Kasha’s horse galloped down the ravine as if flying. Soon, she was able to discover the owner of the voice.

A large cave opened in the middle of the ravine. In front of what appeared at a glance to be a large beast’s den stood a big tree. And hanging from it, a noble man was trembling and shouting.

“G-get away, you demonic beast! I said get away!”

Below the tree, a house-sized gray bear was standing on two legs, violently swinging its front paws at the man.

The moment she saw the bear’s face, she understood why the man had called it a demon.

Blood-red blazing eyes. Teeth several times longer and denser than a normal bear’s. Spines protruding from the nape of its neck down its back.

This was no ordinary predator.

A magical beast. A kind of mutant transformed by shards of magic stone burrowing into its nerves.

And Kasha had unintentionally contributed to the birth of this terrible creature.

The second of the three magic stones Kasha had unsealed – Magic Stone Opus. Unlike the other two stones, this one was damaged in the process of separating the curse.

The attempt to separate the curse itself was successful, but as a result, the power of the magic stone itself was weakened.

But Simon, no, the mastermind behind him, had used the small fragments of that broken magic stone to create such a terrible magical beast.

That gray bear was the mastermind’s first test subject. After the success of this experiment, the mastermind continued to produce magical beasts. And finally, he even created Mine Wolfbane, a killing machine with formidable power.

All of this was a fact she had deduced by combining what she had learned while wandering the continent alone before her regression, the stories Leon had told her, and the facts the prison guards had gossiped about.

Kasha gazed at the terrifying gray bear magical beast with mixed emotions.

As the magical beast swung its terrifying front paws a few times, the tree was instantly reduced to a miserable state.

The man hanging from the tree that looked like it would collapse at any moment turned pale and screamed.

In his hands were a broken bow and a whip, with glass-like pieces emitting blue light attached to the whip. Each time he swung the whip at the bear, an eerie flash of light sparkled. It seemed to be a magic tool imbued with magical power.

However, it was just a futile attack against a magical beast that was not an ordinary animal.

Grooooowl

In the magical beast’s bright red eyes, a violent killing intent writhed. A will to tear its opponent to death and raw malice glowed ominously.

Kasha slowly dismounted her horse.

After stroking the horse, which was snorting nervously, she gently stepped towards the magical beast.

‘Although it wasn’t my intention, I brought you into this world, so now I must take you out.’

She slowly lowered the leather case she had been carrying on her shoulder and took out a magic tool.

Carefully stepping forward, she slung the magic tool over her shoulder and aimed.

Just then, as if to catch its breath, the bear magical beast stopped roaring and placed all four paws on the ground.

Crack.

And at that moment, the twig Kasha had stepped on broke, making a fairly loud noise.

Kasha froze. At the same time, the bear magical beast that had been growling with bared teeth sharply turned its head in her direction.

Thump thump

The sound of her heartbeat rang out as loudly as festival drums.

As if it had heard it, the bear magical beast that had been snorting caught sight of her. It slowly turned its body towards her. Its cruel eyes sparkled with the joy of discovering new prey.

Kasha gulped and opened the valve supplying energy to the magic tool. With a small whirring sound, the magic tool began to vibrate finely.

Kasha aimed at the bear magical beast, trying to stay calm.

But perhaps due to nervousness, her hand kept slipping, trembling.

Meanwhile, the bear magical beast began to approach her, lumbering.

Sweat trickled down her temples.

‘…Focus.’

As if sensing her anxiety, the bear magical beast began to pick up speed. It was incredibly fast. The distance between the magical beast and Kasha had already become quite close.

Kasha pulled the firing mechanism with trembling hands.

Whoosh

But the aim hopelessly missed. The golden beam that had been shot towards the magical beast dispersed futilely into the air.

As if realizing it had been targeted, the enraged magical beast let out a huge roar towards the sky from where it stood. The roar heard up close was terrifyingly heart-stopping.

Kasha’s fingers trembling towards the firing mechanism again.

It was then. A warm body temperature touched her cold fingers. At the same time, a quick and calm voice rang in her ear.

“Take a deep breath. Then hold your breath for a moment. After that, fire immediately. Don’t hesitate.”

Leon, who had approached without her noticing, was helping her aim with his cheek almost touching hers.

She could hear his breathing very close. His presence, no less powerful than that ferocious magical beast, enveloped Kasha’s body.

Somehow, her fear dissipated.

Her fingers, overlapped with his hand, no longer trembled.

She followed Leon’s instructions, inhaling and exhaling before holding her breath. Then, without hesitation, she pulled the trigger.

Whoosh

Clang

This time it was a hit.

The golden sphere struck the magical beast’s head precisely.

The magical beast fell backwards as if leaping. Then it lay still, as if dead. It was a surprisingly clean end.

“I-I did it.”

Kasha said in a trembling voice as she turned to look at Leon.

At the same time, Leon also turned to look at her, and for a moment their faces came close enough to almost touch.

It was a distance where they could feel each other’s breath.

Kasha’s dark pink eyes widened in surprise. Leon, with the area around his eyes reddened, was staring at her with a gaze that seemed about to devour her. He seemed to have already forgotten about the magical beast.

It was perhaps an even more violent and fierce gaze than the fallen magical beast.

Kasha realized that he was still not letting go of her hand placed on the firing mechanism.

It was hot. An inhuman temperature that felt like it would burn her hand at any moment. His breath was also rougher than usual.

Realizing that he was excited, Kasha became flustered. She tried to move her body away, but it didn’t work as she wanted. Like an animal frozen unable to move when caught in a predator’s gaze, she simply couldn’t shake him off.

Small blood vessels could be seen spreading in the whites of his eyes as he noticed Kasha’s confusion. His eyes trembled. His pupils were repeatedly contracting and dilating.

Leon felt his will and desire clashing and conflicting.

Kasha’s small, soft lips were parted as if tempting him in her confusion. He couldn’t take his eyes off the crimson color of her tongue visible between them.

He wanted to press his lips against hers right away.

He felt his reason weakening as if his brain had turned to mush. The situation and context didn’t matter. He felt like he was about to be crushed by the desire to rub his lips against hers and swallow her breath right now.

Just as the solid dam of reason was about to completely crumble, Leon noticed Kasha’s eyes blinking rapidly.

And her fingers squirming to break free from him.

She was afraid.

Realizing this in an instant, Leon felt his blood cool suddenly.

He bit the tender flesh inside his mouth roughly until his spine tingled with pain. It was to forget his lust through pain. Immediately, a metallic taste spread thickly in his mouth.

It was then. An irritating noise was heard from the direction where the bear had fallen.

Leon groaned and barely managed to separate himself from Kasha. Then he aimed his bow without hesitation in the direction of the sound. His posture was so straight that it was hard to believe he had been trembling with lust just moments ago.

“Step away from there.”

Startled, the man who had been sneaking towards the bear raised both hands in surrender. It was the same noble man who had climbed up the tree earlier when chased by the bear.

“L-Lord Leon? Ah, so it was you who took down this beast? I was just trying to take a look.”

“No.”

“Pardon?”

“I didn’t catch it. Miss Kasha Lyuschino here did.”

“Whaaat?”

The man drawled in a tone that seemed lacking in dignity. His face showed puzzlement as he looked at the magic tool Kasha was holding.

However, Leon didn’t bother to respond further to his words, and just tilted his head to the side while still aiming his bow. It was a signal to move away from the bear.

“No, I was just… trying to take a look because something seemed strange. This bear, I don’t know why, but it seems different from before.”

“That bear, it’s not dead yet.”

Kasha suddenly interjected. Her voice was calm and clear. As if nothing had happened.

“Pardon? But I saw it fall after being hit by something.”

“It’s just, sleeping.”

“Huh?”

“I put it to sleep, with holy power. So… if you keep, making noise like that, you’ll wake the bear up.”

Surprised by Kasha’s serious tone, the man finally stepped back from the bear. But he still tilted his head in confusion.

“Put it to sleep with holy power, what does that…”

Leon watched Kasha approach the bear and slowly followed behind her.

She was examining the man-eating bear, which seemed to be about ten times her size, with an indifferent face. She even went so far as to flip open one of the bear’s eyes to check its pupils.

At her fearless behavior, Leon reflexively put down his bow and reached for his sword. To prepare for the situation if the bear woke up.

“…Didn’t you say we shouldn’t wake it?”

“It’s okay for a moment. It’s been perfectly stabilized after being hit by highly condensed holy power. It’s probably having the best dream of its life so far.”

Hearing her words, Leon also carefully examined the sprawled bear.

‘That guy is right.’

He had a feeling that its appearance had changed strangely.

He was sure that just a moment ago, when aiming with the magic tool, he had seen something like spines protruding from the bear’s back.

The teeth also seemed much more terrifying than this. It was a horrible form that wouldn’t have been strange to mistake for a demon if seen at night.

However, the gray bear lying before his eyes now looked like an ordinary bear, albeit much larger than normal size.

That wasn’t all.

Leon was startled when he saw the bear’s expression. That ferocious and violent bear was now sleeping with a peaceful face, as if it had been freed from a terrible trap and found freedom.

And Kasha was looking down at such a bear with a complicated expression.

After a while, she raised her head and carefully asked Leon.

“This bear, please end its life as painlessly as possible. And, if it’s alright, please say a prayer. So that it may go to a good place.”