Extra Story: The Bear Summons Bears

Extra Story:
The Bear Summons Bears

 

AFTER BUYING A GRIMOIRE from the bookstore, I’d started practicing magic and grinding EXP off of the local monsters. I was slowly adjusting to the magic in this world, the fundamentals of which were, thankfully, the same as they’d been in WFO.

When I took a look at my status screen during a break a few days later, I noticed I’d gained some interesting skills.

Bear summoning… I thought. That’s got to mean I can summon bears, right? Apparently, I could summon a bear from each bear glove.

I decided to give it a shot. I poured some mana into my black bear glove and pictured summoning a bear. When the black bear puppet mouth opened wide, a round, furry black object jumped out from its mouth.

Is this supposed to be a bear? I thought.

The round object shuffled and turned its head towards me, and I realized I’d been looking at its furry butt. The bear looked around and stood up, then slowly walked towards me. It was kind of scary, and I took a step back.

The bear took a step closer. When I moved back again, the bear let out a sad coo. I couldn’t keep backing away now that it’d made a sound like that, so I let it get closer and snuggle up to me. Unsurprisingly, it was warm. When I patted its head, the bear seemed happy. Its fur felt soft and plush against my skin.

“Did I summon you?”

In response, it let out another coo and sat down with its back towards me.

“Are you trying to say you want me to ride you?”

It crooned again. I’d never even ridden a horse, but thinking about my plans for the future, I could certainly use a steed for long distance travel. I gingerly mounted the bear, and it stood up slowly, so I wouldn’t fall.

“Uh, whooaaa.” I felt myself tipping, but I didn’t fall. The bear turned to look at me, but it didn’t try to move.

“What’s wrong?” As soon as I asked, I realized what was going on. “Oh right, you don’t know where to go. Uh, you can just walk wherever for now.”

The bear crooned and started walking.

“Whoa.”

It was way better than I thought it would be. I wasn’t sliding around as much as I’d feared—if anything, it was kind of like riding on an expensive sofa.

“Could you try running for a little?”

The bear broke into a sprint so fast the scenery rushed by. I didn’t lose my balance or even feel like I’d fall, despite how fast we were going. Maybe that’s this summon’s ability? I thought. I swayed left and right to test it out, but even when I tried standing up, it was like there was some sort of force keeping me stuck to the bear. I didn’t even fall when I relaxed and laid down. Did that mean I could sleep while I travelled?

I decided I’d try that out later. I still had to check out the bear’s top speed.

“Try running faster.”

When I asked it to do that, the bear picked up speed. I was pretty sure we were going faster than a motorcycle. We hit the foothills of a mountain and just kept going as the ground grew steeply inclined. The bear didn’t even seem tired.

“Stop.”

Once we were halfway up the mountainside, I patted the scruff on the bear’s neck. The bear gradually slowed to a halt, and I got off and stretched. I had no idea where we were, but when I tried opening my map to check, the bear suddenly leaped to the side.

“What?!”

An arrow embedded itself in the ground right where the bear had been up until just a moment ago. I followed its trajectory and instantly raised a wall of earth.

Were they after us? I thought.

I used detection magic to look for their location. Following the angle of the arrow, I noticed one completely still target. I opened up a small hole in the earth wall for visual confirmation, but since the ground sloped up and there were trees around, I couldn’t see who fired the arrow.

They were about a hundred meters away. They also weren’t aiming at me, but at my bear. I looked at the bear and then my clothes, wondering if I might’ve looked like its cub from far away.

“Can you hear me?!” I shouted in the direction the arrow came from. “I’m an adventurer, and this bear is mine. Could you please not fire arrows at us?!”

I waited for a response. If they didn’t answer, my only options were to run or strike back.

“Are you actually an adventurer? Is that bear really harmless?” they replied.

“It won’t hurt you as long as you don’t attack it,” I said. “If you seem like you’re going to attack, then I’m going to attack back.”

They were silent for a short while.

“Alright. Truce.”

A man carrying a bow and arrows emerged from a gap in the trees. He was dressed like a hunter from a videogame.

“Is that bear really yours?” he asked.

“Yeah.” In order to prove it, I pet the bear.

“This is the first time I’ve seen a bear obey a human like that. Sorry for shooting out of nowhere. That big bear just gave me a fright when it turned up.”

“That’s fine, but I was there too. You should have known something was up.”

“Sorry. That outfit made you look like a bear cub from a distance. Where’s a girl like you from? You’re not living in the woods with this bear, are you?”

“We live in a town called Crimonia.”

“Crimonia? That’s pretty far away. Is that look popular in that town or something?” I wished. The only place this look was trending was in Japan. “So why are you in a place like this, miss? It’s dangerous around these parts.”

“I was just taking a walk with my bear. Is it really that dangerous around here?”

“You were taking a walk? While wearing that weird outfit?”

Really, he didn’t have to call it weird. It’s not like I was wearing the suit because I wanted to.

“This place isn’t safe,” he said. “It has a guardian spirit.”

“A guardian what now?”

“It’s a gigantic boar. I shot at your bear because I thought it was the spirit at first.”

“Wait, is it really that big?” My bear was pretty large. If the boar was about the same size…

“Yup, it’s just about as big as that bear. It eats all our crops and attacks people that stray into the forest, so if you’re going to leave,” he said, “you better do it quick.”

“Got it. I’ll be off, then.”

The man hesitated as I climbed back on my bear. “Actually,” he said, “do you have a moment?”

“Sure. What is it?”

He looked at the wall I’d made and asked, “Can you use magic?”

“I can.”

“How strong is that wall?”

“Strong enough to protect against goblin and orc attacks.”

“Orc attacks?! I’ve got something I’d like to ask you, miss. Could you make walls like that around the village’s fields? We’ll pay you what we can, though I’m afraid it won’t be much. I know I’m asking something unreasonable of you, but at this rate the guardian spirit is going to eat the village out of house and home. Please.”

The man lowered his head in supplication. This sounded like a colossal pain in the butt, but it’d leave a bad taste in my mouth to come back and find the village destroyed. I agreed, though reluctantly. “I can do that, but I don’t know if it’ll actually hold up against the guardian spirit.”

I knew how dangerous a charging feral hog was, even back home. I couldn’t imagine how strong a bear-sized one would be, but I definitely couldn’t guarantee my walls would keep it out.

“I understand. I’m Brandaugh, by the way. I live in the village near here.”

“I’m Yuna. I’m an adventurer.”

Having introduced ourselves, we headed towards the village, which was apparently in the opposite direction from where I’d come. I rode on the bear while Brandaugh led the way. As we traveled, he told me he’d give me several days’ worth of vegetables the village had grown in thanks.

As we kept going down the mountain path, the village came into view. A man at the village entrance leveled his spear at us.

“B-Brandaugh, what is that thing behind you?!” the man shouted.

“It’s okay! Lower your weapon. This person in the bear outfit is Yuna—she’s an adventurer. The bear is hers, so we’re in no danger as long as we don’t hurt it.”

“Are you sure?” he said, giving the bear a doubtful look.

“I promise it won’t attack us.”

“Alright, but this isn’t my call to make. I’m going to fetch the village chief, so wait here,” the man told Brandaugh, and ran off into the village.

“Sorry about this. Everyone is on alert because of the guardian spirit.”

I guessed that was a given. I was wearing a strange outfit and had ridden in on what any normal person in this world would see as a ferocious bear.

After a while, the man returned, now accompanied by an older person. “Brandaugh, do you even understand the situation we’re in?”

“It’s because I understand the situation that I brought her here.”

“What are you talking about?”

“This young girl can use earth magic. I brought her here so she could make walls to protect us against the guardian spirit.”

“You want to raise walls with magic? It’s true that might help us, but we have no money to pay her with…”

“Some fresh vegetables will do just fine,” I said.

“Are you certain that’s all you want?”

“Yeah, just make sure they’re tasty ones.” Veggies were best when they were freshly picked. That was a universal truth.

“And is that your bear?”

“It is.” I hugged the bear around its fluffy neck to prove it.

“It really won’t attack people?”

“As long as they don’t attack it first.”

“Alright. Well, allow me to formally welcome you to the village. Bogue, please let everyone in the village know about her, and be sure to stress that they should not provoke the bear.”

The guard ran off a second time, and we followed. As we proceeded into the village, it became clear they were in dire straits. Some houses had great crumbling holes knocked in their walls, while others had caved in entirely.

“This is all the guardian spirit’s doing. We can rebuild the houses, but without our fields, we’ll run out of food and the villagers will have no choice but to starve.”

I was starting to feel guilty about accepting any vegetables from them. From the state of the village, it was clear their produce was the most valuable thing they had.

As far as defenses went, all they had was a ramshackle wooden fence, patched and reinforced in places. I figured those were probably the sections the guardian spirit had smashed through. I backtracked to the village entrance and started surrounding the village with earthen walls, using the existing fence as a foundation to build on.

“Let me know if you need other exits, too,” I told Brandaugh.

“Will do.”

I made a lap around the village on my bear, raising two-meter-high walls. It was probably quite the spectacle to them, since more and more of the villagers gathered while I worked. They cheered each time I erected a new section of wall, and the kids ran after the bear.

“Magic sure is amazing,” said Brandaugh.

“You don’t have anyone in the village who can use magic?”

“We do, but all they can do is start small fires. I’ve never seen or heard of magic this impressive before. How are you doing on mana? Please don’t push yourself too hard.”

He clearly didn’t know much about magic, since he seemed genuinely worried about me. “I’m doing fine.”

“That’s good, but let me know if you get tired.”

Of course, I wasn’t tired at all by the time I was done building the wall. I fashioned several gates in the places where Brandaugh directed me to.

“What will you do if the guardian spirit comes in through here?”

“The spirit comes from the mountains, so it won’t be entering from this direction. We’ll still reinforce the gates with more wood later, just to be safe.”

We headed to the village chief to let him know the wall was done. He thanked me, saying they had little to offer in terms of hospitality, but insisted on offering me a meal. The sun was starting to set. In this world without electricity, work ended when the daylight did.

They ushered me into the village chief’s house and sat me at a table. I felt a little bad making the bear wait outside, but it was hardly going to fit through the door. A woman emerged from the kitchen with a loaded tray of food, and Brandaugh started in surprise.

“Marie, what are you doing here?”

“I’m helping the chief,” she said. “Besides, you were the one who brought our guest here, weren’t you? If I can’t be a hospitable wife, then who will?”

“But what about your belly?” Brandaugh fretted. One look at her pregnant stomach told me why he was concerned.

“A little exercise is good for me.”

“I suppose…but please don’t overdo it.”

The food Marie had brought out was bread, vegetable soup, and salad. The bread was delicious—it must have been freshly baked. The soup was a little bland, but it was still a tasty, satisfying meal.

“Miss,” said Brandaugh, “I already discussed this with Marie, but would you stay at my house tonight? We kept you working so late, and we still need to gather some vegetables to give you.”

Honestly, I’d pretty much decided at this point that it wouldn’t be right to take their produce when they were already running so low. There was nothing to stop me from getting back on my bear and heading straight home, but I could see the sun setting outside. It’d be dark within an hour.

While I was debating what to do, a commotion erupted outside.

“The guardian spirit is here!” someone screamed.

Everyone in the village chief’s home stood from their chairs.

“Marie,” said Brandaugh, “you and the village chief stay here. I’ll go.”

He grabbed the bow leaning against the wall and ran out of the house. I ran after him, tracking the sound of the agitated voices, and my bear followed close behind me. When I got to where the villagers were gathered, there was a dreadful sound coming from the wall.

BLAM!!!! BLAM!!!!

“These walls are amazing! They’re holding up even with the guardian spirit ramming into them!” The men who had set ladders against the wall to peer over it were cheering.

“The village is saved!”

“Thank you, miss!”

The gathered villagers showered me with gratitude, but their words changed to shrieks when they heard the lookouts on the ladders say, “The guardian spirit is on the move. But that’s where—”

They were looking in the direction of the entrance.

“Get to your homes!”

“Damn, it’s fast!”

The villagers started to scatter. Brandaugh ran through the crowd towards the entrance, and I let out a sigh before chasing after him, wishing he’d think about his unborn child before plunging headfirst into danger. It wasn’t just Brandaugh heading to the entrance, though. As we made it to the main gate, we were joined by several men with weapons.

“We know where it’ll come in from! Attack together as soon as it comes in!”

“Yeah!”

The guardian spirit loomed at the entrance. Just as Brandaugh had said, it was as massive as my bear. The archers fired, but the creature’s hide repelled their arrows. It kicked off the ground and broke into a run, men with spears jabbing fruitlessly at it as it passed.

The spirit was running straight at me. Just as I was readying a spell, my bear blocked its charge.

“Bear!”

It slammed hard into the guardian spirit and held it back. The guardian spirit dug its heels in and tried to push the bear back, but the bear braced itself and stood fast, too. It wouldn’t let the guardian spirit take a single step forward.

“Throw it to the side!”

The bear roared in response to my order and surged forward. The guardian spirit’s struggling front legs lifted off the ground and then suddenly, with a loud thud, it was laid out flat. At the same time, I invoked my magic.

I gathered water in my right black bear glove. I loosed the spell at the guardian spirit, enveloping its head. Its struggles increased as it started to drown.

“Bear! Don’t let it escape!”

The bear braced itself and held the guardian spirit down. It thrashed around, trying to escape, but it couldn’t breathe, and the bear was using its full weight to pin it down. The guardian spirit gradually lost its strength to struggle. In the end, it stopped moving.

A subdued silence blanketed through the village.

“Thanks, bear,” I said, and the bear let out a soft coo, then backed off from the guardian spirit.

“Is it dead?” someone asked in a hushed voice.

“Is it actually…”

Brandaugh took a spear from one of the villagers and jabbed at the guardian spirit. It didn’t react.

“It’s dead.”

With those words, the village was filled with joy.

“Thank you, miss!”

“Thank you!”

Words of gratitude rained down on me.

 

“Are you really sure about this?”

I’d decided to donate the guardian spirit’s corpse to the village.

“This thing ate your food and caused you all that grief, didn’t it? You can eat it, or sell it, or do whatever you want with it.”

“But we haven’t given you anything in return. You made those walls for us, and even defeated the guardian spirit by yourself. How can we take the spoils of your kill after all of that?” The villagers nodded at the village chief’s words.

“You have pregnant women here. They need to eat well to keep up their health, and based on what I can see, none of you have been doing that, right?” They all had a slightly gaunt look to them. “I’ll come back again sometime, so you can thank me then.”

“You have our undying gratitude.” The village chief lowered his head in thanks.

I ended up staying at Brandaugh’s house for the night. When I headed out the next morning, the villagers all gathered at the main gate to see me off. It was downright embarrassing.

“Please come back anytime,” said the chief. “You will always be welcome here, miss.”

“Thank you, miss,” said Marie. “Tell us if you ever need anything. I’ll never forget the debt we owe you.”

“Thanks, Yuna,” said Brandaugh.

“Marie,” I said, “I hope the baby comes out healthy.”

“Be sure to come visit it!”

I hopped up on the bear’s back and left for Crimonia, grateful for its speed. It sure made long-distance travel more convenient.

Actually, I thought, idly patting its back as we sprinted homeward, I only tried the one glove, didn’t I?

I took a break once I’d made it past the mountain near the village and collected mana in the white glove to give summoning another bear a try. A giant white furball leapt out of the glove and landed on the ground. Okay, I thought, so this one is a white bear.

But the white bear had its back pointedly turned toward me and wouldn’t move. “Is something wrong?” I called out to it, but it didn’t react.

I circled around to the front of the white bear. The white bear let out a small whine and turned its face down. Maybe it’s sulking? I thought. It was doing everything short of tracing sulky circles on the ground. Cute as it was, I felt kind of bad. It had to be upset because I’d summoned the black bear, but not it.

It was cute, though.

“Sorry. It’s not like I didn’t want to summon you. I just forgot…”

The moment I said, “I just forgot,” the white bear turned its back on me again.

“Well, it’s not like I actually forgot…well, look, I’m just one person. It’s just impossible for me to ride you both at the same time, so how about I take turns? Will you let me ride you back home?”

I patted its furry white back as I asked it that. This time, the bear perked up its ears and looked at me.

“Would that be okay?”

The white bear crooned and stood up. All was forgiven, apparently.

I mounted the white bear and rode the rest of the way back home to Crimonia, using the time to think of names for my new steeds. Finally, it came to me. I’d name the black bear Kumayuru, and the white bear Kumakyu.