Of All Things, I Became a Crow

*Rainelle’s POV

I couldn't figure out whether I should be happy or worry about it.

I… I was obviously trying to get precious moments by giving him the letter, didn't I? But why… why did things escalate like this instead?

It felt like I had an auditory hallucination of: “It's ruined~”

Ahh! My precious moments!!

I jumped from my sitting position, but at one point, I groaned in a crouching position while I was trying to get up. I felt like tears were even flowing from my eyes.

Argh! I'm still sore!

Come on, wait! I can't give up! …Crow! Let’s go back to my crow form!

When I return to my crow form, I felt that my body had become much lighter.

My back is still a little numb, but there’s no problem with flying!

"Caaw! (Let's run away to Aria’s place!)"

If I just stay in my room like this, I think I'll be out of my mind because I will remember what happened last night! So let's go to Aria! I’m not running away at all!! I'll be here by evening! I'm just going to play to refresh myself!!

I flapped my wings eagerly while muttering an excuse inwardly that I did not know who it was for.

Well, Karmeut also said that the muscles loosen faster when you move!

***

"…and so, you are here?"

"Uh, yeah."

I sat in front of Aria and nibbled at a cookie. After roughly explaining what had happened (just saying that Karmeut had become more forward), I cried out, unable to hide my sadness,

"I, I just wanted precious moments!! But I don't know why things didn’t go like what I expected!!"

Aria's expression changed very strangely at the words. Feeling somewhat intimidated by the look on her face, I continued to nibble on the cookie when she opened her mouth,

"You tell me. Didn’t you do it to flirt with him?"

"Uh, huh. What about it? I want to experience precious moments too!"

"Then what’s with the nonsense?! Do you want to get hit? Are you bragging right now because you want to be beaten by me? Yes? Huuh?!"

"Eh! I'm not bragging! I'm really at a loss---!!"

Aria's face suddenly contorted at those words. She, whose expression had changed like a demon, made me choke up.

"Wow, he's really amazing. He has good looks, yet he only looks at one woman. He has a loyal personality. He’s like a man who, once falls in love, will give up his liver and organs..."

Aria, who shouted that in full swing, gave strength to one word at a time until she seemed out of breath. After inhaling for a moment, she continued,

"Karmeut is a Bodhisattva. It even seems like Karmeut's soul will come out of his body---!! …Okay. Listen, he is a man who’s in love with you."

"Does he… truly love me though...?"

"Shut that mouth! What kind of thoughtless words are you spouting?!"

I shut my mouth and looked into Aria's eyes. Aria clenched her fists and shouted,

"The difference between the precious memories you wanted and a love relationship is the difference between tasting food and eating the whole thing! If you only taste and you don't like it, you don't buy the product, but if it tastes good, can you be satisfied with only a bite?! The difference between real love and tasting food is that love needs both sides to choose!"

"---Um, why is there a metaphor..."

"Any-ways!! Are you so full that you’re about to burst right now?! You're holding a sweet honey jar of love, and now you're sitting there screaming that you’re looking for honey-lemons! If you’re making me hear a tantrum one more time, I’m going to hit you!"

I had to curl up at her powerful appearance.

---Did, did I do something wrong...?

"---Then you mean it was love in the first place?"

“Now, did you not know that?”

It felt like Aria's gaze was saying something like: “Ugh, you idiot”. This stabbed me in the chest. This, this!

"How, how could I know!"

"You don't even know how after it’s been expressed so clearly like that? I can see why you’ve been single in your previous life, you punk."

At that, I crouched in the corner.

"Heuk heuk... Don't hit me with facts!"

"You deserve to be beaten with it! What a blessed crow!"

I shut my mouth again and shriveled up more at Aria's action of bombarding me with facts a second time.

That, so... If it’s other people, they would have been in a relationship since a long time ago, then...

Realizing this again, I felt very sorry for Karmeut.

How stupid am I?! And I don't even know why I'm so dull---!!

"I- I'm so stupid..."

"Now you know?"

It felt as if Aria kicked me like a horse and stung my heart like a bee. That was why I tried to protest,

"Well, I really didn't know! Of course, Karmeut is really nice to me, but..."

"You know, people usually notice when it got to that stage."

"...Uh, uh... I mean, I, I didn't know! This is the first time in my entire past and present life that I've ever had the opposite sex by my side! I, I didn't know that's what Karmeut meant by being nice to me…"

"Don't make excuses! You dumbass!!"

"Ahhh! Aria scolds me!"

"You deserve to be scolded! Come here! Let me hit you!"

"Caw!! (No!!)"

For a while, I flew around in the form of a crow. After that, when Aria calmed down a little, I changed into my human form with a little distance. I then asked a question to change the subject,

"...By the way, Aria, how is your relationship with Namuel?"

Aria's eyes lit up at those words. Then she cried out a strange muffled sound while she make a V with her fingers.

"We had a date yesterday!!"

"Oh oh oh! Really?"

"Uhuh! Of course! Haa, it was really hard to push and pull with letters..."

Aria told me that in delight.

Oh, yea! It is a successful topic change!

"Oh, Rainelle. You're not trying to get away like this, are you?"

"...Ummm! That, uh..."

"This is in return for helping me send letters to Namuel, y’know. Now that you’ve realized that you’re in a relationship, don’t you think you should do your thing, Rainelle?"

"...what thing?"

Aria, who looked at me with cold eyes at my words, then shook her head. She then said,

"Of course, it's your expression of affection! It's time for Rainelle to do it too!"

"...what should I do?"

"Um... push him down?"

"What, what, what, what are you saying!!"

I screamed loudly at that. Aria responded with a chuckle.

"I'm joking, joking. Why is your face so red?"

"That, that's because you said something like that! Ah, no matter---!!"

I felt heat rising to the tip of my ears as I remembered what happened last night. Seeing me like this, Aria narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth,

"...Could it be? Huh? Rainelle, did you..."

"Oh, no! I don't know what you're thinking, but no! It’s definitely not like that!!"

After I vehemently denied it, I felt the pressure.

I, I made a mistake! If I made a strong denial, it would mean a strong acquiescence!!

It seemed I wasn't the only one who thought so. Aria's expression suddenly turned into a smirk, and she said,

"Ah-haa~ Karmeut is pretty good too, huh. Judging from the time, it must have been after the love letter was sent... Oh, he was patient... Oh, really, Rainelle is a sinful woman, huh?"

"Don't convince yourself! Don't guess! Ugh!"

"So, you didn't?"

"..."

"Look at that, you did it."

...I’m sad that I can’t deny it! Ugh! Why is Aria so quick to read the situation?! That's why I didn't like quick-witted kids!

"You---!!"

"---Oh my! Don't puff your cheeks like that! I'll pop them!"

Aria, who poked my cheek, said so with a laugh. Then she put her lips to my ear and started whispering something that caught my interest.

"---Is that really okay?"

"Honestly, Karmeut would say that Rainelle can do anything."

...I think so… but still, I hope he likes it—!

"Still, wouldn't it be better to do something he definitely likes if possible?"

"...that attitude alone is enough. He’ll be happy. ---If you go straight to Karmeut, he’ll be 100% happy! Don't worry about it!"

Pushed by her force, I nodded my head. Aria then gave me a satisfied smile. She then sighed and muttered,

"...thinking about it, I may have been too nosy... But assisting Rainelle is satisfying."

"...Hey, isn’t your situation more urgent than mine?"

"Yeah, Namuel isn't my man yet! It's urgent, but if I don't know how to hold my brakes, I’ll get burnt."

When I saw Aria’s eyes burning with: “I will definitely win his heart!”, I kinda felt pity for Namuel.

“Then what about the Crobanlock?”

"I haven't given it to him yet... but I'm looking for a chance."

Aria's face was full of worries as she sighed and sat down on the bed.

"In the game, giving Crobanlock is the norm. But it's basic to build a good affinity before that. Since the side effects of Crobanlock are... you know, right?"

"Yeah. It was a very simple and intense setting where if one couldn't stand the power, that person would die. Karmeut also went through that when he woke up."

When I think of that time, I feel like my arm was hurting for no reason. It was like when a Gnoll's arrow pierced my wing.

Recalling that, I narrowed my eyebrows, but Aria didn't seem to see it. She sighed and shook her head.

"But this isn't a game. This is a reality, not a game where you can save your progress and load it if you mess up."

"...are you afraid that Namuel will die?"

"Of course!"

The way she looked at me while saying that was filled with desperation.

"It's not just because he’s my favorite. This is reality, and if this is a place where I have to live in the future... It's not that I didn't want to hurry and be with him! But, but---!!"

Aria took a long deep breath after she spoke up to that point. Then she murmured while blushing slightly,

"So, first, I’ll be a lady and play push and pull with him slowly! Let's see how long it will take! I'll continue to get closer to him by doing this and that!"

"---Wow, your head is full of him."

"What's wrong with being faithful to your desires!"

"No, I didn't say it was bad..."

"Anyway! I wrote a letter with that in mind, then we met and go on a date."

"---You really met with him?"

"I met him because of your jealousy over the letters!"

"Huh? While I'm still delivering the letters?!"

"Of course! Do you think our hearts will grow closer easily by just exchanging letters back and forth? If you apply this in a game, the increase in favorability would be low."

---I looked at Aria while feeling betrayed for some reason, but again, she seemed confident.

“Exchanging letters, seeing each other face to face, and spending time together… it really has gotten better.”

As she said so, Aria's face was dyed red slightly as she placed her hand on her chest. Contrary to what I had seen before, she was really shy and looked to be really in love. My eyes widened.

"Before, it’s like ‘My favorite character is my ideal, but it's a character that doesn't exist in reality’ and then it became 'Wow, I'm so excited! Let's do our best!'. It used to be like that, but now my feelings have become stronger.”

As she said so, she grabbed her cheeks and shook her head lightly. No matter how much intelligence I had lost because I became a crow, it was so clear that even I couldn’t not know.

"You’re in love, aren’t you?"

"Absolutely!"

Aria, who replied without hesitation, then muttered as she sighed,

"That's why I'm worried... In the game, if your favorability is above a certain level, your target will survive, but this is the reality. He can die regardless of that."

At those words, I quietly patted Aria on the shoulder. Feeling the touch, Aria sighed again.

"What do I do? When should I give him the Crobanlock? Of course, since I know it's not a game, I may not need to give him the Crobanlock, but if I want to make sure everything is according to the route, I have to give him the Crobanlock..."

"Well, think over it for a bit."

"That's right. I heard Rainelle also found a Crobanlock for Karmeut? How was it back then?"

"Uh... At that time, I didn't really have a crush on Karmeut as it was the first time I had met him. When I opened my eyes, I was in a forest, so I desperately prayed to find anyone because I don't want to eat bugs! It was Karmeut who I met at that time."

It didn't seem that long ago, but it felt so far away.

"That's why I gave the Crobanlock as a bribe. ‘Eat it, but don’t die! Please raise me for my contribution!’ That was how I think back then."

"...Wow."

"...I know I'm a snob, so don't look at me like that. The premise of swallowing living bugs itself was terrible."

"I understand that, but..."

I sighed lightly at Aria’s muttering behavior.

"I don't think it would help much if you take it from my case."

"Ugh, that’s true..."

"But didn't you make one premise wrong?"

"Huh? What?"

Seeing Aria’s confused expression, I added,

“Just because you give Namuel a Crobanlock as a gift, there is no guarantee that he will eat it. He’s a wizard, so he can conduct research with it instead, right?”

"...Ahhh?"

Seeing Aria's dumbfounded face, I vomited out these words:

"Aria, are you an idiot...?"

"..."

***