I Became the Emergency Food Supply of the Bear Family - Chapter 62

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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 62

But the thought barely took hold before Kaien grasped the gravity of the situation—watching the rabbit press its front paws against its head and cry out ceaselessly.
Whatever stood before him—Arctic Hare Demi-human or otherwise—he had to get it to a doctor immediately.
He soothed the wary creature, managed to scoop it into his arms, and ran. His grip remained steady, careful not to jolt the rabbit’s fragile frame any more than necessary.
As he sprinted through the undergrowth, he spotted them: an Imperial Academy Uniform and Brown Loafers discarded in the brush. The jacket and skirt were pristine white—a female student’s uniform.
‘Could this be her?’
The uniform’s owner.
Was there nobility among the Arctic Hare Demi-humans? Or if not by birth, perhaps this one was sponsored by an influential house?
Pondering quietly, Kaien gathered up the uniform and loafers. He checked the rabbit’s condition. The creature’s limp form suggested it had lost consciousness. Kaien’s pace quickened.
He wanted to save this child. Wanted to help.
Because when someone had helped him once, a bright future had opened before him too.

He reached the Health Office and laid the rabbit on the bed. The uniform he draped carefully over the back of the chair beside it. After drawing the curtain closed and stepping out, the School Nurse—who had stepped away earlier—soon returned.
When the nurse asked his name, he answered. Recognition flickered across her face; she remembered that day, two years ago. She asked if he was well now, if anything still pained him. Kaien nodded quietly.
As he left the Health Office, a thought crossed his mind: perhaps that day two years ago had unfolded much the same way. This time, it seemed, he had been able to offer someone else the small kindness that had been given to him. Without meaning to, he smiled.
Back in the Dormitory that evening, he showered and made a discovery.
‘It doesn’t hurt.’
Just yesterday, even water’s touch had stung his back. Yet here it was—no pain at all. During Swordsmanship Training, he’d taken a hard fall and grazed his back. The scab hadn’t even formed; barely a day had passed.
But when he turned before the mirror to look, the wound had vanished completely.
Kaien’s brow furrowed. He stared into the glass for a moment, then bent down as something occurred to him.
During the recent Armor Equipping Training, the Greaves had been too tight for his legs. He’d forced them on so hard that his calves had torn and bled. That wound should still have been open.
But no—as he’d suspected, there was nothing to see. As if he’d never been injured at all.
It was the same.
The same as when his Lung Disease had vanished without a trace.
All that suffering—as if it had been a dream, as if he’d never been ill at all. Completely healed.
The physicians had called it a miracle. It defied all reason.
Yes. As if.

“The Goddess of Spring will surely watch over you.”

A miracle none could work but Eostra.
That person who had brought him to the Health Office two years ago.
This Arctic Hare Demi-human he’d met by chance today, two years later.
Kaien’s eyes widened.
This was no coincidence. This was instinct—something he could not ignore.

***

A week passed since that day.
The Spring’s power stirred no further. They got through safely. Saturday morning, Ber received good news.
“Letter.”
Sylva, her roommate, held out a paper envelope with drowsy expression. A Sloth Demi-human, Sylva moved about five times slower than anyone else.
“Thanks!”
Ber gave quick thanks and eagerly opened the letter. The envelope bore a familiar name in familiar script.

Theodore Grizzly.

A letter from Theodore had arrived.

I heard from Pallas. I’ve decided to sponsor the child as you suggested. I’ve sent a separate letter to her as well. It seemed good to exchange introductions before things move forward. That’s all.

As Ber read Theodore’s large, neat handwriting, her hand clenched into a fist. She’d done it!
When Ber suddenly threw phantom punches at the empty air, she felt Sylva’s gaze settle on her. Embarrassed, she laughed softly and turned her eyes back to the paper.

P.S. Winter draws near, so take care not to catch cold.

A smile blossomed slowly across Ber’s lips.
Each week she wrote, Theodore’s letters seemed to grow by another line or two.
‘Thank you, Father.’
Ber held Theodore’s letter close to her chest and closed her eyes.

***

At the same moment.
As Enya swept the clinic floor to prepare for business, her grandmother spoke to her.
“Enya, here. A letter has come for you.”
“A letter?”
The moment Enya took the letter from her grandmother, memory stirred.

“I will give you time.”
“If you desire my family’s aid, send a reply to this letter.”

One weekend.
A girl who looked hardly older than Enya herself had appeared and said these things.
‘Time-Reversal Magic, she’d said.’
She knew. She knew about Enya’s secret. The girl wore an Imperial Academy Uniform, so she had to be nobility—perhaps from a house with ties to a countess family.
Enya had been terrified that night, couldn’t sleep properly. But since then, nothing had happened to her, and the girl’s words hadn’t felt hostile. That much, at least, let her set aside her worry.

“You need a shield. Someone to protect you.”

It was true. She’d always known it would happen—someday, someone would discover her power. The moment she’d decided to use this gift to survive, it had become inevitable.
But her present life was precious beyond measure. Even if she were to lose it someday, she wanted to live these moments now.
‘So please, just a little longer. Give me more time, Mother.’
Whispered like an incantation, this prayer occupied her mind as she examined the envelope.
The address read oddly—’Herbalist at Capital Avenue 4, Number 17’—and below it she saw the sender’s name: Theodore Grizzly.
‘Grizzly?’
The Grizzly Family—the Grizzly Bear Demi-humans of the northern border, ruled by a marquess?
Could that girl who’d come to the clinic really be from the Grizzly Family?
The pieces seemed to fit. Enya tore open the envelope urgently.
The letter’s contents were brief: the Grizzly Family wished to sponsor her. But the reason surprised her.

I am confident that your skill as an herbalist will be of great service to the Empire.

She’d braced herself for a demand to use Time-Reversal Magic ‘for the Grizzly Family’s benefit’ in exchange. So when no such condition appeared, her shoulders relaxed.
Tension released, a forgotten feeling surfaced suddenly. Enya hurried upstairs.
In the deepest corner of her room’s drawer lay something wrapped carefully in Fine Cloth—payment once received for her work.
Two years ago.
A letter that someone had left at her grandparents’ fruit shop. It contained words that seemed to foretell the future.
An herbalist would come in two years. Please take her in instead of taking payment.
Because of that letter, Enya had been taken in by two loving people and had managed to build a life here in the Capital.
She opened the cloth she’d kept so carefully.
Enya drew out the letter from its wrapping.
For all the care she’d given it, the paper had grown worn from constant handling—she’d opened it every day.
After being taken in, she’d come to believe this mysterious letter was one her mother had sent, from wherever she now was.
Her mother had been gone for so long now. It should have been impossible. Yet believing this made her chest warm, and hardship became bearable, even beautiful.
The letter from two years ago. The letter arrived today. She set both papers on her desk and compared them.
“They’re the same.”
She’d pulled out that first letter so many times in moments of despair—she couldn’t have missed it.
The handwriting matched. The older letter’s script was rounder, softer in feel, but there was no mistaking it was the same hand.
Which meant.
‘This letter that led me to Grandmother and Grandfather….’
The moment conviction crystallized within her.
“Enya! A customer has arrived!”
At the grandfather’s voice—somehow familiar—Enya hurried down the stairs.
Beside her grandfather stood a girl in an Imperial Academy Uniform.

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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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