The Baby Bear of the Black Fox Mansion - Chapter 54

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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 54
“What? You knew about this, sir?”
“I did.”
“Then why didn’t you say something? You nearly gave the child a panic attack. Is something wrong?”
“I’m not entirely sure myself.”
Valen Noctis said this quietly.
“……What do you mean?”
“Creatures with those particular traits only come from Bernier, so naturally all the relevant records would be there too.”
That much was true.
Zeros Nordic closed his mouth.
Gulp.
Miel, tensing visibly, asked the question.
“If this breaks, will Miel be broken too……?”
At the sudden concern, Valen Noctis smiled softly and reached over to stroke Miel’s head.
“That won’t happen.”
“…….”
Sigh.
Miel exhaled in relief and nodded.
“But since I don’t know what the issue is, it would be best to go back to Bernier and look into it.”
“…….”
Miel’s lower lip jutted out.
The meaning was clear — he wanted her to return to Bernier.
“Does Grandfather think Miel is in the way here?”
At Miel’s sullen question, Valen Noctis’s eyes widened slightly.
“No. That’s not it at all. I misspoke.”
His expression turned troubled.
“I’m worried, that’s all. Worried you won’t learn what you need to learn in time. And……there’s no place in the Empire better suited to protection than Bernier.”
Miel studied Valen Noctis intently.
‘He’s not lying.’
Valen Noctis was genuinely concerned for her.
He met Miel’s steady gaze and let out a small breath.
“I’m sorry for the confusion. I said it because we wouldn’t be able to respond immediately if a problem arose. So……”
His voice trailed off.
“You’re welcome to come whenever you wish. If you dislike that place, you can simply learn what your condition is and return here. It’s your choice. I’ve never thought of you as a burden.”
“Come on now, little Half-Moon Bear. Having you here doesn’t cause any problems.”
“That’s right! Don’t worry about it!”
Zeros Nordic spoke playfully, and Lisar quickly nodded in agreement.
“I told you—you’re a benefactor to our house. We’d do anything for you, little bear.”
Having said this much, Zerfeon reached under the table and produced something, which he handed to Miel.
Miel’s eyes widened as she accepted the gift.
It was stiff paper.
Black letters covered it densely. Of course, Miel couldn’t read well.
Her eyes grew serious as she stared at it.
“What is this?”
“The Honey Farm.”
“The……Honey Farm……?”
The child’s head tilted.
“Yes. A place where honey is made. It’s being restored now, so production will take a little time……but it’s a gift for saving my son and my wife. Overdue, perhaps, but still.”
“A place where honey is made!”
“And all the honey produced there belongs to you from now on.”
“All of it?”
“All of it.”
“For how long?”
“As long as the bees survive? For life?”
“For life?!”
Her round mouth fell open, and her eyes grew impossibly wide.
“For life.”
“Yaaaaaaay!”
Clutching the paper tightly, Miel bounced up and down.
“So the little bear can visit the Southern Territory whenever she wishes. After all, you’re now a proper businesswoman running an enterprise in my domain.”
Boss!
The three syllables flew through the air and lodged themselves firmly in Miel’s heart.
‘Miel is the boss?!’
She didn’t really understand what a boss was, but it sounded magnificent. With that honorific in it, it must be something incredibly important!
“Thank you so much!!”
“Right. So don’t worry yourself.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll arrange for someone to be hired to look after the farm until you’re bigger. Once the work is finished, you should visit it sometimes.”
“Yes!”
Miel broke into a wide smile, her eyes puffy from crying moments before.
Valen Noctis placed the sweetest-looking pastry from the spread before him into Miel’s hand and glanced at Zeros Nordic.
“Anyway, this works out well. Since you’re heading to Half-Moon Bear Village anyway, ask around about the child while you’re there. That’s in Bernier Territory, isn’t it?”
Half-Moon Bear Village?! Bernier?!
Miel’s eyes went wide.
“…I’m sorry?”
“Ask around and come back.”
“But why me?”
“It’s more efficient.”
Huh.
As Zeros Nordic looked at him in disbelief, crumbs rustled out from his chest with a crisp, whispering sound.
Crumble.
A shower of pastry fragments tumbled down onto his shirt.
“Are you going to Bernier?”
“No, I wasn’t planning to go that far… I’m going to Half-Moon Bear Village, which is in Bernier Territory. Apparently some terrifying Demon Beasts attacked it.”
“Then Miel wants to go too.”
“What?”
“Miel will go and ask around.”
Miel spoke, clutching the documents Zerfeon had given her to her chest. Her face radiated confidence.
“Because Miel is the little Half-Moon Bear boss!”
“…That’s a lot of descriptors all of a sudden. Anyway, no. It’s too dangerous.”
Zeros Nordic scratched his head as he spoke.
Of all places, it had been attacked by Demon Beasts and was undoubtedly contaminated by Toxic Miasma.
Bernier would have set up a Barrier as a temporary measure, so there was no telling how concentrated that trapped miasma had become.
“But……”
“No.”
“But Uncle……”
Miel pressed her face against Zeros Nordic’s chest and rubbed her cheek against him.
Laugh.
“Good grief, where did this little bear learn to be so cute……?”
“Does Uncle not like Miel…?”
“No……”
Zeros Nordic replied with his head lowered.
“It’s still no, kiddo. It’s dangerous.”
“Miel will listen well, eat just a little, and stay very still.”
“No, you can eat plenty. Besides, I can just ask around and come back.”
“…But Miel has to go to Bernier.”
She wanted to go and hear someone tell her that Miel wasn’t from Bernier, that her youngest uncle had gotten it wrong.
“Ah.”
That’s right. This little bear had only recently discovered her true identity.
He fell silent, at a loss for words. Why did it have to come up now, of all times, this business about Half-Moon Bear Village……?
“Half-Moon Bear Village? Why would you go there?”
Lisar asked.
“Miel isn’t a giant panda cub. She’s a Half-Moon Bear cub.”
…No, by any measure, that wasn’t true.
But no one in this room could bring themselves to say so.
“Uncle……”
“Half-Moon Bear Village is in such a bad state right now that you can’t meet any other Half-Moon Bears. I heard they all evacuated elsewhere. They were attacked by Demon Beasts.”
“……”
Miel’s eyes widened sharply.
“S-still… Miel just wants to check if her mom and dad are there……”
He furrowed his brow.
He understood better than anyone how desperately the child yearned for this—after all, he himself wandered endlessly through the Empire searching for his own family.
And so he couldn’t bring himself to refuse her outright.
……
Zeros Nordic looked at Zerfeon.
Zerfeon exhaled softly.
He supposed he had to take her to Bernier at some point. He’d brought the child here on his own authority, after all, and……
They needed to see what she’d become and confirm for themselves what Miel truly was.
Besides, Zeros Nordic was hardly so weak that he couldn’t watch over a single child.
“Fine. But if you don’t listen to me, I’m sending you straight back home—that is, back to Zerfeon.”
……! Yes!
Miel threw her arms excitedly around Zeros Nordic’s neck.
……
The warmth radiating from the child made him draw in a breath without thinking.
Soft, small, innocent.
If his own child had grown up safely, surely he would have……
He patted Miel’s back gently.
“Father, I want to go too……”
“No.”
Zerfeon cut off Lisar’s words before he could finish.
……
Lisar pushed out his lower lip.
But Zerfeon did not reconsider.

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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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