Home/I Became the Emergency Food Supply of the Bear Family/ch86

Chapter 86

Now that I think of it, wasn't the Grizzly Countess the daughter of that old female polar bear...?

The chief, pale with fear, stepped back.

Had the Folle family's recent disturbances in the Arctic been because of that incident seventeen years ago?

They had clearly confirmed it with the musk ox clan. Having lost some of their forces and had their hides used even after death, they resented the hyenas.

The musk oxen were a weak clan that avoided conflict.

But if the Grizzly Count had informed the Folle family of which house the hyenas were connected to, the musk oxen would have gladly entrusted their long-held revenge to the two families...

That was as far as his thoughts had gone when—

Dududududu.

A tremor of a different magnitude from the polar bear's approach shook the ground.

A herd of musk oxen.

They charged toward Blashin Castle, trampling the fallen birches and raising clouds of dust. As if on cue, the Sled Dog Knights and the polar bear stepped aside.

Forming a line, the musk oxen rammed the gate with their horned heads.

Kwoooong!

A heavy impact sounded—then—

Crack, kwaaaang!

The thick iron gate gave way under the musk oxen's assault.

"Charge!"

Theodor seized the moment and gave the order.

The Folle family head—Rib's mother, the polar bear—along with Theodor, the Sled Dog Knights, and the musk oxen surged into the castle.

The White Wolves scattered in panic, but not a single one escaped outside.

The victory was Theodor's from the start—the White Wolves were quickly subdued.

He would have liked to annihilate the Arctic wolves entirely, but they were a major beast-person species of the Arctic. He couldn't destroy the ecosystem right beside the North.

Theodor decided to cut off the Blashin chief's head and overlook their past atrocities.

The Grizzly Count's attack on Blashin Castle with the Sled Dog Knights.

Though it seemed they were now being scapegoated, Blashin had long been a loyal house, steadily offering Arctic hares to the Imperial Court.

Cutting off their chief's head was not only personal revenge for losing a daughter—it was also a declaration of the Grizzly family's intent to defy the imperial command.

「To Theodor Grizzly, March Count, beloved subject of the golden sun and sky-ruler of the great Albero Empire, Emperor Cieldor Maximilian de Albero commands:

Bring your adopted daughter, Verdiana Grizzly, to the Imperial Court.

The deadline for this command is one week.

Cieldor Year 53, July 10.

—Emperor Cieldor Maximilian de Albero.」

An imperial command to bring Ber before the Emperor within a week.

The document bore the golden seal of the Albero Emperor—making it undeniably authentic.

But Theodor did not hesitate.

Whether it was an imperial command or not—

Protecting his daughter was a parent's duty.

Theodor's next destination was deep in the mountains north of the Arctic wolves' territory—the Arctic hare clan's homeland.

The ruler of the North had arrived, with his knights. Something terrible was certain.

Terrified, the Arctic hare beast-people hid inside their homes.

Only the elderly chief and about a dozen priestesses came to the village entrance to greet Theodor.

"L-Lord Grizzly—to what do we owe this visit...?"

Just as the chief bowed with his hunched back, something dropped before them and rolled.

The moment they recognized it, they all recoiled in horror.

What Theodor had dropped was the Blashin chief's head.

"You know whose head this is."

He didn't need an answer. All present were pale as sheets—the chief had collapsed in shock.

Theodor scanned the priestesses helping the chief. They were all women. Realizing what that meant, he nearly gagged.

They had clearly elevated the mothers who had offered their children to the White Wolves as priestesses.

One woman, barely standing on trembling legs, caught his eye.

White hair. Black eyes. A scar running from her eye to her cheek.

And lips that somehow resembled Ber's.

The woman stared at the severed head in fear.

Theodor averted his gaze, gritting his teeth.

"R-recently, the requests have stopped, so now—"

"Yes. You'll never need to offer sacrifices again. Don't ever—"

"B-but, my lord—then to whom shall we pray for divine protection?"

"...What?"

"Th-then, my lord—we will serve the Grizzly family! Through you, grant us divine protection—!"

At the chief's trembling words, Theodor's expression twisted. He roughly shook off the hand reaching for his arm and said coldly:

"Stop trying to survive through sacrifice. Find your own way to live. At least Ber did."

At Theodor's final words, the woman's eyes widened.

"The rabbit escaped. Are you hiding her?"

Days after her daughter White was offered as a sacrifice, the Blashin chief had led his wolves to the Arctic hare village.

"Bring the rabbit's mother!"

After interrogating the chief, the leader had targeted her—White's mother. After hours of threats and beatings, they gave up and left.

The woman stared again at the head rolling on the ground.

Her cheek throbbed. She touched the old scar—inflicted by the Blashin chief himself. It had cost her left eye almost all its sight. She could never forget his face—or her daughter's.

She squeezed her eyes shut and turned away from the head—then looked at the Grizzly Count's retreating back.

"At least Ber did."

Ber.

So that's your name now.

I'm glad you found good parents.

But she couldn't feel pure joy or relief—she was the one who had abandoned her child.

She bowed deeply toward the broad receding back.

---

Theodor went straight to Ber's room upon returning to Bjorn.

The imperial edict had arrived yesterday afternoon.

Before leaving for the Arctic at dawn, he'd left his two sons to watch Ber.

At least during the week specified in the edict, Ber couldn't leave the castle—or Bjorn.

Knock. As he knocked, Theodor felt something wrong.

The sound was different—muffled, as if blocked.

Bang! He threw open the door, nearly breaking it. The hinges and wood bent under the force—the half-shattered door dangled from his hand.

But Theodor didn't even notice.

The room was strange.

Ferdinand, Louis, Einja, and Pallas were there—but only Pallas was awake. Ferdinand, Louis, and Einja lay sprawled on the floor and bed, deeply asleep.

The greatest anomaly: Ber wasn't there.

Thud. Dropping the ruined door, Theodor turned to Pallas.

"It seems the third one didn't hide it well enough."

Before Theodor could ask, Pallas spoke first.

"She knew about the edict and its contents. Using spring's power on the sleeping Einja, she put her deeper under—and put her brothers to sleep too."

"...Where is Ber?"

Meeting his murderous gaze, Pallas calmly answered:

"She's gone. To the Imperial Palace."

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