Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

Still hand in hand, Fina, Shuri, and I arrived at Gold-san’s smithy.

「Excuse me…」

I called out and entered the shop without waiting for a response.

I thought that Nelt-san would be the one inside the shop like usual, but I was wrong.

With a curt expression on his face, Gold-san was polishing the wares behind the counter.

「Gold-san?」

「Oh, Fina and Shuri. And Bear Missy as well, huh?」

「It’s rare to see you inside the store…」

Rather than rare, it might have been the first time.

「Nelt would literally kick me if all I did was sleep for having nothing to do, so… that’s why I’m now reluctantly polishing the wares.」

「And Nelt-san is?」

「She is out with one of our neighbours. So, what are you doing here? Didn’t you go to the capital?」

「I went there and met Gazar-san. Your letter helped a lot, thank you very much.」

I had already thanked Nelt-san but hadn’t yet gotten the chance to thank Gold-san, who had written the letter.

「How did you come back so fast? Ah, right, you can summon those bears, can’t you?」

He both asked the question and found the answer on his own, so I just ignored him.

「Is Gazar doing well?」

「He is.」

「Good. It’s been a while since we last saw each other, after all. Well, I have nothing to do right now, so I might pay him a visit.」

He said, looking into the distance and stroking his long beard as if recalling some time long past.

「So, did you manage to get a mithril knife?」

「There was a mithril shortage at the capital as well, so I couldn’t obtain it, but I did manage to get my hands on some mithril in the end.」

「So, did you ask Gazar to make it for you?」

「I asked him for two fighting knives. I want you to make two dismantling knives, one for each of these two girls.」

I said while putting my hands on Fina and Shuri’s heads.

「For Fina and Shuri?」

「Yep.」

「Bear Missy… Do you know how valuable mithril is?」

「I do.」

Fina had explained it to me on our way here.

「Okay, it’s fine as long as you do. So, I just have to make two knives, right?」

「Yes, please.」

「Still, is it okay not to get one for yourself?」

「I wouldn’t use it even if I had one.」

「Aren’t you an adventurer, missy?」

Everyone was thinking the same thing, huh?

Did every adventurer really need to know how to dismantle?

I didn’t plan on ever doing it, though.

「Oh right, I already showed it to Gazar-san, but I think you will also like to see this.」

I took out the Fake Mithril Golem.

「It’s technically a Mithril Golem, but…」

「Did you just say Mithril Golem!?」

Gold-san didn’t wait for me to finish and rushed towards the Mithril Golem.

「What the hell is with this fake!?」

He yelled out after inspecting it for a while.

He reacted the same way as Gazar-san had, huh.

So, it really was a fake; he answered my question before I even asked it.

「Mithril exterior and steel interior, huh? This is my first time seeing a Mithril Golem. It’s also the first time I have heard of a two-layered golem.」

Gold-san hadn’t heard of such golems either, huh.

「There is more than enough mithril, though. I’m guessing Gazar took the missing part?」

He was right; Gazar-san had taken some of it so he could make my knives.

「Well then, I will also take my share to make the knives for you.」

Gold-san said while taking his share.

Dwarves were really strong, huh.

「When will you need them?」

「I’m not in any real hurry. I would prefer to have Fina’s made first, though.」

「Okay. I will get that one made in three, no, four days time.」

「Thank you. How much will you charge me?」

The price should be different compared to the fighting knives I had commissioned at Gazar-san’s smithy, right?

He answered differently than I had expected, though.

「No idea. I leave those things to Nelt.」

This dwarf was no good… Gazar-san was a craftsman, but he made sure to know his cut. On the contrary, Gold-san seemed be be a craftsman who only cared about his craft and nothing else.

「Hmm, what should I do, then?」

「Ask Nelt!」

How could he run a store like this?

Well, I just had to come back another day and ask Nelt-san.

She wouldn’t try to overcharge us, either.

I probably shouldn’t give the Iron Golem to Gold-san right now as it might get melted down into weapons and ironware by the time I returned.

I hoped it to be a shop decoration, so I would only give it to them when Nelt-san was present.

Gold-san proceeded to measure Fina and Shuri’s hands and asked me what I wanted the grip to be made of.

I had no knowledge of grips, of course, and neither did Shuri, so we left it to Fina and made a round of the shop.

「Well then, we leave it to you.」

Fina said and bowed.

「You done?」

「Yes. I think he will make great knives.」

Fina said, looking happy.

「I see. That’s good to hear.」

It was a bit disturbing seeing a 10-year-old girl be happy after discussing knives.

It wasn’t my fault, though; she had already been using knives when I had met her. Gantz-san was the one who had taught her how to use it, and Gold-san was the person who had provided her the knife. It was all their fault.

Anyway, seeing Fina happy made me happy, no matter what the reason was.

Since the knives had now been commissioned, we left Gold-san’s smithy.

I had nothing in particular to do, so I just accompanied Fina and Shuri home.

Even though I had Tirumina-san’s permission, I wanted to apologize for making Fina spend several days away from home.

「It’s okay, Yuna-chan. It’s you, after all. You can take her anytime you want.」

She said after I apologized to her.

I should have told her that treating her daughter like that wasn’t good, but I already knew that just accepting it was simpler.

「Thank you. I will borrow her when I need her, then.」

Fina and Shuri laughed at my response.

「Oh right, I have a message from Anzu.」

「From Anzu?」

I wondered what it was. Had something happened?

「One of your acquaintances came to the restaurant and asked for you, it seems.」

「…Who?」

「She didn’t say.」

Who could it be?

The old man who sold me cheese? No, he would have come with the potato man, and they would have gone to Morin-san’s shop. Also, Tirumina-san would have known about it.

No one came to my mind.

Well, just standing here couldn’t help me, so I decided to go to Anzu’s restaurant.

「I will go to Anzu’s restaurant, then.」

I said goodbye and headed for Anzu’s restaurant.

The restaurant was doing well, its regulars increasing in number day by day.

I was happy to see that rice was becoming popular.

I could already see the Bear Statue at the entrance. It really stood out, luring in those who didn’t know of the restaurant.

Well, it didn’t really have much to do with the restaurant, though.

Tirumina-san had made me stay at her place for a while before letting me leave, so it was already well past noon. There shouldn’t be a lot of customers at this time, so I wouldn’t bother Anzu, right?

I entered the restaurant, and it was more or less empty since lunch time was already over.

「Yuna-chan?」

Enata-san, who was wearing a Bear embroidered apron, was the first to notice me.

「Is Anzu here?」

I was sure she was, but still wanted to check just in case.

「She is. Anzu-chan! Yuna-chan is here!」

She shouted towards the kitchen, and soon, Anzu came out.

「Yuna-san, where have you been!?」

「I had something to do quite far away. Tirumina-san told me that someone came here looking for me?」

「Yes, Blitz-san came here the other day.」

「Blitz, huh.」

Ah, I completely forgot about him. Yeah, I remembered now. He had told me that he would come here once things calmed down at Mireera.

「He asked about your whereabouts, so I went to ask Tirumina-san, who told me that you went off somewhere with her daughter and said she would let you know when you return.」

「Did he say where he would be? Like the inn he would be staying at?」

「I’m sorry, he didn’t say, but he did tell me that he would be working here for a while, so he might be at the Adventurer’s Guild. I will make sure to ask him the next time he comes here.」

「Okay, I will go to the Adventurer’s Guild for now. I might not find him there, so please ask him if he comes.」

I left the restaurant and headed for the Adventurer’s Guild.

He might have already accepted a request and was out, but I could at least ask Helen-san about him and when he would be back. If his request would be finished today, I could wait; I had all the time in the world and nothing in particular to do.

The Adventurer’s Guild was quiet when I entered it. It was the time of day when not many people were here, and those who were didn’t look at me unpleasantly but rather just looked away, probably thinking 『The bear, huh?』.

I looked around the room and didn’t see Blitz and his party.

Were they not here since they had taken a request as I had expected?

「Yuna-san, what are you doing here at this hour?」

Helen-san, who was at the reception desk, called out to me. She must have thought it made no sense for me to be here since it was late in the day already and too late to look for a request.

「I had something I wanted to ask you, Helen-san.」

「Wanted to ask me?」

「Recently, an adventurer named Blitz should have come here. Do you know where he is now?」

「Blitz-san, you said?」

「Just because he is somewhat good looking, he has three women with him. One of the girls is beautiful, one is cute, and the last one is strong and dependable. He is a male adventurer who might be considered enemy of all men since he made something they all dream of come true.」

「Hmm, I think the person you are describing is standing right behind you.」

I turned around, and Blitz was there, looking at me angrily.

「It’s been a while.」

I raised my Bear Hand and greeted him.

「I know it’s been a while, but what was with that description of me!?」

「I just wanted to give her an easy to understand explanation…」

「How could that be easy to understand?」

I looked at the three girls behind Blitz.

「But, I’m not wrong, right?」

They all showed ambiguous smiles.

「Yuna-chan, it’s been a while.」

「Yeah, it’s been a while, Tomea-san. You seem to be doing well.」

「But of course.」

「I’m happy to see that you are well too, Yuna.」

Ran and Grimos both seemed well too.

「You finished with your request?」

「We didn’t take one today.」

Blitz-san answered bluntly.

「We were sightseeing the town until now.」

「This town is big!」

Tomea-san and Ran responded since Blitz was so blunt.

「Why are you at the Adventurer’s Guild then?」

「We plan on accepting a request tomorrow and wanted to see what sorts of requests there are first.」

「And then, a bear came out of nowhere and started bad-mouthing me.」

「You must have a persecution complex. I didn’t badmouth you, Blitz.」

「Where did you hear of such a complex? You telling her I’m somewhat good looking…」

He had been there from the beginning, huh…

「It’s a compliment, isn’t it?」

「And I have three women with me?」

「Is it a lie?」

「What about the enemy of all men thing then…」

「That’s also true, is it not? What would you think if someone else was here with three women following him?」

「Th-that’s… This and that are…」

「The same thing.」

I looked at the other adventurers in the room, and when Blitz followed my gaze, the male adventurers all nodded, making Blitz fall silent.

I decided to ignore him and continued my conversation with Tomea-san.

「So, Yuna-chan, you came here because you spoke with Anzu-chan, right?」

「Yeah, I just spoke with her today. I was away from Crimonia for a job until yesterday.」

「We talked with many different people about you, Yuna-chan, and there was no one who didn’t know you.」

「Taking on a Black Viper and a Goblin King on your own… It’s just unbelievable.」

Tomea-san and Ran talked about their impressions on what they heard about me.

「Also, we heard you own another shop, not just Anzu-chan’s restaurant, Yuna-chan.」

「And the food in both places… is so delicious.」

「Yeah, the bread we had for lunch today was so good…」

Gumoris, who normally didn’t show much expressions, said with a smile.

「You already ate it? I was planning on treating you to it, though…」

「We have no problem with eating more of it, so you can still treat us.」

Tomea-san said with a smile. C rank adventurers should have plenty of money, right?

Well, I had offered it, so…

「I will treat you to dinner, then. Which place would you prefer?」

「Anzu-chan’s meals are delicious, but all those breads are also delicious, right?」

「I can’t choose…」

Tomea-san and Ran were both seriously troubled by this choice.

「I was in your care for a while, so I will treat you to both. You won’t be leaving by tomorrow, right?」

「Yes, we plan on staying here for a while and enjoy the town while also taking on some requests.」

「Well then, Anzu’s restaurant tonight? You just ate bread for lunch, after all.」

They agreed, and even though it was a little early, we decided to go now.

Author’s note:

With this, the mine arc is now finished.

It will be a bit of a relaxing story from here on out. Or, that is what I plan at least.