At the Northern Fort V2C23

At the Northern Fort V2C23: Calling Father

Father’s nest is situated in a quiet lake located deep within a forest of the neighbouring country.

The jade green lake was large, and was generally covered in mist, so you couldn’t see the opposite shore. With the sun having already fallen and it being dark, that was all the more so now.

“Father!”

Wiping away my tears, I shouted in a loud voice.

When I inhaled the damp air, it felt as though my lungs were being filled with water.

Father was submerged in the lake in his serpent form, with only his head resting on the shore. It appeared that I had just managed to transfer to right on top of his head after using the movement technique.

However, Father was sleeping, and didn’t seem to have noticed my arrival.

“Father, wake up! Father!”

Even when I jumped up and down on top of his head, he didn’t respond. Though I wanted to try shouting into his ears, I didn’t even know where his ears were. Plus, his skin was too smooth, so I couldn’t bite him to wake him up either.

When I thought about what other weak points Father might have, all I could think of were his ‘eyes’. 

I stretched as far as I could off the top of his head and knocked at Father’s enormous closed eye.

Apparently normal snakes don’t have eyelids like humans do, but Father doesn’t like bright light, so he apparently created them.

“Father! Please! Wake up!”

When I smacked it with all my might, I used too much force and fell off of his head.

My body crashed onto the soft grass growing on the ground, and though I was staggering, I stood up and clung to Father.

“Father! ……please, help……! The One-Eyed Knight is gonna…uuu……”

Even though this wasn’t the time to be crying, I could not stop myself from sniffling as tears overflowed. Every second counted right now, as the One-Eyed Knight was most definitely suffering from the pain.

In the end, I couldn’t even speak words anymore as I cried, “Kyun kyun”, pleading for aid. 

However, perhaps that voice had more urgency to it, as Father, who had been sleeping, finally opened his eyes.

“Fwadderrrrrrr…….”

Seeing my state where various fluids were flowing from my eyes and nose, Father blinked his eyes once.

“……what’s wrong?”

“Fwadder! Da One-Eyed Knight is howwibly injured! I don’t know why…but I can’t go to Mother right now either……!”

Hiccupping, I convulsed with sobs as I informed him of the emergency. It seemed that even a natural airhead like Father who always lived leisurely understood that I had fallen into some grave situation.

A pale light momentarily enveloped him as the sound of water trickled out, and then in the next instant, Father had changed into his human form. 

Faint aqua-coloured hair extended to his knees, and he was clothed in a pure white cloth resembling the garments worn by the ancient Greeks together with just enough silver ornaments so that it did not become too gaudy. 

While his facial features were handsome, his facial muscles were just as dead as when he was a snake, so he looked more like a beautifully carved marble sculpture. 

However, right now his clear, jade green eyes contained an apparent expression of concern for me.

“What……happened……?”

“Come with me!”

I didn’t have the time to match Father’s slow-paced way of talking, so I jumped onto Father and had him hold me before using the transfer technique to return to the One-Eyed Knight.

This was the first time I had ever brought a second person with me while transferring, but I didn’t have the time to think about that as I activated the technique.

Thus, my body began to transform into a blizzard, and that blizzard also swallowed up Father as it brought him with me in the transfer.

“Mil-chan……!?”

When I returned with Father to the forest in the Country of Aridora, Tina-san and Commander-san’s eyes widened in surprise at the water spirit that they were seeing for the first time.

However, they soon returned their attention to treating the One-Eyed Knight’s wounds.

Branch Captain-san and Kix were still facing the bird as its opponents.

“The wind here……is a little strong……”

Father said, without even trying to attempt to fix his hair that had been blown into disarray. I jumped out of his arms and ran as fast as I could to the One-Eyed Knight’s side.

He was still conscious, but as expected, he seemed to be in pain. The bleeding also hasn’t fully stopped yet.

“One-Eyed Knight!”

I licked the One-Eyed Knight’s cheek several times in attempts to cheer him up, and then turned back towards Father.

“Father! What should I do!? Can spirits heal wounds? Is there anything I can do?”

“You want…to help him……? But if a human is cut……blood will flow……and they will…eventually die……”

“That may be so! But I don’t want him to die right now!”

Unlike Father’s philosophical look on things, I was selfish.

I wanted to heal the One-Eyed Knight’s wounds even if it meant twisting the laws of nature, and I didn’t want to let him die. Whether it be my power or Father’s power, I’d use anything if it meant I could save the One-Eyed Knight.

“Father, please! Save the One-Eyed Knight! He only got so hurt because he saved me……”

My voice trembled with sobs as my words trailed off.

Just as I thought Father would admonish me again, it seemed that he didn’t have any particular plans of abiding by nature’s laws. 

“Is that so……if that is what you desire……then I must save this human.”

Saying that, Father held his hands aloft. Then, clear water began to well up from the ground surrounding the prone One-Eyed Knight.

The water made vibrant bubbling noises as it went against the laws of gravity and formed a dome around the One-Eyed Knight’s body.

And then, in that instant, the One-Eyed Knight’s eyes closed as though he were sleeping.

“This is……”

Tina-san and Commander-san took a step back, staring fixedly at the One-Eyed Knight as he remained enclosed in the clear water.

The blood that had been flowing from the wound on the One-Eyed Knight’s back dissolved in the surrounding water before slowly returning back into his body.

Whether it was the blood that had soaked into his clothes, or the blood that had dripped onto the ground, all of it began to flow back.

“The wound is deep……to fully heal it……will take…some time.”

Father spoke in his usual indifferent manner, but my voice instantly rose.

“It can be healed!? The One-Eyed Knight’s gonna be alright, right!?”

“That’s right……he will be alright. Like how this human saved you……I will save this human.”

Seeing Father nod, my tail that had been drooping down began to wag happily.

It felt as though warmth had returned to my frozen heart, and I was so relieved it felt like I was about to cry.

“One-Eyed KNight……! Uu, thank goodness……!”

I didn’t know that Father would heal wounds. In the end, it might’ve been better that I called him rather than Mother.

“That’s great, Vice Captain!”

Kix repelled the bird’s attack while saying.

Father moved his face slightly and looked at the bird that was fighting with Kix and Branch Captain-san.

“The wind spirit……no, fairy, is it? ……how annoying.”

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Translator Comments:

My apologies for the slightly late release! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!