The Baby Bear of the Black Fox Mansion - Chapter 31

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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 31
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“……Miel!”
“…….”
[Baby panda!]
“Miel!”
Flash.
Miel’s eyes snapped open at the trembling voice, and she froze at the sight of Lisar so close to her face.
“……!”
“……Lisar?”
“Miel!”
Lisar’s face was crumpled with worry, his complexion pale as he stared down at her.
His eyes were slightly flushed, as if he’d been crying.
Miel slowly reached up and rubbed Lisar’s cheek.
“Y-you suddenly collapsed and scared me……. A-are you all right? Does anything hurt? Did you roll on the ground?”
“I’m fine.”
Miel shook her head at his worried expression.
To her, it felt like she’d simply taken a brief nap. Though she’d certainly seen some strange things.
‘But why did it show me that?’
She couldn’t begin to understand what had happened.
Miel blinked as she recalled again what she’d seen in that dream.
Before her, Lisar—now with a little color returning to his face—let out a long sigh of relief.
“Thank goodness you’re unharmed.”
“Mmm.”
Miel nodded, then turned her head to look at Drill.
[Don’t give me such a fright! What were you thinking, carelessly touching something in a place like this? If something strange had suddenly jumped out, what would’ve happened to you? A snake, a corpse of a venomous beast, deadly herbs—or what if it was a trap? If it’d been something dangerous like a mandrake, you’d all have been knocked unconscious! Do you want your little limbs to snap off?!]
At the endless scolding that left no room to breathe, Miel frowned and covered her ears with her palms.
Pout.
Miel stuck out her lips in a disinterested expression, and Drill let out a heavy sigh.
[Fearless as a bear, truly.]
“Panda.”
[Yes, this spirited, fearless baby panda!]
Drill, though exasperated, surrendered to Miel’s unwavering insistence on her own opinion and bellowed out his compliance, and Miel broke into a broad grin.
The words “baby panda” were Miel’s favorite thing to hear.
“……!”
Oh!
Right—Miel had pulled something out at the end!
The memory suddenly struck her, and Miel’s eyes sparkled.
“Lisar, what did Miel pull out?”
“Ah, that…….”
Lisar pointed to one side.
There lay a stone, half the size of Miel’s upper body.
Miel bounced to her feet and dashed over to stand before it.
‘Wrinkly stone.’
The rock was shriveled, its surface creased and shrunken as if withered.
Like it had been drained of all moisture and compressed down.
Miel lifted her hands, grasped it, and shook it vigorously up and down. Despite its size, it was surprisingly light.
“Hmm…….”
But she still had no idea what it was.
“It’s a rock!”
Miel declared decisively.
[No no no!]
Drill threw himself in front of Miel, who was about to toss it away carelessly.
With an urgent expression, he flailed his hands desperately before her.
[That! That’s mine, mine.]
Miel tilted her head.
[I know you won’t believe it…… but that’s like…… my Heart.]
“Ohhh…….”
This is a Heart?
So a Heart looks like this.
Perhaps it was because he had actually seen the thing that beat so constantly in Miel’s chest, but his eyes widened in surprise.
So a heart is this wrinkled little stone.
‘So Miel’s heart beats like this too—thump-thump.’
Hissssss.
Miel’s face brightened.
[That’s not what I usually look like. Don’t go imagining strange things.]
Reading something in Miel’s brightened expression, Drill spoke firmly.
Disappointed, Miel pouted her lip. For a stone, it was surprisingly light.
“Do you remember anything?”
With arms folded, Drill shook his head slowly.
[Not yet. No signs of it. But it’s still my body, so if I stay close to it for a while, something might come back to me.]
Miel nodded eagerly.
She gathered the wrinkled heart into her arms, hugging it with both hands.
“What’s Drill saying, Miel?”
“He says this is a heart.”
“A heart? Are there other parts buried here too? Wait—is it even okay to take this out? Shouldn’t we bury it again? We’ve desecrated the tomb.”
Lisar spoke up.
Miel, understanding nothing of what he meant, looked to Drill.
[No, let’s take it with us.]
Drill said this.
Sensing from his grave expression that something was wrong, Miel nodded obediently.
“Is this where Drill’s tomb is?”
[I thought so, but seeing that there’s only a heart… I don’t think so. And it’s not Drill.]
“Is Drill’s body buried under here?”
[No. I don’t sense anything. This place contains only what you’re holding. And it’s not Drill—it’s Draconian.]
Miel exhaled sharply through her nose.
‘Do tombs usually only have hearts in them?’
She had no idea.
While living at the Cottage, Miel had tended someone’s tomb once, but she had never seen anyone actually buried in one.
[When the memory returns, we might be able to tell where it went. For now, you keep it safe.]
“Mm-hm.”
Miel nodded with determination.
“Miel, what’s Drill saying?”
“Mm. He says I should keep this.”
As always, Miel conveyed only the single phrase that had lodged most deeply in her memory from Drill’s many words, speaking it in her characteristically terse way.
“Is that so? Did he say he’d found the memory he was looking for?”
“No.”
Miel shook her head.
“I see….”
A calmer Lisar let out a long sigh and crouched beside Miel, then exhaled deeply.
“Well, at least you’re safe. But Miel.”
“Mm?”
“We have a problem.”
“What problem?”
Lisar spoke, looking at Miel.
“……It’s night now.”
“Huh.”
“While I was anxiously waiting for you to wake up, I lost track of time. I meant to take you back later, but…….”
Lisar exhaled a long, steady breath.
“It’s too dark to see the way we came, which is dangerous. And worse—I saw earlier that there are wolves in this area.”
“Wolves…?!”
Lisar nodded slightly.
This was why he had turned back while carrying Miel.
Wolves the size of houses prowled nearby, searching for prey.
And Lisar’s Magic was not yet refined or powerful enough to handle several of them.
That made sense.
Lisar was only seven years old.
“……What now.”
He’d promised himself he’d have dinner.
It was at that moment, with the wrinkled heart clasped like a pillow in both her arms, that Miel rose to her feet.
A soft rustling.
“…?”
Eyes fixed on her.
No—the eyes had been there all along, but Miel had been too absorbed in conversation to notice until now.
They were staring at Miel.
Creeping closer.
When Miel shifted left, a flood of glowing red eyes swiveled after her.
Drifting, drifting.
When she stepped right, those eyes swept around again in unison.
They were watching her.
At first, she’d thought they had no eyes, no faces—but now she could see tiny crimson points scattered across those pale, egg-white faces.
“H-hic! H-hic!”
Miel’s whole body trembled the moment she noticed their gaze.
“Miel?”
When Miel didn’t answer and kept her head down, Lisar furrowed his brow and asked.
[Hey, little one.]
Drill, who had been silently observing the situation, opened his mouth in a somewhat grave tone.
“Mm.”
[You can run fast, yes?]
“Mm.”
Miel lifted her head with confident affirmation—then froze.
Something had drawn closer.
‘The spirits, they’re getting near…’
They had kept their distance before, but now they seemed nearer.
Lisar seized Miel’s hand, his brow furrowed as he stared into empty air where she was looking.
“Miel, are you alright?”
“…No.”
Miel shook her head, gripping Drill’s Heart tightly to her chest.
[Spirits are always stronger at night, you know?]
At Drill’s abrupt words, Miel’s eyes widened.
Even as he spoke, the spirits crept ever nearer. Miel began backing away, step by step.
And then.
[So run! Little one! Those bastards are out of their minds right now!]
And then Drill’s voice cut through the air like a shout.

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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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