The Legend of the Green Bird

"Have you ever thought that maybe it's because we're not lost?"

After several days of wandering around the forest, they never found any sign of the Hawkmoth, and Holy Gun spoke up with a furrowed brow.

Based on the information they have so far, there's no doubt that the monster is in this forest.

Maybe it was really hiding deep, but there was no way it hadn't found any trace of it, mind you, they had a Witcher on the Mystic Scouting side here.Eleazar, who had found nothing for days on end, snapped back to his senses and turned off his Perception state for a moment of contemplation.

"You think it's an alien dimension too don't you?"

After 5 days of wandering around this vast and incomparable jungle, they even found the hidden village that could easily get people lost, and found a few transcendental herbs, but there was just no sign of the monster.

It's very un-mystical.

Anyone who is active is bound to leave a trail, and the Church has been using this method to catch countless illegal Transcendents.

And how is it possible that a line of people were cursed in this very place some time ago without leaving any trace of transcendence behind!

Combining that legend, and the information he had investigated before setting out, so Holy Gun suspected that this incident might be the same as that last Evil God's space.

It doesn't exist in this world and requires a special method to stumble upon it.

"Well, assuming we're lost travelers..."

Eleazar held his chin.

"What's an alien space?" Luna was more curious about that.

"It's just some otherworldly space sandwiched between gaps in reality, formed for complex reasons, with hidden entrances that require a specific method to get in."

Garn added, "So I'm guessing that we may need to get lost in the forest like a true traveler to meet that 'God of the Forest'."

Hearing that there was this incredibly private area, Luna was a little timid.

"It sounds like that deity is pretty powerful..."

"Well, the ones that need to be resolved by going into an alien dimension are at least a level 3 event."

Garn said with a bemused face.

Eleazar took Luna's small, cold hand and pulled her a little closer to his side, then filled with contemplation.

"So how do we get lost?"

Garn pondered that too, "Anyway, you can't be a guide."

"And as it happens, I have a good sense of direction and memory..."

"Then you will guide the rest of the journey, Ms. Luna!"

"Huh?" Luna was filled with confusion.

"It's been a few days since I've had a hot bath and a big bed, don't you think it's hard, let's go back to that village and recuperate, you'll lead the way now."

"Oooh, I can't find it..."

----

After walking for I don't know how long, the woods around them suddenly became sparse.

In a forest clearing ahead, a strange woman bound in a cage by chains, a pair of radiant pupils to that demonic and inclined face lifted.

[Legend has it that deep in the forest, there are blue birds that can bring happiness to people...]

"Is it really, really a cygnet?"

The girl, clad in ragged clothing, stood timidly in front of the cage.

"You... Can you grant me my wish?"

The green bird in the cage was silent.

"My brother he .... got very sick and my father told me to come to the forest to find the witch doctor, but I got lost..."

"Please help us..."

The green bird looked at the somewhat evasive gaze and froze for a moment, then lowered its head, plucked a feather from itself, and handed it out.

"This is my feather, bring it back and your plight will be solved."

"Really..."

The little girl took the feather with some disbelief and held it carefully in her hand.

She looked with some excitement at the beautiful woman covered in green feathers in the iron cage.

"Thank you, Cybil, I'll come and thank you later!"

After saying that, she ran off without looking back.

Dark red sky, silent forest, impenetrable cage, sitting on the grass, the blue bird cocked his head at the figure that ran away.

"..."

"Sister Cygnus, thank you very much for last time, my brother was cured, this is the return gift I brought you."

"It's the apple I gave Grandma Kingson when I was helping her with her work. Oh!"

"I'm sorry it's not something expensive, but it's the only thing I can get my hands on."

Cygnus held out his hands and took the little girl's thoughts.

The girl who had left for a while and then returned stood in front of the cage, wringing her hands behind her back in some embarrassment.

"Speaking of which, do you have any wishes, Aoori-san?"

"Freedom."

Those radiant eyes slowly lifted.

The little girl froze for a moment, "Sister Cygnus, you... Why are you locked up here?"

"For having done what is not forgiven, I am here to atone for my sins."

The little girl sniffed and grabbed the cold guardrail and said, "So... How can I get free, is there anything I can do to help, I want to repay you..."

"Thanks for the thought."

Cygnus looked up and smiled gently.

"But... You probably can't."

"Why!"

The girl with her hands gripping the guardrail was full of doubt.

"Carrying a body of sin, the curse can only be lifted by acquiring true love."

Cygnus, who was sitting on the grass, blinked his radiant pupils and said slowly:

"And yet, I've been waiting here for centuries..."

"Over the centuries, I have listened to countless wishes, delivered happiness to everyone who came, and killed those who were greedy or saw me as a heretic..."

"But whether I'm killing or helping, my heart is never filled..."

"I've never been happy..."

"And no one has ever loved me yet..."

The girl suddenly grabbed the guardrail and yelled.

"I love you!"

"Sister Cybil is not weird!"

Perhaps feeling a blush, she closed her eyes and continued to yell:

"I love you!"

After a long moment of silence, the little girl quietly opened her eyes, but realized that nothing had changed before her.

It was still the same impenetrable cage, and the cygnet sitting inside was still bound by a body full of chains.

"..."

"Why... The cage isn't unlocked, I obviously love you!"

Cygnus returned to his senses and smiled faintly, "It has to be true love from the heart for it to work, a little kid like you .... definitely won't understand."

"Eh, how did this happen..."

The girl was instantly a little discouraged, but quickly pulled herself together again.

"It's okay, I'll see you often, let's be friends until you find true love!"

"Only, next time I might take a little longer to get here, father sold me the next village over, a bit far from the forest..."

A greenish-colored feather, slowly passed out of the parapet.

The girl's face was stunned.

"I have plenty of feathers left, and will make you happy."

Cygnus slowly raised those radiant eyes, "So, can you come spend more time with me?"

The girl bit her lower lip, tears welling up in her eyes, and nodded her head vigorously.

"Well ..."

...

Time passes, seasons pass...

"Asuka, I brought apples, there's a lot of them this time..."

"Cybil, tell me the story of how you met those people before..."

"Cybil, it's my birthday today, look I have new clothes..."

"Cygnet, the weather seems to have gotten colder recently, don't catch a cold..."

"Wow, it's a lark, can I pet it?"

"Cybil, this wreath is for you, the flowers are blooming this year..."

"Cygnus..."

"Cygnus..."

"Cygnus..."

"Cygnus... I'm getting married..."

The young girl, who had grown up, stood in front of the cage with her head bowed.

"Going to a place so far away that I may never come back in the future..."

"Cybil, I'm leaving, do you... Is there anything you want to say to me?"

Cygnus stayed hanging, lowered his head, plucked a feather from his body, and handed it out with a smile.

"This is for you!"

"And then, good luck..."

"It's not!!!"

The young girl suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs.

Cygnus froze and hung, seeing a tear-stained face lifted.

"Not feathers!!!"

"The happiness I want..."

"Not this kind of thing!"

The tearful young girl hugged Cybil through the guardrail.

"Cybil, tell me, if you were unshackled, would you choose to be with someone you love?"

"..."

Cygnus lowered his gaze, looking calmly at the young girl over his shoulder.

"Your human lifespan is too short for me..."

"I'm after that sky that you will never reach."

"Whether it's now, or ten years ago when I first met you."

Listening to that gentle tone as always, the young girl was the one whose body froze and whose eyes widened.

"Why..."

"Why are you chasing something so far away..."

"So far away... Makes me despair..."

The young girl said in a daze, heaving the thing in her hand forward.

"Pfft!"

A red-stained dagger emerged from Cybil's back.

"The happiness I want isn't some feather, it's you, Cybil..."

The young girl said with tears in her eyes, trying to smile:

"I'm sorry... I'll probably never be happy like this..."

"I really love you so much, Aoshi..."

"Thank you for your true love..."

On the blood-stained grass, Cybil laughed weakly.

"I... Finally ..."

"Freedom ....!"

The cage and shackles crumbled at the sound, and the green bird, full of feathers, slowly dissipated, restoring the woman to her normal appearance, gently floating toward the sky.

The young girl tilted her head dumbfounded and reached out to the inaccessible figure.

"Green Bird ----"

The pupils of her eyes gradually became bright and radiant, and feathered wings grew out of her back to hold up her clothes, covering her body with gorgeous green feathers like satin silk, and a row of impenetrable iron bars formed from beside that outstretched arm, reappearing as a cage.

...

"Legend has it that deep in the forest, there are green birds that can bring happiness to people..."

"Its pupils are radiant and its wings are like silk..."

A pair of green eyes slowly lifted up to look at the trio outside the woods.

"A lost man, a wearer of sins..."

(deletion)