Chapter 4
The next day, she showed up carrying a doll slightly bigger than my body.
It was, of all things, a brightly colored snake plush.
No way… right?
“Now look, baby. This is your prey.”
“…Chirp?”
Even if it’s just a doll…
No matter how you look at it, that’s a snake. She doesn’t seriously think I can hunt a snake, does she?
I’m not even a bird of prey to begin with. I could just live off fruits and seeds.
And if it’s a snake… isn’t that basically the same kind as Rosaria?
I was confused.
There were a lot of things wrong with this situation, but Rosaria didn’t seem to mind at all.
“I’ll put a bit of my pheromone on it.”
“Chirp.”
“Try to remember this feeling.”
She brought her wrist close so I could recognize her pheromone.
It wasn’t as intense as the master’s, but it still carried a dangerous scent.
Like it could bite into the back of my neck at any moment.
Strangely, though, it didn’t feel like a direct threat to me.
What is this?
I tilted my head. It felt a little different, but also somehow familiar.
Maybe I’m imagining it?
“Chirp!”
“As expected, our baby is so smart. If you’ve memorized it, I’ll go hide this now.”
“Chirp!”
I nodded.
Whether I could actually find it was another question, but since she was putting in this much effort, I couldn’t just refuse.
It took quite a while before Rosaria came back.
“I’m sorry, baby. It took some time to find a suitable place.”
Did she hide it really far away or something?
“Shall we go look for it now?”
“Chirp!”
“Take it slow and feel the pheromone. You’ll need to be able to do this later if you want to transform into a human more easily.”
“Chirp!”
Human transformation!
At that word, my ears perked up and I focused.
Where could she have hidden it?
If it’s too far, I might not be able to find it…
“Chirp!”
I suddenly lifted my head as I felt a faint trace of pheromone drifting on the wind.
My little feet, which had been still, began to move quickly.
It should be somewhere around here.
As I stepped forward, I glanced back. Thankfully, Rosaria was following behind me.
Relieved, I quickened my pace. After walking for a few minutes—
“Chiiirp!”
Between the bushes, I spotted the colorful doll.
Found it!
I spread my wings wide and snatched it up in my beak in one swift motion.
You! You! You!
Whack! Whack! Whack!
To be honest, I wasn’t even sure if this was the right way to do it.
I just recalled something I’d seen before and instinctively went for the neck first.
Without letting go of the doll, I shook my body and slammed it around—
And then, suddenly, I heard cheerful clapping from somewhere.
Clap clap clap!
“…Chirp?”
Still holding the doll in my mouth, I tilted my head and looked toward the sound.
There stood the master and Baon, watching me.
Baon, who had been clapping exaggeratedly, trembled slightly as if holding back laughter.
“Well, well… haha.”
“……”
“That was quite the ferocious hunt.”
“……”
“I’m practically trembling in fear.”
I dropped the doll from my beak.
Oh no. It’s the master.
I wish Rosaria would come save me.
She was definitely following behind me—where did she go?
The master was still staring at me with an unreadable expression.
He almost looked… intrigued.
What’s so interesting?
Observing me from a few steps away, he called out.
“You.”
“Chirp?”
“Your eyes are red.”
“…Chirp?”
So what about it?
He couldn’t take his eyes off me.
There was clear surprise in his gaze as he looked me up and down.
“Is something like this even possible, Baon?”
“So it seems. This is my first time seeing it as well.”
Baon adjusted his silver-rimmed glasses and let out a short remark of amazement.
His sharp eyes behind the lenses were fixed on me.
His usual demeanor was gone—he seemed more cautious now, which made me uneasy.
“Chirp chirp?”
“It appears such things do happen. I’ve only heard of it before, but never thought I’d see it myself.”
“For a mere bird, it seems to have been born with quite a lot.”
The master’s cold gaze swept over me before shifting to the colorful snake doll.
“Rosaria’s pheromone.”
“It seems she was teaching it how to hunt.”
“Teaching it to hunt?”
“When they’re young, you have to teach them everything step by step.”
“Our kind doesn’t need that.”
“This baby is different.”
“That sounds troublesome.”
A short, simple exchange.
And it ended with, “That sounds troublesome.”
The serious atmosphere lightened over something trivial—but for me, it became even more serious.
Oh no.
It wasn’t enough that the master disliked me—now I was a nuisance too.
I took a step back and looked around.
Where did Rosaria go?
What if I get caught and kicked out? One word from him and everything would be over.
As I panicked, Baon casually waved at me.
“It’s been a while. In the time we haven’t seen each other…”
“……”
“You haven’t grown at all.”
Shouldn’t people at least lie and say I’ve grown?
I glared at him without thinking. Baon smiled softly.
As if he had expected my reaction, he continued calmly.
“You seem to be looking for Rosaria.”
“…Chirp.”
I nodded reluctantly. It’s not like I was upset about the ‘not growing’ comment at all.
“She’s probably watching from nearby. It’s standard to observe during a hunt.”
If that’s the case, she definitely saw me run into the master.
But it seemed she had no intention of showing up.
After thinking hard about what to do, I made up my mind and stepped forward toward the master.
His eyebrows lifted slightly at my sudden action.
“Chirp.”
I dragged the colorful snake doll I had been holding and pushed it toward him.
“Oh?”
“…What is it doing?”
The master frowned.
Oh no. He doesn’t like it. But this is all I have to give…
“It seems to be offering its hunted prey.”
“What?”
“It looks like a gift.”
“Chirp!”
I quickly nodded in agreement.
As I nudged the doll toward him with my wings, urging him to take it, his expression turned strange.
There was a bit of dirt on it, but that could be shaken off.
“Chirp!”
“It seems to be asking you to accept it.”
“…Ha.”
When I nodded again at Baon’s words, the master’s face became even more peculiar.
As if he had just heard something completely unexpected.
“Baby!”
“Chirp chirp chirp!”
I was trudging along alone with nothing to show for it when I heard Rosaria calling from afar.
I lifted my head instantly.
Where were you?! Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?!
All the frustration I had been holding back burst out as I ran toward her, crying loudly.
Rosaria smiled awkwardly, clearly not expecting things to turn out this way.
She bent her knees and held out her hand to me, her face full of apology.
“Our baby, were you very startled?”
“Chirp!”
“You got so dirty.”
Maybe I ran around too much.
My white fur, once clean in the morning, was now smudged with dirt.
She carefully brushed off the clumps of dirt before standing up.
I settled comfortably into her palm—it wasn’t difficult after having climbed on many times before.
As I plopped down, she apologized with a troubled expression.
“I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean for this to happen. It just so happened that the master and Baon came out there…”
“Chirp chirp.”
I held her hand to show it was okay.
It wasn’t her fault—I just happened to run into the master in his own home.
“Still, you did wonderfully finding the hidden doll.”
“Chirp!”
I puffed out my chest proudly.
Even though I was still a young chick inexperienced with pheromones, I found the target without getting lost.
Rosaria looked at me fondly, then frowned slightly.
“Though I didn’t expect the master to take the doll.”
That really was the strange part.
Surprisingly, he had accepted the doll I gave him.
I thought he’d refuse, judging by his expression, but it was unexpected.
And he didn’t say anything either.
I had been nervous he’d scold me for wandering around like last time.
“Today’s lesson was perfect. You found the doll and handled the situation very well.”
“Chirp!”
“When we get back, I’ll give you a bubble bath. I even got one you can use.”
Bubbles!
I couldn’t contain my excitement.
