At the Northern Fort

At the foot of Mount Snowlea there is an altar that celebrates the Spirit of Snow.

That's all there is to it, an open place in the woods lined with two old pillars made of stone.

Between its pillars is a wooden platform, as it was made later, and the nearby villagers put their offerings there, and prayed for peace in the land.

When I come to visit this altar, I sometimes come across villagers in the middle of prayer.

But when I look in hiding, they don't say the solitary desire to be "big rich" or "protect me".

Just say, "Protect this land," or "Thank you for protecting me."

Before Mother came here, the villagers must have been frightened by the threat of intruders from neighbouring countries because all the snow near the top of the mountain seemed to melt in the summer. So thank you to the Spirit who makes it snow.

I like those humble villagers, too.

Besides, she not only serves alcohol for my mother these days, she also serves sweets and fruits for me. The villagers are aware of my presence.

Looks like I was sneaking out to visit the village or being witnessed somehow when I was playing at the foot of Mount Snowlea.

And then I guess you're hearing rumors that I'm coming to the fort to see you. Apparently my presence has been recognized by the villagers for quite some time.

The offerings to me, most of the time, are eaten by the animals first, but that's fine. The animals are hungry, especially in winter. The offerings of the villagers had saved the animals living in harsh environments from hunger and warmed my heart as well.

(Something in return, isn't it?

In the morning I wandered around the vicinity of my residence looking for something in return for my offering. My mother protects the land with her power, but I didn't do anything to the villagers, so I thought I'd leave it like this.

But near the summit of Mount Snowlea, it's all snow.

(It's cold around here and no plants grow, should we go down a little bit... oh yeah!

I come up with a hack and run over the snow toward the place of destination.

Surely there must have been a crowd of beautiful flowers around here......

"There it is!

The sight of lots of white flowers blooming as the flickering snow falls is a bit odd.

But these white flowers are common in Mount Snowlea, and they are very resistant to the cold... or they prefer to be cold.

And I don't see much in the foothills even in the winter, so it seems like it's often blooming at high altitudes. How unusual that I like harsh environments. It's stoked like a knight or Mr. Rekka in the eye who likes to work out.

I decided to change into a human form to pick flowers in return for this stoic flower offering.

Grab the stem with a small hand and just pull it out.

Pull out... Pull... that?

"Hiko no... Knock it off!

Stoic flowers, strong!

That's just living in an environment like this. It seems to be rooted deep down.

"Hmm? But it doesn't seem to have reached the dirt."

With both hands I and the soft snow reached the old, hard layer of snow. Stoic flowers seem to have roots there. I can't believe there are flowers that grow in snow, not soil.

"Okay, one more time"

Now grab the stem with both hands, and stretch the tail tightly to help.

"Hmmm!...... wow!?"

As the flowers at each root pulled through, I spun back a spin due to the momentum.

"I was there...... Wow, that's amazing."

It's thick and long and stretches like an octopus leg over there.

All I want is beautiful flowers, so I tried to take the root, but the stems are stiff and I can't cut a thousand. That's a really sturdy flower.

"I can't help it. Neko, you can stick around. Let's follow a few more."

I secured the return of my offering as I overpowered and flipped behind each bottle I picked.

"It was a lot more than I thought..."

Picking flowers should usually spread the sight of being girly and merry. But the more I pick stoic flowers, the shorter I breathe, and my hair and clothes get messed up because I spin one back every time.

I let him breathe haha as I was in the human form, holding seven picked stoic flowers to the altar at the foot.

It's all rooted like octopus legs, so the beauty of the flowers is faded, but, well, humans can use scissors, so they'll cut their roots properly and decorate them.

"That's it."

Arrange flowers on the altar table and nod satisfactorily. I hope the villagers notice this.

And my ears reacted with a tingle to the footsteps I heard from behind.

(Somebody's here!

When I return to the figure of the child fox, I run and hide myself in the shadow of the tree.

Coming to the altar is like a parent and child living in a nearby village. A mother in her thirties and a girl in her teens walked hand in hand. Is it an offering, my mother is caged in one arm.

"Come on, I got it. Let us pray together.... Oh? Did someone offer you flowers? We need to take root properly..."

Her mother seemed to notice the stoic flowers, but stopped fuzzing along the way.

Frozen Flowers "Well! This is it! Frozen flowers?

When a child tilts his neck, behind a tree I tilt my neck the same way.

"Frozen flowers are precious flowers. It only blooms at high altitudes, so it's hard to get. And frozen flowers aren't just beautiful. The root area is a good medicine for colds. It works really well. Even when you don't have a cold, drinking will warm you up and make you feel better. You can't even feel the cold in winter with your whole body pounding."

"Heh, wow. But who offered you this? You mean you climbed Mount Snowlea and picked it up? If I climb on my own, the spirits will be angry."

"I sometimes ask the Spirit to visit me and then climb the mountain and let me pick frozen flowers... But we usually use it ourselves, so we're not sure what it means to serve the altar. I don't think the Spirit would be particularly pleased to receive frozen flowers..."

My parents and kids started having such conversations, so I got a little lost and then jumped out of the shade of the tree and rang "Chan". Parents and children have noticed this presence and have their eyes rounded.

"White girl fox...... He's a spiritual child...!

"Wow, real!?"

Turning to the surprised parent and child, I said out loud.

"I'll give you that!

That's all I'm saying, I run cuddly and hide myself in the woods. I've never talked to anyone in the village before, so I'm nervous and embarrassed about something.

"So this is for your child?

The mother takes the frozen flower in one hand and squeaks. Parents and children have been looking for me for a while and gazing into the woods, but when they find out I'm not coming out anymore, they cage the frozen flowers in exchange for the offering they brought.

"Let it dry and medicine by winter. How gratifying. It was given to me by the Spirit, so let's divide it among everyone in the village, shall we? We're all gonna be surprised."

The mother thanked me for being invisible after saying that to her child.

"Thank you, Son of the Spirit"

"Thank you -!

The child goes on to bow his head.

"… well, thank you!

I didn't expect to be so thankful, so when I accidentally screamed from behind the tree too, I could hear my parents and children laughing "hehe".

"Let's brag to everyone"

"I envy you all. I hope to see you again."

"Yeah!"

I was glad you were happy as I dropped off my parents and kids leaving. That frozen flower blooms all year round near the top of Mount Snowlea, so I'll get it back in return. I'm tired, but not if everyone's happy.

I can no longer see my parents and children, so I turn my heels back to go home too.

But there, when I realized there was red fruit at my feet, I stopped.

Probably Nozaki from the looks of it, but I don't know the official name. But I see it around here once in a while, not particularly rare plants. I tried it once because it looks delicious.

That was about a week ago when I was going to visit my father, the Spirit of Water, who lives in a big lake in another country.

Even then, he found the same wild beard that was now at his feet on the shore of the lake and asked his father, who was only taking his head out of the water.

'I see this once in a while, even at the foot of Mount Snowlea. Can you tap?'

'... come on?' Cause I've never eaten... and I've never thought about eating... I don't know '

"Oh. But it looks delicious. '

When I said that and tried to pucker the fruit in front of me, my father stopped me.

'Milphyria... don't... There may be poison. Let me try it first…'

Apparently, my father will be the first to see the poison. While I was wondering if I was okay, when I changed into a human form and picked a wild rice noodle, I threw it into my father's big mouth as he told me.

Father swallowed it with a sleepy eye, but after a while nothing abnormal happened due to the poison.

'Apparently... there's no poison... If you're hungry...... you should eat milphyria too'

'Yeah. Was it good?

'The flavor... I'm not sure... I've never eaten anything before, so... And the feeling that it's delicious... I don't know'

"It is."

It's kinda pathetic that the world has so many delicious things but doesn't know the joy of eating them. I thought, I picked the little red fruit and put it in my mouth.

However, there is little sweetness or acidity as expected, and the flavor is faint, contrary to the bright red color it looks.

"Hmmm......"

"Milphyria... what's up...?

"Not as good as I thought"

It's not a bad idea, but I was hoping it would be sweeter, so I feel watery.

I shrug my tail down slowly.

'I wish it had been sweeter. Zanen......'

Although there are sweet fruits in this world, I think there were many things that tasted better in Japan. Perhaps there has not been as much improvement in fruit varieties in this world as in modern Japan.

For example, the flavor of this world is thin, sweet or sour.

But there were a lot of sweet and delicious varieties in Japan. One grain is big enough to eat, and if it bites, it spreads a little sweetness. I can't feel the sourness of Japanese rice noodles...

"I don't really want strawberries..."

I remember my previous life and I squeaked unexpectedly.

And my father was listening to me whine.

"Sweet, sweet... Milfilia wants to eat it, or... '

My father had the same sleepy eyes, but he stared at me with those big eyes.

'Yeah, I want to eat. But not just for me, but for my father...'

In the middle of my words, my father changed his appearance to a human form with the sound of water. Even the human form looks sleepy in the eyes.

But now my father was full of motivation.

'Okay...... For Milphilia's sake, I'll get you a sweet meal.

'Huh?'

"Around the world, somewhere, there must be something Milphilia likes..."

Do you want me to give you a toy?

'I don't know how many days this will take... but wait... Be sure to…… take the sweet meal…. If Milphilia is… pleased'

"Ah, Father!

That's how Father used his mobility to fly off somewhere. I tried to fly after him once, but my father was passionate about searching for a strawberry in the woods somewhere, and he didn't even ask me if I said, 'You don't have to look for strawberries'. Apparently I thought I said it with care.

(Father, where are you by now?

I looked up at the sky worried. Even if my father looked all over the world, I don't think he has the kind of sweet chicken he sold in Japan.

(I just said I want a sweet meal... I imposed a difficult problem on my father)

I felt sorry for myself, but I could only have my father's return.