1. The Archmage Sparrow
I woke from an uneasy sleep and realized one thing right away.
I had become a bird.
Really. Just… a bird.
Hmm.
I looked around. It was an enormous nest, the sort of thing that, measured against a human home, would come out to a good-sized apartment. If nests this big existed, did that make me an alpha sparrow of the top five percent?
No eggs in here.
Whether that disqualified me as a male or not, the nest held no one but me. Which, honestly, was a blessing — no chicks to feed.
"What kind of magic does Lady Lilith usually practice?"
What was with this conversation drifting up from beneath the nest? Had I become a sparrow squatting in the grounds of a psychiatric ward?
If so, that would be the worst outcome imaginable. You never know when some lunatic might smash my home to pieces.
No wonder I couldn't find my family.
No sparrow in this world would keep a forty-pyeong apartment in a place like this.
"The entrance ceremony is about to begin! Students, please make your way inside!"
…Something was off, though.
Far too many people for a simple psych ward. The atmosphere felt less like an institution and more like some kind of event.
…Oh!
The roar of hundreds, maybe thousands gathered in one place. Speech patterns straight out of a medieval aristocracy, fantasy-flavored conversation to boot.
It was a cosplay convention!
I knew something was strange.
Well then, shall I have a look around?
Since I'd been isekai'd into a sparrow, I was going to live my sparrow life to the fullest. I would become that rare, one-in-a-million sparrow that doesn't fly away when a cosplayer (preferably a pretty one) reaches out to pet it. That kind of footage goes viral on the internet, and once I was famous, my sparrow life would bloom in no time.
Spread your wings, ambition!
And so, the moment I set foot on the edge of the nest—
BOOM!
A massive fireball slammed directly into my face.
…?
Thump. My body dropped toward the ground.
"A-are you okay?!"
I had just learned two facts. The first was that my body was considerably tougher than it looked.
"I'm sorry… I never expected it to fly that way, the spell just went off course…"
The second was that this was not Earth.
A student?
A girl with golden hair and blue eyes came running toward me. White shirt, black skirt, a neatly tied necktie. Glancing around, I saw that everyone was dressed the same way. Was that a school uniform?
"You're okay…?"
Any ordinary sparrow would have been roasted alive by a blast like that. But I was perfectly fine.
"Chirp! Chirp!"
I unleashed a mighty roar in her direction. Surely that was proof enough that I was fine.
"…Huh? There's not a scratch on it…?"
She peered down at me with a puzzled expression.
"Chloe, is the sparrow all right?"
A red-haired girl appeared, belatedly.
"Yeah. It seems fine, but…"
"Lucky it got clipped instead of the nest. Put it back up there and let's go."
She carefully lifted me and set me back on the nest.
"You'll be late on your very first day — come on, hurry!"
"Y-yeah!"
Taking the blonde girl by the hand, she hurried her away.
Hmm.
I had no idea why anyone would be hurling fireballs in the middle of a plaza, but a strange sense of déjà vu washed over me.
What is this?
It was definitely my first time being a sparrow. But while I was still puzzling over it—
"…"
A silver-haired girl was looking up at me.
Blue eyes like a captured sea. A calm, unreadable expression. A face so beautiful the word simply rose to my lips on its own.
…I knew it.
This was inside the game.
A raising simulation game. Raising an Academy Young Lady. The goal: nurture the girl who had just fireballed me in the face — Chloe — and marry her off well.
Not that I had ever once married Chloe.
There had always been a different purpose.
The villainess, Lucia.
The woman the academy called its wicked witch. Unfriendly by nature, nursing an inferiority complex toward the heroine, and eventually expelled from the academy after trying to sabotage her.
But she's gorgeous, isn't she?
Silver hair falling to her waist, sapphire eyes like jewels set into her face. Smitten with Lucia's charms, I had once done everything in my power to save her.
I gave up after several thousand attempts, granted. But I could still recognize her face anywhere.
It's Lucia.
The instant I realized who she was—
"…At least it wasn't hurt."
Tap. Tap.
She murmured it quietly and moved on. Chasing after her right now would accomplish nothing. I was a sparrow, after all.
Let's get my thoughts in order first.
Perched on the nest, I surveyed my surroundings. A few shops lined the street, and a massive building stood where the students were streaming toward. Near the hall where the entrance ceremony was being held… this must be the Central Plaza.
Not bad at all.
Perfect possession timing, and a prime location, too. I knew exactly which dormitory Lucia had been assigned to. Even in a sparrow's body, flying there would be a piece of cake. I could reach her one way or another.
The problem, though—
So what exactly can I do?
Call me an alpha sparrow with property rights at the academy — in the human world, it counted for absolutely nothing. Forget helping Lucia; I'd struggle to protect my own neck. This game proudly boasted a brutal, annihilating difficulty curve.
If I'd possessed a random extra instead,
I could have hoarded every rare elixir and hidden treasure in the game. Sharing a few with Lucia along the way would've been the perfect setup.
But no — I was a sparrow. Can't even do that.
What on earth am I supposed to do?
Just as I was racking my brain over how to dig myself out of this dire situation—
"Screech! Screech!"
A monster's roar split the air.
…!
A colossal crow was charging straight at me from the distance.
Crows are a sparrow's natural predator!
The creature's eyes locked onto me. The unerring certainty of a predator with its prey. Keep going like this, and I die.
Damn it! What do I do?!
Flying away was out of the question. This tiny sparrow body would be caught within moments. Swoop down to a human and beg for rescue? Useless — the new students had long since cleared out of the plaza. I was alone, and I alone would have to face it.
If only I could use that fireball…
…No, wait a second.
I was the body that had just tanked a fireball head-on. And its caster had been Chloe — the heroine of this world, and this year's top-scoring freshman. It probably hadn't been a full-power shot, but even that much was enough. More than enough to avoid dying to a crow's beak.
…But can my beak even reach that thing?
The difference in reach was brutal. Roughly ten meters until the crow reached me.
There was no time to overthink it. I clamped a twig in my beak and squared off against the incoming monster. Barely a hand's length over ten centimeters. This had better be enough to chase it off.
"Screech!"
"Chirp-squeeek!"
I squeezed my eyes shut and swung the twig at the oncoming crow. Get lost already!
FWIP!
I didn't even feel the impact.
"…"
Several seconds of dead silence. Something was wrong. No wingbeats. The nest didn't seem damaged, and my body was fine. Worried I'd somehow missed, I took a look.
At the foot of the nest lay a crow, its head severed cleanly off.
Holy—
…And so appeared the Sword-Saint Sparrow.
I headed for a stretch of forest where no people wandered. I needed to gauge exactly how strong I was.
Shattering boulders with body slams. Killing crows with a massive roar. Slicing rocks in two with a twig. I ran test after test, and every single one was a success.
So I can actually do this.
Though to be fair, what had killed the crow wasn't just an ordinary squawk. It was sonic magic — mana carried on a wave of sound to strike. Strictly speaking, "sonic magic" was a generous name for something whose limit was dispatching small animals, but as a way of testing whether I could use mana at all, it served perfectly.
Shall I try some actual spells, then?
I called to mind the magic I'd seen in the game. I shouldn't be able to cast anything without proper magical knowledge, but just in case, I gave it a shot anyway—
KWAAAM!
A fireball the size of a human torso shot from my beak.
…What?
Fine. Next spell. Wind blade.
FWASHSHSHAK!
I cubed a boulder into steak.
Hmm.
Difficult magical theory at the level of published dissertations? The moment I decided which spell to use, whatever knowledge it required simply surfaced in my head. Even after spamming spells one after another, I could still feel mana left to spare.
Call me the Great Mage Sparrow — the Archmage Sparrow, for short.
At this level, I could probably beat the academy's tactical instructor.
Confidence brimming, I flew back to my nest. By the time I returned, the sun was already high overhead. The entrance ceremony should be wrapping up about now.
"The instructors were amazing, weren't they?"
"Right? Especially the tactical instructor — the sheer charisma—"
Right on cue, the new students came spilling out of the hall.
"Which dormitory did you get assigned to, Lady Veronica?"
"Dormitory Three."
That wrapped up the day's schedule. Most of the new students were either lingering around the Central Plaza or heading straight back to their dormitories.
There's Lucia.
In the distance, the silver-haired girl was walking alone. Perhaps because of her looks, people's eyes kept drifting toward her as she passed.
And then—
"Lady Lucia?"
The Blonde Noble Delinquent (allegedly) was making his approach.
"Which dormitory have you been assigned to, my lady? I'm in Dormitory One myself, so if we happen to be neighbors, perhaps I could escort you—"
"Get lost."
Lucia shot him a contemptuous glare and resumed walking.
Ah, beautiful.
That's our Lucia. The cool, composed ice queen, as expected.
And then—
"…Every beautiful rose, after all, comes with its thorns."
That's the kind of line it takes to qualify as a genuine skirt-chaser.
I suppose it's time to follow.
Lucia's dormitory was Dormitory Two — the building directly beside Dormitory One. Which meant the skirt-chaser kept tagging along behind her, shamelessly enduring her cold shoulder the entire way.
In the original story, Lucia enters the dormitory building uneventfully. But this time, the boy grabbed her arm and tried to drag her off by force.
Naturally, Lucia's magic erupted and she obliterated him on the spot.
And that just spreads the rumors further.
Afterward, he goes around spreading malicious gossip about her. It's the incident that sets the "wicked witch of the academy" label in earnest.
So I should stop it, right?
Twig clamped in my beak, I followed.
"There's nothing further on today's schedule, so how would you feel about joining me for a spot of tea?"
"…"
With each fresh attempt, Lucia's expression soured further.
Minutes of being ignored stretched on, until at last they reached the dormitory entrance.
"…If my lady continues to ignore me, I'm afraid I'll lose my patience."
"What are you—?!"
The instant his hand shot toward Lucia—
KUUUNG!
Bird Strike detonated.
"What the—?!"
His body was flung backward, sailing several meters through the air. Crumpled on the ground, he stared up at me.
"A bird? That sparrow just rammed into me…?"
Mana stirred in his hand. Was he about to cast something?
Fool.
It was the Sword-Saint Sparrow's time to shine.
WHAM! KRAK! WHACK!
The heavy, meaty thuds of a club coming down, again and again.
"Aagh! Sh—! What the hell is—!"
Dozens of consecutive strikes rained down, until at last the boy tore himself away and fled.
Whew. Pulling my punches is somehow harder than letting loose.
"…It's the little one from this morning."
Lucia approached me cautiously.
"Chirp!"
I set down the twig and scurried over to her.
"How did you get all the way here? Did you follow me?"
"Chirp! Chirp!"
But there was a problem.
"Chirp! Chirp-chirp!"
I was a sparrow. No matter how mighty an Archmage Sparrow I might be, I could not speak a word of human language.
"…Could you perhaps be a divine beast?"
Lucia stroked me gently, a thoughtful look crossing her face.
"Chirp! Chirp!"
"…Hmm. A divine beast wouldn't be mute, I suppose."
Before long she rose to her feet and turned once more toward the dormitory. I watched her go in silence.
Is helping her from a distance like this really all I can do?
If I couldn't speak, I couldn't get any closer. Our connection would end here.
…I want to talk to her.
I wanted to converse. To help her more. As things stood, I could never save Lucia — never protect her through the countless calamities and conspiracies yet to come. She would be expelled from the academy, cast out by her own family, and after that, no one would ever learn what became of her.
But that wasn't the worst of it.
She's going to die.
This game had a True Ending — the conclusion you reach when the player never intervenes at all. In the True Ending, the world is annihilated. If I couldn't act, Lucia dies.
I want to speak.
And so I prayed from the very depths of my heart—
…Lucia.
"…You just spoke?"
Huh?
The words had reached her.
Not through a beak — through telepathy.