PFLWPL 03

Pegasus Baby Says They’ll Take It Easy!

CHAPTER  03……………………………………….

Rustle, rustle.

Lyn flicked her rabbit-like ears, shaking off the lingering sting of those mocking words that clung to her mind.
Blinking her round eyes, she looked into the mirror again.

Hmm. The more I look, the more I really do look like a Pegasus.

Sure, her legs were a little thin — but there were four of them, properly attached.
Her face was a bit round, but it still sat nicely atop a long, slender neck.
And her mane and tail were full and soft!

“It’s just the color that’s different,” she told herself aloud.

No big deal.

She was only a little different — and different didn’t mean bad.

That’s what Uncle always said.

“Huh? What’s that?”

Looking closer, Lyn spotted something odd she hadn’t noticed before.
It was hidden beneath her mane, but something on her forehead was faintly shining.

Squeak…?

She lifted a hoof, trying to brush it off, but her front legs couldn’t reach.
She shook her head as hard as she could — only to cover her eyes with her own mane.

After a lot of squirming and rubbing her head against the mirror, she finally caught sight of it.

“What is that?!”

Boing!

She jumped up in panic and started dashing around the room.

Maybe she’d just imagined it?
She checked again, but no — it was still there, jutting out from her forehead.

“Why do I have… a horn?!”

She’d never heard of a horse with a horn before!

Stomping the floor helplessly, Lyn stared at her reflection like it was some kind of monster — then hurriedly shifted back into human form.

“…Oh, thank goodness. It’s gone.”

She touched her smooth forehead and let out a sigh of relief.

At least the weird horn-thing disappeared when she wasn’t in beast form.

Still, she couldn’t help rubbing at the spot again and again — and soon she started to feel as if invisible eyes were on her.
Curling up in embarrassment, she slowly crept into her bed and hid under the blanket.

What should I do…?

It wasn’t like growing a wisdom tooth — this was way worse.

She’d heard of kids like her — ones born with odd colors or markings — but never anyone who’d suddenly grown a horn.

The thought made tears she’d been holding back all day finally spill out, drop by drop.

Am I not just a mutant now… am I turning into a monster?

Wasn’t being a “mutant” enough already? Why did strange things keep happening only to her?

Lyn buried her face in the black Pegasus plushie her uncle had bought her and let out soft, hiccuping sobs.

Her mind started filling with dark thoughts.

“You know what the adults say about you? They call you the seed of misfortune. Ever since that mutant was born, bad things keep happening!”

Those cruel words she’d once overheard came back to her now.
Back then, she’d shouted that it wasn’t true — but right now, she wasn’t so sure.

What if they were right?

A mutant that brought misfortune.

Maybe Uncle was wrong — maybe that wasn’t a lie after all.

“Kh-hm…”

What was she, really?

She wanted to know what was real — what she truly was.
With that wish filling her heart, Lyn sniffled and cried until she drifted off to sleep.

That night, Lyn dreamed.

A long, long dream.

Lyn found herself in a completely different world.

Where… am I?

The dream world was strange and dazzling.

There were tall, square buildings everywhere and unbelievably fast carriages rushing by.
People wore clothes she’d never seen before.

Looking around with wide, curious eyes, Lyn soon noticed something odd — her body felt strange.
It was like she was underwater, wrapped in a soft, hazy layer that dulled her senses.

Wow… I feel like I’ve turned into a cloud.

She could move anywhere she wanted, like drifting on the wind.
She couldn’t touch anything — and no one could see her — but that made it all the easier to wander around freely, marveling at this new world.

As she drifted about, Lyn learned many things.

This place — called Earth — had no mana, no magic powers, not even magical beasts.
Everyone looked fully human, like the people of the Eastern Continent.
They looked tired, many of them, but still — it was peaceful.

It felt like she was walking through the pages of a storybook.

How much time has passed…?

Maybe because it was a dream, she couldn’t tell.
She’d seen so many things, so it must’ve been a long time — but at the same time, it felt like only the blink of an eye.

Then suddenly—

Using her ghost-like body, Lyn drifted into someone’s room and spotted a calendar.
To her shock, years had passed since the first day she’d come to Earth.

Oh no! So this is what they mean by “losing track of time when you’re having too much fun”!

Quoting an Earth proverb she’d picked up, Lyn spun around the room in alarm.

And then—

“Huh?”

She felt something tug at her — a powerful pull.
The dreamy haze around her suddenly snapped into sharp focus.

Lifting her head, Lyn saw a bookshelf — and one particular book seemed to glow faintly.

Light? No… I can’t see it exactly, but it’s like it’s sparkling.

Drawn to it, Lyn reached out.

And for the first time in all her years on Earth, her hand actually touched something.

“!”

Her instincts flared.

I have to open this book.

The shelf was lined with several volumes bearing the same title.

Lyn reached for the first one, but it felt strangely heavy.
She tried the second — no luck. The third, the fourth…

After several tries and a lot of effort, she finally managed to pull one free.

〈The Hero’s Way of Revenge — Volume 7〉

It was the very first one her hand had brushed against.

She opened it eagerly, eyes darting across the pages.

Wait… this story — this is our world!

The more she read, the more shocked she became.

The book described her very own world — even its future.

After spending years learning Earth’s words and ideas, Lyn knew what kind of story this was.

It was one of those books where the main character gets reborn into the world of a novel and changes the story’s fate.

Lyn didn’t have any “past life memories” herself, but seeing her own world written as fiction — that had to count, right?

So that means… this is the “original.”

Excited, Lyn began reading every word carefully, not missing a single line.

Maybe because the book seemed to give off that gentle glow, every sentence felt like it was soaking straight into her soul, effortlessly.

She was completely absorbed in no time.

The Hero’s Way of Revenge turned out to be a classic hero’s tale, despite its flashy title.
Even without reading the earlier volumes, she could catch up easily.

The main character was a black tiger beastman from the White Tiger clan.
He’d lost his family and title unjustly, and his goal was to reclaim his clan’s honor and avenge his parents’ deaths by uncovering the villains behind it.

He’s different-colored too… like me.

Noticing that similarity, Lyn rooted for him even harder.

Even as his treacherous uncle tormented him, and the deeper he dug into the conspiracy, the more danger he faced, he never gave up.
He grew stronger with each challenge — not just for revenge, but to protect others who’d suffered like him.

And then—

The Pegasus clan appeared.

As the hero’s allies.

“The Pegasus clan’s siding with that boy?”

“Yes. For some reason, Pegasus knights showed up at the last moment and stopped the assassination.”

“Tch. Those grass-eating fools… They used to boast in their glory days. Now, with their precious wings clipped, they dare to get in my way?”

Lyn felt a brief spark of pride seeing her clan mentioned — but it quickly dimmed.
From the villain’s sneering words, it sounded like the Pegasus family had fallen on hard times in the future.

Her ears drooped as she turned the page.

But then, something else caught her eye.

“You’re… the Mercenary King, Phelrod?”