The Shapeshifter Academy - Chapter 1

Prologue

The Shapeshifter Academy.

This academy has the longest history in the field of carnivores shapeshifters, and it has still produced outstanding graduates and boasts its reputation.

A distinctive feature is a degree to which all enrolled students are made up of carnivore shapeshifters or predators.

“Principal, here is the list of new students.”

Milane, Principal of the Shapeshifter Academy, hummed as she received the documents presented by her secretary.

The weather was nice, the wind was cool, and it was the perfect weather for a cup of tea.

“I like the scent of Earl Grey. But what is this document?”

“A list of new students.”

“You shorten your words every time I lose my mind.”

“That’s not true. More than that, to the student who passed the entrance exam at the top of the list—”

With his monocle up, the secretary picked his words with unusual hesitancy.

“—there’s a problem.”

“They’re carefully selected students anyway, even if it’s a problem.”

“It’s a pretty big problem.”

“Did they cheat on an exam? Then you can cancel the admission.”

“That’s…”

“The problem is… well, is there anything other than a herbivore shapeshifter?”

Hoho, Principal Milane, who spilled a joke, paid attention to the school records.

“Well, where would a herbivore shapeshifter come here on its own?”

“….”

“Unless you want to die.”

Tigers, bears, wolves, and so on. The glance at the list of freshmen stopped.

[Top Student – Bendy Reppy]

The place where the gaze stayed was the portrait of a freshman with a striking appearance.

“Bendy Reppy? Is this the top student who has a problem?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm, it doesn’t look like she’s cheating.”

“….”

Principal Milane, who faced a soft face as if she had painted it with paint, frowned.

“…It’s unique. It’s the first time I’ve seen such a whitish appearance among carnivorous shapeshifters.”

She looked coy with her lips pursed, and the way her clever and relaxed eyes went together was strangely well harmonized.

“What about the race? Let’s see… De!”

Principal Millane, who was looking at it with curious eyes, suddenly stood up. The blue eyes were expanded enough to pop out at any moment.

Dee, dee.

The jumbled words flew into the air but didn’t form a single word.

“Dee!”

Bendy Reppy’s academic records, which Principal Milane had missed, fell to the floor fluttering.

[Special – Deer]

Thud.

Without any help, the last remaining comrade collapsed to the floor.

The subjugation of carnivores was a journey that always involved sacrifices.

The lives of many of my comrades had already been lost, and the white tiger, which had become extremely energetic, blocked the entrance to the canyon.

‘Oh my.’

A shadow was cast over my face as I confirmed the retreat. There was no place to retreat any longer.

“A mere carnivore kills my comrade…!”

After stepping over the corpses of my comrades, I squeezed out the last remaining magic power.

Growwwl, the white tiger, in response to the enormous magical power, stomped his feet and roared.

A wind with a thick scent of blood blew through the canyon. The curtain rises on an epic story that will remain in history, where the peace and well-being of the continent are at stake.

“What…”

The shores of the central lake of Patreon. The children who had gathered here to listen to my adventure story were wiping cold sweat off their foreheads.

“What happened after that?”

“Did you really defeat the white tiger by yourself?”

“You used magic to attack the white tiger, right?”

Gulps. The throats of the children who had swallowed dry saliva trembled.

Feeling tired for no reason, I rubbed my shoulders as if I was tired.

“Ah, Bendy, don’t drag it out, come on!”

“You use magic, didn’t you? Right?”

The sweet children shook my body enough to stretch my hem.

“How is it? Since we have kept the peace, shouldn’t you guys be exploring the lakeside and roasting and eating sweet potatoes?”

“Then, Bendy, you… isn’t it the same as protecting this sweet potato?”

An admiring child pushed a baked sweet potato stuck in a skewer.

“Look, that’s because Bendy is a great wizard, don’t you know?”

“As expected, the blood of the wizard!”

“I recognized it from when she was digging sweet potatoes. Well, even if you can’t see the hand movements!”

To use magic to defeat the white tiger, the dangerous ruler of the canyon, with a single blow.

The children of the village adventure team, who believed it right away, exclaimed.

The reaction was so satisfying that the corners of my mouth twitched.

I was holding back the laughter that was trying to come out, but suddenly someone pushed her face from the side.

“What did the white tiger say? To Miss Bendy.”

“Ssh.”

When the maid appeared out of nowhere, I furrowed my brow and put my index finger to my mouth. With both hands on her waist, the maid shouted out loud, not caring.

“Isn’t Miss Bendy a true deer who can’t even catch a cat!”

Right. I wasn’t a white tiger, I was a pure-blooded deer who would have a heart attack at the sight of a stray cat.

***

“Did you hear the news?”

An ugly rumor began to circulate in the deer area, Patreon.

A bizarre rumor that Bendy Reppy, a direct descendant of the Reppy family that rules Patreon, will marry a lion shapeshifter.

“Does Bendy mean the Bendy I know?”

That’s why—it was an unusual aristocratic Lady who often visited the shopping district.

“Marry a lion shapeshifter? Say something that makes sense. This is deer territory.”

“I don’t know, isn’t that a rumor that came from the mouths of the Reppy family servants?”

“In the end, the uncle sold his niece. Tsk, it’s pitiful.”

Rumors spread from mouth to mouth and reached the village children in an instant.

Upon hearing the news belatedly, Moni, the captain of the Patreon Adventure Corps, hastily issued a summons to the hideout.

“…Does that make sense?”

Even with the heavy silence, the child of an adventurer trembled for a moment.

“What do you mean to marry a lion shapeshifter, does that makes sense!”

Starting with that cry, the children began to chatter like a flood.

“No way! Isn’t that just nonsense?”

“They are, they are… carnivorous shapeshifters. They eat our deer!”

Carnivores shapeshifter.

The air surrounding the children stiffened at the appearance of a taboo being in the deer realm.

Soon, their trembling gaze turned to one place.

“Bendy!”

The impatient children urged me, the person who was involved in the rumor.

“Say something!”

“You’re not marrying a lion shapeshifter, are you? It’s a lie from adults, right?”

My body shook like a sheet of paper because several people pushed me.

As I wriggled my hands on my knees, I answered with a calm expression.

“It’s true.”

It was a very plain voice. On the contrary, Moni shouted in a thoughtful tone.

“Bendy, are you really planning to marry a lion shapeshifter?!”

Consistently answering silently, I slightly turned my head and looked into the distance.

Since the hideout was on a hill, I could see Patreon, where I had been living so far.

The city is surrounded by a dense forest, and the crops grown there are very tasty.

My parents were the heads of the Reppy family who ruled this beautiful land. It was a case of becoming a nobleman thanks to the lineage of wizards that had been passed down from generation to generation.

‘Bendy, come here.’

My parents always took me around the city, watering fields with magic or repairing broken farmhouses.

‘Bendy, when you grow up, you’ll be a great wizard like us.’

‘Aren’t Mom and Dad very cool?’

‘Isn’t she already a wizard? Our Bendy.’

The young days spent with them were filled with happy colors.

That was until the two of them left the world in an unfortunate accident at the age of nine.

After Uncle’s family took over the Reppy Mansion due to my parents’ absence— I don’t know.

At least, I can confidently say that I do not have happy memories in my head.

In the blink of an eye, existing employees are fired, and the vacant positions are filled with people from the Uncle’s side.

‘Live as if you were dead, in this place.’

In the unfamiliar Reppy mansion, it’s cumbersome to have me around, and it’s too much of a lineage to throw me away.

I’ve lived a life worthy of an ugly duckling.

A few days ago, on my 19th birthday.

‘Your marriage has been decided. Bendy.’

Uncle suddenly handed out a letter of marriage.

‘It’s a family that has ties to our Reppy family, so it wouldn’t be bad for you either.’

It’s a lion shapeshifter, and I’ll let you know more details later. He continued to explain in a casual tone after abruptly notifying me.

‘It’s a bit early, but you’re an adult now, so there’s nothing strange about getting married.’

No reason was given.

There were rumors that my Uncle’s son was in debt for gambling, so I can only guess that I was sold to some wealthy family.

It was like using me to make money until the very end.

“Bendy!”

I woke up from my thoughts at the screaming children’s calls and blinked blankly.

“Bendy, are you really okay?”

“It can’t be helped, it’s already been decided. I’m…”

After a moment of silence, I pursed my lips.

“Fine…”

Crying. Emotions that had been well suppressed all along were now stirred up.

I didn’t even expect to inherit the Reppy family in the first place. It was expected that one day my marriage would be used as a means of use by my greedy Uncle.

But, still.

‘What do you mean lion shapeshifter?’

I thought Uncle’s decision would at least stay within the common sense line.

‘That doesn’t make sense.’

Naturally, the wedding ceremony of a bewildered deer and a lion drooling was drawn in my head.

“…No.”

“Bendy, what?”

“I’m not fine.”

I’m not okay at all.

Upon hearing the whispered sincerity, the children widened their eyes.

“I don’t want to do it, something like marriage.”

I tried to hold it in, but the tears that were already welling up blurred my vision.

Rubbing my eyes roughly, I spoke to the air as if questioning.

“With the lion shapeshifter, who I don’t even know who it is. Why should I? Why? Why me…”

“Bendy…”

“I want to run away…”

A voice that sounded like it was under water came out.

“….”

The children who couldn’t even be comforted were in tears. The long silence that doesn’t suit the children, passed.

“I don’t know… the adults did it.”

Before long, a serious look on Moni broke her silence.

“Bendy’s uncle is evil, and if she marries a lion shapeshifter, Bendy will die. So Bendy.”

Moni held my hand as if wrapping it with both of her hands.

“Run away.”

“…What?”

Run away.

The short word made the heart beat a little faster on one side. The small ripple quickly turned into a wave that started to cover my whole body.