Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

Bear-san, Went to see Rica-san

When I returned to the bear house after negotiating with Sanya-san, I hugged Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, which had been turned into cubs, to heal yesterday’s psychological damage.

Sorry for the bug lovers, but I don’t like bugs. If I’m going to cuddle, it will be with fluffy fur.

“Uuh, so soothing~” (Yuna)

“Kuun.”

“Fluffy.” (Yuna)

“Kuun.”

“Uuh, so soft.” (Yuna)

“Kuun.”

“Uuh, happy.” (Yuna)

“Kuun.”

I thought about Fina as I hugged Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.

When I returned from the Adventurer’s Guild, Fina asked me to bring out some wolves for her to practice dismantling.

Fina doesn’t need to practice dismantling wolves now, but she seemed restless as the event approached.

I didn’t think she was like that until yesterday, or was she hiding it from me?

I put out the wolves, and Fina started dismantling them.

Tirumina-san went shopping for dinner with Shuri to give Fina something tasty to eat.

I was a little worried about Fina.

Fina, I hoped she would be ok.

“…Yuna Onee-chan?” (Fina)

As I hugged Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear while thinking about Fina, she suddenly called out to me.

“Uwah, Fina, you’re here?” (Yuna)

Fina was standing in front of the door.

“Did you see that?” (Yuna)

“No… but Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear are so cute.” (Fina)

Fina then approached Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear and patted them on the head.

“Are you alright?” (Yuna)

“Yes, I’m fine when I’m dismantling, but when I’m done, I start to wonder if this is the right thing to do.” (Fina)

“You shouldn’t be too uptight about it. Besides, Gentz-san taught you how to do it, so just do it as usual, and you’ll be fine.” (Yuna)

“…Yeah.” (Fina)

She nodded, but she didn’t seem okay.

I guess a breather was in order on this one.

Tirumina-san and Shuri were out. That leaves me in charge.

But what should we do?

“I am thinking of dropping by Ghazal-san’s place. Want to join me on my way to see Ghazal-san and Rica-san?” (Yuna)

I thought about it for a moment and suggested it.

It would be a nice change of pace for Fina, and it would be good to see them after a long absence.

Fina pondered momentarily, then said she would clean up the dismantling area and prepare to leave.

So, we went to the Ghazal-san’s store, where I got my mithril knife.

The last time I came here was for Fina’s birthday present.

“Yuna-chan, Fina-san, have some tea.” (Rica)

“Thank you, Rica-san.” (Yuna)

Rica-san puts the tea in front of us.

Looking at her face, she looks happy.

Ghazal-san might be making a sword, and I could hear him pounding iron from the back of the room.

“Rica-san, how is life in the Royal Capital?” (Yuna)

“Ghazal is here, and there are good people around, so I’m fine.” (Rica)

Rica-san smiled at me with a big smile.

From her expression, she didn’t seem to be forcing herself to comment.

“But I’m a little worried that Ghazal is being mistreated because of my arrival.” (Rica)

“Ghazal-san is being mistreated?” (Yuna)

“Fufu.” (Rica)

Rica-san smiled happily, even though Ghazal-san she said was being mistreated.

Rica-san and Ghazal-san were unmarried, but she said that people around her looked at her as Ghazal-san’s wife. So their fellow blacksmiths around them, who were unmarried and did not have girlfriends, were jealous of them.

According to the story, blacksmiths have difficulty finding partners because they are dirty, noisy, hot, etc.

If they did get married, they would help out in the store. Craftsmen tend to be shunned because they work with sweat, make a lot of noise from hammering iron, and use fire, which is extremely hot, according to some.

Furthermore, because of the nature of their work, they rarely meet women, so they have even more of a hard time finding women.

It was a tricky issue.

So, Ghazal-san, who had never had a shadow of a woman in his life, was tormented with jealousy when Rica-san appeared on the scene.

And because Rica-san was cute, things escalated even more.

“Is Rica-san okay with it?” (Yuna)

“Me? I am the daughter of a blacksmith. I’ve been raised in such an environment since I was born, so I don’t mind it. My father smelled of sweat, but my mother told me it was proof that he was working hard for us. I think she’s right, too, and the sound of iron being struck was like a lullaby to me as I slept, so I’m okay with it.” (Rica)

So Rica-san was a girl born ready to be a blacksmith’s wife. It would be easier to get married if one had an understanding of the other’s profession, as with any profession.

For me, who had no feminine instincts, it was challenging to accomplish.

“By the way, Yuna-san and Fina-chan don’t live in Royal Capital…I was surprised when I tried to go see Yuna-chan and Ghazal told me that you don’t live here even though you have a house here.” (Rica)

Oh, I just remembered that I should mention that.

I used my Bear Transition Gate to get back to the Royal Capital, and when I came to Ghazal-san’s she was already there, so she might have arrived when I was still in Crimonia.

“I didn’t have the time to tell you. Sorry.” (Yuna)

“But I thought it was strange, because I could have sworn I heard that you came to the capital just after hearing about how I came here from Gold.” (Rica)

“I bought a piece of land and built a house in Royal Capital because I do drop by here once in a while.” (Yuna)

“I’m surprised that you only come here once in a while, but bought some land, but I’m also surprised about the bear house. But I’m glad you came to see me like this, and thank you Fina-san for visiting me too.” (Rica)

“…” (Fina)

“Fina-san, what’s wrong? You’ve been quiet for a while now.” (Rica)

“I’m sorry.” (Fina)

It seemed like she was out of it.

I let out a sigh.

“Fina’s going to be at the upcoming dismantling event at the Adventurers Guild, and she’s a bit overwhelmed.” (Yuna)

“Oh, that? Fina-san, you’re going to participate?” (Rica)

“Well, I’ve decided to participate. But I’m getting more and more worried about whether I’m the right person for the job, and whether I’ll disappoint Sanya-san.” (Fina)

“As long as Fina does the dismantling as usual, you’ll be fine.” (Yuna)

“Besides, I didn’t think it would be such a big place to do it.” (Fina)

“But Fina-san, I didn’t know you could dismantle things.” (Rica)

“Fina is excellent at dismantling.” (Yuna)

“I’m not so good at it. I don’t think I’m good enough. Besides, I’m mostly dismantling wolves. (Fina)

“Fina-san is in the category under the age of 19 years old, so I don’t think other participants have dismantled any rare monsters before. I don’t think such monsters will be at the event in the first place.” (Yuna)

“If I knew more about it, I could tell you what kind of monsters were present. I’ve only been in the Royal Capital for a short time, and it’s only recently that I found out about such an event. Oh, I could ask Ghazal.” (Rica)

Fina tried to stop Rica-san from turning her attention away from the workshop.

“Rica-san, thank you for your concern. I am fine.” (Fina)

Then we listened to Rica-san’s story about her time in the Royal Capital, and Fina seemed to enjoy listening to Rica-san’s story as well.

“Ghazal is so sloppy, he can’t do things without me.” (Rica)

“He seems like a solid man though.” (Yuna)

“As far as work is concerned, yes. But his personal life is totally messed up. I’m really glad I came.” (Rica)

Ghazal-san, could it be that you’re being wrapped around the neck?

“Rica, don’t talk to the girls about that.” (Ghazal)

Ghazal-san came out from the back with a stern look on his face.

“Ghazal-san, hello. sorry to bother you.” (Yuna)

“Hello.” (Fina)

“What’s up today? Are you here to have your knives maintained?” (Ghazal)

“No, no. I’m in the Royal Capital, so I thought I’d drop by and show my face. Also, I thought it would be a nice change of pace for Fina.” (Yuna)

“A change of pace for Fina?” (Ghazal)

I told him that Fina would participate in a dismantling event organized by the Adventurers’ Guild.

“Ghazal, do you know anything about it?” (Yuna)

“I’ve been to a few, but I’m a seasoned veteran. Sometimes there are rare monsters and such in my category. But the Bear Girl is right, I’ve never heard of any rare monsters appearing in the category under the age of 19, which is the age group you belong to.” (Ghazal)

“See, I told you so. So, Fina will be fine.” (Yuna)

“Un.” (Fina)

“I’m sorry, I can’t help you with that.” (Ghazal)

“No, that information is enough, thank you.” (Fina)

“Well, there’s nothing I can do about the event, but I can give you a hand in maintaining your dismantling equipment, right? It’s the least I can do for you.” (Ghazal)

“Oh, no, you don’t have to…” (Fina)

“It would be more of a problem if something happened to the dismantling tools while you were taking part in the event, and you couldn’t use them to your full potential.” (Ghazal)

Certainly, if it was a monster she had never dismantled, it could not be helped. But the most frustrating thing would be not being able to do it because the dismantling tools had problems, even if it was a monster she was familiar with.

“Fina-san, it’s okay, Ghazal wants to do it, so don’t worry about it.” (Rica)

“But…” (Fina)

“Then, why don’t I pay him and ask him to do it, and then it will be a job?” (Yuna)

If they did so, there would be no problem for either of them.

When I tried to pay, Fina stopped me and tried to take out her wallet, but Ghazal-san stopped her again.

“Yuna Onee-chan, let me do it myself then.” (Fina)

“I don’t need money. You girls have taken good care of me. Besides, I’ve already got the money from the bear girl.” (Ghazal)

“Oh, you mean the Iron Golem.” (Rica)

I wondered what he was talking about, but then Rica-san reminded me.

“That’s enough money. I could take care of your weapons and tools hundreds of times and still have enough change.” (Ghazal)

“Fina, since he has said so far, why don’t you do them a favor?” (Yuna)

It would be rude to keep refusing.

Above all, it would be disrespectful to Ghazal-san’s feelings.

“…Then, please, I leave it to you.” (Fina)

Fina worried a little and took her dismantling tools out of the item bag.

There were three knives. Two were mithril knives and an iron knife made by Gold-San, a blacksmith in Crimonia and Ghazal-san’s colleague. The other knife was one I see every once in a while.

“So you have three dismantling knives and this one is part of the dismantling tool set.” (Ghazal)

Ghazal-san holds up a knife.

“Gold made the Mithril knives and this iron knife, right?” (Ghazal)

“You can tell just by looking at them.” (Fina)

Fina showed him the mithril knife the last time we were here, but not the iron knife.

“Because we showed each other what we made. But this one is different.” (Ghazal)

Ghazal-san holds up one of the remaining knives.

“That’s the dismantling knife my father used when he was an adventurer.” (Fina)

Father? It was probably not Gentz-san, but her late father.

“That dismantling tool set is also the one my father used when he was an adventurer.” (Fina)

Ghazal-san looked at the set of dismantling tools.

“This is…” (Ghazal)

“What’s wrong?” (Fina)

“Nothing. It’s well cared for and beautiful. The blacksmith who made it must be very happy.” (Ghazal)

Fina always took good care of her tools after dismantling them.

Then Ghazal-san adjusted, polished, and cared for Fina’s dismantling tools.

“Thank you very much.” (Fina)

“If you do what you can do now, no one will complain. Of course, it can be hard to be as good as you always are. I can’t make the same good sword every time either. But I must not deny what I have done until now. That would be denying the person who taught you how to dismantle it, missy.” (Ghazal)

Ghazal-san said to Fina as if saying to himself.

“Not deny what I have…” (Fina)

Fina reflected on Ghazal-san’s words.

“I’m sorry I’m not very good at explaining.” (Ghazal)

“No, thank you. I will do my best to do what I can now.” (Fina)

Perhaps Ghazal-san’s words had reached Fina’s ears because the look of distress on Fina’s face had disappeared.

I was glad I dropped by.