At the Northern Fort

Together with a bright red flame, Kugalg appeared in his animal form.

His glossy black fur and flaming red eyes stood out a lot in the snowscape. He happened to land on the edge of the training ground, where the snow hadn't been shovelled, so he was instantly buried in snow. Flustered, he crawled out of the hole and came this way. Even though it wouldn't go out so easily, the way he held his tail up high in an attempt to protect the small flame at the end of it was kind of cute.

"Milfiria!"

Kugalg called my name with his boyishly energetic voice. But, in the next instant his eyes grew round as he stared at me in my human form.

"You're Milfiria…….right?"

The surrounding knights from the fort clamoured at the sudden arrival of a cute visitor, but for the time being I decided to look after Kugalg.

The truth is since we first met last year at the Capital, Kugalg has been coming to Snowlea Mountain to play two to three times each week. Even though a fire spirit like Kugalg clearly had difficulty getting used to the cold climate of this region, in front of me he seemed to purposely put up with it.

He didn't seem to have any business here, yet he still came frequently. I previously tried asking him, "It's actually pretty hard for you to endure the cold, right? Why do you force yourself to come here?". Kugalg, who normally puts up a strong front, looked a little teary eyed as he responded in a lonely manner, "Because if I don't come here, Milfee won't come to visit me…….", unintentionally making my heart clench. While my heart did clench, as expected I could not go over to Kugalg's place to visit. Because I feel like if I went to the south, I feel like I might just die from the heat, and Kugalg, who'd be a hundred times more energetic on his homeground. Kugalg's already stronger with more brute strength to begin with, so I'd be the one to die just from him playing around.

"That's right, it's me! I've become able to transform into human form."

I threw away the snowball meant for throwing at Kix, and approached Kugalg. Maybe because he was frustrated at having been beaten to the punch by me, Kugalg made an unamused expression while going, "Hmm". As expected, boys are bothered by things like these, aren't they?

"But, I'm plenty strong in this form anyways."

Even though I didn't say anything, Kugalg said that with a sullen expression. His childish way of putting up a front was very endearing.

"Wha-, that child! That naughty look* in his eyes! His dishonest manner! So cute!"

It seemed that behind me, Tina-san was writhing from the tiny panther.

And, noticing her voice, Kugalg turned his eyes away from me, appearing to finally pay some attention to the fort's knights. His eyes grew especially sharp as he glared at the One-Eyed Knight, who was the closest to me in proximity. How courageous.

"Who are they? Humans?"

"Yeah, they're all good people. They're my friends."

Or perhaps it would be better to call them my guardians or something.

Hearing my response, Kugalg once again went, "Hmm", as he made an unamused expression.

"This person is the One-Eyed Knight."

When I introduced the One-Eyed Knight next to me by holding his hand, Kugalg's brow furrowed even more.

"You don't need to introduce them. I won't be friends with them."

Hearing that, Kix, whose mental age was that of a child's, got irritated and went, "Whaaaat?", but everyone else appeared completely unfazed. Instead, they were grinning at the prickly-mannered panther cub.

However, I grew a bit anxious. Starting with the One-Eyed Knight, I'm always being taken care of by everyone at the fort, so I didn't want him to be impolite to them. And I didn't want all the knights of the fort to have a bad impression of Kugalg either. One way or another, I had started to hold a sort of feeling of fellowship with Kugalg, who was the child of a spirit like myself.

I ran over to Kugalg, went behind him and picked him up.

"Look, don't say something like that. Let's go and greet everyone."

Kugalg's body was pretty heavy. It took all my strength to lift him up by the armpits. His body temperature is pretty high, huh.

"Uwah!? Stop!"

Startled at being picked up by me, Kugalg started to struggle, swinging his limbs about. After escaping from my arms, his ears twitched nervously as he glared at me with a bashful face.

"Ah, sorry."

While we were in human form and animal form respectively, he was probably embarrassed at being hugged by a girl. It might just be my imagination, but I had a feeling that his face was bright red, even though it was covered by his short fur. I might've hurt his pride. Boys really are a pain in the bu-……no no, I did something bad.

"I'm going home for today……"

Appearing somewhat despondent, Kugalg murmured in an unusually quiet voice and returned to the south.

……s-somehow, I feel a bit sorry.

***

One week after that when I went to play at the fort in my human form, Kugalg came once again. At that time, I was with the One-Eyed Knight and everyone else at the dining hall——-it was a day where they had training throughout the morning, so their physical strength was exhausted, and thus they also ate lunch——and when I sensed the presence of fire right next to me and turned around, a boy around the age of 3 that was slightly taller than me was standing there.

He had dark brown skin and short black hair. While his red eyes that flickered like the flame of a fire were beautiful, his gaze was incredibly menacing. His garments gave an Arabian feel, and on top of his head were round panther ears, while a long tail extended out from his behind, a flame flicker at its tip.

Yup, this is definitely Kugalg. So he's become capable of taking on the human form. As I thought, he was frustrated at being beaten to the punch by me.

Kugalg was making a triumphant look while crossing his arms and looking at me, but when I thought about how desperately he must've been practicing to be able to transform into a human during this past week, all I could do was make a lukewarm smile. So cute.

However, like me his animals ears and tail were exposed, so his transformation wasn't perfect. That was also cute. How cunning.

"How's that! I've also become capable of transforming into the human form! It was far too simple."

"Wow, so amazing."

I am still older than him mentally, so I wouldn't do something immature like pointing out his lie here. If I did, it would hurt Kugalg's feelings and he'd become an even bigger pain to deal with.

The pure Kugalg honestly took my words at face value and appeared satisfied.

However, when he looked at me again, his expression soon warped. His brow furrowed, and his sharp gaze grew even sharper as he spoke in an evidently displeased tone of voice.

"Milfee, why are you sitting there?"

"Why, you ask……"

Actually, right now I was sitting on the One-Eyed Knight's lap eating sandwiches together with him. If you were to ask me why, all I could say was that there weren't any child seats for me to use. The table was too high for me if I sat on a normal chair.

"Get down."

Kugalg appeared irritated as the tip of his long tail slapped the ground.

"But, I'm still eating……"

Still holding onto the sandwich that I had been about to munch on in both hands, I stiffened, troubled. Geez, Kugalg just had to come while we were in the middle of a meal.

After understanding that I wasn't about to move, Kugalg then glared at the One-Eyed Knight and spoke.

"Hey you, put Milfiria down."

Awawa, don't just go 'hey you' to the One-Eyed Knight. Why is he speaking in such a belligerent manner?

Thankfully, the One-Eyed Knight was a flexible adult. He didn't show any signs of displeasure at Kugalg's rude manner, instead understanding that the other party was a child, and thus responded in a slightly kinder voice compared to when he interacted with someone like Kix.

"Once Mil finishes her meal."

However, Kugalg did not seem to like being treated like a child, and instead grew angrier. He bared his tiny fangs and lashed out at the One-Eyed Knight.

"Who are you to Milfee!?"

"……something like a guardian, I suppose?"

The shouting Kugalg and the leisurely One-Eyed Knight. Then, there was me, who was looking between them in confusion while still holding my sandwich.

Incidentally, the other knights in the dining hall had entered spectator mode, watching over the delightful showdown, "Iron Man VS Saucy Brat". They were definitely enjoying themselves right now.

And then, Kugalg drew even closer to the One-Eyed Knight.

"What do you mean by 'guardian'!? Milfee is mine!"

"W-W-What are you talking abu-……"

I was so shaken that I bit my tongue. Ow. Just when exactly did I become Kugalg's?

Even without looking in a mirror, I could tell that my face had flushed a bright red. After transforming into human form, I was instantly exposed whenever my face went red.

Since he often came to visit me, I could somewhat tell that Kugalg was fond of me. But, I'd really rather that he stop making such statements where the One-Eyed Knight and everyone else could hear. It felt like I had received a confession in front of my father or older brother. It was incredibly embarrassing!

However, as I blushed, the atmosphere in the dining hall had a complete about-face. The faces of the surrounding knights who had been amusing themselves in the exchange suddenly grew serious, and the One-Eyed Knight, who had been taking on Kugalg's impolite attitude without getting angry, suddenly had a sharp light in his right eye. He then looked down at Kugalg at full force, and said.

"What do you mean by……'mine'?"

D-D-D-Deep. His voice is. Incredibly deep.

"T-That is……"

As expected, even Kugalg could feel the unsettling air in the dining hall as he faltered. After receiving the One-Eyed Knight's intimidating stare, his tail grew a bit rounder.

However, once he noticed that I was staring straight at him, Kugalg put himself back together and snapped at the One-Eyed Knight in a loud voice.

"Milfiria is going to become a 'pair' with me, and birth my child! That is why she is mine!"

Kugalg's declaration struck like a bolt from the blue, but I didn't even have the time to deny it, nor grow embarrassed from it.

The One-Eyed Knight, who was letting me sit on his lap, gave a flat refusal from behind me.

"That won't be happening. Not as long as light still resides in my right eye.*"

It was a definitive statement.

Completely disregarding my own opinion——-though it was fine because I had no intention of becoming a pair with Kugalg right now——he stated that firmly.

On top of that, his tone of voice was so serious, not even Kugalg could muster a retort, as the fur on his ears and tail stood on end.

Thank goodness I couldn't see the One-Eyed Knight's expression from my current position. He was probably making an awfully dreadful face that would not allow for the utterance of even a single joke.

Even the other knights, who usually joked around a lot, were now speaking without a single smile on any of their faces.

"Kugalg, was it? Unless it's someone strong enough to take all of us down, we won't let him take Mil as a bride."

"Come back when you've remade yourself. You're a hundred years too early."

"No, he's a thousand years too early."

They were arbitrarily extending my marriageable age.

Amongst the immature knights who were threatening a young child were the Scary-Faced Squad as well as a large number of people who originally had villainous faces. Plus, they all had large bodies, so they had quite the impact.

Even Kugalg, who always acted strong, was still a child. It seemed that he experienced some fear at the serious adults, as his eyes looked a little teary as he said-

"I-It'll be easy to defeat all of you bastards! I'm strong after all! But since I'll only need to 'pair' with Milfiria when we're adults, I'll let you guys off for now!"

After bluffing, his body changed into fire and he disappeared as though he were running away.

I-Is he okay? He didn't go home and cry, did he? After I finish my sandwich, let's use the transfer technique and go to console Kugalg. Being intimidated by the knights of this fort is scary after all.

Giving him a slightly reproachful gaze, I looked up at the One-Eyed Knight who was at my back. He was making an awkward expression.

"……my bad. That was a bit immature of me. Tell Kugalg that he can come to play at the fort again. At the time, I'll apologise for today. ——though, all the stuff about 'pairing' is another matter. That's impossible."

Your tone of voice completely changed between the first half and the second half of your sentence, you know. Rather, by 'impossible' does he mean it's because I'm still a child, or because he didn't plan on letting me marry for the rest of my life? Which is it? Please let it be the former.

"All of you also shouldn't frighten Kugalg. You have to play nice."

When the One-Eyed Knight turned his gaze to the rest of the fort's knights and said that, they all played dumb and looked off in random directions. Hey, are you really listening properly?

I lamented the fact that Tina-san wasn't here right now. If it was her, then she'd probably take my side. I'll tattle to her later.

However, with me having so many guardians, it'll be a major incident when I get a lover in the future. While it was still a bit early to think about that, I had a sense of impending crisis.

First I'll have to report it to Mother, then I'd need to receive the One-Eyed Knight's acknowledgement, and then I'd have to listen to the opinion of Branch Captain-san as my friend. Based on their reactions today, all the knights from the fort will probably butt in as well, and I'd also have to properly introduce them to the Water Spirit that was my Father, who is unexpectedly overprotective——-

Even though I don't even have a lover yet, just thinking about it……yup, it makes my head hurt.