Chapter 475

Bear-san Pus.h.i.+ng Credit To Others

Orochi has fallen.

I think its dead, but I should retrieve the magic stone to be sure. We couldnt be too careful when its life force was this strong.

Mumroot-san, do you know the position of the giant snakes magic stone? (Yuna)

When I asked Mumroot-san, Kagali-san, who was riding on Swaying Bear, approached the fallen snake.

Swaying Bear, a little more to the right, please. (Kagali)

`Ku~u ~ n

Kagali-san, who was riding on Swaying Bear, gave instructions to Swaying Bear, and Swaying Bear moved accordingly.

Around here, I think? (Kagali)

It seems so. (Mumroot)

The two tried to confirm as they touched various parts of the giant snakes body. Then, Mumroot-san, perhaps having found the place where the magic stone was, pulled out a knife and sliced through the snake.

d.a.m.n it. Its not coming off. (Mumroot)

Come on, do your best! (Kagali)

Dont just stand there and watch. (Mumroot)

While looking like this? That would be impossible. Come on, you can do it!. (Kagali)

Two joyful voices can be heard coming from the giant snake. As I waited and watched this exchange, Mumroot-san and Kagali-san returned. In Mumroot-sans hand was a large, colorless magic stone. It may be a little bigger than the magic stones I got earlier.

Now we can rest easy. (Mumroot)

Youve defeated it. (Sakura )

Sakura looked at the magic stone and again expressed relief.

No need to cry anymore. (Yuna)

Yuna-sama, you say mean things, dont you? (Sakura)

It doesnt feel good when I see you are crying. As much as possible, I want you to be happy. (Yuna)

Yes, I understand. (Sakura)

Sakura had a few tears in her eyes, but she smiled happily. The bad premonition has been averted, and she should not dream of dying anymore. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it when I thought I had saved a girl.

I think Ive done my job now. Ruimin, lets go home. (Mumroot)

Mumroot-san called out to Ruimin and handed the magic stone in his hand over to Kagali-san. Should I also give the magical stone I have to her?

Hold it, are you going to run away again this time? (Kagali)

It would be strange if there were people who werent supposed to be here. (Mumroot)

Indeed, it is strange for Mumroot-san to be here.

But, Mumroot-sama. I havent even thanked you yet. I cant just let you leave like this. (Sakura)

I only bought time by delaying Orochis revival. Shes the one who killed it. (Mumroot)

No, if it werent for Mumroot-sama and Ruimin-san, we might not have been able to defeat the giant serpent. (Sakura)

Indeed, if the serpent had fully revived, I may not be able to defeat it. The damage might have been much worse. There was no doubt that we could have fought Orochis multiple heads individually. Thanks to Mumroot-sans seal reinforcement, we could engage each head individually.

But in this case, Im not sure which side to take.

Of course, I understand Sakuras feelings. It would be awkward to let those who risked their lives fighting to go home without thanking them. But I also appreciate Mumroot-sans desire not to get involved in any trouble more than anyone else. If I were in Sakuras shoes, I would keep him from leaving, and if I were in Mumroot-sans shoes, I would want to leave ASAP.

But (Sakura)

I didnt help because I wanted to be thanked for it. I was just doing something I had left undone in the past. So dont even think about thanking me. (Mumroot)

If he said that, Sakura would not be able to say anything.

Mumroot-san, youre leaving, arent you?

Well then, I think Ill take my leave now. (Mumroot)

Wait a minute. Why are you even trying to leave? (Kagali)

Because if I stay, its going to be a pain in the a.s.s, you know? (Mumroot)

It was indeed important when it came to defeating Orochi. I helped defeat the monstrosity upon Sakuras request, but I dont want to take credit for it.

Still, Mumroot. Im not going to let you get away this time. Do you know how hard it was for me to stay behind that time? (Kagali)

So maybe thats why he wanted to leave.

As I said before, all you have to do, Mumroot, is pretend that you happened to stop by the country. Without you, I cant explain how we defeated it. (Kagali)

I dont think I need to explain the enhanced sealing to you, do I? (Mumroot)

Mumroot-san seems to be troublesome.

I think it would be best to pretend that Kagali-san is the one who defeated it. You see, we can say that you turned into a great fox and pretend you beat it (Yuna)

Wait! Youre going to force it all on me too!? You wont get away with this. (Kagali)

Kagali-san grabbed me and Mumroot-sans clothes. It seems that she wont let us go home. But that doesnt mean we cant shake off her little hand. She used to be bigger than me, but itll be hard to deal with us now that shes smaller.

As I was wondering what to do, a ku~n, ku~n, ku~n, ku~n, ku~n, ku~n, ku~n, ku~n, ku~n starts to sound from the white bear puppet.

Its the bearphone.

I took the bearphone out of the bear box.

h.e.l.lo?

Its Fina.

Fina? What happened?

Im in the middle of something. If its nothing important, Ill call her back later. But what Fina said was unexpected.

Well, the woman named s.h.i.+n.o.bu woke up.

Ah

I completely forgot.

When I heard the name s.h.i.+n.o.bu from the Bearphone, it reminded everyone here of s.h.i.+n.o.bu. I was not the only one who had forgotten about her.

Because since then, the snake has revived, and things have been very hectic. After defeating the giant snake, we talked about the future, forgetting about s.h.i.+n.o.bu.

So, is s.h.i.+n.o.bu okay?

I asked Fina, trying not to let her know I had forgotten about s.h.i.+n.o.bu.

Yes, she seems to be alright. She wants to go back there, Yuna-oneesan.

Of course, if she woke up and found herself lying in a strange place, shed be worried about us. And since s.h.i.+n.o.bu was unconscious the whole time, she had no idea what was going on.

Do you generally want to go back to where the giant snake might be? Was she thinking of the country or Sakura? I think its the latter.

Ah~, yeah. Got it. Ill open the door in a bit, so inform s.h.i.+n.o.bu to wait a bit longer.

Understood.

After talking with Fina, I put away my bearphone.

Well then, Im going to pick up s.h.i.+n.o.bu now, so can we move to the door? (Yuna)

I could pull out a new bear gate, but I dont want to pull out too many, so we move to the one earlier. Im also retrieving that bear gate anyway. On top of Swaying Bear was Kagali-san, who has become a young girl, and Sakura. Then on Hugging Bear were Ruimin and me. And Mumroot-san was walking.

I completely forgot about s.h.i.+n.o.bu. (Kagali)

Not a single person refuted Kagali-sans words.

s.h.i.+n.o.bu, is she angry? (Kagali)

I dont think shes angry. I just moved her to a safe place because she fainted. (Yuna)

Even when I heard from Fina, I could not sense that s.h.i.+n.o.bu was angry.

She didnt know what the situation was. She may feel like it cant be helped.

=====

We came to the place where the bear gate was located. The bear gate was left open to allow escaping into the elven forest. Mumroot-san took Ruimin and tried to pa.s.s through the door silently. Kagali-san jumped down from Swaying Bear and blocked them in front of the bear gate.

Hold it right there. So why are you trying to leave? Bear Missy, close the door so that Mumroot doesnt escape. (Kagali)

Even though its connected, it wont close by itself. (Mumroot)

Well then, you guys stay there in the middle. Ill be going in first. I have to connect to s.h.i.+n.o.bu. (Yuna)

Youre the one who needs to stay here, Missy. (Mumroot)

Apparently, they wont let me go that easily.

Lets bring s.h.i.+n.o.bu over here, for now. Im sure that s.h.i.+n.o.bu will be waiting for us at the door. (Yuna)

Thats right. (Mumroot)

I closed the door that was connected to the elven forest. Then I opened the door to the bear gate at my house in Crimonia, and there was s.h.i.+n.o.bu, as if she had been waiting for me, and standing next to her was Fina.

Sakura-sama, are you okay? (s.h.i.+n.o.bu)

When the door opens, s.h.i.+n.o.bu walks through the door and comes to Sakura.

Yes, Im fine. What about you, s.h.i.+n.o.bu? (Sakura)

Im okay, too. I should have been injured, but I have healed apparently. (s.h.i.+n.o.bu)

s.h.i.+n.o.bu looked at her torn clothes with bloodstains.

I fixed her up, didnt I?

More importantly, what happened? Where are the wyverns? And what about Orochi? (s.h.i.+n.o.bu)

s.h.i.+n.o.bu, calm down and listen to me. Its all over. (Sakura)

s.h.i.+n.o.bu looked at Sakura with her mouth open like a foolish child at Sakuras words.

Sakura-sama, what do you mean? (s.h.i.+n.o.bu)

Mumroot-sama reinforced the seal. Meanwhile, Yuna-sama and Kagali-sama defeated the serpent. (Sakura)

Is that true? (s.h.i.+n.o.bu)

s.h.i.+n.o.bu looked at the little Kagali-san and me. Then she finally noticed the presence of Kagali-san.

Etto, Kagali-sama? (s.h.i.+n.o.bu)

Thats right. (Kagali)

s.h.i.+n.o.bu squatted down and looked at the little Kagali-san.

So cute. Why do you look like that? (s.h.i.+n.o.bu)

This appearance is due to the excessive use of magic power in the battle with Orochi. So, dont say anything more. (Kagali)

s.h.i.+n.o.bu hugged the little Kagali-san.

Ah, s.h.i.+n.o.bu. Thats not fair. I was holding back, and now youre hugging Kagali-sama. (Sakura)

Apparently, Sakura was holding back. Sakura also hugged the little Kagali-san.

Hey! Oh come on, you two. I am older than you. Dont treat me like a child. (Kagali)

Little Kagali-san annoyedly pushed them away in a desperate manner.

But I dont think its unreasonable to tell people not to treat Kagali-san as a child when she looked like a little girl. Appearances were important. No matter how strong you were, no one would think you were strong if you were in a bear suit. If youre short, you dont look your age. Those who have been there will tell you.

So its no wonder the two of them treat Kagali-san like a child.

Whats going on, Yuna-oneesan? (Fina)

As I was watching the three of them, Fina came to me.

Apparently, Fina also came to this side through the bear gate. Well, the door was left open. I had asked her for s.h.i.+n.o.bus care. Of course, she would like to know whats going on.

Yuna-sama, who is she? (Sakura)

Everyones eyes turned to Fina.

Shes Fina, my lifesaver. (Yuna)

Lifesaver (Sakura)

Everyones facial expressions turned into a surprised one in my words.

Are you strong, by any chance? (s.h.i.+n.o.bu)

Yuna-oneesan! I told you to stop introducing me that way. I am not strong. (Fina)

Yeah, I remember that.

Its just easy to forget.

Fina hits my body repeatedly while making a pomf pomf sound.

Yeah, it doesnt hurt.

Then Fina introduced herself.

Im Fina. I live in the same city as Yuna-oneesan. Yuna-oneesan is my lifesaver. (Fina)

=====

Authors Note:

Its a push of the credit for subjugation. w

s.h.i.+n.o.bu and Fina joined in!

=====