SWNOVELXO Chapter 58 - Birds of a Feather (3)
Chapter 58. Birds of a Feather (3)
Think about it.
A person you’ve never seen before.
And a person with a build so massive that he could snap a bear’s spine with ease!
If such a person suddenly approached you and said, “I’m hungry!” who wouldn’t be taken aback?
‘At first, I thought he was just a lunatic.’
But as it turned out…
‘…He was even crazier than I thought.’
And this type of madness was something Yuri had never encountered before.
He sighed and asked.
“…Aren’t you tired?”
This guy had been standing behind him with his arms crossed for several hours.
Thanks to that, Yuri could comfortably rest in the shade he provided, but by now, he was curious about why this guy was standing there.
That’s why he asked, but the response he received was simple.
“I’m hungry.”
“I asked if you’re tired.”
“I’m hungry.”
“…Can’t you say anything else?”
“I’m hungry.”
“You bastard…”
This was why Yuri categorized him as a new type of madman.
This giant madman only responded to questions with the same phrase.
Of course, “I’m hungry” wasn’t the only thing he could say.
Yuri confirmed this by asking again.
“What’s your name?”
“My name is Bobikrutankapurtabi.”
“Bobik… what?”
“Bobikrutankapurtabi!”
“Alright then… Poppy…”
Yuri sighed again.
After hours of experimentation, it became clear that this madman only knew how to say three things: “I,” “hungry,” and his absurdly long name, “Bobikrutankapurtabi.”
Just those three.
No, he only said his name when asked directly.
In other words, normally, he answered all questions with just “I” and “hungry.”
From the perspective of the person talking to him, it was more than frustrating; it was infuriating.
‘He doesn’t seem to be lacking in intelligence, though?’
The guy varied the tone of “I’m hungry” according to the question.
He even added slight actions that matched the question.
This meant that this Poppy understood the meaning of what was being said and was attempting to communicate.
A person with a low level of intelligence wouldn’t be able to do that.
So Yuri couldn’t help but wonder.
‘Is this some new trendy method of killing people by driving them insane?’
Otherwise, why would he keep repeating “I” and “hungry” when he clearly understood everything?
“Hoo…”
Yuri sighed deeply again as he stood up.
He pointed at Poppy and shouted angrily.
“Hey, you bastard! Fine, let’s say everything’s okay! But… why do you keep hanging around me?”
The reason Yuri kept sighing was because this Poppy guy had been following him around.
“Goddammit!”
Yuri grumbled and quickly moved away.
But Poppy followed him closely in whatever direction he went.
Left and right.
Front and back.
Here and there.
Everywhere Yuri went, Poppy followed like a shadow.
The sight of the two of them moving around together was truly a spectacle.
But the other 50 cadets, who had been watching this scene for hours, merely turned their heads with a “there they go again” and didn’t bother paying attention.
Meanwhile, Yuri, who was moving from place to place.
No matter how much he tried to escape, the heavy presence following behind him started to irritate him more and more.
“…This is driving me nuts.”
It was like getting rid of one fly only for a huge, persistent one to replace it.
A particularly large and tenacious fly.
‘I need to know why he’s following me if I’m going to get rid of him!’
But there was no reason, and asking only got the repeated response of “I’m hungry,” which only drove the questioner mad.
‘Ah, seriously!’
On and on Poppy followed, and eventually, Yuri exploded.
“Get lost already!”
“I’m hungry.”
“Hey, you bastard! If you’re hungry, go find something to eat! Just leave me alone!”
“I’m hungry.”
“…You want to fight? Is that it? You really want to go at it? Grrr!”
“I’m hungry!”
Thud, thud, thud—
Suddenly, Poppy, who had been yelling, ran off somewhere in a hurry.
Soon after, he returned with something in his hand.
It was a large shield.
A really large… shield that looked about 1.6 meters in diameter.
Thud— crack—
He merely set it down lightly, but the metallic round shield broke the wooden floor of the Black Ship.
Poppy held it as easily as if it were a pillow…
“I’m hungry!”
He shouted loudly and took a stance.
As if he were ready to fight at any moment.
At that moment, Yuri’s irritation melted away.
“…No, I was just saying. Who said anything about actually fighting?”
Even madness had to be matched with the right opponent.
‘Madness only works on those who understand it.’
No matter how much you try to rile up another madman, they’ll just take it as a joke.
‘In that sense, this guy is just… yeah.’
It wasn’t because Poppy was the largest person Yuri had ever seen.
Nor was it because he was intimidated by the numerous scratches and strange dark-red marks on Poppy’s shield.
‘Of course, I’d win if we fought… but if we fight here, we’ll only end up doing someone else a favor, won’t we?’
Rationalizing this, Yuri gently waved his hand.
“Okay, okay, our good Poppy, right? You can’t just go around pointing scary things like that at people.”
“Hungry?”
“Ah, I was kidding. Why would we fight? Hurry up and put that scary thing down, come on!”
“…Hungry…”
Poppy, with a somewhat sullen expression, set the shield down.
Or rather…
Crack—
He stuck the shield into the wooden deck of the Black Ship.
Yuri felt a cold sweat trickling down the back of his neck as he watched.
“Good, good, our Poppy is so good.”
Exhausted from calming Poppy down, Yuri crouched down and looked up at the sky.
At that moment, a shadow appeared over his head.
He glanced back to see Poppy, just as before, standing behind him with his arms crossed.
“Sigh… What a life I have.”
It seemed that Yuri would have to put up with this big fly buzzing around for a while.
In the shade Poppy provided, Yuri half resigned himself to the situation.
Meanwhile, someone watching Yuri and Poppy muttered to themselves.
“Crazy people are sticking together.”
They say birds of a feather flock together.
It seemed that crazy people were no exception.
And after that mutter, time passed.
Night came and went, and the sun rose again over the horizon.
January 2nd.
The 300 half-surviving cadets of the 50th class landed on the mainland of the Cradle.
Finally, the 300 members of the 50th class set foot on the mainland of the Cradle.
What awaited them were 100 two-headed carriages.
The one-eyed man standing beside them shouted loudly.
“This carriage will be the first and last luxury you’ll enjoy in the Cradle. We’ve prepared plenty, so pair up and get in.”
The people who heard this had looks of disbelief.
‘Seriously? This?’
‘I wouldn’t have ridden this even if they told me to outside…’
The one-eyed man called them carriages, but they were really just covered carts.
The kind often called wagons.
To the children of affluent families, these were not vehicles meant for people.
But no one was foolish enough to voice their complaints.
A few of them glanced at Yuri, the crazy guy with the black head, wondering if he might say something, but he looked more touched than upset.
In fact, Yuri was quite moved.
“My goodness… How long has it been since I didn’t have to pull a cart myself?”
Muttering to himself, Yuri looked at the horses tied to the cart with a pitying gaze.
His eyes were filled with a shared sense of sorrow.
Yuri patted the side of a horse as it snorted, then quickly climbed into the cart.
It was just a hard wooden floor, but Yuri settled in comfortably.
And as soon as he sat down, Poppy naturally followed him.
Yuri, having already resigned himself to the situation, didn’t pay any attention.
Just as Poppy was about to climb into the cart.
Thud—
The cart swayed heavily, and a startled Yuri shouted.
“Hey, you crazy bastard, take that hunk of metal somewhere else!”
The cart was a four-seater.
But with the massive Poppy and that shield of unknown weight, it was already more than overloaded.
“…Hungry.”
Scratching the back of his head at Yuri’s reprimand, Poppy loaded the shield into the cart behind them.
The horses hitched to that cart let out groans at the weight, so no one dared to board it.
With the shield put away, Poppy sat next to Yuri.
“Too cramped.”
Yuri shot him a glare, and Poppy hugged his knees, making himself smaller.
Even so, Poppy was so large that the four-seater cart felt cramped.
While another person could theoretically squeeze in, Yuri wasn’t concerned about that.
‘Who would want to sit with us, anyway?’
Anyone with sense wouldn’t choose this cart when others were available.
Even if there were no other carts left, they’d likely avoid this one.
See, everyone’s avoiding this cart…
“Can I sit here too?”
…or maybe not.
And it wasn’t a guy but a girl.
The unexpected situation left Yuri unusually flustered.
He scanned the girl who lightly waved her hand beside the cart.
Blue hair and blue eyes.
A bow and quiver strapped to her back.
Given that she had no other visible weapons, it was clear that her primary weapon was a bow.
‘A bow…’
Despite there being no restrictions on weapons in the Cradle, many people chose swords as their primary weapon.
There were some who used spears and axes, but it was rare to see someone use a bow as their main weapon.
That made her stand out.
But what was even more noticeable was her appearance.
‘She’s pretty.’
If Yuri were to choose the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, he would unhesitatingly pick Theresia Winchester.
But the girl before him was no less stunning.
A girl with such beauty had asked to share a cart with him.
Yuri’s response was immediate.
“No.”
With not even a speck of hesitation, Yuri’s rejection was firm. The girl, taken aback, asked again.
“…Why?”
“It’s cramped.”
“I’m slim, so I don’t take up much space.”
“Yeah, but no. Go somewhere else.”
“I want to sit here.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to?”
“Hey, go away. There are plenty of guys around here who would love to have you sit with them! Why do you want to sit here?”
Just as Yuri said, the guys around them were eagerly hoping the blue-haired girl would sit with them.
The blue-haired girl wasn’t unaware of that.
She shrugged.
“It’s just that the people I like don’t like me, and the ones I don’t care about like me.”
“…What nonsense is that?”
“To put it simply, I like this spot.”
“No, there’s no room.”
“But there is?”
The blue-haired girl pointed to the small space at the end of the cart.
A space created by Poppy hugging his knees.
Yuri nudged Poppy’s leg with his foot.
Immediately understanding Yuri’s intention, Poppy quickly unfolded his legs and sat cross-legged.
The space the blue-haired girl had pointed out vanished.
Yuri grinned.
“Space? Where do you see any? It’s gone.”
Normally, after being rejected this harshly, anyone would feel hurt and walk away.
But the blue-haired girl was not normal.