TVCWB Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The bag was heavier than Ray expected.
He had only offered to carry it on a whim, but now it felt like that whim had turned into a surprisingly good decision.

He rolled his shoulders, testing the weight again, and frowned slightly.

“We’re just going to a small village forest. Isn’t this a bit too much?”

“Not at all! You never know what could happen!”

“…Hmm?”

“Don’t just ‘hmm’ it away! No one in our village thought a huge accident could happen in this little forest either, remember?”

At that, Ray finally nodded.
She wasn’t wrong. The accident he and Theo had suffered was one of the biggest incidents this quiet village had ever seen.

Even Ray, who had survived countless battlefields, admitted that this one had been serious.

“Hmm…”

“Aha! You’re quiet because you know I’m right, aren’t you?”

Perea teased, grinning as Ray pursed his lips.
He raised one eyebrow, visibly annoyed — but his tail twitched, betraying his mood.

Of course, Perea caught it immediately.
She had studied veterinary medicine; she could read animal body language better than anyone.

Her cheerful laughter echoed down the narrow forest path.

***

After walking for a while, the two of them reached a large, black crater.

In the bright daylight, the accident site looked even more severe.
It was almost a miracle that Ray had escaped with only his injuries.

The smile vanished from Perea’s face.
Ray’s expression hardened too as he began scanning the area carefully.

She followed him, searching among the broken trees and scorched earth.

“Are you looking for something? Should I help you search?”

“I’m not sure what I’m looking for. I just said it was an accident.”

His curt reply made Perea frown, but she quickly realized — maybe he truly didn’t know what caused the accident either.

It wasn’t as if he had been drinking while driving the prince’s carriage.
And this forest wasn’t known for monsters or magical beasts.
Unless lightning had literally fallen from the clear sky, there was no reason for such destruction.

She decided not to take his short answers personally and instead began her own observations.

Fortunately, since the accident, the rabbit villagers had been too scared to come near the forest. Nothing had been moved or damaged since that day.

As she sifted through the pile of carriage fragments, something shiny caught her eye.

She crouched down. It was a roughly cut yellow gemstone, rimmed with dull silver.
But instead of reflecting light like a jewel, it seemed to swallow it — dark and cloudy, almost ominous.

“Ray!”

She called out, unease creeping into her voice.

Ray, who had been inspecting nearby trees, quickly approached.

“What is it—? …Wait. That’s…”

“You know what this is? It feels… I don’t know, cursed? Like it’s possessed by an evil spirit or something!”

It was an odd thing for a trained veterinarian to say, but that was exactly how it felt.
Perea instinctively stepped back from the strange stone.

She expected Ray to scoff at her superstition — but his face grew serious.

He prodded the gem lightly with the tip of his sword sheath, then straightened up and pulled her backward.

“Step back.”

“W-was I right?! Is it really possessed?!”

Perea screamed, tracing a cross in the air with trembling fingers.

Her heart was pounding. I knew it looked too ugly to be normal! Oh no, an actual cursed object? I thought that stuff only existed in ghost stories!

Tears welled up in her eyes — Perea was infamous in the village for being terrified of anything supernatural.

Her reaction was so over the top that Ray grimaced.
To his sensitive beastman ears, her voice was painfully loud.

And honestly… it was broad daylight. Was she really that scared?

With a sigh, Ray grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer — she’d run all the way to the edge of the clearing without noticing.

“W-what are you doing?! I’m going back to the village—!”

“It’s not cursed.”

“…Really?”

Only when Ray repeated himself did Perea slowly lower her hands and undo the little cross she’d made.

Still, she kept her hips tilted backward, clearly ready to bolt if anything twitched.
The thought that she’d abandon her companion and flee at the first sign of trouble was exactly why Ray sometimes found humans scarier than monsters.

Suppressing a dry laugh, he went on:

“Have you ever heard of a monster bomb?”

“A… monster bomb?”

The term wasn’t completely unfamiliar. Perea’s brow furrowed as she tried to recall her studies — then her eyes widened in realization.

“I know! They’re made by refining monster stones, right? But wait— are you saying this thing is one of those?”

Her pupils trembled violently.
A monster bomb was far worse than a cursed item.

Yet this time, instead of running, she stepped forward to look closer.

Ray immediately pulled her back behind him.

“I told you not to get close. We don’t know when or how it could explode.”

“It won’t explode.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Ray gave her a skeptical look, his icy blue eyes narrowing.
But Perea met his gaze confidently.

The truth was — her minor in university had been Monsterology.

Sure, she was terrified of ghosts or curses, but when it came to living creatures, her curiosity knew no bounds.
Whether it was beastmen, animals, or monsters, she wanted to understand them all.

She had spent five straight years studying with barely three hours of sleep a night, cramming every bit of knowledge she could into her head.

Now, that knowledge was finally useful.

“It’s simple if you think about the active duration of a monster bomb. Though newer versions might work differently, let’s set that aside for now.”

She paused, recalling her old lecture notes vividly.

Even if it was just a minor subject, she remembered the theory as if she’d studied it yesterday.

“First of all, look at the transparency — it’s too cloudy. The stronger the bomb, the brighter and clearer it shines, like a real jewel.
And see this silver casing? It’s supposed to turn black right before detonation, but this one hasn’t changed color at all.
So I’m certain this one’s a dud — it’s not going to explode.”

She explained smoothly and confidently.
Her reasoning was solid — enough to make even Ray reconsider.

Then, with a hopeful smile, she added carefully:

“So… can I keep it?”

“No.”

“Ehh? Why not?”

“Even if you’re right, it’s still dangerous. We’ll destroy it here.”

He refused flatly.

Perea deflated, then clasped her hands together like she was begging for mercy.

“Just five more minutes! Let me examine it a bit longer before you destroy it!”

“Haa…”

“Please, Ray— I mean, Ray oppa! The Empire’s most handsome, most skilled knight!”

Ray sighed deeply, looking at her as though she’d just insulted his ancestors.
Still, he gave a reluctant nod.

He would’ve preferred she didn’t call him oppa ever again, though.

Perea cheered quietly, bouncing in place like an excited puppy.
If she’d had a tail, it would’ve been wagging furiously.

“How come you didn’t recognize it at first, though? You seem to know a lot about it now.”

“Because it’s my first time seeing a real one! I only studied from books!”

“Ahh.”

“And honestly, I didn’t think they’d be this small. The pictures in textbooks made them look huge!”

She laughed awkwardly.
The bomb was smaller than a fingertip — so different from the massive devices she’d imagined.

“Makes sense,” Ray said quietly. “This one’s a modified version.
I’ve only ever seen them right before or right after explosion, so I didn’t recognize an inactive one.”

He stared intently at the tiny object resting in her hand.

He knew someone who liked to modify these bombs — someone who always made them in this exact yellow color.

If this one had actually gone off instead of misfiring…

Ray’s expression turned deadly cold.
The air around him sharpened like a blade, radiating a killing intent so intense that Perea instinctively flinched.

A shiver ran down her spine.

She didn’t know who he was thinking of — but she could feel it.
Whoever had done this wasn’t just dangerous… they were someone Ray hated deeply.