9. Fishing

9. Fishing

“Wake up!”

I sat up straight from my tail, which had been buried. Young children recover from fatigue with just a little sleep, and I opened my eyes with a clearer mind than ever before.

Is this Sister’s room?

I looked around and realized that the place where I woke up was not my room.

The last thing I remember is waking up in the middle of the night, excitedly doodling, and then falling asleep. Both our sisters’ beds are single beds, so I naturally thought my sister would have moved me to my room, but it seems she didn’t.

Then, I wonder how Sister slept.

Did she hold me?

I am large. Of course, I don’t mean tall like my sister, but rather large in volume relative to my body size. The reason for this is none other than my huge, fluffy tail, which makes my body occupy almost twice the space.

It must have been uncomfortable to hold someone as big as me in a single bed… but I guess Sister would have found a way. Because Sister is a smart and cool wolf.

“Hehe.”

I feel happy remembering the masterpiece I drew yesterday.

A picture of me, my sister, Dad, and Mom. And I even wrote the names so coolly… Well, I didn’t finish writing them all, but I wrote them to a certain extent.

Did Sister see it?

Of course she did, it’s such a well-drawn picture!

Closing my eyes, I recall the picture I drew. On my sister’s work from all night, I drew four cool wolves with my pencil, saying “Grrr…”

Work?

“Uh, uh….”

A chill suddenly runs down my spine. Goosebumps cover my body, and my tail fur stands on end. My body stiffens like stone.

Did I… perhaps ruin Sister’s work?

Come to think of it, that’s right. Documents and books with difficult writing were placed on the desk, and it’s unlikely she just looked at them all night, so she must have been doing something with them. And judging from my past life experience, these things are usually very important.

And I drew on it!

I even put a lot of pressure on the pencil and diligently scribbled and colored it, trying to add shading. Even if I erased it, given the nature of this world where the paper quality isn’t very good, it’s highly likely that it wouldn’t be restored to its original state.

“Huk…!”

Sister was a gentle and kind person. That’s why, even though her all-night work was ruined because of me, she didn’t wake me up and just put me on the bed. Then she must have sighed looking at the documents that could no longer be used.

Thinking about that fact, my conscience pricked me, and I couldn’t do anything about my body. Sister cares for me and worries about me, but as her sister, all I do is ruin her work.

I’m disqualified as a wolf!

A fox, no, worse than a fox… Yes, a hamster. I’m no different from an Arctic hamster.

Tears start to well up. The door opens.

“Seol-ah? When did you wake up….”

“Hwaaang Sister I’m a hamster aaaaaa…..”

——

“… So that’s why you said you were a hamster?”

“Ung….”

Sister wipes the corners of my eyes, wiping away my tears. She even removes the sleep crust. But even after my vision returned, I didn’t have the confidence to look at Sister.

To cause such a grand accident as getting lost in the forest and then cause another accident without learning anything. I don’t even know if I’m really a reincarnated person.

I apologized to Sister in a voice so low it was barely audible.

“I’m sorry….”

“Seol-ah… that’s not that important. You don’t need to be so sorry.”

That’s a lie. Judging by my past life memories of over twenty years, documents filled with difficult writing are indeed important. Moreover, since she worked on them all night, her effort was also contained there. But I….

Sister is probably lying to comfort me by saying it’s not important. But that kind of consideration is actually harming me.

Tears flowed again.

“I’m sorryyyy….”

“Haha… Seol-ah. Do you want some candy?”

“Yes!”

Gasp.

I failed to control my expression and smiled brightly, and Sister smiled back at me. It was all Sister’s scheme. I, who am no longer a child, am falling for a food offensive!

If you cry and then laugh, your butt hair will grow.

… Come to think of it, I already have hair on my butt. Huge, fluffy tail fur.

I accepted the candy Sister had in her pocket. It’s the same special wolf tribe candy made from processed Ice fruit as always.

Munch munch.

Like the original Ice fruit, the candy was sweet and refreshing. It’s a bit harder than Ice fruit, but it’s still at a level that can be chewed with a crunch.

“Hehe….”

Eating something sweet makes me feel better. Sister hugged me, who was wagging my tail furiously, and stroked my head, saying.

“It really wasn’t that important, so you don’t have to worry. Rather, Sister liked the picture Seol-ah drew because it was so cool.”

“It was cool…?”

“Of course!”

I looked at Sister and asked. My eyes were probably sparkling.

“How cool was it…?”

“As much as the sky, as much as the earth, as much as Seol-ah’s tail.”

“Huk…!”

My tail is huge. Being as cool as my tail means it’s really, really cool. Hearing Sister’s praise, I started to feel uplifted. So much so that I could pierce the clouds in the sky!

I take back what I said earlier. I’m not a hamster, I’m a cool wolf! A strong, cool wolf who’s also good at drawing!

I howled towards the sky, expressing my joy.

“Yeouu~”

“Ahaha….”

Sister started moving while holding me. The direction suggests we’re going outside, so I turned to Sister, tilted my head, and asked.

“Where are we going?”

“Do you remember the Wyvern we caught a while ago? Today is the day we exchange that meat for the fish caught by Uncle Polar Bear. So everyone is working hard since this morning. We’re going there.”

“Am I giving the rabbit I caught too?”

I doubt that big uncle would even notice a rabbit. In fact, rather than worrying about that, I was dissatisfied that the prey I caught would go to Uncle.

Sister smiled lightly and shook her head.

“No. The rabbit Seol-ah caught is yours, so you should eat it. It’s coming out for dinner tonight, so you can look forward to it.”

“Kkang!”

A cry of joy!

As expected, wolf suin meals usually consist of meat. Although vegetables occasionally appear, the types are so limited due to the climate that only meat ends up on the table all the time.

However, eating only one type of food can get boring, so wolf suin try their best to prepare a variety of foods, and this barter is part of that effort.

Wolf suin obtain meat through their excellent hunting skills, and Uncle Polar Bear catches fish through his excellent swimming skills. By exchanging parts of these, they satisfy each other’s needs.

… Actually, I can’t imagine Uncle Polar Bear swimming. No matter how I think about it, with that huge body, if he falls into the water, it feels like a tsunami would occur.

As I imagined Uncle Polar Bear freely performing butterfly and freestyle strokes with his large, plump body, I suddenly came to my senses when my stomach rumbled.

Come to think of it, I haven’t eaten breakfast yet.

“Sister, I’m hungry.”

“Wait a little. We’ll eat right there.”

“Right away?”

Sister just smiled and stroked my head without answering. I don’t like having my head stroked!

——

In the very center of our tribe’s village, several wolf suin were bustling about. Some were carrying large containers filled with fish, others were carrying containers filled with raw meat… Today was a clear day with no snow, so the work seemed to be going smoothly.

Even though it’s clear, if the wind blows, my ears get cold with a “Kkang,” so I have to hunch over, but still, for the North, the weather is quite good.

I got down from Sister’s embrace and ran towards the snowfield with quick steps.

“Uncle!”

“Huh? What, why are you so late? Your fishing rod must be frozen solid with snow.”

“Fishing rod?!”

My body was lifted high into the air as I approached Uncle. Sister had grabbed me by the back of my neck and lifted me.

“You have to eat.”

“Ah!”

Come to think of it, we decided to eat here. I don’t know what we’re eating, but I followed Sister, wagging my tail back and forth.

What was there when I followed Sister was a Wyvern being dismantled.

I mean, a raw Wyvern corpse.

It seems the blood has been drained, but seeing the meat being butchered in real-time doesn’t seem good for the mind.

“Ugh… Are we really going to eat that?”

“Hehe, of course not, Seol-ah. Look there.”

Where Sister pointed, there was a pit to avoid the wind and a campfire was lit, and a savory, nutty smell was wafting from it.

This smell…!

“Fish!”

“Yes. Let’s go eat quickly.”

I quickly ran and ate the fish being grilled over the campfire. Even though it was just seasoned with salt, it was so delicious eating it with Sister.

After quickly finishing the grilled fish, which Sister had deboned, I looked at Sister and asked.

“What do we do now?”

“Hmm… Sister has to work here, so do you want to play with Uncle and go fishing?”

“No, I want to work too!”

As a proud member of the wolf tribe, it was natural to work alongside other tribe members. But Sister stroked my head and said there was no need.

“Why?!”

I said, whimpering. Why can’t I help with the work when I’m a grown wolf?

Then Sister laughed and replied, brushing my windblown hair with her hand.

“Seol-ah has been assigned the mission of catching fish to feed the wolf suin with Uncle Polar Bear. It’s a very important mission.”

“M-mission?”

“Of course. Seol-ah is a cool wolf… so you can do it well, right? Sister will trust only Seol-ah?”

Huk….

Sister trusts me. My heart pounds. My tail fluffs up. I nodded enthusiastically and replied.

“Yes! Because I’m a cool wolf!”

I ran straight to Uncle Polar Bear across the snowfield.