Emotion Taster
Arc 0 Strawberries: Chapter 7 - The Crow Demon
After school, Amalia and I met in front of the school. He told me that the person who could explain this phenomenon was in the place we were headed.
The trip wasn't too far, but since Amalia and I didn't use the vehicle, the time was long enough.
Hmn ....
This place is quite unique, or rather suspicious. The front where I entered was an antique shop with many woodcrafts, traditional weapons, and silver accessories. Dominated in brown and black, I did not expect that I would come to this place accompanied by a girl.
I was still walking behind Amalia, she led me into the house. At the center of the room, he stopped and showed me the writing.
Wait right here.
I obeyed what he said, though a little confused as there was no seat where I was silent now.
Amalia entered the door to venture deeper. My heart is now filled with tension as to who will come out with it.
No conversation sounds. The sensation I usually feel when visiting a friend's house I don't feel now. Usually at a time like this, I waited while hearing the voice of the person at the end of the room, telling my whereabouts to the host. That's not happening right now. It turns out that having a mute friend gives a sense of mystery in each of his actions.
After a few seconds, the girl appeared with a bird. The color is black and the size is not too big. From his physical traits, my mind immediately led to one thing.
“Crow Birds?”
The animal perched on Amalia's head, he took her to a chair at the end of the room to be placed there. The seat is like being dedicated to work. The size is large, there is a comfortable foam, and can be rotated 360 degrees, like a boss chair.
Amalia flipped the chair to back me when she put the crow away.
*Puff
The sound of a small explosion is like the sound of a soap bubble burst. Followed by the voice, there was a small smoke forming on the boss chair earlier, it made me a little surprised because it was like seeing a magic technique.
Amalia was not surprised at all, she seemed to have gotten used to this. Not stopping moving, the girl stretched a thick black cloth onto the chair. Like covering something there.
“Uhuk, uhuk ...”
A small cough rang out, from her voice I could guess that the source was a woman.
“So ..you are the person Lia told you about,” he said as he flipped the swivel chair, showing his body and face towards me.
I was again surprised, the crow placed on the chair turned into a middle-aged female figure. With long black hair unraveling covering the eyes next to the kana, he gave off an aura like calm water.
“...”
But, there's a sense of awkwardness. From what I saw, the woman was not wearing clothes. Her naked body was covered only in a cloth stretched out by Amalia. I could tell by looking at the skin on his shoulder that was open because it was not perfectly covered with cloth, coupled with the dent line on the cloth, showing me a body shape that I can make sure there's no extra cloth behind it.
“So, can you introduce yourself? My name is Pero, an animal under contract with Amalia.”
Pero? Bad name for a woman.
But, well, I'm here to get some clarity from him, after all it's very rude to mock someone's name. Moreover, my first impression was that she was more reliable than Amalia.
“My name is Kaivan, I'm here to be informed because Amalia told me that there are people who are more skilled than her.”
Amalia took one step back, she let this woman named Pero face me closer. As if giving it all up to him.
“Kaivan .... So, do you know if there's a problem you're making?”
The trouble? Ah ....
“Did I steal from Amalia?”
“It turns out you quickly understand, now the conversation can be faster.”
“Wait, wait. I still don't understand anything. Don't say I know everything.”
“Heh, then, where should I explain? Do you have any questions?”
Very much. I have always held back from asking questions so as not to urge others so as to cause negative emotions.
“First ... Amalia who is it? Does she have any magic skills?”
An ability?
“What does it mean?”
“No need to lick your tongue, I can see there is a magic sign ‘normal in your body.”
Licking tongue? I didn't do it .. and what is it? Just the time I found a guy who said something unique like ‘lighting tongue’.
“You could say that Lia is a witch. But, we all call them users,” said the woman.
“...”
A word I saw earlier in Amalia's note. Is there something to do with my abilities and what they know?
The woman named Pero started telling me everything. The things that surprised him told me. Something I initially thought was only in cheap storybooks.
“Hmn .. so, so,” I said while thinking of putting a hand on the chin.
Pero explained, Amalia is a user, a human who is in a relationship with animus. The goal of users is to grant one request using the magic of the animus, while the purpose of the animus is to be born human.
“The incident of time in the hall was a ritual to take where from others?”
Animus used to be an animal that had a strong desire to be human. When the desire is at its peak, they transform into animus and take on human form for a while. In order to truly complete the magic, they began to gather mana in order to become a whole human being.
“Yes, we animus normally can not find mana by ourselves. To know and gather human feelings, we need the human being himself.”
“...”
Where the source of animus power comes from human feelings. When a person is in a very happy state and spreads a positive aura, that is where they can be taken where they are. Animus cannot do it, they are animals from the beginning, do not understand human feelings and the way that human beings achieve happiness.
“Tadi ... Your name is Kaivan, yeah? I'm a little surprised, why aren't you surprised? Your reaction is flat, doesn't a story like this seem absurd to you?”
It's true, many of Pero's words are very awkward and I don't understand. From there also not infrequently I found strange things that my own logic could not imagine. But, there's something I can be sure of.
“I could have said that it wasn't a lie. So ..., I trust.”
The emotions of lies are sour a little bit bitter, a sense of uneasiness mixed with negative feelings. People who hide something will at least bring out a bitter taste on my tongue. From beginning to end, what I felt was Amalia's worry, as if she was afraid that I would respond badly to this.
“Taste? What is your intuition?”
“Not ...it's not intuition, I can really feel the lie through my tongue.”
“Hmn ...” The woman folded her hands on her chest, closed her eyes, and fixed her sitting position. While making a thoughtful expression, he took quite a long breath. “Oh ... maybe it is.”
Wo-woi!?
As a result of Pero's movements, the cloth covering his body began to fall down following the force of gravity.
“...!?”
However, Amalia who was beside him quickly held onto the cloth. She is a little overwhelmed by the restraining and concealing parts of Pero's body, as Pero himself has no reflexes and tends to be indifferent to the appearance of his body now. One second too late, I could see this middle-aged woman's cleavage.
His appearance was human, but I could feel a different air from ordinary humans. I understand now, about him saying that he used to be an animal. After all, I also saw him change his previous form.
“Until here have any questions? We also want to ask about you, about why you can take where Amalia has, or about your strength just now?”
Actually, I still don't know what's going on. But that doesn't mean I can't explain myself right now.
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