Chapter 3

*Karmeut’s POV

The man, who was looking at the crow that flew away, let out a long sigh. It was nice to moisten his throat and washed his now bandaged wound in the valley, but that was it.

Blood was still seeping out of his wound little by little, and his exhausted body was demanding rest. Sitting on a nearby flat rock, the man thought of that crow.

He didn’t know if it was the same crow that led the orcs away or if it was a different one, but he could confirm one thing.

It was a simple coincidence, but it was a fact that his life was saved thanks to that crow.

If that crow hadn’t flown over the orcs while cawing, he would have had to deal with the orcs with a wounded and exhausted body from being chased by them.

There’s a high probability of dying, and he would have been eaten.

‘After a little rest, I’ll have to find a safe place.’

This wasn’t a very safe place. The flowing water erased the smell of blood and body odor of the man, but the place where water flows was where many wild animals and monsters stop by.

In addition, humid places wasn’t good for an injured body. It constantly lowered body temperature. Considering that it can worsen his wound, he chose to only stay for recovering his stamina, then he would leave.

The man, who had rested enough, tried to get up from his seat. He had managed to replenish his stamina. As he was about to search for a safe place, something fell over his head.

“Grass? No, this is-, this isn’t mere grass-“, the man could quickly realize that it was a herb.

It was also a common herb used by healers to stop bleeding. It was not difficult for the man to recognize it because he who learned swordsmanship had also learned a little bit about herbal medicine, because he might need it at any time.

But who? The man looked up.

“Caw-“

It was a crow. Under the feet of the large black bird which was sitting on a nearby branch, there were a few more herbs just like the one that fell on the man’s head.

The crow tilted its head, perhaps feeling the gaze of the man.

The crow, which opened and closed its beak with a low and small cry, grabbed the herbs and flew.

Looking at the medicinal herbs that fell exactly in front of him, the man remained silent.

As if proud, the crow pushed out its chest and made a caw sound that seemed very happy.

However, the man could not be fully pleased. It was because he had never heard of crows, no, birds, that are so smart that they did favors for no reason.

‘Is it someone’s familiar? A hybrid? Or a polymorph dragon?’

The man’s suspicions were natural. Because with his common sense, there was no other way to explain it.

However, the possibility of this crow being someone’s familiar, a hybrid, and a dragon were all unlikely. Those races weren’t fond of humans, and the ones who support him doesn’t have familiar. But why is that crow—–?

In any case, the crow was looking down at the man with sparkling eyes.

From that gaze, the man somehow seemed to hear a voice asking, ‘I did a good job, right?’

The man rinsed the herbs in running water, put them in his mouth, and chewed. A bitter taste spread through his mouth, but he chewed the herbs without frowning, then he unwrapped his bandage and covered his wound with the mashed herb.

He frowned at the burning sensation and put the bandage back on. This will surely stop the bleeding.

When something fell near his feet, the man looked up. The crow was there, tilting its head while cawing. He looked down to see what fell down.

When he looked, this time it was a small black fruit.

‘What is this?’

He had never eaten such a fruit. Seeing the man who picked it up but did not eat it, the crow tilted its head.

With a swish, the crow flew away.

Seeing the crow flying somewhere, the man felt strange. He looked at the small fruit on his palm.

It was obviously a bird that ate dead bodies and symbolized misfortune and death, but for the man, it was a lucky bird.

A low cawing can be heard. When he turned his head, there was the crow. With its beak, it was holding the same fruit as the one in the man’s hand

The crow, which flapped its wings while raising its head as if it was looking at him, swallowed the fruit.

The man blinked absentmindedly at the crow’s behavior of eating the fruit which was like a mother who told her chick that it was safe.

With an absurd thought that the bird might understand his situation, he pushed the small and black fruit into his mouth.

The fruit was sweet. It was to the point where he can forget his current situation for a moment.

*Rainelle’s POV

I watched very happily as he was eating the fruit that I brought.

Yep, that’s delicious! I was lucky to find it! I was looking for herbs, I didn’t expect to find them! When I saw the fruits, I immediately thought, ‘This is delicious.’ The fruit is small, but there are a lot more, so I’ll tell you where it is-

I called the man with a caw.

After confirming that the man’s eyes are on me, I spread my wings, circled over the man’s head, and flew towards where the fruits were.

“Caaw, caaw, caw! (There are delicious fruits, so follow me!)”

I flew back to hover above the man’s head who was not moving.

“—Follow you, right?”

Oh, his voice is amazing! It’s in a low pitch. Yep, that’s right, follow me! I’ll tell you where the fruits are, so look at me positively! Please take me with you!

When the man took a step, I was so excited and flew to the place where the fruits were. Rather than immediately flying away, I sat on a branch once in a while so that the man can keep up with me. I flew repeatedly.

It wasn’t that far away, so I could get to the bushes which were full of fruits in no time.

I don’t know if he was suspicious or worried about when a beast or monster would come out, but the man looked frustrated.

I know it’s suspicious, but please understand how I feel!

For the man, I openly picked some berries in the bushes and ate them. If I hadn’t find them when I was looking for herbs earlier, I’d be in trouble now.

After eating fruits, I went up on a branch and sat down. Then, the man slowly approached and carefully picked and ate the fruit while looking around.

I’m going to watch over you because you worry me so much! You never know when wild animals will appear and eat you after all.

Come to think of it, it wasn’t just this man who should be worried.

There are birds of prey, cats, and beasts! Monsters are usually described as being less agile than animals, but I don’t know the situations here, right?! Why am I so relaxed?!

I bowed my head and looked at the man.

-Yes. To be honest, I couldn’t help but be relaxed when I saw a man with this degree of handsomeness.

Haah- It’s like I’m healed by just looking at his appearance. I think he’s at least a supporting character.

Who could he be?

I felt like I remembered something, yet, I couldn’t remember, so I was annoyed.

If I knew this would happen, I would’ve written games story and novels!! Something like that and something like this!

It’s common when the person is just playing otome game right before, in the middle of reading a novel, or a novelist that haven’t finished writing! Why am I neither one of them!

I let out a deep sigh as I was feeling that I was in a ditch again. But then, something caught my eyes.

“Caaaaw! Caaw! Caaaaw! (It’s a leopard! Emergency! Emergency! Aah, now’s not the time!)”

My body trembled involuntarily.

The instinct of the bird told me to run away, but the memory of being bitten by a tiger rushed to my mind. I felt like I was going to cry as I remembered the feeling of suffocation, the sharp fangs that pierced my throat, and the gushing out blood.

“Caaaaw! Caaw! Caw caaw! (Run away! Don’t die! The feeling of being bitten to death is terrible! You’re the first person I met here, so don’t die!)”

As I continued to scream in distress, the man’s aura changed all at once.

He grabbed the handle of the sword on his waist and was wary of the surroundings. And really, something incredible happened in front of my eyes.

Perhaps feeling that its sneaky approach had failed, the leopard jumped at the man.

The leopard, which swooped down at the man’s injured side with its fangs exposed and without even roaring, was terrifying. It was a scene that made me understand why the leopard was compared to an assassin.

However, unlike me, the man was calm. The moment I thought that his golden eyes were flashing, blood splashed everywhere.

Huh?

What? What did I see? I’m sure that this guy hadn’t drawn his sword.

When did he pull it out? What’s with the blood on his sword? Huh?

With a gurgling sound, the leopard collapsed. It was bleeding on its neck.

The image of a man who killed a leopard without losing his breath or sweating was so unrealistic that my mind became blank.

Are- aren’t you too strong?

But why are you injured? Why are you being chased by orcs alone? Looking at your luxurious clothes, you seem to have a high status. So, why?

My eyes were spinning in confusion. Either way, the man who shook off the blood from his sword by swinging it once turned his head towards me.

Um? What? What is it?

The man who looked at me silently for a while began to collect the remaining fruits in the bushes.

Huh? You’re going to take and eat them?

But, finding a safe place is more important. Eum, well, I don’t know if you need that safe place. Aren’t you insanely strong? No, your body temperature may drop.

I’m looking at the man’s behavior while thinking about this and that.

He picked up a large leaf and put it down on the floor. And after putting down about half of the picked fruits on the leaf, he started walking away.

Huh, uh—?

Did you pick them for me to eat?

I tilted my head and looked at the man, but the man did not stop walking. I blinked my eyes at the figure of the man who walked away without turning his head, then I hurriedly landed on the floor.

Um, okay, it’s okay! Since the leopard is dead! And, and–. That person picked these fruits for me.

I guess he said thank you in his own way? To think that what I’ve done so far to help him was returned in this way, it somehow tickled my heart.

I wanted to laugh, but I felt very regretful that I couldn’t because I had a crow’s body, so I just took a bite of a fruit and swallowed it.

In order to taste it, I had to slightly bite the fruit and swallow it, but now the fruit was so sweet that I didn’t have to. It was so sweet and delicious that I couldn’t leave until I ate all the fruits on the leaf.

***

Crow.

A bird belongs to the Corvidae family. It was the smartest among birds and its improvised problem-solving ability even surpassed chimpanzees.

However, since ancient times, this animal had become a symbol of ominousness because of its image of eating corpses and collecting sparkling objects.

The bird that was ususally drawn on devil or witch-like trinkets.

That’s me.

Even if I want to laugh, the sound that came out from my beak is a caw.

I thought that this would bring my mental more down, so I took off to the sky. I sighed deeply as I looked at the ground.

That man and I started to have a strange cohabitation. It was an instinct for crows to build nests and sleep safely and warmly, but I ignored that instinct and hovered around that man.

The wound on his side wasn’t serious, but it wasn’t shallow either, so the man didn’t move as much as he could, but the man didn’t move much.

And I continued to bring herbs for him.

Now, when I drop herbs, the corners of his eyes would gently curved. It was so dazzling that my heart fluttered.

Oh, really. A smile on that face is lovely. You’re showing off your handsomeness at the level of cheating! And I’m just a mere foot wash compared to you!

Even though I said that, all I did for the man was to bring him some medicinal herbs, tell him the location of fruits that can be found occasionally, and telling him by making a sound if something was strange.

Huh? It’s a lot more than I thought.

-Umm, hmm. And it wasn’t that I didn’t get anything from that man.

He caught fish or rabbits with traps that were made of wood and stones for him to eat. And thankfully, very thankfully, he also gave me a portion.

That’s a relief! When I was a person, I liked yukhoe1 and sashimi2. *Sob sob*(crying), it’s delicious.

“Rainelle”

Hearing the man’s words, I cawed and landed on a nearby rock.

And as I tilted my head while looking at the man, he placed fish meat on the rock.

Oh! Thank you for the food!

I quickly clamped the fish with my beak and flew up to a branch. When I looked down, the man was giving me a soft and friendly smile.

OMG——! That smile is a foul!

The man gave me the name ‘Rainelle’. When he called me ‘Rainelle’, it felt like some unknown feeling was welling up in my chest.

As I thought, I want to sit on the man’s arm or shoulder and act cute, but if it’s too much right from the beginning, I can feel burdened. Should I just hop around him for a little bit?

Anyway, I have finished eating the fish. I’m full, so I’ll go get some herbs.

***

Notes:

1 Yukhoe: a raw meat dish in Korean cuisine↩

2 Sashimi: a Japanese delicacy consisting of fresh raw fish or meat sliced into thin pieces and often eaten with soy sauce ↩