Chapter 38 : Chapter 38
Chapter 38: Legendary-Rank Sacred Beast
“Chirp?”
It let out a thin little sound with a faint nasal tone, tilting its small head to the side.
Both of them looked over.
“Ah, it woke up!” Cosette whispered in delight. As she gazed at the round, fluffy creature, her eyes were full of affection. That cyan color was beautiful—like a warm, soft emerald.
Ryan also turned his head to look at it.
He remembered the steady voice that had spoken directly inside his mind in the forest. Comparing that with the clueless little creature before him now, the contrast was almost absurd.
He tried speaking directly to the little thing on his shoulder.
“You are awake? Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?”
The tiny bird raised its head and stared at Ryan with its green eyes for a few seconds, then chirped softly several times.
But the voice did not sound in his mind again.
Even so, Ryan strangely felt a vague impression—nothing like clear words, more like an instinctive transmission.
Not hungry… but it seemed to want that kind of “thing.”
“Wind… elemental energy?” Ryan guessed quietly.
He set down his utensils and raised his right hand. With a single thought, a faint cluster of cyan wind element quickly gathered at his fingertips. Mana danced lively there, carrying a crisp and refreshing aura.
The moment the little bird saw the wind element, its green eyes lit up.
“Chirp chirp!”
It fluttered its tiny wings excitedly and tried to push its fluffy body closer to Ryan’s hand. Then it opened its small beak, and the wind element turned into several wisps of thin cyan light that were gently drawn into its mouth.
After finishing, it seemed extremely satisfied. It smacked its beak lightly, and the faint cyan glow around its body appeared to stabilize a little.
“Wow…” Cosette leaned forward, fascinated by the sight. The words “so cute, I want to touch it” were practically written across her face.
She glanced carefully at Ryan and spoke softly, her voice filled with hope.
“Master… may I touch it? It is really adorable…”
Ryan looked at the little creature on his shoulder, which seemed to be in a good mood and was currently grooming its feathers with its beak.
“You can try,” he said.
Cosette immediately smiled and extended a slender pale finger, slowly and gently reaching toward the tuft of cyan fluff.
But just before her fingertip could touch it—
The little bird, which had been lazing around a moment earlier, suddenly stiffened.
It lifted its head sharply and glanced at Cosette’s approaching hand. The friendliness it had shown Ryan was gone. Its green eyes now clearly displayed caution—and even a hint of disdain.
It did not even chirp.
Instead, it twisted its fluffy body with obvious displeasure. Its short wings flapped rapidly, and it leapt straight off Ryan’s shoulder, wobbling slightly as it flew up.
Then—
It landed squarely on Ryan’s brown hair.
Using its tiny claws, it tugged at his hair a few times, found a comfortable spot, and curled its body into a small nest. Only the back of its cyan fluffy head faced Cosette.
The meaning was obvious.
Do not touch. This is my territory.
“….”
Cosette’s hand froze in midair. The smile on her face froze as well.
She looked at the little cyan fluff ball perched on her master’s head, which now showed her nothing but its back. Then she looked at her empty fingertips. Her mouth opened slightly, and she puffed out her cheeks with a hint of grievance.
“What the heck…” she muttered softly. Her hazel eyes were filled with disappointment—and a trace of stubborn indignation.
“It will not even let me touch it…”
Ryan raised a hand and somewhat helplessly touched the new “accessory” on his head. He could clearly feel the little creature settled there quite comfortably.
He looked at Cosette’s aggrieved expression.
“It might still be afraid of strangers. Give it some time.”
Cosette glanced at the cyan fluff on her master’s head, which was clearly pretending to sleep, and then at Ryan’s expression of helpless resignation.
The small sense of grievance in her heart suddenly faded, replaced by a strange sense of amusement.
Her master now had a mysterious little bird with a slightly odd temper that clung to him constantly…
Somehow, that seemed rather interesting.
She pursed her lips and smiled again, quickly clearing away the dishes from the table. However, her eyes still drifted occasionally toward Ryan’s head, sparkling with curiosity and a faint determination that said, Sooner or later I will touch it.
After finishing the dishes, Cosette quietly returned to her small room. When the light beneath the door faded, Room 207 fell into a peaceful darkness.
Only the faint glow from the magical street lamps in the courtyard outside filtered through the curtain’s gap, casting pale streaks across the floor.
Ryan lay on his bed with his eyes closed, but sleep would not come easily.
The nearly healed scratch on his waist still itched faintly, reminding him that everything that had happened earlier in the Whispering Forest was not a dream.
On his shoulder—no, now on his head—there was a slight warmth and weight that undeniably existed. On the back of his hand was also the faintly warm, feather-shaped contract mark.
All of this pointed to one undeniable fact.
The piece of “junk” he had picked up had not only saved his life but had also forced upon him a contract partner whose origin was probably terrifyingly significant.
Just as his thoughts churned restlessly, a voice suddenly echoed directly in his mind.
Unlike the solemn and ancient declaration he had heard in the forest earlier that day, this voice was much closer now—and far calmer. It was as though most of its grandeur had been stripped away, leaving only the most basic desire to communicate.
【You are awake.】
It was a simple statement.
Ryan abruptly opened his eyes. The room was completely dark. Slowly, he sat up and leaned against the headboard.
The fluffy creature on his head shifted slightly with the movement, but it did not wake up or fall.
“You are awake as well,” Ryan said quietly. Only after speaking did he realize that the other party probably did not require him to speak aloud.
【I simply needed some time to adapt to this… fragile newborn form and organize my thoughts.】
The voice paused, as if choosing its words carefully.
【You have many questions.】
“Indeed,” Ryan replied frankly. “Who exactly are you? Or rather… what are you? And what exactly is that ‘Emerald Wind Oath’?”
【I am the guardian of the Emerald Wind Oath and also a manifestation of a portion of its power. You may call me ‘Syl’—this is the true name that the covenant grants you knowledge of when the contract is formed. As for what I once was…】
The voice carried a faint ripple of self-mockery.
【According to the classifications used in your current era, I would likely be considered a Sacred Beast of the Legendary Rank—the remaining will of the ‘Azure Tempest.’】
Legendary Rank.
Sacred Beast.
Ryan’s breathing paused for a moment.
The weight carried by those two words far surpassed that of a mere Mid-Tier Magical Beast.
These were beings that stood at the very peak of mortal power—creatures that existed only in epics and legends. And the phrase “remaining will” carried a quiet sense of tragic downfall.
“Remaining… then you…”
【I died long ago.】
Syl’s voice was calm.
【During a catastrophe. My true body and my contract holder perished together. In the final moment, she sealed my core and the last fragment of my lingering spirit within the Emerald Wind Oath—the gemstone you obtained. It served as preservation, disguise, and… a faint hope.】
“An Elf?” Ryan recalled the description in the old manual, as well as the cloaked figure the junk shop owner had mentioned who later returned anxiously searching for it. “Your contract holder—was she an Elf?”
The voice in his mind fell silent for a moment. When it spoke again, its tone carried a distant heaviness.
【Yes. A descendant of the Elven royal court—and the previous bearer of the Emerald Wind Oath. That catastrophe… the decline of the Elf race, the rampant rise of the Demon Race, and even the fear your human kind now holds toward the Witches—perhaps their roots are all entangled together.】
Ryan felt his heartbeat quicken slightly.
He had just brushed against the hidden currents beneath the surface history of this world.