Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Vol. 1

by Kumanano

  We started at a normal speed, and then went faster once I got used to it. It was fun. The scenery was rushing by faster and faster. I’d never gone this far from the town before.

  We started climbing up a mountain.

  Yuna stopped. She told us we would take a break on a flat part of the mountain. I really was tired, even though I was just riding Kumakyu. I said thank you to Kumakyu and got down.

  When Yuna got off of Kumayuru, she looked around. Then, when she held up her glove, a house suddenly appeared in front of us.

  That couldn’t be right. I really had no idea what’s going on. Are houses that easy to build? I’m just a kid, but even I know that can’t be true. Carpenters are the ones who make houses. Also, why was the house shaped like a bear?

  “Anyway, how about we go in and take a break?”

  When Yuna said that, all I could do was nod okay. I’ve never seen a room like the one in the house. She told me to take my shoes off at the door. The floors were pretty. They were floors you definitely wouldn’t want to get dirty. I took off my shoes and went inside.

  Yuna told me to, so I sat down in a chair. I was looking around nervously when Yuna brought me some juice. It was cold, which really surprised me, but it was really good juice.

  I asked Yuna something I really wanted to know. “Are you part of the nobility somewhere, Yuna?”

  “I’m not.”

  “Then are you a princess?”

  “No real princess would look like me. I’m just your ordinary adventurer.”

  She said she wasn’t a noble or a princess, but I don’t think she’s an ordinary adventurer, either. I don’t think an ordinary adventurer who can make a house like this, or summon things like Kumakyu, or beat monsters on their own. Especially not one who does all that and also dresses like a bear.

  As I drank my juice, she told me about what we would do today. Apparently, she was going to go out to find the tigerwolves on her own. She told me I was allowed to go around the mountain and look for herbs. She told me that I could do the butchering whenever I wanted.

  I decided I would go look for herbs for at least a little while. I was scared about trying to do it alone, but apparently Kumakyu was going to go with me. I guess it would keep me safe?

  I decided that if I couldn’t find any herbs after looking a little, I would come back and do the butchering.

  Yuna left with Kumayuru. I got onto Kumakyu too and went out to look for herbs. I rode on Kumakyu and we explore the mountain. I did really want to do some butchering, so I hoped we would find herbs some.

  “Kumakyu, can you find herbs?” I asked, because why not? Kumakyu craned its neck toward me and nodded. Did it understand me?

  The bear went deeper and deeper into the mountains. Was it looking for herbs for me? I kept an eye out too from on top of Kumakyu. I’ve done this a lot, so I can spot them even from far away.

  Then Kumakyu started to go really fast.

  Over there! I thought. I could see the herbs that Kumakyu was running towards. This bear was amazing.

  I jumped off Kumakyu and gathered the herbs. I didn’t want to pick them all, so I just took half, which was still a lot. Maybe no one harvests these because they’re so deep in the mountains?

  When I was picking the herbs, I heard the grass rustling. I looked where the sound was coming from and saw a wolf. I jumped back, scared, and the wolf ran off right away.

  Oh, right, I thought. Kumakyu was with me. The wolf probably took one look at Kumakyu and decided not to mess with it.

  “Kumakyu, thank you.” I petted the bear’s head. It was so cute.

  I put the herbs in my bag and decided to head back, which was when I realized something. I didn’t know the way back. I was lost!

  But I thought that, Kumakyu started walking confidently. Maybe it knew the way back?

  “Do you know where the house is?” I asked, and it nodded in reply. The bear was smarter than me.

  Thank you, Kumakyu!

  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.
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  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.

  Chapter 25:

  The Bear Looks for a Butchering Site

  WHEN WE MADE IT to the guild, Fina told me she’d wait outside, so I went in alone. Couldn’t blame her for not wanting to go into a place with all these filthy men around, that was for sure. Let alone the idiots who’d pick a fight if a kid walked in.

  Helen was waiting at the front desk. The queue was empty, so I headed on over.

  “Are you reporting your quests, Ms. Yuna?”

  “Yeah, I just finished it.”

  “May I see your guild card?” I handed it over, and Helen checked my quest information. “Did you really accept a tigerwolf slaying quest?!”

  “Well, yeah.”

  “And you finished it on the same day, too!”

  The adventurers in the room started buzzing right on cue. “You mean she took out D-rank monsters on her own?” “But tigerwolf territory is pretty far from here. You can’t get there and back in a day.” “Wait, you don’t know?” “Know what?” “About the bears.” “Bears? You mean the way that girl’s dressed?”

  A couple more members of the peanut gallery chimed in at this point. “Nah, she summoned some bears and went out on those.” “I saw it, I did—and there were two of ’em. A black one and a white one.” “Two of them!” “And you know what, those things were quick on their feet!”

  The conversation behind me was getting animated. My conversation with Helen was proceeding apace.

  “Well, Ms. Yuna, if you could provide proof of the slaying.”

  I pulled two mana gems out of my bear storage.

  “You’ve got two here?”

  “Because there were two of them.”

  A commotion broke out behind me, but I ignored them. Helen took the mana gems and put them on the crystal panel.

  “Yes, both of these were killed today, without a doubt. Since the quest was only for one, we’ll add extra to the reward money for the second one. Are you fine with that?”

  “Sure, but what would happen if I refused?”

  “You would only receive payment for one of them and only one kill would be recorded on your guild card, but you would be able to keep the mana gem.”

  “Okay. I don’t need mana gems right now, so you can take both of them.”

  “Understood. I’ll record two kills for you. If you’ll excuse my asking, do you have the rest of the tigerwolves?” Helen’s eyes went to my bear storage.

  “I do, but I’m not going to sell them.”

  “I see. It would help the guild if you would sell them to us.”

  “No can do. I want the pelts.”

  I was planning on having Fina skin the striped pelts off the tigerwolves, so I could decorate my barren bear house with them. They’d work hung up on the wall or even laid out on the floor.

  “Yes, I see. It’ll be a shame to miss out on the pelts, but would you sell us the claws and fangs, or perhaps the meat?”

  “Sure. I can bring those in after we butcher them.”

  “Thank you very much. This will be your quest reward, then. And here is your guild card back.”

  I put my guild card and the hefty amount of money into my bear storage, and rejoined Fina outside.

  “Sorry to keep you waiting. So, how about we head home?”

  “You’re not going to sell the wolves and horned hares?”

  “Eh, I’ll sell them next time. I’ll make sure to pay you, so don’t worry.” The truth was that I’d just left the butchered stuff in the bear house and couldn’t access them directly through the bear storage. I still needed to pay Fina, though, since she did harvest stuff for me. I handed her a silver coin.

  “But Yuna…” Fina seemed surprised.

  “It’s fine.” I’d paid her a little on the high end of what Mr. Gentz said was the market rate. “You can’t count on me staying in this town forever, so make sure you save up.”

  “Thanks, Yuna.”

  I gave Fina a pat on the head as she grinned at me.

  Fina came over to the inn early in the morning the next day too. We’d just done all that stuff yesterday, so I wanted to tell her she could take a break—actually, I wanted to take the day off, but it was my own fault for not telling her that yesterday. It was just such a pain in the butt to leave town every single time we needed to butcher something.

  Maybe there was a storehouse we could borrow somewhere around here? It’d be nice if we could just rent out the guild warehouse or something, I thought. I decided I’d head down to the guild with Fina and see.

  We’d missed the morning quest-collecting rush, and there weren’t a lot of adventurers around. Helen looked bored at her desk. “Why, Ms. Yuna, good morning.”

  “Morning.”

  “Another quest today?”

  “Actually, I have something I want to ask.”

  “What would that be?”

  “Is there a place around here that we could rent to use for butchering?”

  “Is this about the tigerwolves?”

  “That’s part of it, but I’ve got other kinds of monsters, too. It’d be nice if I could borrow the guild warehouse or something.”

  “That’s not really possible.”

  “I knew it.”

  “And there’s the issue of how long you’d need the space. It would be long term, wouldn’t it?”

  “Well, I’m not sure about that.”

  “In that case, giving you a referral might be difficult.”

  “Oh, right. Are there any empty plots of land around here?”

  “Plots of land?”

  “Yeah, like wide open places without anything on them.”

  “I believe there are, but they’re not under guild jurisdiction. I think you’d be best off consulting the trade guild.”

  “Trade guild?”

  “Yes. They handle transactions in goods and commodities, but they also handle land transactions, so they could point you in the direction of something.”

  “Got it. I’ll hit them up.”

  We left the adventurers’ guild, and I had Fina guide me to the trade guild.

  Chapter 26:

  The Bear House Is All Set Up!

  THE TRADE GUILD was a little to the west of the town’s center. The clientele was visibly different from that of the adventurers’ guild. There weren’t any meatheads or staff-carrying sorcerers, but there were a ton of eccentric-looking merchants. They had an unwelcoming air to them, wholly unlike in the adventurers’ guild.

  On top of that, my bear outfit still seemed to draw curious stares.

  “Yuna, aren’t you going in?” Fina
asked as I hovered by the entrance, staring inside. That changed my mind.

  It was bustling on the inside. I pulled my hood down low and cut off the stares, heading straight to the front desk. Fina glanced around the place and latched onto my sleeve, sticking close to me.

  “Welcome,” a woman in her early twenties greeted us. Her expression didn’t change even when she saw what I looked like, and she received us with a smile. I guessed the guild employees were cut from better cloth than their clientele.

  “Umm, I want to rent some land for a short time, and the adventurers’ guild sent me here when I asked them about it.”

  “Yes, we can do that. We have plots of land for rent, and some buildings, too. What kind of land would you be looking for?”

  “For now, just something completely bare with nothing on it.”

  “Yes, we have those.”

  “I’d like to rent it for about a month. How much would that be?”

  “That would vary depending on the size of the land and its location. Did you have any preferences?”

  “I’d prefer something close to the adventurers’ guild, I think. It’s fine if it’s not super close. I’d also like it to be about the size of the adventurers’ guild’s warehouse, if possible.”

  “A plot of land the size of the adventurers’ guild’s warehouse. I will look into it, so if you could, please wait here.”

  She left the desk for a bit and came back after about five minutes with several sheets of paper.

  “I apologize for the wait. I have found about five options.”

  “Which one is the cheapest?”

  “That would be this one. Out of the five, it is the furthest from the adventurers’ guild. One month’s rent will come to thirty silver pieces.”

  “Isn’t that kind of cheap?”

  “The land has no buildings on it. However, please keep in mind that we may ask you to return the land to its original condition upon returning it to us if you used it for something.”

  “Could you also tell me how much the others cost?”