CH 17

‘What is this?’

Now, as if the day had just dawned, the world was adorned with the hazy colors of the morning.

At this early hour, what could possibly be knocking on the window?

Realizing that I was on the second floor of the building, I looked out the window with a tense face.

And then…

‘It's that bird from yesterday, right?’

A small bird was pecking at the window with its beak, flapping its wings vigorously. It seemed as if it was gesturing for me to open the door quickly.

Wearing a cardigan over the thin pajamas prepared by the temple, I cautiously walked to the window and opened it.

A refreshing morning breeze swept in through the open window. The air was filled with a sweet morning scent.

However, without the chance to fully enjoy the air, I had to let out a small scream.

“Ouch, it hurts! It hurts!”

As if accusing me of not letting it in, the bird started pecking at my ear with its beak.

“This filthy little God!” I shouted in anger and waved my hand. Although I didn't have any intention of catching the bird, the bird's small wing got entangled in my hand.

Not being particularly agile, I was slightly startled, but I glared at the bird with a confident gaze. “Why are you making such a fuss? If you have a complaint, use human language. You can speak, can't you?”

However, the bird just tilted its head and looked at me without opening its mouth.

“What's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything? Did you forget how to use the human language?”

“…Chirp?”

Despite my continuous questions, the bird remained silent. I released the bird's wing that I was holding with a perplexed mind. The bird flew around me in a circle and landed on my arm.

What was this? Was it not God, but just a bird? No, even if it was just a bird, why was it following me like this? It's suspicious.

“Say something. I won't be fooled.”

I was questioning the bird again when I heard the voice of the girl, which was both like a girl's voice and an imposing God's voice.

“…Truly an amusing sight, a realistic child.”

Look at that. I thought this bird was God!

…But it didn't seem like the voice was coming from the bird.

What should I call it? Should I say it was coming from within me? Or should I say it was coming from the sky? Or should I say it was coming from a distant place, far away? Anyway, the voice that was coming from the bird didn't seem right, so I agilely looked around.

“No matter how much you search, I'm not there, so just give up.”

“…What, what? You’re not here? Then where are you?”

Since I didn't know where the other person was, I wasn't sure where to look while talking. I roughly pointed at the white-feathered bird perched on my finger, looking at the empty space.

“Let's just say that child is like a messenger I sent. It has various skills, but for now, it's just an ordinary bird. It understands human language and is a clever friend, so it can be useful in many ways.”

I understood that it was an ordinary bird, but why the “for now”? I gave the suspicious bird a skeptical look. “What exactly is this small bird for?”

It didn’t have sharp claws to protect me during disasters, and it wasn’t large enough to ride on.

“Well, that's something you should think about. Well then, I'll be going.”

“Hey, wait a minute? I haven't finished talking yet. I have a lot of questions to ask!”

Again, again. It only said what it wanted! This selfish human, no, selfish god!

Even with my desperate cry, I could no longer hear the voice of the god.

And then, it happened.

“…Young lady? Are you having a conversation with someone so early in the morning?”

Somewhere, an unwelcoming male voice was heard. It was Jerome's voice. I looked in the direction of the sound and saw Jerome standing under the window.

When did he start standing there? And why now of all times!

Outwardly, I couldn't reveal any hint, but inwardly, I let out a silent scream. Why has this kind of awkward situation kept happening since yesterday? Why?

Of course, yesterday was a situation where I was banging drums, playing cymbals, and making strange noises all in my head, but this time it was different.

I witnessed the strange sight of myself yelling and making whale sounds in the air all by myself.

I wanted to tear my hair out and hide under the window sill, but I casually asked in a nonchalant voice, “What are you doing here at this early hour? Don't tell me, as a temple Priest, you were trying to peek into the room where a lady stays?”

He didn’t seem like the type to wake up early and enjoy a morning walk diligently.

“…You're too much. I wouldn't do something so ridiculous, would I?” Jerome snorted and pouted in response to my prickly remark.

“Then what were you doing?”

“…Well, I'm usually the type who sleeps in, but today I strangely opened my eyes wide. I had a premonition that something good would happen if I walked this path. Maybe I wanted to meet the young lady.”

Jerome chuckled and threw out a meaningless comment.

He knew that I was staying in this room, yet he shamelessly acted as if our meeting was all a product of coincidence.

“But seriously, with whom were you having a conversation? Could it be that you were talking to that bird?”

I thought he wouldn't ask any further after I deliberately changed the subject, but Jerome asked again.

Since it was true that I had attempted to have a conversation with the bird, it wasn't an entirely wrong assumption.

‘Wait. Can't I just tell the truth?’

I was officially appointed as a Saint. I could simply say that I had a conversation with God.

I couldn't understand why I was so flustered and embarrassed when I first saw Jerome.

“Well, well. I was merely responding to the words spoken by God.”

But even saying, “I was having a conversation with God,” felt somewhat embarrassed, and I could feel my face getting hot. It wasn't a lie, so why was it so embarrassing?

“I see. So that's what happened.” Jerome nodded.

Why did I feel so embarrassed when he easily accepted it? What was I so embarrassed about?

Anyway, just when I thought it was all settled, it happened when I was about to heave a sigh of relief.

“So, the one who shouted, 'Hey, wait a minute? I haven't finished talking yet. I have a lot of questions to ask!' was referring to that person. Our Saint can be quite fiery. Calling God informally.” Jerome mocked me, mimicking my tone of voice quite accurately.

“…You heard?”

“Yes. I unintentionally overheard that much.”

Oh, where was a mouse hole when you needed one?

I took a deep breath to maintain my composure.

“From where did you hear it?”

“…I only heard that phrase, so don't get too upset about it.”

Jerome slightly bent his knees and politely greeted me as if apologizing, but his apology didn't help because I wasn't annoyed but rather embarrassed.

“Well then, I'll take my leave. Since the young lady is awake, I'll send Caroline soon. When you're ready, she'll come to see you, and you can have the conversation you couldn't have yesterday.”

Jerome left after leaving his farewell. As I closed the window, I let out a deep sigh. It was truly sad that I had to meet Jerome again without any time to calm my embarrassing feelings.

“Chirp! Chirp!”

As I let out a sigh so deep that it felt like the building's floor would collapse, the bird chirped as if trying to comfort me.

“…Now that I know it's not God, it's quite cute.”

Actually, even when I suspected it was God, I thought it was cute in appearance. But I pushed aside those thoughts and looked at the bird perched on my finger.

A messenger, huh? What could I possibly ask this small bird to do?

Lost in thought about how to utilize the bird, I remembered the fact that I had used pigeons in the past to exchange letters.

“Hmm…Can you bring me something like a letter?”

“Chirp!”

In response to my question, the bird nodded as if appealing that it could do it.

In reality, I had to consider that the main duty of animals like this was simply to exist and be cute. However, I couldn't waste the resource, or rather, assistance, that God had sent me.

“…Ah, you're unnecessarily cute.”

I reached out and gently stroked the bird's head with my finger. At that moment, when the tiny eyes, no larger than a bean, closed and felt my touch, it became even cuter.

On top of gaining the power of the unknown, now I even had a pet bird.

While I was diligently patting the bird's head, I heard a knock. It was Caroline, arriving.

“Oh my, this bird…Isn't this the same bird as yesterday?”

She greeted me with an energetic morning greeting and was surprised when she saw the bird perched on my finger.

“Yes, that's right.”

“Why did it come all the way here?”

Since the distance from the church building to the guest room where I was staying was quite far, Caroline had an expression of disbelief.

“Well, um…”

How should I explain this? I was in a dilemma. After all, it wasn’t an ordinary bird.

“It's a bird that God sent to help me…Something like that.”

“Oh my. I've never had the honor of meeting such a remarkable bird!”

Caroline looked at the bird, smaller than the palm of her hand, with an admiring gaze.

A remarkable bird, huh?

When you think about it, this bird may be extraordinary as a divine companion, but using honorifics seemed a bit excessive.

“Well then, what is the name, or rather, the title, of this esteemed bird?” Caroline asked me.

A name?

Come to think of it, I should give it a name. It wasn’t appropriate to just call it 'bird' indefinitely.

I looked at the bird, thinking about a suitable name.