Chapter 12

As Cavendish’s words hung in the air, Shell and the glasses-wearing chief’s faces turned sullen.

The double-tailed saint was grinding her teeth, glaring at me.

The knights who came with her were recoiling at the double-tailed saint’s face.

Earlshain and I just watched without saying anything.

We couldn’t understand the language, after all.

Cavendish, having screamed her lungs out, was now panting heavily.

Finally, she declared,

"Enough! I won’t accept your training! The saint’s training will be handled by us! Just wait and see! We’ll show you magic that you can’t even dream of!!"

With that, she left the training grounds with the double-tailed saint and the surrounding knights.

Shell and the glasses-wearing chief’s sullen faces returned.

"I can’t understand her thinking. Does she believe there’s someone in this country more skilled in magic than Director Tailsmya, or does she think she’s a better teacher? I can’t comprehend it."

Shell sighed, and the glasses-wearing chief chuckled,

"She has an unfounded confidence and pride that’s incredibly high, but she seems to dislike the effort required to match that confidence..."

He was quite harsh in his criticism.

Cavendish’s usual attitude must be pretty bad!

The glasses-wearing chief took a deep breath, regained his composure, and looked at me.

His eyes were sparkling.

"By the way, Lord Kaita! Your color-changing was amazing! Please, do it again! Let me see it again!"

He pressed me, so I did it, a bit hesitantly, and he exclaimed,

"Amazing! The vivid color change! The seamless gradient! To learn this in just one day!! Lord Kaita, you are truly a genius!"

I was showered with praise.

Embarrassed, I rubbed against Shell’s chest.

Then, Earlshain mentioned that his ability to change colors was also thanks to me, and even brought up Anne and Ingrid, which got the glasses-wearing chief very excited!

"Lord Kaita, how did you do it? Did you know you could do it from the start? Can you do it with anyone?..."

He bombarded me with questions, but I could only say,

"If I try, I can do it."

The glasses-wearing chief was left to ponder.

"Lord Kaita, you have rainbow-colored magic power and can perfectly control it in just one day, and you can even apply it to others. ... Among the mages in this country, while some might be able to learn color-changing with practice, even I can’t do it to others."

"Even you, Chief?"

"Yes, touching others and channeling magic is something done in healing magic, but healing magic is very advanced. You must sense the quality of the other person’s magic and adjust your own to avoid rejection. If done poorly, it can worsen the condition and even lead to death."

"To think Kaita could do it so easily..."

"Moreover, it’s likely that Kaita did it unconsciously..."

"Ah, he probably doesn’t even realize what he’s done."

Silence fell, and everyone looked at me.

Heh, I couldn’t bluff my way out of this.

The glasses-wearing chief swallowed hard and, with a serious face, asked,

"Lord Kaita, are you really human?"

I’ve never felt like I was anything other than human!

But his intense gaze made it hard to argue!

"Is there a possibility you’re not human?"

"Huh? Yes, I feel a natural talent in handling magic that’s unusual for a human. There are races that can control magic from birth and use it freely."

"Ah, I’ve heard of them. Elves, fairies, spirits, and the like?"

"Yes, but you’re not an elf. I’m half-elf, and I can tell if we’re of the same race."

"Whaaat?! Glasses Chief, elf?!"

They were talking about me so seriously, and I was listening intently, but when I blurted out in surprise,

"Ha ha ha! Glasses Chief!"

Shell burst into laughter.

I was laughing so hard, even while being held, that Earlshain and the glasses-wearing chief started laughing too.

The glasses-wearing chief chuckled and introduced himself,

"I haven’t formally introduced myself, my apologies. I am the Director of the Magic Bureau, Tailsmya Rest Fortuner. Lord Kaita, it’s a pleasure to meet you again."

"Tailsmya... Tailsmya..."

I couldn’t say it!

"Even though you can understand the language, it seems you can’t pronounce it properly. Is it because you’re trying to speak a different language from your previous world? However, the saint could understand the language, even though she couldn’t speak it, so perhaps your body just isn’t used to it yet?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Yes, this is just a guess, but perhaps when you were brought to this world from your previous one, you absorbed a lot of divine power, surpassing the capacity of a human, and as a result, were given a non-human body to balance it out?"

"But isn’t divine power something only the saint can use?"

"There’s no precedent, so this is just a guess, but the power of the goddess is something she bestows directly, while divine power is more like a divine aura that exists to shape the divine world. If we think of it like the magic in the air of this world, it might explain Lord Kaita’s rainbow-colored magic."

"Right, I remember Kaita died in an accident in his previous world, and if his soul was hurt and needed more power..."

"Still, this is just a guess..."

While they were talking seriously, Shell and I were practicing pronunciation.

I couldn’t say Tailsmya at all!

"Tailsmya, Tailsmya, Tailsmya..."

It always came out as "Tailsmya."

S and R sounds were my enemies, and sometimes T sounds were tricky too.

My constant "mya mya" made Shell laugh, and Earlshain and Tailsmya joined in.

"Lord Kaita, if it’s difficult, you can just call me Tails or Mya, whichever is easier."

"Tailsmya, Mya, Mya! Mya!"

"Okay, Lord Kaita."

"Kaita is Kaita!"

"That’s not appropriate, Lord Kaita is in the same position as the saint, and in this country, the saint is on the same level as the king, so you shouldn’t call him by his name so casually!"

"Really? The same as the king?"

"Yes, the saint is more of a symbol, and isn’t necessarily the one who saves the world."

"Huh, I thought the saint had the power to defeat the demon king."

"The saint might directly defeat the demon king, but that’s rare. Often, it’s more symbolic."

"Huh? If she gets power from the goddess?"

"The saint’s power varies, and it’s not always combat-related."

"Ah, I see."

"Lord Kaita, can I examine your body once?"

"Examine?"

"Yes, non-human races have distinct features. As a half-elf, I have longer ears and stay slender even as an adult. Beastmen might have animal ears or tails, or scales. If you’re a non-human race, you might have some distinctive features. Can I examine you?"

Tailsmya showed me his long ears, and I touched them lightly.

"Okay."

We moved to Tailsmya’s room.

Shell made tea, and after a short break, they started examining my body.

Everyone was looking at me, stripped naked.

I’m a child, so I’m not embarrassed, but standing on the table, being looked down upon by everyone sitting was a bit sad.

And it was very surreal!

I didn’t have a tail or animal ears, and my ears weren’t long.

"Lord Kaita, you’re quite small for a human."

"Really?"

"Yes, there’s individual variation among humans, and some are born as small as you, but you seem more like a 1-2 year old. Considering that, you’re quite small. ... If you were a dwarf, you’d be more muscular, and if you were a fairy, you’d be too big. Spirits don’t have physical forms... You don’t have any distinctive features, but there’s a bump on your shoulder blades. Shell, was this there from the start?"

"Yes, it was there when I helped him with his bath on the first day."

I hadn’t noticed it, but there was a bump.

It tickled when touched, and my nose started to itch.

When someone’s finger scratched the bump,

"Ah-choo!"

"Whaaat?!"

"Ah-choo?"

Just a sneeze, but everyone screamed, and I made a funny sound too.

"Kaita, does it hurt?"

"What?"

"… He doesn’t seem to notice it."

"But can it just appear suddenly?"

"I don’t know."

"Lord Kaita, try not to be surprised and look."

Earlshain and Tailsmya were examining my back, and Shell used a mirror to show me.

"Wha? What? Whaaat?!"

On my back, near my shoulder blades, wings had grown.

Small, white wings, about the size of my hand, like toy angel wings, with a purple gem, the same color as my eyes, embedded at the center.

"Ah!"

I couldn’t reach them with my short arms, but I wanted to touch them.

"Is this a bird-type beastman?"

"Probably not. Bird-type beastmen usually have beaks and tail feathers, and are generally very agile. They can run around by 1-2 years old."

"Then what about Kaita?"

"The gem at the base of the wings is interesting. I can sense a flow of magic from it."

"Flow of magic?"

"Yes, it seems to be drawing in ambient magic."

"Is that possible?"

"Magic stones can do it, but this gem feels different. It lacks the ominous aura of a magic stone... This might be a..."

"What? Do you have an idea?"

"I’ve only heard of it, but this might be a holy crystal, something a holy beast possesses... But..."

"A holy beast? From myths and fairy tales? Do they really exist?"

"... They do. Records show a holy beast was sighted by a cleric about 600 years ago. There are other sightings, but they were all in beast form."

"Kaita is a holy beast?"

"Most likely. If he absorbed divine power and his soul transformed, he might have been given this form."

"That’s not impossible..."

Everyone looked at me with complex expressions.

I apparently stopped being human at some point! Why?!

I’m from the Tohoku region, but I can’t help but use Kansai dialect!

"First, we should report to the king. If Lord Kaita is a holy beast, he’s a much rarer existence than the saint, and we need to discuss how to proceed."

"Right, Shell, can you arrange it?"

"Yes."

Shell went to arrange a meeting with the king, leaving the room with an awkward atmosphere. The two of them are usually very serious, so they seemed to be deep in thought.

I decided to get dressed.

It wasn’t cold, but I felt awkward being the only one naked.

As I was changing, Shell returned.

The king would see us immediately, so she dressed me and we went to the king’s room.