Kert, who had been smiling contentedly at Formo’s answer, suddenly opened his mouth wide at a certain thought that crossed his mind. Come to think of it, he hadn’t told Formo the most important thing. There was no way Serdin or Sara would have told him either.
Just as Kert was about to carefully broach the subject, Serdin opened his mouth one step ahead.
“Pipi, that’s a good decision. But there’s something I didn’t tell Pipi.”
Formo tilted his head and looked at Serdin.
“To become a beastman, a price is needed.”
“Pit? Piit?”
[A price? What price?]
A price. It was a problem he’d never thought about even once after deciding on beastman transformation. Well, of course. There’s no way they’d just give beastman transformation with its countless advantages for free. At the thought that some kind of terrifying price would probably be needed, Formo unconsciously swallowed dry saliva.
Serdin stared intently at Formo before opening his mouth.
“No one knows what price will be paid.”
“……Pi?”
[……Are you joking?]
No one knows what price will be paid? Rather, it was a deflating story. Formo, who had been thinking only of the worst prices like giving up his wing or beak, was truly dumbfounded. It was absurd enough to think he was being teased, but looking at Serdin’s serious expression, it didn’t seem like that.
“The Water Deity always gives a price one can handle, so there’s no need to be too frightened.”
Kert spoke in a gentle voice to the long-tailed tit who was looking at him and his superior with subtle eyes. Though the suspicious long-tailed tit seemed completely unconvinced.
“Pipi, will you be okay?”
At Serdin’s question, Formo jutted out his beak before nodding his head. He had decided to become a beastman for Arancha’s sake. So whatever the price was, it didn’t matter.
“Good. Your Highness, I’ll prepare so we can proceed with the beastman transformation immediately tomorrow.”
“Alright.”
“And I’ve ordered most of the necessary items, but I’m not sure if they’ll be to Pipi-nim’s liking. And I’ve also prepared clothes. However, I can’t gauge Pipi-nim’s measurements, so additional alterations will probably be needed. The best thing would be to call a tailor and order clothes after humanization.”
Kert said this while observing Formo. When he’d brought up the topic of ‘price,’ his complexion had seemed a bit pale, but it appeared to have calmed down somewhat.
“I’ll be going now. I’m still busy with a lot of data left to organize.”
Serdin waved his hand roughly to chase Kert away. He wasn’t curious about how much data was left to organize. He had no intention of listening in the first place. He stroked Formo’s spine gently while imagining what Formo would look like when he became human.
The white, fluffy feathers tickled his palm. It was a moment when he very much looked forward to tomorrow.
* * *
Time flew like an arrow.
Formo stared blankly at the spring water placed docilely before him. About two drops of spring water had fallen on a flat leaf. It didn’t look much different from the medicine he’d taken before that enhanced stamina. It even seemed so trivial that he doubted whether this was really the spring water that created beastmen.
Formo scratched his cheek before looking around. As Serdin had told him in advance last evening, no one was there.
When undergoing beastman transformation, there was a unique procedure of spending a week alone to give time to adapt to one’s unfamiliar appearance. This was one rule tacitly observed among beastmen.
Formo stared intently at the spring water before carefully bringing his beak to it. Then Formo, with the spring water in his beak, raised his head and swallowed it with a gulp. The spring water passed down his throat, and Formo’s body gradually began to shine.
The bright light enveloped Formo’s entire body, and Formo tensed, trembling his wings at the scene he was encountering for the first time. Soon, the brilliant light disappeared without a trace. Formo looked bewilderedly at his body, which had returned to normal, and tilted his head.
‘……What changed?’
He was reluctant because he didn’t feel anything different. Just as he was thinking he should drink more, his vision suddenly became blurry. Like when he’d fainted, everything nearby turned pitch black and his vision swayed here and there before quickly returning to normal.
This time too, nothing had changed. It seemed the amount of spring water was insufficient. Since Serdin and Kert had said they’d wait outside for about thirty minutes, it seemed he’d need to call them to get more spring water.
“Uh…… Uh……?”
However, instead of the familiar chirping, a voice he’d never heard before in his life was coming out cracked from his vocal cords. Could it be…… had he humanized? Formo’s mouth fell open. Come to think of it, it wasn’t just his voice that had changed.
His eye level was also different. Moreover, he was standing on the floor, not on the table. It had changed so naturally that he’d almost missed it. Formo urgently looked around before discovering a full-length mirror placed in front of him. Formo’s appearance reflected in the intricately carved full-length mirror was…….
‘Is, is this me?’
It was beyond imagination. Formo had vaguely thought that if he underwent humanization, he would have golden-colored hair like the jaguar beastmen including Serdin. But that was a misconception. Unlike them, Formo’s hair was white as snow and his eyes were pitch black. However, when he leaned in to look closely, a faint dark blue light swirled in them.
No matter how much he looked in the mirror, he couldn’t get used to it. His appearance reflected in the mirror felt only too unfamiliar. As Formo examined his appearance with eyes full of tension and made eye contact with the eyes in the mirror, he ended up letting out a shriek.
“Uh, huaaa…… Hup!”
Startled by the bizarre scream that burst from his mouth, Formo reflexively covered his mouth. However, Serdin, reacting to the sound that leaked between his fingers, grabbed the doorknob.
“Yo, Your Highness! You mustn’t. Isn’t there a rule! Restrain yourself!”
Though Kert desperately stopped him, it was useless. Serdin easily removed Kert, who was grabbing and hanging onto his collar, then flung open the door to the room where Formo was and went inside.
As Serdin strode inside, a head larger than a long-tailed tit’s but smaller than other beast beastmen’s bumped into his chest with a thud. Serdin, who lowered his head, looked at the round, pure white crown and opened his mouth.
“Pipi?”
As if responding to his call, the small head slowly lifted up. Eyes holding a dark blue light looked up at Serdin. Serdin, who made eye contact with him for a moment, spoke in a voice mixed with laughter.
“Pipi is the same even after humanization. Ah. Or rather, do you like me so much you keep coming to bump into me?”
“Uh……!”
Formo, who was about to let out an angry chirp as usual, touched his throat that was making sounds contrary to his intentions and reddened his earlobes. To show such a clumsy and foolish appearance in front of the wicked jaguar…… Formo couldn’t bear the shame. Even though he wanted to say something, he didn’t know how to pronounce the common language, so only bizarre sounds like “uh,” “ah,” “eu” came out.
Just like a young child babbling. Seeing Formo, who only moved his lips but couldn’t continue speaking, Serdin spoke teasingly.
“Pipi, you’ll need to learn how to speak first.”
“……”
He’d thought only good things would happen if he became a beastman, but in reality he’d become an idiot who couldn’t even speak properly. Formo glared at Serdin and puffed out his cheeks.
“Are you sulking, Pipi?”
Serdin’s eyes, asking that, were glistening with playfulness. He wanted to peck his cheek because he was annoying, but the current Formo was human, not a long-tailed tit. In other words, it meant that until he returned to his long-tailed tit body, no matter how annoyingly Serdin acted, he had to endure without being able to peck his cheek.
“Your Highness, please come out quickly! Pipi-nim needs time alone!”
At Kert’s voice pleading while knocking on the door, Serdin, who shook his head, responded nonchalantly.
“Seeing Pipi makes me not want to leave.”
“Yes, pardon? What do you mean by that? Rules exist to be followed!”
“Pipi says it’s okay. He says he feels so reassured and happy that I’m here.”
“……Pardon? Th, that can’t be.”
Kert continued in a reluctant voice, and Formo also looked at Serdin with a bewildered face. When on earth did he blabber such words? He was groaning like this because he couldn’t say a single proper word.
Kert, convinced his words were false, knocked on the door again, but Serdin had already withdrawn his interest from him. Serdin helped Formo, who couldn’t even move his steps properly on his own, to sit in front of the table.
Even a newborn animal wouldn’t be this pathetic. Serdin couldn’t help but let the smile that formed at his lips on its own.
“……”
“Pipi, you know what?”
When Formo tilted his head, Serdin continued while fully revealing his lips tinged with laughter.
“Pipi, you’re naked right now.”
At those words, Formo’s face stiffened. Formo’s eyelashes, belatedly realizing he’d been naked all this time, trembled. Humiliation washed over him in waves. There was no humiliation like this humiliation.
It was truly the worst.
Serdin looked at the frozen Formo with amused eyes before bringing a large blouse that might fit him and dressing Formo in it. Formo, startled by the unfamiliar sensation the fabric gave, looked up at Serdin with round eyes.
“It’s okay, Pipi. You can relax. Pipi’s size isn’t embarrassing enough to show anywhere. Ah, Pipi. Just because I said that, it would be better not to think about showing it anywhere. Got it?”
At the incomprehensible words, Formo squinted his eyes before letting out a sigh. His head hurt over whether he should or shouldn’t feel relieved that it was Serdin who had seen his naked body.
