Chapter 621

Bear-san says Goodbye to Mia

The Slime has been defeated, and the town is now quiet.

Kagali-san and I meet up with Fina, Mia, and Swaying Bear.

“For once I am more tired, than ever.”

Kagali-san dropped me off and returned to her original little girl form.

“Come on, you’ll catch a cold. Get dressed.”

Mia handed Kagali-san the clothes she had been keeping for me.

“I didn’t think it would be this hard to fight with a body that’s not in good shape.”

Kagali-san puts on her clothes and sits on the ground, apparently exhausted.

She looked fine, but she was probably pushing herself too hard.

“Is Fina okay?”

Fina leaned back against Swaying Bear.

Fina pushed herself too hard as well.

“Yeah, I took some rest. I’m sorry. I was not able to end it.”

“What are you talking about? Thanks to Fina, we were able to defeat Slime, right? Mia got the best part in the end, but if Fina hadn’t broken the magic tools, it wouldn’t have been enough for Mia to break all of them, who was short on arrows.”

“Yes, I was a bonus. I’m an extra; I’ve been watching Fina work her magic hard. So, get it off your chest. You saved a lot of people.”

“…Mia Onee-chan, thank you.”

A smile returned to Fina’s face.

After all, Fina would be better off smiling.

“Mia-chan!”

Carol ran over and hugged Mia.

“I’m so glad you’re okay~”

“I told you not to worry. I’ve got this one.”

Mia pats Swaying Bear.

Swaying Bear squeals “Kuu~n”.

“Carol was in more danger by herself than I was.”

“I’m far away from here. If anything happens, I’ll just run back into the house.”

It was safe beyond the bear transition gate, but I wasn’t sure if the bear house itself was safe.

I was glad that the Slime did not go to Carol’s place.

“But I didn’t think you had the skill to handle a bow like that.”

Kagali-san looked at Mia with a tired expression.

I agreed with that.

“Fufu, I’m still an adventurer. I should at least be able to protect myself.”

That didn’t seem helpful to the armored knights, though.

“Well, that said, it’s all thanks to this bow.”

Mia looked at the bow she was holding.

Whatever it was, she said, it was also a kind of magical tool.

There were magic stones and unseen patterns etched into the bow.

The arrows were said to be imbued with wind magic to extend the distance.

It was kind of cool.

If I were an archer, I would also have wanted those arrows for myself.

But unfortunately, I had never used a bow, so I could not use it.

“But I didn’t know you had such an amazing bow.”

“My grandpa gave it to me when I was little. Since then, I’ve been using it to hone my skills. I’m a little confident with it. But that doesn’t mean I hit it because I have a great bow.”

“I know that. No matter how good a weapon is, if the person handling it is incompetent, it will never be able to display its true power. It was your power that allowed you to hit it from that distance.”

“If you know what you’re talking about, that’s fine. Sometimes people say it’s because of the bow.”

Mia looked happy to be praised by Kagali-san.

The arrow’s effective range boost may have been thanks to the bow, but it was Mia’s shooting ability to hit the targets accurately.

And Fina, too. She was on top of that Kagali-san and hit the magic tool while flying in the air for the first time.

They were both amazing.

When you think about it, Bear Armor with aiming support wasn’t something to brag about when it comes to hitting targets.

“Mia-chan, you really practiced hard.”

“I couldn’t use magic, and this was all I had.”

Mia looked happily at the bow.

“But now it’s really over, isn’t it?”

“I wasn’t sure what would happen at first, but I’m glad I met Yuna-san and the others.”

Thanks to all of you.

Looking around at everyone, I noticed that a certain presence was missing.

…Hugging Bear.

I hurriedly summoned Hugging Bear.

“Hugging Bear?”

Hugging Bear turned its back on me and refused to look at me.

No doubt, Hugging Bear was sulking.

It reminded me of the first time we met.

“Hugging Bear, I’m sorry. It’s just that I’ve been a little out of the loop, and Hugging Bear was a hidden weapon in case I ever had to run away.”

I had to keep Hugging Bear in the Bear Puppet around in case we had to run away. Since we managed to defeat it without needing to utilize an escape avenue, this is why we are now having this situation.

Hugging Bear glanced at me but quickly looked down.

I adjusted my Bear puppet and apologized.

“Hugging Bear, I am so sorry, I wanted Hugging Bear to stay inside the bear puppet because I wanted Hugging Bear to help me when things became dangerous.”

I hugged, Hugging Bear gently from behind.

“Kuh~n.”

“So, please get back in a good mood.”

I promised to stay with Hugging Bear, and it forgave me.

“Fufu!”

Mia giggled at the sight of us.

“I didn’t think bears could be so cute. I want a bear too.”

“Normal bears are dangerous.”

I had only seen bears living near honey trees and in the Elf forest.

Neither of those bears were ferocious.

Maybe the bears in this world may not be so dangerous?

“In that case, I’d like you to give me this Swaying Bear.”

“Do you mean you want to die right here?”

I created a Bear Flame.

“Wait, I’m kidding. Just kidding.”

Mia ran away and hid behind Swaying Bear.

“By the way, can’t these bears use magic? I thought I heard something about them being able to use it from Shin.o.bu.”

Kagali-san says as if recalling.

I believe they were using wind magic.

“They can use it.”

“Then can they still use magic when they’re small?”

“…!?”

Kagali-san’s words made Fina and I look at each other.

“Swaying Bear, Hugging Bear, can you use magic when you are in a smaller form?”

I had never seen them use magic when they were in a small state.

Besides, Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear don’t often fight.

“Well, wait a minute. What do you mean by getting smaller? Can bears use magic?”

Mia asked.

Wow, what a ha.s.sle.

In the end, I explained to Mia and the others that Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear could get smaller.

“Oh, that’s so cute!”

Mia cuddled Swaying Bear.

“Mia-chan, me too.”

Carol and Mia compete for Swaying Bear.

I held Hugging Bear in my arms to keep her in a good mood.

“So, Swaying Bear, can you do magic in that state?”

“Kuu~n.”

Swaying Bear swipes his claws at the crumbling building.

A blade of wind flew out, similar to my wind magic, and completely destroyed the building, turning it into ruins.

“It’s not very powerful, but it seems to work. I guess they can be used.”

“Then, what I’ve been trying to do is…”

Fina started to feel depressed.

“You see, the Swaying Bear was Mia and the others’ escort.”

“But then there’s Hugging Bear.”

“That’s because I almost forgot about that.”

“Kuuu~n.”

This time, the Hugging Bear in my arms squeals sadly.

Uwwaaaahhh.

I screamed in my heart.

Then after resting, we went exploring, curious about the city.

“What is this building?”

A domed building.

It was actually the building that I had wondered about when I was fighting against the Slime.

We went inside.

“It looks like an auditorium.”

What looked like chairs were lined up in a circle, and the walls were faintly marked with stars. And,

There was something in the center.

“Could this be the Planetarium?”

“A Planetarium?”

Fina tilts her head.

“What’s that?”

“You could say that it’s a place to watch the stars in the daytime.”

I explained in a way that was easy to understand.

“How can you see the stars in the daytime? Are you stupid, Yuna?”

I get a little annoyed when I am called an idiot by an idiot child. But I was an adult. Therefore, I respond in an adult manner.

“No, it’s not. It’s not the real stars. It’s more of an imitation of a real starry sky, that’s all.”

I moved to the center of the room.

Maybe this was it.

There was a pedestal in the center, a round object.

There was no magic stone. It probably needed a magic stone of light.

Well, was there any magic stone that I have that would be suitable?

I took out a magic stone from my bear box and put a magic stone of light in the hole, then I just needed to make it shine, but this was not enough.

I looked at the ceiling and saw that a part of the ceiling had collapsed.

I casted earth magic to seal the collapsed ceiling and walls so that no light from outside could enter.

“Yuna, what are you doing making the room go dark?”

“Just wait for a bit.”

I touched the switch of the magical tool to which I had just attached the magic stone.

Then, a beautiful set of stars appeared on the ceiling.

“Wow, it’s beautiful.”

“It really looks like the starry sky at night.”

I wondered if there were constellations in this world as well.

I didn’t know much about the stars in my original world, either.

I knew the constellations’ names but didn’t know where I could see them. That’s the extent of my knowledge.

“But why would I want to make something like this? At night, you could look at it all you want.”

“There are all kinds of things that can be the cause. Like, for lovers, or for children who fall asleep at night.”

“Yes, it can be a luxury to see the stars in the daytime.”

We enjoyed the Planetarium and rested.

“It’s a great place to sleep.”

I agreed, but I didn’t like the idea that Mia and I were on the same page.

Then we walked around town, but there were no Slimes in town, either, as they seemed to have run away.

“Are you sure the money is good?”

The following day, we parted ways with Mia and the others.

“Sure, Yuna has saved my life more than once. It’s not like I have any use for that staff, either.”

Kryna-Hark’s wand was only to activate the magic circle.

She said it was safe to say that it had no value.

If anything, the magic circle was more valuable.

It, too, had been destroyed by Slime and was in tatters.

The Planetarium was given away, saying that it was something I had found.

“But what about your sisters?”

“Well, Carol and I will do our best to find more treasures.”

“Wait, I’m the older one here, so I’ll give them a present.”

Kagali-san then pulled something out of his bag of items and tossed it to Mia.

“Wait, what?”

Mia accepted it.

“Jewelry?”

It was a beautiful red-colored jewel about the size of her thumb.

“Sell it, and you’ll get some money for it.”

“I, I can’t accept it.”

“Don’t worry about it, little girl.”

“Say’s the little girl. I know you are older than me, but that doesn’t mean I can accept it.”

“I’m not saying it’s free. It’s a fee to keep them quiet.”

“Hush money?”

“Please don’t tell anyone about what happened.”

Oh, I see. If word spreads about us, it could become a problem.

“What? You think we’re going to talk? We won’t tell anyone if you ask us to shut up. We were attacked by the Slime and fought together. So there is no need for this.”

Mia held out the hand holding the jewelry to Kagali-san, but her hand shook slightly.

She’s taking it too far.

“If you’re going to call me a friend, take it; I got Kryna-Hark’s staff and the, you know, planetarium, or whatever it was, and I am giving that to you. You can think of it as half of that.”

“Well, if you put it that way.”

Mia withdrew the hand that held the jewelry.

She wanted it after all.

Well, I worked hard to get here for my sisters. A reward would be nice.

“Well then, I and the others will be going.”

“So in the end, you didn’t tell us where you came from.”

“Sorry.”

“That’s okay. But you should come to our town sometime.”

“We’ll be happy to entertain you.”

I was told where Mia and her friends live.

Maybe I could see them when I have time.

“We’ll all be there when we do.”

“Absolutely.”

Mia and the others mounted their horses and walked away.

“She was a noisy one, wasn’t she?”

“Yes, she was. I’ll pay for the jewelry, if you want.”

“You don’t have to worry about it. I have a lot of jewelry of that size. Besides, I owe you more than I can ever repay.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Then you shouldn’t worry about the jewelry either.”

“Got it.”

When she said that much, I couldn’t say anything.

“Well, then, let us return home.”

I had to set up a bear gate somewhere.

I placed the bear gate in the bas.e.m.e.nt where Kryna-Hark’s magic circle used to be, and return to the Land of Harmony.

“I’m going to bed. What about you?”

Kagali-san declared that she was going to bed, even though she had been asleep until an hour ago.

Well, I understand how she feels. I would like to rest when I get home, as well.

“I’m going home, I have to drop Fina off.”

It was longer than we had planned.

Tirumina-san and the others might be worried.

“Well, then, Fina, we’re going home.”

“Yes.”

I opened the door to the bear’s gate in Crimonia and walked through the portal with Fina.