Landlord in the Arctic-Chapter 89: Sled

’To get proper sled dogs, the best training method is to raise the pups together from a young age, letting them get used to pulling harnesses beforehand.’

Then, you use one trained pair and team them up with another pair to train them together.

Only through this kind of long-term training can you produce qualified sled dogs.

However, the Taiga Wolves were individually outstanding. Even if they could obey Khilla’s commands, they had no professional training. Getting them to obey in sync and work as a team would be extremely difficult; they would just end up in a chaotic mess.

It would be good for Khilla to learn a hard lesson.

After several failed attempts at persuasion, Nash could only help put the harnesses on the White Wolves.

"Listen up! Pay attention to my commands and watch my arms!" Khilla stood before the White Wolves, demonstrating the commands and using his arms to indicate direction.

"Watch the direction of my arms."

"When I say ’left,’ you run this way."

"When I yell ’right,’ you run that way."

"When I yell ’left-left,’ you turn this way."

"When I yell ’right-right,’ you turn right."

"When I yell ’mush,’ you run. ’Mush-mush’ means run for your lives."

"When I yell ’whoa,’ you stop!"

"Did you all get that?"

As Nash was putting the harnesses on the White Wolves, he heard Khilla teaching them the commands and was utterly dumbfounded on the spot.

’What the heck is ’mush-mush’?’

’What is ’whoa’?’

’Aren’t sled dog commands supposed to be ’hike,’ ’gee,’ and ’haw’? Did the Sled Dog Association update the commands or something?’

Just as Nash was lost in his own confusion, a confident Khilla stepped in front of the White Wolf Pack.

"Alright, let’s do a dry run! When I call a direction, you turn your heads. ’Go’ means stand up, ’stop’ means sit down. Everyone, listen for my command!"

"Left!!"

As the command left Khilla’s mouth, the White Wolf Pack immediately turned their heads to the right.

"Good, but that’s right. Other way. Left!"

The White Wolf Pack turned their heads to the left.

"Wrong, that’s right! Let’s try again. To the right!"

"That’s left! Again! To the left!"

"Hey, hey, hey, that’s right... You bunch of dumb wolves."

Khilla stomped his feet in frustration. The White Wolves were smart, sure—they understood "mush" and "whoa" just fine—but they couldn’t tell left from right. He had clearly shown them which way was which, yet they still got it wrong.

Nash was completely speechless, watching Khilla jumping up and down. After a moment’s hesitation, he walked over.

"Khilla, you’re facing the White Wolves. They’re mirroring your arm movements."

"!!!"

Khilla’s face instantly burned with embarrassment.

’I was so careless. I’m face to face with the White Wolves, so their left and right are the opposite of mine.’

’No wonder they couldn’t get it right.’

Having found the root of the problem, Khilla turned his back to the White Wolves and once again used his arms to show them left and right.

This time, it worked.

The White Wolves perfectly executed the left and right movements according to his commands.

Next was attaching the harnesses to the gangline. The gangline was made of animal hide rope, about twenty meters long and very sturdy.

The gangline had eight to ten pairs of sturdy, braided loops, with one to one-and-a-half meters between each pair.

Out of the seven Taiga White Wolves, Khilla selected the most mature-looking one to be the Alpha Wolf. The remaining six were arranged in three pairs, one behind the other.

All the White Wolves’ harnesses were clipped to the loops.

The preparations were complete.

Given that this was his first time driving a sled and there was a risk of crashing, Khilla slung his rifle over his back and decided to do a solo test run, tossing the yelping Prince, who had been begging for a ride, to the side.

He gripped the sled’s central handlebar with both hands and placed one foot on the runner.

Looking at the eager White Wolf Pack, Khilla couldn’t hide his excitement and shouted with all his might.

"Mush!!"

Hearing the command, the uncoordinated White Wolves instantly tensed up, their paws digging furiously at the snow as they charged crookedly toward the antler-fence gate.

Khilla felt his body lurch backward, his heart leaping into his throat.

He gripped the central handlebar tightly, continuously shouting commands.

"Left, right, no, left! Right is fine too."

By the end, even Khilla wasn’t sure what commands he was giving the White Wolves.

Faced with the chaotic commands, the White Wolf Pack simply ran amok.

Some wolves heard the "left" command and were about to charge that way, only to hear a yell for "right," so they ended up spinning in circles.

Other wolves would dash a few steps to the left, then dart far to the right, only to collide with another wolf and end up in a rolling tangle.

A few of the White Wolves ignored the commands altogether and just ran wherever they pleased.

Khilla’s face was flushed, and sweat beaded on his forehead as he continued to shout haphazard commands.

Finally, the sled was dragged headfirst into a snowdrift by the Wolf Pack, and Khilla was thrown off, face-planting into the snow.

Nash covered his face, unable to bear watching the chaotic scene. He went over to help Khilla up, righted the sled, and finally pulled the White Wolves back to the open area.

"Khilla, you should drive the sled slowly. Don’t go so fast. The Wolf Pack hasn’t adapted yet."

"Ptooey... You’re right."

Khilla spat out a mouthful of snow, completely agreeing with Nash’s advice.

’These dumb wolves aren’t on the same page at all.’

He stepped back onto the sled’s runners and gripped the central handlebar.

This time, Nash took hold of the Alpha Wolf’s harness and led the White Wolf Pack as they slowly pulled the sled around the open area in front of the camp.

Khilla issued directional commands, and after a few laps, the White Wolf Pack gradually grew accustomed to them. When Nash let go of the harness, the White Wolves were already able to pull the sled and walk normally.

It was much smoother this time!!

Seeing that the White Wolf Pack had learned the basics of pulling a sled, it was time to increase the difficulty.

Khilla guided the White Wolf Pack away from the camp and out onto the open Tundra. The sled’s runners left two deep tracks in the snow.

With a shout of "Mush-mush!"

The White Wolf Pack received the command and began to accelerate. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

They sped across the vast Tundra like a white whirlwind.

Icy snowflakes were kicked up by their rapid pace, forming a hazy mist of snow.

Khilla lay low on the sled, feeling the howl of the cold wind and the thrill of the speed.

Although the harsh wind turned his face bright red, his eyes were filled with excitement.

「In that moment.」

Khilla had fallen deeply in love with wolf sledding.

After running for an unknown amount of time, the White Wolves began to pant heavily, their chests heaving. Every breath puffed out in a white cloud, and their speed began to drop.

Sensing the change in speed, he knew the White Wolves were about spent. If they ran any longer, they would be completely exhausted.

Khilla shouted, "Whoa!"

Hearing the command, the White Wolves slowed down until the sled came to a complete stop.

The White Wolves’ limbs felt weak, and they all collapsed onto the snow.

They panted for breath, their fur soaked with sweat that quickly formed a thin layer of frost in the cold wind.

Khilla’s heart ached seeing them like this. He quickly jumped off the sled, unclipped the White Wolves from their harnesses, and then grabbed his rifle to look for Thunderbirds or wild rabbits.

His luck was good.

After cresting a hill, he spotted a small herd of reindeer.

’Same old rule: take the big, leave the small; take the male, leave the female.’

With a single gunshot, a male reindeer weighing over two hundred pounds collapsed. The other reindeer, startled by the sound, abandoned their companion and fled.

Khilla found the male reindeer, killed by a single shot. Instead of field dressing it on the spot, he hoisted the carcass onto his shoulders and carried it back to where the White Wolves were resting.

「...」