= Haku’s POV =
……I heard something soft.
At first, I thought it was the sound of the wind.
The sound of leaves swaying ever so slowly. The sound of water flowing in the distance.
And between them, the presence of something small and bright, as if whispering.
It wasn’t the academy, nor was it the Valerion estate.
The air was different.
The air in the Valerion estate was solid.
The smell of polished swords, leather gloves, the stone floor of the training ground warmed by sunlight, the warm traces left behind by Elysia’s aura.
But this place was different.
The air itself was thin, dense, and sparkling.
There was a lot of mana.
And not merely a lot—its grain was orderly, as if someone had combed it through with meticulous care.
Mana flowing between the trees, barriers engraved into the window frames, stabilization crystals hidden inside the walls, tiny spirits drifting near the ceiling.
……Ah.
Right.
This was the Asteria marquisate.
I slowly opened my eyes.
What came into view was an unfamiliar ceiling.
Silver and blue-green patterns were glowing quietly.
It was ornate, but it didn’t hurt my eyes.
As befitting a prestigious magical house, it didn’t glitter pointlessly, leaving only as much light as necessary.
And beside me was Elysia.
She was asleep, leaning against a low sofa.
Perhaps she had tried not to let her posture collapse as usual, because it seemed she had been sitting neatly at first.
But whether she had stayed by my side all night, her head was now tilted slightly.
I watched her for a while.
‘……She was beside me again.’
For some reason, one side of my chest felt ticklish.
No, I don’t mean it in a weird way.
It was just that waking up in an unfamiliar place and finding someone familiar beside you was more reassuring than I’d expected.
I shifted my body a little.
The moment I did, my whole body felt heavy.
The gate transfer had been better than I expected.
Really.
Just like when I practiced at the Valerion estate, I had gotten the hang of thinly wrapping the spiritual power inside my body around me and letting the mana waves flow past.
There had been no churning in my stomach like before, no ringing in my ears, and no tail puffing up on its own.
But being fine and not being tired were two different things.
An unfamiliar gate.
An unfamiliar city.
Unfamiliar mana.
And Asteria’s unique, overly organized magical grain.
All of it kept tickling the inside of my body.
It felt as if someone were brushing my fur, strand by strand, in the opposite direction.
‘So falling asleep couldn’t be helped.’
Making excuses to myself, I sat up.
The small cushion was quite comfortable.
Too comfortable, which made it suspicious.
It definitely wasn’t just a cushion; it had to be some kind of functional item.
Mana isolation, temperature maintenance, sleep assistance, spirit stabilization…… It seemed like it would have those pointlessly luxurious features attached.
‘This is a family that would write a thesis on a single cushion.’
I carefully climbed down from the cushion.
Then the small spirits floating near the window all stopped moving at once.
“…….”
I stopped too.
‘What.’
A light spirit was floating in the air.
There was also a spirit that looked like a leaf.
A faint one that seemed to be a wind spirit was hiding at the edge of the curtain,
and a small spirit shaped like a fragment of crystal was sparkling on the window frame.
They were staring straight at me.
More precisely, the moment our eyes met, they dimmed their light slightly.
A greeting?
‘No, why are you greeting me so politely?’
Something similar had happened in the academy’s spirit greenhouse.
The spirits didn’t avoid me and treated me with strangely formal courtesy.
At first, I thought it was because I was a baby fox and they found me cute, but apparently, that wasn’t it.
They didn’t seem to know exactly what I was, but they seemed to sense that I was something high-ranking.
Honestly, it was burdensome.
I was just a man from the modern world, and now I was only a small, soft fox.
……Well, I admit the original owner of this body wasn’t ordinary.
I flicked one ear toward the spirits.
Then the spirits grew even quieter.
‘No, you can relax.’
Since we couldn’t communicate, there was nothing I could do.
Dragging my tail, I walked toward the sofa.
Elysia was still asleep.
As I approached, I could hear her breathing.
Very shallow and steady. It was obvious she hadn’t slept properly because of me yesterday.
‘I made her worry for nothing.’
I felt a little sorry.
But I had to wake her.
If she kept sleeping in that position, her neck would hurt.
I hopped onto the sofa.
Then I tapped Elysia’s cheek with the tip of my tail.
Once.
No reaction.
Twice.
Elysia’s eyelids trembled slightly.
“……Haku?”
Elysia slowly opened her eyes.
Our gazes met.
At that moment, Elysia’s expression instantly relaxed.
“You’re awake?”
I cried softly.
‘Yeah.’
I woke you up like this because I was awake.
Elysia sat up and immediately checked my condition first.
Her hand carefully passed over my back, checked near my forehead, and even observed the movement of my tail and ears.
‘She’s completely a guardian.’
Well, technically, she really was the owner of my familiar contract.
“I was really worried.”
I avoided her gaze.
‘There was no need to go that far.’
But since I couldn’t explain it in words, it felt unfair.
Sometimes I wished I could speak, but then again, if I actually became able to speak, it felt like even more troublesome things would happen. It was complicated.
Elysia lightly pressed my forehead with her finger.
“You did overdo it, didn’t you?”
No. It wasn’t quite overdoing it; I was just tired.
Elysia’s face looked as if she didn’t believe my protest at all.
“You said the gate transfer was fine. But you fell asleep as soon as we arrived.”
I closed my mouth.
That was true.
‘It was fine. It really was fine…… I just got sleepy.’
Before she could interrogate me further, I climbed onto Elysia’s lap and sat down.
Then I rested my chin on the back of her hand.
This posture was fairly effective.
Even when Elysia was about to scold me, if I sat like this, she usually swallowed her words.
“……You think I won’t be able to say anything if you do that, don’t you?”
Correct.
I closed my eyes.
Elysia let out a small sigh and stroked my back.
“Fine. I’ll let it go for now. But don’t push yourself today.”
I moved one ear.
That much, I could accept.
Just then, I sensed a presence outside the door.
I opened my eyes.
Unfamiliar footsteps.
But the grain of mana was similar to the voice I had heard yesterday.
It was Iris.
“Elysia. Are you awake?”
Elysia answered.
“Yes. Come in.”
The door opened, and Iris entered.
Even though it was morning, she was barely disheveled.
Her silver-blue hair was neat, and her blue-green eyes did not look like those of someone who had just woken up.
She had probably been awake since early. No, she might have spent the whole night researching until morning came.
But something was strange.
There was no recording tablet in her hand.
‘Huh?’
I stared at Iris.
Iris also looked at me.
A brief silence.
She took one step closer, then stopped.
And very slowly, she lowered her head.
“Welcome to the Asteria marquisate, Haku.”
……Polite.
So polite that it was actually awkward.
I cried softly.
Yeah. I’m here.
Iris’s eyes softened ever so slightly.
“How is your physical condition?”
Elysia looked down at me.
“Haku, are you all right?”
I tapped the back of Elysia’s hand with my forepaw.
‘I’m fine.’
Really.
Iris nodded.
“That is a relief.”
I was still looking at Iris’s empty hands.
No recording tablet.
No measuring crystal orb.
No magic pen.
Suspicious.
Elysia seemed to have noticed it too and asked,
“You’re not recording today?”
Iris was silent for a moment.
“It would be a lie to say I do not want to.”
‘As expected.’
Too honest.
“However, I judged that having Haku feel this place is safe takes priority over recording his first reactions this morning.”
I looked at Iris again.
That was a more proper judgment than I’d expected.
If it had been Iris from when we first met, she probably would have recorded even the exact angle at which my ears moved.
No, it did seem like she still wanted to. Her gaze was wavering slightly.
But she was holding herself back.
‘Hmm.’
I rested my chin on Elysia’s lap.
It wasn’t full permission.
It just meant that, for now, it was fine.
Iris seemed to understand that subtle difference.
“Of course, if I receive permission later, I will record it.”
Persistent.
But this much was acceptable.
At that moment, another presence stopped outside the door.
This time, it was a weaker presence.
Noel.
“Sister…… Can I come in?”
“Noel, how are you feeling?”
“I’m fine. Today is a little better.”
He said he was fine, but he wasn’t completely fine.
To my ears, his breathing sounded slightly shallow.
And the stabilization magic tools surrounding his body occasionally made tiny sounds.
Elysia looked down at me.
“Haku, is it all right if Noel comes in?”
I thought for a moment.
I had felt it yesterday too.
That child was ill.
Mana, which others sensed like mere air, seemed to reach him like shards of glass.
This was the Asteria marquisate.
As befitting a prestigious magical house, it was rich in mana, its barriers were intricate, and there were many spirits.
It was a beautiful house, but to Noel, it might be too noisy.
I moved one ear.
He may come in.
Elysia spoke toward the door.
“You may come in.”
The door opened.
Noel entered carefully.
Behind him were Lady Sereniel and Marquis Theodore.
‘The whole family’s here.’
But strangely, it didn’t feel unpleasant.
Their gazes were less about digging into me and more about checking whether Noel was all right.
The moment Noel saw me, his face brightened.
“You’re awake.”
I looked at him and gave a soft cry.
“Kya.”
Noel was delighted with just that.
“He answered me.”
‘……Is that really something to be that happy about?’
No, maybe it was.
I was a fox who couldn’t speak right now, and that child was a sick child.
Even a small response might feel big to him.
Noel did not come closer.
He was keeping the distance Elysia had mentioned yesterday.
I liked that.
“Haku. May I sit just a little closer?”
This time, he asked me directly.
I looked at him.
There was yearning in Noel’s eyes, but no forcefulness.
He wanted to come closer, but if I disliked it, he was ready to withdraw.
I climbed down from Elysia’s lap.
“Haku?”
Elysia reached out in surprise, but I hopped down to the floor.
I walked toward Noel.
Everyone in the room held their breath.
‘No, I’m just walking.’
But the atmosphere made it feel as if some ancient ritual had begun.
I stopped and sat down at a spot roughly between Noel and Elysia.
Then I tapped the floor once with my tail.
Here.
This far.
Noel understood right away.
“Here?”
I moved one ear.
Noel carefully sat down in that spot.
A distance of about one arm was maintained.
At that moment, the mana around Noel’s body settled very slightly.
To be precise, it wasn’t as if I had done anything.
I was simply there.
It was just that the spiritual power inside my body naturally spread out in a thin layer, and that lightly pressed down on the rough grain of the surrounding mana.
To me, it was like breathing, but to Noel, it seemed to make a difference.
“……It really is quiet.”
Noel spoke softly.
Iris’s fingertips twitched.
‘You want to record it, don’t you?’
It was too obvious.
Marquis Theodore said in a low voice,
“You’re holding back well.”
“Father.”
Iris’s voice turned cold.
I nearly laughed.
Ah, the people of this family were unexpectedly amusing.
On the surface, they all looked cold and intellectual, but if you looked closely, each of them had their own flaws.
Iris was suffering as she endured her desire to observe Haku,
Marquis Theodore was struggling to suppress his scholar’s instincts,
and Lady Sereniel was watching the two of them with a smile.
Noel simply seemed happy that he felt comfortable.
“I said thank you yesterday. Did you hear me?”
I looked at Noel.
Yesterday?
Ah, now that he mentioned it, perhaps I had.
I felt like I had heard someone whisper thank you while I was half-asleep.
I hadn’t known whether it was a dream or reality, but it seemed it had been Noel.
I thought for a moment.
How should I answer?
I couldn’t speak.
It was difficult to express thank you, I heard you, and it’s all right with a cry.
So I lightly extended the tip of my tail toward Noel.
Without touching him.
This much distance was fine.
Noel did not reach out his hand.
He kept the line I had set exactly as it was.
“Okay. I won’t touch you.”
I closed my eyes.
This child knew boundaries.
That alone made me feel at ease.