Chapter 24: Hoot Hoot Hoot

Vera’s parents were followers of the Sun and went missing during a mission to eliminate heretics. They had been gone for years; no one ever saw or heard from them.

Vera, a five-year-old then, was supposed to be sent to a community orphanage according to the law, awaiting adoption, but the followers wouldn’t have any of that. As colleagues and friends of her parents, they had watched the girl grow up. They didn’t trust that some adoptive parents would treat her as their flesh and blood. Besides, what if she encountered a perverted director or went missing at the orphanage? How were they going to face her parents?

After deliberation, the followers decided to care for and raise her together. She had an extended family of uncles and aunts. They treated her like their own child and never spared their affection. Although she had lost her original family in her childhood, she received no less love compared to her peers—perhaps even more!

Wayne was quite touched by her story. The girl was incredibly resilient under that loud and boisterous temperament. She was optimistic and quick to break into an infectious smile. It made people want to get close to her and laugh and fool around together.

However...

That didn’t mean her burly parents were right to intimidate him. This wasn’t over. When he got home, he’d write in his diary and condemn these bastards for oppressing an innocent, kind-hearted young man.

Coach Dick got Wayne a free membership. There was no such thing as membership cards in this era; his face was the ID. Dick introduced him to all the trainers, pointing at his face and said that he would get free access in the future. Their enthusiastic responses made Wayne resolve to never come here if at all possible.

For a first meeting, they were reasonably friendly. Still, Vera thought he was being bullied and pouted with her hands on her hips to express her disapproval. The trainers scattered and swarmed toward the boxing rings to continue their group wrestling.

The followers of the Goddess of Sun painted quite a homoerotic picture, thus proving the saying: “Moderate workout attracts the opposite sex, while excessive workout attracts the same sex.”

Considering steroids weren’t around in this era, and that neither fitness nor bodybuilding had reached the extreme ideals they would later develop into, he speculated that the trainers’ physiques were directly attributed to their faith in Sun.

Perhaps this, too, is magic!

***

Vera led Wayne through the fitness area to the backyard, where three antique iron gates were embedded in the white wall. The crescent-shaped gates were carved with simple sun patterns, portraying brilliant sunlight pouring down on the earth and dispelling darkness, nurturing life and giving birth to all creatures. The vivid depiction made it feel as if he were amid the very vitality and thriving life.

Above the gates were, from left to right, a hexagram, a cross, and a triangle. Wayne stared at the equilateral triangle and was reminded of the golden triangle Mike had used to sacrifice the town.

It wasn’t just similar—it was identical!

The iron gates also bore portraits of the Goddess of Sun, holding a spear to guide the faithful forward. He studied it carefully, but the facial features were too vague to make out. Only the curvy figure and slender arms were clearly defined.

Not good. This is definitely a cross-dresser—the kind with super-developed muscles!

Vera stood before the leftmost gate and pressed her hand to it. Light surged, and the gate became transparent, revealing the serene forest inside. It was too vast to be in Lodan—the city didn’t have a park this large. Wayne suspected it to be a portal that only Sun’s devotees could open.

He didn’t ask where the other two doors led. Following Vera, he stepped onto the forest path lined by trees. The smell of nature filled the air, and sunlight filtered through the canopies to cast a dapple of warmth on him. He felt a serenity he could not describe in words, feeling his restless heart calming down.

Soon, Vera led him to a cabin with no guards. The only access control was a form hung on the wall by the door. She signed and told him to do the same before she started to select a daytime messenger bird for him.

The daytime birds were simply white doves, nothing special about them. Since they were relatively easy to breed and needed replacement often, mages generally didn’t value them that much. The nighttime messenger birds were the important ones.

Coo, coo, coo—

“This one’s the loudest. Let’s go with it.”

Following her suggestion, Wayne chose a relatively hearty-looking dove. Once he signed the contract, the dove flew into the fedora she was holding and disappeared like magic.

“When you need its service, just flick the hat, and it’ll appear. But remember to feed it regularly, or it’ll starve to death in there.”

After giving him a few pointers, she took a bag of feed from the shelf and shoved it into his arms. The mixed feeds mainly consisted of wheat, corn, and peas. Once it ran out, he could come back for more—he only had to sign his name.

The Three Goddess Alliance shared many resources, messenger birds being one of them. Once his face became familiar to the alliance, he would be able to obtain bird feed at other major bases, too.

He put on the hat and listened carefully. Every piece of information was crucial to a newcomer.

“Messenger birds can be used to contact mages you’re on good terms with or to exchange intelligence with the bases. Now that we have telephones, you don’t necessarily need the bird for communication, but magic used in conjunction with messenger birds is very useful. Just come to my room later. I’ll teach you.”

Vera couldn’t stay serious for long and started making funny faces at him. Wayne gave her a withering look.

Nope. Not happening.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t do it or that she couldn’t do it, but with over a dozen overzealous parental figures separating them, he bet that there would be plenty of reasons preventing him from ever entering Vera’s room. He wouldn’t even be able to touch the door handle.

The two went to the back of the cabin. She pulled aside the curtain, and pairs of round, bright eyes looked toward him.

(◉⌄◉)(◉⌔◉)(◉⌵◉)(◉∀◉)

Eyes full of such wisdom! And of course it’d be fat, round-faced chickens—owls!

Wayne wasn’t surprised by the choice of birds; in fact, it made perfect sense to him. He didn’t know much about owls, but he’d heard that these creatures were birds of prey and mages’ most trusted companions, as well as emergency protein.

Hoot, hoot, hoot—

Squawk—

Chirp, chirp, chirp—

As soon as they saw someone enter, the owls tilted their heads and made various strange noises in unison.

“Stop! All of you, quiet!”

Vera’s shout was ignored, her voice merely joining the owls’ chorus. They did not show her any respect.

How rude! Much worse than the doves that only cooed. At least they tried to be decent doves!

“Besides being used for communication like the doves, the owls can also guard homes and raise an alert against intruders. When necessary, they can even use their master’s mana to transform, speak human language, track targets, and so on...”

She counted with her fingers as she explained. Then she concluded, “Although owls aren’t magical creatures, if a mage finds their matching owl, they can make it display abilities beyond imagination.”

“Matching?” Wayne asked. “How do you determine if an owl matches you? Is there a method?”

“Well, don’t hesitate. Just pick one that you take an instant liking to. They are all excellent messenger birds we carefully bred, each with their own personality and temperament. The one you like most at first glance will have a personality close to yours. Generally speaking, that’ll mean better compatibility.”

So it’s just intuition!

He frowned. She made it sound easy, but all these birds looked the same to him. Why would he take a liking to...

Huh, that one looks so arrogant!