It’s been almost a day out on the open sea. Birdswell was still flying with me on board.
I’ve ordered him to turn around several times since then, but he doesn’t listen to me and keeps moving towards somewhere.
I look at the sea below.
―What the hell is that?
A green mass is floating in the sea. From here it looks small, but it must be quite large.
A projection extends from the lump and points towards us.
I get goosebumps from fear. A chill runs through my body.
This is bad.
“Avoid it, Birdswell!”
“Gaw?”
A tremendous rush of water appeared over us.
We’re up in the air. What the hell is that!?
A huge crocodile-like monster emerged from the water. Its back was covered with spikes, which it seemed to be using to shoot at the enemy above.
The water flowed over us again after a couple of minutes.
We… We are going to die!!
There’s no time to use appraisal. We need to run.
I manage to get out of it’s attack range, somehow.
“T… Thanks for saving… ME!?”
In the distance, a pillar of flame rose.
In other places, purple electricity runs through swirling black clouds, and in another place, explosions, all at the same time.
It’s a bizarre sight. It’s not a natural phenomenon, is it?
I began to cry at the horror of the open sea.
«This is really bad! Even with all we’ve been through, there’s not enough life in the world to survive this! You’re just torturing me by pretending to save me!”
“Gah?”
“Don’t try to be cute! Goddamn!”
I don’t want to die. Please go back to land.
There’s not enough life in the world for this.
“So, that’s it.”
I put the last piece of bread in my mouth. There’s still some water left, but how long will that last?
Birdsewell sas been flying without eating or drinking for a long time.
I can see that he’s pushing himself. He’s clearly weakened.
“What’s with you?”
“…”
“There’s no point of asking, right?”
He’s a beast, I’m a man. I can’t possibly know what a wyvern is thinking.
I thought I was going to have a brilliant revenge story. What is this? It’s not about revenge anymore, it’s about making it through the day.
I lay down early to conserve some energy.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
Being the hero was all I longed for when I was young. I thought everything would be all right if I became a hero.
“Kuhii…”
No matter how much I try, there’s no use denying it.
The result has already been seen.
I was the hero, but not a hero.
I knew it now; the job title was just a visible form of the hero’s qualities, but it required someone with those qualities to be able to use it well.
For example, someone like Toru.
I was jealous of him from the moment I met him. I didn’t like him. He had everything I was looking for, effortlessly.
So I did everything I could to deny him.
I did everything I could to take everything away from him.
In other words, it was Toru who made me who I am today. If I hadn’t met him, I probably would have lived a happier life.
I’m hungry…
I’m not sure if it’s because I’m hungry or because I’m just thinking about unnecessary things.
Is it finally the end for me?
If I die of hunger, will I come back to life?
Either way, if Birdswell runs out of energy and falls into the sea, the monsters will eat us and it will be the end.
I raised my body a little to look
“L-Land…!?”
I can see the silhouette of land in the distance.
The more I get closer, the clearer it becomes, and even from here I can see the lush forests and white sandy beaches.
We’ve made it! We’re saved!
Hey, Birdswell!
Gradually we lost altitude. I called out to him, but he didn’t reply, and it seemed like he was just gliding along with the wind.
I didn’t know if he ran out of steam. Please, just a little more!
We are getting closer and closer to land. If you don’t kill your momentum soon, you’ll crash.
Even if you are level 150, you can’t avoid instant death!
If I die, will I come back to life? I can’t risk my life like this.
Six Petals of Resurrection only lets me revive six times.
The number of lives is my trump card.
“Birdswell!!”
“Kyuu!”
He replied.
Birdswell turns in front of the land and slowly descends to the ground in a spiral movement.
With a thud, he landed body-first on the beach. The impact threw me off and I plunged face first into the sand.
“Fuu… that was close…”
I’ll have to be hard on him later. For now, I’ll have to teach him to listen to orders.
I got up and looked around.
“Have you ever come to this place before?”
It doesn’t feel real. Maybe it’s because there’s no difference.
I look back at Birdswell.
The black wyvern had closed its eyes and did not move.
«Oh, come on, Birdswell. You’ve got to be kidding me.”
I ran up to him and slapped him on the face.
I’m not going to let you die. You’re going to have to work as my foot soldier.
Don’t you want to make a name for yourself as my mount?
Wake up. Come on, wake up.
“Guh…”
“You’re alive!”
He opened his eyes. I’m so relieved.
You brought me here, so take responsibility until the end.
“You must be hungry, right? You did well. If you’d just turned around, we wouldn’t be in this mess. You really put us in a trouble”
I decided to go to the forest to grab some food.
There is a sea in front of me, but I grew up inland and have no experience when it comes to fishing. I also don’t like seafood and I’m sure Birdswell thinks so too.
As soon as I entered the forest, a slime appeared.
I don’t care about slimes.
Well, I’m sure that wyvern can eat slimes.
“Pukyu!”
“Fugh!?”
The slime sank into my abdomen.
I fell to my knees and spit out viscous saliva.
Stupied, I’m acting like that slime.
“Pukyu!”
“Guh!!”
This time, the slime latched onto the side of my face.
The monster smashed me in the face, and then returned to the sandy beach.
“Woah…!”
I jump up in the dark, remembering the horror of the slime.
The little creatures that had been clinging to my body all fled at once.
Damn, my body itches.
I’ve been bitten all over.
Oh, Birdswell!!
I stood up and looked at the place where the beast was.
“Birdswell? You have to be joking.”
The black wyvern that was supposed to be there had disappeared.
Did he leave me here? You’ve got to be kidding. I’ll never forgive you.
“Birdswell! Where are you? Come back here!”
I’ll be looking for him on the beach at night.
Don’t leave me. I’m your master, you know?
I may have given up on you, but I can’t allow you to give up on me.
Stay with me.
I’ll let you off with a bit of scolding this time. Okay, that’s a lie. I’m going to yell at you for making me worry.
No matter how many times I called, the wyvern never showed up.