Chapter 37

I stared at my mother with wide eyes.

"‘Outo’? You mean the capital? Where the kings are?"

"Yes. You have visited the castle in the capital city a few times with me, have you not?"

"Yes, I remember. But... by myself?"

"Yes, you will go alone."

"But Mother, I can’t fly to the capital."

When I use the teleportation technique, I still can’t teleport to a specific location. Moreover, the people I can target are limited, and the kings and queens are not among them.

I moved restlessly on the bed, not expecting to be sent on such a long errand alone, which left me flustered.

But my mother continued mercilessly.

"Yes. I understand that you can’t use the teleportation technique, but you can walk, can’t you?"

I stood there with my mouth half-open, frozen like ice.

"The capital is far away on foot. I am very worried, but this is also a form of training. To strengthen you, I must be strict."

My mother looked sad and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her kimono, but I didn’t think any tears were actually falling.

If I stayed frozen like this, I would really be sent on the errand, so I tried to loosen my stiff body and speak.

"Mother... that’s impossible. I can’t do it alone..."

Isn’t the first errand usually to a nearby store or something?

How many hundreds of kilometers is it to the capital? According to information I once heard from the one-eyed knight, it takes at least two days to ride a horse there...

Do you mean... I have to... walk that distance with my short legs?

Something inside me snapped, and my human-like rationality flew out the window.

"Ah! It’s impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

My pitifully raised voice echoed through the cave.

"Impossible! No way! Impossible!"

I flopped onto the ground, expressing my refusal to go on the errand with my body.

If only Mother could use the teleportation technique to go and come back quickly. This training is too difficult, even if it’s for my own good.

Indeed, Mother has a strictness befitting a spirit. In previous training, she has forced me to run in the snow in the middle of winter to strengthen my legs, and even thrown me in front of a hibernating snow bear to “see if I could take it down.”

Climbing trees this morning was relatively easy by comparison.

However, when she made me do such training, she was always right beside me, ready to help if I was in danger.

I thought Mother would be overly worried and react sensitively to me being alone outside our home.

I thought she would be the one most against me going on a solo journey.

"Mother, you won’t come with me, will you?"

I asked while lying on my back, but she nodded.

"Yes."

Then, she took out a letter from her sleeve, tied with a beautiful purple ribbon, and said,

"I want you to deliver this letter to the human king. Can you do it?"

"I can’t!"

I flailed my arms and legs, rejecting the idea with my whole body.

As a former human, I have no pride left.

"No, no, no, no! I won’t do it unless Mother comes with me!"

I rolled around on the bed, scattering dry grass. I must sound really noisy.

I thought that if I acted this much, Mother would give up, but...

"Milfia, try once without saying such things."

She spoke patiently to me, showing no signs of giving up.

Eventually, I got so tired that I started to think maybe I should just go on the errand.

"Sleep well tonight and start your journey in the morning."

Mother looked worried as she watched me.

Why does she want to send me to the capital with such a worried look?

"Okay, I’ll go..."

I said weakly, not understanding what Mother was thinking, but feeling a desire to meet her expectations.

"You’re a brave child."

Mother hugged me tightly and gently stroked my back, but I felt a bit conflicted.

"Mother... do you like me?"

While being hugged, I looked up at her.

I don’t remember clearly, but I think I asked my mother the same question when I was a child in my previous life.

Mother answered with the same gentle smile as my previous mother.

"Of course. I love you."

"Really? How much do you like me?"

"How much? ‘Very much.’"

"How much in terms of size?"

"Size!?"

I know I’m being troublesome, but I can’t help but confirm Mother’s love.

Mother, looking puzzled, said, "This much, maybe?" and spread her arms wide. She stretched her fingers and made them tremble, which satisfied me for the moment.

But I still don’t want to go on the errand...

What is Mother thinking?

The next morning, my resolve was still not firm.

I rolled over in bed, but I kept my eyes closed, pretending to be asleep to avoid being sent on the errand.

But such tricks didn’t work on Mother.

"Milfia, it’s time to wake up and start your journey."

I was rolled over by a nudge on my nose, and I couldn’t help but wake up.

"Ugh..."

I got up unsteadily, and Mother, in human form, carefully removed the dry grass from my fur.

She combed out the tangles in my fur on my cheeks and sides with her fingers and wiped away the drool.

"I think the shoulder wrap from the fort is around here somewhere."

Mother went to the back of our home and pulled out the shawl I had received from the captain from a pile of my treasures.

Incidentally, the pile of treasures also included nice sticks, smooth round stones, and impressive deer antlers I had picked up in the forest.

Ah, that brown object must be the flowers I picked last summer. I should throw them away.

"Oh? Where did you pick this up, Milfia?"

Mother pointed to a large, lumpy stone at the back of the treasure pile.

It was a gray stone, slightly smaller than my body, with several beautiful greenish-yellow stones attached to it.

I’m sure these greenish-yellow stones are precious gemstones, so I keep them carefully.

"That’s from Hylg, Mother..."

"Hylg gave it to you?"

Mother frowned and turned away from the stone.

Poor Hylg. I’ll take good care of the gemstones.

Mother regained her composure, dusted off the shawl, and put it on me. Despite being crumpled and stuffed in the treasure pile, the fine fabric was wrinkle-free when spread out.

"Mother, I thought..."

As the preparations for departure progressed, I spoke.

I still had a trump card to avoid the errand.

"I don’t know the way to the capital. So I can’t go alone. I want to go on the errand, but I can’t because I don’t know the way. I want to go, but it’s no use."

So please give up on the errand! I looked at her with hopeful eyes.

There’s no map, after all.

"Yes, that’s true..."

Good, good. Mother is thinking. I hope the errand is canceled!

I need to give off the vibe that I’m disappointed about not going on the errand, but my honest tail is wagging uncontrollably.

Calm down!

"Then, let’s do this."

But Mother seemed to have come up with a solution, and my tail immediately drooped.

Mother held up her hand with her palm facing up.

Then, a faint blue-white light floated up from the center of her palm.

It was round and continued to float in the air, even after leaving Mother’s hand, illuminating the dim cave slightly.

"What is this...?"

I wanted to bite the beautiful glowing orb that slowly flew in front of me.

"That’s a fairy. A snow fairy I created."

"Fairy..."

"I’ve given this fairy a small part of my power and the task of guiding you to the capital. If you follow it, you won’t get lost. This solves the problem of not knowing the way."

I was disappointed and let my shoulders droop, watching the slowly floating orb.

"Come, it’s time to go."

Mother glanced outside the cave. It was a casual movement, but I sensed a hint of caution in her eyes.

Is a snow bear nearby?

"First, go to the fort and greet the knights. It will take you several days to reach the capital on foot, so they will worry if you don’t show your face for that long."

Right, I need to tell the one-eyed knights that I won’t be visiting for a while.

It’s considerate of Mother to think of the knights.

"Yes, I will."

"I’ll use the teleportation technique to get you to the fort."

"Really? Is that okay?"

I thought she would make me walk down the mountain as part of my training.

Mother’s thinking is unique and hard to understand.

She handed me the rolled-up letter, which I held in my mouth.

I don’t want to go, but there’s no choice. If I act up again, Mother will be disappointed.

I tried to muster the determination to do my best and said,

"Ha, I’ll go (I’ll be back)."

The fairy stuck to me closely.

"Please be careful."

As we used the teleportation technique, Mother looked very worried, almost as if she wanted to come with me despite suggesting the errand.

"Try your best."

Hearing Mother’s worried voice one last time, I and the fairy headed to the fort.