Of All
Things, I Became a Crow: Chapter #98
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
*Rainelle’s POV
I flew around the Imperial
Palace with a nervous male crow. Then I moved my head slightly and said,
"Caaw? Caaw, caw? (What
do you think? It’s shiny and cool, right?)”
The male crow didn't seem
to like those words very much. As if dissatisfied, it put its feathers flat on its
body, looked around, and gave a reply that sounded as if it was hard to be spat
out,
"---Caw. (---It's a
little cool.)"
"Caaw! Caaw! (This is
where I live! I love this place!)"
Saying that, I pondered
for a while.
...should I show it my room? Since it has
followed me all the way here…
But then I shook off that
idea.
This male crow doesn't like humans, so it would
be better to avoid them. Besides, this place is safe because there are wizards
and Miel here.
Most of all, I couldn't treat this male crow
badly because it is kind to me. Besides, looking at it from a crow's point of
view, this guy is a very nice male.
...uhhhh, it’s just from a crow’s point of
view! That glossy feather and smooth body line are so cool! That's a different
kind of charm from Karmeut! It’s the unique charm of birds!!
I kept suppressing the way
my gaze went over there.
As a zookeeper, that male crow is so
handsome... Argh! Let’s not think about it like this! Let’s not!!
"Caaw? (But why don’t you like me?)
As we were sitting on the
roof and looking down at the Imperial Palace, the male crow suddenly asked a
question like that. My eyes opened wide and I responded,
"Caaw? (Why are you
asking that?)"
"Caaw caaw, caaw.
(Other females like it when I have good place and delicious food, but you say
you hate it.)"
As it said that, the male
crow grunted and it swelled and flattened it’s feathers to its body repeatedly.
Then I replied bluntly,
"Caaw? (Then you can
pair up with another female, right?)"
"Caaw. (I don’t like
that.)"
To be honest, I was
frankly surprised by the male crow who replied that it didn't like that.
Um, do the males reject females? Of course,
there are many animals in which males choose their females, but crows don't,
right?
"Caaw? Caaw? (Huh,
why? Don’t you say they like what you have?)"
"Caw, caaw. Caaw,
caaw.?
(Yeah, there are a lot of
females who follow me because they like me. Good territory, strong strength,
and capable of protecting my female. Who wouldn’t like me?)"
As it said that, the male
crow stretched out its chest. With subtle flattery in its voice, the crow
continued,
"Caaw, caaw? (But
once we have a partner, we’ll be together for a long time, so shouldn't we be careful?)
What? Did crows have such a habit?
With that thought, I searched through my head for a bit.
I think it’s described like that in the [Wild Animals I
Have Known1]. Is it the same here?2
Anyway,
to sum up, a lot female has been eyeing this guy, but it didn’t take a partner
yet…
…Huh? Wait a minute. But then, seeing this guy stalks me
like this... Does that mean this guy really target
me?
"Caaw? (Do you like
me?)"
"Caaw. Caaw. (Yeah. I
want to mate with you.)"
The male crow’s feathers
swelled up as it answered without a single
hesitation. The male crow slowly moved next to me and made a rumbling sound.
"Krr, cawr? Caaw,
caaw, caaw! Caaw! (So pair up with me, okay? I'll take care of you, I'll fill
you up with delicious food every day, and there's even a nice nest! I'll keep
the chicks safe too! So, let's become mates)."
The male crow said the
“let’s become mates”, part while inflating its collar feathers and rubbing its
beak against my own, so I jumped back.
I didn't want to live at a nest and eat bugs,
so I chose humans!! I hate it no matter how cool and cool a male you are! I
don’t want to be partners with you!!
"Kakk!! (No!!)"
Avoiding the male crow
with my beak wide open, I spread my wings and flew.
"Caaw, caaw. (I don’t
want to be your partner, but I'll give you something delicious.)"
I'm sorry for refusing so harshly. I’ll just
give you cookies as thanks for before.
But the male crow was
persistent.
"Caaw? (Why do you refuse?)"
"Caaw. (I like it
here.)"
"Caw? Caaw? Caaw? (Because
there are a lot of sparkles? But this is where humans live? Do you like
humans?)"
"Caaw. (I like
humans.)"
“Caw? Caaw! (Why? I can do
what humans do!)"
The crow as it said that
seemed like a child. The effort to somehow please me was imaginary. To me, this
crow was the same as a five-year-old kid who said, “I want to marry my sister
when I grow up!”, so I didn't feel anything.
"Caaw? (You can't do
this, can you?)"
In the end, I have no choice but to use the
last resort.
I went back to my room to
get the cookies. When I turned into my human figure, the male crow raised its
feathers upright, seemingly startled.
"See, I can turn into
a human. So I don't have to pair up with a crow. And I hate bugs! Even a nest
made with twigs, straws, and feathers is more uncomfortable than here. Above
all, you hate humans, but I like them."
The male crow looked like
a flying ball right now. With a nervous squeak, itby the window.
...Is it because I'm a human being that I can't
interpret the crow's cry, or is it just grumbling while crying?
I was thinking about a
question that suddenly came to my mind whenthe male crow said with clacking
beak,
"Caw?! Caw! Caaw?! (Sparkling!
A sparkling fruit! You eat the eggshell, right?!"
"Huh?! How did you
know?"
"Caaw, caaw. (If you’re
a crow, it's a story you hear when growing up.)"
The male crow, who replied
casually, landed on the window sill. Then it said while raising its collar to
the full.
"Caaw. Caaw. (But
I've only seen one crow that found it and ate it. That crow is also a crow that
sticks with humans.)"
...is it Myrdin-nim’'s crow that this guy is
referring to?
The story of the male crow
was interesting, but maybe it this guy didn’t found it as a very pleasant
story. It closed its beak and looked at me with a bewildered gaze.
"Caaw… (I don't understand why you can eat a Godish thing
and still stick to humans...)"
"So you can give up on me. There
are many females."
"Caww. (I hate that.)"
...No, what kind of bullshit attitude is this? The number
one priority for animals is survival, and the second is reproduction, right?
Besides, if you're a male crow, you don't need to be tied to one female, right?
But why?!
"Caaw, caaw. (Since you’re a
female that ate Godish thing, I want to mate with you even more.)"
"I don't want to"
"Caaw? Caaw! (Don't
be like that, huh? I’m the most popular and talented male!)"
Yeah, yeah, you are.
I grabbed a cookie to change
the subject. Then I offered it to the male crow.
"Here. I say I'll
give you something delicious, didn’t I?"
The crow took the cookie.
It tilted its head, put the cookie on the window sill, and began to peck with
its beak.
"---!"
The crow appearance of
staring blankly at the cookie with its black eyes wide open was very funny.
Oh, is this why Karmeut gave me cookies?
I smiled and asked,
"Isn’t it
delicious?"
The crow shuddered at the
words. Then it turned its head and mumbled,
"Caw, caw. (Well, a
little.)"
"It's a reward for showing
me places before. Of course, I really hated bugs."
The crow swallowed a piece
of cookie with an uncomfortable squeak that seemed to convey that it doesn’t
want to accept the deliciousness, although it still constantly pecked at the
cookie.
After he had been focused
on eating, the crow suddenly jerked its head up and looked around.
"Caaw, caaw! (Humans
are coming, so I'm going!)"
"Huh?"
While I was still confused,
the crow flew away with the remaining cookie in its beak. I was staring blankly
at the male crow that was becoming a black dot in the blue sky when I sound of
footsteps reached my ear.
Oh, is it Karmeut?
I was puzzled by Karmeut's
behavior of returning earlier than usual, but soon I realized the reason.
The love letter! That's why he’s coming back
now!!
What do I do, what do I do?! Go back to be a crow? No, no!
I can't say anything when I’m a crow! Well, then should I stay like this?! How am I supposed to deal with this?! Aaah!!
Before I could figure out what
to do or how to deal with it, the door opened.
Waaahhh!!
*Karmeut’s POV
"Ah, Rainelle, you are
in human form."
Karmeut smiled brightly as
he entered and saw Rainelle in her human form. Then he opened his mouth with
uncontrollable joy,
"This is good. About
this letter..."
As soon the word ‘letter’
was said, Rainelle jumped in place and then ran. Then she returned to her crow
form and turned her back towards him.
"Rai, Rainelle?"
Karmeut was stunned by
Rainelle’s blatant act that seemed to say “I didn't hear~ I didn't hear~”. Then
he soon realized something.
Rainelle acted as a messenger between the Young
Lady Gwynell and Namuel. And now that she had sent me a love letter…
"--Do you want me to
write you back, Rainelle?"
At those words, Rainelle
returned to her human form. Karmeut suppressed his laughter at her appearance
that seemed to have answered “yes” from the way she blushed.
He was even touched.
The letter wasn't an expression of affection as a companion
animal, it was a love letter.
It's so cute too.
“Okay. I’ll write you a reply right away, but can you come over here for now?”
"Why, Karmeut?"
When asked to come his
way, Karmeut smiled at her act of running without a doubt.
Then by surprise, he planted
a kiss on her lips.
Rainelle's face grew even
redder to the extent that Karmeut could hear the surprise and embarrassment
from her face. Looking pleasantly at her, Karmeut
then said,
"A reward for writing me a
letter."
"This, I didn’t do it for this
reward."
Her act of wiggling her fingers while
muttering that was very cute. Therefore, Karmeut chuckled
a little and hugged Rainelle. Then he replied while rubbing his face on her
shoulder,
"Yeah. I did it
because I wanted to."
His mumbling and laughing
was ticklish, so Rainelle twisted her waist slightly, but Karmeut just hugged
her tighter.
"Are you envious of
sending and receiving letters?"
"Uh, huh. A
little...? I wanted to try it... ---It was difficult to write smooth sentences.
I was at a loss because I didn't know how to write it."
Karmeut smiled at her
small babbling behavior.
"Do you want to learn
better?"
"Yeah, but..."
"Then I can introduce
you to a teacher."
“Uh… I promised to learn
from Aria…”
"If you explain the
situation, she will be able to
understand."
When he stroked her head
while saying so, Rainelle seemed to ponder for a moment. Then she nodded her
head,
"Okay. I'll tell her. ...But it’s okay to
go out to play, right?"
"Of course."
At that, Rainelle showed a
smile of relief. She then relaxed and leaned in his arms. Satisfied with her
behavior, and a little curious, Karmeut asked a question,
"But, Rainelle, you
don't turn into a crow now?"
"Uh, yeah. ---Is that
weird?"
"I want to know since
you usually use your crow form."
At those words, Rainelle made
a muffled hum sound. She then turned her head away as she looked apologetic.
"That's... I'm more
comfortable as a crow. My original form is a crow. Unlike humans, it can fly
freely and is lighter."
"Really? I see. Then,
now?"
Rainelle's ears turned
red. Then she mumbled as she turned her head another way,
"That, that..."
"Hm?"
"Because I like Karmeut... I wondered if it would be better
to get used to the human form..."
Rainelle muttered so while
wriggling her small fingers. The movement of the grip put a tickling sensation
on Karmeut's arms.
***
Notes:
1 A book by Ernest Thompson Seton. If you’re interested, you can find the ebook here ↩
2 Actually, as far as mating goes, a pair of crows will typically stay together for life, but extra-pair copulations are not unusual, at least in some populations. ↩
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