Chapter 243: The Bear Patrols the Village

Chapter 243:
The Bear Patrols the Village

 

I PATROLLED THE VILLAGE with Mumulute. Kumayuru and Kumakyu walked beside us.

“Mumulute, is it okay if I slay any monsters that come to the village?”

“I will deal with the monsters. Simply let me know if they do come here.”

He was looking out for me, but it was kind of a chore. Just like Sanya, Mumulute didn’t want to cause me any trouble, but it’d be way quicker for me if I just dealt with the monsters I detected.

Mumulute stroked his chin as he looked at my bears. “Please let me know if any monsters approach,” he said to them.

I reached out with my detection skill. No monsters around the village, at least…so wherever they were gathering was probably out of range. I was hoping to know their numbers, but that didn’t seem likely. The barrier must’ve covered a lot of ground.

 

Mumulute and I patrolled the village with my bears. Plenty of folks greeted us. The adults said hi to their village head, the kids caught up with Kumayuru and Kumakyu, and Mumulute warned villagers that monsters might come near the village and they’d be better off not leaving for now.

As we were walking, Luimin and Lucca came over from up ahead, holding hands. Lucca made a beeline for my bears, and Luimin rushed over the second she spotted us. “Grandfather! Yuna!”

“What’s the matter, you two?” Mumulute asked.

“We were going to go outside the village, but we got stopped,” Luimin replied.

“My apologies,” said Mumulute, “but please don’t go outside the village today.” Mumulute gave a simple explanation of what was happening. They both nodded obediently—they already knew about the monsters, after all.

“So, why are you both together?” Luimin looked over at me, puzzled. I guess she thought that Mumulute and I were an odd pair to see.

“The young girl’s bears are assisting us, and so, we are keeping an eye on the village,” said Mumulute, looking over to my bears.

“Can we go with you too, Grandfather?” Luimin asked. Lucca was petting Kumayuru’s head—she definitely wanted to ride Kumayuru and Kumakyu. Maybe Luimin had noticed that?

Mumulute thought a bit. “You can, but you must follow my instructions if there is an emergency.”

“We will!”

I let Lucca get up on Kumayuru, Luimin rode on Kumakyu, and we resumed our patrol.

It was so peaceful inside the village. You wouldn’t think monsters were gathering outside the barrier. Kumayuru and Kumakyu didn’t detect anything. It seemed the village was safe.

Which meant that Labilata and the others were doing all right slaying the monsters…right?

 

Kids gathered as we walked with Lucca and Luimin riding my bears as we went.

At first Mumulute tried to caution them and warned them to go home, but the kids looked so jealous of Luimin and Lucca that the guy didn’t have it in him for a good, solid scolding.

“Perhaps I should not have let them do this,” I heard him mutter softly. “Or perhaps it is better that they come along now instead of going outside the village.”

Not all of the kids were going to just head on home—you always had those kids who liked to wander around. Kids sneak out sometimes, even if you lock them up at home. It’s just what they do, so it’s better to let them out and keep an eye on them to make sure they’re wandering safely. I guess Mumulute understood that, since he didn’t tell them off.

Luimin had even given up her seat on Kumakyu to the kids. She walked beside me now. “I guess everyone’s fine.”

After we finished checking on the village, we came to the center square. Even more kids were tagging along with my bears than before. Still, better this than letting them wander the village, so I let them play. Luimin kept a close eye on the kids to make sure Kumayuru and Kumakyu didn’t have a bad time.

I took some oren juice out of my bear storage and had a drink; the kids stared at me enviously. I decided to serve some up for everyone.

“Thank you very much!”

“Thank you!”

Look at that: they were all very polite, too! Such well-mannered kids.

My mind started wandering as I watched my bears play with the kids…I was bored. Which was good, right? If there weren’t any monsters coming in, that meant that the battles were going well.

Mumulute examined my bears and the kids around them. “Your bears are rather docile.”

“If no one’s hostile toward them, they don’t do anything. Oh, and speaking of which, Sanya can summon a bird?” There we go, Yuna. Just try to ask naturally…

Sanya hadn’t said anything about it up to now. Maybe she wouldn’t have told me. Still, it was my first time seeing someone summon a bird, so of course I was curious.

“Unlike your bears, the bird cannot sense monsters,” said Mumulute.

Still, Sanya could see through the bird summon! That was amazing!!! A bird’s-eye view meant she could see all kinds of things from way up high. It made me jealous, to be honest. She’d be able to see past mountains without breaking a sweat. Being able to scout ahead would be handy for any adventurer. My detection skill had a limited range, but if Sanya’s bird summon didn’t have any range, it might’ve been even better than my own detection skill.

“Do a lot of elves have bird summons?” I asked.

“No. Sanya and Luimin are the only two that do.”

“What? You can summon a bird, Luimin?” I asked. Now this was a surprising development.

“Um, yeah. Kind of...” Luimin said softly.

“That’s amazing.”

“I-it’s not like that…!” She was being kind of vague.

“Then, could you show me?” I wasn’t about to give up.

She gave me a tiny nod—I guess she didn’t mind showing me. Luimin stretched both hands in front of her, gathered her mana, and from her hands appeared...a chick? Or would you call it a fledgling?

“It grows with my magic, but I guess I don’t have much. I have a long way to go before I’m like my sister.”

But the baby bird was so small and cute. It waddled around on Luimin’s palm, looked up at Luimin and let out a tiny cheep! I could tell it liked her a lot. “It’s cute!”

“Uh-huh! It’s cute, but I want it to grow up like my sister’s bird fast!”

So, if the fledgling grew, it’d become more like Sanya’s summon. It’d be cool if it could change size to become big or small like Kumayuru and Kumakyu, but I guess that wasn’t an option.

Luimin recalled her bird. But just as I was about to ask her how she got her summon, Kumayuru and Kumakyu raised their heads, looked up at the sky, and let out a “Cwoom.” The children looked where the bears were looking, up to the sky.

“Huh, what’s that?” One of the kids pointed at something.

It was huge. I’d assumed it was a volkrow since it was flying, but no; a monstrously huge bird was gliding along. I used detection magic, and...

“A cockatrice...”

Mumulute and Luimin were taken aback. A cockatrice’s identifying features were its rooster-like comb and long, snake-like tail. They were a huge monster and a gigantic pain. The most annoying thing about them?

They could fly.

“Luimin!” Mumulute yelled. “Get the children inside a nearby house and hide!”

“Kumayuru, Kumakyu,” I said, “please look after everyone!”

Kumayuru and Kumakyu went on the move with the kids still riding on their backs. Luimin ushered the other kids to follow them.

“You should run and hide as well, Miss,” said Mumulute. “I shall distract the cockatrice.”

“Can you kill it?”

Mumulute looked at the cockatrice—then he swallowed. “I have slayed one before, though I am weaker than I was in previous times. But this is an opponent that I can face.”

How many centuries old were these previous times, anyway? “I’ll help too,” I said.

The cockatrice was heading straight for us. Right now, we were the only ones in the village square; just a few tempting, tasty cockatrice treats sitting out in the open. The cockatrice flapped its wings and descended on us.

“Are we going to fight here?” It was an open space, sure, but we were still inside the village. If we fought here, there’d definitely be some collateral damage.

“I would like to lure it out of the village if we can!” said Mumulute, and then ran at the cockatrice.

Mumulute landed a first strike, blasting a wind blade at the descending cockatrice. The wind roared forward, but the cockatrice countered with a flap of its wings. That attack still attracted its attention, though, so now the cockatrice knew Mumulute was an enemy.

“Miss, go to Sanya!!!” Mumulute roared. He began to flee the village, casting magic all the way…jeez, and the guy was fast. The cockatrice followed in hot pursuit. As for me, I already knew what I was going to do: follow right along after both of them.