How to Fly
For the first time in my life, I doubted my own ears.
What the hell did I just hear?
"…Come again?"
I forced my trembling body still and asked Carol. She beamed at me.
"That you're truly adorable?"
"Not that. Before that."
"Oh — that you've never even laid an egg, you little hatchling?"
"I'm going to lose my mind. Seriously."
She wasn't joking. She actually meant I was supposed to lay eggs? Me?
…Nah. No way.
"I was human to begin with, you know."
"Oh my?"
Three months had passed since I'd become this body, and still there hadn't been the slightest sign of anything like that. When I told Carol my story, she hummed thoughtfully.
"Hmm. Now that you mention it, that is strange… At your stage of development, you ought to be laying an egg about once a fortnight…"
She insisted it couldn't be right and shoved her nose at me again, sniffing over and over as if double-checking. Then she tilted her head, still puzzled.
"Can bird beastkin tell that sort of thing about each other?"
"Judging by Ren's reaction, I suspect that woman is the unusual one."
Huey had been watching the whole spectacle, and Luciella answered in his place. Carol smiled at his curiosity.
"Heh. There are ways of knowing."
"Get off. Don't even think about clinging to me."
I swatted away the wing she was slyly trying to wrap around me and stood up.
"Aww, so cold…"
"Enough. I've got something I want to ask."
"Only if you let me hug you one more time."
…Maybe I should just leave.
I looked over at Huey and Lucy, ready to get up and go — only to find both of them staring this way with openly fascinated expressions.
"Tch."
Fine. No choice.
"If the answer's worth it."
I was offering up my body here. If I got nothing out of it, I'd only end up irritated — so I set a condition of my own.
"Of course! So, what are you curious about, little one?"
Being treated like a child was already getting on my nerves.
"…Teach me how to fly."
"Pardon?"
"Bird beastkin can fly, right?"
"Ah, well, yes, but…"
It didn't seem like such a strange question, yet Carol broke out in a cold sweat, clearly flustered.
"For us it's as natural as breathing, so explaining it in words is a bit…"
Figured as much. Apparently it wasn't as simple as just flapping your wings.
"Hmm… Want to just watch me do it once?"
Carol scratched her head with a wing, looking awkward, then decided it would be faster for me to feel it myself and led the way out of the shop.
"We get to see her fly for real…"
"Master… is anyone with wings good enough for you?"
"Ahem. No."
As we followed Carol outside, Huey and Lucy's voices drifted from behind us. Both of them were having way too much fun.
"All right, then. I'll show you, little one."
"I get it already — can you please stop calling me that?"
"Ohoho."
…She clearly had zero intention of listening to a word I said.
Anyway, Carol took up a position on the street in front of the general store.
"Hmm… Little one? Have you ever tried to fly?"
"I've cracked my head open plenty of times."
"Then you already know. Simply flapping our wings isn't enough — we're not light enough to take off that way."
True enough. No matter how hard I'd beaten my wings, the best I'd managed was scattering the stack of papers on the guildmaster's desk. I nodded quietly in reply.
"So you borrow the wind's help."
With that, Carol gave her wings a gentle flap — whoosh — and the breeze that rose from them began to gather around her.
"Wings are only a means of making up for wind that isn't enough."
"Whoa."
"She's floating…"
I ignored the awestruck voices behind me and studied Carol carefully as she rose into the air. But…
"…I still don't understand what 'borrowing the wind's help' even means."
No mana had moved. I couldn't sense even a trace of spirit energy. The wind simply blew as if that were the natural order of things.
"Well?"
I was still tilting my head at the incomprehensible sight when Carol, already back on the ground, came over and asked.
"Not a clue."
"Why not try it once yourself?"
"Carol's right here, after all."
Ugh. I couldn't even picture it working.
"Hoo."
I took a deep breath first, then gave my wings a big flap.
Whoosh!
The wind definitely stirred hard — but no matter how hard I focused, the breeze my wings kicked up simply scattered along its own current and drifted away.
"Try picturing the wind wrapping around your body."
This time I flapped again, following Carol's advice.
Whoosh!
The image of wind wrapping around me… wind wrapping around me…
Whiiiish.
"…Tsk."
"Don't be too disappointed, little one. You'll fly soon enough, I'm sure of it."
And with that, Carol casually hugged me again. It was annoying — but having her wings drape over me felt nice, so I let it slide. Still not as good as my own wings, though.
"Where are you headed next?"
I tried to wriggle free so we could get moving, but Carol held me tight and asked Huey instead.
"Ah, actually, we were on our way to Swinford…"
"Aha. So you were planning to cross the bridge."
"Yes."
Hearing Huey's answer, Carol went so far as to rest her chin on the top of my head.
…I'd really like her to let go sometime soon.
"Then you'll need to stay here about two days."
"What?"
Just as I was about to escape her arms, that bombshell dropped.
"Well… the heavy rain that fell through yesterday flooded the road to the quarry, and they say it'll take about two days for the water to go down."
Which meant the quarry workers were all off duty for now. No wonder there'd been so many men hanging around the village entrance earlier.
"What about another route?"
"Even the next closest bridge would take three days of detouring from here."
"…We should just wait it out, Master."
"I'm with Lucy on this one."
Better to rest here for two days than waste three circling around. Pure waste.
"Haa. Fine."
"Heh. I could put a little one like you up at my place, you know."
Her husband had left not long ago and she'd been feeling lonely, she said, tightening the wing that held me.
…Ugh. I'm weak to this kind of thing.
"Then I'll stay with Carol."
"You sure?"
"…What choice do I have, looking like this."
"You're surprisingly soft for that sort of thing, Ren."
I pointedly ignored Lucy and turned my head away.
"We'll go find lodging first, then."
"Please rest well."
"Mm."
Just as Huey and Lucy were about to leave to secure a room—
"Ah, everyone? If you're looking for a place to stay, would you come back later? Since fate brought us together, I'd love to treat you to dinner at least."
"Yes. We'll see you later, then."
It was a rare, joyful day of meeting one of her own kind, she said, so she'd prepare a traditional meal.
"Well then, shall we head inside too, little one?"
"I told you to stop calling me that."
"Heh. Look at you, getting shy."
Carol led the way with a spring in her step.
"But can you even do anything properly with arms like these?"
"Once you learn to fly properly, little one, you'll find you can do far more than you think."
"…Really?"
"Of course. You're far more remarkable than you give yourself credit for."
I'd heard that bird beastkin were a race most adventurers and merchants might meet once in a lifetime if they were lucky — but remarkable enough to warrant that kind of praise?
"Heh. It's only natural you wouldn't know yet. For now, rest easy in the room. Look around if there's anything that catches your eye. I'll get dinner started."
"Yeah. Don't mind if I do."
I watched Carol head for the kitchen for a moment, then started browsing the goods inside the general store — when the door opened.
"Ah! Red bird big sis!"
"What, a little kid?"
"Yep!"
A small child came bouncing in through the shop door.
"Here on an errand?"
"Mom said to find a basket!"
Hmm… I should probably call Carol.
"Carol! Customer!"
I opened the door behind the counter and called out loudly — but no answer came.
…Busy, I guess. Nothing for it.
"The shop lady seems a little busy. Mind waiting a bit?"
"Um… okay!"
After a brief moment of thought, the kid — Martin — stared at my legs with sparkling eyes. Well, letting him touch my legs wasn't going to pluck any feathers. Better than the wings, at least.
"Here."
"Waaah!"
I sat in a chair and stuck out a leg, and he immediately latched on.
"Hey, kid. How old are you?"
"Me? Seven!"
Seven. At that age I'd been pickpocketing my way around the city… until I crossed the wrong person and got caught by my master. Haa.
Anyway, I kept chatting with Martin about this and that until—
"Oh my, I'm so sorry. I didn't even realize a customer had come in."
"Big sis!"
"Heh. Martin, is it? Come to find a basket?"
"Yep!"
Carol gave her wing a light sweep. The wind that rose from it flowed as if it had a will of its own, lifted a basket from the display shelf on the far side, and carried it over.
"Here you go."
The breeze set the basket down right where Martin stood, then scattered.
…So that's what she meant by being able to do a lot of things.
"Thank you!"
"Be careful on your way home."
As if it were the most ordinary thing in the world, Martin took the basket without so much as a blink of surprise and headed out. Carol waved a wing after him.
"See?"
"Yeah."
"We'll take the next two days slowly, living together. Little one."
I decided to give up on correcting the nickname.