Chapter 24: The Bears Are on the Job Until They Get Home

Chapter 24:
The Bears Are on the Job
Until They Get Home

 

I WENT BACK to the bear house on Kumayuru. Kumakyu was curled up comfortably in the garden, taking a nap, which meant Fina was home. After I told Kumayuru to rest, I headed to the storage room. Fina was hard at work butchering monsters.

“Oh, welcome back, Yuna,” she said as she saw me come in.

“Glad to be home.”

“You came back so early. What happened to the tigerwolves?”

“I beat them. Sorry, but could you harvest the mana gems from them later, so I can prove I killed them?”

“Sure, that’s fine.”

I pulled two tigerwolves out of the bear storage. Fina looked shocked by the sight of their giant bodies. “You’re so amazing, Yuna.”

“They were definitely strong. Regular magic didn’t work on them, and they moved fast, so I ended up having to use my trump card.”

“I still think it’s amazing that you could beat them.”

“Thanks. So, did you end up going searching for herbs?”

“Yes, Kumakyu helped me.”

“It did?”

“Yeah! I asked ‘Kumakyu, can you find herbs?’ and it took me to a place where there were plenty.”

I had no idea Kumakyu could do that. I’d have to try it out later.

Fina kept skinning, even while we talked. I watched as she expertly separated the pelt from the meat and bones. “Do you just want the mana gems from the tigerwolves?” she asked.

“Yeah, just the mana gems are fine for now. I might ask you to do the rest later, though.”

When she got to a good stopping point on the wolves, Fina switched over to the tigerwolves. She slit their stomachs, stuck her hands right in, and pulled out the mana gems. She gave them a rinse and handed them to me. They were more than twice the size of regular wolf gems and shone bright white.

“You know where the gems are?” I was impressed that she hadn’t hesitated before going right for them.

“Usually they’re right in the middle,” she said.

“Really?”

“Yeah, but I haven’t butchered every kind of monster there is, so I’m not completely positive. I knew tigerwolves have their gems in the same place as wolves, though.”

“You’re amazing, Fina.”

“No, you’re amazing, Yuna. I can’t believe you can beat monsters that strong all by yourself.”

“Thanks. It’s kind of late now, but do you want to have lunch?” I packed the two gem-less tigerwolf corpses away into my bear storage.

“I…haven’t made any lunch…” Fina murmured softly, looking at her feet.

“That’s okay, I had them make us some at the inn, so come to the dining room after you wash your hands.”

“Okay.”

Once I got back to the main bear house, I pulled juice from the fridge and the steaming meals from my bear storage, grateful for the time suspension. Fina came in as I finished setting the table. “How about we eat while it’s still hot?”

I pointed her toward a seat and plated up our meals next to each other.

“It looks so good.” Fina seemed delighted to see our meals side-by-side.

“What do you want to do now?” I asked.

“Do for what?” Fina seemed puzzled.

“Should we head home? Do you want to keep butchering things?”

“I want to keep working, if that’s okay.”

“Then we’ll stay here for a while.”

“Thank you very much.”

I told Fina that I was going to take a nap on the second floor once we were done eating, and headed to my room. It was about eight-tatami-mats wide, and pretty spacious. I’d set up a largish bed, a round table, and four chairs, plus a dresser and bookshelf—both empty. It didn’t matter if the room itself was spartan, as long as I had the bear storage.

I turned the black bear onesie inside out to switch to the white one, then crawled into bed. I ended up taking a multi-hour nap.

 

Someone was shaking me. “Yuna, Yuna.”

“Fina?”

“Please wake up.”

“Good morning. Are you done with the harvesting?”

“Yes, I’m done. I came over to wake you up.”

“Thanks.” I yawned and got out of bed.

“Yuna!” When Fina saw my outfit, her eyes sparkled. Huh? I thought. “That white bear is so cute.”

Oh right, I was wearing the white bear now.

“It’s for when I sleep.” I took the white bear clothes off and flipped them inside out, reverting into my normal black-bear self.

“All right,” I said, “let’s head home.”

Fina and I switched steeds this time. We made it back to town about thirty minutes later, just as the sun was starting to set. I didn’t know much about this world’s culture yet, but I was pretty sure you shouldn’t keep ten-year-olds out too late.

When I galloped up to the gate with Kumayuru, we startled the guard so bad he readied his pike. Fina and I dismounted, and I put the bears away. I tried to look natural when I showed the guard my guild card.

“Aye, what was with those bears just now?”

“They’re just my summons.”

“Oh, summons.”

He passed my card back to me without comment. I thought he’d say something about them, but nada. We headed for the guild to report that I’d slayed the tigerwolves.