Of All Things, I Became a Crow - Of All Things, I Became a Crow: Side Story #3

Of All Things, I Became a Crow: Side Story #3

*Rainelle’s POV

“Uh, wait—!”

I had no courage to run away. Seeing his eyes burning like that, I thought that if I ran away, I would suffer more later.

“This is embarrassing!”

“How about I do something more embarrassing?”

“Karmeut—!”

His lips stopped me from saying more. The next moment, I stopped struggling.

…Uh… Since I’m not really against it, should I just pretend that he won…?

***

The place for the vacation had been decided. We decided to go to a villa near Lake Alsone so that he could enjoy the warm spring.

“All that’s left is for us to go.”

“—Really? The maids and attendants don’t have to go?”

“There are maids and attendants in the villa. We’ll have escort knights, but there are no nobles.”

I nodded my head at Karmeut’s behavior of asking, “It’s okay, right?”.

“Yeah, it’s good!”

“That’s a relief. Let’s go to relax.”

I saw Karmeut smile brightly, but suddenly I looked at him with a crazy idea.

“…? What is it, Raynel?”

“Karmeut, that… we’re going by magic to get to Lake Alsone?”

“That’s right. …?”

“…can we not go by magic?”

At those words, Karmeut’s brows narrowed.

“—It will take quite a while to go by carriage. There’s a mountain range in the middle, so it will take a month to return with the safe road.”

“There’s a much shorter way than that.”

“What is that…”

“Ah,” Karmeut exclaimed briefly. It was after he saw me spreading my wings and fluttering them lightly.

“You want to fly, Rainelle?”

“Yes.”

“You mean you’re going to carry me on your back?”

“Of course. It’s meaningless if I don’t go with Karmeut.”

As I said that and nodded my head, Karmeut already gave a small smile. It was as if he knew I was going to say something like that.

“Yeah, I thought you would say that.”

“Oh? Really?”

“Because we planned the vacation, I already moved the necessary items to the villa in advance, and all we have to do is leave in the magic circle with the escort knights…”

Having said that, Karmeut continued his words while stroking my head,

“If we fly, the escort knights will just have to move separately.”

“Then you allow it?”

“Sure. I allow it.”

“Wow! Thank you, Karmeut!”

I hugged Karmeut tightly, and he smiled and hugged me back.

“Oh, can I ask you a favor?”

“Huh? What is it, Karmeut?”

“I wish I could use a saddle… can I?”

I blinked my eyes at those words.

A saddle —That would mean that Karmeut asked to put it on my back, right?

“Yeah, it’s okay. It’s rather good that you asked.”

“…really?”

“It’s good to fly, but I shouldn’t let Karmeut fall in the meantime. Since it’s for Karmeut’s safety, of course it’s good.”

At that, he smiled a little. Then he said while mashing both of my cheeks.

“Thank you, Rainelle.”

I laughed happily at Karmeut’s expression of affection, but I suddenly had a question.

“…By the way, Karmeut.”

“Yes?”

“How will you measure the saddle? Isn’t that supposed to be made to fit my body?”

Hearing that, Karmeut let out an exclamation, then he answered,

“Previously, Myrdin-nim came and said that he wanted to study how you changed form. He said that he also measured Rainelle’s body shape at that time.”

“He measured the numbers?”

I was surprised.

I didn’t expect him to measure my body down to the numbers! I didn’t know that!

“—He said that the body shape of an animal is also a good research record. Then, I made a saddle just in case.”

Saying that, Karmeut smiled shyly. I was taken aback by the words, but it wasn’t something that I couldn’t understand.

“…I was a little surprised, but I understand.”

“Thank you for your understanding, Rainelle.”

“No. Thanks to that, you made the saddle comfortable, right? Then that’s better! We don’t have to wait anymore for the saddle to be made.”

I took Karmeut’s hand as I told him that.

“Let’s go quickly! Let’s go on vacation! Vacation!”

“…Yes, okay. Let’s go quickly. I also want to be alone with Rainelle for the first time in a while.”

Hearing his words, I laughed lightly and made small jumps with my steps.

Since I have to carry Karmeut and fly, I need to be especially careful.

***

I changed, not into the form of a crow, but into the form of a large bird, and put on a saddle. It was Karmeut himself, not anyone else, who clasped the saddle.

“Even if you’re in the form of a bird, you’re still Rainelle. It’s bothering me if someone else touches you.”

Karmeut’s behavior felt somehow cute, so I rubbed my beak gently against his cheek. Then he smiled, touched the smooth beak, and immediately moved to climb onto the saddle.

“Which way should I go?”

“You can fly southwest. I don’t know how long it will take, but… if you fly that way, the mages will draw a mark in the air, so you can follow it.”

“Okay. You’re holding on tight, right?

Asking that, I turned my head to look at Karmeut. He smiled and nodded his head.

“I’m holding it firmly, so don’t worry.”

“I should still be careful, right?”

“Please.”

He erased his smile and nodded his head earnestly, settling my heart. Then I spread my wings and ran forward.

If I was alone, I could just start flying right off the bat, but I wanted to fly as stable as possible with Karmeut riding on my back.

That was why, I wrapped the air around my wings while running, kicked off the ground, and then flew up.

“Wah—!”

Hearing Karmeut’s exclamation, I felt elated.

Come to think of it, I’ve never taken Karmeut to fly before.

Realizing that, I felt a little sorry.

How cool and pleasant it is to fly, but I can’t believe I didn’t do this for him before.

I thought ‘From now on, I will fly with Karmeut more often,’ as I slowly flew lower.

When I flew slowly so that we could look down on the capital of the Empire, Karmeut spoke to me,

“Are you giving me a tour, Rainelle?”

“Thinking of it, I don’t think I’ve ever let Karmeut fly with me, so let’s fly often from now on.”

“If you do that, I think I’ll be happy.”

I nodded and looked down. I felt joy when people looked up and burst into admiration as they found me flying in the sky.

Karmeut seemed to have adjusted a little, so I increased the altitude. Immediately after that, I could see the Capital getting smaller and smaller.

“Wow…”

Karmeut, who had just let out a voice of admiration, touched the nape of my neck gently.

“Rainelle, have you been looking at this scenery?”

“Yeah, isn’t it cool?”

“Yeah, it’s really cool.”

After saying that, he looked around and said quietly,

“It was really cruel to put a bird in a cage. It would make it impossible to see a sight like this for the rest of your life.”

“Karmeut didn’t lock me up.”

“Yeah, but you couldn’t fly freely because you have to care about me, right?”

There was silence for a moment. However, the conclusion was the same no matter how I thought about it.

“But I’m happy to be around Karmeut.”

At those words, Karmeut looked at me. Nodding my head at his exact eye contact with me, I said,

“It’s okay. It’s not like someone else is holding me and confining me in a cage. It’s the life I decided. And I can still fly like this, right?”

I lightly waved the tips of my wings. Feeling the wind whistling past the tips was pleasant. I opened my beak and laughed,

“And it’s nice to be able to fly together with Karmeut. Let’s fly more often in the future.”

At that, Karmeut replied with a smile.

“…Yes. Let’s fly often.”

“Yes, let’s! Oh, that’s right. Did you get the protection magic from the mages?”

“I asked Myrdin-nim. The high-altitude sky is cold and it’s hard to breathe, so he made an artifact for me.”

Karmeut raised his arm. I nodded as I looked at the glittering bracelet on his wrist.

“Is the magic working?”

“You don’t have to worry. It’s still working.”

“That’s good. Then I’ll go fast!”

After confirming that Karmeut held the saddle firmly, I gave strength to my wings and swung them vigorously.

I felt a pleasant floating feeling and found the wind path. If I spread my wings on the strong wind path and rode on it, I could fly far without any effort.

This was the way migratory birds usually move, and this was the best way to fly far in a stable position, especially with Karmeut here.

Fortunately, there was a fairly strong air current blowing southwest where we were going, so I simply rode on it.

“From now on, we’re going fast, so hold on tight, Karmeut.”

“—! You aren’t being too hard on yourself?”

“There’s a strong wind blowing in the sky. If I rode it, I can fly without any effort.”

“A strong wind in the sky?”

“Yes. Birds that are flying far away use this kind of wind. It’s less tiring than flapping your wings hard.”

However, there were downsides. It wasn’t a problem for me, but it could be for Karmeut.

“The wind blows quite high, so it can be cold for Karmeut. …But it’s fortunate that you received an artifact from Miyrdin-nim.”

When asked “Is it cold?”, Karmeut then nodded.

“It feels the same as when I was in the palace.”

“If you want to touch the clouds, I’ll fly higher.”

“…Then can I trouble you?”

After getting lost in my mind for a while, I felt that Karmeut, who asked quietly, was cute, so I burst into laughter.

Even if he tried to touch the clouds, he wouldn’t be able to touch anything, but I couldn’t ignore Karmeut, whose eyes were shining with anticipation.

“Then I’ll fly higher!”

Saying so, I lightly flapped my wings. I fell off the stream current for a while, but I could do anything for Karmeut.

The flight which would have been boring if I was alone, was not boring at all.

***