─ Quack! Quaaack! (Where are you looking! Has this human gone mad!)

“Fortunately, its bottom is clean.”

In front of the emperor, she ended up showing her fluttering anus.

─ Quaquack! (What a pervert for an emperor!)

Bestia flapped her wings in indignation. She flapped so vigorously that her duck feet, which hadn’t moved until now, lifted slightly.

Ooh. Both men exclaimed at the sight. Even Potters, who had been indifferent, was amazed at the wonder of life.

“Practicing flying with such a skinny body!”

“How admirable!”

“It’s touching, Your Majesty, like watching someone who can’t even hold a wooden sword struggling through sword training.”

“I too felt such an uplifting emotion.”

─ Quoaack…… (They’re really something. Seriously……)

Bestia narrowed her eyes. Caenian seemed to be a less impressive emperor than she had expected. People had wondered if there was some ulterior motive behind his beastman-friendly policy, but that wasn’t the case. From what she could see now, he just looked like a dimwitted human obsessed with animals.

He probably just likes animals. But I guess it’s because they became hard to see due to his father.

Nod, nod. Bestia, who had reached her own conclusion, bobbed her head. The two men marveled at that too.

“Oh, this time she failed to fly, but look at her resolving for the next attempt!”

“I saw it too. A light of intelligence shines from her eyes.”

What are they even saying, really. It was exasperating. As if she had never trembled in fear of the pickpockets, she felt completely drained. Bestia now just stood still without making any movement. As she had no energy, her legs wobbled in that short moment.

Instinct stirred. Her body moved on its own. Following the habit of a right-handed person, her raised right foot slipped between the soft feathers on her belly.

“Goodness! I’m not sure if it’s alright to say this… but it’s c-cute! Your Majesty!”

“I agree. I want to make a golden statue of this very pose!”

“What should we do? Shall I tell them to melt some unused golden tableware as soon as we enter the palace? Then we could make it right away, Your Majesty.”

“How much could you make with just that? I am the Emperor of the Delta Empire. A golden statue of a duck standing on one foot should be at least as big as me.”

The imperial palace must be full of crazy people. Bestia heaved a deep sigh. She wanted to put her leg down out of embarrassment, but she couldn’t do that either as she felt self-conscious. If she lowered her leg now, it seemed like the two grown men would really look disappointed. Unable to do this or that, she ended up in an even more uncomfortable position because she had raised her leg without realizing it.

─ Quaaaaack…… (Just throw me away and go to the parade already……)

“Oh right. Your Majesty, you need to go to the New Year’s Parade.”

“Ah yes, that’s right. I momentarily forgot my duty.”

The two men, who had been geeking out over the adorable duck, suddenly returned to normal. It was after Bestia had quacked and given them meaningful looks. It seemed that true feelings could indeed be conveyed.

Bestia now thought about how to get home while still being a duck. Her stride had become extremely short, so it would take a long time to walk.

“What do you plan to do with this baby duck, Your Majesty?”

“After seriously considering the current situation and future circumstances……”

“The result……”

“I will take it in.”

“Pardon?”

─ Quack? (Take in?)

Who are you to take me in?

It seems the return to sanity was very brief. Bestia stared at Caenian with her beak slightly open. She was dumbfounded.

“Look how ecstatic the duck is. It’s agreeing.”

“B-but Your Majesty! The New Year’s Parade is about to start. What will you do with the duck then?”

“We’ll take it along.”

“Pardon?”

“I am also aware that many citizens of the empire doubt the beastman-friendly policy. This duck will be a good opportunity.”

“You mean to do some image-making? Will… will that work?”

Potters scratched his forehead. He too found the baby duck cute. But participating in the parade was a separate issue. Hundreds of imperial family members are mobilized for the Peace New Year’s Parade. It’s an occasion where they all pass through the village to give the empire’s citizens bright energy for the new year. In other words, it’s a very formal and solemn event. And they’re going to bring a duck to that?

“What if this baby duck gets startled by the people, starts quacking, and poops everywhere?”

─ Quaack! (What do you take me for!)

“It says it won’t do that. It’s quite intelligent, you see.”

“Are you saying it understood our words and answered?”

“The timing was just right, wasn’t it? Look at its expression too.”

“Does a duck even have expressions? Can you see them, Your Majesty?”

“Potters, how insolent!”

The conversation between fools started again. Bestia watched them cautiously and slightly lowered her right foot. The situation was frustrating. New Year’s Parade or whatever, she just wanted to go home. She needed to find a way to turn back into a human quickly.

“The more I think about it, the more I believe this will be a great opportunity to refresh our image. We must call a tailor right away to make a suitable cape for the duck!”

After the frustrating conversation ended once, Caenian and Potters finally started heading towards the temple.

─ Quack! Quaaack! (Let go! I said let go!)

Bestia flapped about in Caenian’s grasp. But no matter how much she struggled, she couldn’t escape. She pecked hard at the fingers that felt like prison bars with her beak, but it was in vain. Unlike a chick’s beak, her blunt end only tickled Caenian.

“You feel honored too? Of course. You’ll go down in history as the first animal to participate in the New Year’s Parade.”

“With the addition of your tragic family history, it seems like it will be perfect image-making, Your Majesty.”

“I think so too. Now we’re finally on the same page, Potters.”

“I’m honored.”

─ Quack…… (They’re crazy……)

Bestia, who had tired herself out from struggling alone, sighed. She plopped down on the palm that enveloped her with both hands. She gazed vacantly at the scenery passing through the gaps between the fingers. Her heart felt empty. She couldn’t believe this situation. This must be why the old saying goes that you should listen to your elders.

What will happen to me now? Will they let me go after the New Year’s Parade is over?

Please release me into nature. Please send our precious wildlife back to its homeland.

The place where the New Year’s Parade starts is the largest and most symbolic place in the village, namely the temple. The temples, one in each village, were built along with the Delta Empire.

Beastmen and humans.

From the beginning, these two species could not coexist. The current Delta Empire was particularly bad in this regard. In the past, the Lorencia continent was teeming with beastmen of violent temperament. Humans fell helplessly. They were on the brink of extinction. Humans only gained the upper hand after Ruvan I received a revelation.

「When you find a being that walks on four legs but runs on two, and advances even after abandoning all that, light, blessings, and joy will pour infinitely upon humans.」

No one knows what kind of being Ruvan I found at that time. The records stop there. Only much later was an ancient document discovered saying that the continent had found stability.

「The continent has found stability, and an appropriate number of beastmen and humans have achieved harmony. The advancing being promised. It said it would willingly bestow future fertility with a good heart. Commemorate the time when a new day begins. Express gratitude. Then it will be eternal.」

This was all that ordinary people knew. The festival of joy continued for a long time after peace arrived. The atmosphere within the empire was good until Ruvan II’s reign, but it changed drastically when Ruvan III began to reject beastmen.

Currently, the Delta Empire has lost many talented individuals due to Ruvan III’s anti-beastman policy. This is because many beastmen fled across the eastern border to the Kingdom of Runda. Caenian was wary of the Kingdom of Runda, which had grown powerful with the beastmen who had crossed over from his country. But now, all of Caenian’s attention was focused elsewhere.

“Call a tailor right now! Have them make a cape that suits this duck!”

“A duck?”

“We haven’t heard anything about offering sacrifices to the high priest, Your Majesty.”

─ Quoack! (Sacrifice?)

“Sacrifice? This duck will be the mascot of our Delta Empire from now on. It will lead the New Year’s Parade with me and then head straight to the imperial palace.”