At the Northern Fort V1C19

At the Northern Fort V1C19: Cromwell

As the bell indicating the start of lunch break rang, Grail headed straight for the training grounds. The grounds seemed to have been used by 1st Unit during the morning, as all of them appeared completely exhausted while cleaning up the equipment they had used for training.

However, the white fox cub that Grail was searching for was not there. Instead, there were traces of her small pawprints left on top of the accumulated snow. It looked like she went to the stables.

“Hah, why are you licking me so hard?”

But the moment he arrived at the stables, Grail instantly regretted it. Because Mil and the horses were not the only ones in the stable.

The Branch Captain, Cromwell, had a face full of smiles as he played with Mil and the rest.

Due to his cold, handsome appearance, and his calm personality, his subordinates called Cromwell the [Icy Branch Captain]. However, right now that ice had all but completely melted away. He made an extremely happy face as he delighted in Mil’s licking of his hand.

It wasn’t like his hand was covered in honey, yet Mil seemed oddly fervent in her licking. Just what in the world was she thinking about?

Cromwell’s appearance as he let loose in front of animals was charming, but he probably wouldn’t want his current self to be seen by others.

Grail was about to turn back quietly and leave, but before he could, Mil noticed him.

Upon recognising Grail, Mil’s eyes twinkled as she gave a short bark and her tail wagged restlessly. Her evidently delighted reaction also made Grail happy. Mil was definitely attached to Grail.

However, when Cromwell followed Mil’s line of sight and raised his head, he instantly froze, with the words, “I’ve been seen!” painted across his face. Seeing that, things also started to get awkward for Grail.

“……”

A highly tense air drifted between the two of them.

Neither of them were particularly good talkers. At times like these, they couldn’t just start babbling on to evade the matter. The only noisy thing around was Mil’s tail as it wagged loudly.

Cromwell’s love of animals——-particularly horses and small animals——-was so famous that it had become a ‘rumour’.

At the very least, everyone except for the newcomers of the fortress knew about it.

He’d make time every day to go to the stables and talk affectionately to his favourite horse while brushing it gently. In the winter, he would diligently place fruit in the trees for the little birds, and also fed a stray cat, whom he lovingly named [Nora]. When that stray cat suddenly disappeared the next day, he became so downtrodden that there were bags underneath his eyes. During work, if a white snow rabbit ran by, his attention would be caught by it, causing his icy mask to crumble visibly.

All of the members of the Northern Fort had more or less witnessed some scenes of Cromwell doing that.

However, Cromwell didn’t think that his love of animals had been exposed to his subordinates, and even thought that he was hiding it well.

While they thought that he should just boldly show his love of them, Cromwell desperately tried to pretend that he [wasn’t interested in animals at all], so everyone else went along with it and pretended not to notice.

It was likely that Cromwell was very sensitive to how he was seen by his surroundings. Since he had taken up the post of Branch Captain, he probably felt that he had to be an existence that everyone feared a little. That is why he didn’t want his pitiable appearance of when he was sweetly doting on animals to be seen.

Grail was a commoner who had carved his way up the ranks of the Knight’s Order using his own abilities, so for him, even if the surrounding people found out that he liked animals, it didn’t really matter because it wasn’t like that would change his own capabilities. However, Cromwell thought differently.

He was from a prestigious noble family, and you could not say that his current position of Branch Captain was obtained purely from his own abilities and achievements——-and while this wasn’t necessarily something the person himself desired, some superior went ahead and took Cromwell’s noble background into consideration when assigning him to a higher position——-so Cromwell paid an undue amount of attention to that.

He might be worried that his image alone would lead to the trust from his surroundings easily crumbling.

There was a rumour that Cromwell himself had strongly desired to come to this Northern Fort, with its harsh conditions, despite having been raised in the Capital all of his life. Thus, it was likely that he hoped to make his own achievements to build a firm confidence in his abilities.

While there were few crimes or border squabbles here, in exchange the environment was so harsh, that there have been past cases of people freezing to death in the fortress midwinter. Doing patrols wasn’t easy either, as you might have to do it in the middle of a blizzard, and you had to remove the snow on top of doing daily training, so it was quite the test of strength.

On top of that, all of the knights at this fort were eccentrics with one or two problems of their own, pushed here from other branches for being troublemakers.

Against Mother Nature herself and subordinates who were indifferent to political power, his aristocratic connections would not work. It was without a doubt for that reason Cromwell felt that working here as Branch Captain would build his confidence.

“Did you need something, Grail?”

Cromwell nonchalantly stood up and spoke with an undaunted expression, as though he hadn’t just been making a slovenly face towards Mil and his beloved horse. Perhaps because he was feeling self-conscious, his tone of voice was quite a bit lower compared to earlier, and had grown cold.

While he has been splendidly performing his duties as Branch Captain, he probably has not yet obtained complete confidence in himself.

That was why, in order not to disillusion his subordinates, he would put on a mask as the Icy Branch Captain like this.

Grail calmly looked down and met the eyes of his younger superior. I didn’t see anything. That is how Grail acted.

“No, I was looking for Mil.”

“Mil? Is that this thing’s name? Even though you’ll have to eventually release it back into the wild, you named it? You’ll get attached to it, you know.”

Cromwell made a disinterested face and purposely called Mil, a [thing] while making a fleeting glance downwards. He didn’t look directly at her because if he’d did, he’d probably succumb to her cuteness.

To begin with, the one who named a cat [Nora], and then got depressed for a long time after it went away was Cromwell.

“Did Branch Captain come to visit Ilus?”

“I came to ‘look after her’. It’s part of a knight’s duty to properly manage one’s own horse after all.”

Cromwell emphasized the ‘look after’ part of his words. It wasn’t because he loved animals and “came to visit” his beloved horse, but because it was one of a knight’s duties to “look after” the horse.

How thorough, Grail was oddly impressed. Though it did worry him that Cromwell would get tired from maintaining such a front.

“I should go now.”

Giving the black-haired horse one last stroke on the nose, Cromwell attempted to leave the stable. He probably wanted to spend a bit more time enjoying himself. Grail thought to himself, feeling apologetic at his arrival.

However, as Cromwell attempted to leave, he encountered a cute obstruction, stopping him in his tracks. Mil had come after him, and was clinging to his legs.

“…….!”

Grail witnessed Cromwell’s face momentarily sparkle with happiness upon seeing her pursuit.

However, he soon smoothed over his expression, and said this in irritation with a cold voice.

“You’re in the way. Don’t dart around like that.”

Translated, he meant, “It’s dangerous because I might accidentally kick you. What would I do if you got hurt?”.

Just when did Mil get so attached to Cromwell?, a wrinkle formed on Grail’s brow.

“Don’t follow me.”

Seeing Mil making small snorts while hot on his heels, Cromwell’s face warped greatly. And after desperately enduring the temptation while grinding his molars, he briskly walked further into the building to shake Mil off.

That looked incredibly painful for him. Is he really okay?

“Mil.”

Grail called out to the fox cub, whose eyes were still trailing after Cromwell’s back.

“Are you cheating on me?”

When he said that in jest, Mil suddenly whirled around and flusteredly approached. As though to explain herself, she moved about restlessly at Grail’s feet while looking up at him.

As he stroked her head, Grail recalled the time when Cromwell had first arrived at the Northern Fort.

[Have you seen the recently appointed Branch Captain?]

[Yeah, that noble young master, right? The one that’s said to have obtained his current position from his family’s influence.]

[It pisses me off to have a guy like that above me. The Vice Captain should’ve just become the Branch Captain.]

[I hear he looks like a weak lil’ girl. Doesn’t seem like he has much willpower, so he probably won’t even last through winter.]

[Well, he should just hurry up, give up and go back. To begin with, why’d he come to a place like this? It wasn’t like he was demoted like us, so he should’ve just stayed nice and cosy in the Capital.]

In the beginning, all the knights in the fort hated Cromwell. His outward appearance made him look like a weak noble master, yet he was working as the head of this fort.

However, after they started to work together, it didn’t take long for that evaluation to make a complete change.

[Say, today in training I had a bout with the Branch Captain. He’s pretty strong. His sword doesn’t have as much strength as the Vice Captain’s, but in exchange it’s unbelievably sharp or like…….]

[I saw too, but he’s way better than I expected. It’s said that he got into the Knight’s Order through his connections, but you don’t get a sword like that just from practice swings.]

[He must’ve put in a lot of effort…….even though he’s a noble. How surprising.]

[Yeah, I thought he’d be a more unbearable guy, but he’s pretty direct, or rather……..he feels like someone you can trust?]

[He’s tough on us, but he’s even tougher on himself. That guy.]

Grail listened with a warm heart as the insults against Cromwell transformed into praises.

Now, everyone in the fort acknowledged Cromwell. Underneath his cold, icy mask was a man filled with human emotion. His subordinates could tell that he was facing them straightforwardly, as that emotion would sometimes skillfully interweave into his stern mask.

And of course animals——–especially horses and small animals, would directly receive that overflowing emotion in the shadows.

The Icy Branch Captain was actually an animal lover.

Even if such rumours circulated within the fort, there weren’t any people who would say that he was a [weakling who loved animals].

The knights of the fort appreciated and valued Cromwell far more than the person himself thought. It was to the point where his animal loving side was even seen favourably.

“I hope our clumsy leader realises that soon.”

While stroking Mil, Grail murmured to himself and then gave a senior-like smile.

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Translator Comments:

Is that a hint of jealousy I smell there, Grail?