I Became the Emergency Food Supply of the Bear Family - Chapter 55

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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 55

Hearing that long-familiar name made Ber turn her head eagerly, and there stood Louie.
The memory of old days flooded back, and Ber shook off the fallen leaves to spring to her feet. She was about to dash toward Louie when—
“Stop.”
Someone lifted her body into the air.
Pallas held Ber in his arms and shook his head with a low murmur.
“You’ve grown heavier than I expected.”
Ber’s white cheeks puffed up at once.
Her small rabbit feet, covered in fur, pressed against Pallas’s chest with quick, rhythmic thumps.
‘I haven’t gotten fat! I’ve just grown!’
Whether she was pressing or hitting him, Pallas gave little thought to it as he observed the rabbit’s ears standing sharply in irritation.
“At any rate, do not look back at Louie. This training is about suppressing reflex responses.”
Suppressing reflex responses? To this extreme?
It’s natural to turn when someone calls your name—it’s only polite. Did he want her to deliberately ignore the other person?
But before she could voice her confusion, the second phase of training began.
“Snowflake!”
‘……’
“Ber!”
‘……’
“The most beloved, beautiful, and adorable little sister rabbit in all the world!”
‘……Ugh.’
Laughter began to mix into Louie’s voice as he called her name.
He was timing his moment to throw anything at her. How amusing he found it!
Ber lowered her head abruptly while remaining pressed to the ground, as if ashamed. Her white rabbit ears seemed to be turning crimson.
As she held her face buried in the fallen leaves, a different voice came her way.
“What are you doing there, miss?”
It was Anna. Was it dinner time already? Ber jerked her head up and turned toward the voice.
Wheeeee—!
The moment her eyes met Anna’s, a piercing whistle shrieked through the air.
“Failed.”
‘Was that a trap?!’
The rabbit blinked her large eyes in a dazed expression, and Anna scratched the back of her head in apology.
“I’m sorry, miss. Pallas asked me to do this, and I couldn’t refuse.”
“Did I not make it clear that the training was not to react to voices? Focus!”
The rabbit stamped her hind feet against the ground in a furious fit, then quickly lowered her head again. The fallen leaves crushed beneath her feet scattered into fragments.
“……I may need to incorporate temperament training as well.”
After Pallas’s bitter murmur, the two began calling out to Ber again.
“Miss!”
“Berdianna!”
“How adorable you look in rabbit form! I’ve missed it!”
“Ber! The Head Chef is making dinner tonight! Want me to tell you the menu?”
“Miss, look here! That Carrot Cake you said was delicious last time—I brought one!”
Waves of varying attacks came from left and right alternately. But Ber lay with her forehead pressed to the ground, unmoving.
I’m already fourteen. I won’t lose my self-control to something as simple as appetite. Of course, with instincts strengthened in this animal form, my ears twitch whenever food is mentioned, but I haven’t turned around, have I?
The truly unexpected attack came in the next moment.
“But even so, isn’t this going too far? I canceled my Sword Training just to see you in rabbit form—to see you—and this is how you treat me?”
Louie’s voice began to carry unmistakable hurt.
“Ber—just look over here. Just once, okay?”
‘……’
“Can’t you hear my voice, Ber? I’m really upset about this.”
‘……’
“I want to see your face.”
His voice had deepened far beyond the change of adolescence, yet somehow it reminded her of Louie as a child. The poignant tremor in his voice, as if touched by tears of sorrow, made Ber’s resolve crumble.
“Just this once, turn around for me, okay?”
‘……’
“Please.”
In the end, Ber turned to look at Louie.
Surely he wasn’t actually crying……. The moment she saw his face, Ber’s expression hardened.
“Got you! You got fooled! Don’t you think I’m pretty good at acting, Ber?”
The trembling voice had vanished without a trace—Louie was slapping his own thighs and laughing uproariously.
Thud-thud-thud—in that instant, the rabbit launched forward at tremendous speed. Ber shot toward Louie and jumped, delivering a full body-check straight into the boy’s stomach. Whoosh! With a tremendous sound, Louie fell hard on his rear.
Wheeeee—! The whistle sounded again as Pallas approached the two.
“That was a foul by the second cub. Louie, you’ve grown quite cunning indeed.”
“Haha, you’re too kind.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
Ignoring Pallas’s shaking head, Louie cradled the rabbit in his arms and began ruffling her fluffy fur with abandon.
“Aah! Young master, that’s cruel!”
Anna arrived with a shriek to join in the rabbit-petting frenzy.
Kick! Thwack! Ber flailed with all her might in resistance, but she was no match for a rampaging bear and dog.
She’d been able to return to human form for ages now—why did she have to suffer this humiliation again? The rabbit’s black eyes glared fiercely at Pallas.
“……Ahem. Let us move on to the next training.”

The intensive training continued in this manner.
Once the training to suppress instincts was complete, rigorous practice in restraining the Power of Eostre began in earnest.
The exercise consisted of suppressing the urge to heal when faced with an injured person.
At first, Pallas deliberately wounded himself, but wounds inflicted through magic tended to exceed mere scrapes, making effective training difficult.
Eventually, they had to request the cooperation of the Sled Dog Knight Order, arranging for any injured knights or servants from their practice sessions to be sent to the Back Garden where Ber trained.
Deep cuts. Shallow lacerations. Bruises from falls.
Ber remained in her position, fighting against the faint scent of blood emanating from those around her and an inexplicable impulse to place her hands upon their wounds.
A rabbit sitting in a small chair placed in the center of the Back Garden, arms crossed with her front paws, eyes squeezed tightly shut as if enduring something immense.
Word of this rare spectacle spread, and the number of wounded volunteers steadily increased. Some even began deliberately inflicting shallow wounds on each other during sparring matches.
“……Even so, you ought not resort to such measures. Commander of the Sled Dog Knight Order, Nuke Greenland.”
“What do you mean, Sage? I simply underestimated Olsen. When did you grow so strong, Olsen?”
“It is thanks to your leadership, Commander.”
The two exchanged words back and forth before bursting into hearty, booming laughter together. Watching his superiors, Alexei, who sat nearby, lowered his head in embarrassment.
As their laughter continued unabated, the rabbit’s front paws resting on the armrest began to tremble slightly. Suddenly, she kicked away from the chair with a bang and cried out.
‘You’re all going too far!’
At the sudden ring of the girl’s clear voice, silence fell over the Back Garden.
“……I heard a voice just now.”
“You—you really are going too far!”
Before the knights’ confusion could escalate, Nuke himself rose from his seat and echoed something similar.
“Foolish wretches, deliberately wounding yourselves out of desire to see the Animalization of Lady Berdianna! Have you forgotten that each and every one of you is precious to the Sled Dog Knight Order? Go at once and receive treatment from the medical personnel!”
“Yes, sir!”
At the fearsome commander’s display of anger, most of the knights gathered in the Back Garden quickly rushed toward the Training Grounds.
With only the four who knew Ber’s secret remaining, Alexei posed a question.
“Pallas. That voice just now……?”
“Just as you suspect. Her voice.”
“But—surely a Suin in Animalization form cannot be heard by a Suin in Humanization form. That is the natural law.”
“The power of Eostre is divine power that overturns even such natural laws.”
Pallas finished his explanation while looking at Alexei and Olsen.
Nuke must have heard her voice before, during the incident with Louie. It was fortunate that he’d responded so quickly.
“Now her voice reaches not only me, but all who are present.”
‘……Wait? I thought only you could hear it because you’re an Archmage, and others couldn’t?’
“It means you’ve grown that accustomed to the Power of Eostre. If you doubt me, try for yourself. Do you have words you wish to speak? To all gathered here?”
Pallas prompted gently, and the rabbit standing on her hind legs drew in a deep breath, her chest and belly swelling visibly. Then—
‘Everyone, please just go home!’
At Ber’s resolute voice, the shoulders of the two knights and one servant slowly sagged.
Watching the three figures receding into the distance, Ber quietly looked up at Pallas beside her.
‘……Is this really training?’

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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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