Romain and Helena already arrived in front of the cave and observed the area around it. Helena looks really focused, while Romain a little bit nervous with the cave in front of them. He looks around and then at his shield.

Helena peeks at Romain and says,

"Just make sure that the bear paws didn't hit your side."

"I know..." says Romain

"Our problem right now is our armour isn't as robust as the military issue. The bear could easily tear it apart with it sheers force," says Helena

"Just like what Volya explains..."

"Or are you worried about both of them?"

Romain looks at Helena and nods at her. Helena then says,

"You don't need to worry about them. Ludmila is a seasoned adventurer like me. And don't forget that she is one of the Five Great Knights of Haegia."

"..."

"Or you are worried about Volya?"

"Yes."

"Hehehe... I believe he will be fine. He is quite knowledgeable about animal nature. And I believe he could understand when to run or to fight."

"You are right, My Queen..." says Romain

Helena only smiles at Romain and then starts to lit the torch. She then throws it to the cave entrance and prepares her sword. Meanwhile, Romain prepares his sword and shield before the beast charging on them.

Meanwhile, not far from there, Volya and Ludmila observe their movement from the air. Volya does some experiments by trying to lift two people using his 'fly' magic. Volya looks below, then at Helena and Romain, then at Ludmila, and then asks her,

"Why did Helena really emphasize that she will become the bait for this plan?"

"That's how our Queen usually devises her plan. By making herself as bait, it will easier to trap the enemy," explains Ludmila

Volya looks at Ludmila with disbelief and then looks at Helena that already attracts the bear out from the cave. Romain and Helena then run from the cave with the bear chasing them.

Ludmila and Volya then nod and land in front of the cave. Ludmila then searches for a twig to become a torch, while Volya looks at the cold cave in front of them. He then walks there and says,

"O thy fire spirit, light the path in front of me and banish the darkness from me. Will-O-Wisp!"

Ludmila could see a small magic circle on Volya's hand. She is quite intrigued by that and sees the magic circle already vanished. And at Volya's palm, Ludmila could see a small fire suddenly fly from his hand and fly around Volya's head.

Volya looks at Ludmila and says,

"With this fire, it will be easier for us and for you to use your weapon, right?"

"..."

"Ludmila?"

"Your power indeed really amazing," says Ludmila

"Huh?"

"You know... No one in Haegia could use magic. But with you here, you become the one and only mage in Haegia."

"Is... that so... I thought magic is something usual around here, especially with a lot of adventurer and mercenaries around here," says Volya with a surprised face

"Yes... Mostly they come from other Kingdoms and none of them stays at Haegia. And to be honest, I am glad that you joined us."

Volya looks at Ludmila's honest smile and smiles back at her. He knows that Ludmila didn't lie about it. They then enter the cave where Ludmila walks behind Volya to make sure that the bear will not attack them.

The cave isn't that big, but it still has space for them to manoeuvre around. Volya orders the fire to split into several small fires and orders them to move ahead from him and Ludmila. Meanwhile, Ludmila looks around the cave and notices that there is an animal carcass near them. She walks towards the carcass and finds out that the animal died around five days ago.

They continued to walk until they arrived at a bigger place in the cave. Volya then scatters his fire spirit to light inside it. When he does that, he could hear something is in pain.

Ludmila looks around and notices a small brown fur is hiding behind a rock. She then shouts,

"The cub is here, Volya!"

"Where is it?" ask Volya

Ludmila points at the rock and Volya immediately sees the brown fur. He then walks towards him, but the cub makes a stance to attack him. Volya notices the bear cub action, then squats down, and then says,

"You don't need to worry, buddy... I will not hurt you."

But the bear cub still agitated. Volya then moves slowly to the bear cub and stretches out his hand at the bear. The bear sees that as aggression and immediately claws it. Volya startled a little bit and that made Ludmila draw her sword. Ludmila's action makes the situation worsen and the bear continues to hide behind the rock.

Volya looks at Ludmila and says,

"Ludmila... Could you sheath your sword, please? You make the cub scared..."

"But..." says Ludmila a little bit worried when she sees Volya's hand

"You don't need to worry about this. The wound isn't deep."

"Al... Alright..."

Ludmila then sheats her blade and sees Volya try to approach the bear once more. Volya knows that the bear is scared of them, especially after the villager attacks them and hurts it.

Volya then moves slowly once more, smiles when he nears it, and says,

"Come here... I will check your wound. Don't worry, the bad human already put down its weapon."

The bear cub looks at Volya and then at Ludmila. But, it still shows a sign of agitation at them. Volya smiles again at it and sits down there. He makes a sign of someone that wants to play with it.

Volya even makes several playthings with the rock near him and even creates it from the bones around. Little by little, the bear cub comes out from hiding and moves at Volya because it’s curious with Volya’s action. Volya could see that the bear was limping and when it was on his reach, he immediately caught it.

The bear cub fights back, even it could claws Volya's hand several times and tried to bites his neck. Volya tried his best to avoid the bite and makes a green glowing magic circle. He immediately says,

"The flow of ether, lend me the miracle given by God. As I pronounce thy name, protect and heal us from any harm. Healing Light!"

The magic circle vanishes and a small light manifests on Volya's hand. The light then flies to the bear that still fights back and closes the wound on the bear.

Volya notices that the bear cub starts to gain its power back, so he lets it free. The bear cub runs away from Volya and starts to attack Volya. When it tried to move again, it noticed that its leg already healed. It stops for a while and looks at Volya laughing with Ludmila who tried to help him up.

Volya then says,

"With the cub healed... It should be fine."

"..."

"Ludmila?"

Ludmila suddenly pulls Volya's hand, takes out a bandage, and wraps it up with it. Volya quite surprised and hears Ludmila says,

"You are really something, Volya..."

"Huh?"

"You are the same with Helena... Selfishly acting on anything," says Ludmila

"Well... It's because..."

"No... You are people of Haegia. It's my job to protect you. Even when I am working as an adventurer," says Ludmila as she continues to patch Volya

"..."

"So..."

"I know... I will be careful next time," says Volya

Ludmila is surprised to hear that and after she finishes patching Volya, she hits his head weakly. After that, she says,

"Let's go... I don't want to make another mess here..."

"Yeah, you are right."

Right before Volya walks away with Ludmila, the bear cub hugs Volya's leg. Volya looks at it and then smiles. He then carries the bear cub and says,

"Let's go now... I want to heal its mother, too."

"Yeah... Let's go,"

"But... I wonder what happened with them right now..."

Ludmila and Volya only look at each other and walk away from the cave with the bear cub that is really happy with Volya.