GOD V3C4: The Avian Nation

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GOD —The Beginning of the End— Volume 3: The End Begins

Original novel in Chinese by: 御 我 (Yu Wo)


Chapter 4: The Avian Nation—translated by lucathia (proofread by Lala Su & Trespasserby)

“Shooting Star, are you sure this is the right road?” Bai Saya asked uncertainly once again.

“I’m sure! Uncle Cow even drew a map for me. There’s no way I’m wrong about it!” Shooting Star patted his chest with great confidence.

But…

Bai Saya lifted his head doubtfully and looked at the road they were currently walking on.

This road wasn’t a small one that was difficult to find. On the contrary, it was extremely wide; so wide that two carriages could race down it side-by-side, with no problems whatsoever. Even though it was a little old, it had actually been paved with stone, and beautiful carvings were spaced out in intervals on both sides of the road. The majority of them were statues of winged avians.

Such an obvious road is indeed hard to mistake, but… no matter how you look at it, this appears to be a grand road leading to some historic site, and not a path leading to a small village, right?

“Something doesn’t feel quite right,” Dan solemnly said.

“Yeah! I feel the same,” Bai Saya completely agreed.

Shooting Star abruptly recalled something and said, “Come to think of it, Uncle Cow said that the avian village isn’t very welcoming toward visitors who aren’t beasts!”

Bai Saya and Dan exchanged a glance and saw a half demon and a human respectively. Then, they turned in unison to stare at the full-blooded demon, and asked completely in sync with each other, “Why didn’t you say so earlier? You think there are any beasts among us other than Yaya?”

Shooting Star lazily said, “Me!”

“You’re a demon,” Dan refuted with a frown.

Shooting Star propped his hands on his waist and brashly asked, “Hmph! Then, tell me, what race I look like right now?”

“Human,” Bai Saya honestly answered.

Shooting Star asked, “Since I can make myself look human, then what’s so difficult about making myself look like a beast?”

“Oh, right!” Bai Saya came to a sudden realization.

However, Dan frowned. He worked at the Guild, so he had seen a lot more than Bai Saya, and knew that many magic tools only allowed the user to take on a single appearance. If that bracelet could actually allow several different transformations, then that meant that the bracelet was worth tons and was possibly even priceless!

Shooting Star, who exactly are you?

Bai Saya curiously stuck his neck out to look. “Then, try transforming into a beastman.”

Shooting Star shrugged and impolitely pointed at Dan. “You, scram!”

“You don’t want me to see your demonic emblem?” Dan immediately understood, yet still asked.

“What is a demonic emblem?” Before Shooting Star could even answer, Bai Saya had already asked in curiosity.

Shooting Star rolled his eyes and scolded, “Idiot! It’s that pattern underneath Dan’s eye. You’ve seen it for so long. Don’t tell me you never noticed it? Did you think it was a tattoo or what?”

“…” He had really thought it was a tattoo. Bai Saya lowered his head in embarrassment.

“Sigh!” Dan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he explained, “Saya, most demons of nobility have a demonic emblem on them. By observing the patterns’ shape and position, you can approximately tell where that demon is from. Those that have a deep understanding of demonic emblems can even use them to determine which family the demon belongs to.”

Shooting Star excitedly said, “If it’s a famous demon, the shape of his demonic emblem would be very famous too! Just like the demon race’s first general Eminent, his demonic emblem is famous! He has a pattern in the shape of a butterfly on the left side of his neck. Along with that pretty face of his, he’s just so breathtaking!”

You’ve actually seen the first general? That’s not someone you can easily meet. Dan’s frown grew even deeper.

Bai Saya said with great certainty, “Then, you must really want to capture him as your pet. Which part of the first general do you like?”

Even though Shooting Star said that the general had a pretty face, Bai Saya had never seen Shooting Star like someone’s entire face. He instead mostly liked a portion of it.

Shooting Star answered without any hesitation, “It’s his demonic emblem, of course. It’s in the shape of a butterfly! Where else can you find that?”

Just as I thought! Bai Saya didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Shooting Star, Shooting Star, can’t you use the face or the figure like a normal person would use to judge beauty? Who uses all these miscellaneous parts like the eyes, the shape of someone’s face, the hair, the wings, and now a demonic emblem, to judge beauty?

“Ah, ah!”

At this time, Yaya, who was in Bai Saya’s arms, began to squirm. As she twisted around, she babbled, and her chubby hands reached far forward, almost making Bai Saya drop her.

Seeing Yaya react in such a way, the three of them couldn’t help but look toward the front.

At the end of the stone-paved road was a super gigantic stone gate. Shooting Star and company all had the same reaction. They stared at the stone gate and followed it upward, their heads tilting further and further…

“Whoa!” They all cried out at the same time.

The top of the stone gate actually reached the same height as the two towering mountains on both sides of it. The three of them had tilted their heads to the point of them nearly being parallel to their bodies before they could see the carving of wings at the very top of the gates.

“Are all villages around here like this?”

At last, Bai Saya said this with great admiration.

The two people beside him, to the left and right, both turned to look at Bai Saya. One had on a helpless expression, while the other really wanted to open his head to see just what was inside of it.

When Bai Saya became himself again, he saw the two of them looking at him with an odd expression. “Huh? Is something the matter?” He asked, confused.

“Nothing! Dan, hurry and scram. I’m going to transform into a beastman!” Shooting Star rudely commanded, “Oh right! Take Yaya with you too.”

After Dan looked at him, he solemnly took Yaya from Bai Saya and walked away.

“Should I leave too?” Bai Saya asked and pointed at himself.

“You don’t have to!” Shooting Star shrugged and said, “Even if the demon king from my race makes a personal appearance and comes wearing the royal emblem, wielding the frightening demonic sword that let him prevail over the world no matter where he went in the past, and riding the summoned darkness bone dragon, putting on a complete show for you, you would just ask him, ‘Who are you?’”

Bai Saya didn’t dare to retort. He couldn’t help but ask, “Is the demon king strong? He uses a demonic sword? Then, he must be a warrior! What’s a darkness bone dragon? Is it any different from a dragon? Have you actually met the demon king before?”

Shooting Star speechlessly stared at his pet, who was lacking in common sense and knowledge. Then, he poked him in the chest and shouted, “No, I haven’t! Other than the first prince, it’s been several hundred years since anyone has seen the demon king. Every time the demon king showed up, it was just to throw his kid at the first prince to raise.”

When Bai Saya heard that, he said disapprovingly, “Such an irresponsible father!”

“I totally agree!” Shooting Star grumbled and unwillingly added, “But people say that the demon king is old and isn’t in great health, and he doesn’t want anyone to find out about it. That’s why he is unwilling to make any appearances.”

Bai Saya nodded in understanding, but he still insisted, “But he still shouldn’t toss his children to his son.”

Shooting Star shrugged and said, “Even if he doesn’t throw them at his son, it’s not like he can raise them himself. He’s the king! Have you ever heard of a king personally raising his children?”

Bai Saya thought it over and said in embarrassment, “I don’t really know. I’ve never met a king before.”

Shooting Star rolled his eyes at him. This is common sense!

Bai Saya also felt that he was lacking in common sense. He hurriedly changed the topic. “Are you going to transform into a beastman?”

Shooting Star hesitated for a moment before he directly removed the remaining bracelet on his wrist. Even though his movement wasn’t indecisive, he truthfully felt a bit uneasy. After all, this was the first time he was going to show his true appearance in front of Xiao Bai. I wonder how he will react?

Bai Saya was stunned.

Shooting Star panicked and worriedly shouted, “How is it? Why are you so shocked? Am I that different? Do I look ugly?”

“You…” Bai Saya stuttered in shock. He sucked in a deep breath before he was able to continue speaking. “You haven’t changed at all? Shooting Star, did you take off the wrong bracelet?”

“…Are you blind? I have changed!” Shooting Star shouted with clenched fists. He was so angry that his face turned red.

Bai Saya swept his eyes up and down Shooting Star. Then, he swept them down and up. Shooting Star still had the same red hair, the same large eyes, and the same childish face and figure. He couldn’t help but ask in confusion, “Just what has changed?”

Shooting Star pushed aside his fiery hair and gestured hard at his ears. They were no longer round like a human’s. Rather, they had a sharp point.

Bai Saya came to a sudden realization. “So, your ears turned pointy! They were covered by your hair earlier, so I didn’t notice. My apologies.”

After he said that, he asked in confusion again, “But an elf also has pointy ears. Then, can’t you be considered an elf?”

It was like Shooting Star had been hit by a heavy one hundred kilogram hammer. His head instantly fell. He was in complete disbelief. He could only use his hands that had been pointing at his ears to point at his forehead instead.

“Your forehead?” Bai Saya bent over a bit to observe Shooting Star, who was dispirited. Finally, he was able to see an upside down black pentagon tattoo—no, Shooting Star and Dan had said that this was a “demonic emblem.”

An upside down black pentagon… Bai Saya abruptly thought of something and blurted, “Ah! This is exactly the same as your necklace.”

Shooting Star froze. Coldness flashed across his large, golden eyes. He used a frigid tone to ask, “My necklace? How do you know I have an inverted pentagon necklace?”

“When we were on the ship, I was in a hurry to find Roth to give to Dan. I asked Bones, and it poured everything out of your pouch. I saw the necklace then. I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

Bai Saya apologized with great sincerity. Even though it was Bones who had poured everything out of the bag, it was because he had asked Bones to help him search. Therefore, he didn’t plan to escape responsibility.

“Bones poured it out?” Shooting Star frowned.

How is that possible? Bones wouldn’t do that. Since the bag held items of utmost importance, Shooting Star had commanded that little fellow to guard the bag carefully.

Shooting Star looked toward their luggage. Come to think of it, Bones doesn’t seem very energetic lately. It’s been sleeping nearly the whole time. Even if I order it to pick fruits, it will follow my orders and return right after picking them, instead of dallying and stealing birds’ eggs before returning. When it’s bored, it would even chitter at me nonstop in the past.

I’ll have to take the time to figure out just what is going on with Bones.

When Shooting Star lifted his head, he was just in time to see Bai Saya stare at him. Shooting Star stared deep into Bai Saya’s eyes, but other than apology, all he saw was “stupidity” there. There really was nothing else in those amber eyes…

Xiao Bai really must have been on his own with his shifu ever since he was born, until the day his shifu was murdered. Or else, how could he be so naively stupid?

“In any case, don’t tell Dan that my demonic emblem is an upside down black pentagon. I don’t want him to know which family I’m from.”

After Shooting Star saw Bai Saya nod, he relaxed. Xiao Bai had yet to develop the skills of “lying” and “breaking his promises.”

“All right, I’m transforming now!” Shooting Star twisted the bracelet. Ehehe, what kind of beastman should I turn into?

Bai Saya asked in curiosity, “Are you going to transform into an avian?”

“No way!” Shooting Star rolled his eyes and said, “What I transform into is just for appearances. If some avian asks me to fly, I wouldn’t be able to do that.”

“I see. So, what are you going to transform into?”

“Does it need to be said? Of course, I’m gonna transform into the king of all beasts—a lion!”

After Shooting Star made his great declaration, he immediately put the bracelet on, and his body began to change. The pointy ears of a demon began to shrink, and two fluffy ears appeared on top of his head. Three whiskers grew from both cheeks, while fur slowly appeared on his hands, and soft, round pads rose from his palms, finally turning into paws.

“How is it? Am I imposing?” Shooting Star turned around and struck an attacking pose as he asked gleefully.

Imposing? Bai Saya felt that Shooting Star’s current appearance had nothing to do with the word imposing! However, Shooting Star was currently basking in glee. Bai Saya didn’t want to burst his bubble, or else Shooting Star would never let him hear the end of it.

“It suits you pretty well.” Bai Saya, who never lied, could only say this.

“All right! Let’s call Dan over and knock on that door!”

Shooting Star’s eyes shone as he looked at the door in front of them. It wouldn’t budge even if they knocked until their arms broke, yet he shouted that he wanted to knock on it.

Dan walked over. When he saw Shooting Star’s appearance, he lifted an eyebrow and turned a questioning look on Bai Saya. The latter held in his laughter and blinked at Dan as he said, “He’s a lion. Imposing, right?”

Dan laughed. When Shooting Star shot him a suspicious look that said, “What are you laughing at,” he quickly smothered his laughter and returned to his solemn face. However, he secretly exchanged a glance with Bai Saya, laughter still dancing in their eyes.

Yaya loudly cried out, “Fluffy” and jumped into Shooting Star’s arms. Then, she grabbed his soft toe beans and refused to let go.

With Bai Saya’s firm decision not to waste effort in “knocking,” Shooting Star could only use the method that Uncle Cow had told him of. He walked to the door and pulled on the rope that was as thick as a person’s thigh, to ring the huge bell that hung in front of the gate. At once, the bell resounded deeply.

“No one is responding… Ah! I mean, no avians! Hey, guests are here. Hurry and open the gates!”

Shooting Star’s loud voice accompanied the ringing bell, sounding endlessly. It was just that no matter how loud his voice was, it couldn’t compare to the huge bell. It didn’t take long for him to give up competing with the bell using his voice. He even gave up on ringing the bell and had Bai Saya take his place. He went off to the side and used his toe beans to play with Yaya instead.

Yaya was having a lot of fun. This relieved Shooting Star. On that first night after Alan had left, she had wailed so desperately. They could only leave quickly the next day to search for the avian village, lying to her that they were heading out to search for her mother. Only then did she calm down.

He kept playing with Yaya on the way here, and that was the only reason she stopped crying about wanting her mom. But how long could this last? Shooting Star was a little worried and couldn’t help but start to blame Alan. Just when was he going to catch up with them?

It can’t be that the elf isn’t as smart as Dan? Shooting Star began to worry. He thought it over. His elf was sometimes a bit scatterbrained. Maybe he really didn’t figure out “Bai Saya’s true intentions” like Dan did.

The bell rang for a long time. Even though Shooting Star had moved farther and farther away, he still felt that he was about to lose his hearing. Just as he wanted to tell Bai Saya to give it a rest for a bit, something finally happened.

Several shadows appeared on the ground. They reflexively looked up. In the sky were several… “large birds?”

“Step back from Heaven’s Wing Gate. Remain below without moving.”

However, the large bird spoke.

Bai Saya was taken aback.

Dan reminded him, “They should be avians. Let’s back up a bit.”

Bai Saya nodded. They directly backed up to where Shooting Star and Yaya were. Shooting Star was currently looking up at the avians in the sky with great excitement.

“A whole group of angels!” Shooting Star smiled so much that his eyes closed. “It would be so wonderful if I had a beautiful army of angels!”

Bai Saya and Dan shared a glance. They didn’t at all wish that what was above them was an army of angels.

The avians descended one by one. They definitely didn’t have enough to form an army, but there were still more than ten of them. In addition, they had gigantic wings on their backs, making them appear quite imposing.

Shooting Star widened his eyes and clearly made out the avian at the very front. He held a long spear in his hand and towered over him. His skin was a deep bronze from too much sun, and he had a square face and thick eyebrows. If not for the pair of wings behind his back and the light leather armor on his body, he looked just like a farmer who was always on the field.

A f-farmer angel! Shooting Star fell into a stupor. Pop, pop, pop. The heavenly avian village of his imagination shattered completely, like bubbles bursting apart.

The spear-wielding avian furrowed his thick eyebrows and asked, “Why have you come here? Trade?”

“Ah, ah?”

Before anyone else could respond, Yaya gave an “ah, ah” and even looked curiously at those people’s wings as she touched her own small wings.

“This is… a child of our race?” The spear-wielding avian exclaimed.

At this time, Dan returned to his senses and explained to the avians, “Yes, we were asked by her parents to look after her. However, we are unable to teach her how to fly, so we sought your avian vill… city, hoping to receive your help.”

When the spear-wielding avian laid eyes on Dan, his face darkened, and he asked, “Demon?”

“Half-demon.” Dan remained calm as he answered. He understood that many races were unable to accept demons. He had even mentally prepared for the possibility that he may have to camp outside of the city by himself.

The spear-wielding avian nodded. He solemnly said, “Swear in the name of the Demon King that everything you have said is the truth, that you have told no lies.”

After Dan paused for a moment, he complied and said, “In the name of the Demon King, Dyph Yph, I, Dan Dove, swear that everything I have just said is the truth.”

The spear-wielding avian nodded with a pleased expression on his face. Then, he turned his gaze on the other two. When he saw Shooting Star, he was rather surprised and said, “Huh, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a beastman of this race.”

Shooting Star immediately returned to his senses. His eyes sparkled, as if saying: Hear, hear! Quickly tell them that I’m an imposing beastman of the lion race!

The spear-wielding avian smilingly rubbed Shooting Star’s head and praised, “What a cute kitty. The cat race is such a rare sight!”

Hear, hear! It’s so rare to see such an imposing cat… cat?! Shooting Star’s jaw dropped. He swatted away the avian’s hand and roared, “I’m not a cat! I’m a lion, an imposing lion!”

“Hahaha, the little kitty is angry! Fine, fine, you’re an imposing kitten, okay?”

The spear-wielding avian broke into laughter.

The avians behind him also laughed and said, “Cats always like to claim to be lions.”

“You!”

Shooting Star was so angry that his fur stood up, making him appear just like an electrocuted cat. He was on the verge of pouncing with his toe beans and leaving red scratches all over the avian’s face. By then, Bai Saya had finally regained his senses and saw that the situation was getting out of hand. He immediately stepped forward to restrain Shooting Star.

“Shooting Star, calm down!”

Unexpectedly, Shooting Star didn’t put up much of a protest, but the avians each raised their spears and jabbed at Bai Saya mercilessly. Fortunately, the latter was a fighter and reflexively dodged these attacks.

After the avians’ attack failed, they immediately yelled at Bai Saya, “Evil human! What are you doing to the little cat? Unhand him now.”

“Huh?” Bai Saya, Shooting Star, and Dan coincidentally uttered the same sound of confusion.

“Ah?” To the side, Yaya copied their example.

Bai Saya was at a loss. This was the first time he had been crowned with the descriptor “evil.”

The spear-wielding avian coldly said, “Humans are a despicable race. They are able to break any promise, including oaths sworn to the gods they follow. Even those! They can’t be trusted at all!”

Hearing that, Dan was actually the one who was the most troubled. He would much rather the avians held animosity toward him instead.

“Xiao Bai isn’t that kind of person at all!” Shooting Star propped his hands on his waist and spoke up for his pet, “He keeps his word without needing to swear to any god! My Xiao Bai is that stupid!”

Bai Saya couldn’t help but feel grateful that Shooting Star had spoken up for him. It would have been even better if he hadn’t added that last part.

Yet, the spear-wielding avian didn’t believe him.

Seeing that, Shooting Star could only change tactics. “Anyway, no matter how evil he is, he is only one person. You’re a whole avian city. Don’t tell me you’re scared of a single human?”

The spear-wielding avian actually agreed. “This isn’t an avian city. We are the Avian Nation.”

The Avian Nation, White Feather.

Usually, only during wartime would tribes and villages on the Southern Continent join together to form a temporary nation against a common enemy. Once the war ended, the temporary nation would naturally dissolve. As a result, Uncle Cow and the others had told Shooting Star that this was an avian “village,” as they truly had little concept of a “nation.”

The White Feather Nation was an exception. Avians enjoyed living in groups and possessed a gentle nature. They were unlike other rowdy beastmen, who easily fell into conflict when living together. If tribes were too large, they would even run into a shortage of prey, resulting in fights over food.

The avians were one of the rare beastmen races that specialized in farming and gathering food rather than hunting. Therefore, they simply gathered together in this location and formed a nation of avians.

Compared to the nations on other continents, the avian nation was laughably small, as it was merely a single capital city; however, the White Feather Nation was one of the few long-standing nations on the Southern Continent, which mostly had villages and migratory tribes.

“White Feather Nation, right? I’ve heard so much about you!” Shooting Star immediately made up.

Didn’t you just call them an avian village? Since when have you heard anything about them? Bai Saya shot a glance at his companion. Just who among us is the human who can’t be trusted?

The spear-wielding avian clearly adored Shooting Star. Such an obvious lie didn’t even register, and he even happily rubbed Shooting Star’s head.

“Come on in, little kitty. You will definitely love our nation.”

Shooting Star was about to combust, but whatever. As long as Xiao Bai could enter and Yaya could learn how to fly, then he’d be a little kitty!

“So, we can all head in?” Shooting Star shamelessly added the word “all.”

The spear-wielding avian nodded, but before they could express their happiness, he pointed at Bai Saya and said, “Except for him.”

Shooting Star and Dan’s faces both fell. Maybe they shouldn’t have Dan enter. Bai Saya was the holder of the Stone of Sin. They could leave anyone but Bai Saya by himself out here.

“He must wear handcuffs and shackles. The others can enter as is.”

As the avian said this, he glanced disdainfully at Bai Saya. Then, he turned and tasked his men to get the handcuffs and shackles.

Shooting Star scratched his furry ears and turned to look at Bai Saya, who was a little frustrated. However, the swordsman, who was always obedient, had no intentions to refuse, as long as he could enter.

Dan, on the other hand, was displeased. He would rather be the one handcuffed and shackled instead. This was an insult to his checkmate Bai Saya that Dan could not allow. “We demons are not good people either. Why aren’t you tying me up?”

Shooting Star rolled his eyes. You’re begging to be tied up? But he was too lazy to care about Dan. When it came to checkmates, arguing over it was useless. They might as well send him over as a freebie to get tied up. In any case, the avians weren’t some evil race.

“That is indeed the case.” The avian nodded and said, “However, demons would never go back on their oaths to the Demon King Dyph Yph. Only the rarest few would dare to break their oath sworn under the name of the Demon King. If you are indeed ‘that kind of demon,’ then even if I don’t allow you to enter, you would force your way in.”

Dan choked but couldn’t refute. He was right. The only ones who would dare to break their oaths were thousand year old demons like Ice Chess.

“Oh, so that’s how it is. That’s why you wanted Dan to swear by the Demon King’s name, but…” Shooting Star delighted in creating chaos as he deliberately said, “He’s a half demon! And the other half is human! Aren’t you worried that he’s more like a human than a demon?”

Dan coldly glanced at Shooting Star out of the corner of his eye. Although he was dissatisfied with Shooting Star’s tone, he wasn’t dissatisfied with what Shooting Star had said. He didn’t want Bai Saya to suffer this alone. He would rather be shackled with him.

“Even so, he is still much more trustworthy than a human.” The spear-wielding avian didn’t care about that point much at all.

Bai Saya hurried to placate them. “It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll just be handcuffed. I’ve even been imprisoned before, so it’s nothing. Let’s just head in.”

Dan frowned, but Bai Saya had on a pleading expression. He could only give in and silently watch his checkmate get handcuffed and shackled.

Seeing Dan’s ugly expression, Shooting Star couldn’t help but mutter, “Geez, I wonder just who is getting handcuffed? Are checkmates really so extraordinary? I better never…” …meet my checkmate my whole life.

In actuality, making Bai Saya wear handcuffs and shackles was more for formality than for any practical purpose. The spear-wielding avian didn’t even make Bai Saya hand over his sword, although it was true that he didn’t know that the Sword of Sacred White could cleave through iron as if it were mud.

After all, this was a mere four person team, and among them were a little boy and an infant who needed to be carried. This kind of team couldn’t cause any great trouble to this nation of avians.

Therefore, the spear-wielding avian easily let this group enter his country.

“Please come in. Markham welcomes your arrival on behalf of White Feather.”

After that was said, Shooting Star stared at the gate in great excitement. It will definitely be a grand sight when such a huge gate like this opens!

Even Bai Saya couldn’t keep his composure. He stared at the humongous gate expectantly.

Only Dan, who had been through thick and thin, retained his usual calm. He cared more about whether or not the handcuffs and shackles on Bai Saya were too tight than about the stone gate.

Before they knew it, a “clang” sounded, and the gigantic gate… had a tiny, rusty door open near the bottom.

“…”

Markham personally led Shooting Star and the others into White Feather. He planned to first take them to report to the city supervisor. On the way, Shooting Star asked endless questions, and Markham patiently answered all of them.

As they walked on, many avians stopped in their steps, pointing and gesturing at Bai Saya, who was handcuffed and shackled. Even though he hadn’t done anything wrong, Bai Saya still felt embarrassed by the remarks. He couldn’t be bothered to marvel at his surroundings, his head drooped the entire way.

Dan walked beside him and helped block some of the gazes from the outsiders. Meanwhile, his face had darkened, and he coldly observed the surrounding beastmen that were gossiping about Bai Saya.

“Didn’t you just say that White Feather often does business with other beastmen?” Shooting Star looked around with an odd expression and asked, “Why are there so few other beastmen? I barely see any!”

“It is currently off season for business.” Markham answered the little kitty’s questions rather patiently.

“So that’s how it is! Do you have any food specialties?” Shooting Star would never forget to ask about good food.

Seeing Shooting Star’s hunger, Markham laughingly said, “Tons! But our most famous delicacy has to be our fruit wine. You’re a kid though, so you should drink juice instead.”

“Fruit wine!” Shooting Star jerked his head to the side and reached out with his furry paw as he said, “Xiao Bai, I wanna drink fruit wine. Give me money to buy it.”

When he heard that, Bai Saya immediately lifted his drooped head and turned him down seriously. “No, you’re still a kid. You may not drink wine.”

“I’m not a kid. I’m already over thirty!” Shooting Star shouted.

Shooting Star is actually over thirty years old? Bai Saya was stunned. Doesn’t that mean he’s an entire twelve years older than me?

At this, Dan said next to his ear, “A demon’s lifespan is different from a human’s. To a full-blooded demon, thirty years old is equivalent to around fifteen years old for humans.”

Fifteen years old! When Bai Saya heard that, he immediately said in a serious voice, “Little kids may not drink wine! I’ll buy you juice.”

After he said that, he dragged along his shackles and dug out his money pouch, about to go off to buy juice.

“No, I want fruit wine. I don’t want juice!” Shooting Star hurried over to pull him to a stop, making a big fuss over it.

“No is no. If you keep complaining, I’m going to tell Alan that you drank fruit wine without permission when he comes back!” Bai Saya sternly threatened him. “Didn’t you say he is definitely coming back?”

“Hmph!” Having been threatened, Shooting Star unwillingly let go. Then, he viciously glared at his pet and scolded, “I’m beginning to consider whether or not I should allow him to come back!”

“What’s with all the noise here?”

Markham was out of sorts watching this evil human, who was handcuffed and shackled, take out a small money pouch. It was too bizarre. When he heard this familiar growl, he immediately turned and reported, “Captain of the Guard! I was in the middle of bringing these travelers to report to you.”

Captain of the Guard? He must be strong! Strong people always looked beautiful. It didn’t matter if that made any sense. Shooting Star believed in it.

He must be a beautiful angel! Shooting Star abruptly spun one hundred and eighty degrees…

“A-Agid?” Shooting Star’s mouth dropped.

The newcomer had a pair of wings that were more robust than all of the other avians’ wings, muscles that were as strong as mountains, and even a face that was pieced together with muscles. He was a muscle man built completely from muscles piled together. In his hands, he even held a thick and long spear, appearing quite deadly—just as deadly to both body and mind!

Bai Saya sympathetically looked at Shooting Star, who was wilting. It was like two huge mallets had struck him in his eyes, nearly blinding him. He couldn’t even stand properly anymore.

This avian really looked like Agid had a pair of wings sprout from his back. When Bai Saya saw him, he had nearly reflexively taken ten steps back to prevent Agid from performing the ultimate technique of “instantly approaching him.”

Avian Agid growled, “This is a human? You actually let a human inside!”

“I-I already made him wear handcuffs and shackles.” Markham was clearly a bit frantic. He quickly explained himself to the captain.

Avian Agid yelled, “Handcuffs and shackles can’t do anything to stop a human’s evilness!”

“We humans have a lot of good people among us too! We’re not an evil race!” Bai Saya finally couldn’t help but stand up for his own race.

Avian Agid mercilessly refuted, “For their own selfish desires, humans capture other races all over the world, making them into slaves to order around or pets to marvel at. They are irredeemably despicable!”

“Ugh!” Bai Saya was abruptly rendered speechless. He could not help but admit that this was indeed true, as he too had almost been sold as a slave in the past.

When Dan saw Bai Saya’s dejected demeanor, wrath burned within him, and he coldly said, “Beastmen also go to war all the time and take captives as slaves.”

“We avians never initiate any confrontations, and we do not own a single slave,” Avian Agid proudly said. Afterwards, he shot a glance at Dan and turned to shout at Markham, “A human and a demon. Why have you let such dangerous people inside?”

Markham scratched his head, as he had let them in because of the little avian. Besides, they only had four people in their group. It wasn’t like they could cause a lot of trouble.

“Like hell we’re dangerous people!” Shooting Star propped his hands on his waist and shouted, “You’re being way too rude. We were asked to take care of this kid by an avian, and we even came all the way here to help his kid learn how to fly!”

It was actually a dragon who asked us for a favor. Bai Saya corrected Shooting Star in his heart.

Avian Agid looked toward Shooting Star. Seeing that he was a beastman, Avian Agid’s expression immediately gentled. He nodded and said, “Ah, it’s been so long since I’ve seen a cat.”

“I’m a lion!” Shooting Star was just like an angry cat. Even the fur on his body stood up.

“Is she the little avian child you speak of?”

Avian Agid clearly did not care about Shooting Star’s declaration that he was a lion. He turned his attention to Yaya. The moment he saw those large pink eyes of Yaya blink at him non-stop, he blurted in great alarm, “T-this is…

“Royalty!”

8 Responses

  1. Ori

    Thank you for the chapter! It was very amusing the whole way through! I hope we learn more about Shooting Star soon

  2. dollyfishe

    Oh… Im curious now. Is SS a royalty 🤔
    Oh btw… There’s sun, there’s moon, now is star. Will we have a whole galaxy as names 🤔 that will be interesting 😆

    • GuestGirl

      I’m as curious as you are about SS, though I think the Royalty comment is referring to Yaya. It would make sense because her mother had enough power/status/connections to leave her with a dragon.

    • Mizuhino

      Ignoring the royalty comment about Yaya at the end, I also think it likely that Shooting Star is royalty. That comment about the demon king throwing his child to the first prince to raise makes sound like he might be such a child…

    • Kamui

      I think dollyfishe was referring to SS’s mysterious connections and his emblem, which is (if memory serves) typically the symbol of Satan. I also kinda think that shooting star is one of the many children of the demon king that were thrown at the first prince…
      Thanks PR!

    • Mizuhino

      @Kamui

      I think our comments both had the same intent, but yours was phrased so much better than mine. Thank you~

  3. GuestGirl

    “Human beings capture all races to make them pets!”

    …Avians, I’d like to introduce you to Shooting Star.

  4. KT

    I’m really curious who could be Shooting Star’s checkmate. Though I can’t see him being subordinate to anyone, ever.

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