After spending the night on the plains, morning came, and beside me lay the carcasses of a white fox, a large snake of some unknown species, and a bird that resembled an owl but was clearly not one.

"Quite a haul today."

These creatures were the ones that attacked me in the early dawn.

Since I had left the deep parts of the forest, I no longer had to deal with massive beasts like giant wolves.

Those creatures only lived deep inside the forest.

Instead, I was dealing with daily attacks from smaller animals.

Every morning, as if on a set schedule, they came at me.

While this meant I wouldn’t run out of food anytime soon, I now had too many pelts and an overabundance of supplies, which was starting to become a nuisance.

"But still... this is strange."

I frowned unconsciously.

Before I met Rella, things like this never happened.

Even when I’d been living at home, going out hunting and camping, I'd never faced attacks night after night like this.

“…”

There hadn’t been any significant changes in my belongings since I left home.

I hadn't found anything particularly odd, no strange items or plants.

The only difference, really, was that I now had that little creature with me.

I turned my gaze to Rella.

"Peep-peep-peep-peep! Peep-peep-peep!"

Rella was proudly chirping atop one of the dead animals.

Even if she hadn't killed it, she always acted triumphant whenever I caught something.

It must just be her nature.

Somewhat silly, cheerful, and very shameless.

When I kept staring at her, Rella opened her beak wide towards me, as if begging for food, letting out her usual noisy chirps.

I placed a piece of dried meat into her open beak and murmured,

“Are you, by any chance, some kind of delicacy? Or do you emit a scent that's irresistibly enticing?”

"Peep? Peep?"

After quickly swallowing the piece of meat, Rella tilted her head to the side.

I brought my nose closer to her small body, sniffing a bit, but—well, maybe because I'm human—I could only detect the usual bird smell.

And, I must admit, her feathers were quite soft.

“Peep... Peep... Peep-peep! Peep-peep!”

Rella opened her beak again, asking for more food. Her bright red throat inside the yellow beak looked quite endearing.

I handed her another piece of jerky and mumbled,

"Still, it's strange. You're such a small bird that, even if you were tasty, there’s barely enough meat to be worthwhile."

No matter how delicious she could be, she was still smaller than my finger. Hardly enough for even a nibble.

Was there really any reason for predators to risk their lives for something so small?

"Unless you're some legendary bird that grants immortality when eaten, or heals all ailments like a phoenix, it doesn’t make much sense."

But her appearance was far from legendary.

They say phoenixes are a fiery orange, yet Rella looked like she had just come out of a chimney—her feathers were dirty, ashy gray. While she was certainly cute, there was nothing particularly impressive about her.

I kept looking into Rella's face, and suddenly noticed her eyes shining a brilliant golden hue.

“Huh? Your eye color is quite unusual.”

I hadn't noticed in the dark forest, but in the sunlight, her eyes glistened with a golden shine. It was as if her irises had been sprinkled with gold dust.

"...Rella, could you really be something special?"

“Peep?”

Rella tilted her head again, and I chuckled.

Well, it doesn’t really matter either way. Even if she was something extraordinary, it had nothing to do with me.

To me, she was just a simple companion.

On this long journey, she was the little bird that kept my loneliness at bay.

I gave her another piece of jerky and smiled warmly.

“For now, stay with me. If the beasts are coming for you, you’ll need to grow strong enough to protect yourself before we part ways.”

This little bird will leave me someday and find her own flock.

But it won't be easy. The wild is unforgiving.

"We'll both have to do our best."

Whether you're small and weak, or I'm strong but look like some bandit chief.

"Sigh..."

It would’ve been nice if I'd taken after my father.

Sigh.

I sighed again, deeply.

Still, it's fine.

I was unlucky enough to inherit my mother's stern, rough looks, but despite that, she still managed to find my father and start a family.

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Surely it would have been harder for her as a woman than it will be for me as a man.

Yet she overcame that challenge.

I don’t know what it was about my mother that captured my father's heart, but there must have been some charm I’m unaware of.

In any case, I’m a man.

If I work at it, surely I’ll meet someone someday, too.

"Keep your spirits up, Rella. You might be small and scrappy now, but one day you'll find a wonderful mate."

“Peep-peep? Peep?”

Naturally, Rella didn’t understand what I was saying, only tilting her head in confusion.

Well, that was for the future.

For now, let’s just experience this world to the fullest.

I’ve been reborn into another world—might as well enjoy it and do all the things I couldn’t in my past life.

I placed Rella on my head and resumed my journey.

I thought I’d reach the village soon, but by evening, I was still wandering between trees and fields.

Tall trees still dotted the landscape in front of me.

“Looks like I’ll have to walk at least another day.”

I felt a bit disappointed but there wasn’t much to be done.

I searched for a suitable place and began gathering firewood.

Using my flint, I managed to kindle a fire with some well-dried grass.

Carefully blowing to nurture the fledgling flame, I looked out into the distance, and that’s when I saw it—smoke rising into the sky.

“!”

I jumped to my feet.

Forget the fire, forget everything else.

In a rush, I climbed a tree.

Climbing as high as I could, I looked towards the rising smoke, and there it was—a small village, just a tiny dot on the horizon.

“Found it.”

A place where people lived.

Finally!

I gauged the direction and climbed back down the tree.

The sun was still in the sky, but in a forest, night falls quickly.

There might be light now, but within a few steps, it would turn pitch-black.

If I didn’t prepare properly, it could get dangerous.

I found a thick branch, wrapped a long strip of cloth around the end, poured some oil, and lit it—a simple torch.

Holding the torch, I moved through the darkness, feeling the eyes of several creatures watching me from the shadows.

In the dark, my senses sharpened.

I couldn’t help but worry about the possibility of some night bird coming after Rella perched on my head.

But Rella, oblivious to my concerns, seemed thrilled.

Maybe because it was her first time traveling at night.

She chirped noisily, bouncing around in excitement.

“You noisy little thing, stay still.”

I pressed her down lightly with a finger, and she let out an indignant series of chirps.

I felt the gaze of the creatures following us, but nothing else happened.

When I saw the village from the tree, it looked like I’d get there quickly, but it took longer than I thought.

Probably because it was dark.

Even though I tend to walk quite fast, it still took me several hours.

By the time I finally arrived, the dim sky had already turned a velvety deep blue.

“I finally made it.”

I looked up at the tall fence before me.

The village was enclosed by a sturdy wooden palisade.

Probably because it was so close to the forest.

They put a lot of effort into building it.

But... now what?

The gate was firmly shut.

I looked around, hoping there might be a guard on duty, but there was no one in sight.

‘After rushing all the way here, do I have to camp outside?’

My shoulders drooped.

Of course. I should’ve expected this.

This wasn’t modern Earth, and in a medieval-like era, there’s no way they’d leave the gates open at night.

Wild animals alone would make that far too dangerous.

I’d been too excited about reaching my first village.

The closed gate was just a fact to accept.

Forcing my way in wasn’t an option.

Feeling disheartened, I started gathering firewood nearby.

Even Rella seemed to understand the situation, pecking at my head with small chirps.

At first, I thought she was comforting me, but then it felt more like she was calling me a fool. Or maybe she was just hungry and demanding food.

I intended to settle by the fire and think things through, but sleep wouldn’t come.

It seemed I was quite excited.

Well, that explained why I’d rushed here in the first place, running through the night.

As I was staring blankly at the fire, I heard footsteps from within the palisade.

I jumped up as the large gate slowly opened.

A head cautiously peeked out from the gap, glancing my way.

Startled, the head disappeared, only to reappear moments later.

The head belonged to a man who seemed well past middle age.

“Wh-Who are you?”

The man asked, his voice trembling slightly.

Perfect!

I could understand him!

The man's speech had a slightly different intonation, but it was essentially the same language my father had taught me.

I tried my best to appear non-threatening as I spoke.

"I'm just a traveler. Would it be possible for me to stay here for the night?"

“…”

The man looked nervous as he eyed me and my axe. His gaze then shifted to the area around the campfire, where the white fox pelt was lying.

I had kept the pelt because it was white and beautiful, and had given it a rough cleaning.

Next to it lay a snake, coiled and drying.

It wasn't fully dried yet, but when done right, snake meat was quite edible.

Roasted, it tasted somewhat like dried fish, and I was rather fond of it.

The man stared at the pelt and the snake meat before asking,

"That fox fur… are you planning to sell it anywhere?"

“If I find a buyer, yes.”

“Alright then, come in.”

With that, the man opened the gate a little wider.

I quickly put out the fire and packed my things.

The man was holding a torch. Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to see a thing.

Following his lead, we walked deeper into the village until a house faintly emerged from the shadows.

“This here is the village's communal house. You can stay in the barn for a night. Usually, there’s a small fee for it, but if you’re willing to sell that fox pelt to the village, you can sleep here for free.”

“I don’t mind, but what price would I get for it?”

“…”

The man eyed me, then smiled awkwardly.

“I won't cheat you. If you don’t like the offer, you can pay a little for the barn or maybe chop some firewood for us.”

It bothered me a bit that he wouldn’t state a price, but he wasn’t wrong.

If I didn’t like the deal, I could pay for the barn or chop wood as he suggested.

The barn was almost attached to the main house.

When he opened the door, a foul stench hit me.

It smelled like animals and dung.

“…”

Is this the standard here?

Our cabin in the woods was spacious and comfortable.

Perhaps because of my father, my mother—well, I helped too—kept it clean, so there was hardly any odor.

We also had a shed for storing firewood, but I’d never had to sleep in it, and it had never smelled this bad.

This wasn’t an exaggeration—the stench was almost overwhelming.

‘Maybe I should just sleep outside.’

Seeing me hesitate, the man looked at me with a hint of embarrassment.

“What’s wrong?”

“…”

Telling him that his barn smelled so bad it made me want to throw up seemed a bit harsh.

But perhaps he could read my expression, as he scratched his head and laughed.

“Well… I don’t think our village is that bad. Have you only stayed in nice places up until now?”

“…”

“If that’s the case, I’ll let you sleep here for free. Better than staying outside, right?”

Though the man spoke like he was doing me a favor, honestly, sleeping outside sounded better.

But old habits die hard. Even in this new world, I couldn’t bring myself to say that out loud.

‘It wouldn’t be such a bad experience to stay in a barn from this world, just once.’

Once in a lifetime, I could endure it.

“Thank you.”

I smiled as I bowed my head.

Apparently, my smile was frightening, as the man let out a soft gasp and smiled awkwardly.

He lit an oil lamp hanging from one of the barn’s pillars, reminded me to be sure to put it out before sleeping, and left.

Just before stepping out, he glanced at my head.

My height had probably hidden Rella from him, but she must have made him curious with all her chirping.

“It's just a bird I’m keeping.”

“…”

The man gave me a strange look, gazing from me to the top of my head.

Well, keeping a bird on one's head does sound a bit odd.

Without a word, he gave one more glance at the axe strapped to my back before leaving.

As soon as he left, Rella began chirping noisily again.

She must have been hungry.

I fed her a bit of jerky, then collapsed onto the pile of straw the man had pointed out as my bed.

Before my body could touch the straw, Rella fluttered down onto it.

She couldn’t fly up, but she seemed perfectly capable of gliding down.

Well, that made sense—she did have wings.

“…”

Lying there, the smell of the straw filled my nostrils.

Just shifting my body slightly made the stench intensify.

I wasn’t kidding—my nose might actually rot from this.

‘This is unbearable.’

Maybe it was better to just leave.

As I was about to get up, I felt something strange and froze.

I turned casually, pretending to resettle, and lay back down, but my senses were on high alert.

Even ordinary people can tell when they’re being watched.

For someone like me, who had lived in the forest for so long, that instinct was sharper.

I focused on the sensation, and I felt it—someone was watching.

It wasn’t just one person.

‘Are there holes in the barn wall?’

The oil lamp was right beside the straw pile.

I got up casually, blew out the flame, and tossed my backpack onto the straw.

The barn was now pitch black, and I couldn’t even see my own nose.

Whoever was watching wouldn’t be able to tell if it was me or my luggage on the straw.

After an hour or two, Rella must have fallen asleep, as she eventually quieted down.

In the absolute silence, I could hear faint breathing blending into the air.

After waiting a little longer, I heard the sound of something moving beyond the barn wall.