At the Northern Fort V4C11: Escaping the Summer Heat (4)
“Granny, you spent money arbitrarily again, didn’t you! What are we supposed to do with this pot? How could you buy it when we’re so poor?”
As the one playing the role of granny, I was being told off. Amidst Sharon’s miserly game of make-believe, I suddenly thought of something completely unrelated.
When I sneezed earlier, I did not intentionally create that blizzard, but lately I had been practising to be able to create it purposefully.
I turned my eyes towards the servants who were bringing tea and sweets to the royals.
(I wonder if they have any fruits?)
Right now is the perfect chance to show off my abilities to the royals, I thought to myself. I’ll give them a taste of the deliciousness of half-frozen fruit during this time when they’ve all come to escape the summer heat.
“Ah, hey, Mil!”
Without heeding Sharon’s attempts to stop me, I slipped away from playing house and headed towards the servants. I went towards an uncle who looked like a butler.
“Um.”
“!”
When I called out to him, Butler-san’s eyes rounded in surprise. However, he promptly crouched down to meet my gaze and asked gently,
“It is an honour to be spoken to by the Child of the Snow Spirit. Do you require something from this servant?”
“Um…I want…fruit. Do you have any?”
“Yes, blueberries are in season, so we can prepare them.”
Blueberries are good. They’re small, so it’ll be easy to freeze them.
“Gimme! Could you prepare some at both the King’s and Queen’s tables?”
“I will prepare it immediately.”
And then, he carried an expensive-looking plate with blueberries on it to the men’s seats first. Following him, I puffed up my chest with pride and spoke.
“I make something cold and delicious for everyone.”
“Oh, what is it?”
Commander-san asked cheerfully. Everyone else – other than Branch Captain-san – who didn’t know what I was about to do looked anticipatory. Kugalg and Sharon’s attentions also appeared to have been drawn, as they came over.
Then, I did the same as I had at the fort and blew on the blueberries. When I did so, the small blizzard faintly covered the blueberries in a frost coating.
“Try eating it!”
I said while smiling.
But then. It was then that I suddenly remembered. The ones here were royalty and nobles. Surely they’d find something that a fox had breathed on to be dirty.
“Ah, actually it’s fine. You don’t need to eat it.”
My tail, which had been wagging proudly, suddenly dropped.
But at that moment, Branch Captain-san extended his hand towards the blueberries.
“Mil has cooled down these blueberries for us. I’ve eaten them before – they’re cool and delicious.”
Branch Captain-san said that and ate a blueberry, thereupon everyone else also said, “Let’s try it” and extended their hands towards the plate curiously. The King, the Prince – everyone did so.
“Ahh, it really is. Having something cold to eat in this season is the best.”
“The surface is frozen, but the inside is still juicy and delicious.”
“I want to eat one too.”
Sharon also picked up a blueberry, ate it, and smiled, “Cold! But yummy”.
“Ehehe.”
Seeing everyone enjoy it made me happy too. My tail regained its vigour and began wagging back and forth.
“If you set up a shop, I’m sure it’ll sell well.”
Commander-san turned to me and guffawed. Hearing that, Branch Captain-san’s Papa immediately shot back.
“If this child were to set up a shop, she’d be able to sell anything. Even if she sold junk, if she were to let her customers pet her head a little with each purchase, I’d probably spend all my money without limits.”
As I listened to Branch Captain-san’s Papa’s words, I thought to myself. I could probably earn enough money to live happily for the rest of my life just by doing business with Branch Captain-san’s family alone.
It did seem like if I charged 1000 yen per stroke, they’d say, “That’s cheap”, while paying. They’d probably come several times a day to stroke me too.
As I had such pointless thoughts, I headed for the Queen’s table with the rest of the women, repeated the process of half-freezing the blueberries, and once again got rave reviews.
“It’s a new sweet. I’d love to try freezing all sorts of fruits.”
His Highness Aske’s wife said with a smile.
On the other hand, her daughter Sharon was once again staring fixedly at the One-Eyed Knight and the rest of the knights from the Northern Fort. That gaze gave me a bad feeling.
And then, Sharon raised an eyebrow before turning to me and saying in a whisper.
“Say, why do you go to a place like the Northern Fort, Mil? I don’t really like these knights here. They all look so barbaric, don’t they? If you come to the castle or my manor, then there are plenty of handsome and cool knights.”
My brow furrowed, but since my face was covered in fur, Sharon did not notice it.
“Even the knight that came to wipe Kugalg’s face earlier has that horrible scar over his left eye, and the knights over there have faces unthinkable for knights. I wonder why such people became knights?”
Sharon glanced at the One-Eyed Knight and the Scary-Faced Squad in turn and said. Not only that, but she looked like she was about to continue badmouthing them, so I stood up from my sitting position.
“Don’t say such horrible things about the people I love!”
I unintentionally yelled in a loud voice.
“Everyone is very cool!”
Even though I had thought the knights at the Northern Fort were intimidating, and was scared of them when we first met, I had never seriously thought of them as barbaric. And what’s wrong with the wound on the One-Eyed Knight’s face? What’s wrong with the Scary-Faced Squad’s faces? You think that their faces are unthinkable for knights?
Sharon appeared to be surprised at my loud voice. Everyone surrounding us was also surprised as they turned towards us.
The other party was just a seven-year-old girl, so I did feel that it was immature of me to get so angry at a child. Thus my anger quickly subsided, but the bitterness I felt wouldn’t disappear so easily.
“Looks have nothing to do with being a knight. They might look scary, but everyone is very kind and reliable. They’re actually really nice……”
So hearing someone speak badly about the people you love, even though they don’t know them well, feels this sad and bitter.
Before I knew it, tears had begun to overflow from my eyes, as Kugalg began to hastily lick them away.
“Milfee, don’t cry. I won’t know what to do.”
And then, Sharon muttered, her face still stuck in its surprised state.
“Mil, are you mad? You’re angry at…me?”
Perhaps because Sharon did not have many experiences where someone had gotten angry at her, she was overcome with surprise. She’ll probably talk back soon in some way, -I thought to myself.
However, while I readied myself for her retort, Sharon appeared unexpectedly sad.
“I-I’m sorry……”
Huh? She apologised honestly. Somehow she seems kinda frail.
I had thought that she would throw a tantrum, as children do, and get even more angry than I did.
Having been thrown off by her reaction, I also responded weakly.
“Don’t say mean things about the Northern Fort’s knights, okay……?”
“Okay.”
Sharon replied despondently.
Yup.
Sharon’s really honest.
Kiriko Translations 
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