I am Hei Yue, captain of the Black Fox team who was assigned to guard our Young Lord, Long Yuan'an. Our Black Fox team have been ordered to protect the young lord since his birth, guarding him in the shadows. Although, since he never left Yunyue Pavilion, there were not a lot to do for now. The work was pretty much idle, if you remove the weekly sleeping on the beam job requirement.
...It's just so idle, that I became bored.
I mean, it's obviously an honour to be able to protect the Young Lord. I am very, Very, VERY honoured to be able to serve him. But it's so BORING!
Although the Young Lord likes to walk around, it's just to walk around the house. If he became curious of something, he'd just stare at it until he became disinterested with it. Even when he started following behind the Lord Master to the training ground, he'd make sure that it's from a safe distance from the other people training. There wasn't any need for anyone to stop him because he himself will not try to do nor be near anywhere dangerous.
Such a cautious and obedient child, where will there be a time for us shadow guard to shine?
Well, that was, until Young Lord found 'that thing'...
It was a fine sunny day. As usual, I was following behind Young Lord in secret while he was having his usual walk. Then he stumbled upon something made out of metal. I didn't really know what it was. I've heard from other servants in the house that it was called a 'gear', and can move countless things without using spiritual power. Such a magical thing, was actually created by our Madam.
Seeing the gear lying down on the ground, I assumed that it fell when the servants are carrying raw materials for the Madam. The servants following behind Young Lord was also just about to pick up the gear from the ground, when Young Lord immediately rushed to pick up the gear by himself.
Σ(゚Д゚)!!!
Young Lord actually moved! The Young Lord, who usually only always staring at things, and only played with things given to him, actually rushed to get something from the ground like a normal kid! And he's also inspecting the thing in his hands!
Is this the time? Will Young Lord start to change and be a naughty kid that needs to be scolded and disciplined like other spoiled brats of rich families? Does that mean I can finally debut and show off my presence in front of Young Lord?!? (๑•̀∀•́๑)✧
*CoughCoughCough*
...Please excuse my excitement. It's not that I'm looking forward to scold the young lord. I'm also not really looking forward to show off my presence in front of him. I'm just a bit out of sorts from the shock. I'm telling you, I am a very serious captain of Black Fox, the Young Lord's shadow guard.
A-anyway, Young Lord, who only ever have interests but never tried to do anything has finally moved! Isn't that an achievement? Though after that day, he seemed to become busy even though he was supposed to be the most leisurely one in the whole pavilion. Since I've been following him, it's the first time I saw him ever look so sneaky.
He'd pretend to be walking around the pavilion as usual, but then he'd leave the maidservants' sight the moment they weren't looking. And then he'd go looking for woods. Whether big sized as a tree trunk or as small as a little twig, he'd collect them all and brought them near Madam's workshop. Honestly, I was very surprised that such a small body could actually drag a tree trunk with the diameter of half his body size alone. The weight of that trunk was at least 40 catty!
What's more shocking was that, he'd actually sneaked into Madam's workshop and took fancy to the saw and other carpentry set! His eyes looked determined to take them. Is this the rhythm of becoming a bad boy? Seeing him holding such dangerous items, of course, as his shadow guard I have to stop him in time. So before he could reach for the saw, I immediately stopped him.
"Young Lord, this is a dangerous weapon. You shouldn't touch it carelessly." Trying to look cool, I spoke with a tone that I think of as serious and stern.
"Who are you?" The young lord looked shocked, but his words were calm. Of course, of course~ You've never seen me right? You've never even know my existence~
Seeing that his hands were not reaching for the dangerous items anymore, I quickly knelt in front of him and made a gesture of the palm holding my fist.
"Captain of Black Fox team, Hei Yue, here to serve your honorable Young Lord! If you have any order, please instruct me. I will definitely complete the job successfully!"
"...Black Fox team? Judging from your clothes and your way of speaking, are you a shadow guard?"
"Yes, Young Lord. Our team has been ordered by the Lord Master to dedicate ourselves to protect Young Lord from any danger."
This is my first time being this close with the young lord. I can see why everyone in the pavilion adores him other than his status as one of the masters here. His face is, how to say... adorable? It's the face of Lord Master, but more softer, more chubbier... my hands have been itching to pinch his buns cheeks.
Σ(゚Д゚) Calm down, Hei Yue! You are the captain of Black Fox! No matter how adorable and soft those cheeks look, you cannot pinch your master's cheeks! Must..... RESIST!!!
As I was having a war inside my mind, Young Lord was making a gesture as if he was thinking of something. Then, he smiled and said: "Perfect!"
...What is?
"Since you're the captain, that must mean you have some people as your subordinates right? Nice timing. I was thinking how would I handle the next thing without anyone helping me. Call the people under you and take these things with you. I have a project to complete in one month."
....Excuse me? I don't understand what you mean, Young Lord.
"What are you doing dallying around? Go on, call your subordinates. This young master is busy!" The Young Lord, who usually speaks less unless in front of his mother, actually talked so much. In my confusion, I unconsciously followed his orders and called all the Black Fox members.
By the time I returned to my senses, all my subordinates were carrying woods of all sizes and various carpenting tools, helping the young lord do his bidding. At the end of the month, something akin to a bull carriage appeared in front of our eyes. Only, the carriage was small and can only fit a little kid.
However, there were chains connected to the wheels, with the so-called 'gear' in between. In the middle of the gear is a 'pedal', where your foot can rest and move the gears so the chains and wheel can move. There were also a 'steering wheel' at the front, to help move into your preferred direction. With the help of the Black Fox team, the 'car', as named by the young lord, looked polished and solid as something made out of wood would.
"Young Lord, how would you like this... car?" I asked solemnly. The young lord looked proud as he looked at the result in front of him.
"We wouldn't know until we try!" The young lord spoke, and immediately walked over towards the car. He climbed over the car, sit inside securely, and with his hands on the steering wheel and hit feet on the pedals, he began moving his feet. Somehow, I could feel an intense atmosphere hovering over our heads when each of us looked at the young lord's expression. It was as if we're climbing a tough, unbeatable wall, and there were waves underneath forcing us to move.
Finally, the young lord moved his feet, and "creak~!" sounded. The gear moved, the chain moved, and wheel moved. All of us cheered. We were so overwhelmed by emotions that some of us even began to hug each others and cried. If anyone who don't know of the situation looked at us, they would think that we were soldiers who won the war, or just a bunch of lunatics.
Creak, creak, creak, crick, creak~
Sound of the wheels and gears moving resounded as everyone in the Black Fox team rejoiced. Young Lord continued moving in his car silently. After a few rounds around us, he stopped and smiled with satisfaction.
"You did well. Thank you. I will tell father to reward you guys. Next time I have a new project, I'll call you guys again. See you around!" Waving his chubby hands, the little boy continued pedaling his car and left us a group of adults still in joyful tears.
...How do I say this, Young Lord is... pretty cool?
And thus, the boring days turned into an inexplicable materials gathering hunts and inexplicable carpentry and blacksmithing training. And I, Hei Yue, the captain of Black Fox shadow guard team, inexplicably appointed by Young Lord to be his Human Resources Manager... Like what the hell was that thing anyway.
Hei Yue (黒月): Captain of Black Fox team, the shadow guard for Long Yuan'an. Their real master is Long Tianyue, hence the different calling to Huang Feiyun. Around 20-ish, with a playful character and cunning fox eyes.
Other shadow guard captains include Hei Feng (黒风) protecting Long Tianyue, and Hei Jin (黑金) protecting Huang Feiyun. Only captains are surnamed Hei and under Long Tianyue's order. Ming Zuo is Huang Feiyun's direct subordinate so wasn't surnamed Hei.
*1 catty = 0.6 kg