Episode 3: Adelia, the Penguin (II)
I glanced at Suradel.
I hesitated to say my penguin name in front of him, and eventually changed the subject.
“By the way, I haven’t been able to express my gratitude yet. Thanks for your help, Madam Bella.”
Actually, I had a bunch of questions piled up like a mountain.
What happened to the kidnappers? Why were they looking for a Suin like me? And so on.
Of course, these killer whales didn’t seem to wish for such an extreme situation like a kidnapping.
But I was a gentle penguin who knew how to live in society. First of all, let me say ‘thank you’…
“No, rather, I should apologize. I didn’t mean to, but I made you suffer.”
“Then, may I ask you for one more thing, without shame?”
“What?”
“I want to get my money back that the earlier kidnappers stole… It’s all my possessions.”
To be honest, it took a long time to sneak that money from my father’s emergency fund…
Even so, there was a reason for leaving the house.
Although my pure-blooded human father didn’t show it, he actually hated Suin.
Except for the Suin who was hired for me, Suradel was the only Suin that my father was close to.
‘If your pet suddenly became a human, that alone would be embarrassing…’
It wouldn’t be easy for my suinphobia father to accept me.
I longed to be human, but I vaguely thought that if I succeeded in humanizing, I would only have to hide it from my father.
That part was the problem.
I suddenly became a human and did not know how to return to being an animal.
So, as soon as I became a human, I ran away from home in a state of confusion.
Born in a place where I didn’t know anyone else, my dad was my everything.
I had no time to think about anything else because I was afraid that such a father would look at me as a human with hateful eyes.
But I never dreamed that I would be kidnapped as soon as I ran away.
Thinking about it now, I felt strongly that I had been hasty, but what could I do with what had already happened?
“Ah, and can you tell me how to get back to my animal form? I have to go home.”
“You want me to tell you how to turn into an animal?”
Bella’s eyes opened wide as if she couldn’t believe it.
This was because if you were a Suin, you would instinctively realize that you were born with both an animal and human form.
However, it wasn’t the case for Suin like me, who was born as an animal but overcame the odds and became human.
Of course, this fact was something I realized after becoming a human.
“Baby. Maybe, you…?”
I nodded slowly.
“Yes. Not long ago, I was an animal, not a Suin.”
“Oh my gosh!”
Bella covered her mouth in disbelief.
“After decades of no news, it suddenly appeared like it dropped from the sky. It’s a miracle. It’s a miracle…”
‘Huh? What do you mean by decades?’
The woman who had been letting out non-stop exclamations suddenly asked with a somewhat serious face.
“Wait a moment. Home? Not the sea? Of course, I have nothing to say if the sea is your home, but…”
“Ah. I was a domestic pet. The people who took care of me don’t know that I have humanized yet.”
Bella’s expression filled with astonishment.
“What? You were brought up in a small house?”
I waved my hand to clarify; it seemed she had misunderstood something.
“Oh, no. The house was big enough to even have a separate swimming pool for me.”
“Oh My God! Baby. The sea is incomparably wide.”
Wasn’t that too obvious?
How could one even make a swimming pool at home wider than the sea…?
As I looked at Bella with a face that expressed I did not understand her words, her eyebrows rose.
“This poor thing. You’ve never been to the sea.”
No. When Dad had time, he often brought me there.
“You’ve lived there all your life, so you don’t know, but that’s clearly abuse.”
Yes?
Of all the penguins living on the continent, I must have been the happiest.
Bella asked me in a more cautious voice. Really, she seemed to be misunderstanding something.
“Wasn’t it frustrating?”
“Frustrating… yes.”
I lived as a human and was reincarnated as a penguin, so of course I almost died from frustration.
As I nodded my head relatively calmly, Bella grabbed my hand and cried.
“Baby. Would you like to live here with us?”
“That… Thank you for your offer, but I haven’t been as unhappy as you might think.”
A look of pity crossed her face. She seemed to think that I was a Suin who knew nothing of the world.
Seeing that I was kidnapped as soon as I ran away from home, I think that part was sort of right…
“How about living with us for just one month? You can decide where to live after that.”
“No. You don’t have to worry about it that much. If I can retrieve the money, I will somehow…”
“Baby. Are you sure you want to go back to that house?”
Seeing the incontinence on Bella’s face, I quickly made excuses.
“I don’t mean to go home right away. If I just stay at a nearby inn and learn how to animalize it…!”
“You’re going to return anyway. Would you risk staying in an inn alone?”
Belatedly realizing that my grave had been dug, I shut my mouth.
I was kidnapped an hour after running away, and there was no guarantee that I wouldn’t get hit again.
Suradel, who was listening to our conversation, asked me to think carefully.
“You became a human through hard work, but you plan on going back there and living as an animal again?”
No.
I had no intention of living as an animal. No matter how great my life as a penguin might be, my essence was human.
Besides, there were things that had to be done before the original work began in earnest.
When I was a penguin, I only felt desperation, but now that I had become a human, I could have hope.
‘But right now, my dad is probably very worried about me, so turning into an animal and returning home is my top priority…’
Suradel, looking at my shaking eyes, did not miss the gap and continued his persuasion.
“Isn’t it okay to delay the decision a little? If you want, I’ll give you the best room. Or…”
Or?
He made eye contact with me and curved his eyes as if seducing me.
“You can share my room with me.”
“…….”
It wasn’t even worth listening to.
“I’d rather sleep in the stable.”
“Oh. It would smell.”
He had a smile on his face as if there was something really fun.
I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but looking at that bright face somehow made me want to hit his stomach.
Then, with a serious face, Bella opened her mouth, saying,
“Baby. Listen carefully. You are a Suin that is close to extinction. As the hostess of Weil, I have a duty to protect you.”
“I see… huh?”
Ever since I was born here, I had never heard of a penguin Suin, but where else could I be? Of course, it’s an endangered species.
‘Uhh? But why is the Weil hostess obligated to protect me instead of the whales?’
‘Is it because I’m the only penguin Suin on the continent?’
‘…Wait. But did I ever reveal that I’m a penguin?’
Suradel, who was staring at me, asked me curiously.
“Well… Have you ever seen the humanized figure of yourself?”
I shook my head.
I was in a hurry to run away, so all I thought about was stealing the workers’ clothes and my father’s emergency fund. I didn’t think to look in the mirror.
Then Suradel pointed to me with his index finger.
“Look over there.”
What he was pointing to was an entire wall of glass.
A girl with an unfamiliar appearance was reflected in the sparkling glass.
White spots all over black hair. And white hair on the inside.
Uh…?
It was then that everything made sense as if the pieces of a puzzle were put together.
The House of Weil offered a big reward to find a Suin like them.
No wonder Bella was shocked and said I was abused when she heard that I was living in a house when I was an animal.
I, who was humanized, looked like Bella, a killer whale.
‘Oh my God. These people think I’m a killer whale Suin!’
Suddenly, cold sweat was forming on my back.
The only killer whales left on the continent were Bella and Suradel.
It was natural for a species on the verge of extinction to look for their own kind in order to continue their race.
Come to think of it, I was so busy earlier that I couldn’t understand the meaning… didn’t they say they were looking for their kind?
‘…No matter how hectic it was, I can’t believe I’m only noticing it now. I’m such an idiot!’
Why?
I didn’t know why my humanized appearance as a penguin was the same as a killer whale’s.
Especially the white spots on black hair.
Of course, as an Adélie penguin, there were white hairs in the shape of a circle around my eyes.
The problem was that it’s still white.
Anyway, weren’t the location of the spots on the killer whales and Adélie penguins clearly different?
I struggled to calm my pounding heart.
‘Well, since I won’t be here for a long time, wouldn’t it be okay?’
I was sure my dad’s eyes would have turned upside down after he found out I was missing. That was how much he cared about me.
I had to turn into an animal and return home as soon as possible for the sake of my worried father.
Besides, I didn’t deliberately deceive these whales.
No. Should I just confess that I’m a penguin?
‘…But if I reveal that I’m a penguin, I can’t predict how Suradel will react. What should I do?’
It was a time when I was in the midst of thinking about what to do.
“By the way, I haven’t heard your name yet. What is your name?”
Suradel asked me for my name with his characteristic slow smile. But instead, Bella answered with a firm expression.
“No. Now that I think about it, I think it would be better not to use the name that was called in that house. There is no need to recall the past with the name given to you by the abuser.”
‘Uh… he’s not an abuser, he’s a magnifier who has increased my weight.’
“Now that you’re a human, let’s create one again with the meaning of starting anew. What would be a good name…”
“Lia.”
Thud. My heart sank.
Slowly, and with difficulty, I turned my head at the voice calling my animal nickname.
Then, Suradel, who received the gaze, raises the corners of his mouth.
“What about the name ‘Lia’?”
…A-Ah. It was just a name suggestion.