[V7C17] If You Turned Into A Pig
Translated by Jodas 7: To the NorthAfter Wren finished saying all the complaints and laments he could think of in Tia and Sevil’s presence, he washed his face and headed to the main gate to send his brother off.
Tia and Sevil stuck with Wren, not letting him be alone (and he was glad they did), but he sent them off, deciding he wanted to send off his brother by himself.
He was just too embarrassed to have them see the way his brother doted on him when he did something admirable. That was just how much he wanted to show off to him.
His brother left for an inn he’d rented in the village nearby. After staying a night there, he would start on his way back home.
“Big Bro, you’re already leaving?”
There were still so many things he wanted to say to his brother.
About the friends he’d made since coming to the Wedge Tower; about the new things he learned how to do; about all the pretty-boy-things he’d done. There was no end to the bragging he wanted to do.
However, Kevin weakly let his brows drop.
“Yeah. I don’t want Mother finding out I came here.”
‘Big Bro Kevin is such a nice guy,’ he thought.
His father and stepmother must have seen no need to inform Wren about Katrina’s death.
Not because they intentionally wanted to hide such things from him, but because they saw it as a waste of time. That was how those people tended to think.
“…Have those guys realized that I’m in the Wedge Tower yet?”
“Yeah.”
Kevin nodded immediately, giving Wren a slight sense of unease.
His stepmother fiercely disapproved of Wren receiving any form of education. That woman bristled at the idea of Wren receiving anything. Whether that be clothes, food, care, love, or knowledge.
So, Wren had long had the silent concern that, should he run away from home and enroll in a school, she would try to put a stop to it.
His stepmother had the influence and money to make that happen.
“The moment Mother figured out that you ran off to the Wedge Tower, she started up negotiations with the Wedge Tower. ‘I’ll pay you as much money as you need, just drive Wren out of there,’ she said.”
“Eh?”
“But the Wedge Tower completely stonewalled all of her demands.”
The Wedge Tower was a Tower that collected all forms of magic. They had no reason to drive out someone who knocked on its gates of his own accord and passed the entrance exam.
To drive out a mage of the Wedge Tower under pressure from outside interference was an offense against the Wedge Tower’s principles.
Present at those negotiations was not only Director Hegelich but also Assistant Headmaster Miriam, who was filling in for the Headmaster’s absence at the time.
And apparently it was Assistant Headmaster Miriam who coldly sent the Bayer Family messenger and his cases of gold packing.
(Assistant Headmaster Miriam is one of the ones who trapped Tia, isn’t she?)
He had a lot of opinions about that, but seeing how dedicated she is to her duties as Assistant Headmaster gave him a strangely conflicted feeling.
“Good thing you chose the Wedge Tower, huh, Wren?”
“…Yeah.”
If this were any other educational institution, they would have been swayed by the deep pockets of the Bayer Family and Wren would’ve been sent home. He would have no other option but to wander on the streets.
It was only thanks to the Wedge Tower’s isolation and independence that they were able to brush away the demands of the Bayer Family.
For the time being, he should feel grateful for that. As Wren allowed himself to accept that rationalization, Kevin handed him a folded sheet of paper.
“Here’s my contact information. If you send to this address, Mother won’t be able to find out.”
Once he was sure that Wren had taken the paper, Kevin made a strangely bitter smile.
“I really thought that, as a member of that family, it would be best for me not to get involved with you any more.”
“Huh!? Why would you…!?”
“…Yeah. I know. But, thanks to Mr. Hütter, I’ve changed my mind.”
What had Kevin and Hütter been talking about while he wasn’t there?
Kevin had always been unconfident in himself, but now he looked a little more like a reliable older brother.
“I’m your Big Bro, Wren, so you can rely on me if you’re ever in trouble. I… From now on, I want to do everything I can to help.”
“What do you mean ‘from now on’? Kevin, you’ve always been a good brother to me.”
Kevin’s strong face fell apart when Wren said that.
Then, with a teary smile, Kevin whispered “Thank you.”
(Kevin, you’re being weird again.)
Especially because it was Wren who should be thanking him.
It was the evening, just as afternoon activities were coming to a close.
As Winter was fast approaching, the sun set relatively early at this time of year, so those who’d been doing outdoor activities were already beginning to pack up and head inside.
It was still too early for dinner, but there wasn’t enough time to get any meaningful studying in, leaving him in a sort of limbo. Maybe he should go help Rose and Gerald with their gardening? Or maybe he should try to head over to the Third Spire: Water Bubble and pop in to the Management Office for a bit? They were always happy to accept help no matter when you showed up.
Without any clear objective, Wren wandered around until he caught sight of Sevil outside of the Second Spire: Golden Needle. She must have been practicing with magic swords again.
“Wren? Have you finished sending off your brother?”
“Yeah.”
Nodding, Wren averted his eyes a little.
He’d cried so much as she held him and comforted him from behind. Of course he’d feel a little embarrassed around her.
“Um, thanks… for earlier.”
“Indeed. You are wise to give me thanks!”
At times like this, Sevil’s utter lack of humility set his heart at ease.
Sevil leaned over and ruffled Wren’s bangs with vigor.
“Should you need my assistance again, you need only ask. Be it Formation: Horizontal or Vertical, I am prepared for any task!”
“I want to thank Tia, too, but where is she?”
“The Management Office, I presume. Director Kappel dragged her off, saying something about fine-tuning the new Magical Flying Device model.”
The two of them walked together, heading for the Management Office.
A light breeze blew past. Wren held the collar of his jacket tightly, but Sevil appeared not to mind. Maybe, since she’d been exercising, her body temperature was much warmer.
As they walked, Sevil muttered, as if to herself.
“Have you noticed, Wren? Tia has changed.”
“…She has, huh. I was surprised when she tried to console me earlier.”
He thought back to their first lesson with Mr. Hütter.
When Wren got into a fight with Sevil and ran out of the classroom, Tia hadn’t thought much of it, for better or for worse.
Even when Wren was clearly feeling down, she just sang absentmindedly. When Wren spurted out his grievances, Tia made a face that told she did not have a clue what he was talking about and said this:
“…So humans always want to become something?”
Regardless, Tia’s uncaring attitude set his heart at ease, and it did help Wren feel better in the end, so it wasn’t a bad memory for him.
Tia was a Harpy. She saw the world in a totally different way than humans.
But today, that same Tia said this to Wren:
“Wren, you’re a creature that can become anything you want. So, you should become a creature who is happy.”
Those words came as a tremendous shock to Wren.
Wren couldn’t find the words to express his feelings well as Sevil spoke under her breath.
“Compared to when we first met her, Tia has become much more familiar with human emotions.”
“Ah, yeah… I think so, too.”
“I find that fact rather unnerving, myself.”
His heart skipped a beat.
Probably, that was because Wren had been thinking the same thing somewhere in his mind.
“For instance, imagine you suffered from a curse that turned you into a pig.”
“Hold on, that’s not a very pretty boy example!”
“Just bear with me. As a pig, you wouldn’t be able to speak human languages. In exchange, you could now interact with the other pigs.”
A herd of pigs appeared in his mind, oinking as they surrounded Wren.
‘Stop it! I’m not a pig! I’m a pretty boy!’ — Wren groaned.
“Eventually you befriend a group of pigs and start to feel a sense of camaraderie with them. Then, suddenly, the curse on you is lifted and you return to your human form… Would you be able to eat pork just like you have up to now?”
He thought he probably wouldn’t.
But, instead of answering her question, Wren glared disapprovingly at Sevil.
“…That’s a pretty grotesque example.”
“It’s no different from the situation Tia finds herself in.”
Wren bit his lip and averted his eyes.
He’d figured that was where this hypothetical was going since Sevil began.
“If Tia, as she were now, were to meet with her sister and see her fellows attack humans… Would Tia be able to act as she always had?”
“……”
Even though Tia reacted negatively to the concept of ‘friends,’ she still felt a certain sense of camaraderie with Wren and Sevil. This was not just him being full of himself either, it was a fact.
Would Tia be conflicted once she returned to the flock of Harpies? Like the pretty boy who couldn’t eat pork any more?
Only now did it hit him: not being able to eat pork was still much better than her situation. After all, if he couldn’t eat pork, all he had to do was eat something else.
(But, for a Harpy…)
Harpies reproduced by abducting and raping human men. Their only targets for reproduction were human men, there was no alternative.
Therefore, if they didn’t do that, they would go extinct.
(Hold on, are there really no male Harpies?)
The two of them walked in silence for a while.
Eventually, as they approached the Third Spire: Water Bubble, Sevil whispered under her breath.
“I can sense a deep malice in the actions of that man called Kai who led Tia into this predicament.”
“…Yeah.”
That alone, Wren was certain of.
This man picked up Tia from where she was collapsed, gave her a human form, and sent her into the Wedge Tower.
He knew full well that it was Headmaster Möbius who clipped Tia’s wings, yet he sent Tia into the Wedge Tower regardless.
Wren secretly wondered if even Tia coming to live among humans and change bit by bit was all part of a malicious trap. Sevil must have been wondering the same thing.
(But I… When I see the way Tia is changing to be more human, I feel happy.)
Was that just because it was more convenient for Wren, as a human, to have Tia become more human-like?
Was it really okay for him to be happy when seeing the way Tia was changing?
Such doubts poked at the back of Wren’s mind.
“If you ever encounter Kai going forward… Don’t let your guard down.”
“…Right.”
Tia had been placed in an unbearably cruel situation.
If her identity ever got exposed to Headmaster Möbius, she would either be killed or once again held captive.
Even if she manages to remain undetected and secures a means of flying to return to the flock of Harpies… After all the human contact Tia had had, would she really be able to live with the other Harpies like nothing ever happened?
Were there any options available that would allow Tia to live a happy life?
As Wren hunched over, his mind swirling in conflicting thoughts, Sevil patted him on the back.
“All of this is simply conjecture at this point. Only Tia can understand how Tia feels.”
“Yeah, but still…”
This was Tia’s problem.
Regardless, Wren knew that he was not completely divorced from this problem.
After all, Tia had tried to understand Wren’s aching heart in her own way.
At that time, Tia must have been thinking a whole lot of things about how the human mind worked. All so she could give Wren a little bit of encouragement.
“I don’t think that, just because Tia is the only one who understands how she thinks, it’s okay for me to forget about it… I still can’t think of an answer yet, though.”
“Then you have the makings of a good man, Wren.”
Sevil said with a smirk. Wren returned her gesture with a similar smirk.
“Of course I do!”