Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Unexpected Magic
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"Kid, where do you think you're going?! Hurry up and turn human already?!"
The choices seemed to shift based on my relationship with Ed. Compared to the early days when he first arrived, the dialogue had gotten noticeably softer.
It almost sounded like a worried shout if you listened carefully, but then she glared at Ed. For a split second, his eyes looking at me overlapped with Mimo's.
'Huh...?'
Mimo made that exact face when she looked at me pitifully.
I blinked a couple of times, unable to believe that sweet Ed had just given me that look. Just like that, he reverted to his usual gentle gaze.
Ed turned his head again, glaring at the wolf standing off in the distance. As I moved to stop him, something brushed against my hand.
'What's this? Wood?'
Turning around, I saw the wooden fence driven into the ground to keep the sheep from escaping the pasture.
The moment the dialogue from the choice ended, my body had moved on instinct without giving me time to realize it. I'd scrunched up behind the small fence, trying to hide somehow. It was quite the sight.
No matter how petite I was, there was no way I'd fully hide behind a fence like that.
While I stood there awkwardly, Ed vaulted over the fence and charged toward the wolf. Spotting him, I hurriedly chased after.
'I can't let an adult put a kid in danger!'
Stealthily following behind him, I frantically scanned for anything that could serve as a weapon.
Awoo—.
Was Ed trying to communicate? He started making sounds I couldn't understand.
'No way communication's gonna work right now...!'
Awoo—.
It did?
Ever since possessing this body, the only animal I'd dealt with was Mimo, who stubbornly refused to listen. But it seemed animals really did follow beastkin of their own kind.
The wolf let out a threatening growl and dropped the sheep it had been holding. Yanking its teeth from the sheep's scruff, it barked something back at Ed.
After a few exchanges of howls, Ed—still in wolf form—turned to me and waved his front paws as if to say it was done.
That was the moment my hands—one gripping a stone, the other a stick to protect Ed—became useless.
'...Is it over?'
Relief washed over my tense body, nearly buckling my legs. But I couldn't just collapse there.
Awoo—.
The wolf suddenly howled and came bounding toward me, panting heavily.
Aaah! Why's it coming at me?!
"Kyaaah!"
I'd thought I couldn't speak at all in front of Ed except through choices, but panicked screams were apparently allowed.
Who would've thought I'd realize this while fleeing down the hill like mad to escape the wolf—with Ed around, no less! And this was almost a month after he'd come to the mansion...!
"Lady Lami!"
As I bolted down in a frenzy, Ed's urgent shout came from above.
Finally, my wild dash brought the sturdy fences right up close. But behind me, the wolf—somehow even more excited than before—was giving chase.
I couldn't stop running.
'I'm gonna crash!'
That was when it happened. Instead of the hard wood slamming into my face with pain, I felt a sensation like defying gravity.
I pried open my tightly shut eyes and gasped in shock.
Lush green grass stretched out directly below me—the very grass I should have been standing on.
"Wha—?"
I was floating in midair, face-down.
A dumb sound escaped my stunned mouth, and my hovering body plummeted to the ground.
"Ow!"
Rubbing my nose—which had smacked straight into the dirt—I pushed myself up. Up above, Ed looked greatly flustered.
The wolf, which had frozen mid-charge upon seeing me float, was staring too.
'Huh?'
Wait, how had I been floating in the air?
My mind blanked out for a moment. My gaze stayed locked on Ed's shocked face.
No way...
'Is this it? Today?'
The day Ed had mentioned experiencing something strange at the Morton estate.
Stripping away the rough tone, they actually included some of what I wanted to say.
Especially the bit about sending the wolf away and coming here, or asking if he'd done it just now.
My eyes lingered on option 3, then flicked to the wolf standing neither too far nor too close. My trembling hands shook pitifully on the grass.
'If I say that in front of the wolf, won't it bite me?'
After deep deliberation, I chose option 1.
According to Ed, the wolf had charged at me because of a communication mix-up with him.
He'd told it something like, "You don't need to eat that sheep; the lady over there will give you food instead, so drop it."
The mansion flipped out over the sudden wolf commotion, but Ed and I were turned upside down for entirely different reasons.
Who knew I'd witness the awakening of Ed's magic like this!
In the original story, it was glossed over as "something weird happened," and given Billy's rage about how any noble should've noticed but ignored it...
'I thought it was some minor magic that'd be hard to spot.'
I massaged my still-throbbing nose with my finger, gazing at Ed, who stood dejectedly beside Mimo.
His hands clasped together, head bowed low—he seemed to feel immense guilt for slamming me into the ground.
But where could you find a mage who could perfectly control magic right from the start?
Especially since Ed was just a seven-year-old kid; it'd be even harder for him.
I desperately wanted to tell him thanks for saving me from crashing into that fence. But the choices wouldn't accommodate my feelings like that.
I racked my brain over how to comfort Ed and how to nurture his abilities going forward.
In the meantime, rumors spread like wildfire through the mansion: "The young wolf slave knows magic."
'My head already hurts enough, and now rumors too... Anyway, what the heck happened?'
After the pasture incident, a sudden doubt crept in.
If this was the "strange event" Ed experienced in the original, even a kid should've realized he'd used magic.
'But in the original, Ed said he didn't remember it clearly.'
Another question arose: Who started the rumors?
Maybe someone heard my scream, looked toward the pasture, and witnessed the scene.
'If it was that obvious and rumors flew, there's no way Ed himself didn't know about his power.'
Putting it all together, I concluded this was a new event triggered because I'd possessed the body.
The original Lami would've just used Ed inside the annex; she never would've taken him to the pasture herself. My deviation from the original plot was likely the cause.
'So how do I fix this mess?'
Quashing the rumors first? My worries only deepened.
A small, shabby room—but neatly kept, all things considered.
"You need good sleep in a place like this. Gotta rest up to work me properly, right?"
Thanks to Lami tossing out the rickety old bed with talk of proper rest for better work and bringing in a plush new one, Ed's body sank comfortably into the mattress.
A night with moonlight filtering through the window, illuminating the tiny room.
Ed lay in bed after an easy day, staring at his own hands.
His eyes wide with wonder, he examined them from every angle, then touched the faint magical tingle in his chest. He even stretched both hands out into the air.
Nothing happened.
"Then how did I use magic?"
Endless questions bubbled up, churning his mind into chaos. Then he recalled the strange event from before the pasture incident.
After Jeb Horse started visiting the mansion, Ed occasionally got time alone.
The family head had said no slaves during meetings with important guests.
Alone, Ed would stroll the annex garden without drawing servants' eyes, play with Mimo, or do solo activities in his room.
That day, thick gray skies poured rain like a waterfall.
After escorting Lami to the main building entrance and heading back to the annex, Ed shivered in the chill wind. Was it early autumn's gloom? It felt unusually cold.
"If you laze around sniffling, it'll be a hassle, so stay in my room while I'm gone."
Lami had grumbled that before heading into the main building alone. Gruff as it was, Ed welcomed it—his room's fireplace wasn't fixed yet.
'Gotta head to Lady Lami's bedroom.'
Feeling a warmth in his heart, Ed turned toward her room to warm up a bit.
'Lady Lami really isn't a bad person.'
Just as Ed reached for the door...
"Hey, slave!"
A servant stood there, glaring fiercely with narrowed eyes.
It was Ben, an annex servant who'd stopped Ed. He openly grumbled about carnivore beastkin lording over herbivores as predators.
Thus, Ben particularly hated Ed—the carnivore—and bullied him outright. A nasty, pathetic beastkin. That's how Ed saw him.
Ed hadn't bothered telling Lami these minor things and endured Ben's abuse routinely.
"Need something done?"
Only Lami could order him, but ignoring Ben wasn't an option.
From his street days, Ed vaguely knew how to handle types like Ben. He lowered himself first.
Satisfied, Ben smirked and shoved a massive laundry basket at him.
"This!"
He flinched at Ed's golden eyes, glinting eerily in the dusk. But he squared his shoulders deliberately.
"Go wash it at the stream out back. Spotless, got it?"
His last words dripped with undisguised glee.
Ed grabbed the basket and glanced outside. Rain still poured relentlessly from the holey sky.
"But it's raining right now."
He'd normally obey without question, but not today. The weather made it impossible.
"You talking back to me? Skip laundry 'cause of rain, and when'll it get done? You tail the lady all day, so maybe you don't know—tons of work in this mansion! Know that?!"
Thwack—a hard shove to the shoulder sent Ed stumbling back.
He sighed faintly without showing it, steadied himself, and resignedly said he'd go. The heavy basket was too much for his strength; it dragged on the ground.
Ed's pale blue hair rippled like waves beyond the basket.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Just before leaving the annex, a large shadow fell over Ed. It was Lami.