After the Princess and I have carefully thought of what we will be doing from now on, we've come into a conclusion to start as quickly as possible. Though I remained cautious of her still, the fact is that she is the only one I can trust here if I want to gather the necessary information I need.
"Whenever you need something from me or want to bring me any information just bring me an animal you have tamed, and if I want something from you— just talk to the birds." That is what she said before I left her in the library.
It has already been a week after that escapade with Princess Celestine and she hasn't sent me a message. "Am I doing the right thing?" I asked the bird sitting on my finger.
Though we meet everyday before breakfast and after dinner, the only thing we did in the library is academic related. For a week she's been helping me to learn the language of this world and not only that but she can translate an entire book in a single day, hency why I've managed to gather a lot of things about this world. In exchange though, I tell her various literature found back in my world.
I am currently outside of the arena where the others are training, with me is my teacher Ms. Ayaka and the rest of my group who are training outside alongside me.
"Are you talking to the animals again Hayato?" Ms. Ayaka asked, looking worried at what I was doing. "I know you talk to the school pets in your spare time... But do you feel left out that you do not possess the same power as the others?"
Looking at my friends outside doing their training, I honestly felt what my teacher was saying. Aoi is using her druid power and creating whips made of vine as her weapon of choice, Haruki's strategist class may sound useless at first but it is not when you found out that he can summon hard-stone soldiers. Izumi, who is already a talented musician, is the one who's showing the most promising result. Just one strung from the string of her magical guitar can remove anyone's exhaustion from training. As for Miyu...
"Hayato! Look at my babies!" She shouted as she showed me a giant ballista she made in a span of seconds that shoots giant arrows made of light. "Muhahahahah! I can't wait to try these babies in a real battle!"
"Thanks for worrying about me, teacher..." I replied, still smiling at the bird on my finger. "I already found a way to be useful."
"If you need anything, don't be shy to call for me okay?" Ms. Ayaka smiled as she went toward Miyu to entertain her.
The bird chirped and looked at me as if I was a part of its family, then it flew away to the trees leaving me all alone to suffer watching my classmates grow.
"Yo, whatcha doing?" Mizuki called out with her usual cocky lilt, twirling a water orb lazily between her fingers as she sauntered up to my body that looked physically beaten.
I was laying on the ground, shoulders slumped like wet laundry, staring blankly at the sky as I thought about how amazing birds are. "Thinking."
"Oh no, he's thinking again." Mizuki teased, leaning over my body with a grin. "Hey, since you're not doing anything, come watch me instead! I mastered a new Art— it's totally gonna blow your mind and finally think I am useful when it comes to using my mind."
I glanced at her, unamused. "Let me guess... Shooting bubbles with your hand? Or turning piss into clean drinkable water?"
She puffed out her cheeks. "Rude! No. It's called Water Eye! I can use any water nearby— droplets, steam, puddles to create a 360-degree surveillance field. Basically, I'm a walking security system. Jealous?"
I blinked.
That sounded... absurdly useful... If I hadn't thought of it before!
"Ah... I see." I turned my gaze away, voice low. "Guess I've been replaced by water droplets..."
Mizuki blinked, looking confused. "Wait, what?"
"I was planning to use birds for surveillance." I replied, dragging a hand down my face. "Insects, maybe. But you just... Beat me to the punch. My class is already useless and I can't even compete with a puddle now."
Suddenly, a voice chimed in from behind the bench. "That's not true, Hayato!"
Aoi stood there, holding a sprouting herb in her hand, eyes wide with concern. "Your class may not be flashy, but you're strategic. No one else thinks things through like you do."
Mizuki crossed her arms. "Wow, thanks Aoi. I'll just take my flashy puddles somewhere else then."
"T-that's not what I meant!" Aoi stammered, trying to hide her embarrassment. "It's just... Hayato doesn't need cool magic to be important!"
"Oh c'mon, stop coddling him like a baby. I'm just messing with him... It's just a joke— a joke..." Mizuki said, smirking as she stared at me. "Besides, Hydromancers are objectively more versatile. Offense, defense, recon— you name it!"
Aoi frowned, stepping closer. "That's not true... Druids can heal, summon plant-like companions, and control the environment. I can turn the battlefield into a forest if I want to!"
That's weird... What is this..? I thought Aoi was defending me from Mizuki's constant boasting but why is she doing the same thing as Mizuki?
"Yeah? Cool. When's the last time a weed helped in a real fight?"
"That's not fair! My class isn't about brute force, it's about harmony and balance."
"Right, 'balance'." Mizuki snorted. "Sounds like an excuse for weak attacks."
The two girls stood nose-to-nose now, arguing fiercely, unaware of the emotional crater forming just beside them. Meanwhile, I stared into the middle distance, each comment stabbing my pride like a rusty fork.
Hydromancer… Druid… Versatile… Effective… Balanced… And here I am, the guy who will talk to the animals on farms and such to help them move out. Where does that put me in a battle? Is there even something remotely close in this world that can help me? Maybe a dog can help, but what's its use if it will fight a demon who knows arts.
Chirp! Chirp!
As the two continue to indirectly call me useless with their bantering and I lay on the ground like a rotting corpse, a bird flew closer to my ear— talking. "I saw Princess Celestine shining a bright light in the library's window, I think she is calling for you."
Noticing that this was the same bird that I was talking to a while ago, I stood up from the ground and sent the bird away to deliver a message to the Princess that I received. "Aoi, Mizuki. my stomach is acting up! If Rahl or the General is looking for me, say that I am in the bathroom!"
The two stopped their bickering and blinked— looking at me confusedly as I rushed inside the castle.
*** *** ***
"You took your sweet time." Princess Celestine said as she took a sip on her cup of tea. "Take a seat, I hope you like this type of tea I prepared, I don't really know what tea you drink back in your world."
I sat in front of her and looked at the suspicious tea that is the color green, I blankly stared at it before she noticed me.
"I know you're still cautious of me, but still... Can you trust me a little since we've been meeting for a week now." She replied, looking obviously insulted in how I acted as she hid it by taking another sip. "It's only green tea, put some faith in me and stop thinking it's poison."
"Fine..." I complied and took a quick sip of the tea. "This is amazing!"
"Well... It's the best brand of green tea in our Kingdom." She took another sip before placing the tea cup at the table. "Since it's been a week now, have you learned anything from your spies and also about your Scaleforge more?"
"To start with my Scaleforge..."
I explained to her everything, though my digit is still 0— I still couldn't get the reason why I can learn arts, I talked to Rahl about it and we did a test on my abilities, from what he saw— I can learn the basic Arts of the Beast Tamer like talking to animals and giving them orders, but he said I have a limit in my capabilities.
The most basic Arts of Beast Tamer is Zoolingualism— the ability to talk to animals, but since I have a 0 digit in my Virtue I can only talk to a limited list of animals and my control of them before they forget me is probably in a smaller radius.
"I see... But knowing you, I can feel you're hiding something from him."
"Yes there is..." I replied with a proud smirk. "For some reason the animals I talk to will not forget me like Rahl said. I once asked a bird to go long-distance and he returned... Not only that but I can talk to them with my mind even if it's a long distance..."
I looked outside of the window and stared at the birds flying and playing on the trees. "Not only that, but if they agree to it I can see what they are seeing and also hear what they hear..."
"Your Beast Taming skill is more impressive than I thought..." She muttered, even though she was shocked by what she heard.
Learning that I have this amazing ability I decided to hide it from the others, well... They don't even know that I meet up with the Princess, but since Rahl can hear them it's a good choice that I did not involve them. Also this is why I always try to say negative things about my class, since if I am outside of the library Rahl can hear anything I say...
And if he heard the others pitying me for being weak and my own self-abuse to myself then he would have a false pretense that I am truly weak.
"You told that ant to follow Rahl, didn't you?" Princess Celestine asked, her voice quiet but edged with urgency probably excited that I have a good ability for recon. "Then… where is he right now?"
"Alright. Give me a second." I stepped back and closed my eyes, placing two fingers to my temple.
A pulse of warmth spread through my mind— a thread connecting me to the small creature I had bonded with. As my consciousness drifted into the ant's, the world around me melted away. My vision blurred, then twisted, replaced by the ant's distorted perspective: dim corridors, stone floors, and faint torchlight. The scent of mildew and blood grew stronger with every heartbeat.
I was deep underground.
Somewhere far yet close, somewhere hidden.
The ant scurried between cracks and through a narrow grate. On the other side… I saw it.
A dungeon.
Chains clattered against stone walls, the air thick with magic and suffering. My heart seized.
There, standing under flickering torchlight, was Rahl. Smiling wickedly, he appears as a righteous wizard but now looks like a man possessed. His robe stained, his expression unreadable as he scribbled notes in a floating, glowing tome.
Before him was a young girl, shackled, her body covered in bruises and arcane sigils carved into her skin. Her eyes wide and desperate met the ant's for the briefest moment.
Her scream…
It wasn't just pain.
It was the sound of a soul unraveling.
Raw, jagged, and helpless like someone who had screamed so many times already that her voice forgot how to be human. It tore through the silence, not like thunder, but like something dying quietly in the dark, begging someone— anyone to hear her.
And I did.
I heard it. Felt it crawl beneath my skin and wrap around my ribs, clamping down on my heart and tearing it apart.
The sound of her screams
I'll never forget it.
No one deserves to scream like that.
"Please…" She whispered, her voice so weak it was barely sound. "Help… Anyone…"
Something inside me snapped.
The connection with the ant shattered and I staggered backward into my own body, gasping like I had been underwater for hours. My vision swam. My heart pounded in my ears and my body let out sweat like a waterfall.
Princess Celestine rushed to my side worriedly. "What happened? Hayato, what did you see?"
I looked at her, pale and breathless. "Rahl… He's in a secret dungeon… Below a castle it seemed. He-he's experimenting on a girl. A prisoner... I heard her scream... I heard her beg for help... There are runes, torture marks all around her..."
Celestine froze, shocked from what I said. She clenches her fist and bites her lips. "A secret dungeon underground the castle..? And Rahl is experimenting on someone there..? Does my father know of this..? Or is he the one who commanded this in the first place..?"
Her expression looks in pain— in despair of what she had heard.
Describing what I saw almost made me throw up, just trying to remember her screams made me almost throw up.
The princess's eyes blazed. "He's no longer just a corrupt wizard… he's a monster."
She turned toward a darkened corner of the library, where no light touched. "This kingdom is worse than I feared... Though I do not know if my father is aware of what Rahl is doing, still I cannot trust him if things like this are happening in his own territory..."
"Princess... May I ask you something?" I stood up slowly, the weight of what I'd seen still anchoring my chest. My fists trembled at my sides, and though my voice was low, it burned with fury. "Who in this world… Besides you… Can speak English?"
Celestine tilted her head, her expression cautious. "As you're aware, my father and Rahl both understand your language. It was Rahl who taught my brother, the high-ranking generals, and myself. So only a handful within the castle should be able to speak it. Why?"
I swallowed the lump in my throat, the memory clawing back into my mind like nails against glass as I heard her voice saying "Help..."
"Then… I really wasn't imagining it."
My body shuddered— not from fear, but from rage. My heart pounded as the truth sank in. "That girl… The one in the dungeon… She was speaking English! Not the language of this realm, my language!"
I looked her dead in the eyes, voice cracking under the weight of horror.
"Tell me, Princess! What the hell is someone from my world doing down there?!"