When Orsaga stood on the platform, it was as if a spotlight had suddenly illuminated him.
It didn't take long.
Amidst the rhythmic chug-chug chug-chug chug-chug of wheels on tracks, a train bearing the number 5972 and the sign Hogwarts Express rumbled into the station.
Without hesitation, Orsaga boarded the train with his hunting companion—a nearly one-meter-long black gyrfalcon—right behind him.
He casually chose a compartment with a decent interior, sat down, and crossed his legs in leisure.
As time passed, students who hadn't found a seat began to wander through the corridor, looking for space.
But after taking one glance at Orsaga and his intimidating black falcon, they quickly backed off.
It was like a bunch of ducklings trying to approach a swan—an instinctual discomfort stopped them in their tracks.
People flock together, and so do things of a kind.
When two parties are clearly on different levels, there's rarely any mixing.
Even they themselves would feel it was awkward.
A few minutes later, just as the train was about to depart, a figure stepped into the compartment.
She was a brown-haired girl who looked one or two years older than Orsaga's current host body.
Of course, age wasn't important. What was important was—she was attractive.
That alone earned her Orsaga's approval.
After all, "ugly creatures can go crawl somewhere else."
The girl glanced at Orsaga, who was sitting with his legs crossed, eyeing her with interest. She smiled confidently and asked,
"Mind if I sit here?"
"Go ahead."
Hearing his reply, she smiled brightly. "Thanks!"
After settling in, she introduced herself with a friendly smile,
"My name is Penelope Clearwater, prefect of Ravenclaw. Nice to meet you."
"Orsaga. A first-year. Nice to meet you too."
Hearing his name, Penelope tilted her head slightly in curiosity.
"Or. Saga? Is 'Saga' your surname?"
She had never heard of such a family name.
Orsaga replied nonchalantly,
"I don't have something like a surname. The whole thing—'Orsaga'—is my name."
Surnames are passed down by ancestors to mark lineage. But Orsaga, being a primordial, had no ancestors.
Only a name. His own.
"?"
Penelope was visibly puzzled.
As far as she knew, all humans had surnames. No one just popped out of the ground.
Even orphans would eventually be given a full name somehow.
Still, she didn't press the issue. Maybe it was some strange cultural custom?
Then she asked with a bit of curiosity,
"Are you a noble? You give off a… certain aura."
She had met all sorts of people, but even setting aside appearances, no one she had met quite radiated the same presence as Orsaga.
After thinking for a moment, Orsaga replied,
"You could say I used to be."
Ah, the good old days of his youth.
Back then, he hadn't even been a year old.
As a mere Lesser Demon, the best he could do—besides barehandedly slaughtering a few average dragons—was get pushed around by life.
He'd had no choice but to come to the wizarding world and work as child labor at Academy of the Silent Heart for a full century!
During that not-so-grueling time, while his true body remained tucked away in the academy, his avatars wandered freely through the wizarding world.
Many of them even managed to snag noble titles.
That thought brought back certain memories:
'There were a few queens and princesses from some kingdoms who were really something... Wonder if they're still alive…'
Those were his childhood days.
Looking back now, he even felt a little nostalgic.
'Maybe I'll visit the wizarding world again sometime. Catch up with a few old acquaintances... even if they probably won't be too thrilled to see me.'
Penelope, meanwhile, observed the faraway look on Orsaga's face and assumed he was reminiscing about something important.
She didn't quite understand what he meant by "used to be a noble," but she didn't push it.
Instead, she quietly stared at Orsaga's flawless complexion, feeling a touch of envy:
'Such perfect skin…:
Just then, something lunged through the door—"Ribbit~!"
It was a toad.
A fat, squishy, and energetic toad.
But no sooner had it leapt into the compartment than it froze.
Because staring it down was a pair of razor-sharp eyes.
The eyes belonged to Orsaga's pet falcon.
A carnivorous raptor whose diet included rabbits, swans, frogs, mice...
"..."
The air turned tense.
The toad's dreams of freedom died on the spot.
'The world is so big… but maybe I shouldn't explore it anymore.'
In the next instant, the falcon struck—its beak lunged forward.
The toad perished instantly.
A moment later, it was swallowed whole.
"…Oh, Merlin…"
Penelope was momentarily speechless at the sight.
She could tell the toad probably belonged to some poor student.
But clearly, she hadn't acted fast enough to stop it from throwing itself right into the jaws of death.
As she held her head and tried to figure out what to do, a polite voice called from outside the compartment:
"Excuse me, have you seen a toad?
I'm helping someone look for it."
Penelope opened her mouth, unsure how to respond.
But Orsaga beat her to it.
"We saw it earlier. But it's gone now."
As he spoke, he glanced meaningfully at his falcon's belly.
The girl—Hermione Granger—flushed slightly upon seeing Orsaga, but didn't question it. She simply nodded,
"I see… It must've gone somewhere else then. Thank you!"
And with that, she hurried off to continue searching.
Like an ordinary, well-meaning girl.
Watching her leave, Penelope sighed helplessly.
"You know, that was a waste of her time."
Orsaga grinned.
"She was a kind girl, helping someone look for their pet. Sure, we wasted her time. But I didn't lie, did I?"
The toad had been swallowed.
They couldn't see it anymore—only the falcon sitting innocently there.
Penelope rolled her eyes at him in exasperation.
Even through this short exchange, she could clearly sense Orsaga's unapologetic mischief.
He didn't feel even a hint of guilt for what had happened.
Only amusement.
What a terrible personality…
She muttered under her breath,
"How old are you, anyway?. Already so good at twisting words like that… You're definitely not going to grow up to be a decent person…"
Orsaga just smiled and said nothing.
After all, he wasn't even human.
Why bother being a good person?
___
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