127 – Special Training 17
“It feels like I’ve seen it somewhere before…”
-Chirp! Squawk! Chirp!
The small bird perched on top of Sepia’s head fluttered its tiny wings as vigorously as it could while chirping.
To itself, it might seem like a form of threat, but to me, it just looked cute.
The reason for its agitation was probably because I had just asked Sepia if the bird was an emergency ration.
-Squawk! Squawk! Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!
Continuing to flap its wings and chirp, the bird gradually began to rise into the air.
“Oh.”
Of course, it only rose about 2cm, and even that lasted no more than a second before it fell back onto Sepia’s head.
-Squawk! Chirp!
With a start, the bird, now standing upright, seemed to have exhausted its strength to flap its wings further, so it stopped flapping and only chirped.
“Oh? Really! Is that so?”
-Chirp!
“Understood. Thank you for sharing this information.”
-Chirp, chirp.
“Yes, please do let me know if you have more information like this next time.”
Suddenly engaged in a conversation with the bird, Sepia looked at me with surprised eyes.
Well, if someone saw me talking to a bird on the street in the original world, they would have thought I was crazy.
But here we are, in a world of swords and magic, overflowing with romance and fantasy.
It’s only natural to have artifacts that allow you to converse with animals.
“Perhaps, do you understand what this bird is saying?”
“No, I just said something random.”
But she didn’t mention that to me.
If I had the ability to communicate with animals, whether through such an artifact or not, I would have become a veterinarian, not a jester.
“…………..”
Sepia looked at me as if to say, “There are all kinds of weirdos,” but she was probably just mistaken.
Our kind Sepia wouldn’t look at me like that.
“So, Sepia, when did you start raising this bird?”
It’s highly likely that the bird was raised relatively recently.
If Sepia had raised it for a long time, the bird wouldn’t be this small, and there would be no need to bring the bird to the academy.
Sepia pondered for a moment with a look of how to explain this, then spoke.
“Do you remember what I said last time?”
“Of course, I remember.”
Sepia narrowed her eyes.
“But I didn’t even mention when that was.”
“Well, I remember all the conversations I had with you, Sepia.”
My response seemed to please Sepia as the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.
“Oh, really? Ash, the day before your mission in the Marquis of Necroca, Professor Elysia told you to rest in the morning, right?”
“Really? Hmm… What was that about…”
“Wow, are you messing with me?”
“hahahaha, just kidding. Of course, I remember everything. You definitely said something about feeling strange about the spirit and going somewhere, right?”
“Y-yeah, I do remember that.”
“Of course.”
Sepia must have obtained something, one of the keys to her awakening, from where she followed the spirits.
Why is this story coming up now… I mean?
“Well, it can’t be.”
In Croaca, what Sepia obtains is not a yellow bird that looks like emergency rations but a yellow feather that emits a radiant light.
A yellow bird… yellow feather…
“Did you happen to discover that bird when following the spirits?”
“That’s right. More precisely, it was a feather.”
“………………….”
How should I take this?
Although it seemed nice at first glance, transforming from a single feather into a bird made of feathers… I approached Sepia and looked at the bird perched above her head.
-Chirp.
The bird stared at me without flinching.
“It seems familiar somehow.”
I can pride myself on having a good memory.
But if I can’t recall it clearly, maybe I just imagined it.
“…Ugh.”
To get a closer look at the bird above Sepia’s head, I had no choice but to get closer to her.
Right now, Sepia and I were maintaining a distance close enough to hear each other’s soft breaths.
“Uh… Isn’t this too close?”
Normally, I would tease Sepia, but unfortunately, I couldn’t do that now.
Because I remembered where I had seen this bird.
Initially, I wanted to deny it, but my gut feeling was telling me it was 100% true.
‘That’s the second most annoying pattern used by necromancers.’
Second, even though it’s a dog-like pattern, there’s a reason for forgetting it.
When used by a necromancer in Croaka, it wasn’t yellow, and it was much larger than this.
Nevertheless, it wouldn’t hurt to confirm, just in case.
“Sephia, does this bird also emit electricity in this new body?”
“Huh? Uh, yeah. How did you know? It doesn’t emit electricity when it’s perched on my head, but it does emit a little when it’s elsewhere.”
“Oh.”
I was purely in awe.
Can this be considered hitting the jackpot?
“Damn it! Of course it would be there!”
That bird, the second one with that dog-like pattern used by the necromancer, was the strongest among the skulls used by that necromancer.
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I can’t forget the strength and dick-like qualities of that bird, continuously striking lightning as it soared through the sky.
It wasn’t until later that I could clear it with my eyes closed, but when I first encountered that bird, I wrote down each lightning pattern in a notebook while playing.
I was under a lot of stress studying the patterns.
But that stress could be relieved by tormenting newbies.
“The important thing now isn’t this.”
To snatch that bird away from the necromancer before even fighting with them?
It could be seen as the villain snatching transformation tools from magical girls before fighting.
“Of course, we’re not villains.”
-Thud.
I held Sephia’s hand with both of mine.
At this moment, Sephia was light and a goddess to me.
“…What’s gotten into you all of a sudden!”
I wanted to kiss her as if I felt like it, but if I really did such a thing, it wouldn’t end like just a pat on the back like earlier.
Some might think I’m overdoing it, but with this level of reaction, I could pride myself on being rather meek.
If someone thought of it like someone solving the open-ended questions before the start of the college entrance exam, they might understand my feelings.
-Crack.
Feeling Sephia’s gratitude again, I unknowingly put more strength into my hand.
“Uh, woah.”
Ah, it broke.
Well, even I would be surprised if someone suddenly grabbed my hand tightly.
“Maybe I should be thankful I didn’t get slapped instead.”
Of course, because the reaction was amusing, I didn’t let go of her hand.
* * *
Fortunately, Sephia regained her composure soon after.
Of course, she was still trying to cool her face that was emitting smoke with her fan.
“So, Sephia, what’s the name of this bird?”
Continuing to call it this bird, that bird, the bird, was getting uncomfortable.
“Huh? I haven’t decided yet.”
Well, according to Sephia, it came out of the egg yesterday due to the training and transformation.
“There probably wasn’t time to come up with a name.”
Until just a moment ago, the bird that seemed like emergency rations now appears as an angel.
The wings that looked like chicken wings have now transformed into pure white wings.
“Oh, really? If Sepia doesn’t have a name in mind, may I come up with one?”
Sepia mentioned she didn’t particularly have a name in mind.
She believed that a name was truly the first impression.
That’s how important it is.
And I was renowned for naming things well.
You could easily tell that by looking at the name of the club I founded, the Clown Union Club.
When naming something, one good method is to conjure it from an image.
I stared intently at the bird, and the bird, still unnamed, stared back at me.
‘Bird… Yellow… Electric..’
Zap.
A good name flashed through my mind, combining those three words.
“Electric Roast Chicken.”
-Squawk!! Squawk! Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!
“I’m not sure what that is, but it seems to be getting agitated?”
Could it be that the chicken is particular?
A tricky one.
“Braised Chicken?”
-Chirp!
“Spicy Chicken Stew.”
-Chirp!
“Fried Chicken with Seasoning.”
-Chirp!
“Spicy Chicken Burger?”
-Squaaawk!!!
“Though I don’t know what each means, it seems odd. Should I just come up with one?”
“hahahahaha. It’s all been a joke until now. Shall we try to come up with a proper name now? Let’s see…”
Of course, I never intended to joke when naming.
Names shouldn’t be thought of too far-fetched.
Just like how I simply came up with the nickname Rocky from my original name.
As for my real name…
“Ouch!”
“What, what?! Where does it hurt?”
As I suddenly clutched my head and knelt down, Sepia handed me words full of concern.
“It’s nothing. Just a momentary headache.”
More accurately, it was the headache that came when I recalled my original name.
It’s not that I suddenly have amnesia and can’t remember my real name.
No, I’d rather have amnesia if that were the case.
I might forget my original name.
Thinking about being teased because of my name… Ugh.
At that moment, I made up my mind. I must name properly.
“Hogu?”
I quickly opened my mouth so that Sepia wouldn’t worry if I seemed lost in thought.
“In fact, it was all a joke until now, and I had a name in mind from the beginning.”
-Chirp.
Sepia looked at me with eyes that seemed to say, “I believe you this time.”
From the moment Sepia allowed me to name, I blurted out the name that had come to mind in my head.
“Chirpie.”
-……………
“…………..”
What’s with this cold reaction,
Intuitive, cute, and cool,
* * *
After all the Academy classes were over, in the forest.
Today, Rocky and Sepia once again gathered after school for special training and sneaked into the forest.
“Well then, shall we start today’s enjoyable training? A month passes faster than Sepia thinks.”
-Chirp.
The new comrade Chirpie also spoke.