Chapter 111
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: Being of the Prophecy
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Come to think of it, it seemed like most everyone except me viewed Moona and Swungswung differently.
Not merely as a little ghost and a clever kiwi bird, but as entirely different species altogether.
Was Moona really just some ordinary being?
Then what was I supposed to do?
If this beak of mine could restore Moona to his original form...
"What's with those half-lidded eyes?"
Moona spoke up as he edged slightly away from me.
He licked his lips a bit.
For my dear friend Moona, I could endure a sacrifice like this.
Absolutely not because I wanted to see Moona's true form.
"Hmm... Little breeze, it feels like some strange wind is blowing."
Moona craned his head back slightly.
Backing away?
As if that would stop me.
Fine then. I'd just have to poke him with this beak while he was sleeping.
"Caw-kak."
As I hatched that plan, the magpie let out a little chuckle.
"Oh my, you all get along so well. I have a feeling you can definitely pull this off. I'll pick up where I left off. I was turned into this tiny bird by a witch's curse."
And with that, Saroka dove right back into the main topic.
There was yet another reason I couldn't just let the magpie's words flow past me.
Beyond the possibility that Moona was also a human under a curse, it felt like something that applied to me too.
Saroka had been cursed by a witch and turned into a magpie.
Then what about me?
I had been human once too.
And for some inexplicable reason, I'd become this crow.
Dorothy the witch had to be involved somehow.
I had no hard proof, but the circumstances and my gut pointed straight to her.
How could I not suspect her, when she was the first thing I saw after hatching from my egg?
And she was the one spreading the Eternal Night across this world.
That was why I was tracking Dorothy.
To uncover what she was scheming here.
And why she'd brought me into this world and made me hatch as a crow.
I wanted to know that.
In other words, Saroka, Moona, and I might all have ended up in bird form for the same reason.
Of course, it was just speculation for now, but it was worth keeping in mind.
So that even if Moona turned human one day, I wouldn't be shocked.
"Is it permanent? Semi-permanent? Who's behind the curse?"
The sage asked in a solemn tone.
Did he know a solution or something?
If he did, he'd have turned human himself first.
...Though it wasn't confirmed that Moona had ever been human.
"It's not a permanent curse. Though if left alone, it would become one. The one behind it... I still don't know. What I do know is it's from a witch on my level or stronger."
The magpie replied in a glum tone.
A witch stronger than this magpie.
Obviously, any witch would be stronger than a puny little bird like her.
Though she probably didn't mean her current self.
"A witch stronger than me, the one once called Queen of this forest. To be more precise, it's the curse's potency. If she had superior combat power, she wouldn't have left me alive."
A curse specialist, maybe?
But that was just a guess.
She could be a powerhouse who did it purely out of idle curiosity.
That was how witches tended to be.
If Dorothy had turned me into this, it might've been mere whim too.
That was the worst-case scenario, but considering the brief glimpse I'd had of Dorothy in human form, it wasn't impossible.
Especially given what she'd done to her own companions.
"Dabih and Vega. In my absence, they're trying to bend this forest to their will."
With Saroka, the forest's queen, robbed of her power and stuck as a magpie, it was obvious what would happen.
Ambition would stir, and those challengers were none other than Dabih and Vega.
"Even without me, they shouldn't have seized control so easily. I had plenty of powerful birds under my command. But Dabih and Vega wield overwhelming might against avians. And I suspect it's not their innate power, but something granted by a witch."
The witch had cursed Saroka to weaken her and empowered Dabih and Vega.
That's how hegemony over the forest had shifted.
"Dabih and Vega weren't evil from the start. Or at least, I thought they weren't."
This was the crucial part.
Our goal was to learn Dabih and Vega's story.
A tale substantial enough to satisfy Cheshire Cat.
Hearing all these details was more important than anything.
"The tree from the east and the tree from the west. They were separated too far to reach each other, so we birds lent a wing to help."
East and west.
Dabih and Vega had been parted by some circumstance.
This must be the tragic love story Cheshire Cat had mentioned.
"We carried their words of love to bridge the gap. Yes, we became the bridge for their romance."
Hold on.
This story sounded awfully familiar.
Like something I'd heard a million times.
Dabih and Vega.
East and west.
A bridge for their love.
...The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl?
Now it clicked what tale they were tangled in.
Looking back, it was obvious.
The parrots losing their head feathers, their sorrow raining down.
If they were stand-ins for the Cowherd and Weaver Girl, it all fit.
"We strove so hard for their love, but the moment I weakened, they revealed their true nature. They used their water abilities to summon rain and began terrorizing the birds. No matter how mighty a bird, none could stand against them. Their powers were the perfect counter to avians."
Repaying kindness with enmity.
That proverb fit the situation to a tee.
They were now trying to subjugate the birds that had helped the Cowherd and Weaver Girl equivalents.
Or maybe they'd planned this from the beginning.
Approaching with feigned innocence, then seizing power the instant Saroka weakened.
"Mimicking rain is fatal to most birds. Wet wings mean no flight. That's burden enough, but Dabih and Vega have another ability."
I perked up my ear holes and focused.
Pinpointing their abilities was critically important.
"And that's precisely why I've gone into hiding. The power they've kept secret... it neutralizes bird feathers."
An ability that neutralizes feathers?
Did that explain the parrots I'd seen with missing head feathers?
Were they firing some kind of area-of-effect baldness beam from afar?
Terrifying foes.
If I'd brought Bertolt, I could've witnessed her going full berserk.
...But something about that didn't sit right.
Neutralizing feathers wasn't the same as removing flight ability, or even plucking them.
What did "neutralize" even mean?
"It's not just preventing flight. It's a bit of a stretch, but I believe Dabih and Vega's abilities were designed by someone. And their purpose is to counter a certain being."
Saroka fluttered her wings faintly.
Designed abilities?
To oppose someone specific?
That someone probably wasn't Saroka.
If it were, she wouldn't phrase it as "someone."
"There's a legend passed down among the birds."
A legend.
Best pay close attention.
This could be the hook to pique Cheshire Cat's interest.
"The bird with the feather of fire revives even from death. The bird with the feather of thunder cleaves the heavens. The bird with the feather of ice turns the whole land to frost."
A tale of birds from legend.
Fire, ice, thunder.
A nicely balanced triad.
"Just as those tales endure, ancient birds each held unique powers in their feathers."
Kuuu...
A feather Saroka had shed began to glow faintly.
Did she possess a similar power?
And were Dabih and Vega created by a witch to check those ancient birds?
"Nothing quite that special. I carry on their legacy too, and a few other birds in this forest do as well."
Feathers with powers weren't that rare.
Not something parrots could have, but a thorough search of the forest would turn up a handful.
"But that legend features one existence we can never underestimate. The bird that devours this world's night. Even the birds of fire, ice, and thunder cannot raise their heads before it."
A bird that devours night.
The name alone sounded badass.
"It's said to be an irregular entity. Other birds wield one power at most, but its abilities are boundless."
Boundless abilities.
Like the legends say, probably exaggerated.
"One power per feather. This one has thousands—tens of thousands—of such feathers on its colossal frame. A divine bird from myth said to rival the gods themselves. It adorns its body with the feathers of others, transcending the logic of power inheritance."
Saroka's body trembled faintly.
Just speaking of it filled her with dread.
"Legend prophesies that this being will one day return to this forest. Accompanied by the wisest sage and the most beautiful queen."
"Hm."
The wisest sage?
"Swung?"
The most beautiful queen?
"The witch who empowered Dabih and Vega seems to be guarding against that prophesied being."
The night-devouring bird.
The bird that claims others' feathers as its own.
The bird that wields countless powers at will.
The bird foretold to visit this forest with the queen and sage.
....
......
"Caaak...?"
Why did this feel so familiar?