Chapter 17

Revenge
A week after Brother Chris returned from the capital, we brothers decided to head back into the forest for a rematch of our last hunt.
"Whoa, a Unicorn Rabbit! Air Shot!" Brother Gerald fired a wind spell at the rabbit's head, taking it down.
This time, a Cocotte appeared, and Brother Chris cast "Air Shot," launching a ping-pong ball-sized wind spell at its legs.

The Cocotte lost its balance and fell, and a knight quickly placed Sleep Grass on its face to put it to sleep. Just to be sure, they also stuffed some Sleep Grass into its mouth before placing it in a cage on the cart.

This time, our goal was to capture as many female Cocottes alive as possible, so we avoided using powerful spells. Males, on the other hand, were fair game for headshots since they weren’t part of the live capture plan. The meat from the males would be used as ingredients, so we had to avoid damaging their bodies too much. The way to tell males from females was by their tails—males had red tails, unlike the chickens from my previous life, which had combs.

I can’t wait to start using magic myself. Just three more months of patience.
This time, the forest seemed normal, and as we made our way to the clearing where we’d been before, Knight Meyer explained the characteristics of the magical beasts my brothers and the knights had hunted, how to defeat them, and which parts could be used as materials. We took a break once we reached the clearing.

"One, two, three... ten? That’s a lot.” I said, counting the Cocottes sleeping in the cages on the cart and asking Knight Meyer about it.

"Ten on the way here is quite a lot. The average is around five to seven."

"It’d be great if we found the same number on the way back," I said. Just then, Atre, who had been allowed to roam freely in the forest, came over with something in his mouth.

"Atre, what’s that? Show me.” I said, holding out my hands. Atre dropped a chick into my palms.

According to Atre, he had been running through the forest when he accidentally crashed into a tree with a bird’s nest. The parent bird attacked him, and when he fought back, he found one of the chicks had fallen out of the nest. Atre picked it up and brought it to me.

If he had left the chick there, the parent bird wouldn’t have taken it back. So, to keep it from being eaten by other magic beasts, Atre brought it to me.

"This little one is really weak..."

The parent bird might have pushed it out of the nest because it thought the chick wouldn’t survive. It’s the law of the jungle, but I still wanted to save it.

When I asked Atre if there was a way to help, he said that since it was a fire-attribute mana beast, giving it fire-attribute magic might save it. Fire attribute... that’s Brother Gerald.

"Brother Gerald!" I shouted, running toward him.

Brother Gerald and the knights in the clearing looked surprised, but I didn’t care.

"Hardt, what’s wrong?"
"Brother Gerald, give this little one some mana!" I showed him the chick in my hands.

"Huh? Explain what’s going on."

"Explanation later. Just do it! Not too much at once, just a little bit. I’ll explain later!"

Brother Gerald shrugged in resignation and began channeling mana into the chick. After about five minutes, the chick started chirping.
By then, Brother Chris and the others had gathered around us.

"Hardt, what’s going on this time?" Brother Chris asked. I explained what Atre had told me.

"Hahaha... Every time Hardt comes into the forest, something interesting happens. Captain Kyle, do you know what kind of magic beast this chick is?"

"No, it’s rare to see chicks, so it’s hard to say. We’ll know once it grows. But since Atre said it’s fire-attribute, we can narrow it down a bit."

Brother Chris, still curious, asked Atre if he knew what kind of magic beast the chick was. Atre said it was a Fiamma.

A Fiamma!? Atre, how far did you go!? Fiammas are found deep in the forest, past the mid-slopes. They’re A-rank magic beasts!

Fiammas have bright red feathers, almost vermilion. They’re known as intelligent, fire-breathing magic beasts that can shoot fire arrows or fireballs, adapting their attacks to their opponent’s strength.

The chick in front of me was an adorable orange fluffball. It looked more like a parrot from my previous life. No one would guess this little thing was a Fiamma. When I told everyone, the crowd buzzed with excitement.

"Hardt, can I take care of this chick? No, let me take care of it!" Brother Gerald pleaded desperately.

"Since fire-attribute mana is like food for this little one, I’ll need to ask Brother Gerald for help. Please take care of it.” I said, handing the chick to him.

"... Are you sure? Thank you.” Brother Gerald said, carefully taking the chick and placing it in his coat pocket. The chick didn’t complain and dozed off peacefully.

"This way, I can keep an eye on it and give it magic if needed, like I just did." He said, grinning from ear to ear as he kept checking on the chick.

"Hardt... Brother Gerald’s birthday present... it really came true." Brother Chris muttered under his breath.

The decorative knife... I mean, it was just a joke... a lighthearted idea... but I couldn’t say that now. I could hear Father and the others sighing. This wasn’t my fault. Definitely not.