TBF 05

Chapter 5

Chomp.

Nabom opened her tiny triangular mouth wide and bit into the dandelion leaf Ferdi was holding out.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

The fresh leaf disappeared into her little mouth in an instant.

After finally eating a proper meal again, Nabom’s face trembled.

It’s so delicious!

Completely ruled by her appetite, she searched for the next bite and ended up swallowing an entire dandelion, flower and all, straight from the soil.

With her face buried in the dirt as she happily munched on the plants, the two brothers watched her with fascinated expressions.

Every time the rabbit chewed, the soft fur covering her face bounced gently. Her long upright ears also twitched.

“If you eat like that, your face will get dirty.”

As an excuse to touch her, Ferdi carefully brushed the dirt off her cheeks and nose with his fingertips.

“Hey! Brother, that’s not fair!”

Louis reached out too, but Nabom was completely absorbed in eating and didn’t even look at him.

Growing impatient, Louis looked around before pulling an entire dandelion out of the ground, roots and all.

“Rabbit! Snow Rabbit!”

Holding two or three dandelions in his hand, he approached her.

Only then did Nabom turn to look at him.

She sniffed the flowers in his palm with her tiny nose.

Then…

Chomp.

She took one.

Munch, munch. Crunch, crunch.

She was so focused on chewing the leaves that she didn’t react at all while Louis and Ferdi rubbed her chin and cheeks or scratched the fluffy fur on her ears and belly.

“She really eats well, Snowflake.”

“I told you, Brother. She’s not Snowflake. She’s Snow Rabbit.”

“Right. Snow Rabbit.”

“Anyway, you need to eat a lot.”

Louis cheerfully held out another dandelion.

“Right now, you’re not even enough for a single bite for His Grace!”

For a moment, Nabom froze.

But the delicious smell right in front of her nose won again.

Chomp.

Crunch, crunch.

The green leaf disappeared into her little mouth.

***

A dog sled sped across the snow.

Clatter!

The sled shook violently, but the two people riding it kept their balance with ease.

Theodore Grizzly and his aide, Demirun.

“It still needs a better suspension.”

Demirun muttered as he straightened his windblown hair.

“Maybe we should at least add a roof.”

The blizzard slapped relentlessly against his face. Without covering his eyes, he could barely keep them open.

His lord, however, seemed unaffected by either the rough ride or the freezing storm. Theodore simply stared ahead without even frowning.

“Your bravery truly is—”

Fweeeet!

Screech!

At Theodore’s whistle, the sled stopped immediately.

“…remarkable.”

Demirun barely avoided falling by grabbing the railing.

Theodore calmly stepped off the sled and reached toward the dogs.

All four sled dogs eagerly pushed their heads beneath his hand, competing for his attention.

Even the slightest touch from Theodore’s palm made every dog stick out its tongue, pant happily, and wag with delight.

The Grizzly family’s loyal hounds looked as cheerful as ever.

“I’ll be back in a moment.”

Whether the dogs understood him or not, their eyes remained fixed on Theodore’s retreating back.

“So you brought me along to gather food after all?”

Demirun hurried after him.

It was already late November.

Only about a month remained before hibernation, so the more food they stored, the better.

“Come to think of it, there’s still one thing we haven’t collected yet.”

“The one we all like best.”

But Demirun never finished his sentence.

Theodore suddenly changed direction, heading somewhere completely unexpected.

“Your Grace? This is Arctic Wolf territory.”

When Demirun asked, Theodore silently nodded.

“No, simply nodding doesn’t exactly explain anything…”

Demirun frowned and stopped walking.

This was the territory of the Arctic Wolves—the Blashin family of the White Wolves.

There was always a delicate tension between the North and the Arctic. People from either side rarely entered the other’s territory.

If someone happened to run into them…

If they recognized the ruler of the North…

“Run.”

Theodore quietly called.

Demirun immediately saluted and followed.

Soon they arrived at a clearing.

Or rather, a place that had once been a clearing.

“…This…”

Even beneath the snow, enormous craters scarred the ground.

Several fir trees that had once stood together had been torn down, exposing their trunks.

One tree even had a huge imprint shaped like an animal’s back.

“…Don’t tell me.”

“You fought the White Wolves here?”

Demirun turned pale as he looked at his lord.

As always, Theodore’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.

After silently surveying the area, he noticed something and walked toward it.

Following Theodore’s gaze, Demirun’s mouth fell open.

“Did… did you make this?”

A massive hole had been dug into the ground.

Calling it a hole hardly did it justice—it was practically a pit large enough to trap over a dozen wolves.

Theodore quietly shook his head.

Demirun narrowed his eyes.

“Don’t lie to me. If you didn’t make it, then who could have dug a trap like this?”

Ignoring him, Theodore walked over to one of the fallen fir trees.

“Please just tell me honestly. Why did you build a trap like this? Did you have some grudge against the White Wolves—”

Again, Demirun couldn’t finish speaking.

Theodore suddenly wrapped both arms around the enormous tree and began exerting strength.

Craaack!

Before Demirun could stop him, the entire fir tree was ripped out by its roots.

Without even transforming into his bear form.

Demirun stared in disbelief and slowly shook his head.

Meanwhile, Theodore calmly carried the tree to the pit.

Boom!

He slammed it into the ground with tremendous force.

The tree split cleanly in half.

He placed one half into the pit, neatly stacked the other beside it, then pushed snow and dirt over the top.

Finally, he stomped down the freshly piled snow until it looked like a natural hill.

“Your Grace… what exactly are you doing?”

“Run.”

Looking into Theodore’s eyes, Demirun immediately understood.

He sighed deeply.

“Yes, yes. Understood.”

“I didn’t see anything.”

“I was never here.”

“And I certainly never helped Your Grace cover up a trap…”

He grumbled while helping pack down the snow.

Just then…

Theodore’s golden eyes turned cold.

Both men sensed the same thing and instantly leaped behind a nearby tree.

Moments later, several figures emerged through the blizzard.

White wolves.

The White Wolves.

They sniffed the ground while looking around, clearly searching for something.

Fortunately, the pit had been restored perfectly.

Their own footprints had been erased during their escape.

The raging snowstorm also hid any foreign scent.

Soon three large wolves began growling angrily at three others.

It sounded like they were blaming them for something, though the exact meaning was impossible to understand.

Humans couldn’t understand the speech of transformed beastfolk.

If they transformed themselves, they could eavesdrop from this distance.

Demirun looked at Theodore.

Theodore quietly shook his head.

Right.

Bears are simply too large.

Even in this heavy snowfall, they’d be spotted immediately.

After the three dominant wolves finally left, the others limped after them.

“Your Grace, at this rate we’re both going to become snowmen.”

“Shouldn’t we head back soon?”

“Send a letter…”

Theodore spoke quietly.

“Yes.”

“What shall I write?”

“As soon as he reads it…”

Theodore finally turned away from the clearing.

“Tell Pallas to come to Grizzly Castle.”

Demirun saluted toward his lord’s retreating back.

Before following, he glanced one last time at the clearing.

His eyes landed on the tree Theodore had held.

There was a deep indentation where Theodore’s hand had gripped the trunk.

He had nearly crushed it while glaring at the wolves.

Demirun’s expression darkened.

…So that’s what it was.

That little rabbit, as white as a snowflake…

The White Wolves must have been threatening it.

So the Blashin family still believes in that ancient legend.

A tiny life cornered by predators.

Just like the precious child His Grace once lost.

Now Demirun finally understood why Theodore had chosen a new emergency food supply.

As they headed back, Theodore suddenly changed direction again.

“Your Grace?”

Without answering, Theodore’s body expanded and transformed.

A gigantic brown bear appeared where the man had stood.

His shredded clothes fell to the ground beneath him.

“You forgot to take your clothes off before transforming again.”

Demirun sighed helplessly before quickly stripping off his own clothes.

“So that’s why you brought me.”

Laughing, he transformed as well.

A massive black bear with a white crescent-shaped marking on its chest followed behind the enormous brown bear.

***

Nabom was completely lost in bliss as she chewed another mouthful of dandelions under the relentless “feed the rabbit” assault from Ferdi and Louis.

Suddenly, her ears shot upright.

“His Grace’s presence.”

“His Grace is back!”

The two boys immediately dashed out of the greenhouse.

Nabom’s body trembled.

There was no mistaking it.

It was exactly the same scent as the giant brown bear she had encountered in the forest.

Cradled in Anna’s arms, she was carried outside.

Just as expected.

The head of the Grizzly family stood outside the greenhouse in his massive brown bear form.

Beside him stood a huge black bear with a white crescent on its chest.

The overwhelming smell of predators nearly made Nabom faint.

“Welcome back, Your Grace!”

“You’ve returned safely, Your Grace!”

The two boys saluted sharply.

I was right.

A family where rank comes before family ties.

Even children are treated like soldiers.

That’s the Grizzly family of the North!

If only the original novel had explained them in more detail…

Maybe I could have figured out how to escape.

Her ears drooped in disappointment.

Just then, the two boys giggled and whispered to each other.

“Pretending to be knights is so fun, right, Brother?”

“Shh. Knights don’t chat like that.”

Unfortunately, Nabom didn’t hear their conversation.

A moment later, both boys cried out.

“Wow!”

“No way!”

Behind the two bears was the sled.

It was piled high with something.

“Salmon!”

“So much salmon!”

Fresh salmon formed a mountain on the sled.

Louis and Ferdi laughed happily.

“It’s a feast!”

“Yeah!”

“The special meal before hibernation.”

At Ferdi’s words, Nabom’s head snapped toward him.

Did he just say…

Hibernation?