성황의 아이들 [3]

475

475. Loser of the North (4)

Tap, tap, tap!

The sound of lightly hitting the stone floor echoes through the cool morning air.

The owner of the footsteps was a majestic wolfdog, with a noble imperial insignia draped around its neck. Its shiny gray fur gently waves in the salty sea breeze.

He occasionally stopped and looked up at the sky. Instead of the yellow eyes typical of wolves, they were strange eyes, like the gray sky that had just dawned.

After running for some time, the wolf-dog arrived at a training ground with a clear view of the sea. Coincidentally, there, the Inquisitors who had recently returned from a short voyage were engrossed in morning training.

"Rear type 2, turn around!"

"Huh!"

Boom!

A heavy piece of iron creates an intimidating cracking sound.

"Left bottom, second meal, take a picture!"

"Hey!"

Kuaang!

As the flails struck all at once with the command, thick dust rose and the soil of the training ground was deeply dents.

The wolf-dog stopped and looked closely at the little white girl who did not fit into the hideous sight.

Sisley was an amazing girl who created a particularly wide and deep crater even among sturdy Inquisitors.

"Good work! Group 1, take a break! Group 2 is preparing the land in the meantime!"

At the declaration of his adjutant Lumiere, a white teddy bear, as if waiting for him, toddled over to Sisley holding a bowl of water.

The doll, equipped with a high-performance growth-type AI, had lived with the little saint and had learned quite a lot of information to take care of the child.

"Al~la~view."

"ah! Thank you, Labyu."

Sisley smiled happily as he hugged the small teddy bear. She had a bright and innocent smile, befitting a girl of that age, without any trace of her serious training.

Then, she noticed a familiar wolfdog staring at her from a little distance away.

"Oh, Max? "What's going on here this morning?"

The wolf dog's tail waggled happily as I greeted him with a friendly smile.

"... huh?"

But at that moment, Sisley felt a strange sense of discomfort and tilted his head. Doesn't her wolf dog, who usually runs up to her and rubs against her body when he meets her, look particularly dignified today?

'Max... Something has changed in the atmosphere?'

Sisley, who was puzzled, put the teddy bear down on the floor and approached the wolf dog. Then, as always, he reached out his hand and tried to lightly stroke the wolfdog's head.

However, just as the small hand was about to come up to her head, the wolf dog lightly twisted its neck to avoid her hand. And then-

-Uh-huh, where!

He proudly placed his front paw on the girl's arm, as if he was reprimanding her.

chuck!

Thanks to this, the wolf dog's gray mud paw prints were clearly visible on the girl's white training uniform.

"huh? "What's wrong with you all of a sudden, Max?"

Okay.

"... "You don't want me patting your head today?"