Those thoughts swirled in my mind as I met eyes with the young slave. A friendly smile rose to his lips, and he waved. I smiled awkwardly and returned the gesture. As I did, I felt Amako grip my sleeve more tightly. She avoided looking at him.
It was a little different from what I had imagined of slavery. I had expected something more tragic, but the boy was surprisingly bright.
“You can keep hold if you’re feeling worried, Amako,” I said.
“Okay.”
The boy had probably already been bought. He was somebody’s property. The reason Amako was so nervous was probably because she was imagining the uproar if the people here found out she was a beastkin.
“I’m sorry, I should have been more careful,” Aruku said, noticing Amako’s expression. “They never used to keep their slaves out in the open like that.”
“It’s okay,” I replied. “It’s something I was always going to have to face at some point.”
Neither Amako nor I blamed Aruku, of course.
“Anyway, where are we going, Aruku?” I asked.
“Oh, right. It should be right around here.”
As if on cue, a series of blue shapes sped by our eyes, flying through the skies. Instinctively, I followed their trajectory and saw that they were birds. They’d stopped at a two-story house a short distance from us.
“Pigeons?” I questioned.
The blue birds looked a lot like pigeons. They were all lined up. Each of them had a little sack on its back. I watched them with great curiosity and noticed a sign hanging underneath the roof on which they all sat. There was an image of a pigeon holding a letter, and next to it the word “Hoobird.”
“Hoo . . . bird?” I uttered. “Aruku, is that the place?”
“Yes, that’s our first stop,” he replied.
Now I finally understood what Aruku meant earlier.
“It’s a courier house,” explained Aruku. “We’ll send a bird to Llinger from there to let everyone know that we’ve arrived here safely.”
Hoobird.
I looked up at the birds again and sighed in amazement. A hoobird courier house was what people called the organization that handled the delivery of letters and packages. It made use of hoobird familiars, which were monsters that looked similar to pigeons. They were like the post office back in my world, and hoobirds were their postmen. Letters were placed in the bird’s rucksacks for deliveries. The birds were apparently capable of flying very long distances.
“Are they not like ordinary pigeons?” I asked.
“No. For starters, hoobirds are as fast as the wind,” replied Aruku. “They’re monsters, too, so they’re much stronger and can carry much heavier loads.”
“Wow.”
“The name courier house comes from the fact that it’s where the hoobirds roost.”
“Oh, so it’s literally a house for the couriers. I see.”
While Aruku sent off our letter, Amako told me more about hoobirds. It was really fascinating. There was nothing about them in the books I’d read except for their name and basic ecological details, so I’d never imagined that they could work as familiars in a way so beneficial to human life. Just as I was marveling at them, Nea decided to butt in and say something too.
“Yeah, their whole ecological deal is pretty interesting, but what’s more interesting is their familiar contracts,” she said.
“Hm? They’re different from normal?” I asked.
“They’re all sorts of different,” replied Nea.
I’d assumed that familiar contracts were all the same across the board, but according to Nea, this wasn’t the case at all.
“Those birds aren’t contracted to just one individual,” Nea explained. “These hoobirds have contracts with multiple people, so they have owners in whichever country they’re in.”
“So that’s how they deliver and receive letters, huh? But how do you know that, Nea?”
Did she read it in one of her books? Or did she work it out by looking at them? Nea giggled at my question.
“A long time ago, I captured a courier house employee. He told me all about it. Seeing this place makes me all nostalgic.”
“Nea . . .” I muttered.
That poor kidnapped guy or girl probably didn’t have any other choice but to tell you. Wait, hang on a second.
That was when it hit me. If I’d known about hoobirds earlier, I could have sent word to Rose about Nack before he even arrived in Llinger.
Oh. Uh, sorry Nack.
Knowing Rose, she probably wouldn’t so much as glance at the letter I wrote. She’d probably have her own unique way of welcoming Nack to boot.
Good luck, Nack.
“Alright, all done,” said Aruku, joining us as I sent a silent prayer to my young disciple. “I sent a report to Llinger. I also received this.”
It was a letter.
“What’s in it?” I asked.
“It’s a letter from your friends.”
“Really?!”
That must mean Inukami-senpai and Kazuki!
I looked at the contents of the letter. There wasn’t much in the way of finer details, but even then, it still surprised me. It said things like, “We’ve entered the finals of a dueling tournament!” and “We’re hunting a demon bull!”
It sure sounded like an epic journey.
A dueling tournament and a demon bull, huh?
“Judging by what’s in this letter, I guess a dragon of pure evil isn’t all that big of a deal, huh?” I muttered.
“No, it very much is, Sir Usato,” said Aruku.
“One hundred percent,” added Nea at the same time.
“It’s a massive deal,” said Amako for good measure.
“You don’t all have to refute me at the same time!” I cried.
The most important thing, however, was that when I read the letter, I knew that my two friends were out there doing their best. It made me feel like I had to do my best too.
“What are the heroes like, anyway?” asked Nea.
Well, it’s no surprise that Nea’s going to be curious. It’s in her nature.
“Those two? Well . . .” I started.
“Are they like you?” Nea said, cutting me off. “Are they monst-ow-ow!”
“Who’s a monster? Huh?”
She comes up to me all wide-eyed like a child and then has the gall to call me a monster? That’s why I flicked you in the forehead.
“Ow!” Nea moaned, clutching her head. “What even was that?!”
“Relax. I was holding back.”
“You dirty liar! I thought that was going to knock my head clear off my shoulders!”
Talk about an overexaggeration. Rose sends people flying with those kinds of flicks.
“Your version of holding back isn’t even holding back,” whispered Amako. “And you’re totally just saying that.”
“What was that, Amako?”
I looked over at Amako, who sank deeper into her hood to make sure her head was safe and out of danger.
I’ll let you off the hook this time, but only because you’ve recovered enough to make snide remarks again.