Chapter 33

"Hey, Mom, about Kugaru and Hillg Papa..."

I called out to my mother as she carried me down the mountain. Since there's only snow near the summit, we must be moving to where the trees grow. Unfortunately, it seems the tree-climbing training will continue.

"That one is not your father."

"I know. When I say 'Papa,' I mean Kugaru's father."

Mother doesn't seem to like my 'Hillg Papa' calls. The wrinkle between her eyebrows deepened.

"So, Kugaru and his family live in the south of this country, right?"

"Yes."

Kugaru and his family live in this country of Aridora, and their home is a volcano in the south. I've flown there a couple of times to meet Kugaru and out of curiosity, but I was relieved to find it wasn't a scorching hell with magma constantly flowing out.

The volcano is indeed active, but it hasn't erupted in over 400 years and shows no signs of eruption now. As you go down from the crater, more plants grow, and a green forest where Kugaru and his family live spreads out.

Actually, the Fire Spirit originally lived in a southern country where the sun shone brightly all year round, but about 150 years ago, he moved to this country. However, Aridora has a temperate climate except for the area around Snowrea Mountain in the north. While it gets quite hot in the summer, it's much more comfortable compared to the southern country.

"Why did you come to such a cool country?"

When I visited Kugaru's home, I asked Hillg Papa. I thought the climate of the southern country would be more suitable for the Fire Spirit. But he smiled with his white teeth and explained:

"I followed Snowrea. I thought it would be better to live nearby for making children!"

He apparently intended to live even closer to Snowrea Mountain, but Mother firmly refused. So, they settled at the southern end, and Mother reluctantly allowed it, saying it was just barely acceptable. The fact that he stayed in Aridora even after being refused for making children suggests that Hillg Papa still has feelings for Mother.

However, from my perspective, his feelings are quite straightforward and not as delicate and complicated as a human's. That's why he can mate with other partners without resistance, and Kugaru was born. He doesn't seem to have any complex feelings towards me, who is the child of his rival in love.

This kind of attitude seems typical of a spirit who has lived for a long time.

So far, the spirits I know are Mother, Father, and Hillg Papa. If I arrange them by age, Mother is 289 years old (she counts it roughly), the Fire Spirit is about 400 years old, and Father is about 1100 years old. As they live longer, their personalities become more relaxed.

Father is so relaxed that he hardly shows any emotional fluctuations. He never gets angry even when I'm noisy and playful. However, when I'm too noisy while he's in his snake form, he silently swallows me into his mouth. I always get scared thinking I might be swallowed every time, so I wish he would stop.

"Was that a letter from Hillg Papa just now?"

I try to divert Mother's attention from the training because I don't want to be taken to the tree-climbing. Let's talk about love!

But Mother keeps a serious face and doesn't seem interested in love talk at all.

"You don't need to worry about it."

Mother's eyes usually have a slight upward tilt, but now they are even more slanted, indicating she's in a bad mood. Does she really dislike Hillg Papa that much? He's indeed tactless and overbearing, but he's a good person.

While I'm thinking about this, we arrive at a forest of coniferous trees.

"Try climbing that tree."

Mother puts me down in front of a tree and says. Although I want to go home and sleep, I decide to give it a try. However, my claws don't catch the bark well, and I struggle. I try to climb by placing my front paws on the trunk and jumping with my hind legs, but I can't go any further.

After a few attempts, I look up at Mother pitifully.

"Mom, it's impossible. I'm not a cat..."

"What are you saying? Wild foxes climb trees to rest. Watch me."

Mother transforms back into a fox, selects a thick tree, and runs up it with a strong start. She climbs to a high branch, looks down, and then gracefully descends to the ground before the branch breaks.

"Wow! Mom, you're amazing!"

Despite being larger than an ordinary fox, she easily climbed a straight tree. I'm so impressed that I exclaim with enthusiasm. Mother looks a bit proud.

"Your turn now."

"Ah..."

The excitement quickly fades. Then, I'm pushed by Mother's nose to start climbing the tree.

"Use your hind legs to push firmly!"

"Ouch!"

---

After the morning tree-climbing training, I head to the fort as usual.

I tell Mother, "I'm going!" and use the teleportation technique to move from our mountain home to the one-eyed knight. Recently, I've managed to reach the leaders of the detachment and Tina about one in five times, but I've never succeeded with Kicks. Maybe a strong desire to go to someone is important.

I picture the one-eyed knight in my mind and imagine flying to him. My body turns into a small whirlwind and disappears. The feeling of my body disappearing is a bit scary and never gets old.

But it's just a moment. I thought I would be at the one-eyed knight's place when I opened my eyes, but I ended up in a dark and narrow space. The wall in front of me is made of wood, and the ceiling is very low.

What is this place! What is this place! I panic and scratch the wall in front of me with my front paws. While calling the one-eyed knight in my mind and making "kyan kyan" sounds, I hear a savior's voice from behind.

"Mil?"

I immediately turn around. The one-eyed knight is sitting in a chair, leaning forward to look at where I am. Oh, this is the inside of the desk in the one-eyed knight's office, isn't it?

I feel embarrassed for panicking without checking. I gently pull back my front paws that were scratching the inside of the desk.

"What are you doing in there? If you're here, just come out."

I'm picked up by the scruff of my neck and placed on the one-eyed knight's knee. He doesn't seem to notice that I was scared and flustered. Good.

My teleportation is imprecise and can land me anywhere within a ten-meter radius of the one-eyed knight. Sometimes, I end up in unexpected places. Once, when the one-eyed knight was returning from a patrol on horseback, I appeared behind him on the ground and was left behind without him noticing. I had to chase after him, making "gya gya" sounds.

"It will be over soon."

The one-eyed knight places his hand on my head and continues his work. He's writing something on the documents on the desk, but I can't understand the content at all. I want to learn to read and write someday, so I try to follow the letters he writes with my eyes.

But it's boring.

After a while, I realize that resting my chin on the desk is more comfortable, so I observe the pen's movements in a lackadaisical manner. What's for dinner today...?