Chapter 240: The Bear Builds a Bear House

Chapter 240:
The Bear Builds a Bear House

 

THE NEXT DAY, I left to find a place for my bear house. I hadn’t had an opportunity the day before since I’d been distracted by the village children. Luimin and Lucca originally wanted to go with me, but Talia needed help with something.

Sanya headed to Mumulute’s house to discuss the situation with him and Arutul. Personnel, strategy, timing—there was a lot to go over, and they needed to decide just how much to tell the other villagers.

“But, my grandfather and father were already discussing things before I got here,” she told me before she left, “so it hasn’t been that much work so far.”

 

I left the village, careful not to be spotted by the kids. A bear house would stand out inside the village, after all, so I was thinking of making one outside it. Even if things weren’t the same as yesterday, the kids would probably gather if they saw a bear house in the village. Plus, Mumulute had given me permission to build it wherever I wanted.

 

For a while, I wandered the woods to find a good spot. Let’s see…I wanted somewhere sunny, out of the way, and inside the barrier. If I could find somewhere that included all three of those, it’d be perfect.

Eventually I came to the river—a pretty nice river, if I do say so myself. I walked along its banks, humming a tune, listening to the babbling water as I headed upstream.

But then I had a problem on my hands. I’d wanted to make sure there weren’t any monsters nearby, so I’d used my detection skill…but instead of monsters, I realized that someone was tailing me. But why? I thought they didn’t think I was suspicious. Or…were they acting as a guard for me?

It would’ve been easy to run and shake them off, but then I’d seem really suspicious. Hmm, what to do? I couldn’t come up with anything, so I just kept walking upstream. There was also a waterfall on the way, so I jumped up the cliffs near it like a ninja.

Atop the waterfall, a beautiful field of flowers spread out before me—now we’re talking! I could see the village from the top of the waterfall. It wouldn’t take much time to get back from here if I ran. This place was a bit removed from the village, and it’d be difficult to spot from below.

The problem was that elf that was following behind me. I checked my detection skill again—they’d already climbed the cliff behind the trees.

And they’d hidden behind one of the trees up there.

Hmm, what should I do? After thinking it over, I decided to talk things out. It’d be bad for me if I just pulled out the bear house and scared them—they might end up going back to the village and report weird stuff about me.

“Excuse me, you there, behind that tree—could you come out?” I called out but I didn’t get a response. I probably would’ve seemed weird to anyone watching. I mean, there I was: a girl in a bear onesie talking to a tree. What an image. “Excuse me?” I repeated.

After waiting a few seconds, a male elf stepped out from behind the tree. Oh, wow—it was the elf who’d been tailing us when we got to the elves’ village. The name was Labilata, right?

Labilata slowly walked over. Wait, was he angry? He looked like he was scowling. “How long have you known?”

From the moment I used my detection skill—but I couldn’t just say that. I was about to say that Kumayuru had sensed him, but nope—my bears weren’t here. Ugh, another mistake. I’d been slipping up a lot lately.

“Speak up! Just what are you, really?” Labilata demanded.

I’d be in trouble no matter how I replied, but then I remembered there was one thing I could say. “I’m an adventurer.” That was the only answer I could give.

“Then what are you doing here?” Maybe he was suspicious of me since I was wandering through the forest on my own.

“I got permission from Mumulute to build a house, so I was just searching for a good location.”

“Build a house?!”

Well, I guess it didn’t make much sense when put like that. I decided to tell him the truth. “It’s a sort of special house, so it’d attract eyes around the village. That’s why I’m looking for a good location for it.”

I could have lied, but I’d received permission from Mumulute, so there shouldn’t have been a problem. Besides, Labilata and the others would find it eventually as they patrolled the forest, so I was planning on telling Mumulute the location anyway.

“So I was thinking of building the house here,” I said. “Is that okay?” I just wanted to be 100 percent sure. After all, there was a chance this place was special to the elves. It had beautiful flowers and a great view, after all.

“Right here? It’s not really a problem, but are you really going to build a house here?”

“This area is within the barrier, right?”

“That’s right. You know about the barrier already?”

“Which part? Like the fact that it’s weakening?”

“Precisely. Monsters will appear even inside the barrier. I’d rather not have guests stay this far outside of town. If you were a bit closer to the village, you’d be safer since there are more people around.”

I guess he was just worried about me. Now I felt bad for assuming he didn’t trust me. “It’s all right. My house is special.”

I pulled a bear house out of my bear storage—there it was, a two-story house shaped like a bear appearing right in front of Labilata. It was complete with a living room, kitchen, and bath. There was even a storehouse where Fina could harvest monster parts whenever she had to.

“Wh-what’s that?!” Labilata looked absolutely confounded.

“This is my house. This would stand out in the village, right? That’s why I was looking for a place where people wouldn’t spot it.”

“Why is it shaped like a bear?!”

That was the question on everyone’s minds when they saw the bear house. Most people would realize the answer as soon as they saw me, but Labilata still asked me that question point blank. I wanted to just say “no comment,” but…

“Because I’ve got the bear’s blessing.” That was the same response I’d given the kids yesterday when they’d asked about my clothes, so I just recycled it for the bear house. Pretty convenient.

“The bear’s blessing…?” Labilata looked back and forth between the house and me, then seemed to come to some understanding. He didn’t press any further.

The bear’s blessing—it was convenient when people would just accept that as an answer, but I still wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I thought for a moment, then summoned Kumayuru and Kumakyu. “Besides, you don’t have to worry. I’ve got these guys.”

Labilata looked at the bears, shocked once again. “Your bear summons? Are they strong?”

“They are! And they let me know if monsters are near, so I’m safe.”

Labilata looked from the bear house to Kumayuru and Kumakyu and finally to me. Then he laughed. “I can’t believe what an odd person Sanya brought to us.”

It was my first time seeing him smile.

“All right,” he said. “As long as you have the head’s permission. But I’ll just warn you, we elves cannot be responsible if anything happens to you.”

I was the one setting up house far away from the village, so I was planning on taking responsibility for myself. It wasn’t like I’d blame the elves if I was attacked by monsters. “I’m fine with that. I’m not going to blame you, no matter what happens.”

Labilata seemed satisfied. He looked over at the village. “Come to think of it, I haven’t introduced myself. I am Labilata. Right now, I patrol the confines of the barrier. Let me know if any monsters appear—I will deal with them straight away.”

Seemed like he’d taken a liking to me, even after all of that. “I’m Yuna. Thank you for watching over me.”

I knew his name from Sanya, but we each introduced ourselves anyway.