I Became the Emergency Food Supply of the Bear Family - Chapter 63

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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 63

The moment Ainya saw Ber’s face, she seemed to understand everything at once, and she seated her in the waiting area.
The elderly couple finished their preparations and left the house. Watching their retreating figures as they headed toward the Fruit Shop, Ainya closed the clinic door. Then she drew all the open curtains shut.
Ainya showed no sign of opening the clinic again.
“It seems like we’ve passed opening hours. Is that all right?”
“It doesn’t seem like the right time to worry about that.”
“Mm, I suppose you’re right.”
Even as she answered with a poker face, Ber felt her mood lift. She was grateful they could have a leisurely conversation. Last time, their talk had been far too brief.
Careful to keep her wavering lips in check, Ber opened her mouth to speak.
“So, have you given it thought?”
“Your proposal is appreciated, but I know nothing of the Grizzly Family. So,”
“You’ll need to earn my trust first.”
Ber cut off her own words as if there was nothing more to say, and Ainya, startled, slowly nodded.
“Let me introduce myself, then. I’m Ber Grizzly—the third daughter of the Grizzly Family. I only just enrolled this semester as a freshman in the General Studies program at the Imperial Academy.”
With that brief introduction, Ber smiled at Ainya. And as if she’d been waiting, Ainya began to ask her questions.
“How did you recognize my power? Did you have some connection with the Mallo Count Family?”
The Mallo Count Family—the very house whose name belonged to the family that had abused both Ainya’s mother and Ainya herself.
Reviewing the characterization in the original work, it seemed unlikely that even a close confidant would learn about her time-reversal ability. The deceased Count had been a man who valued his own gains and those of his house above all else.
So Ber quietly shook her head.
“No. I simply knew of your power.”
“Don’t lie to me. The Ecla Chronicle is a secret art passed down only within the Ockley Family. There’s no way you could know about it!”
“So that’s the name it goes by.”
As she answered casually, Ber made an effort not to furrow her brow.
What on earth was that term? So Ainya’s power had nothing to do with Eostre after all? At this point, isn’t this reader betrayal, author?
She was terrified to think how many more secrets would be revealed in the final chapters.
In any case, this was no time to be lost in shock. Ainya’s expression, which had been oddly serene for a heroine, was beginning to darken.
Don’t worry, Ainya. I have a trump card.
“It’s the truth. I knew. Your power has aspects similar to mine, so it was only natural that I felt drawn to you.”
Ber delivered the finishing blow to Ainya’s bewildered face.
“As a resident of the Albero Empire, you must have heard of it too—Eostre Mythology. Within me dwells the Power of Eostre from that myth.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
“Perhaps it’s because we both possess healing-attribute powers. The Spring Power sensed your existence and revealed it to me.”
“That’s… rather sudden and out of nowhere.”
Ainya’s eyes widened even further, and her mouth fell open. Ber took a step closer.
“Pardon me for a moment.”
With those brief words, she seized Ainya’s wrist and drew a Paper Knife from within her dress, turning it so that the sharp edge faced upward.
“This will hurt a little.”
After speaking in deliberately hushed tones, she made a swift, decisive motion across Ainya’s finger. Blood soon welled up from the tip. Ainya seemed so startled that she didn’t even register the pain.
To startle an opponent with sudden action, eliminate unnecessary movements and move with as much grace as possible. The practice had paid off.
‘Pallas is surprisingly graceful, so when he suddenly approaches, it catches me off guard.’
She remembered being equally startled when Pallas had cut his own hand to reveal the fact that he possessed the Spring Power.
Finally, she placed her hand over Ainya’s wound and activated the Spring Power!
“…The wound… it’s gone.”
Complete.
“What do you think? Do you believe me now?”
When Ber asked this of Ainya, whose eyes had gone wide with astonishment, she nodded wordlessly, her mouth agape.
“You didn’t reverse time, nor did you use healing magic. It’s a power I’ve never seen before—something I cannot comprehend.”
“I don’t fully understand or know how to use this power either. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Ber smiled brightly and released Ainya’s hand.
Long live the Power of Eostre.
The perfect excuse—one that could fool both the original heroine and even the great sage Pallas!
Well, after I’ve made him suffer so much otherwise, the least this power can do is prove its worth.
“Believe it or not, the moment I grasped your power, I wanted to help you. Both your power and mine are far too prone to being misused by others.”
To be precise, she’d wanted to change the original’s bleak trajectory ever since her reader days. She never expected to feel such kinship in this way.
“But,”
Ainya’s gaze turned toward Ber. Her expression was somewhat softer, yet her eyes held worry.
“Can I trust the Grizzly Family? I understand wanting to protect your own daughter, but I…”
“I understand you can’t trust easily. If I’d been treated that way by a count’s house, I’d have hated all nobility too.”
Ainya flinched; Ber didn’t notice the tremor at her fingertips.
“But you can trust the Grizzly Family. I can promise you that.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t share a single drop of blood with the Head of Household. He took me in and protected me, and that’s how I’ve survived until now.”
“…But what if even that has been an act until now? What if he changes later, even if he hasn’t yet? You can’t simply trust someone so easily.”
“Then are you also being deceived? Your guardians, the elderly couple—they might also betray you someday.”
“…! No, Grandfather and Grandmother would never—”
“That’s how I feel about the Head of Household.”
As if struck in a vital spot, Ainya’s voice gradually faded.
“I trust him. No matter what happens, he’s not the kind of person who would harm me.”
Even without any oath or covenant, she was certain of it. The Head of Household was that kind of person. It was almost shameful that she hadn’t realized it sooner.
“Even if the Head of Household tried to harm you, I would stop him. Our Head of Household seems to like me far more than I realized, so you needn’t worry.”
Ainya’s lips relaxed.
“Needn’t worry” was hardly a reassuring phrase, nor was “won’t happen.”
Yet for some reason, her heart felt at ease.
Perhaps it was because the certainty and joy that filled this child’s eyes when she spoke of the “Head of Household” were unmistakable.
“Then one more thing. Two years ago, was it you who delivered a letter to my grandmother?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t recall doing any such thing.”
It had been her, but Ber played dumb. If Ainya learned she’d planned this two years in advance, she might become frightened and refuse.
“So you’ll accept our proposal?”
Ber puffed out her chest confidently and extended her hand as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Ainya let out a short laugh at the audacity of it all and took her hand. Squeezing Ainya’s hand firmly, Ber asked,
“It feels awkward to keep calling you ‘you,’ so would you mind telling me? Your name?”
“I’m Ainya. Ainya Ockley.”
“I’ll call you Ainya.”
Ber pronounced the familiar name as if hearing it for the first time, then added,
“Call me Ber.”
Don’t forget, Ainya.
It’s the Grizzly Family who’ll be supporting you in this life—not Kayen!

***

Ainya’s transfer procedures went through without a hitch.
About a month after her enrollment, Ber found herself attending the academy alongside Ainya.
What a dream-like turn of events. What’s more, to hide her abilities, Ainya had transferred into the General Studies program alongside Ber.
Academy life at the Imperial Academy with her favorite character. Ber never imagined such a day would come in her lifetime.
Meanwhile, certain students had begun to view Ber, who was now immersed in happiness and enjoying her academy life, as an eyesore.
They were the fierce beasts of her own program.

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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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