Half a year had passed since the spring when I went to the Capital on my errand, and the time when winter would come in this region was rapidly approaching.
The summit of Snowlea Mountain where our nest was was covered in snow all-year round due to Mother making it snow even during the summer, but when it came to this season, the snow naturally began to fall.
However, at the base of the mountain where the Northern Fort stood, there wasnât even the lightest dusting of snow yet.
Having come to the fort to play, I sighed as I gazed at the damp earth.
Because of the heavy rain that had fallen yesterday, even the areas that werenât covered in grass had become muddy, and the condition of the ground was the worst. If itâs like this, then I wonât be able to race around the fortâs buildings for fun on my own. Todayâs plans have gone awry.
It makes my fur wet, and my paw pads start to feel gross when they get soaked, so I donât really like rain all that much.
While I donât think that I particularly loved snow when I was a human, right now I couldnât wait for the first snow to fall at the base of the mountain. I even started to feel that having all of Earth covered in a pure white snow would be wonderful.
I might just be becoming more and more like a proper snow spirit.
(Letâs not play outside today.)
Just when I had decided to return to the One-Eyed Knightâs side, who was still working, my attention was suddenly drawn to a single tree that had entered my line of sight.
Because at its base were a number of acorns.
Why are there acorns in a place like that? -as I wondered that, mystified, I started to imagine some of the knights at the fort excitedly gathering acorns like a bunch of young kids.
Was everyone really that innocentâŚâŚ?
For a short while, I stared at the distant acorns with a subtle expression, when suddenly I realised something.
Those acorns werenât left there, they were something that was exposed by yesterdayâs heavy rain, and were originally buried in the ground. They were surely buried by a squirrel.
Since they were probably acorns gathered in preparation for winter, I wonder if it would be better to bury it back again? Thinking that, I helplessly walked onto the wet ground.
After arriving at the base of the tree, I lightly moved the acorns with my forepaws and dug a hole a few centimetres deep into the muddy ground.
Even though at first I was reluctant to go out into the mud, after coming out and getting my paws wet and my body dirty, I didnât care anymore.
Rather, playing in the mud might actually be fun.
My lowered tail started to sway. As I dug the hole, the mud splashed up onto my belly and my hind legs, but I didnât pay any heed to it. Rather, I felt like getting as dirty as physically possible.
Together with my burgeoning excitement, the movement of my digging forepaws grew fiercer.
Digging holes after so long is kinda fun!
However, just digging holes wasnât enough to vent my excitement. Thinking that, I raised my head and dashed off on the spot.
Someone, please do something about this energy that sometimes comes welling up all on its own.
After making two laps around the tree, I raced towards the training grounds at full speed, my tongue sticking out as I smiled. There, I ran around, panting for a while.
I wonder why just running around like this was so fun. Maybe itâs because I have four legs, and I have a body suited for running. Maybe itâs because I donât get as tired as I did when I was a human.
However, my blissful time of running around covered in mud did not last long.
âAh, Mil! Youâre filthy!â
âYouâll have to go to the bath.â
I was discovered by Kix and Gilles who happened to be passing by the training grounds.
Shoot! -After momentarily freezing up, I remembered how much I hated baths and ran back the way I came at full speed.
âShe ran!â
Gilles said,
âHey! Get over here!â
Kix yelled.
While hearing those voices calling after me, I returned to the side of the tree from earlier at which point I remembered my original goal after seeing the acorns.
I was supposed to rebury these for the squirrels!
I nudged the acorns into the hole I had already dug with my forepaws, and then covered them with the dirt before finally patting the earth down. Looks good!
With this, the squirrels shouldnât starve during the winter. I did a very good thing.
However, just as I turned my body around to return into the building while feeling good about myself, I caught sight of an unexpected person, causing me to shriek slightly.
âHya-âŚâŚ!â
Standing outside with his arms crossed was the One-Eyed Knight.
The One-Eyed Knightâs gaze was turned towards my mud-covered legs and belly.
All I could do was stare back stiffly as my tail that had been raised up happily seconds ago drooped dejectedly.
J-Just when did he get there~.
âT-ThoseâŚacornsâŚt-the squirrelsâŚwill be troubled so-â
I fumbled with my words as I tried to make excuses and sat down on the spot. It was unpleasant getting my bottom and tail wet, but sitting down might make me look more remorseful.
Even if I ran away from the One-Eyed Knight now, Iâd be scared of the consequences afterwards, so unlike with Kix I prepared for a complete surrender.
I nervously stared back at him for several seconds.
Just as I thought he would get angry at me, the One-Eyed Knight forgave me unexpectedly easily. He smiled as though it couldnât be helped as he spoke.
âWas playing in the mud fun?â
Relieved that I hadnât been scolded, I ran up to the One-Eyed Knight.
I love the One-Eyed Knight because heâs so nice!
âYup, it was pretty fun!â
Ahaha~, I laughed thoughtlessly, as the One-Eyed Knight forcibly picked me up and started heading towards the bathhouse.
Eh? No no, wait a sec. Please, wait a sec. This isnât what we agreed on!
The One-Eyed Knight wasnât angry, but the moment I realised that he was intending on bringing me to the bathhouse to clean me up, my flustered excuses resumed.
âNo, I wasnât pwaying. The squirrelâs acorns came out, so I was burying them back.â
âI see, you did a good thing.â
My head was pat, which soothed me, but if I didnât resist here then itâd be a direct trip to the bathhouse. I cried âkyun kyunâ while clinging to the One-Eyed Knight.
I dun wanna bathe! Please, not the baths!
The One-Eyed Knight made an uncharacteristically troubled face, but his legs did not stop walking towards the bathhouse.
âMil, you canât stay like this. We have to clean you up.â
It was a difficult choice to either continue living with the mud hardened and crusty on my fur or to enter the baths that I disliked.
However, I feel like if I just returned to the nest and rolled around in the snow, Iâd eventually get clean, so as expected Iâd rather not enter the baths.
The Northern Fortâs bathhouse drew water from a hot spring, so I didnât like being splashed by the hot water that had its strong fire energy in it. Rather than submerging myself in the water of the hot spring, itâd be far more comfortable to clean up in cold water.
It wasnât actually upsetting enough to cry about, but my heart was sobbing as I hung my head in the One-Eyed Knightâs arms.
âIf you endure the bath, Iâll give you jerky, okay?â
The One-Eyed Knight tried to encourage me, but right now jerky alone wonât improve my mood.
We arrived at the vast bathhouse used by the knights at the fort and entered the changing room, where the One-Eyed Knight took off his jacket and rolled up his pant legs. And then, he brought me to the bathing area.
After scooping up a bucket of hot water from the bathtub, he started to add water to it to lower the temperature. It seemed that he understood that I was bad with hot water, but even if it was lukewarm, the fire energy still remained in the water.
If I ask him to use cold water, then Iâm sure heâll listen to my request, but if he does that, the One-Eyed Knightâs hands will grow numb with the cold. A temperature that I might find just right will probably be rough for a human to bear.
In the end, I allowed the One-Eyed Knight to do as he wished, and I was washed in the bucket with a splash.
As the One-Eyed Knight wiped my entire body with a towel, I stared at my forepaws with a dead expression.
I thought I had a plump enough figure, but when my fur gets wet, the thinness of my ankles becomes apparent.
Even though the One-Eyed Knight had been doing all the moving as I stayed still while he washed me, somehow I was incredibly tired.
The pleasantly warm feeling that my body would have after a bath felt good when I was a human, but to a snow spirit, it was unpleasant. It made me want to bury myself in snow to cool my body.
âYou endured it well.â
He stroked my head while scrubbing with the towel, so I snorted and started to behave like a spoiled child.
âYou were very admirable for staying still like a good child.â
The One-Eyed Knight educational policy seemed to be based on giving praise, so even when I did trivial things, heâd praise me and say, âThatâs amazingâ, or âYou did greatâ, which made me happy. Somehow Iâm starting to feel better now.
My tail rose, and I placed a paw on one of the One-Eyed Knightâs crossed legs and laughed proudly while looking up at him.
âAre you feeling better now? Youâre all clean now, and thanks to the soap you also smell good, so baths arenât so bad, are they?â
The soap wasnât regular soap, but a pink soap that smelled like roses that Branch Captain-san bought for my personal use.
Today we used that to wash my body, so right now my entire body had a floral scent around it.
However, while it certainly was a nice scent, because it was different from my personal odour, I couldnât really calm down. Inside me were the personalities of a human and a fox cub, and currently the fox cub was flustered going, âWith this kind of scent, weâll stick out in the natural worldâ.
While on top of the One-Eyed Knightâs legs, I tried shaking off my damp body, but the scent wouldnât come off. Rather, instead it started to further release an excessively rosy scent, making my nose twitch. Even sitting down and licking my body didnât help.
And, as I was still feeling restless, the Scary-Faced Squad entered the changing room.
Everyone was covered in mud, and as usual, their faces were scary.
âAh, Vice Cap. Mil too.â
âWhen Milâs wet she gets thinner and looks more fox-like.â
âLately sheâs looked rounder âcause of her winter coat after all.â
There were six men in total in the Scary-Faced Squad, and all of them were apparently in the same unit, so they were generally together most of the time.
And all of them seemed to look up to the One-Eyed Knight. While all of the knights at the fort admired him, they were particularly respectful of him.
Iâm sure itâs because they felt a sense of affinity with him as another scary-faced man.
âWhat happened?â
The One-Eyed Knight furrowed his brow as he looked at the mud-caked Scary-Faced Squad.
âDonât tell me you guys were also reburying acorns as well.â
âAcorns? No, the horses started rampaging in excitement, so when we grappled with them to calm them down, we ended up like this.â
Shrugging as he said that was Gregorio, who had red-hair and a goatee. He was around the later half of his thirties.
Incidentally, the other members of the Scary-Faced Squad included: Rhodes, who had pale eyes and hair, and resembled a Russian assassin; Gil, a bald man with a glare that made it look like heâs killed two or three people in his time; the gigantic Bauns; Daz, who was so tall he looked more like a mercenary than a knight; and Jetz, a man with a mohawk who looked like a delinquent.
All of them had their own unique characteristics, and somehow their names were just as rugged as their appearances.
Rhodes-san was the oldest, and while he was quiet, he felt like he was their leader. I also somehow ended up adding a [-san] when I addressed him.
Gregorio was the talkative sub-leader, while Gil, Bauns, and Daz were in their mid-twenties and were mid-ranking knights. Jetz was still young and got along well with Kix and Gilles too, but when the three of them got together, they would only get up to no good, so it was troubling.
Previously, I got caught by the three of them and ended up having my prided chest fur braided in multiple places. Untying those braids was really hard, you know!
Like their name suggested, the members of the Scary-Faced Squad had particularly fiendish visages, even amongst the brusque knights of the Northern Fort. Thus, all of them were quite conscious of their scary outward appearances, despite actually being quite delicate and kind inside.
âOh, Mil. Somehow you smell pretty nice.â
âNow that I think of it, I havenât touched Mil for the past three days.â
After Gregorio sniffed at the scent, Jetz started to extend a hand towards me.
However, the One-Eyed Knight cautioned him to not touch me with his dirty hands.
âI just washed her. If you want to touch her, then do it after you take a bath.â
âUuu, I canât touch even though sheâs right in front of meâŚâŚâ
Jetz withdrew his hand disappointedly, leaving the scent of dirt, rain and sweat behind.
Somehow, such natural scents calmed me, and the intense impulse to rub my body against the dirt-covered Scary-Faced Squad seized me.
The baby fox inside of me wanted to use their scents to erase the unnatural scent of roses.
However, my human side wanted to refrain from placing the Scary-Faced Squadâs sweaty scent on my body, plus if I rubbed myself against them, my fur would get dirty with mud again. I had just overcome the bathing trial, so Iâd rather not have to return to the bathing area again.
I tensed all four of my legs, bracing myself so that my body would not suddenly dash forward of its own accord. The scent of roses was much better. Damn you, my animal instincts!