Ch.19Sleeping Together (5)

Before I knew it, night had fallen.

The sun had already set beyond the trees, and the forest air was filled with such thick darkness that I couldn’t see even an inch in front of me.

I knew it.

By now, Silvia must have realized I was missing and would be quite worried.

But I hadn’t foolishly gotten lost or been so distracted gathering herbs that I lost track of time—nothing so stupid as that.

From the beginning, I had only intended to gather just enough herbs and mushrooms for today’s meal.

Yet, I still hadn’t returned.

Perhaps I might never return.

The forest night granted me no visibility, and the air was filled with the scent of grass, trees, and wild animals.

The only information I could rely on to assess my surroundings was my hearing.

And that very information filled me with terror.

“Damn it… I never thought I’d die like this…”

The growl of a large bear was very close.

I had only wanted to gather some herbs in the forest, how did it come to this?

Well, I chose the wrong time.

I had overlooked the fact that one should never enter the forest after darkness begins to fall.

I encountered a bear in the forest.

Fortunately, I somehow managed to escape the bear by climbing up a tree, but that seemed to be a mistake.

The bear, despite its massive body, began climbing up the tree after me.

The only consolation was that the tree was somewhat flimsy compared to the bear’s size, making the bear hesitant to climb too quickly for fear the tree might break.

The problem was that the bear showed no signs of giving up.

‘Damn, should I have just run straight for the cabin?’

The reason I didn’t run toward the cabin was that finding my way while avoiding a bear in the darkening forest would have been incredibly difficult.

Besides, I wasn’t confident I could outrun the bear all the way to the cabin.

No matter how much of a warrior Silvia might be with her divine power that saved my dying body, even she has her limits.

Silvia is not a saint.

My legs had certainly healed, but they hadn’t completely returned to normal.

I could no longer run like I used to.

Of course, even when I was healthy, I probably wasn’t fast enough to outrun a bear.

Kook, kook.

The rough breathing of an excited carnivore was coming from beneath my shoe soles, from the darkness below.

And it was getting closer to me.

A roaring sound from jaws wide open in the darkness, directed at me.

If the abstract concept of death had a form, it would surely be a hungry bear in the darkness.

“Stay away, I said stay away!”

This cursed man-eating bear seemed determined not to give up on me.

The beast’s ferocious growls grew closer.

Even if I tried to climb higher, I couldn’t see an inch in front of me, making it impossible to find branches to grab onto.

The one branch I barely managed to touch broke weakly, causing me to sway dangerously on the precarious branch I was standing on.

“Aaaah! No… no! Please!”

As if mocking my terrified pleas, the bear’s breathing grew rougher and more excited.

In the pitch-black darkness where nothing was visible, I could only hear the claws of a carnivore with the clear intention to kill me drawing closer by the second.

My body was drenched in cold sweat, just like Silvia during her nightmares.

Ah, Laila.

My poor little sister also showed signs of being attacked by wild animals.

Perhaps my painful steps after the carriage accident, dripping with blood as I struggled forward, reaching Silvia’s cabin was a miracle achieved by consuming all my luck.

Extreme fear spread rapidly throughout my body, burning my nerves until I couldn’t move even a finger at will.

I’m scared.

So terribly scared.

I thought I had experienced the fear of death several times already, but that was arrogance.

Violent teeth and claws that couldn’t be reasoned with.

They could easily tear and mangle my tender flesh with just a graze.

My entire body froze.

An unpleasant chill ran down my spine, as if someone were pulling out my nerves from the nape of my neck and scraping them sharply with a violin bow, binding my entire body tightly.

My legs trembled, and the thin branch supporting me swayed accordingly.

“Uwaaaaah!”

With a scream-like shout, I barely managed to steady myself by grabbing the branch I was standing on.

At that moment, the bear’s hot breath touched my hand on the branch and the sole of my shoe.

Ah.

No.

I must move.

Did I have that dagger I used to make Laila’s memorial with me?

No, I didn’t.

That small blade, smaller than the beast’s vicious claws, would be useless in my hands that had no muscle to speak of, but I didn’t even have that.

Ah, I could tell without seeing.

The bear leaped up, extending its rough, coarse, furry paw toward me.

My heightened hearing caught that sound of death.

Move.

How?

Where to?

I don’t know.

But if I didn’t want to die, I had to do something right now.

“Ah, aaah… aaaaaaah!”

My pitiful courage, squeezed out to suppress the fear and move my body, could only manage a loud scream.

“Aaaaaaah! Silvia!”

I called out her name without realizing it.

This might be my last words.

In this moment when that cry might be the last words of my life, why did I call her name?

I couldn’t understand the reason myself.

“Ash.”

“…!”

But it seemed that was the right answer.

A fireball the size of a fist cut through the darkness and struck the bear’s body.

*

The bear fell from the tree with a painful cry, but thanks to its tough hide, it seemed to suffer no major damage, shaking off the fire as it stood up.

As the flames scattered from the bear’s body, I could barely make out what was happening below the tree.

I saw her figure, holding a large sword still in its scabbard.

“Silvi… a…”

As soon as I saw her face, blood rushed back to my cold hands and feet, making them tingle.

That warm blood must have spread to my face, as I felt the back of my eyes heat up, and before I knew it, I was whimpering.

“…So you didn’t run away.”

Silvia glanced briefly at me up in the tree, then quickly turned her attention back to the bear.

She raised her sword, still in its scabbard, and glared at the bear as it shook its head.

In the dark night, with only the small embers around the bear providing light, and my eyes full of tears, the image of her raising her sword was still clearly etched into my retina.

The thought that I might witness a warrior wielding a sword made it impossible for me to look away from her.

Just moments ago, the fear of death had been crushing my nerves, but now my heart was actually pounding with excitement.

A being whose very existence guarantees victory.

That was the magnitude and definition of the name “warrior.”

Silvia removed the leather scabbard with a movement that was neither fast nor slow, but practiced.

Although I had lived with her for over a month, this was the first time I had seen her draw her sword.

It felt distinctly different from when she carried a bow and arrows for hunting.

There was something heavy, more substantial in the air surrounding her.

Even the large wild bear seemed to sense something, as it lowered its head slowly while breathing roughly, never taking its eyes off Silvia.

This was not a gesture of submission, but a stance ready to charge at any moment.

“Silvi…!”

Just as I tried to warn her, the bear roared and leaped toward Silvia, half a beat faster than I had anticipated.

The distance between her and the bear must have been several meters, but with a single leap, the bear’s body reached where Silvia stood.

Almost simultaneously with the leap, the bear’s large front paw with its vicious claws flew straight toward Silvia’s head.

She hadn’t yet swung her sword.

“…,”

Silvia smiled.

That smile was clear enough to see from the tree—a distinct smirk.

But physically, it was too late for her to swing her sword.

I couldn’t help but squeeze my eyes shut.

“…”

When I slowly opened my eyes, the embers on the ground had gone out, and the forest was once again filled with darkness so thick I couldn’t see an inch in front of me.

I called her name with an anxious voice.

“…S-Silvia?”

There was no sound.

No answer, no cutting sound, no sound of the bear crushing her head, no sound of her falling, no rough breathing of the beast—nothing but silence had settled in the forest.

Growing anxious in the silence, I called out to her again, hoping against hope.

“Silvia? A-are you okay? N-no way… Silvia!”

Thud, thump.

The sound of something falling to the ground reached my ears.

Twice, in succession.

Could she have perished together with that ferocious beast?

“No… oh, no… S-Silvia!”

“Calm down.”

“Ahhh!”

Her voice came from directly below me.

“Are you alright?”

Without answering, she snapped her fingers like flint to create fire.

Then she picked up a branch that had broken off as the bear climbed the tree and lit it.

As the fire quickly spread to the leaves, the branch served as a makeshift torch, brightly illuminating the surroundings.

Silvia had already sheathed her sword and placed it back at her waist.

She showed no signs of injury, not even being out of breath.

I thought I had seen the bear’s large front paw almost hit her head, but she looked as if nothing had happened, not a single wrinkle in her clothing.

I looked at the spot where she and the bear had collided moments ago.

In the place illuminated by the flickering torch, the large bear’s carcass lay on the ground.

The bear’s body was split in two, left and right, with entrails spilling out between the two halves.

“What are you doing? Come down quickly.”

“Ah, yes…”

Silvia told me to come down in a very stern voice.

Sensing some discomfort in her voice, I hugged the tree to hurry down.

Silvia spoke again.

“Just jump.”

“What?”

“Now.”

Silvia glared at me with sharp eyes.

She seemed to be in a very bad mood for some reason.

Well, she must have been very worried when I disappeared.

The height of the tree seemed to be at least 3 meters, so I hesitated a bit, but for her sake, who must have been very worried, I carefully jumped down.

She caught me with one arm.

“Ahh! Th-thank you.”

“…”

She didn’t put me down, just silently stared at my face.

Was she angry? Or was she also shocked?

I couldn’t tell why her lips were pressed tightly together, but as I looked at her face, something sharp and stinging began to rise in my throat and behind my nose.

Soon that something reached behind my eyes, heating up my eyelids.

My rapidly beating heart began to slow down.

“…Ah, ugh… hic”

“…”

“Sil, Silvi… a…”

Suddenly, tears burst forth.

Even when I gritted my teeth trying to hold them back, the sobs escaped through my teeth.

I could feel all the sensory organs in my body, which had been suppressed until now, throbbing.

I’m alive.

I’m so glad Silvia came.

I’m so glad she’s here.

Relief filled my entire body.

I had already nearly died once in the carriage accident.

Back then, I wasn’t afraid of dying.

No, I thought I was already as good as dead.

That’s why I walked through the pain with my battered body to try to save Laila.

But today was different.

Having my life forcibly taken by a ferocious power I could never overcome was terrifying beyond imagination.

Perhaps the experience of wandering through the forest with a dying body had instilled arrogance in me.

I became afraid.

Afraid of the forest, afraid of death.

Embarrassed by my uncontrollable tears, I buried my tear-soaked face in Silvia’s embrace to hide it, but I couldn’t conceal my shuddering shoulders.

Silvia quietly held me.