/
At the Northern Fort V3C4: Female Knight Rekka (2)
“I’m leaving it to you, Mil.”
“Okay! It’s this way, Rekka-san!”
I called Rekka-san while exiting into the corridor. When I did so, Rekka-san responded conscientiously.
“Yes, Child of Snow.”
“Call me Mil. I like my name after all.”
“Yes, Mil-sama.”
The One-Eyed Knight seemed to have something to discuss with Branch Captain-san, as he stayed in the office.
After waiting for Rekka-san, who was carrying her bag on one shoulder, in the hallway, I restlessly moved my short legs and once again advanced forward.
As we continued down the long corridor, I did not forget to look back every now and then to make sure that Rekka-san was keeping up.
Rekka-san was still new to the fort, so it’d be terrible if she got lost.
“Am I walking too fast? Should I go slower?”
I asked, since her luggage seemed pretty heavy, but-
“No, I am fine. Thank you for your consideration.”
Rekka-san giggled and replied thus politely. I wonder why she’s laughing. Maybe it’s because a baby fox like me, who has far shorter legs than her, was worrying about whether or not she could keep up with my pace.
The corridor curved, and just as we arrived at the stone stairs that we were to descend, I spotted Tina-san at the top of the stairs.
It seemed that Tina-san was also waiting to show Rekka-san to her room.
“Ah, Mil-chan. Rekka-san. Are you done talking?”
After asking that, Tina-san introduced herself. Rekka-san also gave her name as she said, “Nice to meet you” and held out her right hand.
“I-It’s so nice to meet you too!”
Tina-san’s cheeks flushed slightly as she grabbed Rekka-san’s hand with both of her own and swung it far more than necessary. It was way too violent for a handshake.
Perhaps because she was nervous from being in front of her idol, her movements were strange.
“The barracks are this way. It’s two people per room, so you’ll be sharing a room with me.”
She clumsily pointed a finger before walking off like a robot.
“Sharing a room, I see……got it.”
“Um, it’s a bunk bed, and I’ve taken the top bunk. Are you fine with the bottom bed? If you’d like the top bunk, then I can move immediately.”
Just as I sighed internally at Tina-san’s excessive worrying, Rekka-san also suddenly chuckled as she said, “I’m fine with either” in response.
Her mature way of laughing made Tina-san’s face grow even redder, and she suddenly picked me up from where I was walking on the floor.
“What is it?”
“I just…thought I needed to calm down a little.”
She walked around while burying her nose into my head and taking deep breaths. This was the first time I’ve heard that my body odour had calming effects. Though it might only be effective for Tina-san.
“Do I perhaps scare you, Tina? You seem quite nervous.”
“No, it’s not like that! You’re mistaken.”
Tina-san stopped sniffing me and hastily explained. After explaining how Rekka-san had saved her before-
“Ever since that time, I’ve admired Rekka-san and made you my goal as a knight.”
-she spoke honestly and frankly.
“Admired…….me?”
Rekka-san blinked once as her eyes sparkled happily. However-
“Yes! I want to become a dependable knight like Rekka-san.”
“Like me……thanks. I’m honoured.”
Her shyly smiling expression as she said that appeared stiff to me. While it was true that her eyes had sparkled momentarily with happiness, it seemed that there was some other emotion mixed into it.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t be making such a complicated expression.
Tina-san did not seem to be calm enough to read the other party’s complicated expressions, so she remained oblivious as she headed for the barracks.
As we did so, we eventually came across several other knights walking in the opposite direction. I could tell that Rekka-san, who was standing diagonally behind me, went slightly on guard at the sight.
Even though there wasn’t really any particular rule demanding they do so, all of the pasing knights patted my head first as I sat in Tina-san’s arms.
Then, as they suddenly noticed Rekka-san’s presence, everyone’s eyes widened in a similar manner.
“Woah, a woman!”
“There’s a woman other than Tina here!”
“At the Northern Fort! A woman!”
“You guys are being too noisy.”
As they raised shouts of joy at having the presence of a woman around, Tina-san chided them.
It’s embarrassing to see you act that way right in front of Rekka-san, so stop with the ruckus.
“Oh right, now that you mention it we were told that a new female knight would be coming. Is that you?”
“I’m Rekka Celiade.”
Huh? Feeling that something wasn’t quite right, I tilted my head. Unlike when she was dealing with Tina-san or myself, Rekka-san’s attitude was indifferent.
While her voice wasn’t completely cold, it gave off a curt feeling. But it didn’t seem like she particularly hated the knights in front of us. She didn’t seem like she was all that bad with men either but……as I pondered on that, I recalled something.
At the main branch, it seemed like Rekka-san was constantly being teased by her colleagues, so she might be more wary of men she was meeting for the first time.
“But you’ve really come at a bad time, ya know. Winter’ll be coming before you’ll be able to get used to the fort. Don’t be like Tina and keep complaining while shovelling snow.”
“Stuff like, ‘Last night more snow fell, and it went back to how it was before~! What was the point in all of yesterday’s hard work~!’”
Mimicking Tina-san, one of the knights spoke with a high-pitched voice. It didn’t at all resemble her and it was gross, so I barked in complaint.
“Geez, stop it.”
Tina-san’s face puffed up in a pout, but perhaps because she started to recall her own past, in the end she began to laugh too.
However, on the other hand, Rekka-san didn’t even break out in the slightest smile. Perhaps because she thought that Tina-san was being made fun of, she even appeared a little displeased.
The other knights also seemed to sense her mood, as they quickly departed with a, “Well, see you” while once again petting my head.
I flusteredly spoke, trying to rectify Rekka-san’s misunderstanding.
“Um, Tina-san isn’t the only one who gets teased. Kix and Gilles also get poked fun at, but it’s not really in a bad way and—”
“Oh, Mil!”
Speaking of the devil, this time Kix came passing by. The one  joke-loving person, who seemed like he’d have the worst affinity with the serious Rekka, has arrived.
Kix tried to kiss my head, but Tina-san stopped him with a, “No”. “What, how stingy”, Kix pouted, giving up on the kiss. Instead, he tried to steal my from Tina-san’s arms, but it was at that moment that he finally noticed Rekka-san’s presence and his eyes went round.
“Woah, a woman. That surprised me. Who’re you?”
“Rekka Celiade. I’ll be under your care from today onward.”
Rekka-san gave the exact same reaction every time she encountered a man, and didn’t seem to pay much heed to it, and as expected she introduced herself with a rather dry attitude.
“Ahh, so you’re the reason Tina’s been so restless lately. Nice to meet you, Female Knight-sama. I’m Kix……—nmhu!?”
Kix was teasingly calling her “Female Knight-sama”, so I hastily used my paw pads to block his mouth. Even these kinds of trivial jokes might trigger Rekka-san.
“What is it, Mil?”
Kix seized my forepaws and restrained them, then as revenge he smacked a kiss on the tip of my nose.
Seeing that, Rekka-san twitched as she raised an eyebrow.
“Kix, was it? Hasn’t your handling of Mil-sama been a bit too sloppy since earlier? You should treat an honourable spirit with more respect. Correct your attitude.”
“Hah?”
Kix’s eyes rounded as he looked Rekka-san like some strange organism.
“An on-ner-able spir-it……?”
“She’s talking about me!”
I reflexively raised my voice.
“Although Mil-sama may be pardoning your actions graciously, you shouldn’t be so impolite towards her.”
In contrast to Rekka-san, who was looking at Kix with criticising eyes, Kix was looking back at her unblinkingly as if to ask, “Is she in her right mind?”.
Isn’t that pretty rude towards me?