I Became the Emergency Food Supply of the Bear Family - Chapter 79

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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 79

The moment the Flame Magic struck the golem with tremendous force, every spectator in the audience lifted their gaze toward the ceiling.
Crack, crackle. The Barrier shuddered with an ominous sound. Murmurs of concern rose from the seats.
“Isn’t that restoration way too slow?”
“The flames are blocking it—the magical power can’t reach through.”
“This doesn’t look good.”
Ber began to feel uneasy as well. Ever since the Barrier at the ceiling had been breaking and mending repeatedly. It was certain to have weakened.
Ber’s trembling gaze darted between Perdi and the ceiling over and over. Perhaps it was her imagination, but a crack seemed to have formed in the ceiling. And the weakened part of the Barrier was directly above where Perdi stood.
Her palms grew slick with sweat. If the ceiling were to collapse—
The moment Ber rose from her seat without realizing it, the Barrier shattered and the ceiling came crashing down.
With a terrifying sound, a thick slab of wall fell over Perdi. A burst of gray dust engulfed the entire Great Hall.
“Perdi!”
Ber cried out in anguish through the screams of the spectators and bolted from her seat. A Barrier that had spread over the audience blocked her path toward the Training Grounds.
Bang, bang! Only briefly did she strike at the Barrier frantically before light erupted from Ber’s hands. Whether her Spring Magic had deemed the Barrier an “abnormality,” it vanished in an instant, the one covering the audience disappearing completely.
That moment, before Ber could even move again, something burst forward from both sides at tremendous speed.
Cutting through the dust were Louie and Kaien.
The Training Grounds lay in ruins. Fallen rubble from the ceiling blocked their way. Without hesitation, Kaien drew his sword and sliced through a massive stone. He carved a path through and sprinted toward where Perdi had been standing.
By the time Ber arrived at the scene, Kaien and Louie were already pulling Perdi out from beneath the debris.
His entire body covered in black dust and abrasions, blood flowing from his forehead. Her heart felt as if it were about to stop. Ber’s face drained pale as she rushed toward Perdi.
The moment Ber reached out to touch Perdi’s shoulder—
“Ugh……!”
Perdi let out a pained groan, his face contorting. Dark red blood had seeped through the cloak covering his right shoulder.
At a glance, it was clear. A serious injury.
Her vision blurred at once. Ber shook her head rapidly, holding back her tears as she spoke to Perdi.
“It’s, it’s okay, Perdi. Just hold on a bit. I’ll treat you right away,”
“No.”
When Ber tried to place her hand on his shoulder again, Perdi shook his head and opened his eyes.
“There are too many eyes watching here. Ber, you’ve… trained so hard that even I can see it now, haha.”
“Don’t say another word! That doesn’t matter. You come first.”
“No. At least somewhere… with fewer people than here.”
Blood dripping from his forehead, Perdi barely managed to squeeze out his words, reaching his hand toward Ber. She quickly grasped it. His hand, slick with cold sweat, was growing chilled.
“I’m fine. Please… Ber.”
Perdi’s lips barely curved into a smile. In the next instant, the golden eyes that had been looking up at Ber closed.
Her heart felt as though it had stopped. She couldn’t bear it.
It didn’t matter anymore. Even if everyone discovered the power she possessed, it made no difference. She had to save Perdi.
In the moment particles of light began to gather in Ber’s hands—
“Ber.”
Kaien placed his hand over the back of Ber’s hand and slowly shook his head.
“But Perdi—!”
“It’s okay. We just need to go to the Back Path of Great Hall. It won’t take long. You can do this.”
A soft voice and eyes full of certainty. The warmth of his hand covering hers. Ber’s wildly beating heart grew calm.
The moment Ber nodded, Kaien turned and gave orders to Louie.
“Louie, transform. If you become a bear, you could carry both of them at once in your arms, right?”
“Y-yes!”
Louie quickly undressed and transformed. He immediately picked up Perdi and Ber in his arms and began to run.
At the sight of a bear emerging from the dust with the three figures, the Magic Department’s senior professor, who had been judging the magical duel, gestured to them.
“Wait, you all!”
“Fernando is injured. We’re taking him to the Infirmary!”
Without waiting for the professor’s response, Kaien and Louie rushed away.
The Imperial Academy’s finest Healing Art practitioner was the school nurse. The Infirmary was nearby. But beside Perdi was already someone with a power far greater than that.
They reached the Back Path of Great Hall. Thick vegetation grew there, making it clear it was a place few people frequented. Louie gently set Ber and Perdi down on the undergrowth.
-Wait, Ber. Kaien—
Just as Ber was about to begin healing, Louie stopped her. The power Ber possessed must never be revealed to Kaien either.
“No. I have to do it now.”
-What? J-just wait a moment!
Without hesitation despite Louie’s protest, Ber began the healing.
Rip. She tore away the fabric clinging to his shoulder and placed her hand directly on the torn skin. A brilliant light of healing far beyond what had been seen before flowed from beneath Ber’s hands.
Startled, Louie quickly reached out his arms to shield the light, but it was no use. As Louie scrambled—
“Don’t worry.”
There was no trace of surprise on Kaien’s face as he spoke.
Louie suddenly understood. If Kaien hadn’t known, wouldn’t he have headed to the Infirmary instead of the Back Path of Great Hall?
As Kaien watched Ber’s back while she treated Perdi, he spoke quietly.
“I already know.”

***

Her hand resting on his blood-soaked shoulder, she closed her eyes. His shallow breathing continued to touch the left hand pressed against his chest.
How long had she been concentrating like this?
Her vision turned stark white as her body felt as though it were floating.

“Brother.”
Hearing Louie’s voice, she turned her head.
Before her lay a familiar sight. The Grizzly Castle Garden. A fir tree casting shade to the right of the greenhouse.
A serious injury. It was natural that she would see Perdi’s memories. When using Spring Magic, what she typically witnessed were scenes from the patient’s past.
The past. When was this? Perdi looked similar, but Louie’s build seemed somewhat smaller than now.
Toward Perdi’s back as he stood with his hand against the fir tree, Louie spoke to him again.
“What are you doing standing here alone? Come on, Ber’s bringing us. You said you wouldn’t eat dinner without you?”
“……Yes.”
Though Ber nodded at Louie’s playful urging, Perdi remained motionless in that spot.
Perhaps it was autumn. Watching the snow piled in the garden and the white mountain range visible beyond the distant castle walls, Perdi clenched his fists.
“Louie. Are you… going to be okay?”
“Huh? About what?”
“……I’m so afraid.”
Perdi’s eyes, gazing into the distance, had grown dark and hollow.
Ber gasped in astonishment.
It was an expression she had never seen before. Not when he was delivering stern reproaches, not when he was tired from a busy schedule, not even when blood was streaming down his face and hot breath pouring from his lips. She had never seen Perdi like this.
“Do you remember? Blood was dried at the corner of my mouth, and your lips kept growing paler and paler. I couldn’t bear to watch. I was afraid. Afraid that you would… die like this, I was so afraid.”
At Perdi’s trembling voice, Ber understood.
I see. This must be after I treated Kaien and collapsed, then regained consciousness.
“Brother.”
Louie was equally shocked. He placed his hand on Perdi’s shoulder, and quietly shook his head.
“No. Ber is safe. She’s regained consciousness and her body feels lighter than before, she said so. And Pallas told you not to worry.”
“Yes. I know. I know, but… I’m still afraid.”
Eyes trembling painfully. Perdi was looking not at Louie, but at a distant past.
“When I lost Coco, if that sorrow were to return… could you bear it, Louie? No—it would be far more painful than then. Whether we share blood or not, it makes no difference. Ber is my sister. She has been for years now.”

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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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