Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

Chapter 683

Bear-san Interviewed at the Adventurers’ Guild

“So we came to this town looking for my sister. If you know anything about fairies, please do let us know.” (Primme)

“Hmmm… I don’t want you guys to get involved because it’s dangerous. But if it’s for your sister, I don’t blame you for doing so. The ordinance on the transfer of magic power was established about three years ago.” (Receptionist)

“I know this is a little late, but when did Primme’s sister disappear? I always thought it was only recently.” (Yuna)

Since we arrived in this town, it felt like the presence of fairies had been here for a while now.

“My sister has been missing for a while now. I think it’s been about three springs since.” (Primme)

That made Noa and me want to hold our heads in our hands.

“So you’ve been searching for your sister all that time?” (Yuna)

“No, at first, I thought [I haven’t seen her lately], but I didn’t pay much attention to the matter. Some time later, I remembered that she said she was meeting with humans, so I went and asked around, but I couldn’t find her, and then I remembered the handkerchief and checked it out, and I got a response from outside the fairy forest. So I decided to find someone who could see me and whom I could trust.” (Primme)

So that’s the reason she used the fairy mirror to go through and look for someone who could help her, huh?

Like elves, long-lived creatures have a different sense of time than we do.

Three years have passed, but from how she reacted, it must have felt very recent.

Noa looked at Primme in disbelief.

“Um, can we continue our conversation?” (Receptionist)

The receptionist seemed to want to continue the conversation.

“Sorry for changing the subject.” (Yuna)

“Anyway, you see, magic power is taken from the residents every few days at night. I still remember the first time the magic power was taken from us. I felt weak, the magicians couldn’t use magic anymore, and there was an uproar in the guild.” (Receptionist)

“But magic power recovers over time, doesn’t it?” (Noa)

Noa asked as if it was a standard occurrence.

Magic power recovery worked the same way as physical strength. They both recovered constantly over time.

“Yes, it does. If you just want to live a normal life, you can do so with only a small amount of magic power. But for a magician who is an adventurer, it is a matter of life and death. Just when you think your magic power is restored, it is taken away again. If you fight monsters without realizing that your magical power has not been fully restored, and you end up lacking magical power, you could die. It is impossible to fight monsters in such a dangerous condition. So the magicians were the first to leave the town, and the adventurers who had been party members with the magicians followed them.” (Receptionist)

I heard about the commotion yesterday, and now I understand the reason for the ruckus.

It was true that if the magicians were deprived of their magical power, they would not be able to fight monsters. If they couldn’t sense that their magic power was only half restored, their lives would be in danger.

In such a state, it was no wonder they could no longer accept requests and ended up leaving the town.

“A few days after most of the adventurers left, those Knights appeared and started defeating monsters in place of the adventurers. So, the remaining adventurers also left, saying that they couldn’t find work in this town.” (Receptionist)

Some parties worked without the magicians. However, those adventurers also left since they could not find good work, and the only ones left were those who couldn’t leave.

“But how did the knights get into this business of defeating monsters? Was it originally to protect the town?” (Yuna)

“The knights would usually come here to buy magic stones. That was before the ordinance of taking the residents’ magic power was announced. Even after the ordinance, the lord is still buying up all available magic stones. At the start, the town’s residents were pretty confused. The lord then coerced us to make collecting a certain amount of magic stones mandatory. Following that ordinance, however, the magicians and most adventurers strong enough to hunt monsters went away from this town. So we can’t fulfil the requests of the Lord anymore because the number of magic stones being delivered to the guild steadily started to decrease.” (Receptionist)

The Receptionist continued.

“Following that, under the lord’s direction, the knights were sent out on the task of killing monsters, and we, the adventurers’ guild, started to take care of dismantling the monsters they brought in. They were only taking the magic stones with them. We were the ones who would dismantle the monsters to be used as materials. The excess materials would be sold. This was more than enough profit for the guild to survive on.” (Receptionist)

So the receptionist had to put up with the knights making fun of her to keep the guild going.

“I wonder how those magic stones are being used.” (Blitz)

“Do you have any idea what the magic stones are used for?” (Rosa)

At Blitz and Rosa-san’s words, the receptionist shook her head.

“I don’t know. I asked the knights before, but they didn’t reveal anything to me.” (Receptionist)

I also wondered what those magic stones were used for.

“From what we know so far, I think we can assume that it’s to steal magic power?” (Blitz)

“Is it really Primme’s sister who is doing this?” (Rosa)

“What is Primme’s sister doing here in the first place?” (Ran)

The role of the magic stones.

The role of Primme’s sister.

We still didn’t understand how everything was connected.

“First, just to confirm, can fairies give or take magic power? Since they call themselves fairy knights, it is highly likely that they are granted power by fairies, right?” (Rosa)

Rosa-san’s words drew Primme’s attention.

“I can certainly take it away, or rather, absorb it. The reason everyone can see me is that I have absorbed a bit of Yuna’s magic power.” (Primme)

Although the wording was different, “taking away” and “absorbing” were basically the same thing in the sense that magic power was transferred from a person to the fairy.

“Then, what about giving?” (Yuna)

“I don’t know. I can’t give power to a human to strengthen them, and I’ve never heard of such a thing happening.” (Primme)

Giving magic power… It was a difficult question to answer.

I, too, have channeled magic power into Noa and Fina’s bodies to teach them the flow of magic power, but I doubt that they have become stronger.

In manga and novels, there were scenarios where the people would receive magic power from their friends and use that to release even more potent magic. For the knights around here though, that power was limited to stay only up to a few days.

There was also the question about whether it was possible to accumulate magic power taken from other people.

But this was a different world, so something might not work the same way compared to how they worked in my previous world’s fiction works. There must be some way to do this.

“I’ve found out many things, but eventually, the lord appears to be the most suspicious.” (Receptionist)

A lord who may be stealing magic from the town’s inhabitants, giving orders to the fairy knights, and capturing Primme’s sister.

“What kind of person is this lord?” (Yuna)

“The previous lord, Zenora, passed away a few years ago, and his son, Bernd, took over, but I don’t know much about him because he’s been living in the royal capital since he was a child.” (Receptionist)

He was living in the royal capital, away from his parents, since he was a child.

Shia was with her mother, Ellelaura-san, but she might have ended up in a similar situation if Ellelaura-san was not in the royal capital. It was not a strange story when you think about it.

“How old is he?” (Yuna)

“Around 25 years old, I think?” (Receptionist)

He was young for a lord.

“So, if that’s the case, what are we going to do now? Are we going to investigate the lord?” (Blitz)

Blitz, who was listening to our conversation, asked.

“Hmm… We, the Adventurers’ Guild, also tried to investigate this matter in the past, but we couldn’t get much information. Now, we can only request those knights to hunt monsters even if it ends up harassing us.” (Receptionist)

“Is there no one else who can hunt down monsters?” (Yuna)

“There is one, the Guild Master of the Adventurers’ Guild.” (Receptionist)

I had forgotten about the existence of the Guild Master.

If possible, I would like to hear from the Guild Master as well.

“The Guild Master is the one hunting down monsters?” (Yuna)

As I asked, the door to the room suddenly opened.

“Carla, is it true that you brought a handsome man into the room?”

A reluctant old man over 40 entered through the door and said something like that.

“Guild Master!” (Receptionist)

“Not only a handsome man but some beautiful women too, I see.” (Guild Master)

The man called Guild Master watched Rosa-san and the others.

This austere elderly man was the Guild Master of this town.

He was in good shape and not inferior to the Guild Master of Crimonia.

“And there’s a young lady dressed as a bear and a promising-looking young lady. Could it be that this handsome guy brought them all in?” (Guild Master)

The Guild Master said as he looked at Blitz.

I looked again and saw myself, Noa, Rosa-san, Ran, Grimos, and the receptionist. One male Blitz among many females. Perhaps it was unsurprising that the Guild Master would think of us that way.

“I’m Blitz. I’m an adventurer who is a party member with these three over here. The two over there are my friends.” (Blitz)

It was astonishing how Blitz could simply say that we were friends, not that we were just acquaintances.

Maybe I could even consider this a skill, just from the way he answered so nonchalantly, rather than getting annoyed by how he was described.

“So what were you plotting behind the scenes in a room like this? Count me in.” (Guild Master)

The Guild Master laughed.

“Let me introduce him again. This is the Guild Master of the Adventurers Guild…” (Receptionist)

“I’m Volk. Nice to meet you. It’s quite a pleasure to meet you, handsome brother, and beautiful ladies. As well as the pretty young lady dressed as a cute bear, and the lovely young lady.” (Volk)

The receptionist tried to say his name, but the Guild Master himself introduced himself.

“And, who’s the handsome brother over there?” (Volk)

“Don’t call me handsome brother. I’m Blitz.” (Blitz)

“Oh, I’m sorry about that.” (Volk)

“I’m Rosa.”

“I’m Ran.”

“Grimos.”

The Blitz Party each said their name, so I also introduced myself.

“I’m Yuna.”

“Noire.”

“And the black bear is the Swaying Bear, while the white bear is the Hugging Bear.” (Yuna)

I introduced Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, who we were both carrying.

“Oh, by the way, I haven’t told you my name either. I’m Carla, nice to meet you.” (Carla)

Finally, the receptionist mentioned her name.

We finished introducing ourselves, but the Guild Master kept looking at Noa. He was staring at Noa’s pouch, to be exact.

“So, no introductions to the fairy hiding in there?” (Volk)

Primme hid herself the moment the Guild Master entered, returning to her hiding place in Noa’s pouch.

“Guild Master, if you look like that, she won’t show herself.” (Carla)

“You mean to say that she’s embarrassed to be seen by such a, well, handsome man?” (Volk)

The Guild Master laughed as he said hysterically.

I think I made a mistake. Maybe he was not a handsome man but an obnoxious old man.

“Well, he has this personality, but he’s someone you can trust. I’ll leave it to you to decide, but I’m sure he can help out.” (Carla)

We looked at each other.

If the Guild Master was connected to the lord and the knights, information might leak out. If that happened, it might hinder our search for Primme’s sister.

There was too little information.

If something happened, we could always escape through the Bear Transfer Gate; if they turned hostile, we could fight them.

But it would certainly be helpful if the Guild Master and the Adventurers Guild could help us.

“Primme, I’ll protect you if anything happens.” (Yuna)

After I said that, Primme came out of Noa’s pouch.

“I’ve never seen a fairy before. Is this the one that’s working with the Lord from the rumors?” (Volk)

The Guild Master looked at Primme as if glaring at her.

He didn’t seem to have good feelings for the fairies after all.

“No, she is not, so could you not look at her like that?” (Yuna)

I glared at the Guild Master as if to protect Primme.

“Ahaha, sorry about that.” (Volk)

The Guild Master laughed to cover it up.

I was sure his eyes looked like he was holding a grudge against the fairies.

I continued, “But I can’t say there is no relation. The Fairy on that lord’s side might be her sister.”

We explained to the Guild Master that we had come to this town to look for Primme’s sister.

“If that’s the case, I’ll help out.” (Volk)

“Is that all right?” (Yuna)

“If the fairies disappear from the lord’s hands, it will be beneficial for us too.” (Volk)

“Well, we probably won’t have to fight people if we can settle this problem that seemingly involved fairies soon, and we could also get back to where we came from quickly.” (Yuna)

“Is that so? Then, feel free to take the fairies back to where they should belong. As long as they stay out of this town.” (Volk)

The Guild Master said with a serious look on his face.

“I promise. I will take my sister and bring her back to the fairy forest.” (Primme)

“Ooh, do keep your promise, fairy girl.” (Volk)

We made the Guild Master one of us.

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