Episode 25

“Are you sure you’re not hungry?”

“You must have asked me this a hundred times.”

“You know, …… sometimes exaggerate things.”

“And yet you keep asking the same question, Hestia.”

“Are you sure you’re not hungry?”

“…….”

Theo sat up and picked up the thin blanket.

“Okay, okay. I won’t ask anymore!”

Bedding was not something you could pick up off the ground when fighting a bear.

There was only one covering in the house, a thin blanket that Hestia sometimes pulled off the table.

After some back-and-forth about who would cover it, it was agreed that they would have a light dinner, and Theo would cover it. He scolded Hestia, saying that she must be tired from the outing and that she should eat well when she was sick.

Eventually, Hestia shut up and crawled into bed.

There was a comfortable silence.

Neither of them said a word, but the air was not awkward.

They had gotten used to each other like this.

“……Now, tell me what happened.”

Theo’s golden eyes slowly turned toward Hestia, his gaze filled with curiosity. He wondered how he’d ever been able to resist asking.

Of course, it wasn’t just questions about this case; there was a lot of old stuff, stuff from way down in the depths.

“Didn’t I tell you that the bears will be hibernating soon, so they should be out foraging now?”

Theo swallowed the question this time, knowing that Hestia would not answer it.

“Yes.”

Theo could only nod in silence.

“By this time, his sense of smell is pretty keen, so he probably smelled the food in the house, and then the people, and came down here, because he doesn’t normally come down here.”

Theo held still, letting Hestia’s voice fill his ears.

Her distinctive tone was like a lush forest. Everything about it was like Hestia, creating a refreshing languor.

“She lost a cub to a hunter, and she hates people, which is probably why she attacked you, and it’s because of that bear that this forest is not easily entered.”

“But what about Hestia? Isn’t Hestia in danger too?”

My first thought was for Hestia’s safety.

Worrying about Hestia, who would be all alone in this forest once I was gone.

“Um…….”

Hestia stood still, choosing her next words. She seemed unsure of where to begin and where to end.

“I have permission.”

That was all Hestia could tell Theo.

He didn’t press her further, knowing it was for the best.

“…….”

She felt Theo’s gaze on her, but Hestia continued, still staring off into space.

“At the same time I arrived, another beast took the bear into the forest.”

“The one you said earlier was a friend of the bear……?”

“Yes. Well, not exactly a friend, more like a foe because he couldn’t eat him.”

“Was the beast a bear, too?”

“Umm……. That’s a tough one. It’s kind of like a wolf, but not exactly. It also looks a little bit like a coyote……. No, let’s just say wolf.”

At Hestia’s confusion, Theo stared at her face, wondering if she was playing a joke on him again, but there was no sign of it.

“Then the beast isn’t dangerous to you, Hestia, right?”

“Yes. I’m friendly with him, and he won’t attack you, so you shouldn’t be too afraid.”

“How do you know all that?”

This was something I would never have understood using my common sense.

They were words that would have been dismissed as a prank, or worse, dismissed as insane, but Theo could see that she was telling the truth.

They were a vague hint of a past she had lived, a life he could barely imagine.

Hestia had come to trust him, too. It was the same way that they’d naturally woven themselves into each other’s lives.

She knew that Theo would believe her, and so she spoke up.

“If you live long enough, you learn things.”

Hestia’s eyes flickered with a strange reminiscence, then snapped out of it.

“One last thing.”

Theo interrupted, catching Hestia before she could finish.

“Yes.”

Thankfully, Hestia nodded.

“Earlier, Hestia, I was wondering if the clothes you were wearing had…….”

Theo paused for a moment, afraid that Hestia would give him another answer.

“Clothes?”

Hestia cocked her head, waiting for Theo to speak.

“What was on the clothes, the blood?”

It wasn’t until Theo opened his mouth carefully that Hestia remembered the wound that had already been cleaned.

“Ah…….”

Hestia was speechless with embarrassment.

Theo stood still, waiting for her reaction.

She would probably curl her lips into a tight line and chew her bottom lip impatiently. Then she’d say something about it being no big deal.

“It’s no big deal…….”

Done.

“I’m just asking because I don’t think it’s a big deal.”

At first, I thought I’d just scratched myself on a branch while walking through the deep woods.

But the location of the bloodstains on my clothes told me that was not the case.

Rather.

‘A sword wound…….’

Theo’s gaze, both convinced and questioning, urged Hestia on.

“……It was an accidental scratch while gathering herbs.”

But the answer came back as expected.

Hestia wasn’t willing to be honest this time.

“That’s all I can tell you, now go to sleep. A good night’s sleep will heal your wounds.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Hestia snuffed out the candle. Soon, the room was plunged into darkness.

“Good night, my dear.”

“Yep. Good night, too.”

With that final greeting, they were each lost in their thoughts.

When Theo’s movements ceased and she heard regular breathing, Hestia crept out of bed.

By her best guess, it was just beginning to dawn.

Not wanting to wake Theo, Hestia grabbed her magpie and crept outside.

The only sound in the room she left was the breathing of a single person and the twinkling of golden eyes like stars in the night sky.

* * *

“Whoa.”

Hestia exhaled loudly as she stepped out into the courtyard, holding her breath.

“Finn.”

She ran into Finn, who had come running up to her on his way to meet Lu earlier.

She was surprised by what she heard, more surprised than she had been in years.

“Hestia!

Finn popped out of the bushes as if he’d been waiting for me all along.

“Thank you so much for today.”

Hestia bent down and scratched Finn’s head gently.

Finn’s ears twitched back and his eyes squeezed shut as he seemed to enjoy the touch.

“You had a hard time trying to lure Ben away, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but he didn’t even pretend to listen to me! I even brought him my blueberries!

I didn’t have to look to see it. You must have been trying to send the bear somewhere else, laying out all kinds of sweet fruit in the opposite direction from the house…….

“It must have already smelled Theo and lost it, and that was a trauma for Ben that we can’t imagine.”

Because of what happened, Ben gave up on being a spirit and chose to live as an animal.

It was a painful choice, a determination to never forget that painful memory.

“He’s not like me, he’s cool…….”

A friend who was the exact opposite of the person he was trying to forget.

“It’s not that I don’t understand Ben, but…….

Finn’s voice was weak.

His normally perky ears had drooped down.

“I’m going to have to talk to Ben sooner or later.”

“Come with me, I’ll tell him the story!

“Yeah. Thanks, Finn.”

Finn quickly perked up and bounced around Hestia.

“Keep up the good work. I’m sure Theo will be leaving soon, so until then.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of the little human!

Finn scrambled to his paws and twitched his black nose.

The sight was both cute and reassuring, and Hestia smiled wryly and held out her hand to him.

Finn’s floppy ears danced, and he laid his head still in Hestia’s palm.

A soft glow of warmth burst forth and enveloped Finn’s body. His short tail wagged restlessly with instinctive fullness.

Hestia’s lips curled into a smile at the sight of him.

Her life force, converging on infinity, made them voracious predators. Giving them her life force wasn’t a bad trade-off, since she benefited so much from them.

“Thank you, Hestia!

The glow faded, and Finn stuck out his tiny tongue to tickle Hestia’s hand.

“Mine.”

Hestia smiled brightly and gently stroked Finn’s head.

“I’ll have to do some sewing tomorrow.”

She couldn’t leave a sick Theo at home alone in the village again, so she’d gather the fabric she had left over and make a quilt.

“If Theo finds out, he’ll just nag me to go to town again.”

The thought made me laugh. How stubborn little things can be.

Hestia poked her head out of the yard as the morning’s clear sunlight pierced the blue dawn.

“Good night, Hestia!

“Good night, Finn, too.”

With a final wave, Finn disappeared into the bushes.

Hestia started toward the house, which was still silent.

Thankfully, Theo didn’t seem to be awake. He was sleeping, breathing as evenly as he had when she’d left.

Hoo. Exhaling the breath she’d been holding quietly, Hestia slowly lay down on her bed and closed her eyes.

It had been a long, hard day, and it was only a matter of time before she drifted off to Suma.

“…….”

Theo made sure that Hestia was completely asleep, then stretched as best he could and got out of bed.

It was the time he usually woke up for his morning training.

Taking the blanket he’d wrapped her in, which was still warm, Theo walked over to her and covered her carefully.

Against the dim light of dawn, Theo squinted at Hestia.

“……What the hell, who are you.”

What is it?

The question rose to the top of her throat.

But he swallowed hard, forcing it back into his throat.

The veins in her clenched hands stood out.

He knew Hestia would never give him a good answer to this question.

But also because I knew that the moment I spoke the question, she would vanish.