Chapter 25: A Whole New Game
Since Yubu had come to live at our house, not much had really changed. The only additions were the flutter of wings once or twice every early evening, and the sound of a cat laying into something.
My MyTube channel, though, was another story.
The moment the video of Namcat and Yubu's fight went up, the view count shot through the roof. Prey and predator, the roles as clear as they come — and here was footage of the prey taking the predator head-on and flipping the whole relationship upside down. People couldn't help but come flooding in. It wasn't merely the reversal, either. The clip carried a thrill of its own, and that only drew the crowd in harder.
It ran only about three minutes, but the way they traded attack and defense, flowing like water, was no different from an action movie of the animal kingdom.
"Yubu. People are saying you look like a total loser. Where have you ever seen an eagle owl lose to a cat?"
"Ghk...! To think I would suffer such humiliation!"
When I gathered the comments and read the gist of them out to him, Yubu looked thoroughly aggrieved.
"Oh, and — you remember that guy from the other day? The one who looked you over from head to toe."
"That man, I remember well. Never in my life had I met a human such as he..."
"Anyway, he must've seen the video too. Says there's no need for you to hunt on your own. Told me to have you exercise in the time you'd spend hunting. How does an owl lose to a cat, he wants to know."
"...I can endure this no longer! I must train!"
Yubu struck the ground with his wings and, plainly furious, launched himself high into the sky.
"Hey! Where are you going!"
"Wait but a moment! I shall go and train!"
With those words left behind, Yubu vanished at speed.
Is this... going to be all right?
I worried he might be making a break for it the moment I'd secured the permit to keep him. A few hours later, though, he came back — with a flock of dozens of birds trailing behind him.
I should have stopped him from going...
"Suhwan, how about some chicken and beer for once... Kyaaaah!"
And, as if timed precisely to his return, Noona came out into the yard looking for me. The timing could not have been worse. At the sight of dozens of birds lined up along the top of the wall, she startled so badly she landed flat on her backside.
I hurriedly helped her up and checked whether she'd hurt herself. Thankfully, she seemed uninjured — just a little dust on her rear.
"I know there's nothing there, okay? Don't pretend you're dusting me off just so you can grab my butt."
...So what? It's mine.
"Hmph."
Noona turned her head away with a little snort. She didn't, however, push my hand away.
But Noona's backside was not the pressing matter just now. The dozens of birds still strung along the wall were.
"What are those? Where did they come from all of a sudden?"
"Beats me. That Yubu said he was going off to train, and this is what came of it. I should've stopped him then..."
Noona stared at the yard wall as if she couldn't believe her eyes.
Dozens of magpies and crows packed the wall. With Yubu at the center, the crows stretched out in a neat row to his left, and the magpies to his right.
"Suhwan... they're not dangerous, are they?"
Noona had grown fairly close with Yubu, but dozens of magpies and crows seemed to strike her as genuinely threatening. With that many of them staring holes through her, it was hardly unreasonable to feel that way.
I drew the slightly tense Noona in against me and called for Yubu, the root of this whole mess. I crooked a finger, and he fluttered down to land on the ground in front of me. At once I seized the feathers called ear tufts — the ones that give an owl's face its horned, squared-off outline.
"Gack! Wh-why do you do this!"
"Why do you do this? Why do you do thiiis? You're asking because you don't know?"
Caught by the ear tufts, he could only groan, unable to do one thing or the other. My threat from before must have been remarkably effective — he looked genuinely convinced I might actually pluck them out.
"What are all of those? Why on earth did you drag this many magpies and crows back here?"
"F-first, release me, I beg you!"
He looked as though he'd talk if I let go, so I released the ear tufts. He eased back a step and began to explain.
"They are my subordinates. Just now, in the course of my training, I subdued them one by one."
"Subordinates?"
"Indeed!"
Yubu turned his gaze to the magpies and crows behind him. As if they'd been waiting for it, they flapped their wings in answer.
"Ha... Fine. We'll call them subordinates. But why did you bring every last one of them here?"
"My subordinates followed me. They declared they would go wherever I go — that attending their commander was their own duty. Truly... does it not warm the heart?"
"Warm the heart, my ass. Send them out of here right now. We can't look after that many of them at our house. And if even one of them causes trouble, I'm the one stuck with the headache."
Crows and magpies alike were fairly intelligent animals — intelligent enough, in fact, to be known for mobbing creatures stronger than themselves. I had no desire to watch a crowd of them gang up and injure the others.
"Worry not. I have not forgotten the vow I made with you. My subordinates, too, shall honor the vow you and I swore! Absolutely! I guarantee that not one of them shall harm another!"
"Yeah? That's a relief, I'll give you that... Still, send those guys somewhere else. They're not going to sit up there like that every day, are they? Hygiene's a problem too. Feathers are going to fall, and you think only one or two of them are going to crap all over the place?"
"Ah..."
Yubu apparently hadn't thought as far as hygiene. He nodded at what I'd said.
"If you insist to that extent, I have no choice. I shall send my subordinates back. Still, they are fellows who think of me — surely the occasional visit would be acceptable?"
"Coming by now and then is fine. Just don't all show up at once."
Conditional permission granted, Yubu brightened and flew over to the magpies and crows. Cawing and murmuring among themselves, they soon looked satisfied. Then, leaving a few magpies and crows behind, most of them took wing.
"Whew..."
Magpies were one thing, but the crows were birds of considerable size, and once they flew off, Noona looked relieved. From a distance they might almost have passed for cute, but up close they were rather frightening to look at. Those long, jutting beaks in particular carried a strange air of menace.
At any rate, once she'd confirmed that most of the magpies and crows had gone, Noona thought for a moment, then brought something out from the house — the small fruit she'd bought to snack on now and then, strawberries and the like, along with grains such as rice.
"You're giving that to them?"
"Yeah. From what I heard you saying, they're Yubu's subordinates, right? We ought to look after them a little."
With that, Noona set the entire tray of food down on the ground in a corner of the yard. Realizing it was meant for them, the magpies and crows waited until she stepped back a little, then came down and began to peck. The strawberries were the first to vanish, torn to bits, and the grains — the rice and the rest — disappeared right after.
"My thanks, madam. To look after my subordinates so... I, Yubu, am deeply moved!"
As if grateful that she'd seen to his subordinates, Yubu approached Noona and rubbed his face against her leg. She couldn't hide how pleased she was, and she stroked his face gently. That sharp beak had frightened her a little at first, but there was no trace of it now. He had settled into our household completely.
"The hell is this... What's with all these birdbrains crowded in here? Get the hell out. This is my spot."
Whether the sight rubbed him the wrong way or not, Namcat — appeared from who knew where — was being his usual difficult self.
"Keuk! You monstrous wretch!"
Namcat kicked Yubu hard and claimed the spot beside Noona's leg. He loved the soft stroke of her hand, and he looked as though he simply could not stand Yubu being the one at her side.
"Hey, you. Noona's my woman. Don't you covet her."
I picked Namcat up and flung him out across the yard. He took no hit at all, though — twisting in midair, he landed neatly on the ground.
"Even so, how could you throw him!"
"Ack!"
Noona walloped me across the back for throwing Namcat. The pain ran deep enough that I was sure a handprint would show, and all I could do was groan.
"Pfft."
"You little bastard..."
Namcat had let slip a snort of laughter, but I was the one standing right there. In the end, the winner was me. Noona shook her head at my side as if I were past saving, but nothing about that changed.
Then, in that moment, the magpies and crows that had been eating in the corner of the yard began to approach Namcat, slowly.
"What do you think you're doing, cat. You dare lay a hand on the Commander?"
"Ha. Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. A cat dares to go after the Commander?"
Throwing in a word apiece, the magpies and crows began to surround him.
"Sh-shouldn't we stop them?"
"They'll be fine. Even if crows and magpies gang up, they can't properly beat a single owl."
Noona accepted that at once and shook off what little worry she'd been holding. If magpies and crows together couldn't beat an owl, she knew as well as I did that they had no chance whatsoever against Namcat.
And, just as the two of us expected, Namcat came through without a scratch.
"K-kreeeek..."
The magpies and crows that had stayed behind had each caught a blow from Namcat and were now tumbling across the yard.
"I shall avenge my subordinates!"
Yubu, charging in at Namcat right after them, produced a result no different from every time before.
I watched for a moment as Yubu lay sprawled in the yard in amicable company with his subordinates, then went inside with Noona. By now, the sight of Yubu getting beaten by Namcat and rolling across the yard had grown as familiar as it could possibly be. If he was tumbling on the ground, we could let it pass without a care — ah, Namcat must have gotten him again.