Black Tower, 42nd Floor.

Thud! Boom!

Pink Fur and the other adults were constructing a giant kindergarten building. It was big enough for even Pink Fur to walk into without trouble.

While the building was being constructed...

“Today, we’ll be doing scent differentiation.”

Elka was holding a class for the children.

Even though the building wasn’t complete yet, the adults were taking turns teaching their specialties outdoors in morning and afternoon shifts.

“Daddy!”

“Daddy, let’s play!”

Elka’s children caused a brief ruckus by calling Elka ‘Dad’ instead of ‘Teacher,’

“Ahem. You’re supposed to call me ‘Teacher’ here.”

“Yes, Teacher Elka!”

At Elka’s stern tone, the five baby wolves answered energetically.

With that, the lesson resumed.

Elka was teaching systematically from the basics so that not only species with developed sense of smell but also those without it could learn.

Developing your sense of smell to a wolf’s level is difficult. But just like the saying ‘you see as much as you know,’ if you practice smelling and learning to distinguish scents, you’ll naturally get better.

Elka trained them by having them blindfolded and sniff various scents, then teaching them the correct answers.

Naturally, species born with heightened olfactory senses learned faster, but Elka made ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) sure to teach everyone in a way they could follow.

Since he patiently waited so that the children wouldn’t get discouraged, eventually even some of the others began to accurately identify the scents.

Now, after a fair amount of lessons, most could correctly identify 8 out of 10 scents.

“Today, we’ll raise the level a bit. We’re doing scent tracking. Smell this cloth, then go find the same scent in the forest.”

Elka held out a piece of cloth with his front paw for the children to smell.

“And if you come back in the top 10, or bring back a cloth numbered from 1 to 10, you’ll get a special snack tonight.”

“Special snack!”

The children’s eyes sparkled at Elka’s words. The special snacks were ones Sejun had made, cherished by the adults who refrained from eating them themselves.

“The forest is dangerous, so be careful. Now go!”

“Wow!”

At Elka’s signal, the children rushed into the forest.

Though Elka warned them to be cautious, the forest had already been cleared by the adults, so as far as they knew, there was nothing dangerous.

***

Sniff, sniff.

The special snack is mine!

Elka’s youngest daughter, Elloi, carefully sniffed the air around her as she slowly moved forward.

Then—

Found it!

This way!

Elloi finally picked up the scent she wanted.

Tap tap tap tap!

She dashed toward the source. Her short legs didn’t allow much speed, but she was doing her best.

While she was running—

“Huh?”

What’s that smell?

A stinging, fishy odor passed her nose, mixed with a warm, cozy scent that felt nice.

But Elloi, focused on her goal, ignored the subtle scent and kept chasing the strongest one.

And then—

Sniff, sniff.

“Found it.”

She arrived at the source of the smell.

Rustle.

With her short front paw, she dug at the ground and pulled out a cloth.

The number ‘7’ was written on it.

If I bring this back quickly, will I get two special snacks?

Grinning at the thought, Elloi grabbed the cloth and stood up—

Poke.

A sharp sting came from her right front leg.

“Huh?!”

What’s that?

Elloi looked down at her leg in a hurry.

Creak.

There was a brown spider, the size of a fist, injecting venom into Elloi’s leg while staring straight at her.

A venomous spider!

Terrified, Elloi shook her front paw frantically to fling the spider off—

I have to run!

She tried to get away to find help. Though she had brought an antidote green onion just in case, it didn’t come to mind in her panic.

Meanwhile, the poison began spreading rapidly through her body.

“Huh?!”

Why am I so dizzy?

Elloi couldn’t move her body properly. Her vision started to blur.

Then, around the staggering Elloi, fist-sized spiders began emerging from underground one by one, surrounding her.

They were burrow spiders that dug deep tunnels underground and only came to the surface during hunting season, so the adults hadn’t detected them.

“N... no...”

If I lose consciousness here...

Elloi desperately fought to stay awake, but her consciousness faded.

At that moment—

Whoosh.

That scent... it feels good.

That same cozy and warm scent rushed into her nose. At the same time, something cool entered her mouth, and Elloi completely lost consciousness.

***

Queng!

[Phew. Thank goodness, da yo!]

Queng, who had picked up Elloi’s scent mixed with Elka’s, had flown over in a rush and squeezed the juice of an antidote green onion into her mouth, feeling relieved.

While Queng was treating Elloi—

“Kkyut-kkyut-kkyut. Power of gravity... Gravity.”

Crunch.

Boom.

Iona, perched on Queng’s right shoulder, crushed the burrow spiders and their tunnels in one go with her gravity magic.

Once the spiders were dealt with—

Kkuhehehe. Queng!

[Hehehe. I want to see Mom soon, da yo!]

Queng slung the unconscious Elloi over his left shoulder and quickly flew toward the scent of her mother and Elka.

Soon after—

Queng handed Elloi over to Elka and explained what happened.

“Kkyut-kkyut-kkyut.”

Iona quietly stepped down from Queng’s shoulder.

“Is the work I asked you to do finished?”

She had resumed her duties as president of the Mage Association.

Then—

Queng!

[Mom! Queng is back, da yo!]

Queng ran into Pink Fur’s arms.

Boom!

The impact was strong, but thanks to training with Bull King, Pink Fur easily received the charge.

Kkuong?

[My son’s back?]

Queng!

[Yeah!]

Hehehe. Mom’s scent is so nice, da yo.

Queng snuggled into Pink Fur’s chest. It was the same warm and cozy scent Elloi had smelled earlier.

After the long embrace between mother and son—

Queng! Queng!

[Mom! Queng will help build the kindergarten! Queng worked with Dad a lot, so I’m good at it, da yo!]

Queng helped Pink Fur with the construction.

Queng!

[Queng will also handle the cooking, da yo!]

He put his cooking skills—learned by watching Sejun—into full use.

Fortunately, Queng’s cooking was far better than Aileen’s, so everyone enjoyed dinner.

After dinner—

Queng! Queng...

[So Queng... no, Detective Quenan tracked down the scent and caught the honey thief, da yo! Queng...]

Snuggled up in Pink Fur’s arms, Queng chattered endlessly about what had happened.

Kuhohoho.

Every time Queng boasted about his exploits, Pink Fur laughed warmly and smiled.

Kkuhehehe.

That smile spread to Queng again.

[And just when we were going home after catching the culprit, Baektang appeared, and Big Bro knocked him out!]

Queng became even more excited as he talked.

Time passed, and the night sky darkened.

Kkuhehehe. Queng...

[Hehehe. Kkamang gave a mental education lesson...]

Snore...

Queng, who had been talking excitedly, finally couldn’t resist sleep and dozed off.

Thump.

Pink Fur gently laid the sleeping Queng on the ground.

The stars are bright.

When she looked up, the sky was filled with twinkling stars.

Pink Fur admired the beautiful sky for a while before slowly closing her eyes.

Kkuooor...

Snore...

The two fell into a deep sleep, sharing warmth.

As if rewarding Pink Fur for watching over him—

Shimmer.

Starlight gently covered them. Thanks to that, they were able to sleep even more warmly.

***

<Hamk>

The sun hadn’t risen yet. It was still dark in the Temple of Ham-God.

Clunk.

Archbishop Galchi, dressed in pure white robes embroidered with golden thread, flung open the doors to the temple and entered powerfully.

Then—

“Oh Ham-God Iona, thank you for giving our young hamsters daily food, please keep us from temptation, destroy the evil that torments hamsters, and bless all hamsters warmly. Ham-men.”

With a bowed head in front of the giant statue of Iona, he prayed earnestly.

After the prayer—

“Oh Ham-God Iona! Today again, I shall lick your feet 10,000 times to prove my faith!”

Lick. Lick. Lick. Lick. Lick.

He began diligently licking the feet of the Iona statue.

If Iona had seen it, he might’ve died—but luckily, she hadn’t found out yet.

Except—

“Kkyut?”

Why are my toes so itchy?

Maybe Galchi’s devotion reached her, and Iona started feeling itchy toes.

Could it be athlete’s foot?!

If Theo finds out, it’ll be a disaster!

Due to this misunderstanding, Iona would go on to develop an athlete’s foot healing spell—an incredible magical achievement.

Of course, Galchi’s contribution to this would only be discovered much later when Iona visited <Hamk> and found him licking the statue’s toes.

“Kkyu-kkyu-kkyu—I thought it was athlete’s foot!”

That day, Galchi reportedly got blasted by endless Magic Missiles.

***

The next morning.

“Hup-cha.”

Sejun, waking up earlier than usual.

“For breakfast today...”

He began to think about the menu.

And then—

“Puhuhut.”

Today again, I must check the news about the great hybrid Chairman Park’s crops, nya!

Theo, hanging on Sejun’s lap, used the smartphone Iona had left behind to check the news.

Then—

“Nya?”

As he opened a YouTube video introducing Sejun’s crops, a familiar melody came from the phone. It must’ve been background music.

This is Chairman Park’s Work Song No. 3, nya!

“Chairman Park, they’re using your song without permission, nya!”

Recognizing the song, Theo cried out in indignation.

“Huh? My song?”

Responding to Theo, Sejun checked the smartphone in Theo’s paw.

“Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Hype boy~”

In the video, a famous girl group song Sejun often hummed while working on the 99th Floor was playing.

“How dare they sing the great hybrid Chairman Park’s song without permission, nya! And they’re even better than you, nya! No respect for the original artist, nya! Chairman Park, I, Vice Chairman Teo, will go and stamp them all out, nya!”

Theo was so worked up, he looked ready to storm off.

And—

“......”

Feeling guilty, Sejun froze.

Is it finally time to pay for claiming someone else’s song as his own?

“Vice Chairman Teo, I gave them permission to use it.”

No. That time hasn’t come yet.

“Nya?! You did, nya?!”

“Yeah.”

Sejun shamelessly lied to avoid disaster.

Luckily, Queng wasn’t here.

If Queng had been there?

Queng?!

[Dad, are you lying to Queng right now, da yo?!]

He would’ve pulled out the Lightning Stick to set Sejun straight.

“Let’s eat quickly and go pick up Queng.”

Sejun changed the subject quickly.

“Puhuhut. Got it, nya!”

Theo nodded and went back to watching the phone.

But then—

“Red flavor~ Curious honey~”

“Nya?!”

That’s Chairman Park’s Work Song No. 5, nya!

As another plagiarized song played—

“Vice Chairman Teo, smartphone ban.”

Sejun tried to confiscate the phone to hide the lie.

“Nya?”

But Theo easily dodged his hand.

“Hup!”

“Nya!”

“Hup!”

“Nya!”

No matter what Sejun did, he couldn’t snatch it from Theo’s front paw.

“...If you hand it over, I’ll give you exclusive lap rights for one month.”

He brought out his secret weapon: Lap Domination Rights.

“Puhuhut. Deal, nya!”

Theo immediately handed over the phone.

But he had no idea that Iona had already filed lawsuits—on Sejun’s behalf—against all the artists he plagiarized.

Hehehe. Perfect.

Sejun, thinking he had hidden everything perfectly, grinned in satisfaction.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com