The Mage
The first time Gaeun saw the crow tit perched up in the tree, a single thought crossed her mind.
Cute. It looks just like a little cotton ball.
That was her first impression of the crow tit—a small animal, pure and simple. Cute, lovable, and fragile. So fragile, in fact, that she found herself fretting over whether the poor thing was even managing to find enough to eat.
If Mina hadn't been standing right beside her, she might not have held herself back. Truth be told, she wanted nothing more than to scoop it up and take it home to raise.
And yet that harmless-looking little crow tit—
"Tweet."
—let loose a chirp, and with that sound, bullets of mana punched clean through the goblins.
There was no mercy in the magic it unleashed. The closest thing to kindness was that it blew their heads off so cleanly they never had a chance to feel pain. It was like someone had brought a machine gun to a Stone Age battlefield.
The goblins weren't allowed so much as a token counterattack. Running away wasn't an option either. The sheer disparity in firepower had created a situation so one-sided it bordered on the absurd.
The tide of monsters that had come surging in like a wave was visibly thinning—thinned enough that you could feel the difference. Just as a fragile sense of relief at still being alive began to settle in—
Before she knew it, the crow tit had fluttered right up in front of her face.
Those tiny white-feathered wings beat the air as the little bird locked eyes with her—precisely, deliberately.
"I will ask you once. Will you become my Master?"
What she heard, clear as day, was the voice of a young girl. The crow tit before her eyes was speaking to her in that voice.
Or rather—something like speech. It was a strange sensation, as if the words were being delivered straight into her head.
"Huh? Y-yes? Yes…"
"You've agreed, then. Good."
"Yes…? W-wait a second—!"
"Hm? It's already done. What am I waiting for?"
What happened after that, she couldn't quite remember. She had a vague sense that something had occurred, but… perhaps the relief had simply drained every last drop of tension from her body. From that point on, all she could recall was the feeling of strength leaving her limbs, and her eyes sliding shut on their own.
The sudden Gate incident wrapped up without any major complications. The clear condition for this particular Gate, it seemed, had been the elimination of every last monster. Sweep them all into one place and wipe them out, and the Gate cleared itself.
"Tweet. (Hmm. Sleeping well.)"
Gaeun and Mina were both lying in hospital beds. Not from any real injuries—just the crash that came once the tension finally let go. When they'd collapsed out of nowhere inside the Gate, I'd nearly had a heart attack. Watching my brand-new contractor drop the second the contract was sealed had scared the living daylights out of me. I thought I'd gained a disciple only to lose her on the spot.
"Tweet, tweet. (Ahem. Anyway.)"
Gaeun's ability was that of a Summoner: she shared a portion of the stats of any creature she tamed. And right now, I was her summon. Somehow—don't ask me how—the contract had gone through.
But what exactly counted as "stats," anyway?
"Tweet tweet, tweet. (No idea how far the definition of 'stats' actually goes.)"
Would it just be mana capacity? Or would other things transfer over too? Either way, whatever got shared was going to be absurd. Put it in game terms, and it was like a brand-new newbie getting handed the stats of a veteran so ancient they'd gone moldy. A newbie with that kind of support was basically invincible—raw, overwhelming specs you could just point at the enemy and delete them with.
"Tweet tweet. (And it's not like she's slow on the uptake, either.)"
On top of that, Gaeun seemed sharp. Anything she was missing, I could just teach her and raise her up. An overwhelmingly stacked character paired with a pilot who learned fast—that was a combination you couldn't sabotage even if you tried.
Gaeun opened her eyes more than half a day later. It was just about noon—lunchtime.
"Hah…!"
She pushed herself upright on the hospital bed and looked around wildly.
"I-is this a hospital…?"
"Yep. Hospital."
"Kyaaah!!"
Oh. So she could make sounds like that. She'd been so deadpan the whole time I'd half-assumed she was carved out of wood—and yet here she was, letting out a perfectly girlish scream. A little unexpected, honestly. Finding a new side of her was oddly fascinating.
"W-who are you?"
"Your summon."
"My summon? But I don't have a summon yet…"
"Huh? What, you don't remember?"
"No, I don't have a sum—… Ah. Don't tell me."
Only then did Gaeun look down. Settled neatly on top of the hospital blanket was a single crow tit—a little cotton ball with two black dots for eyes and a beak, perched on the white sheets.
"A c-crow tit?"
"That's right."
"A crow tit that can talk…?"
"I can't talk, exactly. But I can do something close enough."
"Th-that can't be possible…"
"And yet here we are."
"Am I dreaming right now…?"
Oh, for crying out loud. When a person—no, a crow tit—talks to you, maybe just believe it? What was with all the suspicion?
I fluttered up from my spot and gave Gaeun a solid peck right in the middle of her forehead.
Thok.
"Ow—that hurt."
"Hurts, right? Because this is reality."
"So it's not a dream…?"
Gaeun's face went serious, as if she were turning the whole thing over carefully in her mind. She furrowed her brow, then nodded to herself as though something had clicked. After a little while—
"Mm. Yes. I understand."
"Do you? Good—you're a quick study."
"Honestly, not completely. But I think I've got my own grasp of it."
Her gaze found mine. Those sky-blue eyes of hers looked straight into me without flinching.
"First of all—thank you. For saving us in the Gate."
"You're not thinking someone else did it?"
"No. I'm certain."
There wasn't a flicker of doubt in the way she looked at me.
"My ability lets me share my summon's stats."
"Uh-huh. And you're bringing that up because…?"
"You? No—Crow Tit. Miss Crow Tit?"
"Eh… call me whatever's comfortable."
"Anyway—after I contracted with you, Miss Crow Tit, my stats shot up massively."
Um. Look. I hate to interrupt something this serious, but—
"But the stats I share are only a portion. Which means the stats you actually have must be even higher than that."
"Yeah, solid reasoning. Hey—aren't you a little too close right now?"
Could you back up a bit? You're close enough I'm half-afraid you're about to swallow me in one bite.
Gaeun had been drifting nearer and nearer as she spoke. Close enough that I could see my own reflection, sharp and clear, in her eyes.
"Ah. Right. So I am."
"Yeah. Just scoot back a little."
She cleared her throat, looking faintly embarrassed, and retreated.
"Anyway. That's how it is."
"Mm. I heard you loud and clear."
"And honestly—who sees a talking crow tit and doesn't think that?"
"…"
Well. She had a point. Talking crow tits weren't exactly common. It'd be weirder not to jump to that conclusion.
"So, Miss Crow Tit—is Mina all right?"
"Ah, she's fine. Sleeping in another room."
"That's a relief."
"Why? Were you worried about her?"
"No, not particularly. That girl could get dropped anywhere and still crawl her way back alive."
Well… yeah. She did give off that kind of vibe. The type that just wouldn't die easy, no matter what. Something about the way Gaeun said it hit so cleanly that I couldn't help laughing.
"Hahaha—yeah, she really does."
"You think so too, Miss Crow Tit?"
"Yep, yep. I know exactly what you mean."
I laughed until tears nearly pricked at the corners of my eyes. And once I'd caught my breath—
"Hah… hah. Anyway."
"Yes?"
"How about becoming a mage?"
"Yes. I'd like that. Being a mage sounds wonderful."
Gaeun answered the instant the words left me—no hesitation whatsoever. An immediate, unflinching yes.
"You did actually hear the question before you answered, right…?"
"Yes. You asked me how I'd feel about becoming a mage."
"Then why answer without even thinking it over?"
"Well…"
Her gaze left me and drifted toward the window of the hospital room. Beyond the glass stretched a blue sky, white clouds floating lazily across it. But that wasn't what held her attention.
The sun. At the end of her line of sight sat the sun, hanging at the very top of the sky.
"I realized something this time. That power matters more than I thought."
"…"
"People don't change easily—but nearly dying will do it, I suppose."
She went on in a light, almost joking tone.
"Just a little thought of mine, really."
"A little thought beats no thought at all, if you ask me."
"I'm glad you think so."
But the lighter her tone, the heavier the meaning underneath seemed to settle.
"I just… started thinking that way."
"Good. A clear motive is always better."
"Isn't it?"
On the face I was looking at, a faint but unmistakable smile had begun to bloom.