Chapter 125
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 125
Chapter Title: From Beak to Beak
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It felt like I'd had a long dream.
I had the sense that I'd heard something important, but I couldn't remember it clearly.
Just like dreams always are, the memories were so volatile they vanished in an instant.
The only fragments that lingered were seeing that black bird I'd encountered each time I evolved.
And the emerald palace.
With the Night Crow's help, I'd been able to wake from the dream.
Additionally... that Night Crow had seemed in an unusually good mood?
It stared intently at my beak, cackling suspiciously.
Was there something on my beak?
Anyway, thanks to it, I'd made it back safely.
My head throbbed.
I couldn't recall what I'd just been thinking about.
But I was certain I'd spoken with that black bird, so maybe meeting it again would jog my memory.
Finding it would be simple.
I just needed to evolve next.
Evolving would bring me before it, so it wouldn't be long before I saw it again.
Once I dealt with Dabih and Vega, evolving to the next species was practically a given.
"Cheep..."
Where was this, anyway?
When I opened my eyes, I saw I was indoors, not outside.
If my memory served, I'd passed out right after defeating the Cockatrice.
My companions must have carried me here.
I hadn't been too worried with Swungswung around, but he'd stored the Cockatrice in his body and was all puffed up.
The Cockatrice inside him looked smaller from the outside, but Swungswung was still bloated.
Meaning he didn't have the capacity to carry me too.
So Moona and the Crested Caracara must have done it...
Could they even manage that?
Those little guys carrying me?
The ceiling looked familiar rather than strange, so this was probably one of the queen's tree nests.
Bringing me all the way here—did the Crested Caracara have some hidden ability?
That's when the thought crossed my mind.
Lick.
Something soft and warm licked me clearly.
Hm, Swungswung?
"Caw."
The guy, really.
No matter how glad he was to see me, licking with his tongue...
"Caw?"
My feathers twitched like a question mark.
Did Swungswung even have a tongue?
No way, right?
Swungswung was a lace cloth ghost—how could he have a tongue?
He slurps food up with that suction sound, doesn't he?
So who was this?
Come to think of it, it felt a bit rough.
A barbed tongue licking my entire body.
I turned toward the bizarre sensation, and there was a familiar purple cat.
"Caw?"
The purple cat brazenly grooming her paw now that I'd opened my eyes.
No, Cheshire Cat.
"Awake now, meow?"
She stuck out her tongue with a playful expression.
"Caw caw!"
What was going on here?
I'd assumed Swungswung or Moona would be here—why her?
"Nyahaha. Who do you think carried the giant crow that suddenly passed out, meow?"
Cheshire Cat had carried me?
...Thanks, but how did she know I'd collapsed?
And she didn't seem the type to do it for free.
Come to think of it, Swungswung and Moona were nowhere in sight.
They'd always stuck close when I was down.
Did she...?
"No need to worry, meow. The ghost girl stepped out for some business, and the plump kiwi bird is recovering his stamina."
Hm, even so, no way.
If Cheshire Cat had done something to my companions, she wouldn't be guarding me like this.
Swungswung and Moona must be off on their own tasks.
But how did this cat get inside the nest?
I checked around her mouth.
Seemed like a bit of my feather was stuck there...
"Caaaaw!"
What did you do!
"Don't worry, meow. I stuffed myself with fish, so I have no interest in these little birds."
What if you hadn't stolen my fish—what then?
"Nyaha. I have no plans to fight the queen of the forest, meow. You look pretty tasty, but her stories are obviously far more delicious."
I didn't get what story she meant, but at least she wouldn't touch the birds.
"Caw caw caw."
I had other questions for her.
Why was this shady cat nursing me?
No, maybe not nursing.
With a feather on her mouth, it looked like she'd been debating whether to eat me.
No, she'd definitely popped me in her mouth a little.
And her type doesn't move without compensation.
Didn't I trade info on the Lion Heart King for a contract like that?
"I can tell what you're thinking, meow. But relax—I've already been paid."
Paid?
Sounded like something a demon from a fairy tale would say.
Made me feel like I'd lost something precious without knowing.
"Hehe, I saw something fun, so this much help is fine, meow."
...Something fun?
Cheshire Cat loves stories.
Didn't she ask me to gather tales from here in exchange for info last time?
The tragic love story of Dabih and Vega.
That's what she wanted.
I hadn't reached that story yet.
Defeating the Cockatrice was prep to face Dabih and Vega.
So what I'd done didn't count as her "fun" thing.
What had she seen to help me, then?
"More shocking than any ordinary tale—it surprised me, meow. That kiwi guy getting all... hehe."
Kiwi guy?
Moona?
All what?
"Beak to beak... Nyahaha... This info's worth a fortune, meow."
No, what?
Why sell that info?
Who'd even buy it?
Not that I knew what it was.
"Quite the shocking sight, meow. Not even in the tabby cat's info. Hehe, got some fun intel—I'm in a good mood."
The striped cat really seemed pleased, swishing her tail.
...Do cats wag their tails when happy too?
"Nyaa. Of course, coming here meant I heard some bad news too, meow."
Bad news?
"Dabih and Vega. I overheard a bit of the truth, and it doesn't sound like the thrilling tale I imagined, meow."
Yeah, what I'd asked for was their love story.
But things suggested it was anything but.
More like two nymphs scheming for forest dominance.
"Mm... Normally I'd head off for other stories right away, but seeing such good ones here changed my mind, meow."
And that "good one" involved Moona?
What did he do to earn her favor?
"Even if it's not thrilling, I can still use it, I thought, meow."
Cheshire Cat's story went like this.
She'd planned to ditch the contract and run, but would honor our deal anyway.
Probably because she liked whatever Moona did.
"A special exception among exceptions, meow. You crows might not get it, but feel honored!"
Without Moona, she'd have backstabbed me.
I stared at Cheshire Cat.
Purple hair and red eyes.
Playful expression, tail swishing like she had ulterior motives.
Poke.
I jabbed her with my beak of annihilation once.
"Kyaa! W-what are you doing, meow!"
I'd wondered if she was some hidden mastermind, but apparently not.
An impure being would've been obliterated by my beak.
Though not being undead didn't rule out mastermind entirely.
"How dare you with that beak...! Shameless, meow!"
Huh?
What's wrong with my beak?
Poke poke.
"Kyak! ...Feels better than I thought, meow. This could be a story too, so keep poking...?"
That killed my poking mood.
Look at those eyes.
The face of a cat discovering something perverse.
"Hehe... Come here, meow... Let me do what that kiwi bird did..."
"Caaaaw..."
I flapped my wings warily.
Prime chance to learn what Moona did, but it felt like crossing the point of no return.
Moona.
What the heck did you spread around?
As I puffed my feathers in standoff with Cheshire Cat, that's when it happened.
"Hm, you're up sooner than expected."
A welcome voice rang out.
Deep and steady.
Moona's.
But different from his usual.
A bit more feminine, somehow gentler.
"Caw caw!"
I had so many questions for Moona.
What did he do to make the Night Crow and Cheshire Cat react like this?
The moment I turned toward his approaching footsteps to ask—
"...Caw?"
Oy?
Moona's condition...?
"Yes, how's your body feeling?"
A woman with brown hair under a hat.
Her loose clothes couldn't hide her ample upper body.
"Caaaaw!"
The instant my eyes met hers—an undeniable beauty.
Shwaaa...
She vanished like a mirage.
"...Caw?"
Of course, that couldn't be Moona.
The Cockatrice poison must not be fully detoxed.
Hallucinating without realizing.
Moona stood where the mirage had faded.
And even after it vanished, I kept my beak agape in shock.
"Hm? Why that face?"
Moona's body shimmered.
Beautifully golden.
Yes, he'd truly become a Gold Kiwi.