The Baby Bear of the Black Fox Mansion - Chapter 60

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 60
“Oof, don’t!”
Miel threw her head back and covered her forehead with both hands.
“Miel, the rock’s cracked.”
……
The bear, stiff with concern, lowered its massive paw as Miel shook her head frantically.
Miel grinned wide.
“But where’re you from? You live here? Miel came from the old fox’s house. Um… um… Nontis!”
At Miel’s question, the bear tilted its head slightly and scratched its cheek with sharp claws.
No answer came.
Grrrr—
A jet-black panther thrust its enormous face forward, seized Miel by the scruff of her neck, and set her down between its front paws.
The child tilted her head, staring at a face as large as her own, now inches away.
The black panther seemed to bring its forehead to hers for a moment before slowly pulling away.
“What’re you doing?”
Ticklish sensation rippled across her skin, and Miel burst into laughter.
After rolling around for a long while among the four animals, Miel rubbed her eyes as drowsiness crept over them.
“Miel’s gotta go soon……”
As she swayed and tried to stand, the bear caught her and settled her across its knee.
……!
Miel’s eyes widened, then quickly grew glassy.
“Are you lonely……?”
……
“Miel was lonely too……”
The child’s eyes, murmuring softly, began to droop shut.
Being alone was always hard.
Still, grateful to have friends, she mumbled as her head finally drooped and fell.
Four beasts gazed down at the sleeping Miel, who made soft snoring sounds, as clouds drifted overhead.
The moonlight that had poured down vanished, and soon a thick darkness settled in.
Only faint starlight remained to illuminate the scene.
The form of the bear holding the child on its lap gradually shrank, and soon it took the shape of a human.
It wasn’t only the bear. The shadows of the beasts slowly transformed into human forms.
What remained there now were not four animals, but four humans.
“At last we’ve found her. Our precious Fire Spark.”
The precious Fire Spark that would someday set the world ablaze.
A man with nine fox tails swaying gently spoke.
“How was she?”
This time, a man with long silver hair spoke.
“She’s already on the verge of erupting. One trigger, and she’ll Awaken.”
A man with pitch-black hair answered bluntly.
“A trigger. What kind of trigger are you talking about?”
“For us, Awakening means exactly what it says—spiritual growth. It comes from a great emotional upheaval.”
Following the Blue-tailed Male’s words, a massive red-bodied man responded.
“Ah! So that means……”
The Blue-tailed Male smiled wickedly.
“Something precious to our little Fire Spark dies, then?”
“Or her own life is put in danger.”
Kekeke.
The man’s mouth twisted into a mischievous smirk.
“Since we don’t know which will work better, why don’t we try shocking her with both? What do you say?”
“Not a bad idea.”
The Black-haired Male, agreeing with the Blue-tailed Male, snapped his fingers.
Riiiiip—!
Empty space tore open like paper.
“Grrrroooaaaw—!”
Something revealed itself. A grotesque thing dripping black tar-like substance, utterly hideous.
“That’s too strong for the young Fire Spark, so let me create a controllable specimen instead.”
Whoooosh—!
As the Blue-tailed Male raised his index finger, a Blue Flame rose from the darkness.
It writhed and twisted until it took a form—a sickly, ominous shape radiating malevolence.
Twisted and warped, bearing the form of beasts yet too ambiguous to call them beasts at all.
They laughed.
To nurture the flame of such a small, young Fire Spark, they were more than willing to go to any length.
“Mm. I do hope we haven’t startled him too much. We wouldn’t want the Fire Spark to go out.”
“Won’t you take him with you?”
“Not yet. When our young Fire Spark knows a little more truth and succumbs to despair, when he comes to hate the world…….”
The man laughed.
“Then we’ll come to fetch him.”
Before the Blue-tailed Male had finished speaking, a silver-haired man with long, flowing locks bent slowly at the waist.
Then he carefully gathered the child into his arms.
“You’re taking him?”
“The forest at night is cold for a young child, after all.”
“In any case, your heart’s too soft.”
The Blue-tailed Male shrugged.
But none of them moved to stop him.
The cold that meant nothing to them could very well be fatal to such a small Fire Spark, after all.
“See you soon, Argent.”
The man waved his hand loosely, smiling.
Soon their forms grew dim, swallowed by the darkness, and vanished entirely.
Patter-patter.
The man walked through the shadowed, silent forest with Miel cradled in his arms.
Not a single beast, not even a cricket dared to sing.
As if all lesser creatures paid reverence to one whose very approach forbade their presence.
The man walked through that silence until at last he arrived near the tent where the child had been sleeping.
At the same moment.
Those who had been searching frantically for the missing child suddenly froze, instinctively drawing their blades.
None of them had noticed until the man stepped before the tent.
“……Who are you?”
A knight, tense and wary, asked the question; the man stopped leisurely and raised his head.
“……Drawing swords on first meeting—how discourteous you all are.”
At the same instant.
Shred-crack-!
Something invisible tore the soldiers to shreds.
“…….”
“…….”
Silence fell.
Complete silence on all sides.
Half of the knights within his reach lay dead, not even a final cry escaping their lips.
Splat, splat.
Treading leisurely through the blood pooling on the ground, the man laid Miel on the soft bed within the tent.
Until he stepped back out, no one dared move.
They only held their breath, watching as the man retraced his path back into the forest.
None of them had even conceived of attacking.
His presence was so overwhelming, so utterly beyond their reach.
After the man disappeared back into the forest, a long time passed before they could finally move.
“…….”
They stared blankly down at comrades who, moments before, had been alive.
“What in the……”
Though a tremendous force had clearly swept through, they could not cry out or shout or do anything at all.
The one to blame had vanished, and everything had happened too suddenly for grief to take hold.
What had occurred made no sense in their minds.
Who was he? Why had he brought the child? Why had their comrades had to die?
“……First, we gather the remains.”
At Nivel Holbard’s words—the first among them to regain his senses—they began to move, awkwardly, hesitantly.
“……Damn it!”
Someone finally vented their rage, delayed, at the deaths of those who had laughed and joked only yesterday.
A futile, directionless cry.
* * *

Zeros Nordic clicked his tongue as he surveyed half the Village still waiting for Purification, despite having worked without rest all day to cleanse half its streets.
Purification sounds simple in theory, but it’s not. Without finding the source of the contamination, nothing gets resolved.
Cleansing the entire village at once is easy enough.
But that’s only a temporary fix.
Only by hunting down the material at the root of the contamination and removing it piece by piece can the village become a place where people can live again.
In other words…….
It’s easy to spill filth down a hallway, but hard to clean it up without a trace.
“Ah, I can’t. I’m done.”
Zeros Nordic, having purified half the village, simply collapsed where he stood.
Right in the middle of the empty town square.
It was hardly suited for rest, and certainly inconvenient for even a brief lie-down.
“Why rest here? Why not use one of the clean houses we’ve already purified?”
“No.”
Zeros Nordic waved his hand dismissively at Pola Bernier’s question.
“I’m not hiding in cramped spaces like that.”
“Something happened, didn’t it?”
“Well.”
Yes, something painful had happened.
Zeros Nordic chose not to elaborate further.
That day, he’d ducked into an empty house to purify and rest for a moment, when a Demon Beast suddenly attacked—and he couldn’t escape, couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything but suffer.
‘That was strange too.’
The village had been nearly fully purified. Only the final cleanup remained.
He’d checked multiple times. There was nothing left to purify, just organization work left to finish.
But then, without warning, it appeared.
As if it had fallen from the sky.
A Demon Beast with an ominous presence.
“Let’s rest a while and start again around dawn.”
Zeros Nordic shook off the rising memory and deftly built a campfire, beginning to heat up some of the provisions he’d brought.
Night had fallen deep, and visibility was already failing.
Pola Bernier agreed without hesitation.
They ate lightly, lay down uncomfortably, and took a brief rest.
And so came dawn.
The moment the two of them stood up after clearing their makeshift camp.
Screeeee—!
A horrible, grating sound like nails on glass pierced their ears.
Thud—!
And then a terrible poison descended.
Poison so thick that even breathing became a struggle.
“Senior, that…….”
Pola Bernier’s eyes snapped awake as he crouched low, his lips parting slightly.
“A Demon Beast.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————