“Who is that?!”
Unable to hold back any longer, I jumped up from my seat and shouted.
The massive red bird that had taken to the stage scattered embers from its wings as it soared again, landing while clutching Tia by both shoulders.
And there they were, laughing joyfully as if they were long-lost friends, leaving me utterly bewildered about what was happening.
So who is that?
I couldn’t recall ever seeing such a grotesque bird.
“T-Tia!”
“Mm?”
“So who is that?”
“It’s Zizi!”
“No, I mean who is Zizi…?”
“It’s the little bird Tia raised a long time ago!”
“……?”
Even after hearing the explanation, I had no idea what it meant.
Tia raised a bird?
I desperately racked my brain trying to recall every memory related to birds.
Now that I thought about it, there was indeed a bird that Tia used to call ‘Zizi.’
Back when I worked at the tavern, there was a little baby bird on the roof of the storage shed we used as our home.
Tia found the baby bird alone and, seeing that the mother bird wasn’t returning no matter how long she waited, occasionally threw out some millet for it.
Then one day, it suddenly disappeared, and I thought a stray cat had taken it…
“How do you even remember that?!”
Furious, I shouted again.
This makes no sense.
If this were a novel, it would be like dropping a brief plot point around chapter 46 only for it to never be mentioned again, and yet here we are.
It’s almost absurd.
“Even Mom eventually remembered, right?”
“I only managed to recall it because you said ‘Zizi!’ How could I recognize the fluffy little ball it became like that?!”
“Mm? Zizi is Zizi! You can tell at a glance.”
“……”
I was left speechless.
Not only did Tia instantly recognize that Leopard was female, but she also recognized a grotesque figure she had briefly seen when it was a baby bird…
Does Tia have the ability to see through someone’s essence?
It was so ridiculous that I was at a loss for words.
“I-I will now conclude the entrance ceremony. Please exit quietly to avoid startling the divine beast…”
“KYAAAAAH!!!”
“I said be quiet! Do you all want to die?!”
The auditorium instantly descended into chaos.
Everyone was frozen for a moment, but the moment the order to evacuate was given, people rushed out in a frenzy.
A divine beast, huh…
I wasn’t entirely sure, but that bizarre-looking bird seemed quite dangerous.
After all, the visual of it burning its wings was anything but normal.
“Zizi, do you want some candy?”
“Ziz!”
“Strawberry flavor? Or lemon flavor? Oh, you want lemon flavor?”
“Ziz?!”
“Muhuhuhu! Is it too sour?”
The area near the entrance was a tangled mess of people, resembling a scene from a disaster movie.
In the center of the auditorium stood Tia, playfully interacting with the beast that was twice her size perched on her shoulder, laughing joyfully.
I pushed my way through the throng and approached Tia.
“Tia, be careful. Your clothes will catch fire.”
“Mm? It’s fine! Zizi knows to be careful!”
“Ziz!”
Tia laughed as if entirely carefree.
Zizi—no, the grotesque creature—also squinted its eyes and shouted along.
My ears felt like they might burst…
Seeing it up close only made its hideous appearance more pronounced.
With just a little pressure on its feet, it could easily crush Tia’s shoulder, and if the angle of its feathers changed even slightly, Tia would be roasted alive.
My heart dropped more than once.
“Where have you been, Zizi? I’ve been looking for you for a while!”
“Ziz!”
“You left because you were worried you’d burn the house while practicing flying? Muhuhuhu. Aw, so cute…”
“Ziz!”
But seeing them get along so well gave me a bit of relief.
It seemed their mental ages were somewhat similar.
The grotesque creature tilted its head, making strange sounds as it gazed at Tia.
Tia scratched its head, calling it beautiful, and it began to purr and even shed tears.
It was just like witnessing a puppy that had returned alive from a butcher’s shop dramatically reunite with its owner.
For some reason, my own eyes were becoming misty.
Why is this so touching…?
“Divine beast, Phoenix. I never expected to see you again in my lifetime. Is it been 5000 years?”
At that moment, a ringing sound accompanied by a shower of golden light cascaded down from the sky.
A small light slowly descended, carried by that radiance.
Director Lara.
She was the fairy who had shrieked weirdly and fled earlier.
She exchanged a deep gaze with the grotesque creature.
A reunion after 5000 years.
Is this what fantasy is like? Time units being nonsensical.
Those two had indeed achieved a genuinely touching reunion.
“Phoenix? Who is that? This is Zizi!”
“Tia…”
But Tia’s innocent and naive voice shattered the emotional moment.
“W-Well, it was originally called Phoenix.”
“Eh? But Zizi sounds cuter. Right, Zizi?”
“Ziz!”
“Zizi wants to be called Zizi!”
“……”
The director was left speechless, frozen on the spot.
Tia’s reckless comments seemed to have her dazed.
She soon regained her composure, shook her head, and slowly approached Zizi with her hand extended.
Zizi accepted the director’s touch without any hesitation.
“I wondered why your once powerful cries have changed so much… you must’ve injured your vocal cords. This life will be somewhat difficult for you.”
“What’s wrong with our Zizi’s calls? They’re just cute!”
“Ziz!”
“……”
So that’s not how it used to sound.
Indeed, with such a fearsome appearance, it doesn’t make sense for a divine beast to chirp a ‘Ziz’…
Every time it cried, that sound was so mismatched with its looks that I couldn’t adjust.
“Uh, new students?”
“Tiamat!”
“Tia, you need to speak respectfully to the director.”
“It’s Tiamat! Please call me Tia!”
“T-Tia! The divine beast will now be under my care, so could you please hand it over to me?”
The director stuttered, pleading.
But she had been speaking as if in fear since earlier, maintaining a certain distance. It was really strange.
At first, I thought she was afraid of Zizi.
But it didn’t take long for me to realize why that cute director was so frightened.
“Zizi is mine, you know?”
“Uh… divine beasts aren’t like pets that can be individually owned…”
“Oh! No! Just call Zizi mine!”
“Y-You mean you are referring to me?”
“Zizi will be mine! I can be Zizi’s, then I can have both Zizi and you! That’s great, right, Zizi?”
“Ziz!”
As Tia clapped as if she’d gained some insight, Zizi also cried out happily.
At the same time, the director’s face turned pale.
Aha. That fairy is no ordinary person.
I think I finally understand.
That director, Lara, has pierced through all of Tia’s abilities and identity.
Therefore, she must know that if Tia set her mind to it, she could destroy magic and easily capture a tiny fairy like her as a doll.
I felt the need to intervene with Tia at this point.
If I left it as it was, that fairy would likely faint from fear.
“Tia, what are you going to do with Zizi?”
“Tia will raise Zizi!”
“How will you raise it? If you bring Zizi into the accommodation, the whole building will go up in flames. And what about food? Considering the energy it expends with that size and its continuously burning flames, the amount it eats will be massive. Can you handle all that, Tia?”
“I can’t…”
“Zizi left for your sake. So how about we let Zizi live freely in a wide space?”
“Mmuu…”
Tia pouted her cheeks and kicked the ground but eventually agreed.
Zizi hopped off Tia’s shoulder and faced her.
Tia couldn’t hold back and suddenly hugged Zizi tightly.
“Zizi! Will you be alright without Tia?”
“I’ve been fine for thousands of years already…”
“Be quiet, you! Zizi, you need to stay healthy without Tia!”
“It’s not like we are forever separated…”
Thus concluded their tearful, heart-wrenching farewell.
Later, I found out that Tia’s clothes were entirely singed and could never be worn again.
That naughty Zizi.
I hope I don’t have to meet that creature again.
.
.
.
Late at night.
On the rooftop of the building sat a red-glowing bird with its large wings spread.
With a ringing sound, Lara flew over and landed on the divine beast’s wings, looking up at it.
“Fufu. What on earth have you been doing for 5000 years? The world has changed a lot in your absence.”
“Ziz.”
Lara rubbed against her long-time friend’s feathers, laughing.
The Phoenix had been alive for thousands of years, endlessly dying and resurrecting, gaining wisdom superior to humans.
But for some reason, after its death 5000 years ago, it had completely concealed its presence.
Just as I was about to forget, it suddenly resurrected and appeared again.
“Eh…? You were unable to manifest because the cat population exploded and you kept getting hunted during your egg or baby bird stages? So that was why you failed to resurrect for 5000 years?”
“Ziz!”
Lara smacked her forehead.
There were humans who loved cats so much that they even fed strays.
It felt utterly absurd to think that an immortal Phoenix couldn’t manifest just because of a few cats.
“Thanks to that terrifying kid, we’ve reunited. I should be thankful.”
“Ziz!”
I began to understand why the divine beast cherished that child so much.
After enduring torment for 5000 years, it had fortuitously met Tia, growing safely to adulthood.
Without her help and care, the Phoenix might have had to suffer for another 5000 years.
“By the way, what could Tia’s purpose for coming to St. Sophia be…?”
The child of the Black Dragon and the Holy Maiden.
She had the insight to recognize the Phoenix and rescue it from eternal suffering.
The ability to destroy everything made of magic without a trace.
Along with extraordinary strength and magical development abilities, among other things…
It was hard to believe she came here to learn something.
What could her true purpose be?
What plans did Dragania have to enroll such a human weapon into this school?
“It couldn’t just be that they wanted their daughter to develop social skills and learn magic…”
No matter how much I thought about it, nothing came to mind.
Lara held her head in her hands.
