Chapter 250: The Bear’s Panties Are Laid Bare

Chapter 250:
The Bear’s Panties Are Laid Bare

 

THE LEAVES OF THE SACRED TREE fluttered down in the dying whirlwind, pulled by the wind from their branches. The tree looked awfully barren. The extra oomph from the whirlwind at the end must’ve been a little much. It looked pretty pathetic.

It’d go back to normal after a while, right? This whole thing was making me more and more anxious…

 

I wracked my brain while the leaves fluttered around me. Maybe I could help it recover by giving it some mana? Or maybe recovery magic would help? That kind of stuff worked in comics and stuff. I’d…I guess I’d try it out. And if it didn’t work, I’d try to just tell everybody to give it some time?

I approached the nearly barren tree, put both my bear puppets on its thick trunk, and imagined its leaves growing back while I used recovery magic. Whoa, it was practically drinking up my mana…drinking too much. Thanks to my white bear clothes, I was continuously recovering, but the sacred tree was absorbing it faster than my clothes could regenerate.

The tree began to glow. Wow…It kind of reminded me of an in-game event. The light was so strong, I could barely look at it. I pulled my hands away from the sacred tree and used them to shield my eyes.

The light subsided, and I slowly opened my eyes. I backed away from the tree to get a better look and, thank goodness, it was back to its bushy green self. I’d done it.

I’d used a little too much mana, though. I staggered slightly and almost fell over backward. Luckily, Kumakyu was there to support me. “Thank you, Kumakyu.”

“Cwoom.”

Propped up by Kumakyu, I looked up at the sacred tree. It really lived up to its awe-inspiring name. The leaves were vibrant and beautifully colored. That’s what it was meant to look like.

As I stared up at it, a commotion broke out behind me. “What the heck is that?!”

I turned around to find Mumulute, Sanya, and Arutul standing there, dumbstruck. They looked at the tree, then at me.

“What are you three doing here?” I asked. “I thought you couldn’t get in because of the barrier.”

“The stone glowed suddenly, and then we could get in.”

Hmm. So…after I beat the parasite and gave the sacred tree mana, it went back to normal? That seemed about right, I guess?

Mumulute looked up at the revived tree. “Girl, would you explain what has come to pass here?”

Well, there wasn’t really much to explain. “Uh, well, I beat the parasite and saved the sacred tree, I guess…?” I tilted my head uncertainly. That was really the only answer I had for them.

“Then you must have been the source of the whirlwind?”

“That thing was amazing!”

I looked up at the sacred tree. Yeah, that’d been a huge whirlwind all right. It’d covered the whole tree, so it must have gotten pretty tall. I guess they could even see it, even from the outside.

“That’s what I used to cut away the parasite’s regenerating vines.”

“You did what to the parasite? Is that actually possible?”

“I mean, I just had to beat the thing before it could regenerate itself,” I explained.

“That’s absolutely absurd!”

“When I attacked the parasite, it didn’t actually hurt the sacred tree. I just thought it’d work out.”

“That’s impressive too, but I was actually talking about your magic.”

Well, the parasitic vines’ regenerative abilities were the only interesting thing about it. Outside of that, it was nothing special. I could easily cut through it using wind blades, and it didn’t have any ability to attack. If the vines couldn’t get to you, it was newbie baby nothing-to-worry-about stuff.

Mumulute and the others seemed appalled as they listened to my explanation. I guess it wasn’t easy to take in, but I really had defeated the parasite and healed the sacred tree.

“I see, I see…” Mumulute muttered. “I suppose even a cockatrice would be simple work with magic like that.”

“I got the sacred tree’s branches and leaves caught up in it though.” I looked down at the ground, and the three of them followed suit. There was a carpet of branches and green leaves on the ground, as if a tornado had come whirling through here.

“But the sacred tree’s leaves are...” The three of them looked between the spread of foliage on the ground and the bright green, thriving sacred tree.

“I am sorry,” said Mumulute. “I do not think I understand.”

“Father, I feel the same way.”

Mumulute and Arutul both looked confused. The sacred tree still had foliage despite all of its leaves being on the ground, so that made sense. Who wouldn’t be a little uncertain?

“Yuna, what is going on here?” asked Sanya. “I understand that your magic caused the tree to shed its leaves, but that doesn’t explain how the sacred tree still looks healthy.” She glanced at the leaves on the ground, then up at the lush, full branches of the tree. “In fact, the foliage is even denser than it was yesterday. It didn’t look nearly this lively.”

“I defeated the parasite using a whirlwind, but the sacred tree still looked worse for wear because the parasite had sapped all its mana. So I gave it some of mine. When I did that, the tree glowed and started growing leaves.”

“You say you gave the sacred tree your mana?”

I wasn’t lying, exactly. I was just being a little ambiguous.

“So the light came from the sacred tree…”

The leaves had probably grown back because of my recovery magic, but I didn’t have an explanation for that flash of light.

“You really are reckless, giving the sacred tree your mana like that!”

I couldn’t agree more. I was practically running on empty. Sure, I was wearing my white bear onesie, but that didn’t mean I’d replenish my mana in such a short time. I was feeling kind of drained, so I really hoped I could go home soon and take a nap.

“Do you think the mana you gave the sacred tree was what gave it back its original powers? Girl, perhaps that is why we could enter the barrier…”

How was I supposed to know? All I knew was that I’d defeated the parasite and now the barrier was back to normal.

“I more or less understand now what happened,” said Sanya, “but I have to ask: Why did you change? I was so surprised when you suddenly began to strip.”

“...!” Uh, hold up. Wait, what did she just say? It sounded an awful lot like she’d been watching me undress. So...had she? It kinda sounded like she had!!! “Umm, were you watching me with that bird summon of yours?”

“I was worried, so…yes, I’ve been watching since the start,” Sanya blurted out ridiculously. So she’d seen my strip show from start to finish?! So…Sanya had seen me in way, way, way too many states of dress.

I fell to my knees and slapped my hands to the ground. At least Sanya was a lady? I guess?!

I should’ve remembered her bird summon. Just thinking about how she’d been watching me change made me feel embarrassed. If Mumulute or Arutul had been watching, I would’ve run straight out of the forest from the sheer embarrassment.

I tried to gather up the strength to force myself back up…but Sanya knocked me off my feet with her next words. “I-it’s okay. I’m the only one who saw, and it was from pretty far away. But I didn’t think even your panties would have bears on them...”

Wham! Literally knocked me back on the ground. Agh, could I just go home?! Kumakyu tried to comfort me by rubbing up against my face. Thank you, Kumakyu.

“Really? What’s so embarrassing about me seeing? I saw you undress in the bath, after all. You’ve seen me naked too. We’re even.” Sanya was trying very hard to convince me we were on the same playing field, but it was totally different! She’d seen me undressing out in the open—alone. I should’ve made a makeshift changing room for myself.

Now whose bright idea was that? Who told me that this was the safest place to change instead of a bear house? Okay, yes; I guess it had been my idea. Stupid past me! Wish I could give her a good talking-to about the usefulness of actual changing rooms…

“So, why did you change, Yuna?” Sanya asked while taking a good look at my white bear clothes. She’d seen me in my white bear onesie several times since we traveled from the capital to the elven village, but I’d never explained anything to her. She’d probably assumed they were just pajamas.

“My white bear clothes have magic replenishing capabilities,” I admitted. “When I knew I had to battle the parasite, I changed.”

“Really? So it wasn’t a fashion choice…?”

It wasn’t like I dressed this way because I liked it. The god that brought me here had made me do it. I tried to recompose myself.

 

After I explained everything, the three of them thanked me once again. Toward the end, I could see tears welling up in Mumulute’s eyes. It was probably the stress of the last few days finally ebbing away. We’d found the parasite on the sacred tree, then the cockatrice had attacked, they’d lost the ability to enter the sacred tree’s barrier…Mumulute had gone through a lot.

He really had.

This kind of stuff isn’t a job for a village head like him, a lord like Cliff, or even a king. The easiest way to get through problems is to do whatever you wanted while leaving other people’s troubles to themselves. Sure, that was a pretty villainous way to view things, but I couldn’t quite shake the thought. You can drop a shut-in gamer into another world, but you can never quite shake away that shut-in-gamer vibe.

“Now, then,” said Mumulute, “we shall take one more look at the sacred tree and then return to the village.”

We got ready to head out. I needed to grab my Kumakyu knife, wherever it was—it was hard to see through all the leaves, so I’d have to go up to the sacred tree.

“My knife is up there. Could I go get it?” I asked Mumulute, who was over by the sacred tree’s roots. As long as he didn’t forbid me from climbing up, I’d be good.

“I can go get it for you,” Sanya offered. “Where is it?”

“I can get it on my own.”

“You’ve been shaking and stumbling since we got here. You should rest.”

She was right—I’d used up too much mana and it was really draining me. It felt the same as when I’d defeated the kraken. My lack of mana was making me exhausted, and the recovery magic I’d used on the sacred tree at the end had been the cincher.

I told Sanya where the Kumakyu knife was and had her get it for me. Sanya climbed up the tree and came back with it.

“Thank you.”

“I can at least manage this,” Sanya told me. “It’s nothing compared to what you did. You should rest.”

I took her up on that and got onto Kumakyu, still wearing my white bear onesie. Sanya, Mumulute, and Arutul were starting to check out the tree. Mumulute was examining the trunk, Sanya was checking out the fallen leaves, and Arutul was observing the tree’s canopy. As for me, I leaned onto Kumakyu and waited for them to finish.