Aside from the fact that there were one or two strange things going on, I was having a leisurely day as usual. I'd wake up late in my nest and head to the nearby river. After washing and preening my feathers there, I’d fly around, picking berries, and if I got bored, I'd circle the forest once. That was my daily routine. With no natural enemies, my life was no different from that of a carefree loafer… no, a bird's life.
This… this is the unemployed life I wanted, isn't it? At first, I was bewildered, but I was slowly starting to like life as an eagle. Perhaps this life would be a leisurely one…?
I was sitting on a thick branch, using my beak to comb out tangled feathers, when I heard the voice of the herb gatherer, which I'd heard so often I was used to it. "Hey, Mister! Long time no see!" It was an inner familiarity I couldn't share with anyone.
"Yesterday, I taught you about the herbs used for detoxification, right? I'll wait here, so try to find them on your own today."
"How many?"
"Since you're trying to memorize their appearance, I think one of each will be enough."
"Yes!"
A small child answered energetically. Still young, but so smart. I was watching quietly, feeling proud, when the child suddenly looked up and our eyes met. The child was startled and tugged at his father's sleeve, whispering.
"Dad, it's the eagle!"
"Shh— remember we agreed not to acknowledge it?"
"Oops, that's right…."
It was a small whisper, but since I became an eagle, my hearing had become so good that I could hear the conversation clearly. Feeling awkward, I pretended not to hear and preened my feathers.
The first time I encountered people in the forest, it was utter chaos. After becoming an eagle, I was happy and surprised to see people for the first time, so I flapped my wings, and the people seemed even more surprised than I was. Some of the more faint-hearted ones seemed to lose their strength and even fell on their butts, which made me feel embarrassed.
I figured they were surprised because I was big and not an animal they could easily see, so I left to let the humans calm down. After that, I didn't show myself unless I had to. Watching them fall over in surprise wasn't very pleasant either. I mean, even I would be startled if I encountered a huge wild animal.
Anyway, avoiding humans every time they came into the forest was something I could only do once or twice. As it kept happening, it became annoying, and at some point, I just ignored them or started observing what they were doing from a distance. It was around that time that I incidentally learned about herbal medicine, as the herb gatherer taught his son. Thanks to that, I've been able to survive until now by picking edible berries instead of hunting.
As I was building an inner familiarity with the humans who came to the forest, I happened to help them a few times. It wasn't a big deal. It was just stopping the herb gatherer's child from heading towards the cliff without knowing any better, or calling someone else to help a hunter who had tripped over a rock and couldn't move his leg. But the humans were incredibly grateful, as if they had received a blessing.
After that, they seemed to regard me as a guardian spirit or a divine being of the forest, thinking that they might incur my wrath if they offended me. If I could speak, I would have told them that I wasn't here for any special reason, but simply because I had nowhere else to go and the crow's nest I had snatched was quite comfortable.
"You mustn't bother the eagle. Remember that and come back."
"Yes!"
The child kept glancing at me, but as if not wanting to bother me, he tried to ignore me and walked away energetically. As I quietly watched his adorable figure, I narrowed my eyes at a sense of incongruity that I hadn't noticed until now.
This isn't Korea. I realized that when the humans first came here. A subtle mix of Westerners and Asians, but closer to Westerners in appearance. With the variety of hair and eye colors, this couldn't be Korea.
No, seeing the brilliant colors that were more than just diverse, I even had a reasonable suspicion that this might not be Earth. The reason I couldn't easily leave this forest was precisely because of that. After living as a human and dying, I opened my eyes to find myself as an eagle. Even if this wasn't Earth, it wouldn't be that surprising, but that didn't mean I felt like leaving the forest easily.
Anyway, why haven't I noticed it until now? That I understand the language they use, which isn't Korean, without any difficulty.
A language I've never heard before. It's not English either. There's no way I wouldn't have recognized the foreign language1 I'd heard the most in my life. This was a completely different language. No, actually, what language it is doesn't matter. What matters is that I understand that conversation 'perfectly' without any difficulty.
I flew into the sky to clear my complicated thoughts and circled the forest as if taking a walk. Yeah, what's so strange about it? In the first place, a human became an eagle! And with the memories of my past life. So, what's so strange about an eagle understanding a language it's never heard before now! I tried to rationalize myself as if urging myself on.
"Screech!"
Yeah, come to think of it, it's not that strange. I've come too far to give meaning to everything. Eagles don't do this kind of high-level reasoning. They just live! I decided to become a simple loafer again.
After a very short period of anguish and a walk, I returned to where the child was. This forest has quite a few poisonous plants that aren't fatal, but could be dangerous to a child, so I was worried.
I realized after hearing the herb gatherer's story that I could distinguish poisonous things by smell or intuition. If something smelled bad or felt ominous, it was always a poisonous herb or fruit. Humans didn't seem to feel that unpleasant smell, so it was probably something only animals could recognize, or it was probably my ability.
"It should be around here… Ah, here it is!"
I watched to make sure the child didn't go to any dangerous places while he was finding the herbs, and he safely returned to the herb gatherer. With this much devotion, I deserve to be called the guardian of the forest…?
I was screeching with pride when I suddenly caught a whiff of a fishy smell. The senses that had become more sensitive since becoming an eagle had never been wrong, and if that assumption was still valid, then this was definitely the scent of blood. Not the scent of animal blood, but the scent of human blood. Without the rancid smell of fur mixed in, and with a thicker, fishier smell, this was definitely human.
I wasn't planning on doing anything as an eagle, but I followed the scent to find the source of the blood. As I got closer, I could see what looked like a human figure collapsed in the distance.
I spread my wings and glided down, landing on the thickest branch near the fallen person. His chest was rising and falling, so he didn't seem to be dead, but his breathing was weak. Well, if he was fine after being covered in blood like that, it would be a horror movie.
By the way, this is the first time I've seen such black hair since coming here…. When I lived in Korea, everyone around me had black hair, but here, it's harder to find black hair. The closest color to black I've seen is dark brown, but this man's hair is as black as if he used hair dye for gray hair.
"...Cough."
While I was observing him closely, the man coughed up blood and twisted his body. At the same time, his head tilted towards me, so I could see his face in detail. Oh… wait, I've seen him somewhere before….
"...Screech-?!"
Is this… for real?! That face, that face is… that person!!
"Screech… screech…"
I was screeching as if I was about to faint. I mean, this doesn't make sense. Don't tell me I… was hit by a reincarnation truck, but a possession truck…? I was so surprised that my chest feathers puffed up without me realizing it, but whether my chest feathers puffed up or my head feathers puffed up, that wasn't the important thing right now.
I landed on the grass a little away from him to see his face in detail. It's not a mistake. This face is definitely… the final villain in the web novel I read most recently, Blessing of Fire.
The web novel Blessing of Fire was a very popular romance fantasy work, with a well-established world-building that even had a separate setting book. In addition, the illustrations that appeared frequently compared to other works had a vividness and quality that made them seem as if they were about to come to life. In particular, the appearance that perfectly captured the personality of the characters in the story was even more eye-catching.
And, this man definitely has the same appearance as that villain I saw in the illustration.
"Screech…"
No, it can't be. It must just be someone who looks like him. But what if that person's eyes are red when he opens them…? I was muttering to myself when the man in front of me fluttered his eyelids and then opened his eyes with difficulty. My eyes met his red eyes, which I had been denying all along.
Damn it. No matter how I look at it, it was him. It became even clearer when he opened his eyes. Unlike my miserable mood, he narrowed his eyes for a moment, thinking that it was a dream to be facing a bird, and then closed them again.
Yeah, that man is definitely Theodore. But… why are you here…?
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