“Hey! Yuuta! Let’s head back already!”
“No way! If you wanna head back, then do it on your own!”
A boy and girl walked together through the dark forest. Both hands of the boy walking in front were occupied. In his right, he held a wooden toy sword. In his left, a Fire magic stone meant for use around the house. As a result, he had no hand to offer the girl.
The girl called out to her friend to try to get him to call it quits, having a terribly rough time with the winding roots of the trees all the while.
“Hey, come on, let’s go back! They’re going to really give it to us if we do this!”
“It’ll be fine! If I beat the bergbear, then everyone will be proud of us! And even if I can’t beat it, just scaring it away’ll be enough!”
“But...!”
“It’s fine! I have this Fire magic stone!”
The boy had heard something from one of the customers in a certain restaurant in Cardiff: The monsters of the forest feared fire. That was because beings who could harness it hardly ever came there, and monsters were susceptible to the fear of the unknown. Wolves, for example, would flee.
It would be troublesome if they made it into town, but as long as they were periodically driven away with fire, it never became a problem.
“If I use this to scare away the bergbear, I’ll be one step closer to being a hero!”
The boy admired heroes. He’d read of their adventures and legends in picture books.
The Medium of the Sun.
The Chivalrous Thief Kururukan’s Journey.
The Legend of the Sealed Spirit of Light.
The characters from those tales all had strong mana and used amazing techniques.
However, it wasn’t just their power that the boy admired. All of those protagonists fought to save or protect someone.
The Medium of the Sun sought to protect the land from the star falling upon it.
Kururukan sought to steal a future for poor, needy children.
The Spirit of Light had stopped time for itself in order to heal all people throughout eternity.
The boy wanted to do something like that, to be like them. To give someone a future. To help someone out.
Though he was a child, he realized that was a selfish desire. But if he just sat around town waiting, then what would ever change?! Should he just leave himself to the mercy of the flow of time?! Eating food, sleeping, becoming an adult, finding a job... Is that all his life would be?!
He didn’t know. He was still just a kid, so he wasn’t sure. But the boy, he wanted to make a change.
“Hey, Yuuta... Look...”
“...!”
The boy felt determination well up in his chest. Ironically, though, it was the girl who spotted it.
“The bergbear...”
There was a round, very large black mass in front of them, moving slightly as it breathed.
Its size was so great that the boy even forgot to inhale. It was like just before a hiccup.
The terror had caused him to go numb, robbing his body of its basic functions.
This is my chance... That was what the boy thought.
Everyone let their guards down when they slept.
If the bergbear hated fire, then if it was suddenly attacked with flame and got all surprised, it might run away.
“Ana, step back.”
“Ah... but...”
He poured mana into the Fire magic stone. That was something even a child could do. With that, the oil on the surface caught fire. It would soon become a fireball, most likely.
There was no turning back now.
“...Hup!”
Toooooss.
Tmp.
Fwoosh!!
“...”
“...”
The fireball had landed atop the round mountain of fur.
It wasn’t moving...?
...That didn’t seem right.
At first, it sloooowly lifted its head. Then, it began to get even bigger. Had it been curled up in a ball before? The boy and girl were dumbfounded.
Now that it had gotten up and shifted its posture, it was bigger than a house.
It sluggishly surveyed its surroundings. Was this monster really all that scary?
Everything was terribly silent as its gaze stopped on the burning stone. It seemed that its fur was getting burned.
With its terribly long claws, it grabbed the stone.
Tear, tear, rip!
The flames cast its black fur in an orange light.
Woosh! ...Rustle!
It tossed away the Fire magic stone into the forest.
The boy and girl looked at one another.
It was bright, and there was light coming out of the thicket.
The Fire stone was still burning.
The trunks of the trees were now in full view.
“Grrrr....”
They were shocked.
There was a monster right now, right before their very eyes, right? Something inhuman, that even the adults were afraid of. A creature that made them close the gates and bolt them.
...Was it alright, taking their eyes off something like that?
They steadily... sloooowly... looked back towards it.
The two of them must have moved perfectly in sync.
It was still quiet all around.
They noticed that the fire off to their side was growing bigger.
The monster’s face was illuminated.
It was looking... right at them.
It raised its eyes.
It showed its teeth.
Its white breath was visible.
Ah, it’s angry...
“Rooooooooooooooar!!!!!”
“Gyaaaaaaah!!!” the boy and the girl screamed out together.
The hero took the girl’s hand and ran away, screaming all the while.