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Finding Sylphid didn’t take long.

All winds are meant to flow through the child. As long as you head towards the direction the wind is blowing from anywhere, you can get to where she is.

Of course, it will take some time… but that’s something that can be reasonably shortened.

After following the direction of the wind, I finally reached the spot.

“Open your wings a bit more! Embrace the wind!! Don’t be afraid of the wind! The wind is your ally that lends you strength!”

“Kyaaaah!!”

“I’m falling!!!”

“Don’t be scared! I’ve set up a wind net using my power below the cliff! You won’t get hurt!!”

I spotted Sylphid urging the winged beastmen on the cliff where a strong wind was blowing.

Hmm… what in the world is going on here?

Who are those beastmen, and why is Sylphid shouting so loudly?

I didn’t understand the situation, but… well, I’d get the answer right away if I asked Sylphid.

I approached Sylphid, who was still shouting, and gently put my arm around her shoulders.

“Sylphid?”

“Hiek?! Oh, Mom?!”

“What are you doing here?”

“Well, um… taking a break! Everyone, take a break!!!”

After shouting to the winged beastmen, Sylphid glanced at me and said in a small voice.

“Um, what are you doing here, Mom? This is so sudden….”

“Do I need a reason to come look for you? Is there a reason needed for a mother to be curious about her child?”

“That’s not it! It’s just that… you’re usually so busy with other things! So it’s rare for you to come looking for me directly….”

“Rarity doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen at all. I’ve come to tell you how to create avatars for you before.”

“That’s… true, but….”

Sylphid kept sneaking glances at me, as if gauging my reaction. Why is she being so cautious? Does she think I’m going to scold her?

“Stop being cautious; I’m not going to scold you. I came because of Sagarmatha’s request.”

“Sagarmatha? I don’t think that guy has any reason to come looking for me….”

“He’s slightly worried since you’re the one who’s always passing by him with the wind every year and didn’t show up this time.”

“Ah….”

At my words, Sylphid scratched her cheek with a troubled expression and said with an awkward smile.

“It’s unusual for that rock-like guy to be worried.”

“Maybe it looks that way on the outside, but inside it’s different.”

Even if Sagarmatha seems terse and blunt, he has a delicate side within.

“Anyway, let’s set aside Sagarmatha’s story. I’m curious about what you’re doing here. What about those beastmen?”

My gaze turned to the group of beastmen resting below the cliff.

The only thing they had in common was that they had wings. Some had arms like wings, while others had wings sprouting from their backs—an unusual bunch.

The colors of the feathers and the shapes of the wings were all different.

But… even though they have wings, they couldn’t fly.

“Those kids? They’re… um, my believers.”

“Your?”

“Yes. They are my believers, the wind god.”

Believers of Sylphid, huh? Well, it makes sense since Sylphid is a god, so it’s not strange for her to have believers.

But why are those winged beastmen believing in Sylphid? I could roughly guess why.

“They began to believe in you because they wanted to fly, right?”

“W-What? How did you know?”

“Just looking at them, it’s obvious.”

Seeing those beastmen with wings spreading out, falling from a cliff while Sylphid lent them a hand with wind, if I didn’t understand that, I’d be pretty dull.

“The bird beastmen want to fly, so they believe in you, and you’re helping them.”

“Yes, yes! It’s as you think, Mom. I’m helping the kids who believe in me with the single-minded wish to fly.”

“Indeed… So that’s your reason for being here.”

“Yes. I want to help those kids fly.”

Winged beastmen… Hmm, I guess I should just call them Jo-in for short since they’re bird-like.

“I want to help those kids… the Jo-in to fly.”

“Yes. They believe in me, the little-known wind god, with the single-minded desire to fly. They are my first believers, so I genuinely want to help them.”

It’s not very Sylphid-like to say something so serious.

But for some reason, that was touching my heart.

“To think Sylphid, who always just goes around having fun, would have such deep thoughts… This mom is so moved…”

“Oh, Mom!!”

As I feigned some fake tears, Sylphid became extremely flustered. Hmm, this is fun.

Well, the fact that I was moved is true, though.

“So don’t worry about my matters. Once these kids can properly fly, I’ll be leaving again.”

“I’m glad it’s nothing serious.”

“Um, please keep it a secret from the other kids. It’s a bit embarrassing.”

The other kids…

“I can’t keep it a secret from Shamash, but I won’t tell the others.”

There’s almost no way to keep secrets from Shamash, who can see anywhere there’s light.

Sylphid seemed to know this well, merely nodding slightly in response.

“By the way, why do those Jo-in want to fly? It’s not like there haven’t been Jo-in before…”

After all, a chicken beastman has become a god and is in the Divine Hall. So bird beastmen have existed already.

But I’ve never heard this story of them wanting to fly. If that was the case, I would’ve heard about it long ago.

“From what I’ve heard… it seems it’s because of the very rarely seen messengers of the gods.”

“Messengers of the gods?”

“Yes. Angels.”

Angels? The ones helping Sandalphon? They do have wings, but… they usually don’t show themselves to others, right?

“I don’t know how it happened, but there have been stories about people seeing those angels very rarely. Stories that winged humans flew in the sky. They must have thought they wanted to fly upon hearing that.”

“I see… So they wanted to fly because of the angels.”

That’s a bit of an unforeseen thing. Wanting to fly because of the angels…

“Anyway, once those kids can really fly, I plan to leave again. You don’t need to worry about that.”

“Hmmm… So once they can fly…”

I glanced back at the Jo-in resting below the cliff.

Those who have feathers and are getting some rest.

Will they be able to fly with Sylphid’s help?

To be honest.

“It’s going to be tough.”

Mainly due to physical issues related to weight.

“Yes?”

“Just because they have feathers and wings doesn’t mean everyone can fly.”

If having feathers and wings meant they could fly, then ostriches and penguins could surely fly too.

Birds can fly because they have a minimum body weight, plenty of wing size, and enough muscle to flap their bodies into the air.

For those Jo-in, who are closer to human weight, flying would be pretty much impossible.

“Without surpassing the limits of their bodies, it would be hard.”

“Is that really impossible?”

“Yeah. Relying only on physical strength, it would probably be impossible.”

If they want to fly, what weight would they need? How strong do their muscles need to be?

A human body size would be pushing it unless the upper body muscles are exceptionally developed and the wings strong enough to lift the body off the ground.

Or maybe if they glide like a glider, the wings would have to be strong enough to support their weight.

In any case, it wouldn’t be easy.

“Then, does that mean those kids can’t fly at all?”

“I’m saying it’s impossible with just physical power. If they can fill in that lack of power with other help, then it might be possible.”

For example, magical power.

Beastmen have used magical power to enhance their bodies.

If they use magical power to strengthen the durability of their wings and boost their muscles… the Jo-in might be able to fly to some extent.

The simplest method would be using magic to create wind to get more thrust than flapping their wings, but since beastmen find it hard to use magic, enhancing their bodies with it would be optimal for them.

Or… would it be impossible to change their weight with magic?

Like the method from martial arts that makes the body heavier as if using the “thousand-jin-weight,” a way to make the body lighter… um…

What was it? Light body technique? If they could learn something like that, it might be possible.

“We’ll need to think step by step on how to fill that lack of power.”

“That’s something we need to carefully consider from now on.”

Hmm. Should I try creating some martial arts? If I do, I want to do it systematically.

Or, well… it wouldn’t be a bad idea to utilize Sylphid’s powers as the wind god.

Although beastmen can’t use magic, they can have faith and rely on the power of a god.

 

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