* * *
This was the prize given to the winner of the hunting competition.
That means I had a high level of skill, at least among the knights of the castle, and was not someone who needed to be protected by others.
If anything, I should be the one protecting them.
“……”
But in any case, there was no one on the balcony.
There was no sign of a person, and even if there were, this bird would have told me beforehand.
I decided to pretend to be protected until she felt satisfied.
“There was no one.”
“That is a relief. But please inform me immediately if such a problem arises. The knights in the hallway are stationed there to protect your safety.”
“Understood.”
I smiled awkwardly and put Levatein back in its place.
When I sat on the sofa, Linda also pulled the trolley over to the table.
She first set down the desserts and then poured the clear sunset-colored black tea into the teacup.
“By the way, what is that bird?”
The bird, which had climbed onto my shoulder at some point, was watching us with its beak tightly closed.
Only the occasional movement of tidying its wings or blinking eyelids let me know it was a living bird.
If it hadn’t even done that, Linda might have misunderstood that I had made a cute bird doll and was carrying it on my shoulder.
“I opened the balcony window, and it flew inside as it pleased.”
“Oh my. It seems to be fond of Lady Adrian. Do animals also care about appearances?”
Unfortunately, the muttered remark at the end was clearly audible to me.
Was that the case?
Did it perhaps like me and follow me all the way here?
Come to think of it, it did chirp as if to say goodbye the last time.
[Hmm. It seems you look decent even in human eyes.]
“……!”
The hand holding the cookie flinched.
A drop of cold sweat seemed to trickle down my spine, making me feel chilly.
While picking up the cookie with my cold fingertips and moving it toward my mouth, pretending nothing was wrong, all my attention was focused on Linda.
She must have heard that.
There’s no way she couldn’t hear it in such a quiet room.
What kind of reaction would she have?
I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye, and she blinked slowly.
Her gaze was fixed on the bird and didn’t fall away.
“Oh.”
And when a small exclamation of awe spilled out, I choked and took a sip of black tea.
I couldn’t properly taste the tea’s aroma or flavor.
I had no idea how to explain this, and no excuse came to mind.
“That is a truly beautiful sound. Will you keep it as a pet?”
“……Well. Since it came as it pleased, perhaps it’s better to leave it alone until it leaves as it pleases?”
“Hehe. In that case, I will bring something from the kitchen that can serve as bird feed.”
Linda lightly bowed and left the room.
Only then did a deep sigh, which might have been a breath of relief, escape my lips.
I wiped the sweat that had formed on my hands and adjusted my posture to be more comfortable.
Fortunately, this creature’s words seemed to sound like a normal bird’s chirp to other people.
[Hoo. This is quite sweet. Do humans eat things like this?]
The bird, which had descended to the table, was pecking at a cookie with its small beak.
I wasn’t worried about whether it was safe for it to eat it.
It wasn’t a common bird; it was a Divine Beast.
As long as it wasn’t trying to eat a human, I figured I could leave it alone.
I moved the cookie to a small plate to make it easier for him to eat and took out my slice of cake.
“So, what about the fruit?”
[Hmm~ That’s what’s strange. If you had eaten all three, your magic power wouldn’t be this low.]
“……”
[……]
Tap, tap.
For a while, the only sound echoing in the room was the small sound of the bird’s beak hitting the plate as it pecked at the cookie.
And when that abruptly stopped, the silence in the room strangely felt cold.
Its head tilted this way, then that way. And looking up at me,
[Surely… you didn’t eat all of it?!]
It jumped up, flapping its wings, as if it was angry. But the problem was that even that was cute. I wanted to press it here and there with my finger to make it angrier.
“I ate one, but I shared the rest with close friends.”
[You…! Do you know how precious that is?! I followed the Elder around, begging, and only barely got permission!]
“……”
If that’s the case, wasn’t it easily granted?
I did share them, but I didn’t know if the Healer had eaten hers.
She might have used it as a medicinal ingredient.
If she hasn’t yet, it might be better to encourage her to eat it.
According to this creature, it would be more helpful to her than to me, whose magic power was at rock bottom.
[What a waste, what a waste!]
I placed a small piece of cut cake on the plate of the bird, which was still grumbling.
The creature stared silently at the soft whipped cream, then poked it with its beak.
And it froze, stopping all movement.
But it quickly snapped out of it.
And as if time was precious, it began to devour the cake quickly.
Does even a Divine Beast feel better after eating something sweet?
Seeing its tail fluttering, I subtly asked,
“Does that fruit increase magic power?”
Chirp!
The bird looked up and replied brightly, maintaining its good mood.
“……”
[……]
I froze at its cuteness, and this charming bird slowly wiped the cream off its beak with its slightly raised foot.
After neatly wiping its mouth, it looked up at me with what looked like a serious expression.
[It is a fruit that ripens only once every hundred years. To us, it is merely a delicious special treat, but I heard it increases the magic power of humans.]
“Then why are you trying to increase my magic power?”
This was the biggest question.
I wasn’t a magician.
I had no interest or talent in it.
I hadn’t even noticed whether my magic power had increased at all until now.
Even if someone wanted to suddenly develop me into a magician, I could definitively say it was impossible.
I would need to eat an entire tree, not just one fruit, to barely be able to use magic.
I drank my tea, waiting for its answer.
This time, it pecked the cake with a rather elegant motion, rolled the bread in its mouth, savoring the flavor, swallowed it, and then opened its mouth.
[Well… That is because you are my master.]
“Gasp?!”
I was so startled by the answer that I almost spat out my tea.
Those who become the master of the Divine Beast are called the Knight of the Divine Beast.
Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean they have to ride the Divine Beast.
It’s merely the result of a few masters of Divine Beasts in ancient times roaming around enough to leave a strong impression on people.
Like a Pegasus, a bear, a wolf… or a giant eagle.
The term ‘Knight’ must be a mere designation.
* * *
