At the Northern Fort

Hmm, it's hot......

Why is it so hot? It's the middle of winter, isn't it?

It's uncomfortable. It's very uncomfortable.

Lift your eyelids slowly as you crease between your eyebrows.

Was I asleep?

The moment I awoke my consciousness that way, I stiffened myself to tension.

Right now, I'm in an unfamiliar room like a bickering room. With every swinging fireplace flame, the interior was stained with calm orange.

It was hot and uncomfortable because there was a fireplace right around the corner, apparently.

But I'm nervous, not because of that flame.

Because my body is on someone's lap sitting on the couch.

My cold body was wrapped in a large towel and I could only move about my neck freely, but I could tell by the smell without having to raise my face. I have no idea who I am right now.

At least I'm not the knight with the eyes of the ship who rescued me from the pond.

Over a towel, a strange human body temperature you feel under your body. I was instinctively lurking my breath. I'm afraid I don't know who this guy is. I don't want to find out when I'm awake.

But there, my nose has complained of itching. I can't ignore the appeal, and I spill my kushami.

"... cum!

"Oh, is it happening?

What came down from overhead was an unfamiliar voice.

However, the fear was alleviated slightly because the voice did not belong to a man, but to a woman who seemed kind. Speaking of which, the smell, a little sweet and good aroma.

I twisted my neck and looked over my head.

"Yay...! Upside down, sweetie! What shall we do!

It was a female knight dressed in uniform neatly that was putting me on my lap. He has long milk-tea colored hair as a ponytail, with a face that combines both a Rin beauty and a Maiden-like cuteness.

I've never seen a female knight since I got here.

"Isn't it cold?

The woman stroked my back to care. Over the towel, but my hair upside down when someone I don't know touches me. I don't mean anything disgusting or anything. Alert, nervous.

If I'm human, I'd welcome to be touched by a pretty woman, I'd say, but this fox body doesn't seem to be either. Although the female knight seems calm and gentle, she is still a stranger, so there is resistance to forgiveness on that knee.

I was unintentionally driven by the urge to jump off my knees and escape to the corner of the room, but I didn't even have that courage and I just made my body hard as a stone on her knees.

I wonder where the Shigeye knight is.

I'll just move my eyes and explore the indoors, but there's no sign of people in the bickering room except me and the female knight. Although the manly smell of many knights who would normally use this talking room remains, all the sofas on which some are placed are teasing.

It seems that tension was also transmitted to the opponent as he bucked his heart and prayed that the female knight would let me go.

I was called out to worry.

"Please, don't be so scared. It's not going to rupture your heart. I will not harm you."

She also seemed to feel the beating of her heart too early, conveying a hand placed on her back.

A feminine soft voice gives you peace of mind, and with your head, you can understand what she's saying.

But instincts don't easily allow humans to be distracted.

I'm afraid of voices I don't know, smells I don't know, and people I don't know.

He's been begging me to stay alert and make my body stronger.

And now I care about the fireplace flames right around the corner.

This is the first time I've come into contact with fire in this world, but apparently it's not compatible with my current body. Even the distance I find warm for humans is too hot for me and a little painful.

I know the female knight is trying to warm my body up cold, but honestly, if it's still in flames in front of the fireplace like this, it's better to go back inside a snowy pond. Hot!

I couldn't stand it and when I forced myself out of the towel restraint and down to the floor, I hurried away from the front of the fireplace.

"Ah..."

The female knight unfortunately saw the towel shell on her lap after she followed me with her eyes.

"Come on. It's cold over there, isn't it?

No, no, it's not cold.

My body is still wet, but I don't think the Snow Spirit will catch a cold with this much.

I blurted my little body like a dog and let it air into my chunky, raw, dry fur. But I have a weird habit because I slept in a towel. My proud moff hair......!

Well, if it dries out perfectly, I'm sure it'll bring back the original 'ha-ha-ha' feeling.

"Come."

Sitting on an old plank floor, licking her forelegs so hard that she was mending her hair, the female knight rose up and slowly approached us.

Wouldn't it scare me, that foothold was very quiet, but I couldn't help but escape if I came close enough to a human being to look up.

Not that female knights are particularly tall, but for me, a child fox, all humans are big.

I rushed into the darkness of the corner of the room. The female knight says with a troubled, shocked face.

"Me, so scared?

I feel a little guilty about my sadly dripping brow butt.

Sorry, I'm sorry. But I'm not afraid of you, I'm afraid of people I don't know.

Sticking his back against the wall behind him and shrinking, the female knight didn't come any closer.

"But you're a wild little fox. Is it natural that you're not used to people?"

She crouched a little further away and lowered her gaze, moving her fingers as she said, "I'm not afraid - I'm just going to nadenade you" and inviting me.

But it just hardened and never moved. Seems like he decided to change the operation.

"I figured I'd need some delicious food to make you feel more alert"

That's how I shrugged and got up.

At the same time, a slightly heavier wooden door in the discourse room opens and a man enters through the hallway.

Grey short hair with large scars running on the left side of the face.

The moment I found out that the man who came into the room was the knight of the ship's eyes, I was so relieved that my whole body was about to lose its strength. Surprising relief myself.

Though they were beautiful women, I was more nervous about the situation of being alone with strangers in unfamiliar rooms than I thought.

The female knight turned around and spoke to the knight of the ship's eyes with a sober face.

"Deputy, it looks like this kid, he's afraid of humans after all. Not even me."

"... well. I thought it was better than a rough guy, but maybe animals have nothing to do with human gender."

They said as they looked at me in the corner of the room. I should have been helped by a knight in the eye, but I wondered why a strange female knight would take care of me when I woke up, but maybe that was his considerable consideration.

"I thought I'd protect you at home until I could stand on my own, but it's pathetic the other way around that you seem so frightened. Maybe we should still get him out there."

"But if the wild dogs attack me again...! Yes, the deputy director gave this kid dinner, didn't he? I suppose you're forgiving your heart more than I've ever seen you before today."

"... No, I wouldn't. I wasn't just stuck in the food, I was forgiving myself."

The knight with the naked eye said with a less changeable look, but a little lonely.

Sure enough, I was stuck with food that looked delicious, and I wasn't completely nostalgic for the knight in the eye.

But not now.

I'm sure he won't do anything to hurt me. Because the Shigeye Knight jumped into a cold pond and helped me.

To whoever saved my life, he said, "Aren't you going to do me harm?" It's kind of paradoxical and strange to suspect.

Originally, he didn't look like a bad person, but it feels like trust has increased all at once in this one case. The animal-like vigilance in me is almost gone, too, against the knight in the eye.

I ran through beside the female knight on a small run, sounding a tattered, mild footsteps, and approached the ship-eyed knight who was near the door.

For a moment, I felt signs of being as frigid as he was nervous, but I leaned my nose under its feet without worrying. I guess I changed after entering the pond, my pants and boots were dry and didn't even smell the water. The only thing I do is a relieved smell that I'm familiar with smelling.

My tail shook by accident.

"... you say you didn't forgive me or anything, you usually miss me! Lieutenant, it's sloppy! Envy!"

From behind, I heard a stuffy female knight.

"No... you just think you'll feed me..."

The Shigeye knight, while saying so, seemed surprised at me waving his tail happily under his feet. My voice is upset. It's the first time you've gotten this close to him from me when you don't have dinner or jerky.

I'm not that scared of those boneless hands anymore because they're holding me up when I'm helped out of the pond. Once I touched it, nothing happened.

The big hand of a ship-eyed knight doesn't slap me. It protects me the other way around.

I stare into his eyes, high above my head, shaking the tail whose 'hairball feel' is halved because of the hairs being dry. My neck hurts a little.

After such a glimpse of me, the Shigeye Knight explored his trouser pockets as he had noticed all along.

I take the jerky wrapped in cloth from inside and offer it to me like I was convinced. My face got closer because you crouched down.

"Well, you came by in response to this smell."

The knight with the naked eye says as he seeps through his cheeks but is slightly disappointed.

But the smell of the jerky offered didn't upset my appetite. Because I'm not hungry right now.

More importantly, they think food is the only thing on their minds. I didn't come near by the smell of jerky.

I just thought the knight's side of the ship would be relieved. I also wanted to say thank you for getting help with that.

The knight of the ship's eye seemed to wonder at me for not wanting to cling to the jerky after just a glimpse. "What's up? You'd like this, wouldn't you?," he brings jerky at the tip of his nose over and over again to make sure he smells.

That's enough! I know, that means it's delicious jerky!

I turned away that time and stared at the knight with the eyes of a ship, not the jerky.

"Deputy... I'm not stuck in that kid's food. I knew I missed the vice president."

A female knight calls from behind.

Yeah, well, explain it to this dull guy.

"But I haven't missed you so much till this morning. How did you get so close to this all of a sudden?

"I'm sure he understands exactly what the vice president helped him with earlier. I thought you said thank you.

Well done. You've spoken for my feelings, lady knight!

Thanks for the help earlier, that's what I wanted to tell you, and I licked the knight's fingertips of a crouching ship eye.

This thought, pass it on! I think and after a hard lick, I also lick one of my noses with habit, and then look up at the knight with the eye of a ship.

After all, he remained solidified with a flashy look for a while, but eventually concealed his face in the palm of his hand by pretending to lift his short hair.

But I saw it. On the verge of hiding, the look of the knight in the eye broke down delightfully. He had a rare face.

"Nice, I envy you"

A female knight says it's pompous.

I don't think she's a bad person either, so I'm sure I can forgive her too within a few meetings. Let's take our time to deepen our interactions. I want you to wait a little longer until the animal alert in me is lifted.

"It's too late today. You don't seem hungry, and you should let him sleep again."

The knight in the eye, who regained his normal heart and returned to his usual expression, said so looking at me. I seem to have lost my mind until just now, but when you say it, I'm still sleepy.

"It's dangerous out there. Even within the Knights Branch facility, there will be various dangers for you. It's not uncommon for wild dogs to come in looking for food like they do today."

Humans are supposed to think of me not as the understandable Spirit of the Word, but as just a fox, but a ship-eyed knight spoke to me looking straight at this one. That makes me very happy and the tail wobble more intense.

The two knights laughed at my reaction and said, "What are you happy about?" "Cute. They say it's dangerous, but you can't shake your tail," he says with pleasure.

"Anyway, so. I don't know if living protected by humans is happy for wildlife, but I'm not going to let a child as powerless as you go outside and feed a mistletoe wild dog. I'll take care of you until you grow up enough."

The proclamation of the knight of the ship's eye was delightful. I'm also afraid of wild dogs who might come back when, and if they can get protection in a safe building, that's better.

But maybe what can stay here for another ten days or so? That's about it, because your mother should be back from the King's Capital.

"Until I grow up enough," I can't stay here.

I'm so glad your mother is back, but I miss you for saying goodbye to the Shigeye knight who was so close at that time.

But at least until then, let me sweeten you to his generosity and enjoy life here.

I thought so and shook my tail big again.