SML Ch 55

Chapter 55

“It’s a Crystal Clockwork Bird. Admittedly, its outward appearance does resemble a crow.”

Reynald muttered this as he gave a small nod. Indeed, those birds looked like crows, intricately carved out of transparent crystal. Rather than pests that ruined fields, their appearance was closer to that of exquisite ornaments.

Each time they flapped their wings noisily, the sunlight passing through those wings fractured into countless hues, scattering resplendent rays in all directions, like precious jewels. Much like the glass leaves Reynald currently had draped around his body.

Yet unlike the glass leaves, which merely appeared crystalline while being ordinary plants, these things could hardly even be called living creatures. Wound-up clockwork powered by ancient magic moved their glassy bodies; the mechanism simply followed routines set long ago when the magic was first cast. The Crystal Clockwork Birds possessed neither desire, will, nor life.

“So that’s what those monsters are called?”

“Strictly speaking, they aren’t monsters. They’re merely magical mechanisms designed to traverse between the far north and far south of this world. Your impression that they aren’t living beings is correct.”

“If that’s true, then why in the world do things that aren’t even alive tear up someone else’s field and leave it in ruins?”

“That, I don’t know either.”

No one knew what had driven the ancient mages to create such beings. Some mages had even captured and dissected them, yet no one had ever discovered why they crossed the world every year, destroying every field they came across along the way.

The only breakthrough mages had achieved, after years of research, was developing a spell based on the magic embedded in the birds—one that repelled them from entering farmlands. Near the capital, such magic successfully protected all farmland; those living solely within the capital rarely even had the chance to see Crystal Clockwork Birds.

But in remote villages like this, there were no mages to be found.

Thus, the villagers protected their fields using methods unimaginable in ordinary farmlands.

“My lord, you must draw their attention! Move as wildly as possible!”

“…I think I understand what you’re trying to do. Very well!”

Alex leaped as high as he could, waving both arms frantically. It was an undignified sight, but seemed most effective in luring the birds; Reynald likewise began jumping and flailing his arms about.

Arun stared at them with a baffled look as though beholding something absurd, but eventually steeled himself and imitated their actions. However—

“Over here! This way!”

“Wait, Prince Arun! Do not shout! That isn’t our role!”

Arun brimmed with enthusiasm but clearly lacked understanding of the exact method. Naturally so—this young prince had never fought against Crystal Clockwork Birds before. As Reynald hurriedly stopped him, Arun’s expression turned even more bewildered before he finally clamped his mouth shut.

Frankly speaking, three burly men leaping wordlessly in place was an utterly bizarre sight. Serna, trembling with suppressed laughter, clearly found it ridiculous.

But the method proved undeniably effective.

The hundreds of Crystal Clockwork Birds flying toward the field clattered their gears in strange rhythms, eyes gleaming as they veered toward the wildly moving figures.

‘Prince Serna, now!’

Reynald signaled with his eyes toward Serna and the village youths. Serna, still inexperienced, tilted his head in slight confusion, but fortunately realized what was happening when another youth raised his mace-like tool.

Clang, clatter. A noise so loud and jarring it bordered on unpleasant rang out from the opposite side. The Crystal Clockwork Birds froze midair. They looked momentarily startled, though in truth they had no thoughts at all. Their behavior merely shifted because the conditions had changed.

“They’re… swapping their springs?”

Serna gaped as he watched. The spring within the birds’ heads clicked out of place; another spare spring lodged in their throats slid upward and replaced the original.

At that moment, the birds’ once-transparent eyes turned blood-red. Their movements grew feral as they surged toward those wielding the noisy tools.

“Isn’t Serna in danger, Sir Reynald?”

“Quiet. I’ll explain everything once we drive them off!”

Silencing Arun, Reynald turned to check on Serna and the youths. The moment the birds’ eyes turned red, the youths hurled their maces to the ground. They crouched low, covering their mouths with both hands as though holding their breath.

Serna glanced sidelong at them, then mimicked their actions, muffling himself with his hands. The Crystal Clockwork Birds seemed poised to dive straight at them but, when the noise ceased and their targets grew motionless, they hovered in confusion—acting almost as though they could no longer see them.

‘They really can’t see them. With their springs swapped, they’ve nearly forfeited vision entirely….’

After a while, the wandering birds clicked again; their original springs slid back into place. Their eyes turned transparent, and their bodies quivered as if rebooting.

“Move again—hurry!”

At Alex’s signal, Reynald resumed his frantic leaping. Arun joined him, and together they drew the birds’ attention with their sparkling vines. The birds swooped toward the glittering bait yet again.

After that, there was little difficulty. They merely had to repeat the process over and over. Of course, repeatedly jumping to lure the birds taxed their stamina, but all three men were sturdy and accustomed to physical exertion, so they managed without collapse.

After more than three hours of frenzied movement, Reynald sensed the end was near—the birds’ motions were growing sluggish.

[…]

Ordinarily, the birds would have reacted to the clamorous sound of maces. Instead, they suddenly froze in place, as though lost in thought. Their stillness was uncanny, hovering motionless without flapping, almost as if time itself had halted.

But this was a good sign.

After circling idly in the air for a moment, the birds extracted both the spring from their necks and the spring embedded in their heads, hooking them onto their feet. Then, turning their backs on the ground, they soared high into the sky. Moments later, they vanished into the clouds, leaving no trace behind.

“Huff… haaah…”

Alex collapsed onto the dusty ground, drenched in sweat. Reynald too, exhausted from leaping about with all his strength, sank to the ground to catch his breath.

Arun, though slightly better off, still showed signs of fatigue—though more bewilderment than exhaustion.

“Goodness, you’ve worked hard! Please, drink some water and eat.”

As the ordeal ended, the field’s owner and his family hurried toward them. They carried large water jars slung across their backs and trays piled with food for lunch. Food eaten after hard labor always tasted sweeter, and Reynald accepted the tray with genuine relief.

After letting Alex drink first and taking a sip himself, Reynald heard Arun, wearing a curious expression, ask him:

“That bird… was its structure such that it could not utilize both sight and hearing at the same time?”

“To my knowledge, yes. The intricate magical formulas crammed into such small bodies must have necessitated compromises.”

“Small, you say? Yet its body length was at least fifty centimeters… Though I suppose compared to ordinary magical creatures, that is small.”

Ordinarily, those birds prioritized ravaging human fields above all else. Yet for self-preservation—or so it seemed—they were designed to focus entirely on a single sensory input when triggered: visually, they responded to “sparkling objects”; aurally, to “loud metallic clanging.” If one were to rank these, auditory stimuli seemed to hold higher priority.

The moment they detected one stimulus—visual or auditory—they would pour their entire attention and ferocity into that input alone. Thus, the strategy was to first attract them with visual stimuli, then follow up with an even louder noise to shift them into a state of “over-focusing on auditory input.”

In that state, they barely registered visual cues at all—meaning if one remained silent and still, the birds could not perceive humans even directly before them. Once they returned to visual focus, those adorned with vines would again draw their attention, keeping them away from the crops.

Repeating this cycle over and over eventually exhausted the magic within their springs. Each spring replacement drained immense mana, forcing the birds to retreat. Of course, once sufficiently rested and recharged, they would inevitably return to ruin fields anew.

Such was the strange structure of these clockwork avians. The people of this domain had long relied on this very mechanism to safeguard their crops.

“With the lord and princes helping today, we were fortunate. When manpower is scarce, it takes longer for the birds’ eyes to shift color, and things get dangerous.”

“So that’s what you meant by ‘the more people, the better.’”

Alex’s relieved comment earned a quiet nod from Reynald. Arun, meanwhile, simply stared in fascination at the sky where the birds had vanished.