< Side story 3. Dream Drinking Bird (2) >
#A3
“New continent?”
“okay. A continent in the East, far away across the sea. “The papers stuck here are definitely items used in that country.”
Nabirose nodded. She explained that the paper that looked like it had been dipped in a pot was a type of magic scroll called an ‘amulet’. Looking closely, I could clearly feel the mana oozing out.
“that’s interesting. This is my first time seeing a text message. “Instructor, can you read?”
“I do not know either. It was really only recently that exchanges with the New World began. “We only began formal communication after the war ended.”
“aha.”
Ronan shrugged his eyebrows at the interesting information. I was so busy with what was happening inland that I really didn’t know anything. He was fiddling with the sitar and snapped his fingers.
“But wait a minute, doesn’t that mean this bastard went across the sea to the New World?”
“Probably so. I don’t know where this came from, but it must have caused quite a stir there. “I heard that these statues and amulets are usually used to block something.”
“It’s a plague, it’s just a nuisance on a global scale.”
Ronan muttered. I knew that Sita’s range of activity would increase as she got bigger, but I didn’t expect it to be to this extent. He tapped the guitar.
“Hey, stop sleeping and wake up.”
I felt like I needed to know the circumstances. However, Sita, who had been hit hard by everything, was still dizzy and couldn’t come to her senses. No matter how much I shook and pinched her, it was the same.
‘This is really no joke.’
Once again, I felt the deceitfulness of everything. This was the first time Sita had done this since she got drunk after drinking all the blood from the southern battlefield. Ronan sighed and pulled on the hilt of his sword.
“Ugh, my paljaya.”
It seemed like I would have to use my trump card. Ronan slightly cut the tip of her finger, causing a drop of blood to flow into Sheeta’s mouth. Before long, Sita, having had her appetite again, opened her eyes.
“Pyeong-a… Pyeong-ah?”
“Are you coming to your senses now? “It’s a good thing.”
Ronan shook his head. Even though she got bigger, her behavior didn’t change. Sita, who had been shaking her head like a dog shaking off water, straightened up. Ronan asked, holding up her statue.
“Where did you get this from? ok?”
“Bwaunwooung?”
“Yumma. In times like this, don’t pretend not to understand what’s being said. “Have you really been to the New World?”
“Bwaaaa!”
When Ronan asked, Sita quickly flapped her wings. The fact that the movements were perfect was a clear positive sign. Wow! Five or six more statues similar to the first one came out of Sita’s suddenly opened mouth.
“Pyeol-ah! “Bye!”
“ah. Shit.”
Ronan cursed without realizing it. The family of statues that looked so unusual were all affixed with pieces of paper that looked like amulets or something.
Did you say that it is usually used to seal away dangerous beings? Sita, who could not have known such a fact, put out her breasts and made a triumphant expression, as if she had prepared a great gift. Ronan slowly washed his face and looked back at Nabirose.
“···Yes, there is. “Instructor.”
“Say it.”
“If a dog does something wrong, the owner is responsible, right?”
“yes.”
“Damn it. “I had no idea my first overseas trip would go this way.”
It felt like my vision was getting dark. If something happened because of Sita, he had to take responsibility and fix it. If we were really unlucky, it could have turned into an international problem.
I already have a lot of work to do, but I have to go to the New World. Ronan was groaning at the sudden increase in workload. A familiar voice came from the door.
“Ah, you are here, Ronan.”
“ok?”
Ronan turned his head. Her man, with his long hair braided back, was standing there somewhat. The glasses with strings and the thick book on the side were impressive. Ronan, who was looking at the smiling face, raised his eyebrows.
“Are you really Balus?”
“Long time no see. “How have you been?”
“That’s true, but…what the fuck. “What on earth happened?”
Ronan laughed. He wondered if it would happen, but it was as expected. His fellow punishment soldier was Balus, a poacher whom he had once taken out from Caribolo.
Ronan captured him at Baeksuje and recruited him as Varen’s assistant. The last time I saw it was briefly before the war broke out, and I wondered what had happened in the meantime. It’s been a while since I last saw Balus, and he’s completely new. No, he had become a scholar who went beyond such concepts.
“With Professor Baren’s support, I studied abroad in many places. There are so many things in the world that I don’t know. Thanks to this, I was able to present a paper to the Royal Society.”
“···That’s good.”
“It’s all thanks to Ronan. It was the greatest luck of my life to meet Ronan and Asher while on a reconnaissance mission several years ago. Of course, I was scared to death at the time.”
Balus laughed. There was no trace of his past life visible in his quiet smile. He was probably one of the few punitive soldiers to be vulgar, but it certainly seemed like a person’s upbringing was more important than his or her origins.
‘Could the rest of the idiots be like this too?’
Suddenly, images of the bastards I played with during my time as a punitive soldier flashed through my mind. Since I graduated, I felt like I could start executing my plan in earnest.
It was because of them that Ronan was granted the title of nobility, which he considered a hassle. When you become a noble, you have a fiefdom, and you can legally hire people to do work. His goal was to rehabilitate the comrades of the punitive forces who had not yet gone astray.
In fact, some of my classmates were already living in Balture, Ronan’s territory. They were beaten and dragged in, and they were cultivating the land of the North, which was almost like an unexplored land, day and night. Of course, fair compensation for labor was being paid honestly.
‘First, I’ll make it a human and send it to Phileon. ‘Because education is not something I can do.’
Ronan was rubbing his chin while thinking about his future plans. Suddenly, blood flowed from Balus’ eyes and nose. He became thoughtful and shrugged his shoulders.
“Huh! Blood, blood?!”
“Bwahahaha!”
At that time, a loud laugh was heard from behind. Sita was flapping her wings and giggling. Ronan, who noticed the situation, scolded.
“Yumma. “Can’t you quit right now?”
It was a prank that Sita played when she first met Balus. The relationship between the two began when Ronan saved Balus from death from excessive bleeding. A downcast Sita lowered her head.
“Bwauuung…”
“I lived, I lived.”
The blood that flowed from Balus’ face returned to its original place. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the blood on his clothes had completely disappeared. Ronan tapped Balus on the shoulder.
“sorry. “He’s very playful.”
“Oh, no… it’s okay. “I was just surprised because it had been so long since I had experienced it.”
“Then I’m glad. So what brought you here?”
Ronan asked. It’s been a while since I saw a familiar face, so the story leaked out. Balus adjusted his clothes and clapped his hands.
“ah. I’m here to tell you that Professor Varen is looking for you. “He has discovered the identity of the sphere.”
“Eh? “So quickly?”
****
Ronan went straight back to his office. Nabirose left for class, leaving a message saying she would see her soon. Baren shouted as soon as he opened the door.
“Oh oh. “You’re back!”
“Hey, surprise me.”
Varen was sitting in front of his desk with an excited expression, waiting for Ronan to return. Before I knew it, the neat desk had become a mess with various documents and laboratory tools.
Sita, whose body had grown too large, was blinking with her head stuck inside the window. Varen, who was scratching Sita’s chin, opened her mouth.
“After investigating, I found out that Ronan was right. “More than 90% of the mana content transmitted from inside the sphere matched the dream.”
“What the fuck. Really?”
Ronan’s eyes widened. It was a rough guess, but she didn’t know she would get it right. Varen continued, pointing to the sphere on the desk.
“yes. The reason the mana could not be detected with the naked eye was because the shell was too thick. “I’ve seen a lot of animals, but I’ve never seen one this thick.”
“It’s amazing. “Then why was the dream bird’s egg in my pocket?”
“well. Honestly, I have no way of knowing that. “Do you have no recollection of the time you acquired the egg?”
“Ummmm… So…”
Ronan’s brows narrowed. As she closed her eyes and looked back in time, she seemed to remember something.
The landscape Ronan saw just before he ran out of breath was the coast of a dying star. Under a cluster of brilliant stars, a red sea, and a pure white sandy beach, he cut off Abel’s head.
‘okay. That’s when I reached out.’
The memory of me bleeding to death was still vivid. In his fading consciousness, Ronan stretched out his hand. Then he took the white sand and the sphere that was lying on it and put them in his pocket.
That’s how it happened. Ronan, who had been drooling, opened her eyes.
“I remembered.”
“Oh oh. Fortunately, the. “So, were there any dream birds or creatures presumed to be dream birds around?”
“no. “Because it was a planet destroyed by bald men.”
“Think about it carefully. “There must have been something nearby.”
“No, there really wasn’t one. “The only other living creature out there is that bastard Abel… huh?”
Ronan’s eyes widened. Her outrageous ideas were flashing through her mind. No, fuck it, no matter what, that’s probably not the case. He shifted his gaze to the sphere and opened his mouth.
“So you’re saying that Abel was just a dream?”
···oh my god.”
Varen froze. The pupils behind the glasses narrowed to dots. Ronan asked back, seeing a much more serious reaction than expected.
“What, why don’t you deny it? “Do you really think something like that is possible?”
It was so absurd that I laughed. The leader of Nebula Clazier, who made the world tremble, was a dream, so if you wrote a novel like that, you would be criticized. Varen emptied his teacup with trembling hands and opened his mouth.
“It’s not completely absurd.”
“yes?”
“I don’t know if you remember. Dream birds change their appearance infinitely under the influence of something. Not only are there many cases of animals taking on the appearance of animals other than birds, but there are also cases in the literature of them being transformed into buildings such as palaces or towers. “It is unprecedented, but according to the theory, it is not impossible to transform into an intelligent being.”
“What is that…no shit, really?”
Ronan shed his confusion. When the most famous author in this field said that, it was impossible to deny it. Suddenly, an old story that Cain had told me flashed through my mind.
‘Now that I think about it, back then.’
Cain gained the ability to grant wishes by drinking the blood of the previous giant king. With this ability, he restored a broken village and saved a country on the verge of destruction, but was unable to fulfill his wish of reviving the dead.
But Abel was different. He was resurrected according to Cain’s wish for his brother’s return. He was, to be exact, the younger brother who was never even born.
Looking back, he was a strange guy from birth. I thought that maybe it was really Abel who left this egg behind. Ronan said.
“Then what on earth is born here?”
“well. I really can’t figure this out either. A being born with the leader of the Nebula Clazie as its parent…Aha!”
“Fucking surprise. “What’s wrong with you all of a sudden?”
Suddenly Varen screamed. He raised his heavy buttocks and began to rummage around the study. Before long he returned carrying a rolled up scroll.
“I got it and forgot about it. “Let’s try using this here.”
“What is that?”
“This is a magic created by Professor Secrit based on the information me and Mr. Balus gathered. “It will be the key to uncovering the secret of the dream bird.”
“Magic···? Secret…?”
Varen’s face, which had been frozen all along, was turning red. Ronan narrowed his eyes after hearing Secret’s name.
“I feel somewhat uneasy. “What exactly does magic do?”
“Haha, don’t be surprised. This is…”
Varen deliberately dragged his tongue. Somehow my anxiety amplified further. He turned her head and said, stroking Sita’s head.
“It is a magic that polymorphs animals into humans.”
