Home/I Became the Emergency Food Supply of the Bear Family/ch59

Chapter 59

Einja's face turned pale. She froze, visibly flustered.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just a humble herbalist."

Her voice trembled and her tone stiffened—so much so that anyone could tell she was flustered and deflecting.

"There's no need to lie. I can see it—you were pretending to apply ointment while casting magic, weren't you?"

"Magic? What are you talking about—"

"Magic that turns back time."

To Einja, whose voice had grown harsh, Ber spoke as calmly as possible. Einja stood frozen, pale, unable to even close her mouth. She couldn't deny it any longer.

To the speechless Einja, Ber smiled again.

"At this rate, you're in danger. You must know—your secret will be exposed. Someday, for certain."

Just as I did.

There was no trace of a smile on Einja's face now. Frowning as if recalling something, Einja looked troubled—and Ber thought:

She must have remembered the past. It pained her heart. She hadn't meant to hurt her. But there was no choice.

"You need a shield. Someone to protect you."

"...Who are you?"

"I'll give you time."

Before Einja could ask about her identity, Ber turned away. With her hand on the clinic doorknob, she looked back and said:

"If you wish for our family's help, please reply to the letter."

Leaving only those cryptic words, Ber left the clinic. After the door closed, she heard a voice calling Wait!

The clinic door opened again.

"...She's gone."

Einja stuck her head out, looked around, and muttered in dismay. After scanning for a moment longer, she closed the door with a serious expression.

"Hoo..."

Ber sighed, leaning her head against the wall. She'd quickly hidden beside the building, anticipating that Einja might follow.

That was nerve-wracking.

She'd practiced hard, recalling Louis's shameless acting—but acting wasn't her strong suit. She'd been so tense she felt her tail might pop out.

"Mmph."

Ber covered her nose. As if a backlash from suppressing her original form, her nose began to twitch like a rabbit's.

...I didn't want to see that expression on Einja's face.

But there was no choice.

This was the way to keep both you and my family safe.

---

After confirming Einja's clinic, Ber immediately wrote a letter. The recipient was Theodor.

The letter covered three main points:

Greetings. Life at the Academy. And—

"I discovered someone with the power to turn back time. They can revert or accelerate time on parts of the body. They're running a clinic with that power—a child about my age. Could they be another incarnation?"

About Einja.

The reply arrived much faster than expected.

"I'm glad you're doing well. We're all healthy too. I'll send someone soon."

A characteristically terse letter from Theodor.

And the "someone" Theodor mentioned also arrived sooner than expected.

About a month after Ber entered the Academy, on a weekend—

Ber, dressed in plain clothes with a hat pulled low, was scanning the alley market.

Today, she'd deliberately not worn her uniform. When she'd visited the clinic last time, wearing the Academy uniform had been meant to show Einja she was from a powerful family.

But today, she needed to be discreet.

It would be bad if I ran into him.

Kaien Noirel, the sub-male lead of What Was Tamed.

In the original, Kaien's first appearance was two months before Einja's kidnapping.

One early weekend morning, treating an Academy student around her age—a male student with black hair and gray eyes. After that description, a warm daily life continued.

Then came Einja's kidnapping scene. The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was a symbol carved into the wall of the building behind her stall.

An X carved into the brick with a knife.

"Come to think of it, I'd seen a similar mark before. On Fourth Street, when I went to expand my business. After selling all my herbs, while packing up, I found it—an X carved on the wall across the alley.

'Something was tailing me.'"

With that monologue, Einja lost consciousness.

The X mark—a symbol left by Kaien while investigating Einja.

Later, it was revealed that Kaien had been interested in the rumored herbalist Einja for quite some time.

So even if Kaien hasn't been treated by Einja yet, the mark could still be there.

If Kaien's illness hadn't been cured.

Yes. Ber was trying to verify whether she had truly cured Kaien's lung disease.

Keeping her head down, Ber raised only her eyes to scan the street.

The shoeshiner at the market entrance. The elderly couple's fruit shop... No marks visible toward the alley market.

As she searched for traces of Kaien, she had wandered to Einja's clinic.

Pulling her hat lower, she circled behind the clinic, checking the walls for marks. After going around the building—

"Third."

"......!"

At the voice from behind, Ber's shoulders tensed.

"Here you were. I've been looking for you—"

"Shh!"

Briefly pressing a finger to her lips, Ber grabbed the man who'd appeared and pulled him behind a tree.

"L-Lady Pallas, why are you here?"

"I come all this way, and this is the welcome I get."

"Of course I'm startled when you appear so suddenly!"

"Did you not read the letter?"

A letter? Ah. The "someone" the Count said he'd send soon—he meant Lady Pallas.

"Soon—I didn't expect it to be this soon."

"Are you applying mortal time to me? Foolish. From anywhere in the Empire to the capital—"

"Shh!"

Stopping Pallas mid-boast, Ber peered beyond the tree.

"......"

Pallas glared at Ber, who had covered his mouth. But Ber paid no attention.

Husband, wife, and their children—all the same.

When my life ends and I meet you in heaven, be prepared, Dorothy.

Leaving Pallas with his complicated feelings, Ber focused on the scene in front of the clinic.

Today, the old man was bringing a patient into the clinic. Only after the door closed did Ber remove her hand from Pallas's mouth.

"You're acting like a common thief. There's no need to hide like this."

"No. That girl is inside that building."

Einja would surely be wary of her, and she was still looking for the mark. Moving covertly was best.

"Hm. If you don't want to be seen, there might be a better way."

A white light flickered behind the tree—two small shadows began climbing the wall.

Chwaak. At the sound of claws scraping brick, the manul cat looked down. The rabbit, sliding, stopped halfway—her rear caught on a protruding brick.

A puhu of relief escaped her triangular mouth. The rabbit dusted off her rear and resumed climbing.

At the spirited rabbit's display, the manul cat's grumpy expression softened slightly.

The manul cat climbed back down and extended its tail toward the rabbit.

Still clinging to the wall, the rabbit looked up at the manul cat and tilted her head. When he waited and she still didn't understand, the manul cat's expression soured again.

—Hold on.

Pardon?

—My tail. Hold onto it.

The rabbit's eyes went wide, and her small face lit up.

I—I can really hold it?

The manul cat nodded awkwardly—and the rabbit began climbing the wall at tremendous speed. Then—

Waaah!

With a cry of delight, she launched herself at the lush, fluffy tail.

Lady Pallas's tail is so soft!

Gone was her tense, cautious demeanor—the rabbit rubbed her white cheeks against the gray tail, exclaiming in delight. She looked truly happy.

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