I Became the Emergency Food Supply of the Bear Family - Chapter 49

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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 49

A dog so black it could easily be mistaken for a shadow.
It was remarkable that she’d spotted it from such a distance—from a building so far away.
“…How…”
Muttering to herself, Alexei knelt down beside Ber.
Ber lifted the dog’s face in her hands and examined its condition.
Black fur. Drooping ears. Eyes squeezed shut. Looking at it stirred an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.
‘Now that I think about it, there was a dog I saw as a child that was just as black as this.’
Before Ber was adopted into the Grizzly Family—back when she couldn’t properly achieve Humanization. That dog, collapsed on the snowy ground Outside the Fortress.
Did it get better after Pallas cast Healing Magic on it? That dog back then.
“This dog…”
Just then, Alexei, who had also been examining the dog, murmured something. Perhaps he was thinking the same thing. She started in surprise and turned to look at him when Alexei suddenly sprang to his feet.
“Here, Miss. There are clothes.”
Alexei rummaged through the bushes beside the tree and pulled out a set of clothes and a pair of shoes from beneath them.
A Gray Jacket with gold trim, Gray Trousers. A White Blouse and Black Loafers.
It was the Imperial Academy uniform.
“…Would you mind carrying the clothes and shoes?”
“I beg your pardon?”
Without answering his question, Ber picked up the black dog in her arms and stood.
“Ah, Miss?”
“This child needs to get to the Infirmary. She’s having trouble breathing.”
Ber’s determined eyes never left the black dog. Now that she held her in her arms, she could feel it even more clearly—the dog’s irregular heartbeat.
“I can carry her, Miss. She’s quite large, so she must be heavy.”
“No, it’s fine.”
Shaking her head firmly, Ber carefully stroked the dog’s black fur with her hand.
“She’s light. …Incredibly so.”
Frighteningly light.
Ber’s brow furrowed. She bit her lower lip anxiously and began scanning her surroundings.
“The Main Building is that way, isn’t it?”
“I believe so.”
Alexei nodded in agreement, and Ber immediately bolted toward the Main Building. Alexei followed her, carrying the clothes and shoes.
The dog struggled to breathe in the girl’s embrace, resting her face against Ber’s shoulder. Each labored breath that touched her neck made Ber’s arms tighten around her.
Suddenly, a memory from the past surfaced.
If Theodore hadn’t appeared that day, she would have been sent to the Imperial Palace instead, locked away in an underground prison.
Never speaking to anyone in human form, never having a warm room of her own, never feeling the warmth of a family.
‘So I can’t pretend not to see this.’
She wasn’t blessed with Healing Magic, and she wasn’t the head of a household—all she could do was bring this child to the Infirmary. But she wanted to do whatever she could.
Ber’s pace quickened even more.
They arrived at the entrance to the Main Building. But she had no idea where the Infirmary was. Just as she and Alexei were looking around searching for it, a voice called out.
“Hey there, you little ones.”
A teasing voice echoed through the air. Startled, she turned her head to see a student walking toward Ber from the Main Building entrance.
“You look too young to have been admitted to the Academy yet. What are you doing out here without a guardian?”
“…”
The moment Ber’s eyes registered the student’s face, her mouth fell open.
This face. She’d definitely seen it before.
On the cover of . She’d definitely seen it on that cover.
The man embracing the female lead on the work’s cover. If he’s embracing the female lead on a book’s cover, he must be the male lead.
Adrian Renard.
The male protagonist of stood before her eyes.

***

The male lead of . A second-year student at the Imperial Academy. Adrian Renard, a red fox demi-human.
Though he came from the venerable Renard Marquis Family, Adrian wasn’t the type to apply himself much to his studies.
His blouse hung outside his trousers, spilling out from his jacket, and he wasn’t even wearing the Uniform Ribbon. He looked exactly like the delinquent described in the story.
His roughly tousled deep crimson hair and those teasing turquoise eyes. Even his lips, which seemed to wear a mischievous smile by default.
He was the very picture of a typical rogue male lead.
‘So my first impression of him wasn’t very favorable.’
Even after the real male lead finally appeared, it was hard to trust Adrian because everything he said seemed like he was joking—or so Enya had thought at first anyway.
“What? You don’t hear me, little lady?”
That was it. This was that look. The expression he maintained while speaking, so naturally she couldn’t trust him!
“That’s rude! Please step away from the young lady.”
Then, watching Alexei step in front of her, Ber came to her senses.
Whether he was the original male lead or not, that didn’t matter right now.
“The… Infirmary.”
“…What?”
“Please take us to the Infirmary!”
At Ber’s urgent plea, Adrian’s expression, which had been confused, sharpened instantly. He took in the black dog in Ber’s arms and the Imperial Academy uniform in Alexei’s hands, then his lips curved upward again.
“Come on, you two. Follow me.”

***

They arrived at the Infirmary.
“Lay her on this bed here.”
Following the school nurse’s guidance, Ber laid the dog on the bed. The nurse immediately began her examination, pressing an ear to the dog’s chest to check her heartbeat.
But the nurse soon looked up with a puzzled expression.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong. It’s a calm, quiet sound. Like the heartbeat of someone sleeping.”
“…Yes?”
Ber was equally bewildered and looked at the dog again.
It was true. The furrowed brow had relaxed, and the eyes that had been squeezed shut looked peaceful now. The tongue that had been hanging out and panting was closed, and the dog was breathing easily through her nose, fast asleep.
“She’s… actually asleep.”
Alexei muttered in disbelief. It was hard to believe—just moments ago her breathing had been so labored, and now she was resting so peacefully.
“Hmm, did she perhaps exhaust herself with strenuous exercise? Running around constantly?”
“I’m not sure. We just happened to find her unconscious under a tree…”
“When we discovered her, she was already collapsed.”
“I see.”
After confirming the circumstances, the nurse performed a few more checks, then smiled reassuringly at the anxious Ber.
“There doesn’t appear to be anything serious, so you needn’t worry.”
“…Thank goodness. I’m truly grateful.”
Ber exhaled in relief and pressed her hand to her chest.
Yes. Look at her sleeping with such a happy expression. Why had she thought something so grim? That she’d die within a few years—why had she entertained such a dark thought? Her worry must have gotten the better of her.
“Will you hand me those clothes and shoes? I’ll keep watch over her for now.”
As Ber handed over the unconscious girl’s uniform, the school nurse suddenly widened her eyes and looked at Ber and Alexei.
She expressed surprise at how they, not Academy students, had made it this far inside, and Ber and Alexei explained the whole situation.
After finishing their conversation, the three of them left the Infirmary behind.
“So you two little ones came along for the entrance ceremony. Did your older sister or brother enroll?”
Adrian deliberately prolonged the end of “young lady” as he spoke, to which Alexei responded curtly.
“It doesn’t seem like a matter worth your curiosity.”
“Really? Well, I wasn’t particularly curious anyway.”
Alexei’s brow knitted. There was something irritating about Adrian’s attitude and manner of speaking. Though Ber was grateful he’d guided them to the Infirmary, why did he keep leaning his face so close to hers like that?
As Alexei moved to stand in front of Ber again, Adrian laughed and folded his arms behind his head.
“Anyway, I should head to the Guardian Waiting Room. You know the way?”
“We came from that very waiting room to get here, so we’ve at least got our bearings.”
He answered casually and turned back to look at Ber.
“Your guardian must be worried—you left without saying a word. Let’s head back quickly, Miss.”
But for some reason, Ber didn’t answer. She simply stood silently at the Infirmary entrance, her head bowed.
“Miss?”
The moment Alexei placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder to check her condition, Ber swayed.
And then her thin body crumpled to the side.

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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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