Chapter 10

Sigmund was lying on a pile of hay.

There was quite a good sunshine between the wooden crevices of the old barn.

It was especially sunny in a haystack, so Sigmund liked to nap on a haystack.

“Why isn’t Adele coming?”

Sigmund, who was lying on a pile of hay, rolled down and then repeatedly flew back up again, laughing in his head.

Normally, Adele would have come in to clean the barn.

But today, he waited for a long time, but she didn’t come.

“I’m hungry…”

If Adele brings the blueberries for lunch, the rumbling of his stomach will stop, but why isn’t Adele coming?

“Did you fall on your way?”

It was then.

Kurung-

A strange sound was heard outside the barn.

Kurung-Kurung-

It was the first time he heard it.

“What is it?”

Sigmund jumped off the haystack and ran through the slightly open door.

Just a moment ago, it was dark outside, when the sun poured in.

“It’s already night?”

He haven’t even had milk for lunch yet.

He haven’t even eaten the blueberry for snack yet but it’s night already?

Adele hasn’t even come yet.

He haven’t even taken a nap yet. Is it night?

Kuang-!

Then with a tremendous sound, a flash of light covered the sky.

“Wow…”

That immense blinding light made Sigmund’s eyes go wide.

It was a beautiful and amazing sight that he had never seen before.

Sigmund saw thunder and lightning for the first time now.

The sky, where the flash was running, was dimmed again, and look- Water drops dropped from the sky with a strong sound.

Sigmund saw the rain for the first time now.

It also rained the day Adele found Sigmund, who had not woken up from the egg yet.

Adele said it rained the day Sigmund woke up from the egg.

He didn’t know what the rain was until today.

“Water drops from the sky…”

A tremendous sound. a white light. And cold drops of water.

-I found you on a rainy day. I hugged you because I was afraid you would be cold because of the rain.

Adele said so.

On that rainy day, he was confind in the hole in the tree that escaped the rain. Of course, in the egg.

“This is rain…”

Sigmund now knows what rain is.

“Cold and…Feels good…”

Sigmund, who put his hand out through a crack in the barn, grinned broadly at the feel of the cool water droplets falling on his palm.

He didn’t know why, but he felt very good.

The sound of thunder was good and the light of lightning was good.

He also liked the cold water drops that wet his palms and wrists.

He wanted to jump out and splash, but he held back because Adele told him not to come out of the barn. It was then that he heard the sound of wings above his head.

“Huh?”

Sigmund lifted his head slightly at the sound of wings coming from above his head.

A black bird was seen sitting on a branch of a large tree right next to the barn through the trees.

The pouring rain made all the wings look blacker.

“Hi, black bird.”

It’s neither a tit nor an owl.

What kind of bird is that?

The bird’s black feathers and eyes shimmered like a glass.

“Why are you sitting there when it’s raining?”

“Then why are you there?”

As soon as the crow sitting on the branch opened his beak and said, he was startled.

“It’s a talking bird.”

A talking bird. 1

Neither the stork nor the sparrow nor the wild goose nor the duck had he heard them speak.

But that black bird knows how to talk.

Is it a special bird?

Or are there other birds in the world who can talk like that?

Pudduck.

A crow, flapping its wings on a branch, came close to a crack in a tree that Sigmund was staring through.

The crow looked at Sigmund, rolling its black glassy eyes.

“May I ask why on earth you’re here? This isn’t where you should be.”

What does this mean?

Where to be?

The place where Sigmund should be is here, by Adele’s side.

But what does this black bird mean?

“Do you know me?”

When this black bird spoke as if he knew him, Sigmund’s curiosity grew.

Sigmund knew nothing about who he is.

“I know you’re a precious person.”

“Precious?”

“What is precious?”

The crow’s face seemed to say ‘pathetic’.

“I was born from the egg of a big bird.”

“Big bird? Pfft!”

The crow burst out laughing.

“Who said that? You were born from the egg of a big bird?”

“Adele did.”

“Adele? Who is Adele?”

“Adele… is Adele.”

“So who is that?”

The crow’s voice gradually faded.

“Adele is Adele. Are you a fool?”

Sigmund had a hunch.

It doesn’t know Adele.

No, how could it not know Adele?

“Ha.”

The crow laughed.

“Who says I’m stupid? A real idiot who doesn’t even know who he is.”

“Who am I?”

“You’re a dragon.”

Dragon? What’s that?

Sigmund tilted his head.

“What’s Dragon?”

“You’re a real idiot.”

“Is that the name of a big bird?”

“No, it’s a really big name.”

“I mean, I can fly. Like you.”

Sigmund showed his back flapping his wings.

He stood to boast that his wings were bigger than crow’s.

“I suppose so, of course.”

However, the crow’s reaction was very negative.

“I also give off fire?”

“Great.”

“I’m Sigmund.”

“I’m a crow.”

“Is your name a crow?”

“No. My name is Jenson. It’s a great name.”1

“And Jenson. What are you doing here? Have you lost your way?”

“I wish I had lost my way, but I’m here to look for a little boy who is pathetic enough to say that he was born out of a big bird’s egg, not knowing  he was a dragon.”

A little boy as big as a palm?

Sigmund looked at his palm.

Very small.

Is there such a small kid?

Then the little boy will be able to come and go as much as he pleases, even with the little hole in the barn.

It’s like a field mouse or a squirrel.

“So, did you find it?”

Without knowing that he was pointing at him, Sigmund tilted his head and looked at the crow still in the rain.

“Found it.”

“That’s a relief. Then hurry back to home together.”

“I’ve found him, so I’ll take him.”

“Where is he?”

‘It’s you, idiot. I said dragon. Did you forget what I said a while ago? Are you really stupid? Was this dragon born a fool? I’m going crazy.”

“Me?”

It was only then that Sigmund remembered people in strange clothes who were trying to take him a few days ago.

“Do you want to take me, too?”

“What, who else was there besides me?”

The crow had a strange look on his face.

“Who else came to take you away besides me?”

“People in weird clothes. They were wearing weird clothes in steel color that made a clankling noise every time they walked.”

“Steel color? Ah, armor. They’re the Imperial Household knights. Baron Lushen?”

“Do you know who?”

‘I know. Stupid idiots. Yeah, Baron Lushen isn’t that bad, but Ernest, who drives him, is a villain.”1

“The villain?”

“I mean a bad guy. Didn’t you learn to speak properly? Didn’t Adele teach you that, too?”

“But I’m not coming with you. Adele’s here.”

“I have to go with you?”

“I have to be with Adele. Adele, if you don’t let me go, I’ll be mad.”

“Do you know how to be angry?”

“When I gets angry, I shoot fire. I did the same to those bad guys then.”

The crow was startled by Sigmund’s words.

“You set Lushen on fire? Then, is Lushen alive? This is Crazy. Yes, crazy. No. Poor Lushen. That’s not a big deal. That loyal man has been through a lot.”

“They tried to take me. I said no. So I was angry.”

“At this rate, this dragon is a crazy race.”

The crow shook its head, shaking off its wet feather.

“Then, if Adele go woth you, will you go?”

“Huh?”

Sigmund’s eyes glistened.

With Adele? With Adele?

“Would Adele like to go with you?”

“You’ll love it. The palace is a million times better than this scums.”

“Scums?”

“I mean here. Totally like a beggar. How could you have thought of being in a place like this? It’s too nasty in here. Smells like…I don’t like it.”

“I like it here. I like the smell of hay.”

“Do you like the smell of the barn? You’re crazy, aren’t you? What’s that if a noble man says he likes the smell of a barn? Are you kidding me?”

“Milk is delicious. Blueberries are too.”

“You were eating something like that? Ha…I’m speechless…”

The crow clicked its tongue.

“Why?”

“The person who should be drinking only the blessed water from the temple and eat food of high quality prepared from the top best is saying that he likes freshly squeezed cow milk and wild fruits, do you know how unsophisticated you sound?”

“A bird eats narrow rice and you also eat narrow rice too, but rather, I tell you, blueberries are better.”

“I’m not a bird!”

” You’re a bird. A black bird.”

“I told you I’m not a bird.”

The crow that stepped back flapped its wings once, and the bird’s figure disappeared before Sigmund’s eyes, and a tall man stood there.2

Of course, it wasn’t much different than when it was a crow.

The man wore a black robe on his body with a dark black hood over his head, and was only recognized as a black bird in Sigmund’s eyes.

However, his eyes were blue and his hair was dark brown.

“Are you still gonna call me a bird?”

“Black…”

“I’d like you to call me Lord Jenson.”

He turned into a man, but his behavior was no different from the crow.

Sigmund thought, condescending and pretending to be proud is the same as the crow.

“Jenson.”

“Lord Jenson.”

The man said empowering the word ” Lord”.

“It’s Lord Jenson, the Magician of the Imperial Palace Temple. Don’t forget and remember clearly.”

“Your name is too long.”

“You think it’s all my name? My name is Jenson, and I’m the Magician of the Imperial Palace. Don’t you understand? Are you a real idiot? Is your head a decoration? Or is your brain small? Are there only Adele and blueberries in the Merits?”4

“No. We have milk and cheese and bread.”8

“…”

At this point, Jenson stopped talking.

Somehow, it occurred to him that he  was repeating the same thing over and over again.

Jenson sighed because he felt as if he had become a fool like this kid.

“You have to go to the Imperial Palace anyway. You and me, together. I came here all the way to this faraway town to pick you up. No matter what you say, I’ll take you back to the palace.”

The Imperial Palace.

Where on earth is the Imperial Palace?

Why do they keep asking me to go with them?

Is the palace big enough to live with Adele?