BSPD 01

~Chapter 1~

“P-Please, teachers, calm down. There seems to be some misunderstanding.”

“What misunderstanding! You were just rifling through the fallen divine beast’s clothes!!”

“No! I wasn’t rifling through, I was just checking its condition by taking off the clothes!!”

“What’s that in your hand? Isn’t that the divine beast’s?!”

The knights approached me with sharp swords pointed fiercely. Just seeing those shining blades, I instinctively covered my head and shouted desperately in defense.

“Ah! Teachers! Please calm down! Listen to me first! I’m not a kidnapper! Not a divine beast kidnapper either!! I’m just a good citizen! Please!”

“Who ever heard of a culprit introducing themselves as the culprit!!”

“Ahhh!! This is driving me crazy!!!”

So this is… a story about how a kind, impulsive act can lead to huge trouble.

Yesterday was a lucky day. I got a good reward because I treated Popo, the pet dog of Mr. Whirde, the richest man in the territory.

“Thanks to Miss Rinnegrim, our Popo is healthy again! How did you even think to use medicine on animals?! You must be a genius!”

Miss Heila, Mr. Whirde’s eldest daughter, praised me highly, but sadly I’m no genius. The reason I thought to use medicine on Popo is that in 21st century South Korea, where I worked as a vet, prescribing medicine to animals was common sense.

But if I started talking about reincarnation or past lives, the trust I built would fall apart, so I just laughed it off.

“I’m glad I could help. I’m happy Popo is healthy again.”

“Really, I don’t know how to thank you… but we prepared a small gift as a token of appreciation.”

Honestly, that small pouch Heila handed me was more welcome than a hundred compliments. Especially if it held three months’ living expenses inside.

“Then please call me again!!”

With a bright smile, I left the Whirde mansion.

The money pouch was so heavy my hands tingled. It was a huge amount. That meant the Whirde family truly loved Popo.

“The Lionel Empire has been around for 18 years, but I still don’t get it. They love animals so much, yet their veterinary knowledge is so poor.”

Of course, thanks to that backward veterinary level, I can make a living!

Because animals are treated so religiously here, if a pet gets sick, the folk remedy is to run to the temple and pray for three days and nights. In this empire, my medicine was like a ray of light.

More than a hundred animals have saved their lives thanks to my medicine. Hmm? You want to know what medicine I made?

In the 21st century, it was one of the most basic and widely used medicines worldwide—

—Crash!!

“Mom! What was that?!”

While walking through the forest path, I was startled by a sudden falling object and hid behind a tree. When no sound came, I peeked out and looked ahead.

“Is that… a bird?”

In the middle of the forest lay a golden-feathered paradise bird.

“Do paradise birds live nearby…?”

I carefully checked the motionless bird and saw it seemed exhausted.

Looking at the bird with drooping wings, I picked it up gently.

It was a small bird that fit perfectly in my hands. Its heavy breathing stirred my sympathy.

I hesitated a moment. Normally, I avoid doing things that don’t bring money…

“I won’t get paid, but who knows? Maybe it’ll bring me a treasure chest or something.”

There’s always an exception. With my pockets a bit fuller, I decided to be kind in a way unlike myself.

“I thought it was a swallow. Anyway, you should be thankful you were found by me. Other people might have just sat you down and prayed all day.”

I took the bird to my lab, gave it saline water, and warmed its body.

The next morning, after feeding my sleeping mother porridge as usual, I opened the lab door to check on the bird and prepare medicine…

—Bang! Bang!!

“Haha! Boom! So fun!!”

A blond little kid I didn’t see appeared and completely wrecked my lab. The beakers were boiling over, and colorful smoke was rising.

“Boom! Boom! One more time! One more time!”

I stared at the ruined lab, then snapped out of it and threw the windows wide open.

“What do you mean one more time?!”

I rushed to the desk and checked the herbs that should have been neatly arranged. Damn! They were all mixed up in a mess. No need to think long—they were all trash now.

“These herbs cost a fortune! They aren’t even iron these days, so they’re hard to find!”

I rarely cried, but tears welled up just now. The only consolation was that my precious research tools, my father’s heirlooms and my business foundation, were safe.

But that was it. I was about to throw away a month’s living expenses worth of herbs.

I trembled, holding a handful of broken herbs.

“What is this… total disaster…”

“One more boom! One more!”

“You little—!”

I flicked the little kid’s forehead, who was jumping shouting “One more!” without understanding the situation. He pouted, holding his forehead. Well, what was I supposed to do?

“Ouch!!”

“My heart hurts more, you know?”

I took a deep breath to calm down and carefully looked at the kid who wrecked my lab.

His blond hair was neat, and his clothes were made from expensive fabric. He must be a rich young master.

“Hey kid… can’t you just not enter other people’s houses like that?”

Looks like his friends snuck into our mansion last time pretending to explore a haunted house, but this isn’t a haunted house—it’s a real home.

“Where are your friends? Take them all out. If not, I’ll tell your parents.”

Good. I was calm and reasonable. Though he ruined my herbs, getting angry at a child was ridiculous. I’d calm him down and send him off.

“No friends. Kinya is alone.”

His confident face cracked my adult reason, but I held back.

“Are you lying?”

“I’m not lying!”

I didn’t trust him, but after checking every corner of the lab, there were no signs of anyone else. Looks like the kid was alone.

“You came alone to my house? Aren’t you scared? What kind of kid are you?”

“I’m Kinya!”

“No, I wasn’t asking your name…”

“Kinya is four!”

I wasn’t asking his age either.

His broken conversation style was exactly like a toddler’s. I decided to fix the lab first and turned around. Then a small hand tugged my sleeve.

“When someone greets, you have to greet back.”

“…You want me to greet too?”

“Yeah. That’s manners.”

It should be “manners,” not “maners,” but I didn’t want to ignore him. Afraid he’d keep whining, I introduced myself half-heartedly.

“I’m Rinnegrim. I’m the owner of this house.”

“How old?”

“Forty-eight.”

“Huh?”

The kid tilted his head, but I was confident. Not a lie. Thirty years from my past life plus my current age of eighteen makes forty-eight.

The kid pointed at my face and said,

“But you don’t look wrinkled.”

“My body is eighteen. Anyway, did you see the bird that was in the cage?”

I lifted the birdcage that held the exhausted bird. The door was broken and bent, no longer a cage.

The windows were closed until I came, so the bird should be inside the room, but I couldn’t find it.

“A paradise bird, about the size of two hands, with golden feathers and yellow eyes… Why are you raising your hand?”

The kid stomped his foot like a student raising a hand.

“Me! Me! Kinya!”

“Yeah, you’re Kinya, right?”

“Hey! It’s me! Rinne brought me here!”

“That kid, you can’t just shorten names like that. And don’t say I brought you here! When did I ever?”

Why would I kidnap a kid? Listening to the nonsense, I suddenly felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

“Golden hair… golden eyes?”

The kid’s hair and eyes were golden like honey, the exact same color as the bird I found.

But I shook my head at the absurd idea, laughing at myself.

“Are you saying you’re that bird?”

“Yeah!”

“Wow, amazing. Then can you fly away now? I need to clean the lab.”

Kids’ imaginations. I answered without much care and started tidying up. Then an uneasy feeling suddenly hit me. The kid appeared where the bird disappeared. His hair and eyes matched the bird’s feathers. His noble clothes.

“Haha… There’s no such thing as a bird turning into a person…”

If I were my past self, I’d have called that nonsense. But in the Lionel Empire, aren’t there animals that can transform into people?

I knew that well from being a fallen noble. The five divine beast clans protecting the empire can transform their form with divine power.

“Ugh, no way… why would a divine beast be collapsed in the forest…?”

Besides, if it’s a bird divine beast, it should be the Rihwiella clan that lives in the palace. If a young divine beast is alone so far from the palace, it would cause chaos.

“By the way… what’s your name…?”

I asked hesitantly. It wouldn’t hurt to know for sure. Even if it’s a truth I can’t handle.

“I’m Kinya!”

“I mean your real name! Your full name and family name!”

“Oh! I’m Kinyaxis! Kinyaxis Rihwiella!”

“Gasp!”

I held my breath and clenched my trembling fists. The kid had said the name of the central divine beast clan, Rihwiella.

Could he be pretending to be from the Rihwiella clan?

No way. If someone who isn’t a divine beast pretended to be from a divine beast clan, it’s considered blasphemy and their body would be engulfed in blue flames. But this kid said Rihwiella like it was normal, and wasn’t engulfed by flames. Besides, why would someone pretend to be from a divine beast clan in this shabby mansion?