Episode 23
Kyle pretended not to hear Brody calling him because it was obvious what she was going to make him do.
As he was showing her the back of his head and pretending not to hear, Brody shouted again.
“Come quickly and help me!”
“You come! Let’s go quickly!”
He had already wasted time looking for that reindeer without even knowing it, and he had no intention of wasting any more time here.
Besides, he didn’t want to waste his remaining stamina by lifting a heavy tree for a reindeer he never saw before.
Brody was still groaning and trying to lift the tree next to the reindeer even as he called for her.
The tree didn’t move at all. At first, Kyle was just watching her struggle to examine the reindeer carefully.
But soon he started to get annoyed.
He was annoyed by the rabbit just wasting time here while they were busy, and he was also annoyed by the way she was worrying and caring about the reindeer.
Not only that, but the sight of the rabbit taking care of the reindeer as if it wasn’t the first time she saw him made him even more agitated for some reason.
Eventually Kyle walked to where the reindeer was.
He realized that he had to get that reindeer from under the tree quickly to get Brody back.
“It’s really annoying.”
Brody noticed Kyle approaching them, clicking his tongue in annoyance, and gave the dejected reindeer some words of encouragement.
“Just hold on a little longer! We’ll get you out soon!”
The reindeer opened his closed eyelids with difficulty when he heard the voice of salvation.
But as soon as he opened his eyes, the reindeer writhed in shock as if he was going to faint at the sight of a wolf approaching him.
“Aah, a wolf…!”
Brody shouted to calm the reindeer, who was paralyzed with fear.
“Mr. Reindeer, it’s okay! That guy is here to help you!”
But the reindeer didn’t believe her. Seeing him tremble in fear, Brody thought for a moment and then came up with a good idea.
“That guy is not actually a wolf, he is a dog. He is a very well-trained dog and will never bite you. So don’t worry.”
“What the hell, you **** rabbit?”
Kyle, who had turned into a dog in an instant, bared his teeth.
The reindeer almost fainted when he saw his fangs.
Brody, who couldn’t calm him down no matter what she said, eventually shook her head and spoke to Kyle like a doctor who wanted to perform surgery without anesthesia.
“I guess you should just come and help.”
Kyle looked at the reindeer, who gasped and squealed at the sight of him approaching, as if he was annoyed, and then crawled under the tree the reindeer was under.
“How is it? Can you lift it?”
Brody asked with a worried look on her face.
The weight of the tree that was touching his back was quite heavy. However, it was not so heavy that he couldn’t lift it.
He barely managed to find a spot between the ground and the tree, and gritted his teeth as he got up.
Thud.
With the sound of teeth grinding, the fallen tree began to move.
Brody grunted and shoved the reindeer’s rear end from behind.
The struggling reindeer flailed his legs. Pushing along the ground, he barely managed to escape from under the tree.
Kyle slowly sat down on his hind legs as soon as the reindeer left.
The tree that was hanging on his back slid down from it and soon fell to the ground with a loud noise of branches breaking.
“Kyle, are you okay?”
As Brody approached, Kyle arched his back, which had become stiff from carrying the heavy object, and then straightened it.
Other than a slight sore back, there was nothing particularly wrong.
“Is your back hurt? Is your back okay? Is your back fine?”
Brody kept circling around him and showing a fanatical obsession with his back.
“I said it was okay, so why do you keep asking about my back? Did I lift it with my back or your back?”
Finally, when Kyle couldn’t stand it anymore and started to get irritated, Brody finally shut her mouth.
After bickering with her, he looked around to find the reindeer, but It had disappeared without a trace.
“What? Where did he go?”
Brody, who was also looking around, muttered with a dumbfounded expression.
“I guess he ran away because he was afraid of being eaten by you.”
“He did not even say thanks to the people who saved his life? Should I really chase after him and kill him?”
While Kyle was gnashing his teeth and cursing the ungrateful reindeer.
“I, I… .”
The two of them suddenly turned their heads at the sound of a voice coming from behind them.
There, the reindeer they had rescued was hiding behind a tree, with only his head sticking out.
Even though Kyle saved his life, he was still afraid of him.
Still, he thanked Kyle quietly, checking his expression with a trembling voice.
“Thank you so much for saving me…”
The reindeer was a young man, younger than Kyle and about the same age as Brody.
Although he looked younger than that because he was so small.
Kyle, who complained about his ungratefulness before, didn’t even bother to answer him, so Brody awkwardly smiled and answered in Kyle’s stead.
“I’m glad you’re safe. We’re okay, so you can go now.”
“Thank you so much….”
The reindeer kept nodding in gratitude, then turned around hurriedly as if afraid that someone might chase him, and ran out into the forest.
Brody watched the reindeer run away in perfect health and smiled faintly as she spoke to Kyle.
“Kyle, thanks for helping Mr. Reindeer earlier.”
But Kyle immediately got annoyed when he heard Brody’s words.
“Why are you thankful? Are you that guy’s girlfriend?”
“That’s not it, but I’m still grateful that you listened to my request.”
Brody hugged his legs as if to calm his anger and rubbed her face against his, acting cute.
Of course, Kyle’s annoyance didn’t subside despite Brody’s cuteness.
But on the other hand, thinking about how she had been paying attention to the reindeer earlier, he didn’t feel bad about Brody clinging to him.
He stared at the place where the reindeer had run off to for a moment, then turned back with Brody, the baby monkey, hanging on his leg.
There was something he had missed because of the wind. The reindeer that had gone so far away, suddenly stopped in its tracks the moment he turned around.
The reindeer stood still and looked back slowly.
And he watched the backs of Brody and Kyle walking away for a long time.
***
The two returned to the forest head overlooking the harbor.
And while the sun began to set, they watched the ships coming and going from the port and the moose people, and made plans.
“I will go down later tonight to see if there are any ships heading to the southern seas in the near future.”
Kyle furrowed his brow at Brody’s words.
“How would you know that?”
“I will just go into the bar where the fishermen gather and get some information.”
It was a pretty plausible plan, but Kyle, who was not a very cooperative person himself, had a different opinion.
“Why don’t we both go down instead?”
“You will turn into a human?”
“Uha.”
“But we don’t have any clothes.”
“We can just get clothes from him.”
“From who?”
Brody looked up at him with wide eyes and asked. Then Kyle suddenly looked away from Brody, glared at the forest and answered.
“From that guy.”
“That guy?”
Brody stared blankly at the place he was looking at, not understanding what he was saying.
But after a while, someone came out timidly from behind the large tree that Kyle was glaring at.
Brody opened her mouth in surprise at the sight of that familiar face.
“Mr. Reindeer?”
It really was the reindeer.
In fact, Kyle had noticed the reindeer’s presence about 30 minutes ago when he followed them.
The reason he left it alone even though he knew what was happening; was because the reindeer didn’t try to hide itself.
If it had been secretly following them and spying on them, he would have gone straight where he was and killed him.
But it was able to live like this now because it stood there as if it wanted someone to find it and speak to it first.
“I’m sorry. I followed you without telling you.”
Unlike before when the reindeer was extremely nervous and anxious, it seems that after some time, it has calmed down.
He apologized to them politely.
Unlike Brody, who was happy to see him, Kyle ignored his apology and pressured him to go on with his business.
“If you’re sorry, explain why you followed us secretly.”
The reindeer swallowed once while looking at Kyle and spoke in a quiet voice.
“I was in a hurry earlier so I just said my thanks and left, but that kept bothering me and I’m sorry that I came after you despite the courtesy. But if it’s okay with you, I’d like to treat you to a meal… ”
“Oh my, really?”
Brody was so touched that he seemed so grateful.
But Kyle listened to him with a blank expression before opening his mouth.
“I don’t want the meal, just give me the money.”
The reindeer was taken aback by the straightforward request. And, he felt embarrassed when he heard it.
Brody stamped her hind foot on Kyle’s foot.
Then, leaving Kyle behind, who was getting annoyed and asking why, she quickly put her two front paws together and spoke in a hoarse voice.
“Haha. We would be so honored if you invited us! We were already craving food after such a long trip!”
Of course, this was Brody’s opinion. Kyle, who was filled with suspicion, bit Brody’s backpack and dragged her behind him.
Brody shouted that she wanted to talk to the reindeer for a moment before being dragged away, and Kyle told her to come to her senses as soon as he dropped her.
“What, you say it would be an honor to be invited? Get a hold of yourself, you **** rabbit. Why do you want to follow someone you just met today?”
He was loud enough for the reindeer to hear. Brody waved her forelegs wildly and whispered, telling him to lower his voice.
“Won’t we just eat and leave? Is there a problem with that?”
In fact, she had accepted the dinner invitation because she wanted Kyle to fill his stomach more than she did.
So she tried to persuade him more actively.
“And what is there to be suspicious of? He’s not the type of person to harm the people who saved him in the first place.”
“How do you know if he was that kind of person or not?”
“Oh my goodness, Kyle. That guy’s a reindeer. Have you ever seen a reindeer do something bad? Just look at those clear, innocent eyes.”
“You’re talking nonsense.”
Kyle didn’t give in to her easily because her persuasion was completely devoid of rational judgment.
As the two of them continued their pickering, the reindeer’s voice suddenly interrupted their conversation.
“I’m sorry for saying that, but…”
Brody and Kyle turned their heads towards him.
“I heard you were planning to board a ship heading south a little while ago.”
The reindeer hesitated for a moment and then spoke to them, who were staring at him quietly.
“I think I can help you with that a little bit…”
***
TL:
Me, sometimes referring to the reindeer as ‘it’ and other tim
es as ‘he’ is intentional and not a typo.
As, he met them in his animal form and is a young man, I used ‘it’ to minimize the lapse between Kyle and the reindeer and at the same time make you recall his current form.
When he transforms into his human form, I will only use ‘he’.
