82. Travel

82. Travel

“Huk….”

I swallowed my breath.

On the dazzlingly white snowfield, houses made of wood stood in a row. They had pointed triangular roofs, like the houses of us wolf-suin.

In a way, they looked no different from the houses in our tribe’s village, but the peculiar absence of chimneys on the houses was a distinguishing feature.

Besides that, the streetlights erected here and there, the well-laid stone paths, and most of all, the very large clock tower clearly visible from here, particularly caught my attention.

A village that felt familiar yet exuded a strong sense of fantasy. The sight of snow piled up on everything gave it a cozy and cute appearance.

“Isn’t it amazing?”

“Yes…!”

Sister asked me with a smile. I replied with my eyes sparkling.

Perhaps because she had failed to surprise me recently and felt a bit dejected, Sister wagged her tail enthusiastically at my reaction.

“The village is a bit big, so you might get lost if you’re not careful. You need to stay close to Sister, okay?”

“Yes!”

“Then let’s go in now.”

My heart pounded, my tail swayed.

Since being born a wolf, this is my first time visiting a human village. If it were in the past, Sister would have desperately hidden the existence of humans, but now that we’ve even entered a village, it’s truly a sign of the times.

What could possibly be inside?

New toys? Food?

Perhaps a huge amount of Ice fruit might be slumbering in a warehouse. Imagining mountains of Ice fruit made my mouth water.

Crisp, sour, sweet, and refreshing….

“Huk.”

No, no, I shouldn’t be like this.

For a moment, I was completely captivated by the thought of Ice fruit. While Ice fruit is indeed a delicious fruit, it felt a bit much to only think about Ice fruit when there was a new sight right before my eyes.

I shook my head vigorously.

The boredom of the journey that had been consuming me, along with my falling tail fur, completely disappeared, and in its place, anticipation and excitement filled my heart.

Is Seol-gu still sleeping? Seol-gu should see this scenery too.

I turned my head and looked back.

“Huk…!”

Seol-gu, who had been sleeping soundly just moments ago, had woken up and was peeking out of the randoseru.

Seol-gu’s face, already large and fluffy, seemed unimaginably huge so close to my nose.

Seol-gu cried “Kkang” and licked my cheek.

“Kkang.”

“When did you wake up?”

“Kkiiing… Kkang.”

“Well, that doesn’t matter. We’ve arrived at the human village now, Seol-gu!”

I followed Sister closely, reaching out to point towards the village. Just then, as if it had struck the hour, the clock tower chimed with a “dang dang dang” sound.

Wow, how amazing.

“Seol-ah, this way.”

“Yes!”

There didn’t seem to be a designated entrance to the village. Although there were occasional fences along the outskirts of the village, their placement was so haphazard that they had gaping holes, making them seem pointless.

Sister and Father, having been here before, walked into the village through a gap in the fence. I followed them.

“Oh….”

Thump, I stepped onto the stone path.

Unlike other places, there was no snow piled on the stone path. Snow wouldn’t have avoided only the stone path, so it seemed people had cleared it.

Tock, tock.

The sound of my footsteps hitting the stone path. It was a strangely pleasant sound.

Our tribe’s village didn’t have such beautifully paved stone paths. This is because the houses are not clustered together like in this village.

Not only are there few houses, but the distances between them are wide, and the stone-processing technology is not advanced enough to make installing stone paths cost-effective.

That’s why I had never seen such stone paths before. In my previous life, I might have seen them once or twice without realizing it, but at least since reincarnating.

Naturally, my gaze was drawn to these stone paths. Even if they are just common paths with nothing special, listening to the sound of my footsteps made me want to hear it more and more.

I step on this stone, then on that stone.

The stones that make up the path are stepping stones, and the empty space between them is lava. If I fall into the lava, it will hurt, so I have to jump around the stepping stones without falling.

Bring my legs together, and jump!

“Whoa, whoa!”

For a moment, I almost lost my balance and fell, but I managed to regain my posture by spinning my giant tail vigorously. It was a close call.

“Hee hee….”

It was a simple game of jumping between stones, but for some reason, it was incredibly fun.

Perhaps it’s because the journey has been so boring lately that even such a small game feels like the greatest entertainment in the world.

It would have been more fun if Yura and Yuri were here too.

Unfortunately, all I have now is Seol-gu. I tapped the bag and said to Seol-gu.

“Seol-gu, look at this.”

“Kkang?”

“Yep…!”

I started stepping on the stone path. It was a very rhythmic and lively gait, as if dancing to a song.

Toh doh doh doh, toh doh tot, toh tot.

“Kkang kkang.”

“How is it? Am I good?”

“Kkang!”

Seol-gu’s mouth fell open as he watched my tap-dancing skills. I put my hands on my hips with a triumphant expression.

Hoo hoo….

I’m so excited, I can’t just stand still. I moved my body energetically and danced with joy. Of course, I didn’t forget to step lightly.

Tok tok tok tok.

This is 4/4 time.

Toh doh doh toh doh doh.

This is a triplet.

Toh-doh toh-doh.

This is swing.

Huk… I might have a talent for music.

Be afraid, Rang Seol-ah. You’ve already shown talent in various artistic and athletic fields, and now you’re even mastering dance and music!

At this point, I’m even scared of myself. How far am I going to grow…! Now, if only I could grow in height….

“Seol-ah. Don’t get distracted.”

“Kkang!”

For a moment, I was lost in a hopeful and beautiful future, smiling blissfully, but soon Sister’s hand grabbed my tail, pulling me out of my happy fantasy.

“Hmph….”

My giant tail shriveled up.

Of course, it would return to its original state soon… but I couldn’t help but shed a few tears.

It’s fortunate that it didn’t hurt, though.

Usually, if my tail is grabbed tightly, it hurts so much that I cry my eyes out, but this time, thanks to Sister’s exquisite control of her strength, it didn’t hurt. Her skillful hand movements were truly impressive.

Sister stroked my head and said.

“I know it’s fascinating because it’s a new place, but we have something to do now, Seol-ah. We need to get train tickets. Then, if we have time, we can look around. Okay?”

“Yes!”

“Yes, yes. Good girl, our Seol-ah.”

Heh heh, receiving praise made the corners of my mouth turn up. My tail swayed gently.

I followed Sister with a blissful smile.

After walking like that for a while, I asked Sister.

“Sister, Sister.”

“Yes, why?”

“Why is there no one outside?”

I hadn’t seen a single person for a long time. Despite it being a considerable-sized village, no one was outside.

Even if there were one or two people walking on the street, why was there no one? When I asked about it, Sister opened her mouth.

“Why, you ask….”

“Because it’s cold outside. Humans aren’t as resistant to the cold as we wolf-suin are.”

Sister and I, both our gazes turned to Father. Father, who had interrupted our conversation, continued speaking without hesitation.

“Humans are much weaker than suin. So, even if they wrap themselves in cloth, they can’t stay outside for long. That’s why there’s no one outside.”

“Oh….”

I see.

Even for a polar wolf, the cold of the Arctic is considerable, so if they are much weaker to the cold than us, it’s understandable that they wouldn’t want to come outside.

Perhaps instead, they’d be lounging around at home, covered in blankets, peeling tangerines.

Sounds delicious….

I don’t know if there are tangerines in this world, though!

“I could have answered that.”

Meanwhile, Sister seemed displeased that Father had taken her answer. As Sister spoke with a sulky expression, Father replied nonchalantly.

“Conversely, that means I could have answered.”

Hearing Father’s reply, Sister’s cheeks puffed up like balloons, looking sulky.

I never expected her to make such a face.

I giggled, finding her expression so cute.

Realizing I was beside her, Sister quickly returned to her normal expression, but her adorable side had already been revealed to me.

“Huh…?”

At that moment, I felt a gaze.

My nape felt tingly, so I looked back and saw the silhouette of a child in the alleyway far away. As soon as the mysterious figure saw me looking back, it quickly hid behind a building.

Who could it be?

“Seol-ah?”

“Ah, yes!”

“We’re here. This is the train station.”

It must have just been a child passing by. I quickly looked ahead.

“Wow….”

In front of us was a very large train station.

I could see a large arched roof extending from afar, and the rough-looking tracks laid beneath it.

Next to the tracks, there was a platform slightly higher than the ground, allowing people to wait. However, there were no people there at the moment, and I didn’t know if it was because the village was quiet.

“Seol-gu, did you see?”

“Kkang.”

“It’s huge!”

This was the first time I had seen such a large structure. Of course, in terms of height, the village’s central clock tower I glimpsed earlier was taller, but this was the first building I had looked up at so closely.

It was so large that no matter how much I tilted my head up and up, I couldn’t see its entirety. As I kept tilting my head back, I eventually lost my balance and fell with a “kong.”

“Kkang….”

My bottom hurts.

“Seol-ah, come this way.”

“Yes!”

Sister and Father headed towards a small building built next to the train station. The building had a sign with unreadable characters.

I had been diligently studying letters with Uncle Polar Bear recently… but being unable to read them meant that these letters were likely different from our tribe’s script.

As I stared at the sign, trying my best, Sister said.

“This is where you book train tickets. We buy tickets here, and then we take the train.”

“Oh…!”

A train.

My heart pounded with excitement.

Now I finally feel like I’m traveling.

The journey so far wasn’t a journey. I just walked and walked and walked in the snow, that wasn’t travel, it was torture, torture!

It’s a good thing I’m a wolf, if I were a fox, I would have surely whined “Nyang nyang” unable to endure that ordeal.

But now that pain is over. All that’s left is enjoyable sightseeing!

With a fluttering heart, I followed Sister into the building.