When I regained consciousness, someone was gently pressing my cheeks.

It wasn’t forceful, but rather a feather-like touch.

‘Who is it… Could it be Benjamin?’

I lifted my heavy eyelids. What I saw was the wide-open sky.

The weather was perfect. Not a single cloud in sight, you could say.

No, wait. Did the ceiling of the Center fly off or something…?

At that moment, my cheek was pressed again.

As I turned my gaze to the side, I immediately met small, round eyes.

―Kyu!

Kyu? Did it just say ‘kyu’?

―Kyu kyu!

The identity of the ‘kyu-kyu’-ing creature was a small bird.

A white bird about the size of my palm.

The white bird was poking my cheek with one of its wings. As if it wanted me to wake up.

Behind the bird, I could see the forest scenery I had seen last night. The blackened, burnt forest looked miserable.

Only then could I realize. The fact that Benjamin had abandoned me in the forest.

That bastard. I should have known.

No matter how terrible his personality is, how could he abandon me in a forest where monsters frequently appear!

“Aaaargh! I really want to get out of this.”

When I shouted, the white bird echoed my words.

―Kyu!

As if agreeing.

“Can you understand what I’m saying?”

―Kyu kyu!

It says yes.

“You look like a baby bird, where are your parents?”

―Kyu─u!

It says it never had parents.

…Huh?

Did I just… understand the words of a baby… no, a baby bird?

***

In this world, although extremely rare, there existed an ability to understand animal language and tame animals.

Rather than an active ability with activation conditions, it was a passive ability that only chosen ones were born with…

It was called the ‘Tamer Ability’.

***

When I returned to the Center after walking for a full two hours, the hot topic was Benjamin’s feat of defeating the S-class monster Apophis alone.

I don’t understand why abandoning an unconscious guide on the spot isn’t a topic of discussion.

I entered the Center, clutching my trembling legs.

‘I feel gross, I’m hungry, my legs hurt… This is the worst.’

As soon as I entered the Center, I ran into Linda, an A-class guide I occasionally exchange greetings with.

“I heard Benjamin showed his skills after a long time?”

She was one of Benjamin’s followers.

I answered halfheartedly.

“So I heard.”

“I wonder what ability he used. I heard he created purple spheres… Maybe some kind of enhancement ability?”

‘Mass Murderer’ is a much more cruel and powerful ability than that.

I pretended not to know.

“I don’t know either. He’s not the type to talk in detail about his abilities.”

“True. I heard even the new Center director doesn’t know much about his abilities.”

“……”

“I find that reticence so cool.”

Damn it! What’s so cool about being reticent?

I recalled last night’s events.

His ruthlessness in dragging me to the gate, completely ignoring my words about having trypophobia.

Benjamin, who left me unconscious in the forest and disappeared alone.

‘…If another gate had appeared, I could have died a miserable death.’

I realized once again, painfully, that I needed to protect myself.

It’s only been 3 months since I became Yerena, but I felt like I was crossing between life and death every day.

I decided to confide in Linda about what I had experienced and the true nature of Benjamin.

“But I was there too?”

“Wow! So you saw that historic scene too?”

“Yeah. There was a huge bang! and Apophis died right away.”

“He is amazing.”

“But Benjamin left me there, so I had to walk all the way here.”

Linda, with a face like a love-struck girl, immediately replied.

“Wow! You must have great stamina.”

Crazy. Do you perhaps have an empathy disorder?

Well, I didn’t expect much empathy to begin with.

The Center, no, the Empire prioritizes strong people. C-class guides like me receive only slightly better treatment than those who are discarded.

Still, the reason I can be proud as a C-class guide is because I’m the dedicated guide for the Allen Knights.

“…That’s not the point, shouldn’t you say something else?”

When I spoke with a sulky voice, Linda seemed to finally understand what I meant.

“Come on. You know better than anyone how busy Benjamin is, being the dedicated guide for that team. How could he take care of a C-class guide too?”

Just as I thought.

Not just Linda, but almost all other guides and Espers probably think the same way.

Even if I held a one-person protest saying ‘Improve the treatment of guides!’, they wouldn’t even glance at me.

Losing me is far, far less of a loss than losing Benjamin.

“Hey, get lost.”

“…Huh, what?”

“I said get lost because I can’t stand listening to you.”

A world that doesn’t treat C-class guides well. I desperately want to escape it.

At that moment, the small bird I had tucked in my bosom poked its head out.

―Kyuu?

Linda looked down at the bird.

“Oh my! What’s this? Breakfast? Roasted bird is delicious, you know.”

―Kyuuuuu! Kyu kyu!

I translated the bird’s words.

“It says if you don’t want to be roasted alive, be quiet.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m telling you to leave. I’m begging you, please just go…”

“Geez. You don’t have a single friend in the Center… I try to talk to you and this is what I get.”

Linda, finally about to leave, lightly hit my shoulder as she passed by.

If she wasn’t an A-class guide from a good family, I would have grabbed her by the hair by now.

Suddenly, I heard the birds chirping again.

―Kyuuuu…

It says she’s a bad b****.

I couldn’t agree more.

Absolutely not my words, of course.

But this little one. It seems to think it’s some kind of dragon. Usually, only dragon species can breathe fire.

However, the bird looked completely different from dragons. It looked more like a sparrow than a dragon.

I couldn’t help but snicker at the thought of flames coming out of such a tiny beak.

“Still, you’re the only one who’s taken my side.”

The little one had been following me since we met in the forest. I carried it here, thinking it wanted to come with me.

Of course, I asked the bird’s opinion.

“Hey, do you want to live with me?”

The bird of an unknown species answered.

―Kyuu kyuu.

‘I shall do so.’

It had a very sage-like tone.

Anyway, we safely made it to my room.

As I flopped down on the bed, the bird climbed onto my stomach and started preening its wings with its beak.

“But we can’t keep calling you ‘bird’, so let’s decide on a name for you.”

―Kyu kyu!

It says go ahead.

I believe that a name can determine one’s life, and it’s very important.

I wanted this little bird to have a blessed life, not an abandoned one like mine.

So, the name I came up with was.

“Bless. How about it? Do you like it?”

Bless.

A name that means blessing.

The bird stopped checking its wings and nodded its head. Then it answered.

―Kyu.kyu.kyu.

‘Kuk.kuk.kuk.’ …

It sounded like the laughter of some evil bird from the demon realm.

Surely this bird couldn’t be an evil creature, right?

“Well… I guess that means you like it?”

I wonder if it’s okay for me to raise this one.

***

After a nap and satisfying my hunger, the irritation from the morning seemed to subside.

With a clearer mind, I thought about the ‘Tamer Ability’ that had suddenly appeared in Yerena.

It’s been 3 months since I became Yerena.

During that time, I was so busy adapting to this place and going out on combat missions that I didn’t even think about trying to talk to animals.

Well, a normal person wouldn’t think about conversing with animals anyway…

In any case, the Yerena in the novel didn’t have the Tamer ability.

But the Yerena in the novel didn’t have trypophobia either, so it wasn’t strange for a new ability to appear.

After all, only the shell of Yerena remained the same, but there was a different person inside.

The discovery of this new ability felt quite welcome. It felt like I had drawn a ‘hidden card’ by chance.

‘If I use this ability well, couldn’t it help me escape from the Center?’

However, unfortunately, as it was a little-known ability, there wasn’t much information available about it.

In times like these, it’s only natural to seek out a guild that specializes in information.

“I’ve decided. I should go into town after a long time.”

In town, there was a back alley guild that the female protagonist in the novel frequently used.

I was planning to go there.