"City of Law..."
"It's been decades, and this war still hasn't ended. Even in this world's history, it ranks among the worst."
In the north of the City of Law World, upon the White Earth Plain.
A lone figure advanced across the land.
He wore a set of blue-green clothing that stood out starkly in the wilderness, with a rough cloth pack slung at his left side. On his right shoulder perched a small, adorable Cockatiel.
In the current City of Law World, few people traveled alone.
It was an extremely dangerous thing to do.
Even highly skilled Awakened had to weigh whether they could protect themselves against a legion formed of Awakened, or against truly powerful opponents.
Yet this man seemed not to care much about the danger he was in.
As he walked across the land, he would occasionally take a few pine nuts from his chest pocket. With a gentle toss of one hand, the little parrot on his shoulder would catch them in its beak, swiftly crack open the shells, and eat the kernels inside.
The man glanced at the parrot on his shoulder.
"Hey, quit focusing on eating."
"Which way do we go next? Didn't we have you memorize the map before we set out? How far are we from the next village?"
"Coo—"
The little parrot on the man's shoulder swallowed the pine nut in its mouth.
It bobbed its head, then flicked its tail across the man's face before answering.
"Oh, I think I forgot."
"..."
The man stopped where he stood.
He looked at the little bird on his shoulder, still bobbing its head, then at the half bag of pine nuts remaining in his pocket.
"Damn Bai Mao, let's play a riddle game."
The parrot on his shoulder spread its wings,