Chapter 6

The next morning, I woke up as soon as it started to get light.

When I stepped outside the cabin and stretched, the sound of a window creaking open came from inside.

"You're up early..."

The one-eyed knight poked his head out. He was still in his pajamas and seemed to be suffering from low blood pressure, giving off a languid vibe.

I envied him for not having puffy eyes or swollen eyelids even after just waking up.

"Breakfast will be a bit later."

He said to me and then retreated back into the room.

I jumped onto the wooden box to see what he was doing, but when I peeked inside, the one-eyed knight was changing clothes in just his underwear, so I quickly turned away.

My face heated up as I landed on the ground and started digging through the snow to distract myself. ...Oh, this is actually quite fun.

The one-eyed knight brought me breakfast just as I was digging through the snow and had reached the soil layer, getting my front paws muddy.

"Don't dig too deep. You'll get stuck."

He said, reaching out his arm from the window to place the plate of food on the wooden box.

How rude. No matter what, I wouldn't get stuck in a hole I dug myself.

But as I was saying that, I got stuck.

Distracted by the breakfast, my front paws slipped into the hole, and I tumbled over.

"I told you so."

The one-eyed knight laughed at me. Embarrassing. My face flushed.

"Make sure you eat well."

He said with a smile still on his lips, closed the window, and disappeared into the room. When he noticed me peeking, he waved lightly and made a gesture as if to say, "See you later." He was probably going to work or training.

After watching the knight leave the room, I climbed down to the first step of the wooden box and started eating.

The morning menu was warm soup. Carrots and potatoes were in the soup, and bite-sized pieces of bread were soaked in it. It was like cat food. I was glad they didn't go out of their way to give me raw meat.

I blew on the soup, scooped up the ingredients with my tongue, and brought them to my mouth. The bread was mushy and looked bad, but it tasted delicious.

After I was full, I licked the soup off my face and thought about what to do next. I really wanted to go to Mother, but I still didn't know the way to the capital. So, maybe I should stay here for a while.

There are no innocent and terrifying children or fur-hunting hunters in this compound. Only knights are here, and I think it's a pretty safe place.

I can't imagine a knight tormenting small animals. The one-eyed knight is kind, after all.

The distance from here to the capital must be immeasurably far for my current legs. There are probably dangers along the way.

So, I think it's better to stay here and wait for Mother. There are many people here, so it's not lonely like on the mountain, and most importantly, I get delicious food.

...Actually, that's the main reason.

I scratched my head with my hind legs and started walking, carefully avoiding the hole I dug. I wanted to properly explore the compound since I would be staying here for a while.

Moving stealthily to avoid humans, I ended up at the same training ground as yesterday. It was more accurately a training field, where the one-eyed knight had been drilling his subordinates.

But today, no one was there, and the snow-covered training field was eerily quiet.

There were many footprints in a circle at one end, probably from running drills. There were also footprints where the knights had trained yesterday, but the rest was untouched, with no one stepping on it.

I can't resist...

I can't resist...

My big eyes must be sparkling right now. My heart is pounding uncontrollably.

Can anyone resist that pristine white temptation?

I can't, I can't!

After confirming that no one was nearby, I started running, wagging my tail. I was going to leave my footprints all over the untouched snow.

The snow was about 20 centimeters high, soft, clean, and perfect. I ran around the training field, jumped, rolled, buried my face, and dug in.

How fun!

Even if I was called a child, I wouldn't mind. Because I am a child now.

I wouldn't have the courage to do this in my previous form, but as a young fox, I'm not embarrassed.

I stuck snow to my proud fur, panted, and rolled around in the snow to my heart's content.

After being satisfied, I resumed patrolling the compound. It was also fun to move around without being seen by humans. It felt like playing hide-and-seek, which was thrilling.

I secretly followed a moving knight, got as close as possible to a knight guarding the gate. If I was caught, I would lose, but so far, no one had noticed me.

Although I usually have a human-like mind, once my "play switch" is turned on, I can't control myself. I follow my instincts and seek out fun.

I sigh at my childishness, but I can't help but dive into the pristine snow.

I left paw prints on the snow, followed a knight, climbed a small hill made of shoveled snow, let a horse in the stable sniff me and breathe on me, and accidentally entered a place that looked like an outhouse, nearly losing my nose...

After playing all day, I realized it was already dark.

Thinking it was time for dinner, I headed back to the dormitory and found the one-eyed knight waiting in front of the cabin where I was nesting. It seemed he had moved all the shovels to another place and laid down an old blanket for me.

He placed the plate of dinner—simply grilled meat—on the wooden box and said with a teasing tone,

"Was running around in the snow fun? You were quite lively."

...Did he see me?

I suddenly felt embarrassed. I wondered where and when he had seen me. Was it when I was rolling around in the training field?

I wagged my tail to hide my embarrassment and vowed to be a bit more restrained from now on.