15
“Why is that bird here?”
I blurted out, stunned by the bird's sudden appearance.
The bird—something with a name like 'Per-something'—was pecking at the glass with a fierce determination, just like a woodpecker.
Tap, tap-tap-tap!
“Do you know that bird?”
Sion asked, equally dumbfounded.
“That bird used to belong to Noel, the head of the merchant guild. It used to live in that birdcage over there.”
I said, pointing to the cage beside the bed.
Garen, who had been standing near the terrace glass door observing the bird carefully, suddenly exclaimed, lightly punching his fist into his palm.
“This one… I think it's ‘Perdique.’”
“Perdique? What’s that?”
“It’s a type of carrier bird mainly used by imperial nobles or wealthy merchants. They’re a rare species—extremely fast and clever, impossible to catch by hand. Well-trained ones have a strong homing instinct and will always return to the cage where they were raised.”
“So it must’ve come back here because it recognized its old cage ” .
Sion said.
Just as he suggested, the bird—whatever its full name was—had its eyes fixed on the birdcage by the bed, flapping its wings restlessly.
“What should we do, young lord?”
Sion fell silent, lost in thought.
“If someone sees the merchant head’s carrier bird coming and going from here, it could put you in an awkward position.”
Garen’s concern made sense. I quickly flew up and perched on top of Garen’s head.
“Whoa there.”
Then I started waving frantically at the bird beyond the glass door.
“Shoo! Go away! Shoo!”
‘You little punk. Showing up like this and getting Sion into trouble? *Thanks to you, now I’m the one who has to walk on eggshells again!’
“Tsk, I said go already!”
Tap-tap-tap! Tap-tap-tap-tap!
Grabbing a fistful of Garen’s light brown hair, I shouted.
“Garen, don’t open that door no matter what!”
“Ow-ow, okay, I got it!”
It was at that moment I found myself locked in a tense standoff with Per-something, glaring at each other.
…I suddenly noticed something.
“…Huh?”
A tiny message tube was attached to the bird’s ankle.
“…That’s…”
“Now, Perdicaius. Just as you were trained—fly over quickly and deliver this to my aide.”
“No, it’s too soon to let our guard down. It’s not over until we retrieve the hidden supplies without getting caught.”
“……!!!”
Yanking on Garen’s hair in a panic, I shouted.
“Garen, open the door! Hurry!!!”
“Huh? But—”
“Just do it!!!”
Seeing my sudden shift in urgency, Sion quickly caught on and issued the order.
“Garen, open it.”
“A-Alright!”
Flap-flap-flap~!!
As soon as the terrace door opened, the Per-something bird flew straight into the room.
Unsurprisingly, it headed straight for the birdcage.
But then…
It stopped.
Chirp. Chirp-chirp.
[What the—? My home!]
Seeing the birdcage with its door broken off, the bird visibly trembled.
Chirp! Chirp-chirp-chirp! CHIIIIIRP!!!
[My house—reduced to this wreck! Who did this? Show yourself!]
“…Um.”
I cautiously approached the bird. Standing next to it, I realized it was actually larger than me. I gently tapped what looked like its shoulder.
“Well, uh… it was already like that when we found it. Sorry about that.”
[Who… are you? Not a human, not a bird—some weird little creature. Don’t tell me you’re the one who wrecked my home?]
‘…The nerve of this guy.’
Its attitude ticked me off a little, but getting that message tube from its leg was the top priority, so I forced on a friendly smile.
“Haha, what are you talking about? Of course not!”
[………]
“See that handsome young man over there? I live in this annex with him. I’m actually a fairy, you know! We share a bed, even. I haven’t even touched your cage.”
[…Is that true?]
“Of course! Look, why don’t you come in and rest a bit? You must be tired after flying all the way here. Don’t worry about the door—we’ll fix it for you.”
Trying my best to appease the bird, I gently pushed it toward the cage. With a reluctant little wobble, it stepped inside.
[I flew dozens of *Kalrots in a single day—I’m starving. Serve me my meal. I want plump, fresh centipedes.]
“Yeah, yeah, got it.”
Just then, Sion—who’d been quietly watching our back-and-forth—walked over and handed me something.
It was the broken door from the cage I’d tossed earlier.
‘Wow, talk about perfect timing!’
I hopped onto Sion’s shoulder and whispered into his ear,
“Sion. That bird has a message tube from the merchant head on its leg. Once it's inside, we need to take it.”
“……!”
Sion, understanding immediately, reattached the cage door. The bird was now officially locked in.
Without hesitation, I dropped the act and called out to it bluntly.
“Hey.”
[……?]
“Give me that.”
I pointed directly at the message tube tied to its leg. The bird startled, then screeched.
[Y-You! This is what you were after from the start?! You sly scoundrel!]
“Yeah, yeah. Hand it over.”
[No way! This mission is more important than my life! Only my master—]
“Oh yeah? Then starve.”
[…]
The bird promptly shut its beak.
***
“Let’s see here.”
I opened the message tube and unrolled the tightly wound letter.
It was scrawled in a hurried, frantic handwriting, filled with desperate explanations.
[To the Merchant Head,
I’ve received your previous letter and am replying as quickly as I can.
First, please stay calm as you read this.
Before we entered the Northern Grand Duke’s territory, we secretly stashed away about half of the supplies in the hidden location you specified. We’ve been waiting for you to return after concluding negotiations with the North.
But… a small incident happened nearby, and unfortunately, it drew attention to the hiding spot.
Because of that, we had no choice but to urgently move the goods elsewhere.
Please forgive us for proceeding without your prior approval—it was a very pressing situation.
The new location of the goods is…]
At the bottom of the letter, the exact location of the supplies was written out. It was a forest just a bit outside the Grand Duke's castle.
After reading the entire message, Sion and I looked at each other.
“Looks like… we’ve just found the missing supplies.”
“…Seems that way.”
“What? Is that true?!”
I handed the letter to Garen. His eyes widened as he read through it.
“Young lord! This is…!”
Sion nodded.
“If we go to the location mentioned here, we can recover the rest of the Northern trade goods.”
“Is that so…!”
The dark clouds that had loomed over Sion and Garen’s expressions now lifted visibly.
“Then let’s quickly report this to headquarters—”
“Hold up!”
I suddenly stretched out both arms and blocked Garen’s path.
“Ms. Lin? What’s wrong?”
“Sorry, Garen. But I need you to hand that letter back to me.”
“What? But—”
“You were about to go and report everything in that letter, weren’t you?”
“Yes. That way we can act quickly, before the merchant head leaves—”
“Wrong, wrong.”
I clicked my tongue and wagged my finger.
“You’re such a naive knight, only seeing the obvious.”
“…Pardon?”
Snatching the letter from Garen’s hands, I rolled it up and tucked it under my arm.
“I’m confiscating this.”
“Ms. Lin?!”
“It’s a rare chance. We’d be fools not to take advantage of it.”
“What are you talking about…?”
Without answering, I slipped the letter straight into the front pocket of Sion’s jacket.
“This is the perfect opportunity for the noble Sion Luxior of the annex to step into the spotlight.”
Raising one eyebrow incredulously, Sion replied.
“So that’s what you were getting at… but this concerns the well-being of Northern citizens. This isn’t the time for games.”
“I’m not playing around.”
I looked up at Sion, flashing him a confident smile.
“Just hear me out. I promise—this could turn into a pretty solid plan.”
🍓; *It figuratively describes a situation where someone has to be very cautious or careful, often to avoid conflict, upsetting others, or worsening a tense situation.
*I'll assume this as a unit of distance in this story
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