Chapter 11
After coming to this other world, I developed a habit.
Namely, staring blankly up at the night sky, just like now.
“…It’s brighter than usual tonight.”
Countless stars whose names I didn’t even know filled the navy-blue night sky.
And two moons, one red and one blue, shone brilliantly overhead.
Whenever I looked at that sky, so utterly different from Seoul’s barren sky, where the only lights were occasional satellites,
I was reminded anew that the ground beneath my feet was not my homeland.
After strolling around for a while, savoring the cool night breeze,
“By the way, where did she run off to?”
Even though I thought I’d covered the entire area around Mr. Osmun’s house,
Ren, who had said she was going for a walk, hadn’t shown even the tip of her nose.
Ren.
My second companion on an adventure whose length I couldn’t predict.
Even Lucy, though she didn’t show it, seemed to like Ren quite a bit.
Considering how Ms. Violette had been the last time I saw her, I had a feeling that once we grew closer, Ren would give us plenty of headaches, too.
Compared with the journeys I’d taken until now, when we barely exchanged a few words all day unless there was business to discuss, I suppose that much was acceptable.
“…Sigh. It’s all just an excuse.”
To be honest, yeah.
I fell for her at first sight.
Because her appearance was so incredibly captivating.
Ah, it wasn’t simply her face that had captivated me.
Objectively speaking, I thought Ren’s face and figure were both exceptionally beautiful.
Even before dinner, I’d found it impossible to take my eyes off her breasts and armpits when she stretched.
But more than anything, what had captured my heart were the gorgeous red wings on both of Ren’s arms.
They were fiery like blazing flames, with soft, glossy feathers.
When I saw her covering Lucy with them, I was honestly insanely jealous.
I never expected that, after using lunch as an excuse to bring it up out of sheer envy, I’d end up getting a feather.
“I wonder if she’d do it if I asked her just once.”
If I got the chance, I’d have to ask her next time.
And if she refused, I’d try using my trump card.
…But bird beastkin eat chicken too, right?
She used to be human, after all.
As I walked along, thinking about this and that,
“Oh.”
Before I knew it, a broad lake had spread out before me.
Bright stars and moons were reflected beautifully on its surface.
“The lake at night has quite a bit of charm, too.”
I was admiring the sight, which looked like something from a painting, when
“Huh? What brings you here? Did you come out to get some air?”
Ren’s voice came from above me.
“…Ren?”
“Perfect timing. Come on up.”
I turned my head toward the direction of her voice.
A familiar silhouette was visible atop the large rock right beside me.
“Wait a moment.”
Maybe she was up there enjoying the view of the lake.
As I climbed onto the rock, the first thing that caught my eye was
“Huh?”
A few pieces of black fabric that looked oddly familiar.
“What’s this?”
As I tilted my head in puzzlement while picking up one of the small scraps of cloth lying nearby,
“Put it down.”
Ren’s voice came from nearby, sounding oddly uncomfortable.
“That’s my underwear.”
“…What?”
Did I just hear that wrong?
Unable to understand what Ren had possibly meant, I turned my head toward the direction of her voice, and then….
“Aaaaaaagh!!”
“Jeez, my eardrums are going to burst.”
Ren was sitting on the rock completely naked, drying her thoroughly soaked body.
“H-hey, hey, hey, heeey―!!”
“Use human words, human.”
I hurriedly covered my eyes and turned my head away, but
thanks to the moonlight, which was especially bright tonight, and Ren, who had turned her body slightly toward me as though she had something to say,
my damned brain was trying to preserve, in perfect detail, the sight of Ren’s naked body that I’d seen for that brief moment.
“What the hell are you doing―!!”
Her healthy body was highlighted by the firm muscles across her back and faintly defined, parallel abs, as if she exercised regularly.
And unlike the side view I’d seen when she was clothed, her gorgeous breasts were completely unrestrained, swaying softly.
“I took a dip. As you can see, my arms are in this state, so I can’t dry myself off. I’m sitting here to let my body dry.”
I hadn’t seen it clearly since I’d only caught a glimpse, but since the tips that should normally have protruded weren’t visible, she was surprisingly demure… Ahem.
“Um, what was it…? You said you could use Taoist arts, right? Don’t you have one that can dry me off?”
And on top of that, she had a trim waist that made the word ‘perfect’ spring to mind, along with luscious buttocks like ripe fruit.
Even if she claimed she was a man with a body like that… how could anyone believe her?
Not a man, just someone claiming to be one.
“Hey.”
“Uh, yeah!?”
As I turned my back on Ren and covered my face with both hands, storing the image of her naked body from moments ago in my mind,
I finally heard Ren’s voice, sounding utterly exasperated.
“I asked if you had a Taoist art that could dry me off.”
A Taoist art to dry off?
They existed, but I couldn’t use them.
“The only Taoist arts I can use deal with thunder qi… I mean, they’re related to lightning, so unfortunately I don’t have one.”
“Really? Then I’ll just wait a little longer. If you have nothing else to do, you can go ahead. I’ll come back once my wings are dry.”
After saying that, Ren fell silent, as though that really had been all she wanted to say to me.
I was standing there frozen, staring blankly with my back turned to her, overwhelmed by how matter-of-factly she spoke, when
“Hey. You can just look.”
“Yes?”
“Why are you getting embarrassed like some little girl?”
With a snicker, Ren began spouting something utterly outrageous.
“If you want, you can touch them.”
“W-what kind of ridiculous joke is that…!”
“I’m not joking.”
Soon, a sound began to come from where Ren had been.
The sound of Ren rising to her feet.
“Hup.”
Along with the sound of water droplets falling one by one, Ren’s footsteps seemed to draw closer to me.
“Here. Touch them.”
That was the last voice I remembered.
* *
“Aaaaaaagh!!”
“…Huh.”
I’d only teased him a little because his tomato-red face was amusing.
But apparently he couldn’t take it, because Huey screamed and ran away.
“What a funny guy.”
He reacted as though he’d never seen a woman’s body in his life.
“It’d be fun to meet Frederica later.”
I’d never been interested in women to begin with, so it didn’t bother me.
But considering how the captain had grinned foolishly before collapsing from a single blow, it would definitely be entertaining.
Come to think of it, Frederica had taken a job somewhere nearby, hadn’t she?
“Well, whatever.”
Huey’s flustered reaction would be amusing, but I had no intention of suffering the consequences myself.
There was no need to go out of my way to meet her.
“By the way, the breeze is nice.”
Though all that had happened was my body changing, so much had changed.
For example, I had come to enjoy washing myself in cold water, drying my feathers, and feeling the breeze, just like now.
If someone unfamiliar saw me, they might assume I lived in the wilderness or that I was a pervert, but
who cares?
As long as I liked it, that was all that mattered.
…Still, taking so long to dry my wings was a bit of a drawback.
“Hmm♩ Hmmm♪”
-FWOOSH!
As I hummed, I flapped both wings hard, sending the water droplets bursting outward like an explosion.
“Wow, they still have a long way to go.”
Then I sat back down on the rock.
I stared blankly up at the sky until my wings dried.
“Still, I really must have changed….”
The old me would never have accepted traveling with other people, no matter what reason the captain gave.
Even when the city guards stopped us that morning, the old me would definitely have thrown a fit, demanding to know whether they suspected me of something.
“Sigh.”
So much had changed in the short span of three months.
“It’s all because I don’t have a sword.”
Not once in my life until now had I gone a single day without a sword in my hand.
Since I couldn’t wield a sword, all I did was accumulate useless thoughts.
“If only my hands were in working order, I wouldn’t have any complaints.”
If I could just hold a sword,
I wouldn’t have cared even if I had become a monster instead of a woman.
If I could hold a sword with even one hand,
“Sigh. It’s already screwed up, so what’s the point of thinking about what-ifs….”
As I leaned back in a gloomy mood, a red gleam caught my eye among the clothes behind me.
“What? That was fast.”
He’d been whining about not getting any useful information lately.
Honestly, what a whiny old man.
“Hup.”
Taking care not to let the water dripping from my still-damp wings wet the clothes, I used my foot to pull out the parchment glowing red among them.
I tossed the parchment into the air, caught it with a wing, and let mana flow into it. Small letters slowly began to emerge.
“Let’s see.”
It was an artifact made for the members of our group to communicate with one another.
Even if it got wet or burned, the writing that appeared on the parchment-like material remained intact. After slowly reading it, I…
“Ugh.”
I seriously wondered whether I should pass this along to Huey and Lucy.
【A few days ago, a canyon believed to be a dungeon was discovered in an unexplored region of the southern desert of Vista.】
【Items believed to be from another world have been sighted, and Vista is currently keeping exclusive control of the information while assembling an investigation team.】
It was good, at least, that a full investigation was about to begin in the country where we were now.
【For details, hear from Frederica, the informant.】
【The escort request she took previously was extended, so she is apparently planning to stay for the time being at the lord’s castle in Swinford, north of Dublin.】
Because I was about to meet the person I least wanted to see while looking like this.
【ps. Frederica says to tell you she’s looking forward to seeing what you’ve turned into. Serves you right. Chicken head.】