure 8-year-old child, I probably would have shown the reaction Sister wanted, but unfortunately, I couldn’t.

Nevertheless, I offer a moment of silence for Sister, who tried so hard to surprise me.

“Oh, by the way, Uncle, do you know what I’ve been doing?”

“What have you been doing?”

Uncle Polar Bear asked me indifferently. He probably thought, ‘What could she have done during the polar night?’

I chuckled and pulled out the stone towards Uncle.

“I can use magic now!!”

“Yes.”

His tone was completely disbelieving.

“I really can!!”

“Yes.”

Again.

——

“Seol-gu, are you inside? I brought some meat.”

Knock, knock, Seol-yeon cautiously knocked on Seol-ah’s room. Seol-ah had said she would go hunting herself, but it still felt wrong to just leave her hungry without giving her anything.

However, no matter how long she waited, there was no sound from inside. Seol-yeon tilted her head and then opened the door.

“Seol-gu… Hmm.”

Seol-gu wasn’t there.

Just as Seol-ah had said, it seemed he had really gone hunting.

Instead, the room, which was a complete mess, caught Seol-yeon’s eye.

“….”

Seol-yeon recalled her sister desperately trying to prevent her from entering the room.

‘Since you went on an errand, I’ll reduce your sentence to four spankings.’

She thought.