"No."

Kael answered immediately.

Nobody had said anything yet.

Nobody had even moved.

Yet somehow Kael already knew exactly where this was going.

Seraphina pointed toward the cliff.

"I haven’t said anything."

"You don’t need to."

"That’s rude."

"It’s experience."

Unfortunately—

That was difficult to argue against.

The young man looked between them.

Then toward the cliff.

Then back toward them.

Then wisely decided not to involve himself.

Rowan studied the distant structure.

Unlike Seraphina, he wasn’t imagining treasure.

Unlike Daren, he wasn’t imagining disaster.

Unlike Kael, he wasn’t imagining future headaches.

He was simply observing.

The building sat high above the forest.

Ancient.

Weathered.

Partially hidden beneath thick vines.

Yet even from this distance, the golden sections still reflected sunlight.

Which was strange.

Very strange.

Gold exposed to the elements for decades shouldn’t look like that.

Daren apparently noticed the same thing.

"Why is it shiny?"

An excellent question.

Nobody had an answer.

The young man raised a finger.

"I actually know that one."

Everyone looked at him.

His confidence immediately dropped.

"...I think."

A less encouraging statement.

"What do you mean, you think?"

The young man scratched his cheek.

"People around here call it the Golden Nest."

Silence.

Then Daren blinked.

"The Golden Nest?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

"No idea."

An inspiring source of information.

Seraphina immediately pointed.

"You’re terrible at this."

"I almost got eaten by wolves."

"A valid excuse."

The young man visibly relaxed.

The group began walking.

Not toward the cliff.

Toward the village.

A very important distinction.

Because despite Seraphina’s obvious interest—

Nobody intended to investigate mysterious buildings today.

Especially Kael.

As they followed the forest trail, Seraphina remained unusually quiet.

A suspicious development.

A deeply suspicious development.

Kael noticed immediately.

"What are you planning?"

"I’m walking."

"What are you planning while walking?"

"That’s classified."

A terrible answer.

The worst kind.

Kael sighed.

Meanwhile—

The bear happily trotted beside them.

Completely recovered from battle.

Completely unaware of finances.

Completely unconcerned about the fact that it consumed enough food to bankrupt small kingdoms.

Speaking of which—

The bear suddenly stopped.

Everyone turned.

The bear sniffed the air.

Then wandered toward a bush.

Then another.

Then another.

Then disappeared.

Silence.

The group stared.

Several seconds passed.

Nothing happened.

Then the bear emerged carrying something.

Or rather—

Someone.

A black shape dangled from its mouth.

The shape flailed violently.

Daren jumped.

The young man screamed.

Rowan reached for his sword.

The bear proudly presented its discovery.

A crow.

A very angry crow.

The bird immediately escaped.

Flew upward.

And landed on a nearby branch.

The entire group watched.

The crow watched back.

Its feathers were darker than normal.

Its eyes unusually intelligent.

Far too intelligent.

Then it opened its beak.

And dropped something.

A small golden coin.

The coin landed directly in front of Seraphina.

Everyone froze.

The crow tilted its head.

Seraphina tilted hers back.

The crow hopped once.

Then pushed another shiny object from the branch.

A silver ring.

It landed beside the coin.

Silence.

Pure silence.

Then—

Seraphina pointed.

"See?"

Nobody understood.

"See what?"

Daren asked.

"The universe likes me."

The crow cawed loudly.

Almost in agreement.

Kael immediately narrowed his eyes.

Because something felt off.

Very off.

Normal crows didn’t collect treasure.

Normal crows definitely didn’t walk around distributing it.

The crow hopped closer.

Then closer again.

Until it sat directly above Seraphina.

Watching.

Only Seraphina.

Not Kael.

Not Rowan.

Not the bear.

Only her.

The bear sat down beneath the tree.

The crow looked at the bear.

The bear looked at the crow.

Several seconds passed.

An entire conversation seemed to happen.

Nobody understood it.

Then the crow casually dropped another shiny object onto the bear’s head.

The bear looked pleased.

The crow looked pleased.

A friendship had apparently formed.

Somehow.

Against all logic.

Seraphina immediately gasped.

"They bonded."

"They exchanged exactly one item."

Daren protested.

"That’s enough."

The crow cawed.

The bear huffed.

Kael suddenly had a terrible feeling.

A truly terrible feeling.

The kind that usually appeared before his life became more complicated.

Because he could already see the future.

The bear.

The crow.

Seraphina.

Together.

And somehow—

He knew this was going to become his problem.

The crow suddenly flew down.

Everyone tensed.

Except Seraphina.

The bird landed directly on her shoulder.

Comfortably.

Naturally.

Like it belonged there.

The forest became silent.

Even Rowan looked surprised.

The crow stared at Seraphina.

Then gently nudged her hair.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

A strange emotion flashed through its eyes.

Recognition.

Gone so quickly that nobody else noticed.

Nobody except the crow itself.

Then it settled comfortably on her shoulder.

Refusing to leave.

Daren pointed.

"No."

The crow ignored him.

"No."

Still ignored.

"No."

The crow closed its eyes.

Daren looked personally betrayed.

Meanwhile—

Far away.

Hidden among the trees.

Something watched.

Not the group.

Not the bear.

Not the crow.

Only Seraphina.

A figure stood silently between shadows.

Motionless.

Patient.

Observing.

Then—

For the briefest moment—

The figure smiled.

And vanished.

The crow refused to leave.

That became obvious very quickly.

Kael tried ignoring it.

The crow remained.

Daren complained.

The crow remained.

Rowan glanced at it suspiciously.

The crow remained.

The bear attempted to sniff it.

The crow pecked its nose.

The bear sneezed.

The crow remained.

Seraphina looked pleased.

"See?"

Nobody knew what she meant.

Yet somehow everyone disliked it.

The group resumed walking.

The crow rode comfortably on Seraphina’s shoulder.

Like it had always belonged there.

Like it had somehow skipped several Chapters of relationship development.

The young man kept staring at it.

Then at Seraphina.

Then back at the crow.

Eventually he couldn’t contain himself anymore.

"Why is it following you?"

Seraphina shrugged.

"I’m charming."

"No."

"A fair point."

The crow cawed.

Almost as if agreeing with her first answer.

The forest gradually thinned.

Sunlight returned.

The road became visible again.

For the first time all day—

Things felt normal.

Which naturally meant something immediately went wrong.

The bear stopped walking.

A dangerous sign.

Because when the bear voluntarily stopped moving, it usually meant one of two things.

Food.

Or more food.

The bear stared at Seraphina.

Seraphina stared back.

The bear continued staring.

The group watched silently.

A negotiation was taking place.

Eventually Seraphina sighed.

"No."

The bear tilted its head.

"No."

The bear looked wounded.

Emotionally.

Deeply.

Tragically.

Like a hero betrayed by fate itself.

Daren frowned.

"What does it want?"

"Food."

"We fed it before."

"That was twenty minutes ago."

Silence.

The young man laughed.

Nobody else did.

Because unfortunately Seraphina wasn’t joking.

The bear sat down dramatically.

Refusing to move.

Rowan rubbed his forehead.

Kael immediately recognized the problem.

A familiar problem.

A recurring problem.

A bankrupting problem.

The bear had discovered that refusing to walk often resulted in snacks.

An extremely dangerous lesson.

The crow hopped from Seraphina’s shoulder.

Flew onto the bear’s head.

Then began pecking it repeatedly.

The bear looked offended.

The crow pecked again.

The bear stood up.

The crow stopped.

Everyone froze.

The crow had just succeeded where reason had failed.

Daren pointed.

"The bird is smarter than us."

Nobody could argue.

The evidence was overwhelming.

The journey continued.

Several minutes later—

The village gates appeared.

The guards relaxed immediately upon seeing them.

Then they noticed the giant bear.

Then the crow.

Then the random young man.

Then the collection of monster parts.

Their expressions became increasingly complicated.

One guard finally pointed.

"What happened?"

Daren immediately answered.

"A lot."

The guard accepted that explanation.

Honestly—

It covered most of it.

Inside the village, news spread rapidly.

The giant boar.

The wolves.

The successful hunt.

The strange structure on the cliff.

People talked.

Merchants talked.

Travelers talked.

Guards talked.

And while everyone else discussed monsters—

Seraphina focused on something far more important.

Money.

The reward.

The beautiful reward.

The glorious reward.

The desperately needed reward.

The village clerk counted the coins carefully.

Then pushed the payment across the table.

Seraphina’s eyes sparkled.

The bear’s eyes sparkled.

Kael immediately noticed both.

"Don’t."

"Don’t what?"

"You know what."

The bear slowly moved closer.

The clerk looked nervous.

Very nervous.

Several seconds later—

Most of the reward had already been mentally allocated toward feeding the bear.

Daren witnessed the process in real time.

His soul left his body briefly.

"You earned all that money today."

"Correct."

"And it’s already gone."

"Correct."

"We haven’t even left the building."

"Correct."

The crow suddenly dropped another gold coin onto the table.

Everyone froze.

The clerk froze.

The guards froze.

The bear froze.

The crow looked proud.

Seraphina gasped.

"Look."

Nobody needed clarification.

The crow had apparently decided contributing financially was normal.

The bird immediately became Seraphina’s favorite employee.

No salary required.

No complaints.

Just random profit.

The dream.

Kael felt a headache forming.

Because this was exactly how bad ideas started.

The bear consumed money indirectly.

The crow generated money mysteriously.

And Seraphina had already begun calculating something.

A very dangerous sign.

A terrifying sign.

The kind of sign that usually led to future disasters.

Or future businesses.

Sometimes both.

Then the crow suddenly froze.

The change was immediate.

Its feathers puffed slightly.

Its posture stiffened.

Its eyes locked onto something outside the window.

Not fear.

Not anger.

Recognition.

The same strange recognition from earlier.

Gone almost instantly.

But not before Seraphina noticed.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

The crow hopped closer to her.

Then closer.

Until it sat directly against her shoulder.

Seeking proximity.

Seeking safety.

Or perhaps reassurance.

For the first time since meeting the bird—

Seraphina stopped joking.

Just briefly.

Only briefly.

She gently scratched beneath its beak.

The crow relaxed instantly.

Then closed its eyes.

And somewhere deep inside its memories—

A long-forgotten image surfaced.

Silver-blonde hair.

Golden eyes.

A hand reaching toward darkness.

A voice saying:

"It’s okay."

The memory vanished immediately.

But one thing remained.

The certainty.

The certainty that after searching for a very long time—

It had finally found her.

The certainty faded.

The crow opened its eyes again.

Nobody noticed anything unusual.

Except perhaps Seraphina.

Because for a brief moment—

The bird looked relieved.

Not comfortable.

Not happy.

Relieved.

A strange emotion.

Especially for a crow.

The moment disappeared almost instantly.

Then the crow pecked her shoulder.

Twice.

Demanding attention.

Its priorities had apparently recovered.

Seraphina pointed dramatically.

"He’s literally me."

The crow cawed.

The bear huffed.

The crow immediately flew onto the bear’s head.

The bear accepted this development.

Like it accepted everything.

Food.

Chaos.

Financial destruction.

Tiny birds.

Nothing surprised it anymore.

Daren stared.

"Why are they friends already?"

"They understand each other."

Seraphina answered.

"How?"

"They’re both unemployed."

The bear looked offended.

The crow looked offended.

The group continued toward the inn.

By now the village had become significantly more crowded.

News of the giant boar had spread.

Several villagers pointed.

Some whispered.

Others stared directly at the bear.

The bear enjoyed the attention.

Far too much.

One little girl approached carefully.

The bear immediately sat down.

Trying to look harmless.

A difficult task when you could accidentally demolish a house.

The girl offered it a piece of bread.

The bear accepted with surprising gentleness.

Then immediately wanted more.

A professional.

Meanwhile—

The crow spotted something shiny.

An unfortunate discovery.

The bird launched itself from the bear’s head.

Dived through the crowd.

And stole a silver spoon.

The owner screamed.

The crow returned triumphantly.

The spoon clattered directly into Seraphina’s hands.

Silence.

The owner stared.

Seraphina stared.

The crow looked proud.

Kael slowly closed his eyes.

The headache had evolved.

"This is theft."

The crow cawed.

"Don’t encourage him."

"I’m not."

The crow immediately dropped a gold button into her lap.

The situation was deteriorating rapidly.

Very rapidly.

The owner eventually recovered the spoon.

The crow looked betrayed.

Deeply betrayed.

As though society had failed it.

Then the bird spotted another shiny object.

Kael reacted instantly.

"No."

The crow froze.

Everyone froze.

The crow slowly turned.

Looking directly at Kael.

A challenge had been issued.

The next ten seconds became a battle of wills.

Nobody spoke.

Nobody moved.

The crow.

Versus Kael.

One determined thief.

One exhausted babysitter.

Eventually—

The crow looked away.

Defeated.

Daren immediately pointed.

"Kael won."

"Somehow that’s the saddest victory I’ve ever seen."

Rowan muttered.

The inn finally came into view.

The group entered.

The familiar warmth immediately greeted them.

Food.

Noise.

People.

Civilization.

A beautiful thing.

The bear attempted entering normally.

Unfortunately—

It was too large.

Half the doorway disappeared behind fur.

Several customers panicked.

One man nearly fell out of his chair.

The innkeeper looked exhausted immediately.

"Not again."

"You know him?"

The young man asked.

The innkeeper pointed at the bear.

"He ate three tables yesterday."

The bear looked away.

Suspicious behavior.

Very suspicious behavior.

Eventually everyone settled down.

Food arrived.

The bear received enough food for five people.

Then another serving.

Then another.

Seraphina watched her money disappear in real time.

Pain.

True pain.

The crow sat beside her.

Watching carefully.

Then suddenly—

It dropped a ruby onto the table.

Silence.

Everyone froze.

Daren choked.

The innkeeper nearly fainted.

Rowan blinked.

Twice.

Kael stared.

Seraphina slowly picked it up.

A real ruby.

A very real ruby.

Worth far more than today’s monster reward.

The crow puffed its chest proudly.

Like a hunter presenting prey.

Then something clicked.

A terrible realization.

A horrifying realization.

Seraphina slowly looked at the crow.

The crow looked back.

The crow tilted its head.

Then dropped another shiny object.

Seraphina gasped.

"Oh my god."

"What."

Kael immediately asked.

"We can survive."

A dangerous sentence.

"What does that mean?"

Seraphina pointed dramatically.

"He has income."

The crow looked proud.

"He literally has a job."

The crow looked even prouder.

Daren looked horrified.

"Don’t tell me you’re planning something."

"I would never."

A lie.

An obvious lie.

A catastrophic lie.

Nobody believed it.

Not even the crow.

The bird suddenly hopped onto the table.

Then onto Seraphina’s shoulder.

Then onto her head.

Silence.

The crow settled comfortably.

Like a king claiming territory.

Kael stared.

Daren stared.

The young man stared.

Rowan finally spoke.

"The bird needs a name."

The crow immediately looked interested.

Very interested.

Seraphina froze.

The bear looked up.

The crow looked down.

Everyone waited.

A surprisingly important moment.

Because somehow—

The crow had already become part of the group.

The bird pecked her head.

Demanding an answer.

Seraphina thought.

Then thought again.

Then pointed toward the crow.

"You collect shiny things."

The crow nodded.

Or something disturbingly close to a nod.

"You commit crimes."

The crow looked proud.

"You have absolutely zero shame."

The crow looked even prouder.

Daren laughed.

Rowan looked concerned.

Kael looked tired.

Then Seraphina snapped her fingers.

"I got it."

Everyone waited.

The crow waited.

The bear waited.

Even nearby customers waited.

Then—

"Tax."

Silence.

Pure silence.

The crow blinked.

"Tax?"

Kael repeated.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because he keeps taking people’s stuff."

A fair point.

"He collects valuables."

Another fair point.

"And somehow all my money disappears and comes back."

An extremely fair point.

The crow suddenly cawed loudly.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Then proudly landed on her shoulder again.

Approval.

Complete approval.

Daren immediately started laughing.

The young man nearly fell from his chair.

Even Rowan looked amused.

Kael rubbed his forehead.

Of course.

Of course Seraphina named the crow Tax.

And somehow—

The bird loved it.

Then the bear nudged Seraphina’s arm.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

The room became quiet.

Because suddenly everyone realized something.

The bear still didn’t have a real name.

And for the first time—

Seraphina looked thoughtful.

Actually thoughtful.

Not joking.

Not teasing.

Not singing.

Just thinking.

The bear waited patiently.

Completely unaware that its future was about to change.