Episode 23

Theo yanked with all his might, causing the rabbit to jerk wildly.

“…… Do you want to play with me?”

Theo stopped what he was doing and bent his knees to face the rabbit.

Beep, beep, beep-it!

The rabbit hopped up and down, ears flicking back and forth.

“The sun will be setting soon, and Ms. Hestia will be here soon, so I have to finish my work before then, so I’m afraid I can’t play with you.”

But it turns out that rabbits aren’t as fearless as I thought.

Muttering softly to himself, Theo stretched again, ready to shake off the blankets.

Uh-oh!

Just then, a vibrant bear roar shook the forest.

It must have gotten close.

“Another time.”

Hestia said to herself.

Theo remembered how he’d been told to stay home whenever he heard the cries of dangerous mountain beasts.

“Bunny, you should go home, too.”

Bunny heard the bear, too, and scurried back into the bushes.

Theo hurriedly pulled down one of the blankets.

He locked eyes with a huge, red-furred bear who had never been so close before.

When the bear spotted Theo, it immediately bared a full set of yellow teeth and began to look like a top predator that had spotted its prey. It had the look of an animal sizing up its prey before pouncing.

Grrrr.

“…….”

If he made a wrong move, it would pounce on him.

Theo thought quickly, barely calming his racing heart.

Don’t look away, don’t show your back. Move slowly and out of sight.

He remembered what Hestia had told him so casually. At the time, I’d laughed off her overwhelming concern about the possibility of encountering a bear.

“What do you do when you’re this close to a bear…….”

The bear was only about five meters away. Even if they ran at full speed, they’d be caught quickly.

“My life is too valuable to end up as food…….”

He blamed himself for letting his guard down.

This is what the rabbit was trying to tell me.

I kept thinking of the rabbit pointing in the direction of the bear. I hadn’t noticed, thinking I had to get everything done before Hestia came.

“……I can’t come back now and regret it.”

Oh well.

Theo glanced at the wooden sword propped up by the door.

Still meeting the bear’s gaze, Theo began to back away slowly. He swallowed hard. His hands were damp with sweat.

Just a little more. Just a little more.

He had no intention of beating the bear with a wooden sword.

Just once, out of danger. Just once, out of danger, to see if I could fend off the bear’s threatening attack.

Then the bear growled low.

As if it sensed Theo’s intentions, its eyes grew fierce, as if they were on fire.

“…….”

Theo stopped moving.

It was his turn now. He caught sight of the unfinished futon.

Whoa. Let’s try this.

Theo took a slow breath in and let it out nervously.

The bear lowered its stance as if to pounce at any moment. It bared its razor-sharp claws, ready to tear him apart.

Theo licked his dry lips and counted to himself.

One.

Two.

If the timing was off by the slightest bit, it was goodbye to this world.

“……I still have work to do.”

Three!

On the count of three, Theo jumped behind the long blanket draped over the clothesline.

His heart was pounding so hard it threatened to explode.

Gaaaah!

The bear roared and shifted his weight as Theo ducked out of sight.

Ducking back under the covers, Theo waited for a moment. It was only a second or so, but it felt like an eternity to Theo.

Theo and the bear confronted each other through a thin sheet of blankets.

Just as the bear was about to pounce, Theo quickly threw himself off the ground and rolled across the room. At the same time, he reached for the wooden sword propped up by the door.

“Please……!

Theo cried out in desperation.

And boom!

As soon as he had the wooden sword in his hand, Theo spun around and quickly found the bear.

“There!”

The bear was wrapped in a blanket and struggling wildly to get free.

Gahhhhh!!!

The giant roar grew more ferocious.

I tried to take advantage of this and run for cover in the deep woods, but the bear was faster.

Before he knew it, the bear had torn the blanket to shreds and raised its front paws with its razor-sharp claws directly at Theo. Like the torn quilt, Theo was about to be torn to shreds.

If you can’t avoid it, you can only block it!

Theo raised the wooden sword in his hand and blocked with all his might.

Oof.

He barely rolled to the side as his wooden sword broke.

The bear’s claws dug deep into the ground as it shot down.

Aaaah!

The bear’s red, bloodshot eyes glowed eerily. It was truly pissed off.

Theo could feel it in his gut.

“Haha. Not a pretty death.”

Theo laughed, an odd thing to do in the face of death.

“I thought I told you to go far away to die.”

Hestia had said that to me when we first met.

I thought about running as far away as I could, but that was impossible when I was already on the ground. If I stood up to run away, the bear would catch me.

I didn’t think I had any regrets in life…….

“Well, I guess I’m going to regret it.”

The bear lunged at him, raising its massive arms.

Its sharp claws shot out quickly, ready to pierce Theo.

“Let’s see how far we can go!”

Theo kept his eyes on the bear’s claw the entire time and rolled on the ground again, narrowly avoiding it.

But he didn’t dodge it completely.

He could feel a stinging sensation along his arm.

Before he had time to check the wound, the bear’s next attack came.

Theo threw himself further and further into the forest.

As he rolled on the ground, something hot, perhaps a rock, stained his left vision red.

He hastily raised his hand and wiped his forehead roughly.

I had to get away from the house. I couldn’t let them destroy the house.

That was why Theo hadn’t run inside.

And if Hestia happened to come home in the meantime…….

“I can’t leave her in danger.”

The bear attacked again.

Theo ducked his head quickly, and the bear’s claws grazed the top of his head.

The claws were so sharp that they only grazed the top of Theo’s head, sending his hair flying through the air.

Missing him, the bear’s paw slammed into a tree.

Thud!

The tree behind him snapped with a loud crack.

The bear, which was quickly drugged by Theo’s skillful dodging, let out a hot snort and let out a creepy roar.

Theo calmly backed away, never taking his eyes off the bear. Then something snagged on his foot.

Shit.

A tree had just fallen, blocking his path.

“Hah. Is this it?”

His heart sank.

There was nowhere to run.

Uh-oh-!

The bear let out a triumphant roar as it approached Theo.

The bear knew it was the last time, and it approached with a leisurely pace.

“I never thought of this as the end.”

Theo chuckled to himself.

So many lives had been sacrificed for such a trivial death, and he let out a self-indulgent chuckle.

And finally, right in front of him, the glowing bear stopped.

The bear’s size was staggering.

“……I’m sorry.”

To those who sacrificed on his behalf, to Hestia for saving him. Theo spoke a short, unintelligible salute.

Then he closed his eyes and went still.

“I shouldn’t have done what I did!”

I wonder if he died painlessly.

He could hear Hestia’s voice in his closed ears.

Yes. If she had seen this, she would have scolded herself.

Aaang!

Grrrrrr!

“Theo, wake up!”

“……?”

Theo’s eyes snapped open at the sound of Hestia’s voice, which was all too real, even in the afterlife.

“Hess, Tia-sama?”

Hestia’s face was right in front of him.

“Are you okay, are you badly hurt, I mean, how many times have I told you to be careful, ew!”

Her warm brown eyes reflected his own, full of surprise and concern.

“Is that you, Hestia?”

“Then what do I look like, a bear? Can you stand up?”

Hestia frowned, her eyes scanning Theo’s wounds, not wanting to touch them.

“That’s right, bear, it’s dangerous for you to be here!”

Theo snapped back to reality.

He didn’t know where the bear had disappeared to, but it must have been in the neighborhood because it had just been facing him.

“Now is not the time for you to worry about me! Come on, let’s go inside. I need to take a look at your wound.”

Ow!

Turn it off!

“…….”

Hestia could still hear the bear behind her, though it was farther away than it had been when she’d faced him.

But it wasn’t the only one; it was joined by another, more familiar beast.

Theo’s golden eyes fluttered open and he looked at Hestia in surprise.

But Hestia merely shrugged, still not turning around.

“What the hell…….”

I couldn’t even begin to fathom what was going on.

Of course, it would make sense if this was a dream or the afterlife, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“Let’s take care of your wounds first, and then I’ll explain, and you can stand up slowly.”

Hestia complied, slinging one of Theo’s arms over her shoulder and gingerly pulling him to his feet.

“But there’s a bear near the house!”

“Don’t worry, he’s probably playing with his other friend somewhere right now.”

Hestia’s words were soothing, and strangely enough, the tension in my body slowly eased, despite the alarm bells in my head.

True to her word, the sounds of the bear and other beasts grew farther and farther away.

When I emerged from the deep woods and arrived home, the yard was a disaster. A smashed clothesline, a shredded quilt, a potholed floor.

The only good news was that the house was intact.

“……I’m sorry.”

It was all his fault. Even if he hadn’t gone outside, it could have been…….

“I’m not sorry, as long as the house was still standing.” ……. Even if the house had collapsed, it wouldn’t have mattered.”

Hestia smiled brightly as if it didn’t matter.

“…….”

But even with that small comfort, Theo kept his head down and said nothing.