I Became the Emergency Food Supply of the Bear Family - Chapter 25

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 25

After Phallis vanished without a trace from atop the castle wall, as winter’s brief sun dipped below the horizon.
A gray wolf tore through the snow-laden mountain path toward a small black dog, racing with desperate urgency.
The wolf, gripping the dog’s nape between its front teeth and hoisting it aloft, bolted frantically away from the vicinity of Grizzly Castle.

He couldn’t breathe.
Soon his legs went numb; he lost his footing and fell. His body collided with a tree and crumpled into the snow.
His heart thundered wildly, yet his chest felt suffocated.
It was a familiar sensation, but today it was severe. A body that gave out just from running a short distance up a snow-choked mountain path—it was almost laughable.
His vision blurred almost at once. His mind grew distant. Frost-bitten by the cold, he couldn’t even move his toes.
Perhaps this was how he would die.
Death didn’t frighten him. He could see his mother again. He’d always thought so.
‘I don’t want to die.’
But contrary to his will, his body grew colder still, and darkness swallowed his vision until nothing remained.
Just as his breath seemed about to stop.
A warmth of unknown origin spread through his entire body.
A small touch against his belly.
An animal’s paw.
Surely smaller and younger than himself.
It didn’t brush or press against his skin, yet warmth seemed to flow in from those tiny paw pads.
It was warm.
Like being held in spring sunlight.
What could that warmth have been?
……
His eyes opened slowly.
As he sat up, a blanket slid away. The boy stared blankly at the thin limbs now revealed beneath.
‘Humanization?’
Normally, when a beastkin grows weak, Humanization dissolves and they revert to animal form. But now the opposite was happening.
Why? Had the cold somehow twisted his body? Or had he become too warm instead?
The mystery was brief; as the boy looked around, he murmured without thinking.
“This place…….”
It wasn’t the mountain.
“Ah! You’ve come to, Young Master Kaien!”
“……Jang?”
At that moment, a familiar face burst through the door.
It was Jang, Kaien’s personal attendant.
“First, let’s get you dressed.”
Jang hurried over and began dressing him. A faint warmth emanated from the shirt—it had been warmed beforehand.
Surrendering his weary body to Jang’s care without resistance, Kaien voiced his confusion about the situation.
“Jang, you…… why.”
“You collapsed beside Grizzly Castle, so I rushed to move you by carriage. Evading the Sled Dog Knights’ watch was quite the ordeal, I tell you,” Jang sighed with exaggerated theatricality as he fastened Kaien’s winter coat securely. Yet Kaien’s expression remained grave.

“Why were you even there?”
“Of course I was following you from the start.”
Jang’s tone remained light. Kaien’s brow furrowed darkly, but Jang continued without pause.
“I had a terrible premonition. And sure enough.”
A hiss escaped between Jang’s teeth.
“To dare harm the Young Master…… a Legitimate Child of the Nuarel Clan. That woman has committed an irreversible crime.”
……
At the naked killing intent in Jang’s eyes, Kaien felt the tension drain from his brow.
Right. If not for him, Jang would never have needed to risk danger and come all this way.
“I cannot stand idle any longer. Young Master, I……!”
Yet even as Jang’s voice rumbled with barely suppressed fury, Kaien shook his head in silence.
“……Thank you. For saving me, and for following me this far. But it’s all right.”
“Young Master.”
Jang pressed insistently, but Kaien only lowered his head bitterly.
“Telling Father won’t change anything. Not until this body is healed. Not until then.”
A Legitimate Child of the Nuarel Clan—Kaien Nuarel, the younger lord.
To him, it was merely a title in name.
From the moment he was born with an incurable illness.
Three years ago, his mother had passed away.
Not long after, Father brought a woman and a boy into the manor. It quickly became clear the boy was Father’s child.
A russet coat—a color absent from the black-wolf Nuarel house.
Though the boy lacked the family’s coloring, unlike Kaien, he was healthy. Perhaps because of that, Father cherished and loved the boy.
Yet was there not some lingering guilt?
Father had not stripped Kaien of his status as firstborn—he left it with him.
That was when the woman began to see Kaien as a threat. Eventually she brought him to the Northern Lands with intent to kill him—convinced that if she abandoned him in this harsh terrain, he would die on his own. Clearly, she thought his sickly frame couldn’t withstand the cold.
It wasn’t a wrong assessment. After all, he was a frail boy who couldn’t even bear the frost.
But Kaien did not surrender.
The woman had left him in this place.
The Northern Lands. The gateway to the Arctic.

“The Spring Goddess will surely watch over you.”

Near the territory of the Arctic Rabbit Clan, where the probability of Eostre’s Manifestation appearing was said to be highest.
Then he would find it.
He would seek the power of spring and cure this fragile, weak body.
With resolve hardening, he ran frantically up the snow-covered mountain. His vision grew hazier and hazier, yet his body pressed forward as if driven by will alone. He who yearned for spring more desperately than anyone—surely it would guide him to spring. He would escape this bitter illness.

“Forgive me, Kaien. I leave you only a difficult life and depart…….”

So that his mother, at least in heaven, might be freed from guilt.
Surely.
Yet in the end, he could not find Eostre’s Manifestation.
It was foolish from the start. Collapsing from respiratory failure was inevitable. His consciousness had grown so hazy that from some point onward, he seemed to be dreaming.
‘So that’s why I had such a dream.’
Collapsed in the snow, dreaming.
He was ashamed of his own weakness, yet the dream had been so longed-for, so warm.
“In any case, it was dangerous of you to follow me this far, Jang.”
Hardening his face again and dropping his voice low, Kaien fixed Jang with a stare. At his servant’s crestfallen expression, a bitter smile crossed Kaien’s lips.
“You’d be better off not clinging to me. For your own future.”
At Kaien’s words, Jang clenched his fists as if enduring something, trembling slightly. But almost at once he covered Kaien with the blanket again and spoke.
“A wolf possesses no less loyalty than a dog, wouldn’t you say? I swore my loyalty to Lea Nuarel.”
……
“I have not the slightest intention of abandoning you, so spare yourself the worry. It’s an insult.”
Her tone transcended firmness—it was almost frightening. Kaien could only keep silent.
Presently, Jang’s expression softened into a gentle smile as she took his small hand.
“Young Master.”
For only a moment did she brush the back of his tiny hand with her thumb before she pulled him snugly into her arms.
Jang tapped the boy’s shoulders lightly as he stiffened in surprise, offering her advice in a playful tone.
“Don’t try to stand alone. You seem to frequently forget that you’re only nine years old.”
At Jang’s teasing words, the boy finally burst into laughter.
“A good adult is someone you learn to rely on. Do you understand?”
“……Yeah. Thanks, Jang.”
Only after confirming that Kaien had nodded did Jang release the boy.
Soon the carriage departed.
Leaning against the backrest, Kaien placed a hand over his chest.
He had not found Eostre’s Manifestation. But he had survived.
Perhaps because of that relief.
His breathing seemed easier than usual.

***

About a fortnight had passed since the grizzlies of Grizzly Castle fell into winter sleep.
During that time, Na Bom had taken breakfast in the dining hall every morning. It was what Anna desired, but also what Phallis recommended—observing humans was important for her Humanization, he’d said.
The faces at breakfast changed daily.
The first day it was the head chef and sous chef; today it was the Head Butler and Finance Officer.
“It is an honor to meet you, Lady Snowflake.”
“You’re truly small and adorable! You remind me of when my own child was just born.”
While the Head Butler bowed with formal courtesy, the Finance Officer beside him couldn’t contain himself and wiggled with delight.
Na Bom stood on two legs atop the dining table and bowed her head in return.
Initially, the scent of beasts had frightened her, and uncertain how to respond, she’d merely stared at them blankly. Yet with each passing day, Na Bom grew more accustomed to life in Grizzly Castle.
‘The beast scent seems lighter than it was at first.’
If she were cast back into nature in this state, her survival chances would actually drop. But for now, being less sensitive to their scent worked in her favor.
‘A pet that fears its master only raises the odds of being abandoned.’
A small animal unafraid of beast scent.
‘That’s actually kind of cool!’
Proud of herself, Na Bom lifted her head and puffed out her chest.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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