Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

E/N: Hi, everyone. We are unable to reach out to Attatin for around 12 weeks now. After waiting for so much time, we have decided to let our other long-time translator Kazumi translate a few chapters of Kuma. Once Attatin returns, he will take over again. I hope that he is healthy and doing well. Please let us know if you spot any errors. Thanks.

…

Bear-san uses the Kryna-Hark Wand

“It’s about time that thing gets here, right?”

We are standing on the barrier at the entrance to the town.

“”Kuun.””

“I think it’s getting closer.”

The Slime was heading toward us, though I wasn’t sure if it was safe to stay here.

Now we just had to see if the Kryna-Hark Wand would work.

I prepared as much as I could before the Slime arrived.

In case I had to fight the Slime, I built a platform.

When the Slime arrives, the ground surface will be covered with the Slime, and there will be no footholds. The only footholds would be the tall buildings.

Even those buildings could be caught in the Slime. With this in mind, I erected cylindrical pillars with earth magic here and there in the town to secure footholds other than the buildings.

The buildings and the cylinders could be used to move around. Again, I was not sure how useful these would be, but I figured it was better to have them than to have nothing prepared

And the bear house where Fina and the others were supposed to hide was also set up outside the barrier opposite where the Slime was coming from.

“If you’re scared, why don’t you just stay inside?”

“No, I’m not scared.”

Mia was trying to be strong, but the idea of the huge Slime loomed over her. It would be strange if she weren’t scared.

I wanted them to stay inside the bear house, but Mia and Carol wanted to see for themselves, so they came out of the bear house.

“Fina could have stayed too, you know.”

“…I mean, I’m not sure if I’d be comfortable on my own. I’d like to stay with Yuna Onee-chan if I’m not in the way. But I’ll go inside the house if I think it’s dangerous.”

Yes, it may be unsettling and scary to stay inside the house while the outside of the house was in an uproar.

Then, as we waited for the Slime, Mia raised her voice.

“I can see it!”

Mia really had good eyesight.

So much so that she even noticed the reflection of the water in the distance when she said it.

“Well then, let’s move to the back barrier to bring the Slime into town.”

We got on Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear and moved to the other side of the bulwark.

“It’s coming in!”

“It’s disgusting.”

The slime moving like living water was creepier than I thought it would be. It wasn’t the cute, squishy, droplet-like Slime that appears in video games.

It was like a sticky liquid.

It was like Slime jelly, a toy I had seen in elementary school.

The liquid climbed up the barrier and entered through the cracks.

When it entered the town, I realized how big it was.

As a hermit, I had never been inside Tokyo Dome, so I could not tell precisely how big it was, but it was about the size of the dome that I saw on TV.

It was such a huge Slime.

I definitely wanted to avoid being taken in by it.

The Slime was moving slowly but gradually toward us.

I took the Kryna-Hark Wand out of the bear box, ready to use it anytime.

“I hope it works.”

Kagali-san mentioned, looking at the wand.

“Actually, do you think it will actually work, Kagali-san?”

“I’m not the one who created the magic circle. I don’t know if it will work at all or if it will only work to some extent, but we won’t know for sure until we try it.”

I guess so.

If we knew about it, no one would get anxious.

The first part of the Slime approached the center.

“Is that bluish dot-like thing in the Slime a magic stone?”

I could see a small blue dot, though it was too far away to see it clearly.

“Yes, I think so. It must have grown by multiplication or by the Slime sticking to each other.”

Was it a water magic stone or a blue magic stone because the Slime was bluish. It was hard to see because of the same color, but there were several magic stones.

If we could defeat it, we would have enough magic stones to last us a lifetime.

“Isn’t it about time?”

The Slime was coming straight at us through the center of the town.

“No, wait a little longer. It won’t do any good unless the Slime’s whole body is in there.”

The Slime crosses the center of town and gets closer and closer.

“Kagali-san!”

“That’s enough, Yuna. Put your magic into it.”

I cast my magic into the Kryna-Hark Wand.

There was no response.

“Yuna, put more magic into the Kryna-Hark Wand.”

I put more magic into the wand as Kagali-san told me to.

Then, the place where the magic circle was supposed to glow.

“It’s activated!?”

“It moved!”

Mia and the others were overjoyed.

When I confirmed that the magic circle had been activated, I stopped the flow of magic into the wand.

If the Slime could be stopped by putting more magic into the wand, I would put as much magic as possible into the wand. But this Wand served as a switch. I was surprised to find out at what point it was supposed to be turned on and off.

It would be meaningless if I stopped the magic circle after it was activated.

Disabling it would also be pointless, as we did in the basement laboratory.

“It seems that the three magic circles are not working after all.”

The only place that was glowing was, as I thought, the place of the magic circle that was still normal.

Those magic circles must have malfunctioned.

“The Slime, it doesn’t stop.”

Mia was right. The Slime was heading towards me.

But four magic circles were working, including the one in the center.

There was a good chance that the Slime would stop.

All I could do was watch and wait.

But the Slime was still moving.

“Was it no good?”

“No, look closely. It’s slowing down.”

It was slowing down.

“Then, I should keep going.”

As I looked around, the light of the magic circle disappeared.

“Kagali-san!”

“The magic circle only glows when it is activated.”

Surely, if it glowed all the time, it would stand out, and it would be strange if it were not glowing when we arrived in town.

“But be careful!”

We watch the Slime’s movements. It was squirming around.

But then the Slime’s movements gradually stopped.

“Did it work?”

“It seems so.”

Kagali-san sat back down as if relieved.

“Hooray!”

“Mia-chan, it stopped. It stopped.”

Mia and Carol hugged each other, and Fina looked relieved.

“Now, then, I can go home in peace.”

Well, we’ll have to leave the giant Slime behind, but if people don’t come over here, I doubt the Slime would attack people either.

In truth, it would be better to defeat it, but since Fina, Mia, and the others are here, I won’t force myself to fight it. If I did fight it, and it started attacking people nearby indiscriminately, it would be a pain in the neck.

They say the God you never touched won’t come to curse you.

“Well then, let’s get ready to go home.”

It was when Kagali-san turned around when Fina shouted.

“Yuna Onee-chan! The slime is,”

“It’s moving.”

“It’s moving. Maybe it’s going to the basement.”

“I hope so.”

We watched the Slime as it moved.

“Hey, is it approaching us?”

Mia was definitely right. The Slime was certainly moving toward us.

“What about the magic circle??”

“Could it be…”

Kagali-san looked like he had an idea.

“Kagali-san?”

“Yuna, I need you to put the magic into the wand again.”

“But won’t that deactivate it?”

“It is already working. If it did deactivate, then you just have to do it again to reactivate it.”

Well, it was better to do it than not do anything.

I poured magic into the Kryna-Hark Wand.

“The magic circle doesn’t glow?”

“Maybe it was just deactivated. Try it again.”

I poured magic into the Kryna-Hark Wand one more time.

But, unlike the first time, there was no reaction.

“I knew it.”

Kagali-san looked frustrated and jumped up into the sky. Then she circled the town and returned.

“Kagali-san!”

“What happened, suddenly jumping and running around?”

“I have checked the magic circle of Kryna-Hark from above. The magic circle was buried under the Slime.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It is possible that the Slime flowed into the basement and destroyed the magic circle. Or, more accurately, it may have absorbed the magical power of the magic stone.” 𝐞𝗻𝐨𝘃𝗹.𝐜𝐨𝗺

“Oh, no.”

The floor cracked over the years, and it would not be surprising if the Slime entered through it.

It would also explain why the magic circle didn’t activate the second time around.

“Come to think of it, the door at the entrance was also tattered,” Mia said as if remembering.

It was half destroyed, most of it.

I should have at least repaired the entrances and exits before we started the plan.

It was too late to do anything about it right now.

“Well, it was already half as effective, to begin with. It may have simply been broken. All we know is that Kryna-Hark’s magic circle was ineffective!”

It could not be confirmed what really happened.

It was because the magic circle was inside the Slime.

“Then we will do what we originally planned until the effects of the magical circles are completely destroyed. While I am attracting the attention of Slime, Yuna will take the girls into the house.”

Kagali-san flies through the air to draw the Slime to her.

“Fina will take the girls to the bear house.”

“Are you really going to fight that Slime?”

Mia asked anxiously.

“We’re just going to defeat it before it destroys the magical tool.”

“Even if Yuna and Kagali are strong, they can’t fight a Slime that big. Let’s get out of here.”

“You’re worried about us?”

“Of course, if Yuna and Kagali die. I won’t be able to forgive myself.”

“Don’t worry. I will stop the Slime, so the three of you can rest in the house.”

I escorted them to the bear house with Mia and her horse, then moved to the room with the Bear Transfer Gate.

I opened the door to the Bear Transfer Gate. The destination was the basement of the bear house in Crimonia. This was the room where Fina and the others hid when monsters appeared at the time of the Targui.

“Fina, take care of them, will you?”

I asked Fina to tell Mia and the others the truth and ask them to go outside Crimonia in case of an emergency.

Well, I was planning to escape before anything happened so that it wouldn’t come to that, but just in case.

“…Yeah, leave it to me, Yuna Onee-chan, be careful.”

Fina looked worried.

I smiled and patted Fina’s head to reassure her.

I also left Swaying Bear with her to reassure her.

I asked Hugging Bear to accompany me, who was inside the Bear-san puppet, just in case.

“Swaying Bear, take care of everyone as well.”

“Kuun.”

“Okay, I’m off then.”

I walked out of the room and closed the Bear Transfer Gate.