Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

As everyone exited the room, only Mumuroot-san and I were left behind.

Sanya-san had been the last to leave, wearing a very apologetic expression on her face.

She didn’t really need to feel bad about this.

「Well then, we should get going as well.」

Mumuroot-san said and headed for the door, with me on his tail.

「All I have to do is subjugate any monsters that get to the village, right?」

「I will get rid of the monsters. All I need you to do is tell me if and where the monsters appear.」

Mumroot-san seemed to be doing the same thing as Sanya-san, keeping me away from harm and trouble, but that wasn’t necessary. If I spotted any monsters, it would be quicker if I simply took them down myself.

To not get in any unnecessary arguments, I kept that to myself and simply summoned Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear in their regular sizes.

Mumuroot-san brought his hand up to his chin and simply stared at the Bears for a while.

「Let us know if monsters come our way, okay?」

I told the Bears, then used detection magic to check the nearby area.

There weren’t any monsters in the vicinity of the village; the only reactions I got seemed to be those of the elves.

Like Mumuroot-san instructed, the elves had split into two groups and were slowly leaving my detection range in the direction two groups of monsters were supposed to be. I wished I could tell where exactly the monsters were, but they were sadly too far away.

I knew Labilata and Sanya-san would be able to take down Wolves and Volcrows easily, but Tiger Wolves could be a problem.

Even a single Tiger Wolf was quite a formidable opponent on its own, so if they didn’t pay attention they could be in danger.

I didn’t know which group Sanya-san was in charge of, but I prayed that she would return safely.

Mumuroot-san and I then slowly began to patrol the village with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear walking by my sides.

Many people greeted us as we passed, and while the adults stopped only to chat, the children immediately ran to the Bears.

Mumuroot-san calmly informed every villager we came across that monsters might come close to the village and instructed them not to leave the village at any cost.

After doing this of a while, we eventually ran into Ruimin and Luca, who seemed to simply be walking around hand-in-hand.

「Grandpa! Yuna-san!」

Once they spotted us they rushed over.

「What are you two doing here?」

「We were about to head outside the village but were stopped and told we couldn’t.」

「I’m sorry, but you will have to stay inside the village today.」

Mumuroot-san then proceeded to give them a brief explanation.

Since the two of them already knew about the monsters coming through the barrier, they simply nodded in understanding.

「By the way, what are you two doing here?」

Both of them looked at me curiously.

They probably thought it was weird to see me and Mumuroot-san walking around together.

「The Young Bear Lady is helping me patrol the village.」

Mumuroot-san explained and gestured toward Hugging Bear and Swaying Bear.

Before I realized, Luca was already patting Hugging Bear.

「Grandfather, can we come along, too? We promise not to get in your way.」

Ruimin asked, most likely because she notices that Luca looked like he really wanted to ride on top of one of the Bears.

Mumuroot-san thought about for a bit before agreeing.

「If something happens, make sure you follow my instructions, okay?」

「Okay!」

I let Luca ride on top of Hugging Bear since he seemed like he really wanted to while Ruimin got on Swaying Bear without even asking.

We continued our patrol through a very peaceful village, which made it seem like there was no monster problem at all.

The Bears hadn’t detected anything yet, either, so the village appeared to be safe for now.

Maybe the barrier, even weakened as it was, was still doing its job.

The peace didn’t last for long, however, as soon, other children saw Luca and Ruimin riding on the Bears and rushed towards us to join in.

At first, Mumuroot-san was trying to tell them to stay in their homes, but the children were too jealous of Luca and Ruimin, making it quite difficult to convince them to go.

After a minute or so, Mumuroot-san sighed and said, 「This was a mistake,」to himself but his expression lightened up soon, and I could hear him whisper, 「This is better than having them run outside.」

Children tended to run off even when told them to stay at home, so having them busy with the Bears wasn’t so bad.

Mumuroot-san must have realized that and seemed much more content now.

Since the children took over Hugging Bear, Ruimin now walked beside me.

「Everything seems to be fine for now, doesn’t it?」

Once we made a full round around the village, we headed to the plaza at the center of the town.

Even more children gathered there when they saw Hugging Bear and Swaying Bear, and I let them play with my Bears so that they would stay with us instead of heading outside.

Ruimin made sure to watch over the children so that the Bears didn’t get overwhelmed.

I was thirsty, so I took out some juice, which prompted the children to start staring at me, clearly wanting some as well, so I was forced to take out enough for everyone.

「Thank you very much.」

「Thank you.」

At least they thanked me properly. They were brought up well.

I almost dozed off a bit as I watched the Bears play with the children.

It was really peaceful here. Which was a good thing, of course.

The fact that no monsters were coming this way meant that the subjugation was going well.

As Mumuroot-san happily watched the children play, he spoke up.

「Young lady, your bears are very docile.」

「Yeah, they are only dangerous when there are enemies around. Oh, that reminds me, Sanya-san can summon a bird, right?」

Since the conversation moved in the direction of summoned beasts, I tried asking about it.

Since Sanya-san had kept quiet about it he might not tell me the details, but it was still worth a try.

「Well, first thing first: unlike your bears, those birds cannot sense monsters.」

Still, being able to look through the summoned bird’s eyes was amazing and very useful. If I had one, I would be able to look over a mountain, or fly out to the sea to see what it was like.

I was envious that they were able to see the scenery from the skies.

「Do many elves have bird summons?」

「No, the only ones who have one are Sanya and Ruimin.」

「Ruimin has one, too?」

I looked over at Ruimin after hearing that unbelievable fact.

Hearing her name being mentioned, Ruimin looked back.

「Ruimin, you can summon a bird, too?」

「Umm, yes. Somewhat...」

Ruimin admitted that she could in a quiet voice.

「That’s amazing.」

「N-no, not at all.」

For some reason, she stumbled a bit as she said it.

「Emm, could you show it to me?」

I asked her, thinking she would most likely refuse at this point, but she nodded instead.

She put both of her hands out and gathered magical power. After a few moment, something close to a baby chick appeared in her palms.

「Summoned birds need magical power to grow, and since I don’t have much power, this is my limit. Compared to Onee-chan’s it’s... 」

Even so, it was a cute baby bird.

The little bird began walking around in Ruimin’s palm, looked at Ruimin and chirped.

It recognized her.

「It’s so cute.」

「Yes, it is, but, I want it to grow up quickly, so it can be more like Onee-san’s...」

When this baby chick grew up, would it look just like Sanya-san’s bird?

I thought about how it would be nice if I could make my Bears this small, but I figured it would be impossible.

Soon after, Ruimin unsummoned her bird.

Still, I was very interested in how one could get their hands on a summoned bird?

Just as I was about to ask, Hugging Bear and Swaying Bear looked up and let out a cry, startling the children.

Did a monster appear?!

I immediately followed their gazes.

「What’s that?」

One of the children said, pointing upwards.

It was something huge.

Since they were looking at the sky, I had thought it was going to be a Volcrow, but I was wrong.

A bird even larger than the Volcrows flew by.

Using my detection magic I learned that it was a Cockatrice.

「It’s a Cockatrice...」

When I said that, everyone showed shocked expressions.

A Cockatrice had the body and head of a bird, while its tail was long like a snake. It was a difficult monster to deal with, especially since it could fly.

「Ruimin! Take the children and hide in a nearby house!」

Mumuroot-san quickly gave loud and clear orders.

「Hugging Bear, Swaying Bear, please take care of everybody.」

At my request, the Bears let the children ride them as they ran off to safety.

Ruimin quickly followed along, making sure no children were left behind.

「Young lady, thank you telling for me about the monster before it got close to us. Now you should get to safety as well.」

Since I had noticed the Cockatrice before it rushed at us, we managed to get all the children safely away.

Still, could he take down a Cocaktrice by himself?

「If the Cockatrice dives at us, I will try to draw it away..」

If what Sanya-san had said was correct then the monsters goal of breaking through the barrier was to get to the Sacred Tree.

In that case, the Cocaktrice was most likely heading there as well.

「Can you really take it on by yourself?」

Mumuroot-san looked at the Cockatrice and gulped.

「I don’t know, but I’m willing to try if the worst comes to pass.」

「I’ll help you, then.」

「Young lady, what are you saying?! That’s a Cockatrice! It’s an atrocious monster!」

Yeah, I knew that, but I couldn’t just abandon him either.

Just as I was looking for a response, the Cockatrice turned its focus to us, flapped its chicken-like wings and dove straight at us.

「Are we fighting here?」

Although there was a lot of space between the buildings, we were still inside the village.

If we fought here, many of the houses could end up being destroyed.

「That depends on how the Cockatrice will react. I want to at least try to lure it out of the village.」

Mumuroot-san then proceeded to land the first strike by sending wind magic at the Cockatrice, which was approaching us fast.

The magic hit the Cockatrice, but it managed reduce the effect by flapping its wings.

Now, the cockatrice had its eye on Mumuroot-san, acknowledging him as a threat.

「Young lady, run!」

Mumuroot-san said and ran towards the edge of the village while shooting more magic at it.

Wow, he sure was quick.

The Cockatrice immediately began to chase after Mumuroot-san.

Deciding on a plan of my own, I ran after them.

Author’s Note:

It’s been awhile since our last battle chapter.

The last one was the golem battle, wasn’t it?