With no further questions asked, Ren and Erizora were asked to show their adventurer ID cards to confirm their ranks and classes so that he’d have a report of the updated participants in my party who’ll act as Lady Krauss’ escorts. He’d include Kalline’s info, of course, and being her uncle, he’s well aware of his niece’s current rank and class.

Just a reminder, our current ranks are me as black, Ume’s red, Erizora’s blue, and Ren’s green. With Kalline, also a blue rank, now added into our party, our current party rank would now be red. I guess there’s a system where a party’s rank is the average from the number of people in it and their own adventurer ranks.

Once Eugus had everything written down, he said we could use the meeting room for Lili to take the girls’ measurements in before he dismissed us, stepped out of the meeting room and called out for the nearest Harpy to deliver the report to Lady Krauss.

Surprisingly, it was Dorora, the same one who has helped me a number of times today, who happened to be standing nearby in the hallway. Once Eugus handed the report to Dorora in an envelope and instructed her to get the message to Lady Krauss in Palocaesy before the end of the day, he took his leave for further business.

Instead of going to do her job right away though, Dorora somehow approaches me with her bird talon-like hands holding the envelope behind her back. She’s a little shorter than me, so she had to look up a little, somehow giving her a child-like, innocent aura like a kid talking to an adult of curious interest.

“Can I help you with something?” I ask her while the others watch in.

“I just wanted to give my congratulations on winning your duel against Guild Master. It’s not very easy to win over him in a match-up like that, you know, so I thought you handling him the way you did was very impressive. Oh, and I know it’s a bit late but my name’s Dorora, by the way. You can call me Dodo.”

“Oh, well, uh … thanks? And it’s nice to meet you, Dodo, I’m Jinma.”

Dodo then giggles. “Well, of course I know who you are, silly, but it’s nice to meet you, too!”

Nyra says in my mind.

… You’re not seriously suggesting?

<“Dude, she’s a Harpy, an all-female race, and they need human males in order to breed. This little birdy has been on your tail for quite a while like a chick imprinting their parent. You know where this is going.”>

“So~, I know I’ve been handed with an important task all of a sudden, but we Harpies who have taken long-distance delivery missions can finish their work days early. I don’t mean to brag, but I’m kind of one of the fastest Harpies for these sorts of things,” Dodo continues.

“That’s impressive.”

“Right? So, I was wondering, do you … have any plans for tonight? I know a nice restaurant that serves good chicken. Maybe we can get to know each other over some nice food?”

<“Oh, shit! This chick’s going for the attack on the get-go! And she’s offering chicken! A bird! Sort of like her! Dude, that tears it, she’s totally going for your pants to get that pecker up her egg factory, here! What is your response?!”>

“That sounds good, but I’m afraid I already have plans with someone else for tonight.”

<“Ohhh~, shot down! I mean, I get it, dinner with a snake temptress lord is something you just couldn’t cancel, considering the circumstances, but I gotta give bluebird here points for effort.”>

For the record, Dodo here has light-blue feathers on her wings and they’re the same color as her hair tied in a short ponytail. They actually look more periwinkle on closer inspection but Nyra’s nickname for her seems on point.

“Well, darn, I guess it can’t be helped if you already have plans. Maybe some other time like, say, tomorrow night?”

<“Damn! Her wing may be clipped but she’s still flying strong! This one’s really persistent! Actually, you might make that work if you [Portal] yourself back here from Palocaesy and—”>

“I’m afraid I’ll be out of town starting tomorrow. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”

I don’t recall ever making a plan like that. Besides, do you even know why she suddenly started talking to me now like this of all times instead of earlier?

Perhaps you forgot how the total amount of money in my adventurer’s account was blatantly revealed to everyone in the coliseum? Come on, Nyra, surely you had at least a friend or two who were gold diggers?

<“… Who the fuck cares?! You’re freakin’ loaded and you got the all-powerful mother of all sugar mommas as your fucking wife! Throw some of that money away and live a little, ya cheapskate!”>

With that whole mental exchange happening within a few seconds with my ‘Hyper Thought Processing’ skill, Dodo’s disappointment is apparent in her sigh. “I get it. It’s one of those long-term quests you gotta do, right? Well, it can’t be helped,” she says while shrugging. “You gotta do what you gotta do, but hit me up whenever you get back. I wanna hear about your adventures with your friends soon.”

Did you just speak English?

… Oh, that’s likely one of my aunts, and the ‘monster’ in the box is her pet cat. She worked as a mangaka and I helped out with her manuscripts while cooking her a decent meal from time to time. We were probably dicking around and making fun of the cheesy romance stories that normies would eat up at the time. Her cat never liked me though, so she had to put her in that box to avoid me getting scratched. It’s a shame, because she looked so cute that I wanted to pet her.

‘Happy’ doesn’t even begin to describe it. Mametama might not have been a familiar I was expecting at first but I know I was going to have a lot of fun spoiling her when I have the chance.

Just as Dodo was about to leave, seeing her wings reminds me of something. “Actually, Dodo, before you go, can I ask you something?”

“But of course!”

“You’ve been to a lot of places, right? Seen a lot of flying, feathered creatures in bright colors, maybe?”

“Hmm, I do get around and see the occasional bird but I think there are more bright-colored Harpies out there than there are flying feathered monsters. Why do you ask?”

I take my MIB and reach into one of the pouches to pull out the light blond-colored feather Ume found for me this morning. “Do you happen to know anything about who or what owned this … feather?”

As soon as I held up the feather in front of Dodo, her face turns very pale that’s unfit for her character.

“W-Where … d-d-did you get that?” Dodo stutters.

“Uh, Ume found it for me while we were in the fields?”

“I thought it looked really pretty so I had to pick it up. Don’t you think so?” Ume asks the others to which most of them agreed. Only Kalline strangely had a serious expression.

“May I see that, Master Jinma?”

With a quirked brow, I handed the feather over to Kalline and she checks it with close inspection. “Hmm … yes, I do believe this is a Harpy feather. Judging by the sheen and color, I am positive this belongs to—”

“Don’t say her name!” Dodo practically screams, scaring us.

“Whoa, Dodo, what’s the matter—”

“Stay back!” she yelps, jumping back and hides behind the wall, trembling so much that some of her feathers start to fall. “Jinma, if you know what’s good for you, you get rid of that feather! Toss it, burn it, or whatever! Just keep that away and don’t come any closer! In fact, don’t talk to me ever again! I don’t want anything to do with the ‘Terror of the Skies!’”

“‘Terror of the Skies?!’” “Did somebody say ‘Terror of the Skies?!” “No! Not the Terror!” “Is she nearby?!” “Don’t just sit there like a Gluck! Everybody, fly!”

““AAAAAUGH!””

A chorus of screams sounded through the guild follow by many ruffling feathers. Looking outside of the window, we see Dorora and many other Harpies flying away from the guild in panic as fast as possible. I think I even see Imps and Arch Imps among them, too.

“The heck was that all about?” Ume asks.

“Are you asking about how all of the Harpies in the guild suddenly flew off or how that Dorora girl told Master to stay away from her so rudely after she tried to seduce him? If I even see that damn bird again, I’ll show her my own brand of terror for disrespecting Master,” Ren says while pulling out both of her daggers with a darkened expression.

“The ‘Terror of the Skies’ … I feel like I might’ve heard that name before,” Erizora says.

“‘Twould not be surprising if thou did, Erizora, for this Harpy goes by the name of Tyvera, and just like Ms. Gabriella who was mentioned earlier, this one is with the ‘Duke of Demon’s Disciples’ as well,” Kalline says. “I have only seen her a few times but I certainly could not forget those golden feathers like the one we have here.”

“What makes this Tyvera chick so much of a ‘terror’ that would scare off the Harpies here by mentioning her title?” Ume asks.

“Well, thou art all aware that most flying monsters are weak against Storm-type magic and attacks, yes? Well, the same can be said for flying races like most of the Harpies, emphasis on most.”

“Are you saying this Tyvera can resist Storm-attribute attacks?” Ren asks.

“Forget ‘resisting,’ she can harness the power of Storm, add its attribute to her attacks and skills, and can recover her strength while growing even more powerful from it when used against her. Add in the strong Water-attribute resistance and she would not slow down from her feathers getting wet as the liquids would just slide right off. Hence, becoming the dreadful adversary that we know as the ‘Terror of the Skies’ today. Now, keep in mind I only know this much from hearsay, but if what I had heard were true, I can imagine those feats were only made possible by a special ability that she was ‘blessed’ from birth.”

“Ah, you mean she’s one of the Gifted,” Tenaka says.

“Precisely. Now, was this feather always this clean and pristine when it was found in the field?”

“I used magic to clean the feather before giving it to Jin but it was more or less the same condition as it is right now,” Ume answers.

“Then that means she was at that same field fairly recently before the two of thee showed up. I do not know what Ms. Tyvera’s intentions were when she passed over that field, it would be optimistic to say this was only pure coincidence, but since another disciple, Ms. Gabriella, was around a fair amount of distance from her, I believe we should proceed in our travel to Palocaesy with caution.”

“Wow, it all makes so much sense, you’re turning out to be a better advisor than what we could’ve hoped for!” Ren exclaims.

“Indeed. The skills you’re displaying right now would make you a good Huntress,” Mametama adds

“Th-Thou think so? I only came to that conclusion with circumstantial evidence, but what dost thou think, Master Jinma?

“…”

“Master Jinma?”

“H-Huh? Oh, yeah, I also think we should … stay cautious.”

“Jin, are you all right? You’re looking kind of … distant,” Ume says.

“I’m fine …” Or I will be once this nostalgia of feeling dead and empty from getting royally rejected by a girl I barely made acquaintance with passes.

Are you saying I should look into hitting up this Tyvera girl?

Again, I didn’t even have a plan like that in mind, but I am sort of curious of Ms. Tyvera now. Thanks for trying to cheer me up and not make fun of my failed love history, by the way.

That’s kind of weird putting it that way considering what we’ve been through.

“Well, I’m beyond centuries older than you and I don’t feel like one of the grannies I’ve seen in other people’s memories, so you’re my little brother. If I knew I had a little brother back home, I’d give him all kinds of love only an older sister Pixie would. Just know that you’d be more than grateful and happy to have an older sister like me around.”

…

I didn’t know what to say in such a chaotic statement so I just dropped the subject there. Still, knowing another one of the duke’s disciples is near the area, one of them likely appointed by the leader of said group, I’m beginning to draw my own suspicions if this isn’t just a mere coincidence.

Also, I learned later that a ‘Gluck’ is apparently another one of those seemingly-harmless monsters that’s similar to a duck, but has a reptilian-like appearance and a bill on its face. They’re actually really annoying from how they make those swallowing sounds loud enough to surround an area like cicadas would; hence, why they’re aptly named as such.

~~

“… Nope, can’t do it. I can’t get over how bummed I feel not helping that human out, even if I did sound harsh when I made that report the other day.”

The ‘Terror of the Skies,’ Tyvera, is currently gliding leisurely while keeping watch for any suspicious people targeting Noire. Ever since she didn’t find any clues of Jinma’s ‘death’ last night, though she said her good-byes, she can’t seem to get the person out of her mind. She barely remembers what he looked like now, and while a part of her is trying to move on, another side resists to not let it go just yet.

It’s been eating at her so much that she could barely sleep while dreaming of a nightmare last night.

“That field seems to be in Dondegarm’s boundary. If I could just make a quick stop to report that incident …” Of course, she can’t as it would interfere with her mission.

As she sighs in discontent, she sees it in the far distance with ‘Deadeye,’ a periwinkle-colored Harpy flying from Dondegarm’s direction at an alarmingly fast speed while carrying a shoulder bag. She’s the same one who just spoke with Jinma moments ago, Dorora.

Hey! I think she’s one of the Dondegarm guild’s messenger Harpies, right?! This can be my chance!

Excited, she glides over to Dorora’s direction. “Excuse me?! Miss?! A moment of your time?!”

The moment Dorora’s eyes catches a glimpse at Tyvera’s golden-blonde feathers, her face grew even paler than it was earlier.

Noooooo! Of all the worst timings! Dorora screams in her mind before she quickly decides to ignore Tyvera’s calls and pick up the pace while blatantly changing course in attempt to ignore her.

“Hey! Hold on a sec! I need to talk to you!” Tyvera then gives chase to Dorora.

“I’m sorry but I’m in a hurry at the moment!”

“Then let’s fly and talk! You’re from Dondegarm, right?! See, there’s this guy—”

“I’m sorry but I can’t help you! Please leave me be!”

“But—”

“I said leave me alone!” In desperate attempt to flee, Dorora reaches into her shoulder bag and pull out a small cylindrical item with a pin. This is one of many disposable adventurer tools to escape from perilous danger of monsters, the smoke grenade, something one could get at nearly any item store.

Dorora takes the smoke grenade, pulls the pin, and wait just the right amount of time before tossing it back, right into Tyvera’s face.

“Huh?”

PON!

The grenade explodes into a large cloud of smoke, forcing Tyvera to abruptly stop in her tracks before coughing. The distraction was just enough for Dorora to make a quick flee and out of her sight.

“*Keho! Keho!* Ack! Are you fucking kidding me?!” Tyvera exclaims as the smoke finally clears. Dorora successfully flew out of her sight and the action made her grind her teeth.

“Fine! Be that way, fucking twat! I hope your mate’s dick is too limp and small to even get inside your lousy cunt!” Tyvera kicks the air in frustration before exasperating. “S’not like I wanted to be the fucking ‘Terror of the Skies,’ you know …” Her mood dampens further along with the mental dilemma involving Jinma.

A familiar ringing snaps her out of it before she reaches into her knapsack and pulls out a yellow crystal. She activates it with her magic. “This is Tyvera,” she practically growls.

“No, Gabriella. Things are looking just peachy. I’m gonna get some food.”

“I’m still hungry. Don’t bother me for a while. Tyvera, out.”

Ending her call, Tyvera puts away the Messaging Crystal and flies back to Palocaesy in a huff, thinking what large meal she can have to help sate her foul mood.