Kael had a theory.

A terrible one.

A horrifying one.

One supported by years of evidence.

Whenever Seraphina became interested in something—

The situation immediately became worse.

The roar echoed again.

Closer.

Louder.

The trees trembled.

Birds burst from the forest canopy.

A herd of deer sprinted across a distant hillside.

Running.

Fleeing.

Escaping something.

Rowan’s expression darkened.

That alone was enough to concern Kael.

Because until now—

The traveler had seemed amused by almost everything.

"How strong is a Runhorn Bear?"

Seraphina asked.

Rowan looked at her.

Then at the destroyed hillside.

Then at the dead boar.

Then back at her.

"...For you?"

"Yes."

A pause.

"Probably not very."

Kael hated that answer.

Because it was true.

Seraphina looked pleased.

"Excellent."

"No."

Kael answered immediately.

"Why?"

"We are not hunting it."

"Why?"

"Because we don’t know what it is."

"That’s how discoveries work."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

Rowan slowly stepped backward.

He wasn’t afraid of the monster.

He was afraid of the conversation.

Reasonable.

Very reasonable.

The roar came again.

Closer.

This time—

They heard trees breaking.

Something massive was moving.

Not sneaking.

Not stalking.

Marching.

Kael’s instincts screamed.

"Leave."

Seraphina ignored them.

As usual.

Instead she crouched beside the marked boar again.

Studying the strange symbol.

Three lines.

A twisted circle.

Almost like a crown.

Almost.

Something bothered her.

Not the symbol itself.

The workmanship.

"This wasn’t done by a monster."

Rowan nodded immediately.

"Obviously."

"No."

Seraphina pointed.

"Look."

The cuts were precise.

Deliberate.

Consistent.

Not claws.

Not teeth.

Not random damage.

A blade.

Someone had carved it.

The realization settled over the group.

Heavy.

Uncomfortable.

Kael looked toward the forest.

Someone marking monsters.

Someone powerful enough to survive doing it.

Someone close enough to be here recently.

That was worse than monsters.

People usually were.

The roar exploded through the forest.

Much closer.

Then everything became silent.

Too silent.

The birds stopped.

The insects stopped.

Even the wind seemed to hesitate.

Rowan slowly unsheathed a dagger.

Not because he expected victory.

Because he expected trouble.

A very different thing.

Then—

A figure stumbled out of the trees.

Not a monster.

A person.

A young man.

Covered in dirt.

Covered in scratches.

Breathing heavily.

He nearly collapsed.

"Help—"

Then he saw the dead boar.

Saw Seraphina.

Saw Kael.

Saw Rowan.

Relief flooded his face.

"Thank gods."

He stumbled forward.

"The bear—"

Behind him—

The forest exploded.

An enormous shape emerged.

The Runhorn Bear.

Massive.

Easily three times larger than the boar.

Dark fur.

Muscles like moving stone.

Eyes burning with unnatural aggression.

And on its chest—

The same symbol.

Except larger.

Deeper.

Fresh.

The young man turned.

His face lost all color.

"Oh."

A surprisingly reasonable response.

The bear roared.

The ground shook.

And for the first time all day—

Seraphina didn’t move.

Didn’t joke.

Didn’t speak.

She stared at the symbol.

Not the monster.

The symbol.

Because for a single moment—

A strange memory flashed through her mind.

Dark feathers.

A ruined hallway.

A voice she couldn’t remember.

Then it vanished.

Gone before she could grasp it.

"Aina."

Kael’s voice was sharp.

She blinked.

The memory disappeared completely.

The bear charged.

The young man screamed.

Rowan swore.

Kael moved.

And Seraphina smiled.

Not because she was excited.

Not because she wanted a fight.

Because she had finally found something.

A thread.

A clue.

A piece of a mystery.

And whoever had left it—

Had just made the mistake of getting her attention.

The Runhorn Bear crossed half the clearing in a single charge.

Fast.

Far too fast.

Nothing that large should move like that.

The young man immediately dove behind a fallen tree.

An excellent decision.

Possibly the best decision he’d made all day.

Kael stepped forward.

Sword already drawn.

Eyes locked onto the monster.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

Not just the symbol.

Not just the aggression.

The bear wasn’t acting naturally.

Every movement felt strained.

Almost painful.

Like something was forcing it forward.

The beast roared again.

A terrible sound.

Not anger.

Not hunger.

Pain.

Seraphina heard it too.

Her smile faded slightly.

"That’s not normal."

Rowan nodded.

"I know."

The bear charged.

Kael moved.

Steel flashed.

The blade cut across the creature’s shoulder.

A clean hit.

A good hit.

A hit that should have mattered.

The bear barely reacted.

Blood splashed.

Dark.

Almost black.

Kael’s eyes narrowed.

That definitely wasn’t normal.

The beast swung a massive paw.

Kael jumped backward.

The impact shattered a boulder.

The young man behind the log made a noise.

Not a scream.

Not a word.

Just a sound.

The sound people made when they witnessed something horrifying.

"THAT’S A BEAR?!"

"No."

Seraphina answered honestly.

"That’s a problem."

The bear lunged again.

This time Seraphina intercepted it.

Kael immediately hated that sentence.

She grabbed the creature’s foreleg.

The ground cracked beneath her feet.

The forest shook.

Birds exploded into the sky again.

The bear roared directly into her face.

"Rude."

The bear disagreed.

Violently.

It pushed harder.

Muscles bulged.

Claws tore through the earth.

Then—

The symbol on its chest glowed faintly.

Everyone froze.

Even the bear.

The glow lasted less than a second.

But it was enough.

Enough for Rowan’s face to lose color.

Enough for Kael’s stomach to drop.

Enough for Seraphina’s curiosity to become absolutely unmanageable.

"Oh."

That wasn’t a normal "oh."

That was a dangerous "oh."

Kael recognized it instantly.

It was the same tone she used before making terrible decisions.

"Aina."

"I saw it."

"I know."

"Did you see it?"

"Unfortunately."

The symbol dimmed.

The glow vanished.

But the damage was done.

Now there was proof.

Actual proof.

Not rumors.

Not stories.

Not coincidence.

Something was affecting these monsters.

Something deliberate.

Something intelligent.

The bear suddenly convulsed.

Its entire body shook.

Violently.

Then it let out a horrible roar.

Not angry.

Not threatening.

Desperate.

Seraphina’s grip loosened slightly.

For the first time—

She felt sorry for it.

Only slightly.

It was still trying to kill them.

But something felt wrong.

The symbol cracked.

A tiny fracture appeared across its surface.

The bear staggered.

Then another crack appeared.

And another.

The glow spread through the lines.

The young man behind the log pointed.

"What is happening?!"

Nobody answered.

Because nobody knew.

Then the symbol shattered.

The sound wasn’t loud.

Just a soft crack.

Like glass breaking somewhere far away.

The bear froze.

Completely.

Silence swallowed the clearing.

A moment passed.

Then another.

The massive creature blinked.

Its eyes cleared.

The madness vanished.

Confusion replaced it.

The bear looked around.

At the destroyed trees.

At the dead boar.

At Seraphina holding its arm.

Then—

It slowly sat down.

Everyone stared.

The bear stared back.

An awkward silence followed.

The young man finally spoke.

"...Is it fixed?"

Nobody knew.

The bear tilted its head.

Then sneezed.

A surprisingly adorable action.

Seraphina immediately pointed.

"Kael."

"No."

"It’s cute."

"No."

"I think we should keep it."

"Absolutely not."

"We can name it."

"We are not naming the giant murder bear."

The bear sneezed again.

The argument was interrupted by Rowan.

Because Rowan wasn’t looking at the bear anymore.

He was staring into the forest.

His expression had gone completely still.

Not fear.

Not surprise.

Recognition.

Slowly—

Very slowly—

He lowered his voice.

"We need to leave."

Seraphina blinked.

"Why?"

Rowan kept staring between the trees.

At something nobody else could see.

Then he whispered:

"...Because whoever made that mark was just here."

The clearing became silent.

And from deep within the forest—

A single black feather drifted down from the trees.

Nobody spoke for several seconds.

The forest felt different now.

Not dangerous.

Observed.

That was worse.

Seraphina looked toward the trees.

Nothing moved.

No figure.

No shadow.

No mysterious cloaked person dramatically standing on a branch.

Disappointing.

"Are you sure?"

Rowan didn’t take his eyes off the forest.

"Yes."

"How?"

"The feather."

That wasn’t an explanation.

Seraphina waited.

Rowan sighed.

"The marks."

Still not an explanation.

"The feather."

Kael pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You’re explaining things exactly like Seraphina."

"That sounds insulting."

Rowan replied.

"It was."

A fair exchange.

The young hunter finally climbed out from behind the fallen tree.

Very carefully.

Like the bear might suddenly remember violence.

The bear, meanwhile, was sitting peacefully.

A strange sight.

An hour ago it had been trying to turn people into statistics.

Now it looked confused.

Seraphina approached it.

Kael immediately became concerned.

Again.

Which was normal.

The bear sniffed her hand.

Then sneezed.

"D’aw."

"No."

Kael said instantly.

"It likes me."

"No."

"It sneezed affectionately."

"That’s not a thing."

The bear sneezed again.

Seraphina looked victorious.

Kael looked exhausted.

The universe remained unfair.

Rowan finally crouched beside the broken symbol on the creature’s chest.

His expression had become thoughtful.

Not afraid.

Not nervous.

Thinking.

That worried Kael more.

Because frightened people left.

Thinking people investigated.

And investigators survived longer.

Usually.

"How many marked monsters?"

Kael asked.

Rowan looked up.

"Three."

The answer came immediately.

Too immediately.

Meaning he’d already counted.

Already considered it.

Already worried about it.

The young hunter swallowed.

"Three?"

"The boar."

Rowan pointed.

"The bear."

Another point.

Then he hesitated. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"The third one escaped."

Silence.

Nobody liked that answer.

Especially not Seraphina.

Because her eyes immediately lit up.

"Oh?"

Kael’s soul left his body briefly.

Again.

Unfortunately it returned.

"Don’t."

"I didn’t say anything."

"You don’t need to."

A fair point.

Rowan stood.

Then looked at Seraphina.

Really looked at her.

The way someone examines a puzzle.

"You aren’t from around here."

"No."

"I noticed."

"Most people do."

Another pause.

Then Rowan asked:

"Why are you traveling?"

A simple question.

A normal question.

But Seraphina froze.

Not because she didn’t have an answer.

Because she had too many.

Run away from politics.

Run away from marriage candidates.

Run away from princes.

Run away from responsibilities.

Find freedom.

Earn money.

See the world.

Become a villainess.

Become a designer.

Cause problems.

Life was complicated.

So she settled on:

"Adventure."

Kael looked at her.

Rowan looked at her.

The young hunter looked at her.

Nobody believed her.

"Fine."

She sighed dramatically.

"A complicated adventure."

"That sounds more accurate."

Kael replied.

The sun had begun to descend.

Golden light spilled through the trees.

Long shadows stretched across the forest floor.

The road toward the kingdom waited ahead.

And for the first time that day—

The group remembered why they were here.

Money.

They needed money.

The bear.

The boar.

The hunt.

All of it had started because they were broke.

An important detail.

A tragic detail.

A very recurring detail.

The young hunter suddenly looked at the boar.

Then the bear.

Then at Seraphina.

Then at Kael.

His eyes widened.

"Wait."

Uh oh.

That tone never led anywhere good.

"You’re adventurers."

"No."

Kael answered immediately.

"Yes you are."

"No."

"You fought two monsters."

"Badly."

"Successfully."

"Unfortunately."

The young hunter ignored him completely.

Then a huge grin spread across his face.

"Oh wow."

Kael immediately disliked that reaction.

Because it was the reaction of someone about to create problems.

And recently—

There had been enough of those.

"Do you two know how much those are worth?"

Silence.

Seraphina blinked.

Then blinked again.

Money.

A beautiful word.

A magical word.

A life-improving word.

Slowly—

Very slowly—

A smile appeared on her face.

Kael saw it.

Rowan saw it.

The young hunter saw it.

Everyone immediately became nervous.

Because they had just accidentally reminded Seraphina about profit.

And history had repeatedly proven one thing.

That never ended normally.