STM 134

She waited a moment for me to say more, then raised her eyebrows.

“What’s the problem with being slow?”

For just a second, I had an ominous premonition that this person might be as frustratingly dense as that bear. No, wait, this person can actually have a normal conversation. Surely she wouldn’t be as bad as that bear.

“Yes, well, if you say so.”

I gave a vague reply and walked past her to stand before the bear. The divine beast must have heard everything, yet it absolutely refused to bring up the topic first. Once again, I missed the smooth-talking snake tail.

“Miss Black Bear here wishes to confirm the divine beast’s existence. Is there a way?”

Grrrr~~ngghh~~~ Cha~~~

With movements that seemed somehow slower than yesterday, the bear fellow stood up. Here we go again, ugh. I watched the bear with a complicated look as it slowly raised both arms. Yesterday, I couldn’t hold back and anticipated its words.

‘You’re going to say “No,” right? Then I get it, so let’s move on to another conversation…’

It didn’t even hear a word I said. The bear stubbornly finished everything it wanted to say, answered every question I interrupted it with, and only then sat back down. That’s why it took so long.

Today, I absolutely won’t interrupt. I watched with my mouth tightly shut. Of course, by the time it raised its arms for the second time, I could already guess the answer. It had to be another ‘yes’.

As expected, it was. Seriously, couldn’t it just tell me the method too, not just ‘yes’? But the bear never volunteered any information first.

“I’m glad there is. What’s the method?”

Grrr~~~~~ngh~~~~~~ Cha~~~

The bear stood up again. I was already feeling frustrated, but I focused because I needed to watch this answer carefully. The bear stretched both arms diagonally downward. ‘ㅅ’. Then, following that, ‘ㅈㅇ’. What was that? Fortunately, I could make a reasonable guess. 

[Based on past experiences with other divine beasts, it appears to mean ‘hold hands’.]

“Ah, you mean hold hands?”

Grrr~~ung~~~ Cha~~~

Dammit! That wasn’t a question! I panicked and screamed inwardly, but the bear stubbornly drew ‘yes’ before finally plopping down. I wanted to punch myself for running my mouth. Instead, I closed my eyes, and regained my composure.

“The divine beast said to hold hands? Give me your hand.”

I turned to look at Black Bear. She stared down at my hand with a stiff expression before slowly moving her arm. I took her hand, calloused and rough from sword training, and turned toward the bear. I saw it trying to get up slowly.

Grrr~~~

“Wait!!! I can go instead!!! Stay there!! Just stay!!”

I yelled and quickly stepped in front of the bear. The startled bear stared at me. Why does it look so sulky? But compared to me looking like I’m about to drop dead from anger, this is nothing.

“Come on, hurry. Your hand, your hand.”

I waved my hand, urging the bear on.

The bear seemed genuinely offended, turning its head away and extending a paw.

I grabbed it without a second thought. Well, there wasn’t actually anything to grab, but I saw the huge furry paw cover my hand. Naturally, I felt nothing.

But I wasn’t disappointed. When the Borhumi divine beast wrapped around my wrist, I felt nothing either. It was just a little warm.

The one connected to my hand, however, was different. I turned my head and immediately realized it was the same situation again.

Even if I didn’t feel it, Black Bear must have sensed something, her eyes widened as if they would tear open. Within them, her pupils flickered like candle flames. But the shock was brief; she simply collapsed, slumping to the floor.

“Ugh!”

She groaned, clutching her chest with her hands. I quickly pulled my hand away and stepped back.

“Are you alright?!”

“Haah, haah, I’m fine.”

Thud.

She collapsed right there and passed out. Wha-what? I quickly grabbed Black Bear’s body and turned to look at the bear.

“She passed out?!”

The bear slowly rose from its seat. Seriously, someone just collapsed, and you have to ‘speak with your body’? Regardless of my contorted expression, the divine beast was diligently responding.

‘Yes.’

What a complete waste of time. I barely held back every curse word I knew from spilling out.

The moment I spoke, the bear would surely retort, and then I’d pass out too. I needed to pull myself together and tend to the fallen woman.

So, as I tried to move Black Bear inside, the bear stood up again. I wondered what nonsense it would say next to make me grab the back of my neck, but the words forming with its slow movements made my expression relax.

[She’s fine.]

“Really?”

Grrr~~~ Cha. The bear stood up again. I hurriedly reached out and shouted.

“No, I wasn’t asking! It was just an exclamation!”

But the bear stubbornly sent a ‘yes’ before finally sitting down. And just like that, more time was wasted. It must have been a long time, because Black Bear who had passed out in the meantime woke up.

“Are you alright?”

When I approached and supported her, she blinked.

“Does your head hurt or anything?”

“…….”

“Miss Black Bear?”

Even when I called her, she just stared at me before slowly getting up. Then she turned around. It was the direction of the bear.

Even though she couldn’t see the divine beast, she stared for a long time, as of she wanted to confirm it with her own eyes. When she turned back to me, complex emotions were swirling in her eyes, rippling like waves.

“You felt something…….”

“You truly are Salvation.”

“No.”

Her unexpected words made me deny it without thinking.

“What I mean is, no one truly knows who Salvation is…”

“To me, you are Salvation.”

“……”

“The power I felt through my hand just now was unfamiliar, but I recognized it immediately. It was clearly the power of the Sarne divine beast.”

Black Bear looked down at her own hand. Perhaps still reeling from the shock, her hand was trembling again.

I couldn’t bring myself to ask if she was okay again, so I could only wait for her to calm down. It didn’t seem like she was simply startled by the divine beast’s power.

Because she had begun to silently shed tears. As if she couldn’t even think to wipe them away, the tears dripped onto the floor.

I had no idea what her circumstances were, but she must have endured immense suffering, something I couldn’t even begin to guess at.

How long did I wait? When her trembling finally subsided, Black Bear opened her mouth.

“Forty years ago, my homeland was suddenly attacked by Sarne. Everyone was asleep, and the innocent were slaughtered without knowing why. I….”

Her choked voice paused briefly before she continued in a low tone.

“Only I managed to escape, thanks to the village chief’s help. But ever since that day, those murderers have always been chasing me. I had only two choices: die by their hands, or fight back.”

She looked down at her hands, which still trembled intermittently.

“I grew stronger to survive them. And I also discovered why that vicious Sarne family was so desperate to kill me.”

A twisted smile played on Black Bear’s lips.

“Since no one in the Sarne line had received the power of the divine beast for generations, they made a hypothesis. That the divine beast was with someone else who carried Sarne blood. And I learned that my maternal grandmother was a hidden illegitimate child of the Sarne family.”

She lifted her eyes. That was the full explanation. But just from that look she gave me, I could glimpse how agonizing and difficult her life must have been.

And why she was so shocked by the divine beast’s existence. Without thinking, I looked behind her.

The Sarne divine beast still sat there like a doll. But its gaze was fixed on Black Bear.

So the divine beast that hadn’t appeared to Sarne had been staying with someone else all along? For generations, too.

The confusing part was why it had only stayed. Did using the divine beast’s power require some special ritual or technique? Just then, Black Bear suddenly knelt before me.

“Master.”

“Huh? Don’t do that.”

Startled, I tried to help her up, but she bowed her head to the ground instead, lowering herself further.

“I will live my entire life as your servant, Master. So please, take pity on me and let me use the power of the divine beast. Grant me the strength to avenge myself.”

…And how am I supposed to do that?