At the Northern Fort V3C29: Slowly, At My Own Pace
Today I headed to the fort at an earlier time than usual. But, there was still some time before the lunch break, so the One-Eyed Knight would probably still be busy with work, so I transferred with Woodbaum as my goal.
“Ah, Milfiria.”
Woodbaum was relaxing in his usual spot under the tree shade.
“Woodbaum……huh? Your leaves are gone”
I looked at Woodbaum’s antlers and said. The crimson leaves that had been growing densely on his antlers had mostly fallen out unnoticed.
“Autumn’s almost at its end after all.”
“I see.”
I extended my neck and looked up at the sky. I wonder why the end of autumn made me feel so desolate like this?
But when I thought of the snowy season that was approaching, it also made me happy. The snow at the mountain summit was fluffy, but the snow around this area had a little more moisture in it, making it more crunchy when you stepped in it, which was fun.
As I enjoyed my fantasised snow, Woodbaum made a docile expression as he changed the topic.
“By the way, Milfiria, I had something to ask about the Branch Captain at this fort.”
“Hm? What’s wrong with Bwanch Captain-san?”
“I think he has some sort of illness.”
“Eh, Bwanch Captain-san does!?”
My ears perked up in alarm. I haven’t heard of anything like that.
When I asked why he thought that, Woodbaum made a complicated expression as he explained.
“Actually, early in the morning today when I woke up, he was here.”
Woodbaum stood up and tapped at the ground in front of him with his hoof.
“His face was lifeless, and he seemed incredibly haggard.”
“Ehh!? Really?”
I paced back and forth restlessly.
“He didn’t appear normal, so I was wondering what was up and tried talking to him when—”
“When?”
“He suddenly hugged me tightly.”
Woodbaum said, looking troubled.
My movements came to a complete stop.
“Hug?”
Tightly?
“And then after that, he staggered towards the stables. Just what in the world is going on with that person?”
“……that’s…not an illness.”
Hearing Woodbaum say that worriedly, I shook my head. Though in a sense it was an illness.
Today, all of the members of Branch Captain-san’s losing team in the practice drill had reached their fifth day of being unable to touch me. In other words, it was the final day, so Branch Captain-san’s exhaustion had hit its limit. I’m worried.
“But I’m sure that he’ll be better tomorrow, so it’s okay.”
“Is that so? Then that’s good. It was a bit scary after all.”
Branch Captain-san’s appearance must’ve been rather ghastly.
“Come, Milfiria. Let’s walk together.”
Woodbaum pulled himself together and said. I happily accompanied him.
Woodbaum did not have the habit of making idle chatter while walking, and his pace was slow. With all of that adding up together, it made me feel like sleeping as we walked. The sound of Woodbaum’s hooves stepping on the grass at a set tempo was relaxing.
I stopped momentarily and stretched out before dashing past Woodbaum. And then, after putting a little distance between us, I turned around and waited for him. Once he caught up, I once again ran off and the cycle repeated. I’ve done something like this before too.
As that continued and we arrived at the back of the fort, like the previous time, the backdoor suddenly opened forcefully.
“Wah! Again!”
Rekka-san came out from the door. She was soaked in a cold sweat with the fairy still riding on her shoulder, her face pale. I called out to Rekka-san as she began to start doing squats like she did the last time.
“Rekka-san, are you okay?”
“Mil-sama……!”
“What are you doing here?”
Past the corridor that led to this door was a narrow hallway that was typical of a fort. It was just wide enough for two of the fort’s larger knights to walk side-by-side, but because the whole hallway was enclosed with stone, there was a sense of oppression.
“I was actually looking for Tina for a work matter, but I figured that while I was searching for her I might as well do some training to conquer my fears, so I purposely tried going through this corridor. Then, as expected, it didn’t go so well……”
She was unable to pass through the corridor, and instead ended up giving up midway, escaping through the door.
Incidentally, the previous time Tina-san told her, “I forgot my pen and paper, so you go out the backdoor up ahead of me, Rekka-san”, thus she had no choice but to come down this corridor.
“Mil-sama, I—”
Rekka-san crouched down and was about to touch me, but just before her hand reached me, she returned to her senses and pulled back. Rekka-san was also on the same team as Branch Captain-san during the training drill.
Now that I think of it, Kix, who had also been on the defensive team, had also been properly respecting the ban on touching me. Perhaps it was because he saw Branch Captain-san working so hard, despite him being in that kind of state. The other knights had also been doing the same.
It was wonderful to see how serious everyone was being about this, but it also made me a bit scared about what would happen tomorrow. It’ll definitely be round two of what happened after I returned from my errand in the spring.
As I worried about tomorrow, Rekka-san stood up and appeared to be disappointed in herself as she spoke.
“I am pathetic.”
“Ah, Rekka-san!”
I chased after Rekka-san, who was trying to leave the area, but as expected she was too fast. I couldn’t catch her.
Stop running at full speed away from a fox cub!
The next day, I was roughed up at the fort.
Today was the opening day for the knights who had been on the losing side of the training drill to touch me all they wanted, so no matter where I went, I was attacked.
Their petting was even more violent because of their pent up feelings, so as I had anticipated, my fur was messed up, ruffled, and dishevelled. They touched my tail, my stomach, and my paw pads, but I felt like they’d be pitiful if I rejected them, so I couldn’t say no to it.
Thus, I ran to the tree shade where Woodbaum was, bringing together with me the crushed bun (that was supposed to be a bird doll) that Tina-san gave me. There, I vented my built-up resentment on the plushie.
Biting the doll, I growled while whipping it around.
And then, when I finished doing that, I held down the doll with my forepaws and dug my fangs into it while pulling back. I temporarily drew back from it, and then pounced, once again biting at it while waving it around.
“That’s quite a violent way of playing.”
But it’s good that you’re energetic, Woodbaum smiled while saying.
“Ah, Milfiria, a knight is coming.”
Woodbaum, who knew why I was being so unruly, looked ahead as he warned me. I prepared to flee as I confirmed who was approaching.
Branch Captain-san was the one who came. Someone whose touch was even harder to reject compared to the other knights had come.
I gave up on escaping, silently and obediently allowing the approaching Branch Captain-san to pick me up.
However, Branch Captain-san didn’t start to pet me on the spot, instead looking around furtively first. Then, after apologising to Woodbaum, “Sorry about yesterday and this morning”, he quickly abducted me.
……so he came to hug Woodbaum this morning as well?
After arriving at the back of the fort, he confirmed that no one was in the surroundings before saying-
“Mil……!”
-then, Branch Captain-san hugged me.
There was no need to explain what happened after that. He single-mindedly stroked me, at times burying his face into my fur and sniffing my scent.
I wonder how long it will take for him to finish? I’d be grateful if he finished after ten minutes, but that’ll probably be impossible. -I had such thoughts as I waited.
As I thought, he still hadn’t finished after ten minutes, so I lightly bit Branch Captain-san’s hand that had been stroking my face, requesting for him to release me. However, such play bites simply made Branch Captain-san happier as he delightedly presented his hands to me. He’s a goner.
Just as I thought that the petting hell would never end, it came to a sudden halt in an unexpected manner.
The nearby backdoor suddenly opened, and Rekka-san came tumbling out from within it.
She had probably been doing training to overcome her phobias again, as Rekka-san was panting nervously. Branch Captain-san was also panting – albeit from a different kind of excitement. As each of them noticed the other’s presence, the air momentarily froze.
Only the fairy that was following Rekka-san floated around carelessly in the midst of that. Then, as Rekka-san noticed Branch Captain-san’s current appearance, her eyes went round with surprise.
Branch Captain-san was currently kneeling on the ground with his upper body rounded, and had just been in the process of burying his face into my belly.
“……”
“……”
It felt like a long period of time passed, but in reality it was probably only two or three seconds. Branch Captain-san quickly equipped his icy mask and stood up with elegant movements.
He tucked his dishevelled hair behind his ear, and then looked at Rekka-san with calm eyes, as though nothing had happened.
“Rekka, is it? What’s wrong?”
Rekka-san appeared bewildered as she responded.
“No, that should be my line.”
Everyone else at the fort had turned a blind eye to Branch Captain-san’s true self, but Rekka-san still hadn’t been aware of it, so she received quite the shock.
Branch Captain-san, as expected, started to get embarrassed. Just when Rekka-san started to scrutinise his face, he turned away and said, “It’s nothing”, before walking away quickly.
Leaving me behind, still lying on my back.
“Mil-sama……”
Rekka-san, at a loss as to what she should do, saw off Branch Captain-san’s back and then turned to me as I rolled on the ground, seeking answers.
I answered her, still exposing my belly.
“It just means that Bwanch Captain-san has another side to him.”
“To think that Branch Captain Cromwell would……”
“Are you surprised?”
“Yes, but……I’m a little relieved.”
It was then that her lips rose in a smile as Rekka-san continued.
“To think that the perfect-looking Branch Captain also had such an affectionate side to him.”
“Of course, he’s a human after all. Nobody is perfect, surely.”
Rekka-san nodded at my words, looking as though a weight had come off her shoulders as she spoke.
“That’s true. After seeing that, I feel like I can take it a bit easier.”
“That’s good. Rekka-san tries too hard. Say, come with me!”
After getting up, I brought Rekka-san with me to see Woodbaum. He was sitting in the tree shade, with his neck and head lying flat against the ground, sleeping peacefully. Even his four legs, which were always properly folded underneath him, were now slightly jutting out from underneath his body, perhaps because he was so relaxed.
“Look at Woodbaum.”
I looked at Woodbaum from a short distance away and spoke to Rekka-san.
“Although he has to heal from his illness, he’s relaxing a lot. Of course, resting and taking it easy is connected to helping him heal, but he’s also not being strangely impatient about healing, right?”
What Rekka-san lacked was this way of taking things at her own pace.
Woodbaum had become a sort of freeloader at the fort, and while he was thankful towards the knights who were taking care of him, he did not act any more reserved than needed. He rested at his own pace, and would freely go on walks on his own.
He did not pay much heed to the eyes of those around him, perhaps because he was a spirit. He did not have any unnecessary worries, like thinking that he had to get better as soon as possible because he was being a freeloader, or that he had to leave as soon as possible because he was causing trouble for the knights. He wasn’t needlessly sensitive about such matters.
That was why the fruits of his rest were gradually starting to come out. He went from needing two meals a day to being okay with one, and his formerly dishevelled fur was beginning to regain its gloss and beauty.
His powers were still unstable, and while it might take a bit longer before his full recovery, he was definitely recovering steadily.
“Woodbaum is trying to recover from his illness for himself. Rekka-san should also think about what you want to do for yourself.”
Rekka-san was paying too much mind to her surroundings, thinking things like how she had to get better so that she wouldn’t inconvenience her comrades in their work, or how she wanted to get better to live up to the expectations of Tina-san, Woodbaum, and I.
I looked up at Tina-san and continued.
“It’s okay. No matter how much time it takes, no one will get fed up with you. Let’s take things slowly.”
My fairy flew round and round in agreement. Rekka-san’s eyebrows lowered, her face relaxing into a smile as she looked like she was about to cry while laughing.
“Yes, let’s do that.”
And then, she said, “The five days of contact being forbidden have passed so……” as she picked me up and hugged me tightly. In return, I licked the area around her ears, making her laugh, tickled as she pulled her face away.
“Now that I think about it, it’s been bothering me for a while now, but is that……?”
Rekka-san pointed towards the crushed bun that had fallen next to Woodbaum, while still hugging me.
“That’s something I got from Tina-san. Did Rekka-san know? Tina-san’s bed has a lot of plushies on it. Tina-san likes to make plushies.”
“Yeah, as I thought, it was from Tina.”
Rekka-san made a complicated expression while gazing at the crushed bun, and then said.
“That’s also an unexpected side of Tina. While the person herself is that cute, the things she creates are rather……”
There was no need to say anything else, as Rekka-san’s words broke off there.
“But, even this might be one of her charming points.”
Seeing Rekka-san grin, I also responded with a, “Yup!”.
Kiriko Translations 