Chapter 67

The hooded man lifted me awkwardly, despite having a dog. He didn’t support my bottom properly, just holding me by the sides.

"You should support the bottom too, not just the sides. My legs are swinging."

"Hey, open the bag wider."

"Yes."

I looked down at the brown jute bag.

Are you going to put me in there?

I’m not claustrophobic, but being put in a bag is a bit scary. I was okay with being put in a bag by the one-eyed knight because I trusted him. I knew he would notice if I had trouble breathing. But I don’t trust these people.

"Kyaa kyaa!"

I chirped to protest being stuffed into the bag. I kicked the opening of the bag held by the seemingly gentle man.

"Hey, calm down..."

"Kyaan..."

I curled my tail towards my belly and looked up at the hooded man with teary eyes.

I’m scared, I don’t want to.

"He doesn’t seem to like it."

The hooded man gave in easily. He looked troubled and turned to the stern man for help.

"What are you doing? Let me try. I’ll put him in."

The stern man also held me awkwardly.

Support my bottom!

I was quickly put into the jute bag, but I clung to the hand that was trying to pull me in and managed to escape. At the same time, I whimpered and looked at him with teary eyes, appealing to his conscience.

"…There’s no choice. I’ll carry him."

The stern man blushed slightly and said to the other two with a stern face. Maybe they are easier to handle than I thought.

"Then, I’ll take the fire cub..."

The seemingly gentle man tried to pick up Kugaru, but Kugaru wriggled out of his hands and moved closer to me.

"Here, you’re with him."

No matter how many times he tried to separate us, Kugaru kept coming back to me. The three of them seemed touched by his persistence.

"They have a good bond..."

"Why does the sight of young animals clinging to each other move us so much?"

"I don’t know. But somehow, even this strange costume looks cute now."

The seemingly gentle man nodded, and the stern man picked up both Kugaru and me.

"It’s pitiful to separate them. I’ll carry them together. Let’s go."

He signaled to the thug-like man to follow them, and the three of them hurried through the winding alleys. Kugaru, apparently dissatisfied with the stern man’s hold, climbed onto his shoulder.

Eventually, we reached the edge of the town, where the other two companions were waiting with horses. There were five men in black.

"Hey, what’s with that spirit’s costume? It’s too conspicuous."

"Weren’t we supposed to put them in bags?"

The two men, dressed similarly to the other three, looked at us curiously.

"He’s afraid of being put in a bag."

"Poor thing."

"Can you force a spirit that’s afraid into a bag?"

As the three of us spoke in turn, the two men looked even more puzzled.

"I don’t understand what’s going on."

As they approached, the one with faint bags under his eyes cautiously reached out.

"Don’t bite me..."

He tentatively touched my forehead with his index finger. It was itchy. If he’s going to pet me, he should do it properly.

The other one, with a large nose and a hood covering his eyes, also petted my short nose with a tense expression. It was also just his index finger. It was ticklish.

They weren’t petting the right spots, and it didn’t feel very good, but the men in black weren’t as scary as I thought. Still, I knew I had to be cautious. But when the man with bags under his eyes said, "Animals are quite cute, aren’t they?" I couldn’t help but wag my tail a little. I love being called cute.

"Ah, he’s wagging his tail!"

"Really! Is he happy?"

"He must be happy to be petted."

"Hey, don’t just pet the snow cub. The fire cub will be sad too."

"Then, I’ll do it."

The five of them, despite being hissed at by Kugaru, gathered in a circle and chatted excitedly. The thug-like man, standing outside the circle, looked slightly frightened and kept his distance from the five of them. It would be scary to see suspicious men in black playing with animals.

"Hey, you guys..."

We noticed that the thug-like man had been joined by two more. One of them, looking hesitant, approached us.

"It’s you. How were the others?"

"We did as you said and watched the back door, but no one came out. Dass and Elio are still keeping an eye on things."

Hearing the man’s report, the stern man snorted at the one-eyed knights in the inn.

"They’re too relaxed. I thought they were planning something by letting the spirits out so carelessly, but if they’re not moving even in this situation, it’s just a false alarm."

"They’re not even following us. It will be difficult for them to catch up if we leave the city on horseback. If this was a trap, they’re moving too slowly."

The men in black seemed to have realized the possibility of a trap, but concluded that the one-eyed knights were just being too relaxed.

"Besides, do you really think someone like Gauss or Grail, who only have brute strength, would come up with a ‘plan’? Cromwell’s brain has degenerated since he went to the wild northern fort."

The man with the large nose said, and the other four laughed. I think the captain and the one-eyed knights are intelligent, and I get upset when the people from the northern fort and the sub-captain are insulted.

I might be biased because I’ve been with the one-eyed knights for a long time, but these people seem to be looking at things from Sarell’s side and can’t properly evaluate the captain and the sub-captain. They might want to believe that they are inferior to Sarell.

However, it’s also true that the decoy plan is working because they underestimate us. They don’t know that Kugaru and I can use teleportation or that we can speak human language in this form. They think we’re just young animals with low intelligence.

In Gorda, we were also being watched while in human form, but they are also watching us as we drop clues along the way. Sadly, they think we’re stupid.

And they haven’t even noticed that there’s another spirit nearby.

Pretending to be casual, I looked up at the sky. The nearly transparent bird form of Hyliris seemed to be on the red roof of a nearby two-story building. The sky behind it looked slightly distorted.

When our eyes met, Hyliris moved its wings as if to say, "Don’t look at me, you’ll be caught!"

"Let’s head to the capital before they notice."

The stern man said, mounting the horse with Kugaru and me. It seems we’re heading straight to the capital, where Sarell is.

He then threw a heavy, jingling small bag to one of the thug-like men. It seemed to contain money.

"Here’s the agreed payment. If the one-eyed knights notice that these two are gone and come after us, you five should stop them. They won’t be much of a match, but you might be able to delay them a bit."

The thug-like men, initially taken aback by his arrogant tone,

"I’m not asking you to defeat them. But if you can injure them, I’ll pay you double."

"Really? For real?"

They eagerly returned to the city. I hope the one-eyed knights will be okay.

Watching them go, the stern man smiled.

"Haha, I don’t expect much, but if they get beaten by such thugs, their reputation as knights will be ruined."

Hearing such words, I couldn’t help but feel upset, so I bit the stern man’s hand holding the reins a little harder.

"Ouch."