At the Northern Fort V1C12: Iron Man
My legs are short.
Trot trot trot. Even when I moved my legs to the point where I was basically running, I couldn’t match the One-Eyed Knight’s walking speed as he went down the barrack hallway.
I was desperate to not be left behind by him.
Wait for me!
While it wasn’t like he had heard the shout of my heart, the One-Eyed Knight, who was walking in front of me, turned around.
And then, he noticed how far behind I had fallen despite how frantically I was running, and after waiting a bit for me to catch up, this time he started to walk more slowly.
Ahh, thank goodness.
After that, he kept glancing back, making sure that I wouldn’t get left behind as he walked. However, it seemed like he also had another motive for glancing back at me.
The One-Eyed Knight’s usually stern expression loosened every time he looked my way.
Well, I’m pretty cute in this world after all! -I thought to myself narcissistically, though it probably wasn’t just my looks, but the sight of me doing my best to follow him that made him happy.
The fact that a baby fox like me wasn’t being pulled along by a leash, but was following him like a baby duck, made the corners of the normally expressionless One-Eyed Knight’s mouth loosen.
As he continued to look back a number of times, we finally arrived at a single door. Like the many other doors lined up along the corridor wall, it was a plain, but sturdy-looking wooden door.
When the One-Eyed Knight opened that door, a familiar-looking room appeared. Not too spacious, with only the necessary furniture and lighting, and several books and a sword placed inside – a rather simple room.
However, upon entering after the One-Eyed Knight, I noticed that the room was filled with his scent.
I see, this is the One-Eyed Knight’s room. Since I normally look in from the window on the opposite side of the door, I didn’t immediately realize it because of the difference in perspective.
“It might feel a bit cramped to live in such a narrow room, but starting from today, you’ll sleep here. I’ll try to let you out as much as possible during the daytime. I’ll have to make you practice hunting until you’re able to get prey on your own too after all.”
The One-Eyed Knight spoke to me kindly.
Uuu, I don’t like practicing hunting. I can’t catch something like mice. Rather than it being a problem with my reflexes, they’re physiologically disgusting……I’d hate to pick it up with my mouth, much less eating it!
As my ears and tail drooped, the One-Eyed Knight said, “Wait a bit” and then left the room.
And, in that instant, I sensed the presences of multiple people from the hallway.
When I perked up my ears-
“Vice Captain, how’s the baby fox?”
“Is she still wary?”
“Rather, just when did Vice Captain start feeding her?”
“How unfair.”
“You stole the march on us!”
I heard whispered voices pestering the One-Eyed Knight.
Now that I think of it, when we were coming here, it felt like there were some presences following us from afar, and like someone was watching us. I guess that wasn’t just my imagination.
Apparently, the story of me being attacked by a wild dog spread quickly amongst the knights living here. Thus, all of them were currently bustling about, gathering like a group of elementary school boys around a dog that happened to make its way into the school building.
“You guys are noisy.”
The One-Eyed Knight made an exasperated sigh.
“Like I said earlier, the baby fox still isn’t used to humans. While I do plan on taking her under my care, don’t approach her too carelessly. You’ll end up scaring her.”
From his words, I could tell that the One-Eyed Knight was really taking me into consideration, which made me happy. The reason why there weren’t any people in the corridor or the lounge——-though I did sense some presences stealthily following us from behind——was probably thanks to the One-Eyed Knight clearing the people out. The only one that I met since waking up was the kind-looking female knight after all.
The young knights whined for a bit outside the room, but at some point they all started to falter, mumbling their words. The One-Eyed Knight probably coerced them with his sharp gaze. Telling them to shut up.
“…….o-ohh, look at the time! We should probably start heading back to our rooms.”
“R-Right. Sorry for bothering you so late, Vice Captain……!”
After a minute of silence, one of the young knights forcefully spoke with a slightly frightened voice, and the other knights also followed after him in a flustered manner.
The multiple people in the corridor scattered in a flurry. Even though he only had one of them, the power of the One-Eyed Knight’s eye was amazing.
The One-Eyed Knight didn’t immediately return, and he went off somewhere with quiet footsteps.
In order to distract myself from the loneliness of being left on my own, I tried gnawing on one of the bed legs. With my small fangs and feeble jaw strength, all I could do was leave a number of shallow dents. Somehow it felt frustrating.
And, just as I was making such mischief, the One-Eyed Knight returned. My large ears naturally caught the sound of his footsteps, so I stopped biting on the bed leg to avoid getting told off, making an innocent look as I sat on the spot. On top of that, I wagged my tail. I waited properly like a good girl~.
Upon opening the door and seeing me, the One-Eyed Knight’s face broke into a gentle smile.
Wahaha, I easily fooled him!
The One-Eyed Knight held a basket in hand, which he left next to his bed before beckoning me. What is it? -I wondered, and upon approaching I saw a blanket laid out inside the basket.
Could this be my bed?
I nimbly kicked off the ground and dove into the basket. I didn’t like how the blanket was so neatly folded into a square, so I purposely swung it around.
Look, it feels more nice and fluffy when it’s a bit messed up like this.
I could tell that the One-Eyed Knight was making a wry smile, but I was extremely satisfied, and dropped my bottom down on the mussed up blanket, rolling myself up into a ball.
The basket seemed to be made of all-natural materials, as it had a calming plant-like scent. It wasn’t all that large, and the way how it fit my body felt wonderful. This slightly tight feeling was calming.
“Night.”
As the One-Eyed Knight said, I closed my eyelids.
I assumed that he’d also go to his own bed to sleep, but he didn’t show any signs of moving from in front of me. While I was a little curious about that, the land of dreams continued to beckon. As my drowsiness drew me in, something hesitantly and gently started to pet my head.
The One-Eyed Knight’s hand?
This might be the first time I’ve ever been pet.
I thought amidst my blurred consciousness. Though that was probably because I generally ran away from being pet.
Probably because I didn’t open my eyes and show any signs of disliking it, pet me again with a bit more confidence.
After that, he seemed to enjoy the feel of my fur, as he stroked it again and again.
Hey……
I can’t sleep like this.
***
The next day, the first one to wake up was me. I opened my mouth widely, making a single yawn in the basket.
For a fox cub like myself, the better my sleep, the better I wake up. I immediately stood up and jumped out of the basket. My white fur had completely dried, and now its usual 20% smooth and 80% fluffy feeling had returned. Now this is my fur.
I suddenly looked at the bed next to me, realizing that the One-Eyed Knight was sleeping there. His face was turned this way, so I could see his sleeping face.
Normally, whenever anyone is sleeping, they’re completely defenceless, so their sleeping face should appear cute or silly, but the One-Eyed Knight was different.
The instant I saw his sleeping face, my fur stood on end a little.
The One-Eyed Knight’s lips were pursed, his brow slightly furrowed, and he was sleeping with a stern expression.
Though he looked dreadfully intimidating.
Even though his eyes were closed, it felt as though I were being glared at.
If I were an assassin, I wouldn’t be able to kill him in his sleep. Is he really sleeping? -it was worrying how he didn’t have any weak spots. The moment you tried to take his life by swinging down the knife, he’d wake up, and then the one being done in would be you. I could imagine such a scene occurring.
I sat down on the floor——my knees giving out a little——-and couldn’t take my eyes off the stern sleeping face of the One-Eyed Knight. Without any warning, he suddenly woke up.
By the time I realized it, his eyes were open, and with his brow still furrowed, he stared fixedly this way.
Scary!
I went, “Hyan……” and “Hin……”, unable to make any proper sounds as nothing but pathetic whimpers escaped my throat.
I-Is he mad? Did I do something wrong?
The One-Eyed Knight moved his gaze away and slowly raised the upper half of his body, lightly rubbing his hair. His face still looked stern. His eyes were super sharp.
After sitting in a daze on the bed for a bit, the next time he turned my way, the wrinkles on his brow had disappeared. The sharpness in his eyes had also softened, and he looked at me with a gentle gaze.
“Right, I had you stay inside for safety’s sake. Good morning.”
I let out a sigh of relief. After the One-Eyed Knight opened his eyes, it took about 20 seconds for his brain to fully wake up.
I’ve learned that, when he wasn’t fully awake, his face became about 30% scarier than usual. I’ll have to be careful tomorrow so that my legs don’t give out from fear.
The One-Eyed Knight got down from the bed and walked on the cold floor towards me barefoot. His hand gently came down from above and stroked my head.
When I closed my eyes tightly momentarily, that hand moved a slight distance away to check on my state.
However, when I didn’t run away and opened my eyes to look up at him, the warm hand once again started to stroke my head gently. I hate the flames of the fireplace, but the warmth of this hand isn’t bad.
After he finished petting me, the One-Eyed Knight started to change his clothes. I flusteredly returned to the basket, and lost myself in flinging around the blanket. I’m not looking, I didn’t see anything~.
After that, the One-Eyed Knight left the room, perhaps to wash his face, as he soon returned to take the sword left in the room. It seems that he’ll be heading out to train now. No wonder why he wasn’t wearing his knight’s uniform, despite going out to work. Not only that, but he did seem a bit lightly dressed. To train his body through independent practice despite there not being an official training session at this time, as expected of him.
“I’ll be back soon. When I get back, it’ll be time for breakfast.”
The One-Eyed Knight exited the room with his sword in one hand. Obediently staying in the room——was something I didn’t want to do, so just before the door closed, I slipped through the crack. Maybe because I didn’t make any sounds when doing so, and because the One-Eyed Knight’s gaze was pointed towards the corridor as he closed the door, he didn’t notice me.
After going behind him and waiting as he locked the door, I continued down the cold corridor after him as he started to walk.
Things were going well for some time, but the moment we exited the barracks, the One-Eyed Knight suddenly looked back.
As he gaze dropped downwards, his eyes slightly widened upon seeing me.
Why is she here? -his expression seemed to say.
“Just when did you……you wanna come with? Even if you come, it’ll be pretty boring.”
Waiting in the room would be even more boring, so I wanted to go with him. Thinking that, I shook my tail grandly once.
The One-Eyed Knight faintly smiled as he permitted my company.
It was quite sunny in the morning.
However, because of the atmosphere’s radiative cooling, it was extremely cold.
No, for me it wasn’t that cold, but it should be pretty hard for humans. If you were to take in a deep breath of the crisp dawn air, your lungs might just freeze over. Even though it was a refreshing morning, you couldn’t take deep breaths.
The training grounds still had a lot of snow accumulated on it, and since some of it had melted during the afternoon yesterday, the surface of it had become hard and crunchy from the cold.
I’ll say this again and again, but I wasn’t that cold. I have my fur, and I am a snow spirit after all.
And while I’m repeating myself, it should be hard for humans. It would be strange if it wasn’t hard, yet……
After doing some light stretching first, the One-Eyed Knight began to do laps around the training grounds. Just when I thought he was lightly dressed when doing that, he then stripped off his top and started to swing his sword half-naked.
Running will warm up your body, so…….like hell that’d apply to these kinds of temperatures! His body should’ve cooled off immediately.
……the One-Eyed Knight might just be an iron man.
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