The Baby Bear of the Black Fox Mansion - Chapter 10

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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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Episode 10
The Boy hung suspended in midair, clutching his own hair as he let out a shriek.
[Come to think of it, bears have always been stupid!!]
Miel’s eyes narrowed to points.
“Miel is not a bear.”
Miel declared this flatly.
[What? Then what are you?]
Miel drifted closer and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.
“Miel is actually a panda.”
When Miel breathed this softly, the Boy looked at her with an expression that screamed she was talking nonsense.
‘He doesn’t believe me at all!’
Miel gazed back at him with stubborn indignation.
“It’s true.”
[If it were just a simple evil spirit, you might’ve purified it with just your Ung-nuke and been done, but this time a Curse is tangled up in it—that’s what makes it so difficult.]
‘Curse. Evil spirit, Ung-nuke…….’
Miel’s eyes began spinning in circles.
‘Curse…….’
She’d heard that word somewhere.
But where exactly?
Miel, arms folded across her chest, made a whimpering, groaning sound.
“Miss, there are times like this. When a wicked spirit and a Curse become entangled. A spirit can turn wicked from loneliness, but sometimes someone becomes a spirit because of another person’s cruel heart.”
“Huh? A Curse…?”
“Yes, a Curse, miss.”
“What does that mean…?”
“A Curse is… well. It’s something someone summoned from the other world with a wicked heart. Things that were never meant to enter the human realm. They can steal someone’s mother and father away, and on a whim they can kill people.”
Then it came back to her.
A Curse was something very, very wicked and cruel.
“……! Why would they summon one? If Mother and Father go away, Miel would feel so lonely……?”
“Well, I suppose everyone has their own reasons for summoning a Curse.”
“But that’s such a terrible thing to do!”
“Our kind young lady may come to understand someday when you’re grown. Everyone meets someone they dislike as they live their lives.”
Miel’s butler had said that to her once.
“When a Curse touches a spirit whose heart has grown weak, that spirit becomes terribly wicked. A powerful Curse can even possess a spirit.”
“Possess…?”
“To be possessed means the spirit becomes like the wicked person who cast the Curse.”
“……Then what do we do?”
“In that case…… Melinda, or rather, the head maid showed me a flower called the Silver Spirit Flower.”
“A Silver Spirit Flower?”
“Yes, that will connect you to the Curse. You were born with special power, miss.”
“I see. I’ll remember perfectly and help next time!”
Miel’s head snapped up.
[This isn’t something you can handle yourself, so forget it~ Ahem. Instead, if you could just help me a little…….]
“Silver Spirit Flower!”
[What?]
“Must find Silver Spirit Flower!”
[Silver Spirit Flower? Why all of a sudden… No, a baby bear like you shouldn’t get tangled up with an evil spirit like that! It’s dangerous! Instead, help me out. I’ll pay you enough.]
Miel began wading purposefully through the snow-laden brush.
“I’ll do this, then help you.”
[No, that’s not something you can handle! Why are you trying to do something so dangerous?! Your life could be in danger! You might die. Do you know that little ones die? Death means you never……!]
“Never see them again. Mother and Father… and Butterfly too….”
The Boy went very still.
“Miel understands.”
Crunch, crunch.
[Ugh, blast it! Why is this baby bear so brave!]
Watching Miel vanish into the distance as she waded through snow that swallowed her nearly to the waist, the Boy rushed hastily after her.
[Hey, that’s not the way! The Silver Spirit Flower is over there!]
* * *
Back to the present moment.
“A flower, then.”
“Yes!”
“In this snowfield… you managed to find such a flower.”
It had been quite some time since he’d last seen flowers, ever since the Southern Territory was buried under snow.
Jerpeon examined the flower with a curious expression, careful not to damage its roots as it had been uprooted.
The flower with silver petals was one Jerpeon himself had never seen before.
“What kind of flower is this?”
“Silver Spirit Flower!”
“Silver Spirit Flower?”
“Yep!”
Miel giggled.
“With this and that, I can fix honey-cake mommy!”
“……what?”
At Miel’s words, Jerpeon’s steps froze entirely.
It was partly because Miel had mentioned someone he hadn’t expected, but also because he’d caught sight of a glimmering sphere in Miel’s other hand.
“This is…….”
“That’s bear-core-y.”
“Ung-nuke…?”
Jerpeon’s eyes widened sharply.
The very essence of Berneer.
It was precious to the Berneer family.
Unlike jewels, it was something anyone born of Berneer blood carried from birth, even if they weren’t direct descendants of the main family.
While ordinary bears possessed gall bladders, Berneer had evolved and developed, compressing that into power to form what some theorized became the Ung-nuke.
“How in the world did you extract this?”
He was aghast.
The Ung-nuke was the source and essence of power—only those who’d reached considerable heights could extract it of their own volition.
Among Berneer, there were tales of criminals who’d committed unforgivable sins being subjected to surgical removal of the Ung-nuke entirely.
‘From the size of it, it seems to be only a fragment rather than the whole….’
How had this child managed to extract it?
He was lost in bewilderment.
“Picked at it bit by bit!”
“…bit by bit?”
The child had uttered words he couldn’t comprehend again.
Jerpeon halted before the child’s room, his expression perplexed.
“Wash up first, then we’ll eat together.”
“Okay!”
He entered the room and, shaking the bell pull, settled onto the bed with the child on his knee.
……
No one came.
He shook the bell pull once more.
A long while passed before someone appeared with a knock—Siril, the head maid and a member of the desert fox tribe.
“You called for me?”
“Why so late?”
“I apologize, sir. We’ve been short-handed today, with several people absent.”
“…Absent? Has something happened?”
Despite the gently phrased question, the head maid tensed, her hands clasping together.
Their master was typically an even-tempered man, but when his anger kindled, it became uncontrollable.
“Well, this morning several staff members suddenly notified me they were unwell and would be resting.”
“This morning, you say?”
“Yes.”
“Multiple people falling ill at once—there’s nothing amiss with the meals, is there?”
The head maid shook her head slightly.
“That’s not quite it…….”
Her words trailed off.
Jerpeon felt his heart catch and his brow furrow.
The way she trailed off while gauging his mood unsettled him somehow.
“Speak plainly.”
“……well.”
The head maid shut her eyes tightly, then dropped to her knees and lowered her head.
“I beg your pardon, sir. I cannot bring myself to say it aloud.”
……?
She carefully withdrew a bundle of papers from her bosom and offered it to him with both hands.
“What is it?”
“Well… this morning the housemaids brought me a Leave Request and, um, a Letter of Resignation. I believe the butler is also occupied with the same trouble as the other servants, running about.”
Jerpeon took the stack of papers and flipped through them briskly.
“…….”
His face hardened gradually as he read the contents.
‘This is…….’
Miel, seated on Jerpeon’s lap, glanced cautiously around the room.
The Mansion was shrouded in mist. It was undeniably different from how it had looked when she’d seen it yesterday.
[Ugh, the reek of rot. This one’s finished, whoever they are—already a complete host.]
The Boy who had pursued Miel from the mountain shuddered his reptilian-looking ears and clicked his tongue in disapproval.
The Dark Red Mist began creeping slowly up Jerpeon’s legs.
‘Oh no, don’t touch him.’
Miel scrambled up onto his lap, striking at the Dark Red Mist as it tried to crawl after her.
Smack-smack-smack!
Smack-smack-smack!
She beat it soundly with her small hands.

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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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