Baby Bird
Two days had already passed since our encounter with that horned horse bastard I could have torn limb from limb and still not felt satisfied.
"Come to think of it," Lucy said.
We were walking the road as usual when she turned to look at me, a puzzled expression on her face.
"There's something I've been wondering about for a while now."
"Huh? What?"
Specifically, she said, ever since she'd seen me use a sword. Lucy watched me with eyes full of curiosity, while Huey pretended not to care even as his ears perked up.
"This person you call your master. Who on earth is she, that you're so terrified of her?"
…
"…Who?"
"Your master, Ren."
My body locked up at the completely unexpected question.
"See? Even now. You're shaking."
"I—I am not!"
Damn it.
Why were my legs trembling on their own today of all days?
"…That reaction only makes me more curious, you know."
"Well, it's getting pretty dark anyway. Why don't we set up camp a little early today and talk it over slowly?"
I was smacking my trembling legs with my wings, trying to beat the chill out of them, when I noticed both of them staring at me with faces full of interest.
"Who said I was going to tell you anything?"
Just hearing the word master made my body shake like this.
And they wanted me to dig up those memories?
Absolutely not.
"Really? I went through all the trouble of getting us some expensive meat, and I was thinking of putting in a little extra effort…"
"What a shame."
On second thought, it was starting to sound perfectly reasonable. Yeah.
"…Put that meat you just stuffed back in the bag right where it was."
I wiped the drool from the corner of my mouth with a wing and decided, for the first time in a long while, to pull a few memories out of the past.
"Where do you want me to start?"
…I knew.
I knew exactly how pathetic I looked right now.
But when meat that good was dangling right in front of my face…
"*Slurp.*"
"Sorry, but this is going to take a while today, so wait a bit."
"…Master. I'm fine, so please just give plenty to Ren."
Apparently my behavior had been a little too transparent. Lucy's pitying look stung more than I cared to admit.
"Ahem."
And so Huey bustled about for a while, lighting not one but two campfires. Finally he cracked open a bottle of liquor, poured the whole thing into a large pot, sealed the lid, and hung it over the fire, adjusting the height.
"Done. Should take about an hour, give or take."
"More importantly—you've been carrying liquor around?"
"Ah, Chloe gave it to me in the desert."
None of us particularly drank, he explained, so he'd gladly accepted it figuring he could use it for cooking.
"…That lush actually gave away her booze?"
"It was hush money, no doubt."
"She didn't want Sion finding out about the stuff she pulled while she was with us."
"Ah. The zombie horde."
It hadn't even been that long, and yet the memory already felt like something from ages ago. I snorted a quiet laugh.
"Anyway, we've got plenty of time…"
"Shall we hear the story, then?"
The two of them scooted closer, smiling as they waited.
"…Ugh."
Now that I actually had to start, I had no idea where to begin.
"Nngh."
I fretted over it for a long while.
"My master's name is… Marta."
I decided to start there.
"The Tyrant Marta."
I didn't know who'd coined it, but there was no better title for describing her.
"She's the foulest-tempered woman I've ever known. Number one in the world, as far as I'm concerned."
Well—she was still single at her age, so maybe "woman" was more accurate than "auntie."
"Anyway, to address the part you're probably most curious about first…"
Her strength, obviously.
"Among everyone I've ever seen, she ranks in the top three."
That was true even by the standards of the last time I'd run away from her. Who knew how strong she was now.
"Still, I'm stronger these days. Probably."
Of course, that only held if I still had my original body.
"That doesn't sound like the attitude of someone who's sure they're stronger."
"First, do something about that trembling body of yours. It's distracting."
…Th-this was just a conditioned reflex, okay?
It wasn't like I flinched every time Master raised her hand or anything!
"B-being stronger and being scared of her are two different things, all right?!"
"I still can't believe it. That there's actually something you're afraid of."
"Indeed. Judging by your usual behavior, I assumed masters and the like wouldn't mean a thing to you."
What exactly did these two think of me?
"You two try getting beaten for three straight days under the excuse of 'education' and see how you feel."
Day one: beaten for talking back.
Day two: beaten for holding my head too high.
Day three: beaten for having a rebellious look in my eyes.
As I described exactly how I'd been thrashed over those three days, their expressions shifted by the second.
"That isn't disciple training. That's taming a wild animal."
"…I was just thinking the same thing."
Looking back, young me hadn't been all that different from a wild animal. The only real distinction was that I'd used tools.
"Well, anyway."
They weren't good memories. But they'd made for a solid foundation all the same.
"Forget how strong she is—to me, she's just trauma."
No matter how hard I tried, the only memories that surfaced were of getting hit by her.
"Ah. Looks like it's about done."
After trading stories about Master and various other things, Huey stood up at the mouthwatering aroma that had been drifting over for a while now.
A short time later—
"Turned out well again today."
A few slices of bread, and then the dish itself.
"Whoa."
"Oh."
"Minotaur meat braised in wine."
Vegetables steeped in a dark, glossy sauce that carried a faint tomato fragrance. Minotaur meat cooked so tender it looked ready to melt the moment it hit your tongue.
"Everything's great, except—how am I supposed to eat this?"
Lately it felt like more and more dishes were showing up that I couldn't manage on my own.
"…Just hang on a little longer. I'm planning to make you some dedicated utensils at the place we're headed next."
For some reason Huey avoided my eyes as he sidled up beside me and spoke.
"Sometimes when I get too excited, I forget little things like this."
He'd been so focused on cooking that he hadn't even considered whether I'd be able to eat it.
"I don't know if this counts as making up for it, but I'll help you eat."
"…Fine, whatever."
Lucy—who'd earlier insisted on giving me her share—had apparently forgotten her own words entirely. She was already sparkling-eyed and fully absorbed in her meal, so I had no choice but to sit quietly and accept whatever Huey fed me.
"Ahh—."
I wondered if I'd fallen for some completely ridiculous excuse. But I was in no position to complain about the person cooking for me.
The moment that generous chunk of meat entered my mouth and my tongue wrapped around it—
"Hwaaah…"
A voice melted out of me before I could stop it, soft as the meat itself.
"It's so good…"
Meat that dissolved the instant it hit my tongue. A long, slow braise had concentrated a savory saltiness shot through with sweetness.
"Here—it'll be even better with the bread."
"Mmff."
And warm bread that cleanly soaked up every last trace of aftertaste.
"This is incredible…"
Completely oblivious to what I was actually doing, I kept opening my mouth and gulping down whatever Huey held out for me.
"Pff—khff…"
A sudden burst of laughter.
"…What?"
I'd been in the middle of a perfectly pleasant meal.
"Pffh, heheheh…!"
I turned my head and found Lucy—who must have finished eating already—had set her empty bowl aside and was now clutching her stomach with both hands, tears streaming down her face as she laughed.
"I can't hold it in anymore! Ahahaha!"
"What's wrong with her?"
"……Pff."
I looked at Huey in disbelief, only to hear the same strained sound of someone barely holding something in.
Wondering what on earth was going on, I turned to look at Huey, who until moments ago had been feeding me by ha—
…Wait. What did I just say?
Who had been feeding whom?
—The otherworlder sitting next to you was spoon-feeding you, that's who.
Only when that voice, thick with barely suppressed laughter, rang through my head did I finally realize what I'd been doing.
"Ah—uah—n-nooooo—!"
My face ignited. I covered it with both wings and thrashed.
—Oh, please. Pfft.
Right.
If you had to summarize what I'd just been doing, that was exactly it.
Perched on a rock, neck craned out, waiting for food to be dropped into my open mouth.
—It was cute, though. Miss Baby Bird.
…Baby bird.
"Pff—khheheh…"
Huey must have been holding it in pretty hard himself. The laugh that finally burst out of him, accompanied by the sound of him collapsing, was extremely grating.
"Grrrk."
And so—
"All of you, shut uuuup—!"
—after I finally managed to quiet the ones laughing on either side of me and inside my own head—
"…Why am I more tired after dinner than before?"
"That's because you threw a whole fit over how embarrassed you were… khff."
"Pffh, Master, please stop talking, you're going to make me laugh again…!"
I stretched my even more exhausted body out on a nearby rock and heaved a long sigh.
"Haa… I am getting my original body back no matter what."
It was another day that had added yet one more reason I absolutely had to reclaim my original form.