Finnick's soft blue eyes, framed by brown lashes, gently narrowed as he smiled.
So… they're not humans. That's why they're being kind, Bao Bei thought.
He had been told that he too was one of these "Beastmen."
But I'm a dog… right? What exactly are Beastmen? Did I stop being a dog because I got human hands?
Bao Bei leaned over the bowl and stretched out his tongue, trying to lap up the soup. But then he noticed Judy, the rabbit-eared kid beside him, picking up a spoon in his hand. Bao Bei froze in place while his tongue still sticking out.
He looked around. No one else was sticking their faces into bowls and licking. Not one.
He clumsily copied Judy, picking up the spoon with his awkward hands. It was just a thin soup with some bits of vegetables floating in it, but he tried his best to scoop it and drink it. He spilled quite a bit, but he manage to do it.
Was it because I thought, when the car hit me, "If only I were human"? Is that why this happened?
"As I said before we're called Beastmen," Finnick explained gently as he smiled. "There are three races in this world—Beastmen, Humans, and Birdmen. Long ago, the gods created all three of them."
"I'll tell you more about the gods later," Finnick added with a soft smile.
"The Birdmen have big wings and can fly through the sky, and they're super scary! If they find little guys like you, Bao Bei, they'll snatch you up and eat you!" Judy said, pretending to swoop in like a predator.
Bao Bei shivered immediately.
"Don't worry," said Timmy, the wolf boy, trying to calm down the terrified Bao Bei. "The Birdmen live far away from us, past many mountains. They hate both Humans and Beastmen, so they'd never come all the way out here."
Timmy was three years old. He had reddish-orange hair and brown eyes, with slightly reddish skin. He was a big breed—already close to 130 centimeters tall.
Beastmen grew much faster than humans. By one year old, they could already take care of themselves. By two, they were helping with chores like cleaning. At three, they were strong enough to help with things like gardening in the church's backyard. Timmy was already a dependable older brother figure.
The place where Bao Bei had been found was a church in a village called Rodentia. The church worshipped Ashak, the god of compassion. Ashak was believed to be a beautiful human with golden hair and golden eyes. He had the strong legs of a golden beast and large golden bird wings on his back. He was known as the ancestor of all three races and was said to have created the world itself. People all over the world worshipped him.
The wooden church where Judy and the other children lived had a main L-shaped one-story building and a small, two-story west wing that had been added later.