Episode 49
“…What did you say?”
For a moment, I thought I’d misheard. A cowardly chicken? Were they really talking about the basilisk?
“A basilisk… scared of a chicken? What are you talking about?”
The rooster puffed out its chest and spoke with great confidence, as if it had been waiting for the question.
[I crowed real loud—cock-a-doodle-doo!—and that thing froze up right then and there! When my throat got tired and I stopped, it stumbled back and ran off like a scaredy-cat. Hah! What a coward.]
“…”
I was at a loss for words.
A basilisk… fled at the sound of a rooster’s crow?
That couldn’t be. Basilisks are terrifying beasts that can turn people to stone just by making eye contact. What on earth could make such a monster afraid of a harmless bird?
The rooster, completely ignoring my stunned expression, lifted his comb proudly and continued with gusto:
[That monster must have recognized my bravery as I stood firm to protect my master!]
He looked so triumphant—like a war hero who had personally beheaded an enemy general.
[We all clucked real loud together too!]
[Yeah! We helped scare it off!]
The hens chimed in enthusiastically.
It was strange. Birds don’t lie.
[Daddy’s the best!]
[Our dad is the coolest chicken in the world!]
Even the chicks joined in, cheeping proudly as they surrounded the rooster.
I stood in front of the chicken coop, dazed, just listening to their story.
A basilisk froze and ran away… at the sound of a rooster’s crow?
Could that actually happen? And even if it could… the way these chickens told it—with such confidence—it was hard to dismiss.
“You weren’t paralyzed when you made eye contact?”
[Why would we be? I glared right back, real fierce! It flinched, I swear! All of us chickens stared it down!]
So chickens weren’t affected by the basilisk’s gaze?
“Then… you’d be okay if it came back?”
The rooster nodded proudly.
[Of course! I’m here, after all! Cock-a-doodle-doo!]
The rooster let out a loud crow and strutted proudly around the coop. The hens flapped their wings in applause.
I watched them, feeling a little dumbfounded.
Was this actually a real clue? Or just chickens being… chickens?
Polka, sitting on my shoulder, whispered quietly:
[Those chickens are kinda cool… I say they earned some biscuits.]
I stood in silence, thinking.
The basilisk froze when it heard the crowing, and only fled once the sound stopped.
Could the rooster’s crow be what disrupted its movements?
“What are the chickens saying?” Nathan asked nervously. My odd reaction must’ve made him curious.
I hesitated a moment, then replied.
“Apparently… the basilisk is a cowardly chicken.”
“What…?”
Confusion flashed across Nathan’s face. At that moment, a brilliant idea struck me.
If the rooster’s crow truly held power over the basilisk, then maybe the houses left untouched had something in common.
Could it be… the presence of chickens?
I gently lifted Polka from my shoulder and placed him on my palm.
“Polka, could you check if the houses that weren’t attacked have chickens? Also, see if the chickens there talk about any strange experiences.”
Polka nodded immediately.
[Got it! I love listening to chicken gossip!]
With a flutter of wings, the sparrow disappeared into the sky.
I turned to my squad members.
“You guys, too—check if the safe houses have chickens. You can’t talk to birds, but you can at least look.”
I assigned each person their area and pulled out my old pocket watch to check the time. 1:30 PM.
“We regroup in exactly two hours. That’s 3:30 PM sharp.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The squad scattered in all directions, quickly getting to work. I took a deep breath, watching them go, and thought to myself.
Chickens.
Small, ordinary livestock. But if their crowing truly stopped the basilisk… this couldn’t be coincidence.
There might be something about chickens that holds the key to saving this village.
I turned the pocket watch in my hand and murmured quietly:
“If my instincts are right… we might be able to defeat the basilisk today.”
With that, I set off to search for more clues around the village.
Every untouched house had chickens.
From what I’d seen so far, it was practically a rule.
And every chicken had the same story to boast about.
They crowed—loud and proud—and the basilisk froze. Once the crowing stopped, the monster sluggishly backed away and fled.
Even the homeowners, thinking back, remembered their roosters crowing during the night.
Here’s the amazing part:
The times the chickens described and the homeowners remembered perfectly matched.
The chickens had really crowed to protect their humans.
As that realization hit me, a chill ran down my spine.
Polka came flying back toward me.
[There were chickens! Every house with intact windows had chickens!]
“Really? Not even one exception?”
Polka flapped excitedly, circling above my head. I couldn’t help but laugh and reached up to stroke his head. His small feathers were soft against my fingertips.
Polka kept chattering.
[Yeah! No chickens in the broken-window houses, but chickens in every untouched one! And they’re all so proud—going on and on about chasing off the basilisk!]
I gently ran a finger through his feathers, listening to him.
Then suddenly—my vision shifted.
Everything blurred, and I felt like I had become someone—or something—else entirely.
I was in the sky, looking down at the village. My body felt light. I flitted around on wings, swooping into the yard of a house with intact windows.
There were chickens there.
I watched them talk and boast about how they’d scared off the basilisk.
The scene was incredibly vivid. It felt like… I was Polka.
I wasn’t just hearing his story. I was experiencing it.
“…What?”
Startled, I pulled my hand back.
The vision snapped back to normal. Polka still sat on my hand, looking up at me.
[What’s wrong, Josephine?]
Still shaken, I replied,
“Polka… I saw what you saw.”
It was undeniable now.
My secret pact with Antonio was changing me. His magic was seeping into me—transforming me.
A new ability had awakened.
When I touched birds, I could share their memories and experiences—see through their eyes.
“Is this… really happening?”
I murmured, still feeling the warmth of Polka in my hand.
It wasn’t a hallucination. It was too vivid, too clear.
Polka’s memory had become mine. His vision had become my own.
“Antonio’s magic… it’s really changing me.”
A shiver ran through my whole body.
I took a deep breath and looked down at Polka.
He looked up with that same innocent face.
[So, Josephine? I did good, right? Praise me!]
I burst out laughing and stroked his head again.
“You did great, Polka. Thanks to you, I learned something important.”
Polka chirped happily, rubbing his head into my palm.
I turned to the rooster once more, who was now pecking an empty feed bowl like he was hungry again.
I approached carefully, stroking his comb.
“Could I ask again? Can you tell me what you saw that night?”
The rooster tilted his head, then started retelling his story just as before. I closed my eyes, tapping into his memory to relive the moment.
The basilisk approached the gate, moving slowly, exuding a dark mist-like aura—it looked like something torn from a nightmare. But then the rooster suddenly crowed.
The basilisk froze in place. Like it had been doused in cold water.
As soon as the crowing stopped, the monster flinched, then backed away slowly—staggering like someone who’d just taken a blow to the back of the head.
“…!”
I slowly opened my eyes.
