At the Northern Fort

It was hard to tell in the dark, but it seemed that the three of us had landed skillfully atop a thick tree branch.

The tree leaves rustled as they hit my body here and there. It was ticklish.

"W-We\'ll fall!"

"Why did you transfer to a place like this, Milfiria!"

Though Hyllis was in her human form, her sense of balance was apparently quite good as she caught me just as I was about to fall.

Kugalg also felt like he was in his element as he stood atop the branch.

"I dunno! But—"

I transferred using the One-Eyed Knight as my marker, so he should be nearby. Thinking that, I turned my gaze to the ground and-

"Is that you, Mil!?"

Kix was standing at the base of the tree, looking up at us from around 5 metres below our current position.

Commander-san, Branch Captain-san, and Tina-san were all safely sitting around a bonfire.

And amongst them was the One-Eyed Knight. It appeared that his treatment had already finished, as he stood up and looked our way with movements that did not differ from his usual self.

Father\'s water had disappeared, but the snake had remained, and Mother\'s fairy was riding on his head.

"One-Eyed Knight!"

"Ah, hey!"

Because I bent forward too much in my excitement, I fell out of Hyllis\' arms and fell headfirst towards the ground.

"Mil!"

However, the One-Eyed Knight skillfully caught me, so things ended without incident.

"One-Eyed Knight! Are you okay now? How\'s your back? It doesn\'t hurt?"

My tail wagged noisily as I rapid-fired questions at him.

"Yeah, I\'m fine. The wound has completely healed. What a mysterious power. Mil\'s the one who called the water spirit for me, right?"

"Because you got injured because of me……it hurt, right? I\'m sorry."

"Pain is nothing. As long as Mil is alright."

After being told that, my tail wagged so much it felt like it was about to come off. I licked the One-Eyed Knight\'s cheeks while feeling grateful from the bottom of my heart that he was alright.

"Mil, she is……?"

The One-Eyed Knight gently moved me just far enough away from his face so I couldn\'t lick him and spoke. When I get too happy and excited, I end up wanting to lick people\'s faces when their faces are nearby, but when I get too persistent about it they often move their faces away somehow.

While dodging me as I licked the air, the One-Eyed Knight looked at Hyllis as she descended to the ground.

Commander-san, Branch Captain-san, and everyone else also stood alongside the One-Eyed Knight, showing vigilance and nervousness towards the unfamiliar spirit.

Just around the time Kugalg was using his claws to descend the tree\'s trunk on his own, Hyllis began to introduce herself.

"I am the wind spirit Hyllis."

"The wind-……!?"

"Indeed. The fairy that attacked you earlier was mine. I\'m sorry, forgive me."

Hyllis said apologetically. When a spirit apologises like this, humans had no choice but to forgive them.

"It\'s amazing to be able to meet so many spirits in a single day. Normally it\'d be unthinkable to even be able to meet a spirit even once during your lifetime."

Commander-san said excitedly to Kix.

"Mil, what\'s going on?"

Branch Captain-san asked me, bewildered.

After I explained the sequence of events that occurred on Snowlea Mountain, Kix asked this of Hyllis without showing any timidity.

"Then, you don\'t have any relationship with Captain Sarrell?"

"Don\'t speak so rudely!"

Tina-san, who was standing next to him, elbowed Kix.

However, it appeared that Hyllis didn\'t care about how she was addressed.

"Sarrell……"

Hyllis murmured contemplatively, then asked the knights to explain the situation. Then, Branch Captain-san began to cross-examine her regarding the afternoon\'s attack.

"Did you not attack us during the day together with those black-cloaked humans? You weren\'t collaborating with them?"

"Those human men, huh."

Though Hyllis had been fighting Mother on Snowlea Mountain the entire time, it seemed that her senses were linked to those of the fairy\'s so she was able to tell what the fairy saw and heard.

"I do not know those humans."

Hyllis\' fairy had discovered Kugalg and I quite a bit earlier than the first attack, and had been following us as she thought about how to best tease us.

Then, after we entered the town of Gouda, she also discovered the human group that was targeting us. It was those men in black.

They didn\'t notice Hyllis\' presence, but seeing as their targets were the same as hers, she ended up working together with them unintentionally.

"But it was just a coincidence that our attacks on the highway overlapped.

It just so happened that the time when the black-cloaked men took action matched the timing of when Hyllis discovered that stone in my mountain of treasure.

"Now that I think of it, I think I\'ve heard the name \'Sarrell\' before. It came up a few times in the conversations between those men."

"Really?"

"Yeah, at that time my sense of reason was only slightly fragmented so I still remember. I didn\'t really hear any real details, but it seems the plan was to kidnap Milfiria and Kugalg and take them to that Sarrell person."

Commander-san interjected just after Hyllis said that.

"Spirit, you may not remember the names or faces of humans, but are you sure you have not actually met that person called Sarrell in person before? About three days ago, in the Valley of Delamon."

After wracking her brain for a few seconds in contemplation, Hyllis finally seemed to have remembered something.

"Ahh, that\'s right! I have met him before! The reason why I remember hearing that name before is because he\'s introduced himself before."

Hyllis hit the palm of her hand with the side of her fist and continued.

"When I was leaving the nest, I hadn\'t decided where to build my own nest, so I went around the world to places that interested me and – that Delamon place, was it? – the deep valley there was one of those places. It\'s near Hilg\'s nest too, so I thought it might be good."

Saying that, Hyllis\' cheeks blushed a little.

"So, recently I had just returned to that valley……ah, by return, I mean I stayed there for a short time 80 years ago. But while I don\'t think the people living there noticed me at that time, this time it seems like I was seen. Apparently they contacted the lord there and then started to come visiting me in droves. The lord and his people wanted to ask me to stay in that valley permanently. \'Cause it apparently makes humans happy when a spirit lives in their land and country. I wonder if they were thinking that I\'d help them out when it came down to it."

Hyllis said while innocently tilting her head.

"But I\'m pretty fickle and love my freedom, so I told them I wouldn\'t be settling there. The lord gave a bad impression too. So the humans went back disappointed. And amongst those humans there was a man who called himself Sarrell. If I recall correctly he was the lord\'s……younger brother? Or maybe his child? In any case, he was the lord\'s blood relative, but was a human who had a weaker position than the lord. That\'s all the impression that I got, cause even though he properly introduced himself I forgot it. I do remember that unlike the well-built lord, he was pretty skinny and weak-looking though."

Seeming to be checking something, Commander-san further inquired.

"Did that man named Sarrell try to come visit you on his own or make any sort of negotiation with you after that?"

"No, he didn\'t."

Hyllis confidently responded. As expected, it doesn\'t seem like Captain Sarrell-san had anything to do with Hyllis\' matters.

-is what I thought, but it seemed like he made an unnecessary comment three days ago.

"But, that Sarrell person was the one who told me about Milfiria and Kugalg."

"He told you about us……?"

"That\'s right. See, don\'t they say that if pushing doesn\'t work, pulling might? About four years ago I \'separated from Hilg\', so I didn\'t know about Milfiria and Kugalg, who were born during that time. During the flow of conversation, Sarrell told me about them. How, the spirits of this country were Hilg and Snowlea, and that the two of them had children that were only about one year apart in age. Hearing that, I mistakenly thought that the two of them had paired up and got jealous. Thus, I sent the letter of challenge to Snowlea."

Hearing that, Branch Captain-san, Commander-san, as well as the One-Eyed Knight and everyone else exchanged glances.

It looked like the one who triggered the situation this time with Hyllis was Captain Sarrell-san.

Even if he hadn\'t said anything, Hyllis would\'ve eventually learned of Kugalg and my existence, but if Hilg-papa or Mother were there, they would be able to correct her misunderstanding on the spot.

It was because he gave her incomplete information without the people in question being there that the situation got so complicated.

The black-cloaked men might\'ve also been moving on Captain Sarrell-san\'s orders, and if Captain Sarrell-san was also the root cause of Hyllis\' matter, then he probably really wasn\'t a respectable person.

As I had such thoughts, Hyllis raised her index finger while getting back on topic.

"So, I\'m sure that those suspicious men that might be Sarrell\'s subordinates haven\'t yet given up on kidnapping Milfiria and Kugalg. That\'s why, as an apology for causing you guys trouble, I\'ll scout them out for you!"

Just as she said that, Hyllis transformed into a bird.

She was a bit bigger than the fairy that had been about the size of a dove, and while the colour of her feathers was a bit darker, the general colour scheme did not change.

Nevertheless, her crown and tail feathers were longer than the fairy\'s, giving a more flashy impression. The down on her chest was also fluffier, and it seemed like the touch on her head and back would be silky.

And wherever she flew, colourful streaks of wind would remain in the sky for a few seconds, colouring it pea-green, blue, yellow, silver, and orange.

When I told her she was like a slug leaving beautiful light trails behind her, she got mad. I guess the subject of comparison was bad.

But if it\'s like this, whether it was night or day, it\'d stand out. She wasn\'t suited for scouting.

When I told Hyllis that-

"It\'s fine. I\'m the wind, so I can become cooler or warmer, stronger or weaker, constantly changing as I will. Right now, for the sake of scouting, I\'ll stop emphasising my individuality and be more quiet. That\'ll be better, right?"

Then, the colour of her body began to become transparent.

You could still faintly see the outline of her body and eyes, as well as her beak, but you could see the forested landscape behind her through her body.

If it\'s like this, then unless they\'re paying extremely careful attention, the enemy shouldn\'t be able to find her.

"But Hyllis, aren\'t you still tired? Will you be okay?"

I looked up at the transparent Hyllis as she circled above flapping her wings and asked.

"You\'re worried, aren\'t you! But I\'ll be fine, it\'s just scouting! I\'m off!"

Hyllis gave a wink and then disappeared deep into the dark, nighttime forest.