Chapter 5: The Sacred Bird’s Misunderstanding

The pig-bird’s safe return practically proved my innocence.
But after tossing the crow into the cell, no one came near the prison, so there was no one to hear my claims of innocence.

“Hey!”
Even shouting at the top of my lungs went unnoticed amidst the festive chaos below.

“Damn it! Those bird-brains. Have they forgotten me?”

“The sacred bird’s back? It hatched already? This land’s about to be blessed!”

“Blessed, my foot…”
How long would I be stuck here? Not forever, surely?

“By the way, aren’t they feeding us? The vibe’s so intense I couldn’t bring it up, but if today’s the sacred bird’s hatching day, we might score a feast!”
Locked in a cage, yet so carefree. I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh at the crow’s audacity, worrying about food in this situation.

“You know, buddy,” the crow continued, “the sacred bird only eats one thing until it matures—Cloudmilk Fruit, grown only on the sanctuary’s tree. They say one bite fills your mouth with heavenly sweetness.”

“Cloudmilk Fruit?”

“Yeah. At first, I pitied the sacred bird, stuck eating just one fruit. But hearing how divine it tastes, I’m jealous! Only a set number grow each year, so even high-ranking birds rarely taste one in their lifetime. I’d love to try it before I die.”
Honestly, what use was knowing this while locked up? But the way it talked made me curious.
If I had to pick an ingredient for a new menu item, Cloudmilk Fruit sounded perfect.

Time dragged on in the cage.
The crow’s chatter, amusing at first, became torture. True to its name, it cawed endlessly, making me wonder if it was thrown in here to torment me.

“Hey!”
The bird that imprisoned me finally showed up, just when I’d given up calling.

“You! What did you do to the sacred bird?”
It started piling on accusations again.

“Why are you doing this to me?! You framed me for stealing the egg, but you saw the bird that hatched from it is fine! Now you’re saying I did something else? I’ve been locked up here the whole time!”

“The sacred bird’s been crying all day, refusing food. You knew about the egg in the sanctuary. What did you do to it?”

“I was just… there by chance…”
Saying that, I realized how suspicious it sounded.
How could I explain that the Thunderbird, their dimension’s god, had dumped me here?

“I… got lost and ended up passing through… and just happened to see the egg hatch…”
Even I lost confidence, my voice trailing off.
Maybe I should’ve kept denying everything? Now I sounded guiltier.

“You saw it hatch?”
Its tone was menacing, its eyes glaring like it wanted to kill me.

“Could it be… imprinting?”
The crow, listening nearby, chimed in tactlessly.

“You insolent fool! You dare suggest the great sacred bird imprinted on this pest like any common bird?”
The guard’s roar sent the crow scrambling to the corner, covering its face with its wings.

“Tch, take this one away.”
At the command, other birds opened the cage and dragged me off. Resigned, I didn’t resist.

We arrived at a grand temple.
The floor was carpeted with fake clouds, and the pillars and ceiling were made of gleaming white stone. Gold-etched patterns adorned everything, tempting enough to make the crow’s thieving heart race.

After walking a long corridor under a ceiling ten times my height, we stopped before a massive door. The lead bird spoke to the guard at the gate.

“We’re here to see the sacred bird.”

“With that grotesque creature? What if it brings impurity to the sacred bird?”
I was fed up with the constant insults about my appearance. Being called a pest was getting old.

“This pest was present when the sacred bird hatched. It might explain why it’s crying and refusing food.”

“What? This pest was at the sanctuary? Near the sacred egg? It should be executed immediately!”

“But the sacred bird isn’t eating. What if something happens to it?”
The gatekeeper bird eyed me distastefully before reluctantly opening the door.

As the massive doors swung open, fresh air and warm light greeted me.
The vast space was filled with fake clouds creeping up the walls.
Atop a pile of cushions, like a nest, sat the pig-bird, crying.
In front of it was a wide dish overflowing with what I assumed were Cloudmilk Fruits.

“Pwee-pwee.”
Sensing the door, the pig-bird stopped crying and looked my way. Then, with its plump body, it leapt down and charged at me.

“Pwee-pwee-pwee!”

“No! Stop! You’ll crush me!”
Its reckless charge knocked aside the guarding birds, and I was buried in its fluffy fur, struggling to breathe.
Thankfully, I wasn’t crushed.

“Pwee-pwee.”
The pig-bird nuzzled me like a long-lost family member.
Spitting out the fur clogging my nose and mouth, I recalled the crow’s words. Now I understood why it was so clingy.

Some newborn birds imprint on the first thing they see as their parent. Amusingly, this pig-bird, being a bird, must’ve mistaken me for its mother since I was there when it hatched.

“Good heavens…”
To the other birds, this must be a horrifying sight.
Their revered sacred bird, akin to a fantasy saintess, had imprinted on the “pest” they despised. How absurd must that seem?

“S-Sacred bird!”

“Pwee-pwee.”
Reluctantly, they had no choice but to treat me with some respect.

“Do anything foolish, and I’ll cut your throat!”
I was freed from my bonds, but it felt like sitting on pins and needles. Beady-eyed birds surrounded me and the pig-bird, watching my every move.

The pig-bird, supposedly refusing food, was now eagerly devouring the fruits in the dish.
Its tiny beak pecked relentlessly, turning the area into a mess of white fruit juice.
The nutty, sweet scent of the juice made my mouth water, oddly.

“Phew…”
I wasn’t into sweet foods, though.
The smell triggered a thought.

‘When did I stop feeling hunger?’
Strangely, since arriving in that strange place, I hadn’t eaten or drunk anything.
The shop’s sink had water, but I never felt thirsty, so I didn’t bother.
Who knows what that water was?
Yet, I hadn’t suffered from malnutrition or collapsed from hunger. I moved just fine.

‘Realizing this, I feel like some kind of monster…’
As I pondered what kept me going without food, a fruit rolled to my feet, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Up close, the fruit, twice the size of my fist, had a transparent skin revealing a cloudy, fluffy interior. Its name, Cloudmilk Fruit, made sense.

“…”
Staring at it, a greedy urge welled up from deep within.

‘Honestly, after all this trouble, going back empty-handed feels wrong.’
In prison, I’d been ready to abandon the ingredient hunt, but now, with the situation turned around, I wanted compensation for my ordeal. I hated two things most: unpaid wages and unrewarded effort.

‘With so many fruits, taking one wouldn’t hurt, right?’
It was rare due to a limited yearly yield, but that wasn’t my problem.
The pig-bird was scarfing down a whole dish—didn’t they have plenty in stock?

My sense of injustice guided my hand toward the fruit.

“You! Drop that fruit at once!”
The guard birds, waiting for any excuse, screeched at me.

Suddenly, I felt something wriggle inside my shirt.
Panicked, I reached in and pulled out a stiff feather.

“What’s this?”
Whiiir.
The feather vibrated with a sharp hum.

Then.
[“Oh, you found it? If you wish to return to your original place with the ingredient you’re holding, shake the feather!”]
The Thunderbird’s voice rang out, familiar and welcome.

Without hesitation, I shook the feather.
A bright light enveloped me, and my body felt weightless, floating.

“Pwee!”
The guards and the pig-bird, busy eating, froze and stared at me in shock.

“Pwee-pwee!”
The pig-bird tossed aside its dish and charged at me.
But the feather’s magic was faster.

Through my fading vision, I gave the pig-bird a final, relieved farewell.
“Eat well and live well, piggy.”

The same crushing pressure from riding the Thunderbird hit me, and everything faded out.
When I came to, I was back in the shop.

It ignored my desperate prayers but brought me back the moment I shook a feather?
“Ugh… couldn’t the Thunderbird have mentioned the feather earlier?”

I thought of the gatekeeper bird screaming for my execution. One wrong move, and I could’ve died clutching that feather.
Relieved to be back unharmed, I looked at the Cloudmilk Fruit still in my hand.

“This seems pretty rare in that dimension. Is it okay to just take it? And how do I use it?”
Now that I had it, my rational side wondered about its use.

In the end, I decided to dig a spot on the opposite side of the shop’s garden and plant the fruit whole.
It must grow on a tree, so planting it in the garden might crowd out other plants later.
I’d heard you shouldn’t plant flowers under trees—they steal all the nutrients.

“But will it even grow?”
Using one fruit for experiments felt risky. If I messed up, I’d be the one losing out.
Plus, when the pig-bird ate the fruit, I noticed it had no seeds.
Either the fruit itself was the seed, or the seeds were too tiny to see…

“Stop worrying. It’s planted now—dwelling on it just stresses me out.”
After firming the soil over the fruit, I pulled out the transparent card that appeared after making Silverwing Herb Tea.

[Completion: B]
The “Completion” part bugged me.
If there’s a B grade, doesn’t that mean lower grades exist?

The Thunderbird enjoyed the B-grade tea, but if I botched a drink using the fruit, I might not attract any customers at all.
So, planting it was the right call. Yeah, it had to be.

The next day, after a night’s sleep, my worries proved unnecessary—a sprout had already emerged where I’d planted the fruit.