God Fowl Bird Bath
When we got out of the bathtub and went to the changing room, Luchila was there.
He was holding a large wash tub.
Gerberga was behind him.
“Are you taking a bath too?”
“No, but I thought I’d let Lord Gerberga play in the water.”
“Cluck-cluck!”
“I heard they like to play in the sand…but they also play in the water?”
“Cluck!”
Apparently, yes.
“Mind if I watch?”
“Cluck!”
“Not at all.”
Luchila went inside the bathing room and filled the tub with water.
“Lord Gerberga, your water is ready.”
“Cluck.”
Gerberga clucked and then went inside of the tub.
“It doesn’t have to be hot?”
“He prefers cool water.”
“Cluck.”
“I see.”
Chickens were complicated creatures.
Gerberga was now splashing around in the water.
It looked just like how he acted when playing in the sand.
After he had splashed around for a while, Luchila said,
“Now I will wash you with soap.”
“Cluck!”
Luchila covered Gerberga in soap and washed it off.
Gerberga sat calmly throughout the process.
Water aside, chickens usually did not appreciate being washed with soap.
But this was a highly intelligent God Fowl.
“Lord Gerberga likes to be clean, huh?”
“Cluck!”
“He really does. He is completely different from normal chickens. He even uses the bathroom.”
It was usually very difficult to train chickens and birds in general.
As they flew in the sky, their bodies had to be light all of the time. So it was normal to constantly be letting things out.
Even chickens, who didn’t fly were the same. But this was the God Fowl.
“I should change the bathroom door so Lord Gerberga can open it by himself.”
“Cluck-cluck!”
Gerberga clucked happily.
While Grulf could open it, it was currently impossible for Gerberga to.
When Gerberga was finished bathing, Luchila patted him down gently with a towel.
Gerberga looked very comfortable throughout.
After that, I created a small entrance at the bottom of the bathroom door for Gerberga to enter.
I cut through the door with magic and made a hole that was just big enough for him.
Then I added a plank and hinges that moved both ways and we had a door for Gerberga to use.
“Lord Gerberga, see if you can go in.”
“Cluck-cluck.”
Gerberga went into the bathroom.
“Cluck-cluck!”
And then he came back out and clucked happily.
He flapped his wings and flew up to me.
“What is it?”
“Cluck-cluck!”
“He is saying ‘thank you.’”
Luchila said with a smile.
I held Gerberga and petted him. I was glad that he was happy.
As we stood there, Serulis’s voice started to ring from the main entrance.
“I’m back!”
“It’s sister Serulis!”
Milka went running.
She quickly came back with Serulis.
“Serulis. Welcome back. How was it?”
“They said they would consider a promotion to E Rank for me, Ario and Josh.”
“Oh, congratulations.”
“Well, they are just examining the possibility. We haven’t actually been promoted.”
All the same, Serulis looked a little bashful.
“Sister Serulis, that’s amazing!”
“Even if it hasn’t been decided yet, it is still impressive.”
You could not ask for a promotion at all until you met certain requirements, after all.
Ario and Josh must have impressed them with their work on the Goblin Lord horde and also the demon rats.
For Serulis, it was the vampires and the demon rats.
She had even killed Arch Vampires at the palace.
“Where are Ario and Josh?”
“They said that they were tired and would return to their inn. They told me to thank you again.”
“I see. It was a rather difficult demon rat hunt.”
Ario and Josh had used their magic and arrows to their limits.
Of course, they were tired.
Serulis said,
“Mister Locke. How did it go?”
“How did what go?”
“I’m talking about the mysterious fragments.”
The mysterious fragments that the demon rats had gathered around and that had been found in a few of them.
I was supposed to have studied them after burning the rats.
I had forgotten about that, as I was too busy bathing.
“I’m about to start on that now.”
“I do wonder what they are. It’s so interesting.”
“What is? Is it really so interesting?”
Milka said with bright eyes.
I moved to the sitting room.
Luchila, Serulis, Milka, Gerberga, and Grulf came too.
I spread out the mysterious fragments on a desk and everyone leaned forward to look.
They stared fixedly at the objects. They were all small. And made of mysterious metals.
It reminded me of the material that the medals within vampires were made of.
“By the way, these are still filthy, alright? Don’t touch them too carelessly.”
We had picked them up out of the sewage water and some were inside of the demon rats. They were dirty and smelled.
“Gghfegh…”
In spite of my warning, Grulf had sniffed them.
He turned his nose away. It must have really smelled. He never learned.
Grulf came over to me and pressed his nose into my stomach.
Luchila and Milka watched Grulf and nodded.
Gerberga landed on the desk but kept a certain distance from the fragments. The God Fowl was smart.
I refocused my attention and inspected the fragments.
From a short distance, of course.
“They look like they were smashed. I should try putting them together.”
“It’s like a puzzle.”
Serulis said with a smile.
Silently, I started to push the pieces together.
“It’s surprisingly difficult.”
“Hm? Mister Locke. Wait a second.”
Milka said as she looked at the fragments.
