Even though he’d reminded himself that he was an adult long-tailed tit and steeled his resolve, it was difficult to ignore the pain that directly struck him.
“Pi, piit!”
[Ah, it hurts!]
Formo grabbed his forehead that had been pierced by a tree branch and involuntarily screamed. The tearing pain was vividly felt in his forehead. He hadn’t even collided that hard, yet could it hurt this much? Tears slowly filled Formo’s large eyes. The resolve he’d repeated dozens of times had long since burned up in his head.
A whimper leaked out between Formo’s beak.
“Piiiii……”
Dark red blood was gradually seeping out from his round forehead. Serdin, who had been watching that scene with wavering pupils, opened his mouth.
“Sara.”
“……Yes, Your Highness.”
“Give me cloth and bandages.”
“Yes.”
Serdin reached out his hand and grabbed Formo, who was sitting collapsed in front of the tree branch. Then he carefully took him out from inside the tree and checked his forehead’s condition.
“……Pipi.”
“Piii……”
Serdin, who called Formo with a voice mixed with sighs, received clean cloth from Sara. There wasn’t even time to complain about the reckless action he’d committed while treating Formo’s wound. Serdin personally wiped away the blood seeping from Formo’s forehead with the clean cloth. When the white cloth cleanly absorbed the dark red blood, this time Sara took out disinfectant.
When he poured a bit of the transparent liquid in the bottle onto the wounded forehead, Formo’s small body trembled violently.
“Pi, piit!”
[Ah, it hurts!]
The moment the disinfectant touched the torn wound, an unimaginable pain struck. A burning sensation as if his skin was being scorched arose near the wound. Formo, startled by the pain he was experiencing for the first time, gasped and opened his eyes wide.
Confirming that the disinfectant had soaked in well, Serdin received cloth with ointment on it from Sara. He took advantage of the gap while Formo hadn’t yet escaped from the aftermath of the disinfectant to gently apply the ointment over the wound.
“Pit!”
[Ow!]
When the startled Formo got scared and exaggerated at the sudden touch, Serdin burst into a low laugh.
“Pipi, this isn’t like the disinfectant, so there’s no way it hurts.”
“Pi, piii……”
[But, but it still hurt a little……]
Formo muttered small words and sniffled. Serdin, who understood that cute complaint, shrugged his shoulders and began wrapping bandages around Formo’s small head. As the bandages were wrapped layer by layer, Formo’s eyes, which had been full of moisture, gradually dried.
Serdin, who had been concentrating on wrapping the bandages for a while, cut off the bandage and secured it.
“……Pi?”
[……Is it done?]
Formo blinked his eyes and asked at the unfamiliar sensation and weight he felt on his head.
“All done, Pipi.”
At his words, Formo felt his forehead with his wing. He could feel the thickly wrapped bandages with his wingtip. It somehow felt like his head had become heavier than before.
‘Just how much bandage did he wrap……?’
Formo looked at Serdin with bewildered eyes.
“Pipi, you almost got seriously hurt.”
When Serdin spoke while making eye contact, Formo shut his beak tightly. Though it had hurt quite a bit, he hadn’t almost gotten seriously hurt to the degree Serdin was worried about. As a long-tailed tit born with the fate of a guardian, he’d exercised his abilities to control his speed to some extent. And if he hadn’t gone that far, forget becoming a beastman—he would have spent his life being overprotected.
That didn’t suit his temperament.
“Piii!”
[I didn’t get seriously hurt, so it’s fine!]
Formo, who spoke refreshingly, turned his head sharply and looked at Sara.
“Piiiit? Piit?”
[Did you get my blood properly? That’s enough, right?]
At the chirp that seemed to be checking whether the intended purpose had been achieved, Serdin let out a low sigh. Sara glanced at his superior, who seemed to be in a bad mood, then carefully nodded his head. Whatever the process, everything needed had been gathered, after all.
At Sara’s answer, Formo, who had become triumphant, raised his beak sharply. He seemed to have completely forgotten that he’d been crying profusely from pain just moments ago. Serdin clicked his tongue softly while staring at Formo with a gaze filled with bewilderment. It was troublesome—the moment he let his guard down, accidents happened as if he’d been waiting for it.
Whether Serdin sent such glares or not, Formo lightly ignored it and flapped his wings, demanding to be put down.
Serdin, who let out a sigh, put Formo down and decided to quietly watch what kind of accident the tiny long-tailed tit was planning to cause this time. Formo fluttered his wings for a moment, then soon stared outside with eyes burning brightly as if he’d decided something.
What he’d decided was that he needed to start building his stamina right now, which was the second most important thing after becoming a beastman. If it was judged that he had no aptitude, the only thing to rely on would be stamina, so he planned to build up his stamina beforehand. Even if that stamina was a trivial thing smaller than a millet-sized teardrop.
Having made his decision, Formo walked forward quickly with all his might in his wings. No, he tried to. However, he couldn’t move forward at all because he was wobbling left and right from the weight of the bandage Serdin had wrapped around his head.
Formo stopped abruptly in place with flabbergasted eyes. The weight of the bandage was heavier than he’d expected.
“Pipi, where are you trying to go?”
“Pi.”
[To exercise.]
He responded briefly to Serdin’s question and tried to move his steps again.
“Don’t tell me you’re planning to exercise?”
“Pi?”
[What if I am?]
Formo asked while shaking his short feet, preparing to start running.
“Your walking is so cute I want to put you in my mouth right away, so I’d like to let you, but you just bled, Pipi.”
“Pi?”
[So?]
When Formo turned his head and asked back, Serdin continued speaking while raising the corners of his mouth obliquely.
“Of course, it means you can’t. Rest well today, Pipi.”
“……Pit?”
[……What?]
Building stamina is such an important and urgent matter! Formo opened his eyes wide at Serdin’s words, which were like a bolt from the blue. Then he desperately tried to show he was fine.
“Pi, pii! Pipit!”
[I’m fine. Look at this! I can even flap my wings like this!]
Formo, who diligently flapped both his wings as if to show off, glanced at Serdin. However, Serdin’s expression hadn’t changed at all. Except for a strange emotion settling in the eyes looking at Formo, there was absolutely no change, not even a hair’s breadth.
If he’d known that strange emotion was something close to affection, Formo would have jumped in place.
“Piiiit?”
[You don’t believe what I’m saying right now?]
Formo let out a hollow laugh and gave his attention to Sara. If it was Sara, a capable physician, he would surely recognize well how perfectly fine his condition was. But contrary to Formo’s expectations, Sara also seemed to have the same thoughts as Serdin.
Sara, who avoided Formo’s gaze full of expectations, shook his head from side to side.
“……Pi?”
[……Are you serious?]
“It’s very unfortunate, but you must rest today. Even though there are no injuries other than the tear, you were hurt.”
While continuing to speak, Sara checked Serdin’s expression. Serdin, who smiled loosely as if pleased with her answer, opened his mouth.
“You heard, right, Pipi? Exercise starting tomorrow, and today you must rest well.”
At that annoying behavior, Formo, who glared at him, let out a deep sigh and plopped down on the spot. Formo stayed like that for a while as if protesting, then slowly blinked his eyelids and soon began dozing off while sitting. Perhaps because he’d been crying profusely, drowsiness came over him.
Serdin, who had been quietly staring at Formo, whose every action was full of openings, let out a “pfft” laugh and reached out his hand.
His large hand firmly supported the back of the long-tailed tit who was swaying here and there while sitting. Anyway, he was a long-tailed tit who required a lot of attention. That’s why it was good—there was no time to be bored.
The dark curtain of night that had enveloped the world lifted, and the dim moonlight also gradually receded. What revealed itself in the place where the night’s curtain and moonlight had disappeared was very warm sunlight. The warm sunlight brightly illuminated Arancha, and the diligent long-tailed tits got up from their places starting from early dawn and moved busily.
Unlike them, there were also those who showed themselves early among the jaguars, for whom it should have been the middle of the night.
They were Serdin and Sara. They had gotten up at the crack of dawn and were discussing something with very serious expressions. It was a scene that would have made Kert, who had assisted Serdin from his side for a long time, grab the back of his neck and collapse if he had witnessed it. It was something he couldn’t even imagine—Serdin, who was lazier than any other feline beast, getting up at the crack of dawn.
“I believe it takes about two hours.”
“Yes, Your Highness. It will take about two hours. First, I’ll just bring the spring water for confirming aptitude. And as for becoming a beastman, following the formal procedure……”
“In the meantime, the weakened barrier might collapse.”
“That’s……”
“There’s no choice.”
Serdin, who shook his head slightly, continued.
“We’ll have to station jaguars there until the barrier is restored.”
“Then where will the beastman transformation proceed?”
“We’ll move to the detached palace as soon as aptitude is confirmed. Just because one becomes a beastman doesn’t mean they’ll immediately be accustomed to humanization.”
“They’ll probably need time. There’s a lot to learn too. It would be good to put up a barrier temporarily instead of jaguars.”
Serdin nodded his head. The long-tailed tits they’d been observing for the past few days were a needlessly timid and wary species. Among them, Formo couldn’t even be considered aloof. Rather, he was the most friendly long-tailed tit. If jaguars were stationed near Arancha, the territory of such long-tailed tits…….
“The faint-hearted long-tailed tits might faint.”
“That seems likely.”
An unprecedented situation where the long-tailed tits all fainted together could occur. And Formo, who would face that scene, would naturally resent Serdin. Then there was only one remaining method.
