Chapter 100

As the night grew deeper, everyone gradually left the parlor at their own pace.

“So, what about Mil?”

“Me? I’m staying in Tina’s and Rekka’s room tonight.”

“In Tina’s room? I see….”

When I explained this, the one-eyed knight looked disappointed and said, “Good night,” before trudging away.

Next time, I should stay in the one-eyed knight’s room too.

Meanwhile, the sub-leader was silently pressuring Tina.

Tina was desperately trying to explain herself.

“It’s not like that! There’s a reason for staying! I definitely don’t intend to sneak around….”

The sub-leader, narrowing her eyes as if she wanted to say something, was gently ushered out of the parlor. Tina wiped away her cold sweat and sighed in relief. It’s a tough job.

“Is it forbidden to have Mil and others stay in the room?”

Based on the sub-leader’s reaction, Rekka asked Tina. It seems Rekka had only seen the sub-leader in her ice mask and hadn’t noticed her other face.

“No, it’s not like that.”

“Okay, then it’s fine.”

Kugal had already been taken back to his residence by his father, Hylg, so I headed to Rekka and Tina’s room with Woodbaum. Woodbaum was hesitant, but Tina invited him, so he came along.

Tina had already informed Rekka and gotten her permission for us to stay—though she probably didn’t explain that it was to check if we snored or talked in our sleep.

Rekka kindly led Woodbaum and me to her room.

When we arrived, Rekka unlocked the door and let Woodbaum and me in first.

The small room didn’t have a writing desk like the one-eyed knight’s room and had a bunk bed.

Rekka and Tina had already taken a bath, but they were still in their regular shirts and pants from earlier, so they were now changing into their pajamas.

The knights changed quickly, and Rekka and Tina were done in an instant. Woodbaum, being a male, was checking the texture of the blanket on the floor with his hooves and hadn’t noticed the girls changing at all.

“The blanket is so soft.”

Woodbaum sat down on the blanket, looking satisfied.

“I’m glad you like it.”

“Since it’s getting late, let’s go to bed, shall we?”

“You’re right. It’s not good to keep Mil and Woodbaum up late. They need their sleep.”

“Okay. Good night, Woodbaum, Rekka.”

Tina carried me up the ladder to the bed. But the sight that greeted me made me almost scream.

Tina’s bed was filled with stuffed animals at the pillow end.

If they were ordinary stuffed animals, I would have exclaimed, “Cute!” But these were different. Were they dogs, cats, insects, aliens, or mermaids? Just by looking, I couldn’t tell what they were. My brain processed them as strange objects.

Their bizarre color schemes and shapes made it impossible to guess what they were. Even with triangular ears and a pointed nose, it was hard to tell if they were foxes, which is the tricky part of Tina’s stuffed animals.

As I nervously examined the stuffed animals, Tina said happily,

“Do you like any of them? You can take whichever one you want.”

“Huh?”

Not being strong enough to say “no,” I chose a stuffed animal with a design that was easier on the eyes and held it in my mouth.

It was about the size of my head and had a squished manju-like shape.

Was it modeled after a slime?

“A bird stuffed animal! I’m glad you like it!”

It was a bird.

I placed the stuffed animal next to Tina’s pillow and rested my chin on it. The height was just right, and it was a good chin rest.

But the possibility that Rekka wanted her own room because of these slightly creepy stuffed animals was starting to dawn on me.

“Rekka, you can turn off the light whenever you’re ready.”

“Okay… I’ll turn it off.”

Rekka extinguished the candle on the candlestick she had lit when we returned and placed it on the side table. She always waited until Tina climbed up the ladder to avoid any accidents.

When the light went out, the room became pitch black. The moon wasn’t out tonight, so no moonlight came through the rectangular window.

“Good night, Mil.”

In response to Tina’s words, I snorted. Good night.

After the room went dark, I fell asleep soundly. I had intended to wait for Tina to fall asleep and keep an eye on her for a while.

In the middle of the night, I woke up and reflected on my actions.

Tina seemed to be in a deep sleep, and she didn’t wake up even when I stretched. She wasn’t snoring, grinding her teeth, or talking in her sleep.

I stood by the pillow and peered at Tina’s face, which was lying on her back. All I could hear was her quiet, steady breathing.

(Huh?)

Then I noticed something strange in the room. It was lit.

The flickering candlelight was reflected on the wall.

Straining my ears, I could hear Rekka’s breathing and the creaking of the floorboards.

I wondered what she was doing in the middle of the night and peeked over the bed’s railing.

(What!?!)

There, Rekka was doing push-ups on the floor.

She had three candles set up at the head of the bed. One was in a candlestick, and the other two were placed on the floor with wax.

Even though she was doing push-ups, she was doing them so quietly that Woodbaum hadn’t woken up.

But I thought she didn’t need to do this in the middle of the night, so I called out softly,

“Rekka. …Rekka.”

Rekka stopped and looked up at me.

“Mil… I’m sorry. Did I wake you up?”

“No, I think I was just taking a nap.”

As Rekka stood up, I tried to pull my head back from the bed’s railing, but it was stuck. It had fit perfectly when I stuck it in, but now it wouldn’t come out easily. I braced my feet and pulled back. Ouch…

“M-Mil…”

Rekka’s hands flailed around in panic.

With my cheeks squished against the railing, I finally managed to pull my head out.

“Are you okay?”

Rekka reached out and held me, moving me in front of the candles to check if my whiskers were pulled out.

“It’s hot….”

“Oh, right, you don’t like fire. I’m sorry.”

Rekka placed me on her lap, crossed her legs, and turned her body to shield me from the candles.

“Why are you doing push-ups at this hour?”

“…I couldn’t sleep.”

So she was doing push-ups to tire herself out? That’s impressive. She really is a female ironman.

But if you do that, you’ll be tired tomorrow. You need to rest when you can.

“Even if you can’t sleep, it’s better to rest in bed.”

Just lying down is better. I think doing exercises would only make you more awake.

“Rekka, you have to take care of your body, right?”

Especially since you have to work early in the morning.

I pushed her with my nose, and she obediently moved to the bed.

“You’re right….”

I made sure Rekka was under the blanket before blowing out the candles one by one. It’s hard to do with a fox’s mouth, but I managed to blow out all three, and the room went dark again.

I was considering whether to stay in Rekka’s bed or sleep next to Woodbaum when, even though she wasn’t doing push-ups anymore, I could hear Rekka’s breathing more loudly.

Her breathing was fast and shaky, as if she was nervous.

“Rekka? What’s wrong?”