As Damien Crowell grasped the man's large hand and stood up, the man, having made sure Damien was steady, turned toward the door and saluted, saying something in a language Damien couldn't understand.
"■■■■■■■■!"
"■■■■■■■■," came the response, a calm voice speaking words that were just as unintelligible to Damien.
And then, the most handsome person Damien had ever seen in his life just a moment ago was immediately outclassed.
The person who entered the room wore flowing white robes, embroidered with gold, resembling something a priest from a fantasy world might wear. The spotless white clothing gleamed, but even more striking was the snow-white hair tied back in a ponytail, and deep, ocean-blue eyes that seemed to pierce right through him. It was a face of such beauty that Damien had only ever seen in paintings.
A pair of small, sharp horns sprouted from this person's forehead.
Damien was stunned by the impossible perfection of the face. Then, by the impossible horns. And to top it all off, white horse-like ears poked through the snow-colored hair, along with a glimpse of a fluffy white tail swishing behind him.
Wait, was this… a beastman?
At first, Damien hadn't noticed it, he was overwhelmed by the beauty, but now he realized that this person didn't have human ears where they should be. He had thought they might be hidden under long hair, but no, upon closer inspection, there were no human ears on the sides of his head. Instead, there were horse ears standing atop it.
As Damien stared in shock at the beautiful face, and the beastman just smiled at him.
This is it. I'm going to die.
Ridiculous thoughts raced through Damien's mind as the white-haired beastman spoke to him, his voice calm and pleasant, though still incomprehensible.
"■■■■■■■■."
The gentle tone was soothing to the ears, but as always, Damien had no idea what was being said.
"…I don't understand," Damien muttered.
Feeling apologetic, Damien shook his head.
"▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲," the white-haired beastman said again, this time in a melodic tone, almost as if he were singing.
Though it didn't seem like he had suddenly burst into song—probably just another language—it was still incomprehensible to Damien.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand," Damien apologized, shaking his head again.
The beastman, undeterred, switched to yet another language. And then another. And another. Each time, the sounds were different, but none made sense to Damien.
He tried nearly ten different languages. Meanwhile, Damien attempted his own clumsy introduction, saying something like, "My name is Damien Crowell," but it didn't work either.
Eventually, it seemed like the beastman had run out of languages to try. He exchanged a few words with the man who had helped Damien earlier, probably discussing how to proceed.
From the way things were going, it seemed like this beastman was some sort of translator. But if even he couldn't find a language they both understood… it felt hopeless.
Noticing Damien's crestfallen expression, the beastman smiled gently again.