Blue-Feather Crow

I was surprised at myself for having lost my composure. Maybe stress had built up. The position of an outer disciple was one in which stress built up easily.

After skinning the third Fang Monkey, I went around checking the traps one after another. But there was no prey caught in them. I checked the last trap, but it had come up empty too.

“Nothing’s caught.”

Shunlin sounded disappointed.

“I don’t think they’re something that gets caught that easily.”

After taking a short break, we headed out on the second round. On the way, we ran into a Fang Rabbit, and Shunlin killed it.

When we reached the first trap we had set, I sensed something thrashing about. I hurried over to confirm what it was.

“All right, it’s a Blue-Feather Crow.”

What was hanging upside down and struggling was a large crow that was covered mostly in black feathers, but had three blue feathers on its head. Its beak, which had caught my attention, was made of black metal and had the distinctive sheen of metal.

“When I heard Blue-Feather Crow, I thought its whole body would be covered in blue feathers, but it’s black.”

It seemed Shunlin had not known about Blue-Feather Crows.

When I approached, it tried to peck at me with its metal beak. I dodged that and quickly slipped a loop made from Gōrō cord around its neck. Then I tied that cord to the trunk of a tree and fixed it in place. Now it probably would not be able to attack with its beak.

It struggled for a little while, but soon went limp and quieted down. I pulled the beautiful blue feathers out from its head.

“Gya… gya… gya…”

The Blue-Feather Crow let out screams each time one of the blue feathers was pulled out. Apparently these blue feathers were in demand as quill pens. The reason I pulled the blue feathers out before finishing it off was that if they were stained with blood, their value would drop.

After that, I cut off the Blue-Feather Crow’s head to finish it off, and removed its beak. The metal in this beak was called “blacksteel,” but it did not contain iron. If there was a similar metal, would it be titanium? But titanium was not black.

Now that I had obtained the beak I wanted, I dismantled the trap and put the Gōrō cord away in my backpack. After that, I went around checking the traps, but nothing had been caught in the first five. Then, when I approached the last trap, I heard something thrashing about.

“Oh, another Blue-Feather Crow.”

I collected blue feathers and the beak from the second Blue-Feather Crow, then dismantled the trap.

“Shunlin-san, Chenshi-san, here, please take these.”

I held out one blue feather each to the two of them.

“We’re the ones who tagged along on our own, so you don’t need to worry about us.”

Chenshi said. Shunlin nodded.

“No, this is to remember coming all this way.”

“Thank you.” “If that’s the case, then.”

The two of them thanked me and accepted them. After that, we returned to the entrance of Gyorei Cave without incident, and there we saw someone standing there.

“Chiyuen-shixiong, what are you doing?”

“That’s my line. You were taking so long to come back that I was worried.”

Chenshi reacted with a jerk.

“Is Elder Chiu worried too?”

“That’s right.”

“This is bad. Shunlin and Kou, come with us too.”

I did not know why, but I was taken to Elder Chiu. In the guest room of the Main Hall, Elder Chiu, Elder Tsuen, and Elder Min were seated in chairs talking.

When Elder Chiu saw Chenshi, he stood up.

“Where did you go?”

“We happened to meet the outer disciple Kou, and when he said he was going to hunt Blue-Feather Crows, we accompanied him.”

“If that was the case, you should have at least left word before going.”

“My apologies.”

“They came back safely, so isn’t that fine?”

Elder Min said, as though trying to smooth things over. At that moment, when Chenshi looked at Elder Chiu’s face, she showed a startled expression. Elder Chiu had a monkey face.

Chenshi turned a probing gaze on me. Was she thinking I would get angry when I saw the monkey-faced Elder Chiu? After confirming that my face looked no different from usual, Chenshi seemed relieved.

Why had I been brought here? Elder Min turned her gaze toward me.

“Kou, were you able to bring down the Blue-Feather Crows?”

“Yes. I obtained the beaks of two birds.”

“You don’t seem to be carrying a bow, so how did you do it?”

“Well, I caught them with a trap that used cord.”

“Cord? Blue-Feather Crows are yōma, so they’re strong. What kind of cord did you use?”

“This.”

I took the Gōrō cord out of my backpack and showed it. Elder Min accepted it, smiled, and nodded as though satisfied.

“You thought this through. You spun Gōrō fur into cord, didn’t you? With this, even if a Blue-Feather Crow struggles, it won’t snap.”

It seemed I had been praised.

“Thank you very much.”

Meanwhile, Elder Chiu looked displeased and turned to Chenshi.

“I brought you here partly to broaden your knowledge. You don’t have time to play around.”

“We were not playing around. We fought yōma together with Kou and the others.”

Chiyuen turned his gaze toward me.

“So you’re a little Taoist practitioner. Aren’t you still just a child?”

“Kou is a genius.”

“You’re saying a little brat like this is strong?”

On hearing that, Elder Min smiled.

“Kou is an outer disciple, but he won first place in the Elixir Competition Festival.”

Elder Chiu nodded.

“I see. So he’s a genius at alchemy. How are his martial skills?”

“He might rival Chiyuen in talent.”

When Chenshi said that, Chiyuen made a displeased face.

Meanwhile, Elder Chiu looked amused.

“That is something I’d like to see. Elder Tsuen, why not have Chiyuen and that child compete?”

Elder Tsuen made a bitter face. He was probably thinking it was certain that I, an outer disciple, would lose. And if I lost, he was probably thinking it would bring shame to Gyorei Cave.

“However, Kou is an outer disciple. And he has only just returned from the demon realm, so he should be tired. If it is to broaden their knowledge, then Kanru would do well enough as an opponent.”

“Ah, the inner disciple who won the Martial Competition Festival. Having him compete would certainly be interesting. But I also want to see just how much talent this young gifted one possesses.”

This elder seemed to have the sort of personality that did not listen to what others said. Hearing that, Elder Min turned her gaze toward Elder Chiu.

“Elder Chiu is not saying he wants them to fight to the death. He only wants to see Kou’s skill, correct?”

“Of course. If this little outer disciple says he is too tired to fight, then how about offering him a reward?”

Elder Chiu’s thinking was off, and he also seemed to be the type who would not back down once he had spoken. Looking as though she had given up, Elder Min turned her gaze toward me.

“What about you, Kou? Will you agree to compete with Chiyuen?”

Hearing those words, I thought this might be my chance. I must not let this opportunity escape.

“Please let me take the test to become an inner disciple in three months. If you do that, I will agree.”

Elder Min looked surprised.

“You’ll end up fighting a Thunder Bear. Will you be all right?”