Chapter 40: One of a kind
A large empty cage was found under the cloth, probably the cage used to transport large numbers of silly birds. However, the eyes of the crowd were quickly drawn to another small cage hidden on the side of the cart, containing a conspicuous animal. Compared to the pyropus, which were slightly larger than a soccer ball, a frightened little bird was found in this. The poor animal did not stop trembling at the sight of all that crowd surrounding him.
At first sight it was similar to a parrot or cockatoo. Well, actually it was more like a pyropu with anorexia. It was small, a little smaller than a parrot. The colors of its feathers ranged from deep red to light orange. Although the most remarkable were its eyes that seemed to shine intensely with a yellowish color, as if they were red-hot metal, and certain long feathers on its tail, whose length was quite close to a meter long, practically doubling the size of its body. Its beak, unlike that of a parrot, was more pointed, similar to that of a raven. Seeing it, the first word that came to mind was: phoenix.
"Is that a pyropu?" I asked those who brought it.
"Huh? We really don't know. We found it where we usually throw them. It can be a rare pyropu or a completely different species, since unlike them it can fly and it doesn't look like an idiot. We had a hard time catching it."
"And... what do you intend to do with him?"
"Obviously, sell it. Something as rare as this can't be found very often. Without a doubt, someone will want it."
"Without a doubt…"
This situation reminded me quite a lot of the typical poachers of exotic species. I found it completely unpleasant, but apart from me no one else seemed to care in the slightest…
"I am quite sorry."
… except Raidha.
"Yeah…"
The truth is, I have never liked to see any animal in a cage, especially birds. I imagine myself being there, all day inside a small cage where there is hardly any room to move, much less do what birds do: fly. Isn't it depressing to be able to fly and not be able to at the same time? The feeling has to be the same as being paralyzed, having legs and not being able to walk. And it feels even worse when you can see everything around you, see the world in front of you but know that yours ends where the cage begins.
People gathered around the cage to see the bird, which did not know where to put itself. It just paced on the spot, escaping one look only to meet another.
'Unpleasant…'
In one of its many jumps inside the small cage it turned towards me. The moment our eyes met, the uneasiness I felt since I first saw it increased exponentially. We both froze, our gazes fixed on each other…completely forgetting the people around us.
"Am I imagining it or is it looking directly at you?"
Until Raidha brought me back to reality.
"No… It really seems to be looking at me."
The bird seemed to calm down a bit and stopped pacing around the cage, completely ignoring the people around it. At that moment it opened its beak a little and…
[Please help, please heeeelp, this place is horrible.]
"What the…! Does that bird talk?"
The bird spoke… Hearing it speak out of nowhere took me quite by surprise, but I calmed down right away… after all, it wasn't that rare to hear some birds speak.
"Yes, I heard it too!"
Raidha's statement proved that I hadn't gone mad, but something was wrong with all of this. The bird was asking me for help, but the townspeople didn't seem to care at all. No, actually, the voice I heard didn't seem to come directly from him, but rather resonated directly inside my head.
"They… don't seem to be able to hear anything."
"Are we the only ones who can understand him? That's pretty weird."
"If you don't understand it less I… but that seems to be the case. Maybe they just hear it chirping."
'Telepathy?'
No, it wasn't just that the words came to my mind. It was as if I simply understood what it wanted to convey to me.
'It doesn't make sense… Why do I understand what a bird says? One second…'
Until that moment I hadn't even paid attention to something very important... How I had been talking normally with all the people we had met up until now? Did we all speak the same language? That was... just not believable…
"We should help it."
Before I could think about it any further, Raidha tugged on my sleeve. I put aside my doubts for the moment and simply nodded.
Coinciding with Raidha's intentions, I decided to see if we could trade for it. I approached the man in the cage again and prepared to bargain for the little animal.
"How much do you want for it?" I asked as he put my hand on top of the cage.
"Since we don't know how much we can sell it for, we're just going to auction it off."
A greedy smile appeared on that man's face.
"Got it."
Without further questioning, I walked away from the cage and returned to Raidha's side.
"We don't even have any money," she sighed resignedly.
We had no idea how money worked in this place. To begin with, the cats didn't even use money. It probably would have been a good idea to collect some information.
"Can't you create money with your power?"
"I don't even know what coins look like or what they're made of... It's not like I can get the materials out of thin air either... Can't you create something with magic?"
"You ask too much with that."
"Well... we can't buy it..."
I'm not a thief... or at least I don't consider myself one. Borrowing one or two things with no intention of returning them doesn't make you one, does it?
"Can't we really do anything?"
Crack, crack, ¡clang!
The cage began to crack and the bars fell off, leaving a hole big enough for the bird to climb out of.
"Look at that, the cage just broke." I held up my hands.
There's no way I was going to take the animal by force, but if instead of taking it and running the animal goes away on its own, it's not stealing, right?
[Thank you.]
Without hesitating for a single moment, it took flight and soared into the sky at full speed.
"Crap, the bird!"
"What happened?"
"Did it break the cage?"
People didn't understand what happened, and just in case, I preferred to get away from the crime scene.
"Hahahaha, you're amazing."
"If there is no evidence, there is no crime. The cage was just old and gave way on its own. They should maintain their things better."
"Their faces were so funny."
After laughing a bit and finishing the matter of the bird, it was the moment to inquire about the question that had been eating me up inside for a long time.
"Raidha… Why do we understand each other?"
"¿Ah?"
Her expression seemed to be saying: What bullshit are you asking me now?
"What language do you speak?"
"Obviously the one the Silphens speak."
"And what language do I speak?"
"Well, obviously the same one."
"The same one…"
"Of course. Wait!"
"Have you finally figured it out?"
"Where did you learn to speak my language?!"
"How would I speak your language, dumbass!"
'My goodness, does this girl use her head for anything other than screaming?'
"Then why do we understand each other?!"
'If I knew, I wouldn't have asked in the first place.'
But I could get a little idea... a theory…
"Until now you have never questioned if everyone speaks the same language, right?"
"I've never had a chance to talk to many people other than Silphen."
"And you've always understood everyone you've met…"
"Yes."
I definitely wouldn't find clear answers asking Raidha... on the contrary, just more doubts.
'Come to think of it, those aliens never responded to me when I spoke to them. I just thought they didn't want to talk to me, but… Did I understand them but they didn't understand me?'
I sighed again.
"And I suppose you don't know if Silphen and Katryde speak the same language, do you?"
"I never stopped to think about it either."
"Of course…"
The girl she had a fight with when we met talked to us normally. Both her father and the other Silphen spoke to me normally. Even those Katryde who chased after us talked to us like it was normal. No matter how many times I thought about it, it was impossible to think that they were all the same idiots. The only conclusion I could come to was that it was just normal for them.
"Anyway… it's a useful thing after all. Let's just assume that we can communicate with any form of intelligent life."
"Don't you think that's assuming too much?"
"If you had even considered asking your people about it, we wouldn't need to assume anything…"
"I only left my city a couple of times when I was very little!"
"Yes, yes…"
Again, more questions than answers were piling up in my head, but at least it was clear that it was something to do with her. I glanced at the princess, who also seemed to be thinking about it… until a pyropu crossed in front of us.
"Well, let's see if we can talk to the animals! Hey you, come a minute!"
Raidha ran after the silly bird and began talking animatedly to it. The bird stared at her for a moment with interest. Everything seemed normal, but then it rocketed off in the opposite direction ending… Well, never mind.
"I said intelligent life."
'Although for a moment I thought she could really talk with it... Who knows, as they say, idiots understand each other.'
"Why do I feel like you're thinking something rude?"
"That's just your imagination…"
So stupid for some things and so insightful for others.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone