Chapter 43

The neighboring town, like the town near the fortress, is a small settlement primarily centered around agriculture.

Grail and the others often visit it on patrol, but this is probably the first time for Mil and the others.

"There are so many houses! Is that a castle!?"

Kugarugu runs while his voice rises with excitement, but Mil negates it based on her vague sense.

"I don't think so! A castle should feel more like... 'the capital!' And there's no castle here!"

"Then we have no business here?"

"No, we don't!"

Even though they could take a short break, the two of them don't head towards the fork leading to the town and continue down the road. The fairy leading the way seems to be in a good mood because Mil and the others aren't taking any detours.

"We need to slow down or we'll get exhausted."

Tina whispers worriedly, but there's no way the two of them can hear her. After passing the neighboring town, Mil's steps suddenly became heavy. She had been walking with her mouth open and her tongue hanging out for a while, so it was clear she was reaching her limit. Kugarugu also looked a bit tired and started walking slowly to match Mil's pace.

"Huff, huff... I'm tired..."

Mil says, breathing heavily. Her steps are sluggish, and she occasionally stumbles by getting her left front paw tangled with her right one.

Every time Mil stumbles, Cromwell, who is next to Grail, gasps in shock. For his peace of mind, I wish Mil would walk normally without overexerting herself.

"Look, there's a river. Water!"

Mil, who noticed a small stream crossing the road, wobbled over to it. Grail, judging that it wasn't dangerous due to the shallow water and narrow width, continued to watch from behind.

When Mil lowered her head to drink, the backpack on her back fell forward, and her rabbit ears got soaked, but she managed to quench her thirst and seemed to recover a bit.

Kugarugu, who either doesn't have the habit of drinking water or is a fire spirit and dislikes water, didn't touch the water and lightly jumped over the stream to the other side.

"..."

Seeing this, Mil, who should have just stopped, also tries to jump over the stream. The stream is less than a meter wide, so it's not an unreasonable challenge, but she doesn't seem to want to use the nearby bridge. Mil raises her front paws, leans forward, and stops several times before finally mustering the courage to jump.

The next moment, with a big splash, she lands in the middle of the stream. The water only reaches her ankles, so she doesn't drown, but she stands there in shock.

"Ha... ha..."

Kicks starts to shake with suppressed laughter. Expecting her to get up on her own, but Mil is so surprised by her own failure—probably imagining herself gracefully jumping over the stream—that she stands there motionless.

"Milfee, are you okay!?"

Kugarugu rushes over, bites her by the scruff of the neck, and drags her to the shore.

"I thought I could fly..."

Mil murmurs in a daze.

"It's cold..."

She looks sad as she moves away from the stream, paying attention to her wet feet. After walking for a while, by the time her feet dried, Mil had returned to her usual self. I hope she remembers this failure as a lesson to avoid similar dangerous attempts in the future, but seeing her chatting happily with Kugarugu, she has probably already forgotten.

Grail, smiling wryly, looks ahead and sees a passerby approaching on this deserted road. The fairy flying ahead also notices and hides under Mil's shawl.

The passerby appears to be a farmer with a small cart of vegetables pulled by a donkey. While riding the cart and holding the donkey's reins, he notices Mil and Kugarugu approaching and stares in surprise.

He probably doesn't realize they are spirits and thinks they are a dog and a large cat. Moreover, the dog is wearing a shawl and a rabbit backpack, so he must be wondering, "What are these things?"

On the other hand, Mil, who hadn't seen anyone since leaving the fortress, seems to be longing for human interaction. Even though they are strangers, her tail is wagging after not seeing a human for hours. Kugarugu shows no interest in humans, but Mil stops and looks at the passerby with hopeful eyes.

The passerby, however, continues to pass by with a puzzled look, without stopping the donkey.

Disappointed, Mil starts walking again. The passerby, however, is now surprised by Grail and the others.

"...Sir Knight? What's that?"

Grail raises a hand ambiguously in response. The passerby leaves with a question mark over his head.

"Ah, they're coming again."

Kicks says, looking ahead. This time, two travelers carrying large bags are approaching from the direction of Mil and the others. Mil stops and wags her tail again. The travelers appear to be a young couple, and the wife notices Mil and laughs.

"Oh, how cute."

"Probably a rich family's pet. To dress a pet in clothes... That one, is it a cat? It seems different..."

People who haven't seen a leopard might not immediately recognize what Kugarugu is. Seeing the couple stop, Mil apparently thinks it's a go. She wags her tail vigorously and rushes towards them.

She rubs against the wife's leg and looks very happy to be petted.

"Shouldn't we catch up with Mil?"

Cromwell, whose face shows his desire to be petted, says to Grail, but Kicks interrupts.

"It's too early. It hasn't been half a day yet."

"True, it's fun to watch from behind. Sometimes it's nice to take it easy like this."

Gauss supports this. Grail responds:

"But she's showing signs of following them."

Mil is circling around the couple, who are about to leave, hindering their path. Her whimpers seem to mean, "Are you leaving already?" "Can you pet me a bit more?" "Why don't you come with us to the capital?"

"Well, if she follows, we'll have to retrieve her and lecture her."

Kicks folds his arms on the horse.

"Sorry, see you later."

But as the couple waves and leaves, Mil looks disappointed but seems to give up. She follows the fairy who emerges from the shawl and walks obediently.

"Why didn't they notice us when they passed by just now?"

"They were only focused on the couple."

Kicks' question is answered by Grail.

"Those round eyes were just for show, I guess."

The couple passing by the five of them bowed slightly when they realized they were knights.

"But they'll probably realize we're following them by the end of the day."

Tina laughs, and Kicks nods in agreement.

"Yeah, they will..."