At the Northern Fort

The blizzard stopped.

The heavy clouds that had covered the sky cleared, and the warm sunlight sprinkled the earth. The freezing cold that had been present up until now, had also eased.

The Snow Spirit's anger abated, so it probably wouldn't snow for a while either.

On top of that, with this incident, they unexpectedly managed to sell Snowlea a favour. If something were to happen, she said that she'd lend her powers.

There was nothing more reassuring than to have the Snow Spirit as your ally in this region, so it was something to be celebrated.

It was something to be celebrated, but……

On the way back from the altar, Grail's expression was dark. That was the same for the other knights, and even Cromwell was visibly depressed.

Mil——-the white fox cub who had suddenly appeared at the fort two weeks ago, was the Snow Spirit's child.

The soothing presence for the knights of the fort was no longer here. She had returned together with her mother to their nest at the mountaintop.

He had been planning on eventually returning her to the wild after all, so it was far better for her to be with her mother instead of staying at the fort. It was obvious that Mil would also be happier over there.

But even if he understood that, sad happenings were still sad.

No longer would that cute white furball curl around his legs. He wouldn't be able to feed her jerky from his hand, nor would he be able to see her figure running happily around in the snow.

Even if he returned to his room in the barracks, he'd be alone starting from today. He'd have to clean up Mil's exclusive basket bed as well.

Grail sighed, and reprimanded his depressed self. Get a hold of yourself. Snap out of it. Mil just returned to where she belonged – by her mother's side.

"Eh, no way! Then Mil-chan won't come back anymore!?"

When they returned to the fort and explained the entire situation to everyone who had remained, Tina said that in a crying voice. All of the other knights also looked just as dejected.

"My one solace~!"

"We've lost the joy of being able to stroke that furball all over……"

"The only remaining comfort here is the hot spring now."

While it was only two weeks, Mil's existence had become that important to us.

"Don't feel so down. It's not like she'll be gone forever. She might come by to play if she feels like it."

Grail said that in attempt to console his subordinates, but-

"When exactly will that be?"

"A spirit's lifespan is long. So it's possible that their sense of time is different from ours……"

"It's possible that the next time she 'comes to play' will be ten years from now."

"Rather, she's probably the happiest with her mother after all, so won't she quickly forget about us?"

The atmosphere quickly grew dark again. A depressing aura enveloped the lounge. A bunch of large-bodied mature men got like this because of the disappearance of a single fox cub. If an enemy were to come attack the fort right this instance, it was possible that we'd end up being defeated without being able to mount a proper counterattack.

Thinking about things that way, Mil was a rather frightening existence. It was unlikely that any female spy – no matter how beautiful – would be able to cause such a drop in the fort's fighting power.

After all, even Cromwell, who has been hiding his love of animals up until now, was visibly expressing his depression without paying any heed to the surrounding eyes. As soon as we returned to the fort, he shut himself in his room. What should I do if he's crying inside it?

"Mil-chan……"

Tina's eyebrows furrowed in sorrow. It wasn't like anyone had died, yet the lounge's atmosphere was as heavy as though a funeral were being held in it.

The usually bright Kix was also sulking silently as well. He was like a child who had his favourite toy taken away.

For now, Grail intended on closing an eye at his subordinate's loss of energy, but from tomorrow on, if they continued acting all depressed while working and training, he'd have to beat some spirit back into them.

That is why he also had to put his feelings into order by today.

He can't forcibly erase the feeling of loss from Mil's disappearance, but he couldn't show such a miserable face in front of his subordinates.

Grail quietly left the lounge.

The fort was somber the next day as well. Even though the bright sunlight was shining down on the fort, the knight's faces lacked any signs of cheeriness. Because the head chef, who had heard of the events this morning, was also depressed, breakfast was seasoned horribly.

As for Grail, despite his resolve from yesterday to move on, he found himself unable to do so——when he woke up in the morning and saw the empty basket, his head drooped. When he realised that there wasn't anyone who would watch over him during his morning training, he felt empty inside. And when he was made to remember the sense of loneliness from eating breakfast alone——he was unable to rebuke his subordinates.

Just earlier he had witnessed Cromwell hugging his beloved horse in an attempt to fill the hole in his heart, at which point he seriously started to wonder whether or not this fort would be okay.

Right now, Grail was devoting his time to working on paperwork in his office. He was making a record of the series of events that occurred during the recent incident.

At the same time, he was composing a letter to the knight leader in the Capital. In particular, with regards to the Snow Spirit's child, while Snowlea herself did not seem to want to make her child's existence too public, he had to report such an important matter.

He had asked Cromwell to write a letter to the King, but it was dubious whether or not he was progressing on that. It could be that he was still in the stables.

"Perhaps I should go check on him……"

What an awkward Branch Captain he had.

Grail let out a light sigh and stood up.

"Kyan!"

——but, he soon stopped his legs, and looked at his feet.

Before he knew it, a fox cub had appeared there, and he had stepped on her fluffy white tail. Her tail was mostly made of fur, but it seemed that he had completely stepped on the actual [meat] of it. Grail hastily lifted his foot.

"Sorry Mil. That must've hurt."

He quickly kneeled down and gently checked the state of her tail. Mil always seemed to appear at his feet before he realised it, so he had always been very careful when pulling out his chair and moving his legs, but…….

Mil's eyes were slightly teary.

"Are you okay? Sorry."

Grail felt apologetic, and Mil bravely swung her stepped-on tail and snuggled up to Grail's leg. Then, she looked at him with her big round eyes and spoke in a clumsy manner.

"I'm okay, weally."

"I see, that's good. Now that I think of it, Mil's become able to speak-……"

It was there that Grail suddenly fell into thought.

He stared fixedly at the fox cub in front of him, extending his hand and reconfirming the soft sensation of her fur. After confirming the presence of her physical flesh body underneath the fur, he judged that she was no illusion before opening his mouth.

"……why are you here?"

His feelings of disbelief were great, causing his tone of voice to be lower than usual.

Including himself, the knights of the fort had their hearts easily stolen away by the cute fox cub. Right now, that fox cub should be on the snowy summit of Snowlea mountain, to remain for some time——-he had even been prepared for them to never meet again.

That is how he had felt ever since yesterday, yet now how was she here?

"I'm sorry……a-am I being a newsanse…by retwurning?"

It seemed that his brow had unintentionally furrowed from his bewilderment at the unexpected situation. Mil was trembling while looking up at him. Grail tried to make as pleasant a face as possible as he crouched down on the spot and stroked Mil's head to soothe her.

"Of course not. I was just a little surprised. I'm happy to be able to see you again. But how did you manage to get here?"

When he asked that, Mil wagged her tail proudly while answering.

"I used da transfurr technike! Da same ting dat I used yeshturday. I can come here in an inshtant fwom the mountaintwop wif it."

"I see, that's amazing."

It seemed like she wanted him to praise her, so he used both hands to rub Mil's facial fur. The fur there was just as fluffy as her chest and tail fur, and felt just as wonderful to touch. After he stroked her while praising, "Amazing, you're so amazing", he made a slightly troubled expression.

"But what about Snowlea? Did your mother allow you to come here? You didn't leave without telling her again, right?"

It would be terrible if another blizzard were to occur, so he tried warning Mil for the time being, but his words held no impact, nor any majesty. After all, Grail was happy that she had chosen to come——despite having the option of [staying by her mother's side]——and that joy showed up in his voice. In his heart, he was thinking, "I'm so glad that you came".

Even while Mil showed some vigilance at having her face pet all over, her eyes happily sparkled as she responded.

"I pwoperly told Mother dat I waz going to da 'fwort' to pway. She said dat it waz okay to come for a bit. Dats why I can come for a bit ebwey day now!"

Seeing Mil's tail start to wag at warp speed, Grail smiled as he said, "I see". Perhaps this was the same kind of delight a father would feel……when being able to visit his child who normally lived with his divorced wife.

"Then let's go tell everyone else that you've come by to play. Please do something about the depressed atmosphere running through this fort. We also have to hurry up and help the Branch Captain too."

"Did something happen to da Bwanch Captain-san?"

Not understanding the meaning behind his words, Mil's ears drooped in concern.

"You'll get it when you see him."

Grail made a wry smile and gently picked up Mil's small body.

When he did so, Mil looked up at him with a bewildered expression. She seemed somewhat restless, as though she could not calm down.

She was probably confused at Grail's change in attitude compared to before. More specifically speaking, she was surprised that he was carrying her when they were about to walk.

"I've changed my education policy."

Grail said while smiling to himself.

Mil wasn't a wild animal, but a spirit. Unlike a normal fox, she wouldn't have to fight to survive in the harsh conditions of nature, hunting for prey in the future.

That is why he didn't have to interact with Mil with the assumption that she would eventually need to be released back into the wild like before.

Up until now, Grail was being careful to make sure that Mil wouldn't become too dependent on humans. He firmly endured his desire to pick her up, and had her walk with her own legs when going places. He also endured the desire to sleep together with her, and did not allow her into his bed. He originally had thought that it was around the time he started to have her practice hunting using mice.

However, in the future he would be abandoning those efforts.

He could spoil Mil to his heart's delight and dote on her.

It was great that Mil was a spirit. It was great that he wouldn't have to eventually let her go to release back into the wild. That is what he thought from the bottom of his heart.

As Grail basked in his good fortune, he rested the fox cub's upper body on his shoulder. She inevitably ended up facing backwards, and her fidgety wagging tail brushed against his cheek. However, both that tail of hers, and even her butt somehow seemed to be rather cute in his eyes.

"Why are you waughing?"

Mil turned around and asked. Right now, he was probably making a slovenly face. Grail took advantage of her confusion and brought his hand up to stroke her head, obstructing her inquisitive gaze.

After he opened his door and went out into the hallway, it didn't take long before he came across his subordinates.

"Ah, Vice Captain. Good wor——……eh?"

"……V-Vice Captain, that's-! Mil!? Why!?"

——the Northern Fort's specialties were its hot spring, mountain-load of snow, and its boorish knights.

And from that day onward, a pure white fox cub who would come every day to play 'for a bit' was added to that list.