by Funa
The incessant chirping sound…
“U-um, well… Eheheh…”
…was originating from Pauline’s cleavage.
“…So you’re saying that you found it in the grass when we were taking a break earlier and decided to pick it up?”
“Yes… It would have died if I’d just left it there—I know it!”
A cute little bird, roughly the size of a sparrow, was poking its head out from between Pauline’s breasts. Or at least, it was the size a sparrow would be when it was full grown. At the moment, it was still partly covered in down, so one could assume that it was a chick or an adolescent, and that it still had a little while until it reached its full size.
The spoiled, friendly little bird nibbled happily on a scrap of bread that Pauline offered it.
“It’s so cute!” the other three sighed.
“L-Let me hold it for a bit!” Reina demanded.
“No, I should be first, I’m the party leader,” said Mavis.
“N-no, me! You should give it to me, Pauline!” cried Mile.
However, Pauline gave only a heartless reply.
“None of you have enough padding. Chirpy might get crushed.”
“………”
“I’m sorry! I really didn’t mean it. Please cheer up, everyone!”
Pauline was starting to fret. The other three were still down in the dumps, not yet recovered from her inadvertent attack that afternoon. Since then, they had hardly said a word, and now it was dinnertime.
“W-well, I guess I have no choice here. I’ll allow one of you the privilege of sleeping next to Chirpy tonight. But I’ll leave it to you all to decide who…”
Twitch. Twitch twitch!!
Fwap!
“Yes, it’s mine!”
“Heeeeey!!!”
To everyone’s shock, Mavis, who always yielded to everyone else, had made a mad dash to secure Chirpy.
“Heheh. Eheheheheh! You’re gonna be sleeping next to me tonight, Chirpy!”
“Grrrrrrngh.” Reina and Mile grumbled bitterly.
Pauline called out to Mavis worriedly, “Please try your best not to roll over in your sleep and crush Chirpy!”
The next morning, a safe, living, and blessedly uncrushed Chirpy was stored safely back in Pauline’s “breast pocket.” It was the safest and coziest place for the bird during travel.
The other three seethed jealously.
“Ow!”
“What happened?! Pauline, are you all right?!”
It seemed that Pauline had tripped on a small rock and twisted her ankle. Of course, a little injury such as that was easily patched up with a bit of casual healing magic. While Pauline was on the ground, applying a healing spell to herself, Chirpy suddenly flew out from her shirt.
Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!
The bird landed beside her, chirping desperately at Pauline’s injured ankle.
“Thank you, Chirpy. I feel like the pain is starting to go away already…”
Chirpy then turned its head and looked toward the rock that had been the source of Pauline’s fall, giving a single shriek. The rock appeared to move slightly, as though it had been flicked. Everyone observed this curiously, but figured it was just their imaginations, and put it out of their minds.
Once Pauline’s ankle was all healed, the Crimson Vow started down the road again.
That evening…
“Mine!”
“Oh!!”
This time, it was Reina who snatched up Chirpy, leaving Mile to grumble.
The next morning, as Mile prepared breakfast…
Chirp!
Fwoomf!
“Huh? Did the fire just light itself?”
“It’s my turn tonight!”
There was no one who could argue with Mile’s assertion. It was in fact her turn. Not even Pauline could object—she had Chirpy to herself all day long, and tomorrow night would be her turn.
As long as she slept face up, Mile’s chest would be a perfectly safe place for Chirpy. The little bird nestled into the small crevasse and fell fast asleep.
“S-so cuuute!!!”
The next morning, Mile awoke before dawn, short of breath. She slowly opened her eyes, to see…
“Gyaaaaaaah!!!”
“Wh-what’s going on?!?!”
The other three awoke with a start at Mile’s scream. Beside them, they saw Mile, stretched out on her bed, and nearly covering her, something huge, fluffy, and roughly the same size as Mile—a giant bird.
“Wha-wh-wh-wh…?”
“A-a bird monster?”
“Is that Chirpy?”
In fact, it was Chirpy, who had ballooned to massive size overnight.
“S-so Chirpy’s a magic bird?”
“You knew this, didn’t you, Mavis?”
“Well, there are birds who look like normal birds but possess magical power and can use simple spells. They don’t have any magic when they’re first born, but after their mother breathes some magical power into them, they grow up quickly and can start using weak wind magic and such… Still, I don’t think they’re supposed to get this huge, and no matter how fast they’re supposed to grow, I don’t think it’s supposed to happen overnight…”
In reality, the mothers did not “breathe their magic” into the babies. It was simply that they were lending them some of the nanomachines who were under the mother bird’s influence and allowing the baby to use them for its own growth. Of course, the people of this world knew nothing of these principles. Besides, given that most birds were very small by nature, any magic they possessed would have been miniscule, causing most people to hardly pay them any mind.
As though awoken by all the commotion, Chirpy shuffled off of Mile and alighted on the ground.
After taking a good, hard look at Pauline, Mavis, Reina, and Mile in turn, it made a motion like bowing its head and trotted out of the tent.
Everyone rushed to follow it, only to see Chirpy look back just one time, spread its wings, and then take off into the air, flying away.
“Oh, Chirpy…”
Pauline watched as the bird flew into the distance, looking as though she was going to cry. Mavis, however, looked grim.
“What’s the matter, Mavis?” Reina asked suspiciously.
Mavis replied, hesitating, “Oh, ah—I mean, maybe it was just my imagination, but… I thought I saw Chirpy use a little bit of magic the day before last, when Pauline twisted her ankle. And then yesterday, when Mile was making breakfast, the fire seemed like it lit itself…”
“Huh? So then, based on the people involved…could it have been that it was ‘breathing in its mother’s magical power’? So when it was sleeping next to Mile last night…”
“It was breathing in some of her ridiculous amount of magical power!”
“We’ve just created a monster bird!!!”
“Well, that’s not my problem!” said Reina.
“I-I had nothing to do with this, either!” said Pauline.
“Nor did I!” said Mavis.
“Well then, anyway…” said Mile.
And the four agreed as one: “Time to hurry along to the next country!!!”
The Crimson Vow began to book it down the road.
It would not be until much, much later that they would hear rumors of the giant bird who swooped down to help lost and injured people in the forest…
Afterword
Long time no see, everyone. FUNA here.
At last, we’ve reached Volume 8 of Average. Volume 10 is just around the corner…
The publication and manga adaptation of Average have been going smoothly, as have the publication and adaptations of Working in a Fantasy World to Save Up 80,000 Gold Pieces for My Retirement and Living on Potion Requests! by Kodansha’s K-Ranobe Books imprint. My days have been passing by relatively problem-free, outside of the luxurious worry of being so busy I hardly have time to do anything.
Of course, given that I only leave the house a few times a month—and when I do
it’s only to go to the supermarket that’s a three minutes’ walk from here to stock up on the soba and cup noodles that are my main staple—I can’t really say that it’s not like I don’t have any problems these days.
In this volume, Mile’s birth home, the land of the Ascham family, is invaded by the imperial army, and though Mile no longer feels a connection to that place, she can’t bring herself to abandon it. In order to repay all the favors Mile has done for them over time, the other three members of the Crimson Vow do a number of devilish things…
Then, we see some old faces: Marcela and the Wonder Trio!
And then, the Crimson Vow heads to the east!
Mile: “Next up, the Touhou Project!”
Y…yeah.
Production planning for the anime version is progressing smoothly, or rather, it seems to be coming along.
The supervisor and staff seem to be making a lot of decisions, anyway.
Perhaps it’ll air next year…
Also, I’d been assuming that the English-language print volumes and e-books were only being sold in the U.S., but apparently, they’re also being sold in a number of other counties. They’re trending in Amazon’s comic and graphic novel categories in Canada, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, the Netherlands, and others…
Don’t tell me—am I really becoming an international author?
No.
No no no.
No no no no no no no!
P-perhaps I can achieve world domination with my light novels…
FUNA: “Just one more step closer to my dreams…”
Mile: “Dreams, magic, and rock’n’roll!”
Reina: “I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
The manga serialization of Average can be found online at Earth Star Comics (http://comic-earthstar.jp/).
And the manga serializations of Potions and 80,000 Gold Pieces are doing very well at Wednesday Sirius (http://seiga.nicovideo.jp/manga/official/w_sirius/).
You can continue to look forward to both the novel and manga versions.
And finally, to the chief editor; to Itsuki Akata, the illustrator; to Yoichi Yamakami, the cover designer; to everyone involved in the proofreading, editing, printing, binding, distribution, and selling of this book; to all the reviewers on Shousetsuka ni Narou who gave me their impressions, guidance, suggestions, and advice; and most of all, to everyone who’s welcomed my stories into their homes, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
I hope to meet you all again soon, either in Volume 9 of Average or in one of the other two works in the three-part set I’m calling “Flat-Chested Girls Who Look About Twelve or Thirteen.”
And I hope you’ll stick with us just a little while longer to help make my hopes, the Crimson Vow’s dreams, and the reality of a completed anime adaptation come true…
—FUNA
Thank you for reading!
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