“Eeep!”

After the yelp and the sound of something falling so close to Mila, she jumped up from her bed, ready to face whoever had intruded her room.

Mila scanned her surroundings, only to notice Isabel lying next to the bed with a bewildered expression.

“Mi- Mila, wh- what are you doing in my bed?” Isabel’s voice broke a couple of times.

After seeing no danger, Mila calmed. She sat down in the bed and extended her arm to Isabel. “Come here.”

“Wh- Why?” Isabel’s face turned redder by the moment.

“Well, to talk, of course.” Mila tried to give a disarming smile.

However, the effect of Mila’s smile was not quite what she had expected. Isabel turned redder and pinched her hand.

Mila furrowed her brows. “What are you doing?”

“No, well, I thought this might be a dream or something,” Isabel murmured, then met Mila’s gaze and whipped her to the side as if blinded.

“Oh, so do you dream of me often?” Mila blinked.

“N- No?” Isabel tried, still avoiding looking at her friend. “Maybe a couple of times. Not that often.”

“Uhm,” Mila thoughtfully hummed. Isabel’s reactions were quite amusing to observe. Almost as if- “Hmm,” She studied the blushing girl.

There was no way, right? Mila found the situation bewildering.

“Wh- What?” Isabel peeked at Mila. “What is it?” She gathered her limbs and tried to shrink. “It was only once or twice. It wasn’t anything strange, okay?” Her voice took a desperate tinge.

Mila sighed. Was it really that? Was Isabel really finding her attractive? She could not comprehend it. Her body and personality being what it was, Mila did not think of herself as a possible dating option.

Furthermore, there were the traumatic experiences she housed in her mind. Mila did not think she was- Well, sane exactly.

Instead of trying to deal with the sudden depressing thoughts, Mila tried to soothe the flustered girl. “Of course, it wasn’t. Now, come here. There is plenty of space in the bed to sit.”

While Mila did not want to deal with this sudden realisation, pushing Isabel away due to her own insecurities felt cruel.

Besides, Mila did enjoy Isabel’s presence.

Isabel slowly stood and, for the first time, took a look around. “W- wait, this is not my room.” She finally realised.

“How much do you remember from yesterday’s evening?” Mila wondered and patted the spot next to her.

“I-” Isabel began, then her expression turned thoughtful. She sat down next to Mila, making the gap between them suspiciously small. “We were talking, and then you offered- Oh, is that why?” She fidgeted and clasped her hands, then glanced at Mila. “Is that why I slept here?”

“Partly.” Mila nodded. She wondered how she had not noticed it before. The signs were all there. Isabel’s nervousness was contagious, and Mila had to steel herself to not be swept away by the emotions. Good and bad. “But mostly because of the shield that appeared in your hands. Can you tell me more about it?”

“Uh, I don’t know.” Isabel hesitated. “It just appeared, and then I saw- I- I mean, then I lost consciousness. “Sorry.” She mumbled.

“There is nothing to apologise for, Isabel.” Mila bumped her shoulder against hers. “Can you summon that shield of yours?”

“I’ll try.” Isabel gulped from the unexpected thought. She raised her hand and concentrated. Her face contorted in effort, but nothing came of it. “Um, come forth?” She tried. “I summon the? Eh, appear?” Still nothing. “I- I think I can feel it, but I don’t know how to get it out.”

“Hmm, then what was that you did yesterday?” Mila pondered. She felt Isabel lean on her shoulder, and for a moment, she wanted to sigh. The more they interacted, the more obvious it became. “Maybe it was a specific thought or a movement?” She guessed.

“Um, let’s see-” Isabel tried to recall, then turned even redder. A moment later, a shield started to form in her hand. It quickly grew in size until it covered Isabel’s forearm and then a bit.

Mila studied the simple silver heater shield with interest. And when it formed fully, she noticed a single green eye in the middle front of it.

And Isabel noticed it too, “I don’t know how that happened!” She suddenly started to wave the hand holding the shield in panic. A moment later, it vanished. “I- I need a moment alone!” Isabel jumped on her feet and then ran out of the room without looking back.

It was another proof. A very embarrassing one as well. At this point, there was no denying that Isabel was crushing on Mila.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Not after Mila had seen a green eye so similar to hers on Isabel’s magical shield.

And with Isabel running away, Mila would not learn more of how it had formed. With how she reacted, Mila suspected Isabel would not tell her for a long time, if ever.

Without anything else to do, Mila got up as well. It was still an early morning. The sun had just risen, its rays just starting to break through the window glass.

It looked like the day would be pleasant.

As for what to do with Isabel’s crush? Mila avoided thinking about it. It wasn’t like Isabel had confessed. Maybe it was just a short-term infatuation, and she would grow bored or disillusioned with Mila.

At the very least, Mila did not plan to make a move herself. She could not. Not when she struggled to find anything she could offer. Mila did not believe in one-sided devotion. Relationships had to be tended to by both sides. It was not what she currently could offer.

Perhaps with time-

Mila shook her head. Not now, not now.

When Mila finally was ready for the day and walked into the kitchen, she found only Kefo and Tiff at the table.

Knowing Isabel was likely avoiding her, Mila still had to wonder what her other friend was up to. “Where is Andrew?” She asked.

At this point, Mila had adapted to the more modern dialect the language had evolved to. There were times when she lost a word or two, but she could be understood, and that was what mattered. The rest was a matter of practice.

“Haven’t seen him.” Kefo looked at her in displeasure while Tiff hid behind him.

But a moment later, the answer entered the kitchen himself. “What did I miss?” Andrew yawned.

Mila moved towards the table, where her breakfast was already waiting. She glanced at Andrew and then did a double take. “What is on your shoulder?” She could not help but sound alarmed.

“This?” Andrew pointed at the bird who was giving Mila a stink eye. “This is Mr. Crow. He is my buddy.”

“Of course.” Mila dryly noted. True to its name, the bird did look like a crow. Except its beek was more similar to what an eagle would have, and it sported a few spotted feathers.

And it stunk of Andrew’s mana. The damn thing had many times more mana than Mila could produce in a year. It jumped on her friend’s head and chirped, then gurgled.

“Okay, okay, you are my best buddy!” Andrew laughed.

Mila slowly sat down and started to eat. Most of her attention was on the strange bird. “If I may ask, how did you two meet?”

Andrew joined her at the table while Kefo and Tiff filtered out. “Well, I found him in the forest last night. Poor thing had a broken wing, so I took him in to see if we could help. Well, this and that happened, and when I woke up, his wing had healed! Isn’t he cute?” He happily explained.

Mr Crow jumped on the other shoulder and preened. Another string of chirps followed, and Andrew gave the bird a bit of the meat from his plate.

“Seems like you can understand him quite well.” Mila pointed out.

“Oh, yeah, isn’t that neat?” Andrew smiled. He looked the happiest Mila had seen him in a long time. “Yesterday, I couldn’t make out a damn thing the little guy was saying, but when I woke up I could.”

“Say, how did you fall asleep?” Mila had her suspicions. After all, Andrew was currently in a very similar state to Isabel.

Andrew scratched his head. “Well, I just kind of fell asleep in the middle of the forest.”

“Is that it?” Mila eyed Mr Crow, who turned around and showed her his rear.

“Sure. What else is there to say?” Andrew did not get it.

“Do you not find the fact you can freely interact with a bird strange?” Mila wanted to know.

“Why?” Andrew blinked and gave his buddy another piece of meat. “This world has magic and gods and whatnot else.”

This was true. Mila knew some people specialised in taming and controlling animals. It wasn’t strange by itself. The problem was the same as with Isabel. Andrew knew nothing of how to control mana. He had no access to any spells that would allow such a bond.

The option of the bird being the one initialising the bond was also impossible. It clearly had absorbed a good chunk of Andrew’s mana instead of the other way around.

So, should Mila ask for more information? She hesitated. Despite Andrew being willing to talk and interact with others, he was also avoiding telling them anything substantial. The guy was just good with small talk.

“This is still a strange situation to behold.” Mila decided to try. “You two have a master/servant bond between you two. It does not happen by itself.”

“Shut up!” Andrew suddenly shouted. His face filled with anger, and he took a few forceful breaths to regain his calm. “No, that’s not what it is. Mr Crow is my friend. Don’t ever imply anything else.”

“I-”

“And besides, how about you?” Andrew spat out. “When are you going to tell us what’s going on with your learning speed? Don’t take me for a fool. Isabel may not care, but I see you keeping secrets from us.”

The bird on his shoulder cawed in an accusatory tone towards Mila.

“It’s not that simple.” Mila hung her head in regret. She had messed up again.

“Well, it’s the same for me.” Andrew dropped his fork and sighed. “Sorry, it’s just-” He ruefully shook his head. “We all have secrets, yeah?”

Mila had nothing to say. There were things she should have tried to convey earlier. But she hadn't.

For the first time since her early years, Mila had friends. People she could talk to and remember.

They were good people. Mila continued to remind Silinth of it all the time. So, why was it so hard to tell about her dreadful experiences?

“We do.” Mila finally murmured. “I am-” She raised her head. “I am sorry if I have come off as uncommunicative. It was not my intention. And-” She tried to find a resolve. “I’ll try to do better.”

Andrew looked at Mila, contemplating what to do. “It just feels like you are really distant or something. Ah, shit, now I feel like I am the bad guy.” He angrily stuffed his mouth with food and chewed. “I probably am. I don’t know what you are dealing with, and let my feelings get the better of me. Yeah, so I am sorry, too.” He looked away bashfully. “This feels really sappy.” Mr Crow chirped in agreement. “Yeah, so no hard feelings, right?” He scratched his cheek.

“Of course.” Mila smiled. “Now, how about you tell me more about Mr Crow. He seems to have a lot to say.”

“Oh, the dude is a chatterbox!” Andrew’s expression brightened. “You know, he isn’t even a year old. He told me he would grow quite a bit-”

For the rest of the breakfast, Mila learned a lot about a bird that was far too intelligent and quite possibly - very dangerous once trained.