The Crow Without Its Magpie

The magpie-less crow. “Ughhh!?” “Wha, what the meow!? Raven! The magpie just went inside the adventurer meow!” “...?” A faint ripple lingered on the surface of the contractor’s black robe. Suddenly, the magpie vanished, throwing the entire party into chaos.

“The magpie… went inside my body…?” “Raven, what the hell is going on meow?” Even though she asked, I was just as confused. I had told the magpie to protect the contractor, not to crawl inside her robe. And how the hell did it even get in there in the first place?

Stay calm. Panicking right now would only make things worse. As always, I had to respond naturally.

“Everyone, calm down. The magpie has simply taken shelter inside the robe for a moment to protect the contractor.”

That was the setting I went with! It was perfectly natural in a fantasy world for equipment to house spirits or demonic familiars.

“Kkyu!” As if to prove my words correct, the magpie’s cry echoed from within the contractor’s robe at just the right moment. Nice timing, kid.

“Ooooh! So that’s what it was!” “Yeah, something like that.” “...What a strange familiar meow. By the way, Raven. What exactly can the magpie do meow?” “....”

Sion’s sharp question instantly shut down my useless mouth and brain. That’s right. Originally, the magpie’s main role was managing the various functions of the Plague Doctor character. Manipulating cells to create wings, adjusting nerves to erase pain, pushing regeneration to its limits—that sort of thing.

But now the magpie had separated from my body and existed independently. So what abilities did this current version of the magpie even have? And without the magpie acting as my control tower… besides pulling guns out of my chest, what the hell could I even do?

“Hmm.” Well. Only one way to find out. I was a speed-shooting demon who preferred pulling triggers over pondering. So I acted.

Sssssssip… I slowly inhaled, focusing my mind. Something cold yet burning slipped through the Plague Doctor mask’s filter. Between those sensations, a faint sweetness. The instinctive fear of the unknown. A subtle sense of omnipotence and waves of power spread through my entire body as I slowly clenched my fist.

“....” Normally, this would be the moment I gave the magpie an order. Use its impressive abilities to create whatever I desired. Wings, or some romantically grotesque biological weapon.

But right now the magpie was off visiting the little black-mage brat next door. So what should I do? What else? The thirsty man digs the well himself. Therefore, I desired.

A ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sword. I wanted a solid blade gripped firmly in this hand. The emperor of edged weapons—one that drew blood when it cut and caused agony when it pierced. I vaguely imagined it. A classic sword I had once seen while walking through the city. The crude image added detail, making the vision more concrete.

“....” And that was it. All that appeared in my mind was the image of ‘an insanely cool classic sword.’ The only thing present was a Plague Doctor cosplayer opening and closing one hand as if it were itchy…

“...Raven, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠what are you trying to do meow?” “I have a really bad feeling about this.”

The longer my strange behavior and silence continued, the more the party members’ anxiety grew. What the hell? What exactly was I missing that a sword wasn’t popping out with a dramatic whoosh? Wasn’t the national rule of fantasy that you could do anything with enough willpower?

…Wait a second.

This world was indeed a fantasy world, but not an ordinary one. It was a game-like fantasy world full of leveling systems, skills, and dungeons with portals. That’s right. An RPG.

Patch notes. The sudden realization made me urgently call up the patch notes.

What I needed to focus on were the passive skills. Among them was the one called 【Indescribable Terror】. After skipping the part about fear being a formless whatever, the final word in its description was quite meaningful.

‘Polymorph (Transformation)’ — To change or transform from its original state.

When I first saw this skill, I thought it must have been created by combining traits related to bodily mutation. So why wasn’t it activating? If it was a passive skill, shouldn’t it be constantly active as the description said?

No. Even passive skills didn’t always have to be permanently on. Some well-made RPGs had a ‘toggle’ system. A function that could switch between ‘activated’ and ‘deactivated’ states. In simple terms, the ability to turn passives on and off was exactly what a toggle was.

That’s right. I was currently suspecting that one of my damn passive skills might be in the [off] state. Since there was no obvious skill activation button, the activation condition was most likely a voice command, just like active skills.

Now that I knew how to solve the problem, it was time to act. It was a little embarrassing, but I couldn’t waste any more time, so I calmly spoke.

“Indescribable Terror.” “Huh?” “What are you suddenly saying meow?”

Aside from Sion and the contractor’s gazes growing slightly more pained, nothing changed.

Not that? It seemed I needed a different command instead of the skill name.

If not the skill name, then maybe…? “Polymorph?”

A cheerful notification sound rang out along with a translucent window. Just as I suspected. The word written at the bottom of the description was the on/off command for the skill. I checked whether any other passive skills were deactivated, but all the others were active. Then…

Why was only this skill deactivated?

Thinking that, I activated the skill. If I was curious, I just had to try it.

Accept.

Pay attention?

The moment the skill activated, the change came instantly.

—Sluuuuurp.

“Eh?” “Nya…?” “Hmm?”

In the blink of an eye, the contractor and Sion’s heights grew enormously! No, wait. Looking again, it seemed I had gotten smaller.

What the hell happened? I wanted to check my body’s condition, but my head wouldn’t turn. I could still feel sensations below my neck, but something felt off. It was as if every part of my body was clumped together like rubber clay. I felt legs where arms should be and a waist where my chest should be… It was a bizarre sensation, as if my entire body had been scrambled in every direction.

“Raven’s head is the only thing left and the rest melted meow!?” “R-Raven, are you okay!?”

I melted? Sion and the contractor looked more shocked than when I had pulled an egg out of my chest. First, I needed to calm them down, so I spoke. Fortunately, my head seemed fine and the words came out clearly.

“Everyone, calm down. I’m fine.” “How can we calm down when you look like that meow!” “…Raven, could it be that you’re lacking fear? Why did you suddenly turn into…?”

I had no idea what kind of state I was in that made them panic so much. Had I really melted like Sion said?

It’s so frustrating not being able to see. Feeling their strange gazes, I slowly traced the tangled sensations in my body and struggled to stand up.

Twitch, twitch! As I pictured my original self in my mind and continued concentrating, each part of my body sharpened and began returning to its proper place.

—Sluuuuurp!

“It’s coming back together meow!” “Ooooh…”

I think I get the general idea now. My body and mind adapted to the new sensations. And then—

“....” At some point, I was standing again.

So this is why the Goddess had the skill deactivated? If it had melted me right after the update, even I would have been quite flustered. And above all, this skill demanded far too much concentration. Even now, I was straining every muscle in my body just to maintain my original form. If I relaxed even a little, I’d probably turn into that weird shape again.

But once I got used to it, it seemed I could do quite a lot. For example—

—Shaaaaaaa!

“…A sword?”

In less than a second, the black branch that extended from my hand instantly transformed into the shape of a blade. It was heavy yet sharp. I liked it. Not bad at all.

“Hmm.” This should be quite useful for figuring out the magpie’s abilities. I looked away from the sword that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠looked like it had been scavenged from a fire scene and turned my gaze to Sion and the contractor.

After pulling an egg out of my chest, melting by myself, and then suddenly creating a blade, both Sion and the contractor wore expressions of complete disgust. But what could I do? This was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just how my body was built. Like I had truly become a demon of terror.

I lightly shook my head to clear my thoughts and called out to the contractor.

“Contractor.” “…Yes?”

She looked at me with eyes full of doubt and anxiety. Well, anyone would react that way if a raven-headed monster holding a sword pointed at them. But—

“Don’t be too afraid.” I had no intention of hurting her.

—Shiiiiiiing!

Having said that, I immediately thrust the sword toward the contractor.

“Eh?”

Magpie, show me something cool! I cheered for the magpie inside my mind.

Kkyu, kkyu!? D-Dad!? Have you really gone insane?