Surviving a Shounen Manga

Pigeon

I approached ‘it’ as if possessed.

It was sitting alone inside a small cage on a large pedestal, and even among the numerous other birdcages on the pedestal, it was an incomparable existence, gloriously shining like a Triton among the minnows[1].

Wait, it was on the pedestal?

I tilted my head.

‘Is it for sale…?’

This was pretty odd.

It wasn’t a matter of being able to recognize it as a divine beast or not. If my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me, I would have to say that the bird was beautiful enough to catch my eye at first glance, even though I didn’t have a great sense of beauty or aesthetics.

Wasn’t it a cute little thing that should’ve easily gotten sold by now?

It was surprising that it was on the pedestal, no different from the rest of the birds, and still unsold.

I glanced around.

‘Where’s the owner…?’

I wanted to ask if this kid was up for sale, but there was no one guarding the stall. It looked like they’d stepped out a while.

This was fine too. It was an opportunity to observe it to my heart’s content without attracting the owner’s notice.

As I got closer, to my surprise, it also raised its head. As if it was conscious of me.

"From the lark family, maybe?"

Although I knew almost nothing about birds, it looked familiar somehow.

‘Ah, but still, probably not something common.’

I pushed my face a little further.

"Let’s see, you look like… hmm?"

For a moment, I was frozen in confusion.

Upon closer inspection, it was a pigeon.

It was a small, adorable, white pigeon.

"… A pigeon."

Of course, it was very pretty.

It’s very pretty, but… it was still a pigeon.

Oddly enough, the surprise and mystery I’d felt at the beginning seemed to have died down a bit.

I shook my head.

No, that was just prejudice. So what if it was a pigeon? Was there a law that said that a pigeon couldn’t be pretty?

That was then.

"Hang on, you motherfucking son of a bitch. Who’re you calling a pigeon?"

"…?"

"Where’re you looking at, you idiot?"

I was astonished.

"… Hoo."

It was the bird in front of me that spoke. This little white pigeon spoke human words, and with a very crisp accent at that!

"The pigeon talks…"

"I’m a falcon, you bastard. A white falcon (白鷹)[2]. A white falcon, got it?"

"At least stick to the pigeon theme…"

"Hey, just fuck off, will ya? Get that squat jaw of yours away from me."

"…"

I took a step back.

It was time to sort things out.

First of all, this guy’s identity.

Again, this bird had to be a divine beast. Not only did it look far too pretty, but it could even speak like a human.

Not all divine beasts could talk in human speech, but almost all animals that could speak were divine beasts. Except for a few extremely rare cases.

However, along with that certainty came even more confusion.

I wasn’t surprised just because this guy spoke human words. On the contrary, what I couldn’t understand was the fact that, even now, this guy was casually lined up on a narrow market street like this, mixed in with all the rest of the birds being sold.

One could be ignorant of divine beasts, sure. They weren’t that common in the first place, and the setting was that they were only known from legends passed down through the ages. Unless you were an outstanding adventurer, you probably couldn’t really recognize one on sight.

But this situation was different. Because this guy talked.

There was a talking bird here, and yet nobody cared?

Or maybe I could only hear him because of my ‘friendly with animals’ trait? While I was thinking that, somebody spoke.

"Haha, this guy often argues with the passers-by. Try throwing in a worm or two, he’ll snap them right up."

So that wasn’t the case.

Someone who looked like the stall owner had appeared without me noticing, smiling as he addressed me.

"…"

Not just that.

Another old woman who looked like one of the horse merchants had also sneaked up to me.

"Hey, little white, how are you today?"

She was throwing birdfeed in as if it was a familiar routine.

Then,

"Shouldn’t you say thank you?"

The owner urged.

"Thanks. Delicious. Delicious."

"Ehe, okay, okay. Bon appétit."

"…"

I silently watched this scene.

Turned out, it wasn’t that people weren’t curious, and it wasn’t that they weren’t paying attention.

He must’ve been the mascot of this stall.

But that was all.

‘He’s being treated like a talking parrot…’

His treatment was more fitting for an old circus monkey than a divine beast.

But after a lot of thought, I thought that in a way it made sense.

In this world, something non-human to speak wasn’t particularly strange. There were fairies, divine beasts, and many other things.

I mean, people weren’t particularly surprised when humans flew and breathed fire either, right?

In other words, it might’ve been surprising at first, but in time people were bound to get used to it as another ‘normal’ oddity.

Of course, I didn’t know if this guy had ever shown off his own unique ability, but it certainly didn’t seem like he did or could. Being locked in a cage like this itself was far from the normal image you’d have of a divine beast, in the first place.

‘No, wait. Is it really a divine beast?’

Somehow, even I myself was starting to get confused.

What was its real identity? Could it be something else?

Or was there some kind of great restriction on the cage itself?

How could it become a talking bird?

Maybe some kind of curse?

But I couldn’t come up with any answers just thinking by myself.

So, I decided to keep an eye on him.

But suddenly,

"Damn human. Throwing this trash at me."

The guy stopped pecking at the rice littered on the ground, slightly raised his head and spat out some abusive language.

"…"

It was truly an incongruous sight. Such cursing coming out of that pretty bird’s beak. Also, his voice sounded like an owl.

Besides,

"Hey, who wants to eat something like this?"

His actions and personality reminded me of a street thug.

Outrageous.

The birdfeed had already disappeared by about 80%.

Wasn’t that almost the same as eating it all?

That was then.

"What is it, Squatjaw? Haven’t you fucked off yet?"

My eyes met his as he was looking around, feathers ruffling.

"Uh… not yet."

"What, you here to sightsee? Screw off right this second."

I just wanted to have a conversation, so this was as good an opening as any.

I spoke in a slightly cautious tone.

"Are you… really a bird?"

"If I’m not a bird, you aren’t a human either."

"No, I don’t think you’re an ordinary bird. You can talk like a human, after all."

"I’m not anything special."

I didn’t openly ask if he had divinity. This guy might not even know the concept of divine beasts and unique abilities, and the owner was watching me from a distance, too. Well, he might just be thinking that I was a spectator interested in this strange bird.

"Where are you from?"

"None of your business."

"I’m just curious. Are you not from here? Did you get caught?"

"No, I’m here because I just like this place! You really think that birds crawl into cages because they like the atmosphere?"

"Is that so?"

Obviously there was some secret. Maybe it was some kind of restriction, like I’d guessed.

"Where were you and what did you do before you got caught?"

"Why do you keep asking things? Stop bothering me."

"Just curious. You’re so pretty, so I’d naturally be interested, right?"

Then, surprisingly –

"Well, I did this and that. Fighting monsters, going on adventures…"

The little bird answered in a slightly relaxed tone.

He seemed to be a bit weak to praise.

"Adventures and monsters? Hey, how could somebody like that be locked up in a cage for no reason?"

I asked what I’d been thinking.

But –

"That… you don’t need to know. If you’re so curious, why don’t you buy me yourself and find out?"

"Oh, I have to buy you before you can tell me?"

"Hey, did you think it’d be easy to make me talk? If you’re not going to buy, please screw off."

The guy cursed at me again.

The problem seemed to have some relationship with the owner over there. He was pretty much saying that he could talk only when he got away from the owner.

I lowered my voice a bit.

"Well, I’m not short of money. Should I buy you?"

Then,

"What? Hmm, how much money are we talking about?"

It felt kind of tempting.

"It should be enough to buy you. I’m pretty rich."

"Oh? Ummm… we do get along a bit, I guess. I’m getting some kind of a good vibe from you."

If he wasn’t lying his beak off, it was probably my ‘friendly to animals’ characteristic.

"Alright, then wait a minute…"

That was then.

"He’s good at listening to the stories of the adventurers passing by and telling them as if they were his own."

The owner approached me with a smile.

It was a warm-hearted grin, giving him an impression of a good person.

"Are you interested in him?"

"Yeah, I guess. You selling? How much is this guy?"

In an instant, his eyes started shining with strange light.

"Yes, he is for sale, but the price is quite high. As you can see, he’s pretty, he can talk, and he’s the mascot of our store…"

"I see. How much?"

I was quite surprised at the owner’s response.

"One billion gold."

"…"

Hmmm.

It was then that I sensed something.

The owner was well aware of the value of this guy. But even so, this bird had been put on sale openly on a street stall.

Besides, the amount wasn’t unreasonable. Any adventurer who knew the value of the divine beast would agree to pay this much.

So, it was even more problematic. Did someone who knew the value of the divine beast really put it on sale so openly? For such a hefty yet reasonable amount, at that?

I immediately felt that something was up.

I glanced back slightly.

By then, the pedestal, the cage, and everything else was starting to look suspicious. It all looked crudely made, but maybe there were various curses on them.

What to do…

"Hey, Squatjaw! I’ll owe you! Buy me! Raise me! Do it!"

…

After a while, I looked back at the owner and the bird, and spoke softly.

"Please… wait a bit. I’m going to get some money."

Then I moved towards the racetrack, leaving behind the angry curses of the pigeon. It was time for the horse race to end.

"Look at him! That penniless wretch! That bastard made fun of me! Damn it!"

The horse race I participated in was a single-winner, and only one horse was selected as the first winner.

Out of a total of thirteen racehorses, the one I’d bet on was the eighth. His payout was 2560-to-1, the highest of all.

That’s right, it was horse that was substituted in to make up the number only ten minutes before the match, to replace another horse that was down with stomachache.

But somehow, that horse ended up winning.

Truly, how strange and baffling[3]! Like something straight out of the twilight zone.

And as a result, I got my hands on two billion in actual cash after deducting commissions from my investment of one million gold that I had.

"That’s just how things go sometimes. It’s really nothing. I was just lucky."

"…"

"Don’t be too sad. Isn’t our difference just about five million at most? You did well too."

Chinuavi clenched his fists and lowered his head without saying a word.

"… It’s five hundred million, not five."

"Don’t be too sad. Maybe you too will win one day."

"…"

"Let’s get moving. It’s time for us to hurry."

Next, I headed back to that stall with a depressed Chinuavi in tow.

I was in a hurry in case anything else happened in the meantime, but fortunately, the ‘kid’ was still there.

At second glance too, it was a sight to behold. Even though he was just a white pigeon.

And then,

"This, this fucking Squatjaw! You again!"

The guy went so crazy seeing me that he even started to glow.

"Calm down. I brought the money."

"… What? Money?"

"Yeah, where’s the owner?"

"R-… really? The owner’s inside the shop… No, you really brought the money?"

"Is that so? The shop… the one over there?"

That was then.

"Wait, this bird… talks?"

Chinuavi was looking at the pigeon with shining eyes.

"Yeah, that’s why I said I’ll buy it. A bit expensive, though. Go take a closer look. Not just the bird, at the cage, too. You might have some work to do."

Putting him to work, I went into the store where the owner was.

Creak–.

I almost ran into the owner, who was coming out, as soon I opened the door to the shop and went in.

He recognized me right away.

"Oh, did you really bring the money?"

"Yes. We don’t have time, so let’s make a deal right now."

The owner looked me up and down and gave me a strange smile.

"Aha… But there’s a problem, you know?"

"What?"

"The price has gone up."

I laughed bitterly.

Somehow it seemed like something that’d happen.

"How much?"

The owner slowly peered into my eyes.

"Now, uh… about 1.5 billion? Oh, of course, I can shave it down a little, but…"

It was raised 500 million in one shot.

Well, it was still within the expected range.

I immediately pulled a small piece of paper out of my pocket and held it out.

It was a bookmaker’s ticket, worth 2 billion gold.

The owner gaped for a moment at the sight.

"Thanks for the change. I’m busy, so I’ll just go."

"Uh, uh… yeah. Thank you."

"Can I just take him?"

"Ah… Yes, you can take him along with the cage."

The owner’s smile deepened a little, but I decided to not waste time and simply move on.

I marched out of the store, shouting.

"Chinuavi! Come, and bring the cage with you!"

"Wait! That bird! What is it?! Pretty!"

Cocoa’s reaction was as expected.

"Hey, don’t touch. You could get cursed."

"It’s fine!"

"It’s not fine!"

I had to scold her for trying to put her hand into the cage, at first.

"Damn it! Squatjaw! Get rid of this little kid! She wants to pluck my feathers!"

"What! You think I’ll hurt you? Crazy!"

"…"

In the end, I had no choice but to drive Cocoa away.

The princess’ reaction was also unexpected.

"No, Squatjaw! You, you were pretending you didn’t know about the Warrior’s Path? Did you prepare all these things?"

"Eh? What’re you talking about?"

I heard that aspirants were usually given horses and white birds as gifts. Since they were the symbol of ‘Umir Khan’, who’d founded the empire, or something.

"It’s not like that. Don’t even dream about it. This bird’s mine."

"Hmmm…"

However, even after being rebuffed several times, her greedy eyes never winked as she stared at it.

They were both trouble.

After yelling at the two of them to not even come close, I approached Chinuavi again.

Chinuavi was so engrossed in his thoughts he hadn’t even noticed my arrival.

"Hey there."

"Oh, are you here? I’m almost done figuring it out. There are twelve curses on this cage. Three or four tracking functions, too. We would’ve been in quite the pickle if we’d tried to get the bird out as it is."

Looked like my guess was correct.

"Can you decipher them?"

"What do you think I am… I’m a goblin, Big Brother. A goblin."

Chinuavi showed a reliable smile.

"And other than the cage?"

"Can you see that? The anklet? In fact, that seems to be the biggest problem."

An oddly coloured anklet was fitted around the pigeon’s ankle.

"What is it?"

"I don’t know yet, but it seems like a restriction that locks away the true form of this bird."

"So it’s really true…"

Maybe it wasn’t a lie that he’d gotten captured.

"Alrighty then. Let me talk to him for a moment."

I moved my seat to face the cage.

Now was the time for a conversation, just between the two of us.

"Why didn’t you say anything? About your state, I mean. You could’ve mentioned it earlier."

It wasn’t meant to be an interrogation. I was just curious about his past.

"I couldn’t say anything until I was sold. That bearded guy… he’s got a hell of a temper."

He was talking about the store owner.

"I didn’t think you’d really buy me…"

"Why the sudden change in tone?"

"Because there aren’t many who like a pigeon who swears… and you paid a high price for me, too."

"What, a pigeon? Are you accepting yourself as a pigeon now?"

"…"

It didn’t feel like a joke.

This guy was apologizing to me.

"How many times have you been sold? To other adventurers."

The kid answered meekly.

"About… four times, maybe?"

"Did you get caught again every time? Pursued and captured?"

"Yeah, that’s what happened."

The kid was hanging his head.

"Is that guy going to come? The owner?"

"No, that bearded guy is just the tip of the iceberg. The pursuer’s another one."

To put it simply, it was a plain scam.

This guy was a bait to lure wealthy and inexperienced adventurers. Who had enough vision to recognize that he was a divine beast, but not enough to see the traps underneath.

While they thought they’d struck gold and got a divine beast at a low price, somebody would track their steps and come visit, eliminate them, and take the divine beast back.

In a word, they were out-and-out villains.

‘… It’s strange.’

It was a bit frustrating, too. I should’ve been aware of the villains who would do such a thing, but no one came to mind.

Eastland had really occupied a very small part of the story in the original. There were so many distinctive characters and groups here, but most of them had never even showed their faces in the original work.

"When would they start chasing you?"

"It was different every time."

"How far can they track you?"

"No idea. There’ve been times when I’ve even crossed the sea…"

"Hmm, do you think they might start tracking you right away?"

"That changes from time to time."

"What information do you know about them?"

"Zilch. Except that it’s a very large organization. But I think there were a few other guys like me, too. I don’t remember too well."

"Hmm."

It was as expected. There was no way these guys, who caught divine beasts, used them to bait the hook, and robbed adventurers, were a small organization.

"I got it."

That was then. As I was about to get up, the kid stopped me.

"… Squatjaw."

"Yeah?"

He sighed a couple of times and then continued.

"I’m not going to apologize."

"What?"

"If you take me with you, you’ll probably die. Better to just leave me be. Then they won’t chase you anymore."

"What are you even trying to say?"

"You just got cheated out of your money because of your own stupidity. Just think of it as having thrown it away. If you leave me right now, your life at least will be…"

I stopped him from talking. Because I could pretty much predict the rest.

If I had to turn it around and repeat it back to him? Sorry for cheating you. Just leave me behind.

"It’s fine, I already know even if you don’t tell me. You’re a bastard."

"…"

"But it doesn’t matter, because I’m different from those others. I’ll soon make you fly."

"…"

Around that time, Chinuavi came back with a strange smile on his face.

It seemed like he’d seen some success.

"I think I’ve found a way to decipher a couple of the restrictions on the cage… Shall we start right away?"

"Hey, it’s fast."

"Haha, it wasn’t much."

"But, don’t do it. Leave it alone for now."

"Uh… yes?"

"Let’s take it slow. What kind of guys will be coming after us, I wonder?"

When I’d decided to come here to Eastland, I’d set myself only two rules of conduct.

First, see every case to the end.

Second, see anybody who got entangled with me to the end.

The reason was simple. That way there’d be something to see and something to talk about.

And now –

"What’re you all lazing about for! Everyone, get on horseback! Let’s go!"

It was time to move again.

After five days.

Finally, we were just about to set foot in ‘Barantor’, the capital of the Skull Empire.

Tiling–.

Suddenly, a message arrived on the hologram.

‘What? Now’s not the time for anything, right?’

And when I actually saw the content, I was astonished.

[You have received a proposal to become the chapter’s leading point of view from the author]

• If you agree, please press here.

One day before the Warrior’s Path would start, an offer came from the author.

Editor’s Notes:

[1] 군계일학 (lit. best of the bunch). The Chinese equivalent would be the crane among the chickens.

[2] 白鷹 (bai ying), white-feathered eagle. Considered auspicious in the ancient times.

[3] 귀신이 곡할 노릇 (lit. ghosts singing), idiom meaning something strange and baffling.