The village was a small flock made up of ten families. The bird-people—a rare group of winged individuals with various wing colors—formed this community.
Among them, the family of Sheraphir was proud of their magnificent wings, which were bright blue and red. They took great pride in the colors of their wings.
So, when their youngest daughter was born with pure white wings, they were both shocked and disheartened.
It was said that white individuals were weak and would die soon after birth.
That was the belief passed down in the village.
Indeed, Sheraphir was an underdeveloped individual.
Her wings, the most important feature for the winged people, did not grow large, and she could not fly properly.
The winged people are all proficient in wind magic.
It is impossible to fly with just large wings on one’s back. Wind magic is required to take to the sky.
Sheraphir had the potential for wind magic, but she had very little magical power, making it difficult for her to lift herself into the air.
After escaping from the village, Sheraphir learned that she had been malnourished and had grown in poor health.
Her body was unable to properly channel magical power due to this.
She would never forget the feeling of eating a full meal of meat for the first time after escaping into the forest.
It was the first time she truly felt what it meant to be full.
Although it was considered tough and unpleasant meat from wolves, Sheraphir found it unbelievably delicious.
The owner of a street stall, moved by the sight of the girl eating ravenously while crying, sometimes gave her leftover food. Thanks to this, she was able to survive.
She was forever grateful to the stall owner for that.
Once her stomach was full, she was able to control her wind magic much better.
However, her underdeveloped body quickly became fatigued, and she could only use the magic in small amounts before tiring.
Flying through the air was still out of the question.
But, when jumping from high places, her wings hidden under her robe were useful. She would flap them just enough to float slightly. That alone was sufficient.
As a solo adventurer, Sheraphir hunted beasts and magical beasts with a bow from the tops of trees. The wind magic, though weak, was very useful for this purpose.
Perhaps because of this, she became a little too confident in her abilities.
She thought she could quickly earn money by foraging and hunting deep in the forest.
While the lodging at the adventurer’s guild was inexpensive and comfortable, it was a four-person room. She was constantly anxious that someone would see the wings on her back.
She wanted to earn a lot of money and stay at a proper inn, or at least rent a small house.
Although she could normally hide her wings, if she let her guard down or relaxed, they would sometimes reveal themselves.
It wouldn’t matter if people found out she was winged. While rare, she was not the only one.
However, if the people from her village found out, she would be called back. Sheraphir, despite her small and useless wings, had a very rare skill.
The skill was [Beastification].
It was a rare ability that only appeared in beastmen, as the village elder had said.
This skill allowed her to temporarily transform into the form of an ancient being worshiped as a sacred beast in beastman lore.
Sheraphir could transform into a pure white little bird. Although it was adorable, the elder and her family were disappointed by her frail appearance. Still, they thought her rare skill would be useful to the village.
They would offer her berries and fruits, things that little birds liked.
Though she didn’t mind the sweet-tart berries, the food did little to fill her stomach.
Despite being unable to fly properly and being a burden, Sheraphir’s rare skill led to her receiving special treatment in the village.
Some villagers resented her for this, and Sheraphir felt increasingly out of place.
So, that day, before the dawn even broke, Sheraphir slipped out of her house and fled the village.
Clothes, daily necessities, berries, and a water pouch.
She moved them out of the house little by little, hiding them in a tree hollow to avoid being noticed.
And so, she quietly ran away.
Her goal was to leave the Great Forest and head for the town where humans and beastmen lived.
A few times, she nearly got caught by the villagers, but she managed to escape by using her [Beastification] skill to transform into a small bird.
When chased by magical beasts, she also managed to escape in her bird form.
Though frail, being able to fly with her wings made her much faster when in bird form than in her human form.
Eventually, she reached the town, where she was barely surviving as a new adventurer when she failed at trying to earn money quickly and was about to collapse from exhaustion. It was then that Tohma helped her.
The boy introduced himself as a traveling merchant.
The tips of his ears were slightly pointed, indicating that he had some elven blood. However, the elder had told her that elves usually had either golden or silver hair.
Tohma had blue-black hair, which looked dark blue in the light, and beautiful blue eyes.
(Perhaps he has human blood in him…? If so, he’s a half-elf.)
There was no doubt that elven blood flowed through his veins. When she first saw him up close, she thought he looked like a beautiful girl, due to his well-defined features.
Tohma healed Sheraphir, who was injured, and shared some drinking water with her.
He also gave her food, a delicious soup.
Most soups sold in the town only had a small amount of dried meat and vegetable scraps, but the soup he offered was hearty, with plenty of meat!
It was thick and flavorful, and Sheraphir couldn’t stop eating, savoring the fullness for the first time in a long while.
Literally left with nothing, Sheraphir was lent money by him and even hired as a temporary assistant for his traveling merchant business.
He gave her clothes and daily necessities for reasons that were unclear, and also provided her with three meals a day, snacks included—such a generous offer!
Unlike the unpleasant glares she often received around the adventurer’s guild, he treated her kindly, and she was deeply grateful.
The clothes he gave her, which he said were for employees, were lovely, and Sheraphir’s heart fluttered. She had never owned anything as extravagant as a ribbon before.
She was overjoyed at being complimented, and for the first time, realized how nice it felt to be praised without any ulterior motive.
The work at the market was tough, but everything sold out quickly, and she looked forward to the sandwiches they ate during the break, so it didn’t feel like a burden.
In just a few hours of work, Tohma easily handed her such a generous wage, so she thought he must come from a well-off family.
He was smart and quick with calculations, but surprisingly, he didn’t know much about the town, which made him a bit of a mystery.
His cat was unusual too.
It was a cute tabby cat, less than a year old, but incredibly strong.
He had said it was a familiar, so it wasn’t just an ordinary cat, but Sheraphir never imagined it would be more skilled in magic than herself.
Though small and adorable, the cat seemed to think of Sheraphir as a little sister and took care of her.
It was probably mimicking its master, Tohma.
(Tohma, despite looking younger than me, treats me like a little girl!)
Oddly enough, Sheraphir didn’t mind at all.
The kindness she received made her want to be sincere, both to him and to others.
For a girl who had always lived in fear and caution, spending time with them felt so comfortable that she must have gotten carried away.
Full of delicious horned rabbit fried pieces, she wandered through the forest with a cheerful heart.
She found a fruit tree bearing delicious fruits, full of nectar and ripe red fruits.
The lower fruits had been eaten or fallen to the ground, rotting, but the ones at the tips of the branches were perfectly ripe and ready to eat.
(I’ll pick some for Tohma as a thank you for the delicious meal!)
Glancing sideways, she noticed he was talking to his cat and hadn’t noticed the fruit.
Thinking it would be fun to surprise him, Sheraphir climbed the tree.
As a bird person, she was light and slender, easily scaling the tree and perching on a branch.
It was a little thinner than she expected, but she thought she could quickly get down if needed.
However, the fruit she was aiming for was at the tip of the branch.
As she reached out, her fingers barely touched the fruit when the branch suddenly creaked ominously.
“Eeek…!”
The branch she was on snapped, and as Sheraphir lost her balance, she hurriedly summoned her wings and used wind magic, but it seemed too late.
Bracing for the impact with the ground, she curled up her body, and for a brief moment, her falling speed slowed.
Instead of hitting the hard ground, she landed softly in someone’s arms.
