Bear’s Honey Chapter 4: Monitoring the Incubus Procurement

This is a short story by the same author as Home of the Zerg that I decided to do for my birthday. So I hope you enjoy this birthday release from me.

-Addis

 

Chapter 4: Monitoring the Incubus Procurement

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: KarateChopMonkey

“Southward… Southeast… Follow the mountain road down…”  Brand withdrew the map and stuffed it into his patched-up tattered bag. Leaning against a big tree, he carefully discerned the direction. Thanks to his bear heritage, his sense of direction in the wilderness was still pretty good.

He felt through the bag and ensured that the last two pieces of bread Alphard reluctantly agreed to “lend” him were still there, which eased his mind a bit. He was heading towards the nearest town, which was considered quite prosperous because a main road led to the harbor to the south, where many travelers came and went to rest. Although he didn’t know its name, Brand believed he could find suitable construction tools there.

Just a short while ago, earlier this morning, he and Alphard had stared silently at each other on the second floor of the Mage Tower for about three minutes. Finally, seeing Alphard’s increasingly darkening face, Brand reluctantly proposed to go procure supplies in the nearby town.

“Trying to run away?” Alphard directly speculated Brand’s thoughts with the worst expectation.

“How could I!? Since I’ve made a mistake, eaten your food, and received your precious… essence, I’ll do my best to compensate for your loss. But… if I don’t go, who will?” 

So, they silently stared at each other for a long time.

Alphard had last visited that town two years ago. He wasn’t entirely cut off from the outside world either; after all, he was a living being, and living beings needed to eat. Meat and plants could be found in the mountains, but he bought staples like bread. A big merchant in town bought cursed hands and some complementary poisons and antidotes from him. A runner would come to the doorstep of his box a few times a year and leave bread, coins, and locally unavailable materials in exchange.

Brand was surprised to hear this. Alphard still needed coins? He hardly ever left the house. What did he need coins for? 

The money would make things easier. With that, you could buy anything in town. Alphard just coldly replied, “You go. Don’t try any tricks; I have a way to monitor you. The consequence of escape is death. Also, I won’t lend you money. You’re responsible for repairing the wall, so you pay for it.”

Brand scratched his head. He only had two copper coins in his bag; he couldn’t buy anything with that. But that wasn’t a big problem; as long as there were villages and people, he was confident he could trade for things with his labor.

Alphard was quite easy to talk to; in the end, fearing starving to death himself, he gave Brand the bread. He’s a good person… Brand glanced at the sky, and a crow was always following him along the way, completely black from head to toe. It didn’t caw or hunt, its eyes devoid of any light, actually a dead bird that had been dead for who knows how long.

Brand had excellent observational skills in the wild and soon realized he was being tracked, “So this is the surveillance method Alphard mentioned… I’ve heard powerful mages can use the vision of other creatures to observe the outside world without any risk; it’s not just a legend!”

Truly amazing. Brand’s eyes gleamed, completely devoid of the nervousness one would expect from someone being surveilled.

And so, Brand traveled without a sleeping bag, just wrapped in his tattered jacket, catching a few naps along the way. After descending the mountain, he finished the bread halfway through the wilderness, so he leisurely caught a squirrel and a wild rabbit in the bushes for an additional meal. Before sleeping at night, he couldn’t resist taking off his pants and masturbating in the wild—now even the undead bird that shouldn’t have shown any expression seemed restless, flapping its wings faster, expressing silent anger—Brand, immersed in the pleasure of the mating season, didn’t understand, and fell asleep heavily after finishing.

Stopping and going for several days, Brand finally saw the town’s silhouette from afar. Outside the town were cornfields and other fields that Brand didn’t recognize, and in March, people were already working in the fields. Brand hadn’t seen anyone besides Alphard for a long time, and he excitedly grabbed his backpack and ran over.

“Uncles, bros, good morning! Are you guys plowing in spring? It must be hard work!” Brand waved vigorously and greeted these unfamiliar strong men loudly as if they were old acquaintances from the same village.

The wings of the undead bird circling low in the distance stiffened for a moment, almost falling off because it forgot to flap its wings.

“Ah, yes, starting early makes it easier later! A young man from out of town? Why are you dressed like this? What happened? Robbed by bandits?” A friendly middle-aged man closest to him put down his farm tools, avoided the well-tended soil under his feet and walked slowly over. 

Brand covered his short demonic horn with a piece of cloth, and now he looked like a tall, sturdy human. Brand went straight to the point, “Lived in the mountains all winter, ran out of money. Sorry, I wanted to ask if you need any labor. I can do farm work, carpentry, bricklaying; I can even chop wood! I need money; I need to exchange it for a cart of bricks, a saw, a shovel, and some food.” 

“Just the beginning of spring, plenty of places need help! Go into town, go to the resident square in front of the mayor’s house, and ask around. If you can’t find it, come to my field at home, haha!” The farmer’s uncle laughed heartily and patted Brand’s sturdy shoulder. Suddenly, he felt the young man in front of him staring at him with a hot gaze; he even nervously swallowed his saliva! Such an honest kid. “No need to be so grateful… ah, my wife is here to deliver food. She runs a grocery store in town. You can go see if there’s anything you need later.”

Brand was taken aback momentarily, turning his head to see a middle-aged woman with a basket, smiling happily as she walked towards them. The basket was covered with a red checkered cloth, and there must be steaming hot new food underneath, still emitting a delicious aroma through the fabric.

What a good wife. I can’t eat this person… Brand felt a bit down, and the sudden appetite surge disappeared instantly. He almost did something wrong again. He couldn’t help but purse his lips, took a few steps back, and then smiled and said goodbye, saying he would go to the city to look.

“…” Alphard rubbed his eyes and temporarily disconnected his spirit from the shared vision of the undead crow, letting it perch on the eaves of the town clock tower on standby. He had just watched Brand enter the town, first going to the shopping street he had passed by but never explored, going door to door to greet people and ask where to buy tools. Then he went to the square near the mayor’s house to greet and ask if any work was available, and even directly visited the mayor to ask for some part-time work.

Although Alphard had only monitored the vision of birds for a few days, his mind was more exhausted than ever before.

…So many people. It made him dizzy.

“Rest for a while; he shouldn’t dare to run away.” If all of this was an escape opportunity deliberately created by Brand, then he truly had outstanding acting skills like a stage performer. But it turned out Brand didn’t have that intention. When Alphard finally endured the discomfort of seeing too many living people, the chest tightness and nausea, and regained the shared vision of the undead crow, Brand was already chopping wood for some shop, looking particularly diligent.

Alphard didn’t care how Brand made money. But seeing someone sweating while chatting enthusiastically with a hunched old lady leaning on a cane for support, he thought to himself that if it weren’t for the incubus bloodline causing the need to have sex with men, Brand would indeed be the most popular type of person in human society.

If he had known that this idiot Brand could easily get food in a human village like this, he wouldn’t have given him the remaining bread at home. After staring for a while, Alphard was annoyed by Brand and the constant chatter of the trembling old lady, his head starting to ache, so he gave up on surveillance and turned to go downstairs to stir the crucible in a steady, clockwise motion to regain mental calm.

The last time he reconnected, the vision was at eleven o’clock that night. Before meditating, Alphard thought about the evident appetite shown by the human uncle from the outskirts of town for the fields. His demeanor at the time seemed like drool was about to spill out; only foolish villagers wouldn’t understand.

Alphard had wanted to see if Brand would “hunt” the uncle from that morning as part of his observation and research on the incubus creature, but Brand seemed to have no intention of acting. He somehow got free lodging rights in the backyard shed of a small inn, rolled up his coat in a corner to use as a pillow, and lay down like that. Brand curled up and fiddled with his crotch for a while, probably contemplating self-gratification but fearing it might drain his energy for work the next day. After a few minutes of relentless battle with his mind, he gave up, closed his eyes, and tried to sleep.

Not even three seconds after closing his eyes, the shed echoed with snoring, and Brand slept particularly soundly. It seemed he understood the urgency of the situation, that earning money to repair his wall was the most important thing.

Alphard mentally justified Brand’s instantly falling asleep as a positive attitude towards working to pay off debts the next day. He also recalled the story Brand had previously described being chased by a married woman with a broom to the village gate.

Brand’s seemingly empty brain knew how to learn from experience. Truly remarkable.

Relieved from the view of the dead bird, Alphard let out a sigh. He felt his eyelids heavy, touching his brow, and the sourness from his eyelids to his bones suddenly made him realize something. As a watcher, he hadn’t had a decent rest in days, hadn’t studied magic, or even quieted his mind for meditation… was this who he was supposed to be?