Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

Bear-san Escapes From Slime

With us on board, Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear ran along an abandoned road in the forest.

My wind magic tore fallen trees into small pieces, and wind magic also blew away the shredded trees.

I was surprised by the slime’s size, but I think we can escape like this.

“Mia-chan!” (Carol)

As I felt at ease, Carol, who is on Hugging Bear, shouted.

Looking behind me, I see that Mia’s horse is lagging.

Now that I think about it, there’s no way that an ordinary horse can keep up with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear’s speed.

Mia is pushing her horse to the limit. But no matter how great her horse is, it can’t keep running at top speed for so long.

Because I’m used to riding Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, I had forgotten to take into account Mia’s horse.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll slow down a little, go ahead.” (Mia)

“That’s not possible……” (Carol)

Carol is worried.

“Yuna-oneesan.” (Fina)

Fina also looks worriedly at Mia and her horse.

I use my detection skill to check the slime. The slime’s movement speed has reduced, and it’s just barely inside the detection skill.

I guess it’s okay if we’re far enough from the slime.

“Let’s take it slow from here.” (Yuna)

I slowed down Swaying Bear.

Mia’s horse came up next to us. Her horse seemed in pain as she had forced it to run continuously. I should’ve realized there was no way it could run as well as Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.

“Don’t worry about me. Just go ahead.” (Mia)

“I’m not. These children are telling me it’s going to be okay.” (Yuna)

I touch the body of Swaying Bear, which I’m riding.

“Is that so?” (Mia)

“Kuu~n“

“So it’s okay to slow down now.” (Yuna)

Mia looked relieved at my words.

We slowed down to a walking pace.

“But are you sure it’s okay to take it slow? Won’t it suddenly attack from behind?” (Mia)

Mia scurried around and checked the area with trepidation.

“If it comes closer, these children will tell me.” (Yuna)

We should be able to rely on Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear for everything. That should make Mia and the others feel more secure.

“I see, okay. I’ll trust you guys, so definitely let me know if the slime gets closer.” (Mia)

Mia looks at Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, asking for a favor.

“But is that watery stuff really slime?” (Carol)

Carol asks for confirmation.

“I saw it with my own eyes. The liquid was moving as if it had a will. It must be a slime. Water doesn’t move like that in the first place.” (Kagali)

Kagali-san answered Carol’s question.

The water that followed us was something more like jelly or moving water in a plastic bag. It was definitely not ordinary water. And it’s definitely not slime because it’s labeled as a single slime in my detection skills.

“As I recall, slimes are monsters that go puyo puyo and eat bugs and leaves.” (Mia)

“You’re lacking in knowledge. Slime is basically the strongest creature that can live practically anywhere. They change their ecology to suit the area. In hot places, they’ll be resistant to heat, in cold places, they’ll be resistant to cold, and if it’s in a poisoned swamp, they’ll blend in the poisoned swamp. However, it’s also true that they are said to be the weakest because their magic stone is visible from the outside, making them easy to defeat.” (Kagali)

Come to think of it, there were various slime creatures in the games too.

But do slimes live in cold places freeze?

Or do comfortable, cool slimes exist that survive and thrive in the summer?

“I’ve never seen slime before, so it can’t be helped.” (Mia)

“If you’re aiming to be a venturer, you should know that.” (Kagali)

“Ugh…….” (Mia)

After being told the truth by a little girl named Kagali-san, Mia can no longer do anything but mumble.

“But if it’s a slime, how can it grow that big? If it were a monster that could grow that much, even I would know about it.” (Mia)

“A slime is a small creature by nature, but on rare occasions, it can attach itself to other slime and grow larger.” (Kagali)

There used to be an event in a game where slimes would stick together and get bigger. As they get bigger, they inevitably get stronger, and beginner adventurers, or those at the initial level starting out, can no longer defeat the amalgamated slime.

“But that thing was so huge. It was bigger than animals and ordinary monsters.” (Mia)

I agree with Mia on that.

It’s bigger than anything around it.

“I don’t want to be the one to tell you this, but let me correct you, it’s way bigger than you think. It may be the size of a swamp, a lake, or even larger.” (Kagali)

Mia made a disgruntled face at Kagali-san’s words.

Come to think of it, the only person who saw the whole creature in its entirety was Kagali-san.

I know the slime was congregated in my detection skills, but I have not seen with my own eyes how big it was.

“So what are we going to do about that slime?” (Mia)

“We should leave it alone. It’s not like people live there. If it gets dangerous, some adventurers will defeat it.” (Kagali)

“There’s no way we can defeat a slime as big as a swamp.” (Mia)

“Well, as long as it won’t do any damage, it’s fine.” (Kagali)

I think we can leave it alone as long as it doesn’t harm people.

There must be ferocious monsters living in places we don’t know about. As long as there’s no violation of the boundary between humans and monsters, there’s no need to forcefully subjugate them.

If this was a game, I wouldn’t be able to move on or get a valuable item. But it doesn’t mean that we can’t go on without defeating this slime, or that we need the valuable items we can get from defeating that slime.

That’s why I agree with Kagali-san’s idea.

Put aside whether or not to fight it, can you even beat that slime?

I had never fought or seen a slime since I came to this world. Much more a gigantic one. So I should have taken a closer look before I ran away.

I’m planning to set up a bear gate when we return, so it might be nice to come and see it alone.

“Kuu~n“

As we were talking, Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear cried.

I used my detection skills.

The slime was approaching.

“Did it catch up with us?” (Mia)

“It’s still far away, but it seems to be slowly chasing us.” (Yuna)

“Those bears are really good.” (Mia)

“”Kuu~n“”

Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear cried happily at Mia’s words.

“For now, let’s get out of this place.” (Mia)

“Mia, is your horse okay?” (Yuna)

“Yeah, it’s fine as long as it’s not as fast as before.” (Mia)

We increased the speed of our movement a little.

“But why is that slime heading to where we are going? Shouldn’t it be going in the other direction?” (Mia)

“Beats me.” (Yuna)

I don’t know how monsters think. Furthermore, we’re talking about slimes here.

“Maybe, just maybe, it’s coming after us.” (Fina)

Fina, who was listening to the story, opened her mouth.

“What do you mean?” (Mia)

“My father told me that slimes don’t have eyes, so they use the power of the magic stone inside their bodies to see what they are dealing with.” (Fina)

To have knowledge about slime, as expected of a girl specializing in dismantling.

Maybe they are studying without me knowing.

“Does that mean it recognizes us even though we’re so far away?” (Carol)

“Maybe it’s getting bigger, or maybe it’s expanding.” (Yuna)

“Wait, so you’re saying it’s going to keep coming after us?” (Carol)

“That’s a possibility.” (Yuna)

“Then, that means, when we get to town…” (Carol)

Carol asks about one possibility.

“Don’t be silly. That doesn’t mean we can’t go back to town!” (Mia)

“If it’s chasing us, we’ll be bringing a giant slime to town.” (Kagali)

“No way…” (Mia)

If the need arises, we can escape by using the bear gate. But the problem is Mia and Carol. And even if we escaped together through the bear gate, there’s no guarantee that we would be able to come back. It would be a laughable joke if I opened the bear gate and found ourselves inside the slime.

“Then I can’t go back to my sisters…” (Mia)

Mia’s face turned pale.

If it can follow us, even at a slower speed, Mia and Carol will be chased by the slime for the rest of their lives.

If we use the bear gate, we can escape, but they may never see their family again.

Even if we head to Mia and Carol’s town, we would be bringing the slime with us.

We need to find another way to get home via a different route.

We can return to Crimonia, but if I talk about the bear gate, it’s going to be troublesome.

“How could this happen?” (Mia)

“Mia-chan.” (Carol)

“It’s my fault. I said I’ll go and investigate the town of Heschlag, Carol, I’m sorry for getting involved.” (Mia)

“It’s not your fault, Mia-chan. You were just trying to do your best for your family.” (Carol)

“Besides, it hasn’t been decided yet that it will follow us indefinitely. For now, we need to keep our distance from the slime and see which way it’ll move.” (Kagali)

Right, if we change direction and it follows us, then it means the slime is chasing us.

We changed direction and started running at a speed that won’t put a burden on Mia’s horse.

……And the slime followed us even when we changed direction.

======

Author’s Note:

Sorry for the delay.

I think I will have more time than last month, so I will try to post more.

The second key visual for the anime has been released. (It is available on the official anime website, Twitter, etc.)

I hope you are looking forward to seeing the new information that will be released in the near future.

※ Thank you, as always, to everyone who has reported typos.

Please note that some of the corrections of kanji characters have been made in accordance with the book, and there are some parts that have not been corrected yet.

======