* * *
Miros told me not to come for a while.
They said I was interfering with their survival. So, I am staying away. It’s not that I want Miros to die; it’s just that they are so pretty, and I enjoy watching them.
So, I wait. I spend my time aimlessly rolling around. It’s strange. I’ve been doing this for ages, but why am I so bored now?
How long exactly is “for a while”? I’ve only seen the sun twice since then, but I miss them so much.
“I want to see Miros.”
Harvey, who had been watching me with a pathetic look, spoke up irritably.
“Please, stop whining to me and just go to that damn human! This is my cave!”
Harvey is a grizzly bear. He knows more about humans than I do. He said he was raised by humans when he was young. That’s why I’ve been visiting Harvey often lately. And that’s why he’s getting so angry.
As I mentioned, Harvey is a grizzly bear.
“I can’t even hibernate properly because of you! I already don’t have enough food, so what am I supposed to do if you keep waking me up? If I don’t make it to spring, it’s all your fault!”
“I brought some honeycomb over there. It should be enough to eat for a while.”
“No! I said it wrong! Don’t come even if there’s food! Go bother the spirits that wait on you!”
“The dryads are all sleeping. It’s winter.”
I flailed my front paws and clung to Harvey, who was throwing a fit.
“Do you want to spend this winter in my nest? I haven’t checked how much of everything else is there, but there’s plenty of honey.”
“It’s a pain! Don’t come! Just kidnap that human or something!”
“…Should I?”
Honestly, I was tempted. It seemed like a good idea. But I soon shook my head.
“They’re still a young one, and for now, they have their own kind. A lot of them. Wouldn’t it be too much in many ways to steal an individual blessed by the stars from their pack?”
No matter how greedy I felt, actually doing it was a different matter. Even if it seemed like their kind wasn’t looking after them.
Miros might look insignificant right now, but they will become someone truly great. They will become precious to all things. That is what it means to be blessed by the stars. They are so precious that such a blessing was bestowed upon them.
But Harvey mocked my concern with a cold laugh.
“Don’t make me laugh. Humans wouldn’t even care what you did to that kid. If you offered to give them just one of your small leaves, they’d probably hand over their own mates.”
“Humans are truly… strange.”
Is that even possible? It doesn’t fit the usual order I know at all. I thought of them as just good neighbors. As I tilted my head, Harvey stopped scratching and spoke seriously.
“Don’t let your guard down just because their physical bodies are weak. They are that much more poisonous and mean. They do whatever they want and act in ways that make no sense as easily as they breathe. You shouldn’t try to understand them. Just knowing that they’re weird is enough.”
I don’t know what kind of face I was making, but Harvey snorted when he saw me.
“You’re strong and have a lot, so humans just haven’t been able to climb over you. If they thought they had even a slight chance, they would have burned you to death and stolen everything.”
It’s complicated. In the first place, I cannot die, so would humans not know what everyone else knows?
And what do I have that they would steal? All I have is my power. My power is the power of the source; how could a mere human steal it, and even if they did, they couldn’t use it. Why would they do something so stupid?
“But humans are too weak for that.”
“That’s why they’re being obedient to you.”
I guess it really is complicated. I just want to see pretty Miros.
“How long exactly is ‘a few days,’ ‘a little bit,’ or ‘for a while’?”
“I don’t care, so just go back to your nest!”
Harvey scratched my back irritably, but I just gave him a big hug. Even Harvey is this weak; what on earth could humans, who are weaker than Harvey, possibly do?
It’s not that Harvey is lying, but I feel like he might be overestimating humans.
Exactly one more day passed. It was the third day. That means I’ve only seen the sun three times.
In the past, I wouldn’t have cared much even if the sun rose and set many times, but since I miss Miros so much, I just stare at the sky endlessly.
The dryads in my nest are sleeping, and those of lower status can’t even come near. If I approach them carelessly, they die right where they stand, so I can’t just hold onto them.
Harvey is an individual who has lived a long time for a bear. Even for those blessed by the stars, it’s rare to surpass the limits of one’s origin as much as Harvey has.
I think humans call it “transcendence” when they go beyond the limits of their own bodies.
Harvey has reached eternity. He can’t be compared to me, but he has acquired divinity. However, he won’t become a god anyway. Because there is no faith. I suppose that transcendence means the same thing.
Also, perhaps because he lived with humans, he doesn’t die on his own even though I am around. Most other individuals fall into terror and lose their minds just by my existence.
“Harvey. How old were you again?”
“Roughly 140 years by human standards? I think it’s more than that, but I stopped counting at some point, so I don’t remember.”
Even while grumbling, Harvey stopped trying to kick me out. After checking the honey pot I brought, he accepted it, thinking, ‘It’s annoying, but I guess I have no choice.’
I thought I brought a little, but I guess Harvey eats even less than I thought. Seeing him so happy when I only brought a piece about the size of a cow.
Harvey’s cave is too cramped for me. I couldn’t stay in my true form, so I was in human form. Harvey has a lot of fur and is warm. Since it’s winter, he’s gained a lot of weight, so he’s even fluffy. It means it feels good to hold him.
I said while hugging the plump Harvey.
“Do you think Miros misses me by now?”
“Why would that human miss you when you just show up whenever you want and watch them?”
“That’s true. I’m just complaining because I miss them.”
“Damn it. Spring needs to come quickly so you’ll stop bothering me and go back to shaking your fancy grass roots.”
Even though he says mean things, he is busily clutching the honey pot I brought and biting into it. The sweet smell of honey fills the entire area.
“I want to see pretty Miros. Their lifespan is already short, so it’s such a waste not to see them.”
Because I kept whining, Harvey said while munching on the honeycomb.
“Humans sleep at night.”
“They do? Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve specifically seen them at night…”
“Most of them sleep. Especially human hatchlings; they sleep a lot. They sleep as much as cats.”
“So?”
I didn’t know what he was trying to say. At my words, Harvey flailed his honey-covered front paws in the air as if he were frustrated.
“If you miss them that much, you can just go see them secretly at night. They aren’t active and are sleeping, so they won’t even know you visited.”
“My goodness, there was such a way…!”
I didn’t know. Humans sleep at night. Thinking about it, I always went during the day. That’s because I can see them better when the sun is shining. I never thought to look in on them at night.
“You’re the smartest bear in the world!”
“…You just had zero interest in humans. Even things without spirits know this much.”
“I hope the sun sets soon!”
This is no time for this! I have to get ready! I hurriedly left Harvey’s cave.
“I’ll be back! Goodnight!”
Harvey shouted something from behind, but unfortunately, I wasn’t in the right mind to hear it.
I returned to my nest very quickly.
Since the sun has almost set now, I’ll go down as soon as that sunset glow fades. Is there anything Miros would like? I think they liked strawberries, but I feel bad asking them to bloom again right now. What should I do?
They couldn’t even eat meat last time. Their teeth are blunt and their jaws are weak, so they probably can’t eat hard things. Do humans eat honey too? I think there was a gold flute that Pelos gave me before; couldn’t that be exchanged for that thing called money?
No, if I take too much, they won’t be able to carry it all. Miros is human, and an especially small and weak one at that. They are someone who can’t even lift a stone the size of their own head. I should select things specially and take just a little, but make it meaningful.
I packed things that Miros might like and waited for the sun to set. I watched the orange sunset and tapped my feet, telling it to go down quickly.
But, for some reason. Just before the sunset glow faded, I smelled blood.
Suddenly, why?
It’s strange. Is there a reason I should be told this?
All things eat and are eaten. They fight and they run away. Everything lives and survives according to the natural order. This means there is no reason or need to report the smell of blood.
And yet, if the smell of blood is felt from somewhere, there is only one reason.
Something somewhere is telling to me. It means it thinks this smell of blood is important to me and is telling to let me know.
—Where, what?
Even when I try to resonate, there is no answer. It means something very small, from very far away, is telling. Something so insignificant it can’t even resonate properly.
I don’t know why, but a thought suddenly occurred to me.
Did something happen to Miros?
I know it’s a ridiculous imagination. Even though Miros isn’t cared for by their own kind, they are an individual blessed by the stars. Besides, they said humans don’t eat their own kind.
But if it’s telling this desperately, wouldn’t it be something big? It wouldn’t be like this just for a small injury.
It might not be Miros. Still, it’s hard to think it’s anything else.
Because as far as I know, the only weak thing is Miros. Other things are those who cannot even have death as they wish. There is no need to tell the danger to me. If they were in danger, the world would step in, not just inform me.
Let’s just go and check.
Miros might hate it. They might get angry, saying I came too early. But I couldn’t just ignore this. There aren’t many things that beautiful, and no matter how much time passes, they aren’t easy to find.
I threw aside everything I had packed and went down to the human city, to where Miros was.
* * *
