The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent-Chapter 344

Now that I thought about it, that kind of made sense. Back in my world, there were noble families with eagles on their crests, but none of them actually owned eagles. But imagine if some emperor had a trained eagle perched on his shoulder—that’d be pretty badass.

Still, people didn’t do that kind of thing for a reason. Too annoying. Not worth the trouble. Feeding one thing is easy; training it is another. If it’s that hard with an eagle, just imagine trying it with a lion.

That’s why the Empire hadn’t kicked me out yet. It was because I was cooperative.

“I mean, weren’t you the one who said I belong here...?”

Sylvia, watching me snort, slumped her shoulders.

...Was I being too harsh?

Come to think of it, she still used formal speech with everyone else. Even with Alice, who she was close to. So the fact that she was so casual with me—wasn’t that a sign that she really trusted me?

No wonder she looked so deflated when I acted like this.

“Alright, then.”

Sylvia looked up at me and said,

“Tell me what you want. If it’s something I can do, I’ll do it. But in exchange, you have to do one thing I ask. Fair, right?”

Hmm.

What I wanted wasn’t complicated.

Sure, my body was a griffon’s, but inside I was still a human. I’ve said it before: I have no clue how intelligent real griffons are. And I’m not about to go looking that up firsthand. What if it turns out they really are just animals? That’d cause a whole bunch of awkward problems.

Like, mating season. Yeah, let’s not even go there...

So, yes, I want to keep living here. But I don’t want to be treated like a pet. Even if people show me respect, I don’t want to be treated like a dumb animal. Ideally, I’d like Sylvia to keep using honorifics with me like she used to.

Because I’m probably older than her. Not as a griffon, but as the person inside this body.

I mean, the girl standing in front of me is clearly just that—a girl.

The problem was: how to tell her that.

Alright.

There’s only one way to show her.

I stood up. My joints creaked as I stretched after sitting for so long. Then I stood tall before Sylvia.

And bowed.

Sylvia’s face looked puzzled for a second, like she couldn’t figure out what I was doing. But she bowed back politely enough.

Alright, I think she’s—

“Is this what you wanted?”

—Nope. Definitely not.

Well, I guess just repeating the same gesture wouldn’t be enough to get the message across.

Which meant... I just had to keep doing it. Over and over, until she understood.

I let out a long breath and bowed again—this time more carefully, more sincerely.

Sylvia, still frowning up at me, bowed back—this time more slowly, mirroring my exact posture.

Then she spoke.

“Do you... have something you want to say?”

Of course I do.

I just can’t say it. Different mouth structure and all.

There was only one method left.

To consistently and politely show respect, deference, and dignity.

Like saying: “I’ll treat you like this, so treat me the same.”

That was the message I wanted to send.

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To be honest, I had the advantage. It wasn’t like I could talk to her in casual or polite speech anyway.

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After a few more rounds of mutual bowing, something finally seemed to click for Sylvia.

“So... you’re saying, mutual respect?”

Finally!

I lowered my head slightly in satisfaction.

“Ha.”

Sylvia exhaled, half-amused. But at least she clearly recognized now that I wasn’t just some ordinary beast.

After a moment of hesitation, she opened her mouth.

“Then... if I make a polite request like this, you’ll be willing to listen?”

Absolutely.

If someone shows me respect, I’m happy to return it.

Well, it helps that I know whatever she asks probably won’t be unreasonable.

I sat down again, and stared quietly at her, giving her my full attention.

“Hah.”

Sylvia gave a soft laugh again.

“Alright then. In that case—”

And she told me her request.

*

Sylvia’s request was simple.

She wanted me to fly through the sky at the academy’s cultural festival—an event she, Alice, and the rest of their friends were all attending.

Well, I guess calling it an “academy” meant it wasn’t just a normal high school. That word usually referred to “the most prestigious educational institution in the country,” or something along those lines.

If this academy was part of the Empire’s central education system, then I could see why they’d want the symbol of the Empire to appear and offer their blessings. The headmaster was probably some important bigwig, too.

Not sure why anyone would hold a festival like this in the dead of winter, though.

Apparently, I enjoyed being the center of attention more than I realized.

I mean, part of that came from the fact that I hadn’t been good-looking in my previous life. Back then, the only time people stared at me was when I did something stupid enough to embarrass myself.

But here, the looks I got were full of awe.

I wasn’t suddenly some stunningly handsome guy or anything, but still—when people looked at me with kindness and admiration, it just felt... good.

“Phuyoo.”

When I let out a satisfied sound, Sylvia looked up at me with a smiling face.

The sky was bone-chillingly cold. I felt it as a kind of refreshing crispness, but Sylvia must’ve been frozen to her core—even under all those thick layers of clothes.

“If you want, you can go back and wait. There’s no reason for you to stay out in the cold.”

Sylvia stepped down from my back as she said that.

Fine by me.

Though I did want to look around a bit first.

I gave Sylvia a small nod and took to the air.

I circled the sky above her, watching as she turned and went back inside the building.

*

In manga, anime, or games—if this world were one of those kinds of stories, and it had an “academy,”

Then of course it would also have a school festival or a class trip episode.

And naturally, if there was a school festival, then there had to be... a maid café.

Not that it mattered if there wasn’t. I was just here to look around. If it happened to exist, great. If not, no big deal. Still, since I’d never been to a school festival at a school other than my own, I wanted to enjoy it properly.

Not just the academy, either—seemed like the whole surrounding area had joined in on the festive mood. But first, I started with the school.

I couldn’t exactly go inside the classrooms, so I stayed as close as possible and peeked in through the windows—

And in the end, I really did find a maid café.

In one of the classrooms visible through the window by a flower bed, students were busy working in full maid outfits.

Most of the boys were hauling stuff or cleaning, while all the girls were dressed in maid uniforms and serving.

And among them—

Oh.

If I could speak, I definitely would’ve said something just like that.

One of the girls in a maid outfit was none other than Sylvia.

It wasn’t the kind of over-the-top costume with cleavage and frills like you’d see in cliché content—but rather, a more refined, modest maid dress that somehow suited Sylvia’s elegant aura perfectly.

Not just Sylvia, either—Alice, Mia, Charlotte, and the other girls all looked like they were born to wear it.

As expected of noble families.

I leaned in a little closer to the window for a better view—and locked eyes with one of the boys working inside.

He flinched hard and immediately ran over to Sylvia, pointing toward the window.

Sylvia turned her head and stared blankly at me.

Hmm.

I don’t have hands, but maybe I can wave a wing?