At the Northern Fort

The bell sounded out, telling everyone that it was time to take their lunch break. Grayle was the first one to leave the training ground after putting away his training equipment. He hadn't spotted the white fox that was playing around the field earlier but found little small pawprints in the snow leading away to the stables. Following the paw trail, Grayile regretted his decision the moment he got there. In the stables were not only the horses and the white fox there…

But also Chief Cromwell, who was playing around with the white fox with a large smile on his face.

"Why are you licking so much?"

Because of Chief Cromwell's constant cold and calm appearance, everyone started calling him the "Ice Chief" by the other knights, but right now, that cold facade he had melted into flowers as he played with the white fox. He expressed his happiness with the white fox licking his hand. This translation is hosted at AshenFeather. wordpress. com.  With how intently the fox was licking his hand, he thought maybe he put honey on his hand. Cromwell who would normally have an anxious look towards animals was all smiles, but he didn't like the other knight's seeing this side of him.

Grayle sighed in his head and tried to slip away, but the Mill noticed him before he could. When she recognized him, she let out a bark with her tail swaying with delight as her shining eyes looked at him. However, Cromwell looked up to see why she was acting that way and immediately froze.

"I didn't see."

"…"

"…"

A sense of urgency arose between the two.

Both of them unsure of what to do and lost for words they stared awkwardly at each other, the sound coming from Mil's tail wagging. I hate people who read on aggregate sites, so go to my actual site and support the chapters with views. Those rumors among the knights that have been here longer being that the chief loved animals was quite popular.

The chief always came to the stables every day to talk with his beloved horse, brushing with care, or leaving fruits for the birds in winter so they don't starve. Also the stray cat with feeding it and giving it the name of "Nora". He also cried when that stray can was crippled. There was also the time when they were working and a white rabbit had run close by, his mask collapsed like a burning house as a smile would flash across his face.

Most of the members of the Northern Fort have more or less witnessed similar scenes of Cromwell losing his bearings around small animals. Strangely enough, Cromwell seemed to think that the knights here didn't love animals and kept it hidden, or tried to. This translation is hosted at AshenFeather.  Grayle didn't dislike cute animals and thought it'd be nice to have one, but Cromwell took the attitude that he wasn't interested in animals desperately, so he pretended not to notice it either.

Grayle avoided eye contact with Cromwell, looking at the surroundings, avoiding dealing with the immediate situation.

Maybe he was scared of what the others would think of him if they saw that he really loved animals, that is probably why he looked annoyed and cold most of the time. Grayle thought this.

From Grayle's standpoint, as a commoner, he climbed to his position through his own ability. Not really having to worry about looks or likes, if you loved animals; you could freely admit to it without thinking, but Cromwell seemed to have a different idea about that. Cromwell was from a prestigious aristocratic family. Grayle wasn't sure he could be made chief as a commoner even with talent and achievement alone.

The person who promoted him didn't seem to care about it, but Cromwell seemed to care a bit too much about his appearance. Maybe he was scared that showing this side of him would forever change his image in the other knights' heads.

Cromwell grew up in the kingdom for a long time before coming to serve in this severe environment of the north. Maybe because of that, he wanted to look strong for the other knights here already, so that he can have a good reputation.

Although there was less crime here on the northern border, there instead was a very real threat of the weather. There have even been cases where knights had frozen to death inside the forth. The environment here certainly was harsh with every day requiring them to remove snow from the forth while still training. All of it was a game of endurance.

Also including that most of the nights here were rejects from the other companies, those with bad habits and quirks that were seen as nuisances so no one but Cromwell was nobility; His family probably sent him here to gain confidence.

"Why not Gayle?"

Although as our leader, he has worked wonderfully at the Fort so far, I'm sure he's far from having a good confidence yet. So to keep the act up, I won't show that I've already been disillusioned. Allow him to think he's still our "Ice Chief", for such a hard working man, I'll pretend I didn't see anything.

"No, I was looking at Mill."

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