“You mean, leave it to you—as in, you’ll deliver the message to Frondier?”
At Aster’s question, the crow nodded.
[It would be difficult for the two of you to leave this continent. But I can fly and reach the western continent through the sky.]
At those words, Aster nodded.
According to Dierre, Marco wanted Aster and Dierre to go to the Agoris continent.
They couldn’t be sure why, but Dierre believed it was because there were things one couldn’t know once inside Agoris.
Of course, Marco’s words might have been lies, but from what Dierre saw, they were genuine. Aster trusted Dierre’s judgment.
So if there was someone who could go in their place—and if that someone was a crow—there was nothing better. They could respond quickly.
“Then let’s leave it to it. If it’s a crow tamed by Frondier, there shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Wait.”
Then Dierre spoke up.
“You, why are you even here? You should be by Senior Frondier’s side.”
[......Well, about that.]
The crow turned its head.
The reason was simple.
Frondier hadn’t fully understood Gregory’s ability.
'That guy thought I’d be wherever he went.'
Unlike Selena’s case, Gregory had no real connection to Frondier. While imprisoned, Gregory had merely hovered near Frondier out of boredom.
So when Frondier crossed to another continent, naturally Gregory couldn’t follow.
When you think about it, that’s obvious—if Gregory truly could control every small creature in this world, then he would’ve known about the existence of the Agoris continent from the beginning.
But no matter how skilled Gregory was, he couldn’t command animals from an unknown place. His power simply couldn’t reach that far.
[I was abandoned.]
In the end, Gregory said that after some thought—in a voice dripping with tragedy.
His acting skills had improved nicely after spending so much ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ time acting beside Frondier.
Gregory himself was holding back laughter, but it didn’t show on the crow’s face.
“Oh dear...”
Aster spoke in surprise, and with pity at the same time.
“No one knows what kind of creatures live on other continents. It might not even be an environment suitable for crows. That’s probably why he left you behind. Don’t be too discouraged.”
[......You must be right.]
“But still, to keep your loyalty to your master even after being left behind—you’re truly admirable.”
[Thank you.]
The crow bowed, though it felt no gratitude whatsoever.
Feeling a bit sorry, Dierre fidgeted with his lips.
Aster looked at him.
“Dierre, apologize. Even a crow has feelings. You just hurt this crow’s heart.”
“......I’m still not sure.”
Dierre still looked unconvinced as he stared at the crow.
“The crow I saw last time looked a little different from this one.”
Aster was surprised.
“You remember every tiny detail of Frondier’s crow’s appearance?”
“Yes. I’m sure of it.”
Gregory was surprised as well.
'Most humans can’t even tell crows apart. This Dierre kid isn’t ordinary.'
At Constel, the crow that perched on Frondier’s shoulder was always the same one.
Partly because of worries like Dierre’s—someone might notice if the crow was different—but the real reason was much simpler.
When Gregory wasn’t actively using his ability, the crow was, of course, just an ordinary crow, living its own life.
So if Gregory moved that crow too far from its original territory with his ability, once the control wore off, the crow would panic and sometimes be unable to find its way home.
Most could return home by instinct, but only within a certain distance.
Of course, Gregory didn’t care whether a crow lived or died—but what mattered was that it stayed where it was supposed to be.
That’s why Gregory always tried to use crows that lived within Frondier’s range of activity. Thus, the crow perched on Frondier’s shoulder at Constel was always the same one.
'And this kid actually noticed that with his eyes and remembered it.'
While Gregory was marveling, Aster spoke.
“But it’s possible Frondier tamed several. His skill’s enough to make a crow move and speak for its master. Taming multiple ones would be easy for him.”
“Of course, that’s possible. But teaching two crows to speak fluently like this would be hard.”
Not two—but hundreds, even thousands could speak. Because it wasn’t taming.
Gregory was only borrowing the crows’ voices to speak through them, not taming them.
Dierre looked at the crow with a sharp, suspicious gaze.
“You, you’re not just mimicking speech, are you? Teaching a crow to talk like this is difficult, but possible for veteran tamers with enough talent and time. If your master isn’t Senior Frondier but someone else entirely...”
“I doubt even a veteran could make one speak this well.”
“I’ve only ever seen Senior Frondier’s crow. But we do have a clear example—Senior Frondier himself.”
Just moments ago, Dierre had wracked his brain to draw out Marco’s true thoughts. His mind was still running hot.
In other words, his brain, which was already quick, was still firing on full throttle.
'Interesting boy.'
Gregory found Dierre fascinating.
Of course, he wasn’t Frondier’s enemy—he was more of an ally. But he wasn’t a tamed pet either.
He was originally a criminal from Indus. Now, he’d finished serving his sentence, but if possible, he’d rather not meet people like Aster.
Still, he had no excuse that would work here.
And yet, even as his situation tightened, Gregory felt amused. A kind of insight similar yet opposite to Frondier’s—walking parallel in a different direction.
“Dierre.”
Then Aster placed a hand on Dierre’s shoulder, as if to calm him.
“It’s not good to doubt so recklessly.”
“......But it’s reasonable to.”
“Let’s trust it for now. It’s the only one that can help us.”
If it were Frondier, he would have said, ‘Doubt first.’ That was where the difference between the two men showed.
From Gregory’s perspective as well, Aster was much easier to handle than either Frondier or Dierre.
“And besides, it’s easy to find out if this crow is really Frondier’s pet. We can also see where it’s headed.”
“Huh? How?”
[......?]
Both Dierre and Gregory didn’t understand Aster’s words.
A way to confirm whether the crow was Frondier’s pet—and to know where it was headed?
In that instant, something flashed in Gregory’s mind.
Caw—!
The crow let out a startled cry and flapped its wings, trying to take off.
Kwaak!
But Aster’s lightning-fast hand grabbed the back of the crow’s neck before it could escape.
Caw! Caw—!
The crow cried desperately.
Gregory realized what Aster intended to do—and was dumbfounded.
He immediately retracted his earlier thought.
Aster wasn’t easier to handle.
This guy was a righteous lunatic.
With a bright smile, Aster looked at Dierre.
“Let’s take this crow to Ms. Malia.”
***
The Lady of House Roach, Amper’s wife, and Frondier’s mother.
At the same time, she was Constel’s health teacher—Malia.
Ever since Frondier left the continent, Malia had been more focused on work than ever.
It was the same for everyone in House Roach.
Amper went to the wall daily, inspecting its condition and the soldiers, and devoted himself to training.
Atjie carried out every professional request and imperial mission that came in without hesitation.
It was all to forget Frondier’s absence.
It wasn’t quite peace, but neither was it unease—something faintly in between.
Among them, Malia was in a more special position than the others.
Because she could see Frondier’s situation through her own eyes.
Seeing him safe and sound brought her relief; seeing him in danger made her heart tremble; if it was something involving romance, it gave her headaches; and when he silently endured some pain he couldn’t share with anyone, her heart broke all the same.
It was undoubtedly mentally exhausting for Malia—but at the same time, it was also a great comfort.
By now, Malia roughly understood her son’s abilities. She’d often used vision-sharing to watch him, long before. Each time, she was astonished and impressed by his growth.
Sometimes his aura was so terrifying she wondered if he was really her son—but it was always directed at his enemies.
Even across continents, Frondier was doing well. He was living his daily life. That alone was a huge relief.
“...This crow?”
So when Aster and Dierre came to her, Malia was calm.
“Yes. We’d like you to share vision through it. Would that be possible?”
“There’s no reason it wouldn’t be. But why?”
“Well, this crow—”
Aster and Dierre explained what had happened earlier.
After hearing the whole story, Malia stared at the crow.
Flap! Flap!
“Maybe it’s just me, but doesn’t it look like this little thing is trying to run away?”
“No way. This is the perfect chance to prove it’s really Frondier’s pet.”
Aster answered with a grin.
In truth, the crow had been trying to escape long before they even got here. Escaping Aster’s grip was impossible from the start.
But its stubborn resistance only deepened Dierre’s suspicion, and even Aster could no longer fully trust the crow.
Was it really Frondier’s crow—or one tamed by an enemy? While their doubts grew, Gregory’s thoughts were entirely different.
'This is bad! Vision sharing is my natural enemy!'
Malia’s sense-sharing and Gregory’s animal control were both hereditary abilities.
Bloodline abilities generally didn’t directly affect combat. Like these two.
But precisely because of that, most people were very well-informed about them—since such powers often had practical uses outside of battle.
Gregory’s animal control naturally allowed him to see what the controlled animal saw. In that sense, it was similar to Malia’s vision-sharing.
However, Malia didn’t control—she only specialized in sharing perception.
“Well, shall we give it a try? I’m curious too.”
When Malia used vision-sharing on an animal currently controlled by Gregory—
Flash!
“Oh my.”
“.......”
In Malia’s eyes appeared the figure of Gregory—the one controlling the crow.
