At the Northern Fort V1C9: Crisis (1)
The beginning of that day was also peaceful.
For breakfast I had the remaining jerky leftover from last night, licking it all over to soften the meat that had hardened from being dehydrated. The One-Eyed Knight really is a good person for giving me something so delicious.
My caution towards him had lessened slightly through the jerky. Now I wasn’t that scared about going near him.
But as always, being stared at when he was right next to me still made me nervous, and I still reflexively ran away whenever he extended his rough hands in attempts to pet me.
And every time the One-Eyed Knight made a disappointed expression, I also felt rather apologetic——-in exchange for giving me such delicious food, wouldn’t it be fine to let him pet me?——but my animal instinct, or perhaps my instinct as a spirit, didn’t approve of allowing humans to touch me so easily.
And while I understood that he didn’t intend on hurting me, seeing such a large hand slowly descend on me from above was scary.
“Petting is still out of the question, huh.”
The One-Eyed Knight gave a slightly lonely smile while saying that.
I’m sorry, but it’s not possible yet.
To begin with, I’m not an easy woman who just wags her tail at anyone. I’d be troubled if I were seen as cheap! Though my fluffiness doesn’t have an ounce of wildness to it, my mind is that of a proud——-
“Well, see you later.”
The One-Eyed Knight closed the window and headed off to work.
I was still talking!
Having finished eating breakfast, I slipped out from the dorm’s rear garden while remaining vigilant against human eyes. How shall I kill time until sunset?
Being a baby fox, there’s no need to do work, chores, study, or anything. I have nothing but free time every day.
Guess I’ll walk around the grounds like always and have myself an adventure.
These past few days I’ve been exploring the facility pretty boldly, but I don’t think I’ve been found out by anyone other than the One-Eyed Knight yet. Maybe I have some talent as a spy.
Today the skies had been clear since the morning, and the temperature was relatively high compared to the norm for winter in this region. When I hid myself and observed the knights, a topic that frequently came up in conversation was [How hot it is today].
No, I don’t really think it was actually that hot. Even with the sun out, the snow didn’t melt, and I’m pretty sure the temperature is lower compared to Tokyo’s midwinter temperatures.
They had become far too used to the below freezing temperatures that were common for winter in this area, so their sense of hot and cold had probably gone a bit off.
But that wasn’t something I had any room to talk about with regards to others. Since I was a snow spirit, I was incredibly resistant to the cold, so today certainly did feel warm.
Even during the summer, this region was cool but——-on the mountain summit where I lived with Mother, the snow did not melt all year long——-if I went further south, I honestly might end up melting from the heat. When I grow up and my area of activity expands, it’d probably be better not to leave the mountain too much during the summer.
And then, the afternoon also passed peacefully.
I pushed my way through the soft snow as though I were swimming in it, visited the stables where I was in the process of making friends with the horses there by exchanging greetings through nose touches.
After that, I challenged the little birds who flew around in circles up above as though they were making fun of the clumsy me, saying if you’re looking for a fight, I’ll take you on!……..
I had thought that animals felt a sense of awe towards Mother and I since we were spirits, but it seems they were only afraid of Mother. That was the sad truth that I learned after being separated from Mother. Once I become an adult and become dignified, I probably won’t be teased by these little birds anymore.
Then, the incident happened when the sun set.
The surroundings grew dark, and the air chilled abruptly as nightfall hit. If it were me from my previous life, who was accustomed to indoor heating, I probably wouldn’t have been able to endure the biting cold, but the current me was a furry animal. I was warm and cozy thanks to my natural fur.
With only my wet nose and paw pads feeling the cold air, I hurried to my den at the back of the barracks.
Today I moved around alot, so I’m hungry. Is the One-Eyed Knight still working? Or has he already prepared dinner and is waiting for me?
I panted while heading for his location, but danger was lurking on my path there.
“……?”
At first, all I saw was the dark silhouette of some lifeform. Due to the darkening sky, it was difficult to immediately discern the identity of the being before my eyes.
However, from the scent carried by the wind, I was soon able to guess the other party’s true identity.
(A stray dog?)
Together with the beastly scent was the sound of rough breathing that reached my ears. Now that I think of it, the silhouette was also rather dog-like.
The term ‘stray dog’ brought to mind the image of a pet dog still wearing its collar, loitering around somewhere in town with a carefree expression. The sort of dog that some auntie would call out to, saying ‘just where did you come from!?’.
However, as it slowly approached, its form growing more visible, I was assaulted by an intense sense of danger.
That ain’t something cute like a stray dog.
——it’s wild. A wild dog. A beast that has never been domesticated by humans.
The air grew tense and somewhat suffocating.
Its glimmering eyes grew bloodshot and sharp fangs peeked out from its faintly open mouth as it panted roughly. Exposing his hunger was a long and sticky strand of drool that slowly dripped to the ground. Its brow and muzzle creased as a low grow leaked from its throat.
My lower vantage point gave the wild dog a frightening intensity to its presence, causing me to instinctively cower.
When it felt like my legs were about to give out, I forced myself to stand firm. However, because my hind legs were still trembling, my field of vision was also shaking.
It was clearly looking at me as prey. It planned on biting my throat and choking the life out of me before devouring me to its heart’s content.
The wild dog took another step towards me, closing the distance between us. Its head was low, as though it were trying to gauge the timing with which it should pounce.
He was different from the little birds that teased me in the afternoon. If I fought back, I’d be killed.
For the first time since I lived in this body, I felt a chill. The amount of sweat coming from my paws was staggering. The fear of death crept upon me.
Even as I was attacked by the utmost amount of nervousness and terror, I did not look away from my opponent, in order to protect my own life. In order not to simulate the wild dog, I maintained eye contact while slowly retreating.
However, the instant the wild dog grew impatient and pounced my way to run at me, I also turned my body around and ran away at full speed.
After that was a super desperate situation.
I single-mindedly ran down the narrow path where the snow had been shovelled. The enemy had the advantage in its longer legs, so all I could was increase my pace.
With my eyes open wide, I used all my strength——being far more serious compared to when I had run away from the children prior to coming here——-to run.
As I ran, there was a point where I had no choice but to choose a path that had not been shovelled, but luckily it was in a shaded place during the day, so the snow had hardened to some extent. With my light weight, I was able to run over the snow without breaking the icy surface. The wild dog chasing me from behind had to tread through the snow, and as such, our speeds became approximately equal.
I was thinking of using this as an opportunity to gain as much distance between us as possible, but then we’d soon arrived at a shovelled path where the knights were walking, or dive into an area of partially-melted muddy snow – the conditions of my escape route were not stable. It was because I was running haphazardly.
“Wah! Wh-……what!?”
On the way, I came across a group of knights that appeared to have finished work, but right now I didn’t have the time to be conscious of their gazes.
Dashing through the knights’ legs at full speed, I frantically continued to move my legs. The wild dog’s wariness towards the humans also only lasted for a brief moment, and it did not stop chasing after me as its prey.
Haahaahaa, only the sound of the enemy’s breathing dominated my hearing. While I didn’t have the leeway to look back over my shoulder, I’m sure that the dog’s tongue is hanging out from its mouth loosely, scattering its drool around as it chased after me.
The enemy presence was right behind me.
Fear caused my fur to stand on end.
At this rate, it’ll catch up with me…….!
——and, as I rounded the corner of the building, what came into sight was an inconspicuous pond that lay in the corner of the grounds.
It was likely man-made, as it wasn’t very wide, but it did look fairly deep. Perhaps they had been putting the shovelled snow into it, as there were still a number of unmelted lumps of snow floating inside of the pond.
While it wasn’t frozen over, the water was probably cold enough to hurt if you put your hand inside of it.
However, I purposely headed for that pond. Because it was clear that even if I continued to run away, I’d soon be caught.
I dove into the cold pond with a deathly determination.
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