Chapter 26: Wait, Have You Become a Demon Spirit or Something?

The two Reapers ahead were chatting, while the newly awakened little bird lagged behind groggily, her tiny head nodding up and down like a fishing bobber every now and then.

She must have been exhausted from working so hard (from other people’s perspective), which was why Belladonna arranged for Hydra to watch over Feini.

However, rather than watching over her, Hydra was actually more curious about Feini herself.

How could a single bone sparrow accomplish so many things?

And why would she fight against her innate deficiencies just to work in the crow profession?

What was with all those abnormal traits on her body?

【You seem to have a lot of questions you want to ask?】

With her eyes slightly narrowed, although her mental state wasn’t great, the little bird could still sense the spiritual crow’s attitude toward her nearby.

【Is it that obvious?】

If he had hands, Hydra would probably scratch his head to express the embarrassment of being exposed on the spot.

【Normal. You’re all novice crows, not that experienced yet… Besides, crows don’t need to hide their emotions anyway, so no need to feel embarrassed.】

Feini habitually used her beak to peck at and clean the scraps of meat stuck in the gaps of her bones.

Watching this scene, Hydra felt a surge of sympathetic pain and goosebumps.

【Senior, you don’t have feathers, so is there really any need to keep grooming yourself?】

【Ah? Oh… Sometimes I do have them, I’m just used to it.】

Sometimes she does have them?

What on earth, wasn’t a bone sparrow a creature naturally born without feathers that could only rely on bone wings to glide and simulate flight?

【I actually wanted to ask… The reason Miss Dona and I were paired up with you seniors, that was arranged by you, Senior?】

After all, the partners for the third round were theoretically randomly assigned.

The goal was to train and test the Reapers’ short-term adaptation and temporary coordination abilities.

For the best student and the absolute worst student to end up on the same team was simply too much of a coincidence.

Furthermore, this bone sparrow didn’t seem surprised by their arrival at all…

You could call it a veteran’s composure, but for such a coincidence, shouldn’t she be at least a little surprised?

It was as if this little bird knew the team composition right from the very start.

【Ah, right, I asked the folks at the office to arrange it… As for the result, it worked out okay? That brat Di didn’t hold us back either.】

Wait, you’re telling me so directly that you used the back door?

Senior, do you really have to be this open-hearted?

Doing this makes me really anxious, you know.

Hydra screamed internally with complaints.

He always felt an uncomfortable tension whenever he interacted with Feini, as if dealing with a smooth operator, constantly terrified of getting tricked if he let his guard down for even a second.

【Then… Senior, why did you arrange it like this?】

【Why? We’re partners after all, so I don’t want this kid Di to bite the dust in some remote backwater the moment he becomes official… Having you guys around at least gives him some practical teaching and popular science to make him act more normal.】

To be honest, up until now, the little bird’s impression of her temporary partner was actually pretty decent…

At any rate, she didn’t dislike him, so helping out a bit was fine.

【Not to brag or anything, but even though I’ve never been chosen, those brats I brought up actually have to show me a bit of respect.】

A rookie instructor, that title wasn’t fake after all.

Other Reapers were unwilling to choose Feini because of her appearance and their doubts about a bone sparrow’s abilities, but the favors owed from passing the assessments were still very much real.

So the little bird’s connections in the Netherworld among both Reapers and crows were quite solid.

Although her social popularity wasn’t great, she had a mountain of favors owed to her, making her half of a connected insider.

【Forgive me for asking, but Senior, how old are you? I mean your actual age.】

【Around two hundred and thirty years old, why? Oh, speaking of which, I need to go back home in a few days to visit my relatives.】

Delivering such terrifying news in a casual tone, the little bird had no idea what kind of shock the information she disclosed caused to the spiritual crow beside her.

She was merely stating a mundane fact.

【Wait, have you become a demon spirit or something?!】

His first reaction was that this bird was playing with him and spouting nonsense.

However, after confirming that her expression didn’t look like a joke at all, Hydra’s whole body couldn’t hold it together anymore.

Are you kidding me…

The maximum lifespan of a bone sparrow was only twenty to thirty years, and their average lifespan was barely a decade or so.

And you’re telling me you’ve lived for over two hundred and thirty years?

Hearing that this bone sparrow had stayed in the Netherworld for fifty or sixty years was already absurd enough.

Yet the sparrow in question just dropped an even more exaggerated bombshell on him.

Translating that to the lifespan of mortal humans, where the average age was around seventy, centenarians were already extremely rare.

Feini was practically the equivalent of a one-or-two-thousand-year-old ancient monster, okay?!

【What kind of talk is that… What you mortals call “becoming a demon spirit” refers to creatures capable of shapeshifting. Once you complete dual cultivation with that young lady, you can turn into a human form too, right?】

【Senior, please don’t use misleading terms like “dual cultivation”… And don’t dodge the subject, are you really a bone sparrow?!】

Your lifespan is already longer than a spiritual crow’s!

The most crucial part was that she didn’t have a single trace of an old relic’s pedantic stale air.

Although she gave off the vibe of a smooth veteran, she still looked very young and lively… Or rather, a bit juvenile?

Yes, juvenile.

Hydra finally realized where the sense of incongruity about this bone sparrow came from—despite being a senior whose experience, seniority, and handling of matters were extremely refined, she possessed an undeniable innocence.

At times, Hydra even felt that this little bird was just a child pretending to be an adult.

However, considering her genuine seniority and age, he didn’t dare to show it out of fear of offending her.

【A genuine, certified bone sparrow, alright? Us bone sparrows are indeed the dumbest and weakest among the birds in the Netherworld, but there’s one thing you guys can’t match!】

As the saying goes, the slow bird flies first.

Feini believed that what the bone sparrow clan could be most proud of was that the moment they hatched from their eggs, they were already able to remember things and perceive their surroundings.

【Get it? I still have all the memories from the moment I was born, so I’m absolutely a genuine bone sparrow! It’s just that I’ve lived a bit too long… and outlived everyone else in my family.】

Feini tilted her head with a bit of helplessness.

She said she was going back to visit relatives, but in reality, there weren’t many left in her family anyway.

The relatives she could name had already passed away who-knows-how-many years ago.

So the so-called annual trip back home to visit relatives was merely being asked by those adult bone sparrows to go back and check on the super-juniors, letting them revere this ancient ancestor of theirs.

【…Fine, I believe you.】

After staring at her for a moment, Hydra accepted the little bird’s explanation.

The reason was simple: her confidence and pride in her identity as a bone sparrow, as well as her genuine regret regarding her clan back home, were not fake.

If Feini were some other species disguised as a bone sparrow, as a creature at the absolute bottom of the Netherworld’s food chain, it would be impossible for her to be so proud of and attached to the bone sparrow clan and identity.

In fact, most bone sparrows felt inferior about their clan identity.

Even if inferiority was the norm, one who could achieve pride would definitely not be another creature in disguise.

And Feinitia truly embraced and took pride in her identity as a bone sparrow from the bottom of her heart…

Therefore, Hydra would not deny her pride, nor could he.

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Killed by a Spy, So I Chose to Infiltrate Them

Female ProtagonistGender BenderMarriage

Read Now →
Not interested