085 – A New Family Has Arrived! #1
“I’m not specialized in animals, so I’m not sure… but it doesn’t seem like the injuries are too severe. I disinfected the wound and stitched up the worst parts.”
Hoo-.
Yu Ara was panting as if she had been through a lot.
The large tiger owl Kalilnoi lay on the Inoi’s bed, breathing steadily with a soft hoo-hoo sound as it slept.
Just a while ago, it had been fluttering and flapping its wings, but it seemed that the anesthetic that Yu Ara specifically prepared had worked.
“There’s a large wound on the left wing. I won’t know the details until time passes, but it could affect its ability to fly long-term,” Ari diagnosed, suggesting that the tiger owl Kalilnoi had been flying back to our home after repeatedly falling and flying.
It had suffered significant injuries while fleeing from something, involved in a series of falls and flights.
“Why on earth did it injure its wings?”
It must have been with Cha Yura.
Since the tiger owl Kalilnoi couldn’t speak and only continued to breathe softly, I had sent a message to Cha Yura.
If she replied, she would let me know what had happened.
“That owl is a nymph like Inoi. It’s quite fascinating.”
While looking at the sleeping owl covered with a blanket, Yu Ara quietly expressed her admiration.
Soon, Inoi, Illinois, and Coris approached the owl Kalilnoi and gently stroked its body with their palms.
“Get well soon…!”
“That Illinois is a drug nymph…! So it’s possible to make a recovery potion…! If there are side effects, you might feel extremely high…!”
“I also hope Kalilnoi gets well soon and can fly in the sky with me on its back to touch the clouds…!”
Swish swish swish-.
Did the nymphs’ soothing touch have an effect?
Hoo-hoo, hoo-hoo-.
It seemed that Kalilnoi’s labored breathing had stabilized somewhat.
Click, click-.
At that moment, the sound of someone opening our front door was heard.
Entering through the door was Seo Ye-rim.
“I caught the culprit! Where are you! The one who dared to act like me by cutting my hair and trying to tell Haildo strange things!”
Seo Ye-rim seemed to have finished her work quickly upon hearing that Kalilnoi had been captured.
She yelled upon seeing the large owl lying on the bed.
“This thing! Well caught! You naughty thing! How dare you touch my hair—.”
“Shh-. We need to keep it calm right now.”
Swish-.
Ari pulled Seo Ye-rim’s arm.
She wouldn’t want the owl Kalilnoi to wake up.
It was indeed a doctor’s judgment.
# # #
Chitter chitter, the details.
I explained to Seo Ye-rim everything that had happened.
Listening to my story, Seo Ye-rim occasionally frowned while glancing at the large owl Kalilnoi sleeping in the room.
Was it strange to see the one who attacked her lying there, as if it had been attacked by someone else?
“What’s up? I’m the victim, but questioning me feels like I’m the perpetrator. Tch.”
It seemed that Seo Ye-rim had decided to hold off on scolding the injured Kalilnoi for the time being.
I presented her with a golden feather, a token of reconciliation from Kalilnoi.
Swish-.
“This is what it gave me.”
“What is this? A golden feather?”
Swish-.
Seo Ye-rim held the feather in her hand.
Even without my explanation, her expression instantly became serious.
“Oh, this is quite….”
The mana within the Awakened was of various qualities.
There were materials, foods, and tools compatible with each individual’s magic.
It seemed that Seo Ye-rim sensed intuitively that the golden feather of the tiger owl was an excellent material.
Swish-.
Putting the feather into her luxury handbag, she soon spoke.
“Okay. If it reflects on itself and gives a gift of reconciliation, then we should forgive it. Although I don’t know if the judicial system will forgive it.”
“Is Core Ye-rim trying to call a lawyer here…? Indeed, the legal team of the industry is strong…!”
Illinois asked.
Seo Ye-rim soon opened her thin eyes and shook her head.
“No. It would be funny to put an owl on trial, anyway. Animals can’t be brought to court. This thing is definitely a nymph, just like Illinois, right?”
Indeed.
Kalilnoi was a nymph.
A tremendously large one that could even be called ‘sister!’
Seeing that, everyone would certainly be surprised.
As time passed, it must have been around midnight?
The sleeping tiger owl Kalilnoi rose, looking quite revitalized.
Hoo-hoo-.
Was Yu Ara’s skill as a doctor that good?
Was the potion made by Illinois helpful?
Or was it the nymphs’ sincere touches that had the effect?
Kalilnoi quickly regained its strength and spread its wings.
Swish-.
Hoo-hoo…!
The owl hooted like a real owl.
I spoke to Kalilnoi.
“Are you awake?”
Hoo, hoo…!
Hoo-hoo-.
What did that mean?
I tilted my head at the incomprehensible cry.
Soon, Illinois, who had been watching this process, nodded as if she realized something.
“Indeed, thus it has happened…!”
“What has happened? Illinois, do you know what’s going on right now?”
“That Illinois doesn’t know…! It’s literally no nothing…!”
Indeed.
Even the nymphs couldn’t understand Kalilnoi’s hoo-hoo sounds.
Soon Coris trembled.
“I heard that the nymph Callisto, who lived in the Moon Forest, was cursed and became a bear…! It seems to be similar…!”
According to Coris, Callisto was a nymph of an animal that could turn into a bear.
She had been quite a special nymph and was courted by several men.
While it was a bit surprising to think that nymphs like Inoi, Coris, and Illinois had been courted, thinking of the giant nymph Kalilnoi, it made sense that her sister Callisto was also surely a giant nymph.
Coris trembled as she added.
“But one day, Callisto changed into a bear and was unable to return to her nymph form…! She became an exceptionally ferocious bear…!”
A nymph that could turn into a bear.
But she became truly ferocious like an actual bear, resorted to tyranny, and was ended by heroes, becoming a constellation—this was the tale of Callisto.
Soon, Seo Ye-rim rubbed her sleepy eyes and frowned.
“The story of the nymph Callisto found on the internet is a bit different. Though, I could understand that the world where these nymphs live is somewhat different from the myths when I look at Illinois.”
Indeed.
The world of nymphs resembled Greek myths, but it wasn’t entirely the same.
There were subtle differences.
Anyway.
The state of the nymph Callisto, who had truly turned into a bear at some point, and the current state of Kalilnoi, who had become nothing but a tiger owl hooting softly.
I thought these two seemed connected.
“Could it be some kind of curse?”
I asked.
Soon, Inoi, who had been listening seriously, nodded.
“This Inoi also thinks it seems like a curse…! But it’s a very powerful curse that this Inoi is helpless against…!”
Even Inoi, who was usually capable, couldn’t deal with this curse.
Kalilnoi was the key to approaching the existence known as ‘the witch’ in various ways.
And she could also provide various testimonies.
Had such a being been cursed and turned into an owl?
At that moment, Ari clapped her hands as if she realized something.
“Could it be a gag order? Usually, secret organizations or groups have rules, you know. If you withdraw, it feels like you would be lynched or something. Could this be related?”
It was a plausible story.
# # #
Morning.
Perhaps due to her improved condition, the owl Kalilnoi spread her wings and soared towards the sky.
Flap-.
Kalilnoi took off.
However, in less than 10 seconds, she quickly fell to the ground.
“Whoa-!”
If I hadn’t caught her with my body, she would have been badly injured from the impact of hitting the ground.
Hoo…!
Kalilnoi darted away from me.
Then she began to repeat taking off into the sky and falling again.
Due to the injuries to her wings, she couldn’t fly for more than 10 seconds—a diagnosis from Yu Ara.
Swish swish-.
Inoi stroked Kalilnoi while saying.
“Tiger owls are animals that love to fly…! It’s so sad that she can’t fly anymore…!”
“Abusing animals like this…! Moreover, Kalilnoi is one of our nymph sisters…! This Illinois won’t forgive such illegal movements…! I will sue…!”
“More than that, the state of Kalilnoi is strange…! She seems unable to recognize our nymph sisters…!”
Kalilnoi’s state seemed to have turned her truly into an owl.
Having received a great shock, she was wary of humans and kept attempting to fly away.
Seeing this, Seo Ye-rim wiped her own face and said.
“Bringing a creature in this state to trial would only bring laughter. Haildo. You’re good with animals, so do something about it.”
What could I do?
I also had no idea what to do right now.
Most importantly, the revived owl Kalilnoi was still wary, even when I reached out my hand—Hoo-hoo…!
She truly seemed like a wild animal.
It felt like she was only wary of nymphs.
What should I do—while I contemplated this, Inoi chuckled softly.
“This Inoi stayed up all night discovering ways to break curses from the internet…! The internet is truly amazing…! Everything comes out…!”
You found a way to break a curse on the internet?
Could that be true?
Soon Inoi spoke.
“According to the internet, there’s a tale about a bear turning into a human…! Eating garlic and mugwort for 100 days will lift the curse, and Kalilnoi will surely turn from an owl back into a human…!”
The story of a bear turning into a human by eating mugwort and garlic.
It was a story that no Korean would be unfamiliar with.
“…….”
Anyway!
For the time being, I decided to take care of the owl Kalilnoi.
“Kalilnoi.”
Hoo, hoo…!
When I called her name, she seemed to understand.
However, she would just turn her head away after making eye contact.
When I approached, she would flap away, and only when I was not looking would she return to her original spot, tiptoeing.
She was truly a wild owl.
“If we’re going to spend time together from now on, I hope we get close. Maybe I can try to tame her with the candy made by Lee Jin-A, just like I did with Bang Bang?”
Hoo-hoo…!
Bang Bang danced on my shoulder, raising and lowering its feet.
It looked very friendly.
“I had quite a hard time warming up to Bang Bang too. It would have been harder if there had been no candy.”
Even Bang Bang, a ghost spider that was extremely wary of humans, significantly boosted its affinity due to Lee Jin-A’s candy.
I thought I could also get close to Kalilnoi using that candy.
The problem was that I didn’t have any of Jin-A’s “Strange Candy” at my disposal.
“Lee Jin-A asked me to go to the Awakened Shop with her.”
