At the Northern Fort

For having previously owned a dog, the hooded person lifted me up in an overly clumsy manner.

Rather than just putting his hands underneath my armpits, I'd like if he properly supported my bottom too. My legs are dangling around.

"Oi, open the bag a bit wider."

"Kay."

I looked down at the brown jute bag.

Don't tell me, you plan on putting me in there?

While I wasn't claustrophobic, it was a bit scary being put into a bag.

I was only okay with being put in the One-Eyed Knight's luggage because we had a trusting relationship. I knew that he'd notice if something was wrong or if it got hard to breathe.

But I don't trust these people.

"Hyan hyan!"

I cried out to stop them from stuffing me in the bag.

I kicked at the opening of the bag that the meek-looking person was holding up, rejecting it.

"B-Be obedient……"

"Hyan……!"

My tail curled into my belly and I looked up at the hooded person with teary eyes.

It's scary, I dun wanna.

"Seems like it doesn't want to."

The hooded person readily folded.

With a troubled tone of voice, he sought help from the serious-looking person.

"What are you doing, give that to me. I'll put it in."

The serious-looking person's way of carrying me was also lousy.

Even though I've been telling you to support my bottom!

After he quickly put me into the bag once, I clung to the serious-looking person's hand as he tried to pull it out and managed to escape.

At the same time, I cried out with tear-filled eyes, executing my plan to appeal to their consciences.

"……it can't be helped. I'll just carry it."

As his face flushed slightly, the serious person said that to the other two with a serious expression.

He might actually be the type of person that's surprisingly easy to deal with.

"Then, I'll take care of the child of fire here……."

The meek-looking person tried to pick Kugalg up, but Kugalg twisted his body and escaped from his hands before coming towards me.

"Come on, you're coming over here."

No matter how many times they pulled him away, Kugalg once again returned to my side.

Perhaps they found his actions rather admirable, as the three of them were strangely moved.

"They're pretty close, huh……"

"Why does the sight of such young animals snuggling together move my heart so much?"

"I don't know. But for some reason, even their strange outfits are starting to look cute."

Nodding at the meek-looking person's words, the serious person carried up Kugalg and myself.

"It'd be sad if we separated them. I'll carry them both. Let's go."

As the hoodlum-like man gave the signal for them to follow, the three of them started to jog,  advancing through the complexly winding alleyways.

Kugalg, apparently dissatisfied with the way the serious-looking person was holding him, clambered onto his shoulder.

Eventually, we exited at the edge of the town, where there were hardly any other people around. Waiting there were their remaining two companions, who were on standby with the horses.

There were a total of five black-cloaked men.

"Oi, what's with those outfits the spirits are wearing? They stand out way too much."

"Wasn't the plan to transport them in a bag?"

The two of them were dressed similarly to the three people accompanying us, and were staring at us with doubtful expressions.

"They were scared of being put into a bag."

"It was too pitiful."

"Could you guys forcibly put a spirit into a bag when it clearly doesn't want to go in?"

When the three accompanying us said that in turn, the other two made even more mystified expressions.

"I don't really get what you're talking about."

Saying that as he approached, one of the two men with faint bags underneath his eyes cautiously reached a hand out towards me.

"P-Please don't bite me……"

He timidly used the tip of his index finger to pat my forehead.

It's itchy. If you're gonna pet me, then I'd like for you to do it properly.

The remaining man—he was wearing a hood, so I couldn't see his eyes, but he had a large nose—also stroked the short bridge of my nose with a similarly nervous expression.

This person was also using his index finger. It was really itchy.

The places that they were petting weren't quite at the places where it felt good to be pet, and while I couldn't tell whether or not they were accustomed to dealing with animals, the black-cloaked men appeared to be more scared than expected.

That being said, even though I knew that I had to keep my guard up, after hearing the guy with bags under his eyes say, "Animals are much cuter than I thought", I reflexively started to wag my tail a little.

I love being told that I was [cute].

"Ah, its tail is wagging!"

"It really is! Does that mean it's happy?"

"Isn't it happy from being petted?"

"Oi, don't just pet the child of snow. You gotta pet the child of fire here too or else it'll be pitiful."

"Then, I will-"

The five of them were hissed at by Kugalg as they circled him excitedly.

Meanwhile, the hoodlum-like man who was outside of their circle was staring at them with eyes that said, "What's with these people?!", appearing slightly frightened as he distanced himself from the five men.

The sight of suspicious men dressed fully in black frolicking around an animal was certainly quite scary.

"O-Oi, you guys……"

Unnoticed, the number of hoodlum-like men had increased to three people. One of them approached, appearing to have some difficulty in calling out to them.

The serious-looking person whirled around and spoke.

"So it is you two. What of them?"

"We stayed posted at the back entrance of the inn like you guys told us to, but they didn't show any signs of leaving the inn. Right now Das and Elio are keeping watch."

After hearing the man's report, the serious-looking person snorted at the actions of the One-Eyed Knight and everyone who was at the inn.

"How careless of them. I thought they might be plotting something since they let the spirits go out so defenselessly, but if they're not making any moves even in a situation like this, then my worries were unneeded."

"They didn't send anyone to tail them either, so if we leave town by horse like this, following us will prove difficult. If having the spirits roaming around on their own was a trap, then they're moving far too slowly for that."

It seemed that the black-cloaked men had considered that this was a trap, but because the One-Eyed Knight's group was acting too leisurely, they concluded that it was a needless fear.

"To begin with, do you think muscleheads like Gauss and Grail could think of a 'plan'? I'm sure that Cromwell's brains have also regressed after going to a barbaric place like the Northern Fort."

When the large-nosed person said that, the other four also laughed.

I personally think that Commander-san and the One-Eyed Knight are pretty intelligent, and having everyone from the Northern Fort plus Branch Captain-san being ridiculed made me indignant.

Part of my high assessment of them was because I've been together with the One-Eyed Knight and everyone for all this time, and have received their favour as a result. Even so, perhaps because these people were on Captain Sarrell-san's side and were thus biassed in their view of things, they weren't giving an accurate assessment of Commander-san and Branch Captain-san's abilities.

They might be thinking that they were inferior compared to Captain Sarrell-san.

But, you could say that it was thanks to them making light of everyone that this decoy plan was going well.

Additionally, they did not know that Kugalg and I could use the transfer technique, nor that we could speak in these forms. It was because we looked like young animals that they let their guards down, thinking that our intellect was still undeveloped.

While they had probably been monitoring us when we assumed our human forms at the town of Gouda, our blunder with the legans falling one after the other was also seen.

As sad as it was to admit, they undoubtedly thought that we were stupid.

And they hadn't noticed that there was another spirit nearby.

I nonchalantly looked up at the sky.

Hyllis, in the form of an almost entirely transparent bird, appeared to be sitting on top of the red roof of a nearby two-storied building. That was the only place where the sky appeared a little distorted.

After meeting my gaze, Hyllis flapped her wings as though to say, "You'll expose me, so don't look this way!".

"Let's hurry up and head to the Capital before they notice what's going on."

The serious-looking person said that, and then mounted his horse while still carrying Kugalg and myself.

It seems that we'll be heading directly to the Capital from here. I wonder if it's because Captain Sarrell is there.

Then, he turned to one of the hoodlum-looking men and threw over a heavy-sounding pouch that jangled as it was tossed.

There seemed to be money inside of it.

"Here's the promised money. If it seems like those guys notice the disappearance of these two and try to pursue us, stop them with the five of you. Well, you probably won't be a match for them, but you might be able to slow them down somewhat."

Hearing his arrogant words, the hoodlum-like men instantly flared up in anger and went, "Whaddyu say?", but-

"I won't say to defeat them. But if you manage to injure them, I'll pay you twice as much money."

"What? Really?"

After having such a condition presented to them, they happily returned to town. I hope the One-Eyed Knight and everyone'll be okay.

The corner of the serious-looking person's lips rose as he gazed at their backs.

"Haha, I don't have any expectations of them, but if they get taken down by thugs like that, their pride as knights will be completely tarnished."

As expected, hearing him say that pissed me off, so I bit his hand that was holding the reins with a bit of strength.

"Ow ow ow."

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