87. New Friend

87. New Friend

A human village in another world, the first I’ve ever visited.

I thought there would be lots of fun and exciting things….

“Well… there’s nothing particularly worth seeing in our village….”

“What?!”

Lucy said with an embarrassed expression. These words were like a bolt from the blue to me, who had thought this place would be full of fun activities.

I pointed to the clock tower in the center of the village, so large it was visible even from here.

“What about that? Isn’t that something worth seeing?”

There’s no way there’s nothing to see when there’s such a large clock tower. When I asked that, Lucy shook her head. Her black hair swayed, catching my eye.

“It’s not much up close. It’s just big….”

“Still! I want to go see it! Look, Seol-gu wants to go too!”

I took Seol-gu out of the bag. Held in my hand, Seol-gu stretched down, down, down.

Seol-gu, who had stretched surprisingly far, wagged his tail and cried “Kkang.” It seemed like he was saying he didn’t really want to go, but since Lucy couldn’t understand what Seol-gu was saying anyway, I decided to ignore it.

“Show me around, okay? Please!”

“Uh, yeah….”

I held hands with Lucy and looked at her with sparkling eyes. As I got close enough to touch her nose, Lucy blushed in surprise and reluctantly accepted my request.

Hoo hoo.

“Okay, Seol-gu. Go back in the bag.”

“Kkang….”

I tidied up Seol-gu’s stretched body and stuffed it crumpled into the bag. Then I lightly slung the bag, now plump with Seol-gu inside, over my shoulder. That was it.

Now, all that was left was to tour that giant clock tower.

Lucy led me towards the clock tower. Skillfully navigating through the alleyways, Lucy soon spoke to me.

“We’re here. It’s over there.”

“Oh!”

Peeking out from the alley, I saw it. A large open space, perhaps a plaza, with a giant clock tower in the center, reaching astonishingly high into the sky.

At the very top, there was a huge clock, and a pyramid-shaped roof adorned the very peak. The snow covering everything was so white that I couldn’t tell the color of the roof.

I had to tilt my head back as much as I did when looking up at Sister to take in the entire structure.

I felt like I might fall backward if I wasn’t careful, so I lowered my head and looked forward again.

Its thickness was as impressive as its height. It was truly enormous. I think thirty of me would be needed to fill its diameter.

… Of course, if I grow as tall as Sister later, maybe fewer would fit!

I took Seol-gu out of the bag and pointed to the clock tower.

“Look, Seol-gu, it’s huge!”

“Kkang.”

“Waaah….”

There are no structures that large in my village.

I don’t know if it’s due to a lack of technology or if there’s no need for them, but this is the first time Rang Seol-ah has ever seen such a large building.

My eyes sparkled.

Lucy must have been lying when she said there was nothing to see. People who live in tourist destinations often complain that there’s nothing worth seeing in their hometowns.

But to me, who was seeing this place for the first time, everything around me was new and wondrous. I swayed my tail and looked more closely at the clock tower.

“Oh….”

On one side of the clock tower, there was something that looked like a door. Two adults were standing still in front of it, on guard. They were the second adults I had seen since arriving in this village.

They looked quite dashing in their uniforms. They were holding something long in their hands… could that be a gun?

I thought about going to talk to them.

As I thought this and pulled Lucy along, Lucy seemed to hesitate slightly.

“What’s wrong, Lucy?”

“Th-that’s….”

Lucy hesitated and then pointed to the adults guarding the clock tower.

“They’re scary….”

“Scary?”

I narrowed my eyes and looked closely at the adults. They did have somewhat stern expressions, but I couldn’t see any particular reason to be afraid.

Just then, Lucy continued.

“I came to the clock tower once before, and those men yelled at me and chased me away… It was so scary… I still can’t forget it.”

“Huk.”

So that’s what happened.

It’s understandable to be scared if stern adults with guns yelled at you and chased you away.

I patted Lucy’s hunched shoulders. Then, I puffed out my chest and hit it with my hand.

“It’s okay, Lucy! I’m here!”

“Huh?”

“A very, very, very strong and powerful wolf, Rang Seol-ah, is by your side, so you don’t need to worry! No matter what happens, I’ll protect you, so don’t worry!”

Saying “very” three times means I’m that confident. Even if scary adults came running at us, I could easily fend them off with my strength.

I put my hands on my hips and looked at Lucy with a proud expression.

Lucy looked at me with an expression of disbelief.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Th-that… No, no.”

Sigh… This won’t do. To not believe me even after seeing my magnificent tail.

To make Lucy understand my awesomeness, I need to tell her about my past heroic deeds. My hunting history, which spans from rabbits to wyverns and even mechanical worms!

“This is a story from when I was in my village. On my eighth birthday, I went hunting for the first time and caught a rabbit….”

“Who’s there!”

Huk.

It seems they heard us talking.

But that’s even better. This is an opportunity to alleviate Lucy’s fear.

I revealed myself from the alley and approached the guard.

Oh my.

They look even scarier up close.

“Hello…!”

Click.

A gun barrel was pointed at me.

Startled, I raised both my arms. I was so surprised that my tail puffed up with a “poof.” Then, I quickly exclaimed as if to make an excuse.

“I, I didn’t do anything!”

——

“Kkang!”

My body was thrown into the snow with a “thump.”

My body was stuck in the snow, but fortunately, I could get out on my own this time.

Seol-gu crawled out of the overturned bag, whimpering. He didn’t seem to be hurt.

As I whimpered, rubbing my tail that had been firmly grabbed by the guard, Lucy, who had been hiding in the alley, came over to me and said.

“Seol-ah… are you okay?”

“I-I’m okay.”

Grabbing my tail and throwing me.

Even if I’m an outsider, is it right to treat someone so roughly?

Those people have no respect for wolf tails. Respect! How precious are tails to wolves!

I stuck out my tongue towards the guards and made a “nyah nyah” gesture.

It’s a punishment for bad people.

“You’ve seen enough, right…? Let’s go. I’m fine-“

“No!”

I shook my head firmly at Lucy, who was trying to pull me away.

Perhaps because I suddenly raised my voice, Lucy’s eyes widened in surprise.

I immediately adjusted my posture, shook off the snow from my body, and proudly puffed out my chest.

After being treated with such disrespect, how could I just turn tail and run? That’s something a weak fox would do.

A true wolf faces danger head-on. And above all, I have a personality that can’t stand to lose.

Since I failed to show Lucy a reliable image, I had to find a way to get back at those adults somehow.

“But what are you going to do….”

“Leave that to me!”

I took out the transparent stone from my tail. Perhaps because I had been talking about wolves earlier, my strength was a bit weaker, but it was enough for now.

“Stone…! Make those men stub their little toe on a wall corner when they’re walking later!”

The stone flashed brightly.

Although nothing seemed to have changed outwardly, I knew instinctively. The magic had been activated.

Lucy asked.

“What did you do…?”

“Hoo hoo hoo… I made them regret chasing me away like this! Now, let’s go, Lucy! I want to see other places too!”

I said, picking up the bag containing Seol-gu and slinging it over my shoulder.

——

“I hope Seol-ah isn’t doing anything strange? I’m worried….”

“She’s probably handling it well. Isn’t that fox with her? Don’t worry.”

“I want to believe you… but it’s hard to.”

Seol-yeon sighed. She couldn’t predict what her sister might do.

No matter how many times she told herself to trust her sister, she couldn’t, given her past actions. She would seem trustworthy for a moment, then do something that would make her lose faith again.

Seol-yeon’s tail swayed nervously.

“We should get lodging and then go see Seol-ah quickly.”

“Okay.”

Seol-yeon and her party soon arrived in front of a building. It was the only inn in this village.

It was small and old because there were no guests, but they had no other choice. As the two opened the door, the sound of tinkling bells echoed.

“… There are people here?”

“Hmm.”

The inn should have been empty, but for some reason, several people were visible as soon as they opened the door.

There weren’t many of them, but the building was so small that it seemed crowded at first glance.

After a moment of slight surprise, the two walked steadily towards the counter. The innkeeper, and the sole employee, was busy working there.

Seol-yeon’s father called out to him by tapping the desk.

“Hey.”

“Ah, yes? Ah, ah. There are no rooms available right now.”

“What?”

And at the completely unexpected words, Seol-yeon and her father’s eyes widened.

The employee continued.

“Dozens of people suddenly came rushing in this morning and booked all the rooms. It’s strange, what could they possibly find to see in this remote area to come in such numbers?”

“We only need a room for one night, are there really no rooms available?”

“None, none. Since you’re familiar faces, I’d like to offer you even the storage room, but those people rented out the storage room too. It’s completely full.”

“What….”

After arguing with the innkeeper a few times, Seol-yeon and her party had to leave the inn without any success.

Seol-yeon said.

“… What should we do?”

“We’ll sleep on the ground.”

“No, sleeping isn’t the problem, I wanted to wash.”

“Just wipe yourself with snow.”

“Is that what you say to your daughter?”

“Or you could just wash in the ice lake… Ow! You hit your father?”

The two started arguing again.