MTFBMP Chapter 49

“Adele!”

 

The massive arrow, loaded but not yet fired, had finally pierced Adele’s wing. The impact caused his body to tilt toward the side where the arrow had struck.

 

“Adele, are you okay?”

 

I tried to check on him and look behind his back, but Adele immediately shielded me with his wing. 

 

Despite being attacked, his face remained calm, as if he felt no pain.

 

“I’m fine. Don’t show yourself to the enemy.”

 

As he spoke, Adele tilted his head slightly toward my face. I pressed my lips against him in a quick kiss.

 

“This really helps, right?”

 

It was frustrating that in a situation like this, the only thing I could do for him was this kind of contact. 

 

Adele smiled faintly and replied, “It’s enough.”

 

Then, he gently pushed my shoulder back.

 

“Do not touch him.”

 

It was Jade’s voice.

 

‘I should have taken that guy out earlier.’

 

Regret washed over me. But what had already happened couldn’t be undone. I sniffled as I examined the massive arrow that had pierced Adele’s wing.

 

“Huh?”

 

Adele seemed to notice what I had discovered, as he let out a soft chuckle and looked at me. He stared at me intently and flicked his hand.

 

“Ugh!”

 

Jade, who had been behind Adele, flew into our line of sight. 

 

With just a gesture from Adele, Jade was flung against the wall, his back hitting it hard before he collapsed.

 

Jade, now fallen, twitched and couldn’t get back up. I wondered if that was the extent of his power, but I soon realized the reason.

 

“He was already on his last breath from the beginning.”

 

As Adele said, half of Jade’s face was already drenched in blood. 

 

Jade continued to twitch, but ultimately couldn’t rise.

 

“Ugh, cough. Stay away, you monster! Go fall into the sea!”

 

Jade lashed out one last time.

 

At his cry, it wasn’t Adele but me who flinched. I immediately checked Adele’s expression. 

 

Perhaps because of the flickering shadows from the flames, his expressionless face felt unusually sharp.

 

“Adele?”

 

Without realizing it, I called his name in a hushed voice. Instead of responding, Adele looked down at me. His expression remained blank. I saw him slowly raise his hand.

 

He was going to kill Jade. Just like he had done with Rhodon moments ago.

 

“No, Adele!”

 

I grabbed his raised hand and shook my head. We couldn’t kill Jade here.

 

“But, Master…”

 

“Get away from my master right now, you monster!”

 

Adele’s words and Jade’s outcry overlapped in my ears.  

 

I immediately put on the fiercest expression I could muster and turned my head toward Jade.  

 

“Don’t call my companion… a monster!”  

 

I had managed to swallow the word ‘pet,’ but the next word that came to mind, ‘companion animal,’ also got cut off mid-sentence. 

 

I couldn’t bring myself to call Adele, who was in human form and not a complete beast, by such a term.  

 

“Companion?”  

 

Adele looked at me and repeated the word, but I stubbornly avoided his gaze.  

 

“If you want to save Dion, stay quiet!”  

 

“…Anthele? Ugh. Cough!”  

 

Instead, I shouted at Jade once more. Jade looked at me in disbelief, as if he had only just noticed me. 

 

Then, unable to bear the pain, he coughed up blood again and collapsed to the side.  

 

After confirming that Jade could no longer attack us, I turned back to Adele. His expression had returned to that of the Adele I knew—my pet.  

 

“Let’s treat you quickly.”  

 

Following my command, Adele swung his hand and removed the arrow that had struck him.  

 

With a single flutter of his wing, a few feathers that had been torn off scattered into the air. Then, something like a snake’s shed skin fell to the ground with a thud.  

 

It was the undergarment I had wrapped around Adele for treatment.  

 

“This had defensive properties too.”  

 

It was originally a tool, often used as armor worn beneath clothing. Like a bulletproof vest, it could nullify a single penetrating attack.  

 

“Thanks to this, you’ll recover quickly.”  

 

Though it could no longer be used, it had served its purpose well.  

 

“Dion!”  

 

After confirming Adele was safe, I rushed over to check on Dion next.  

 

I turned Dion over onto his back. He was unconscious. Seeing him cough, I could tell he was still alive, but his condition was precarious.  

 

“He’s still alive.”  

 

It wasn’t the worst-case scenario. I quickly racked my brain for what I could do in this situation.  

 

Just then, the birds that had carried out my commands began to emerge one by one, landing beside Adele. 

 

I lifted my head and looked out at the sea, where I saw a light in the distance. It was a lifeboat carrying survivors.  

 

The lifeboats, already quite far away, continued to drift further with the waves.

 

It was only natural that they wanted to distance themselves from the massive ship, which could collapse at any moment.  

 

When I turned my gaze back from the sea, I saw the glowing blue ghost bird.  

 

“Is there really no other way but this?”

 

Once a ghost bird matures into its adult form, it no longer needs to eat, and when it dies, it leaves no corpse. 

 

It’s also a pet that can stay by your side for a long time, as it’s immune to physical attacks.  

 

However, once it begins to divide its soul to reproduce and give to its offspring, it starts down the path of extinction. 

 

The reason this ghost bird remained in its juvenile form, alone and trapped in a cage, was likely due to that.  

 

The parent bird, which had been protecting its offspring, must have been unable to endure any longer and vanished.  

 

There was another way to take advantage of this nature. The reason I ordered Jade to be kept alive wasn’t purely out of human kindness.  

 

“I never thought I’d end up using it like this, though.”  

 

Memories are embedded in the soul.  

 

The ghost bird is influenced by the memories it absorbs. 

 

If it absorbs the soul of an evil person, its nature becomes ferocious; if it absorbs the soul of a virtuous person, it becomes gentle and benevolent.  

 

So, how did the protagonist of the story manage to tame the ghost bird so quickly? 

 

Even though the ghost bird had absorbed the souls of pirates who had secretly boarded the ghost ship?  

 

I immediately ran over to Jade, who was still collapsed. Adele stayed close behind me, not letting his guard down.  

 

“Jade, Jade!”  

 

After confirming that he was still breathing, albeit weakly, I slapped his cheek a few times to rouse him. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked at me.  

 

“Anthele…”  

 

The fact that he recognized me suggested he was still conscious.  

 

“Jade. I’ll ask you one last thing. Can you keep protecting Dion?”  

 

If Jade didn’t receive treatment immediately, he would die. 

 

But on this ship, there were no doctors, tools, or even enough time to treat such severe injuries.  

 

“Snap out of it and answer me.”  

 

I tapped his cheek repeatedly as his eyes flickered, struggling to stay focused. His pupils, which had been rolling back, returned to look at me.  

 

Seeing that he no longer viewed me as an enemy, hope bloomed in his eyes instead of hostility.  

 

“C-can I… survive?”  

 

“There’s no way to save you. But I can use you to protect Dion.”  

 

Tears welled up in Jade’s eyes as he sensed his impending death. 

 

Of course, he wanted to live—it’s the instinct of all living beings.  

 

Alongside that, the desire to leave something behind before dying is also an instinct. I decided to use that.  

 

“Anthele. Please. I beg you.”  

 

I nodded at Jade’s plea.  

 

Then, I turned my head and gestured to the ghost bird, which hadn’t yet fully matured into its adult form. 

 

The bird, glowing blue, walked over to me. It was now about the size of my body and tilted its head as it looked at me.  

 

It seemed that absorbing just one more soul would be enough for it to fully mature.

 

Jade didn’t know what I was about to do, but he quietly waited for me to proceed. In his pupils, the blue light of the ghost bird flickered.

 

“Please take good care of Dion from now on.”

 

After saying that, I closed Jade’s eyes with one hand. With my other hand, I reached out toward the ghost bird that had approached me. 

 

The bird seemed to understand the meaning and rested its head on my hand.

 

The method to instantly tame a ghost bird as a pet.

 

The soul of a living person, not a dead one, carried much more intense memories. If you offered that soul to the bird in that state, the memories would be absorbed almost entirely.

 

The original protagonist of the story had given the soul of a comrade, who was suffering from an incurable illness at the time, as the bird’s final meal.

 

The eyelids that had been trembling in my palm just moments ago grew still. I could feel the strength completely draining from Jade’s body.