Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear
Chapter 83: Bear-san Climbs The Mountain

「Are you really going there?」

Terumi-san asked me with a worried look .

At the orphanage, I told Terumi-san and Fina that I would go to the sea by crossing the mountain range.

「I want to see the sea, after all. That’s why, I will leave the shop in your hands.」

Even if I didn’t specifically say it, the shop was already under Terumi-san’s and Morin-san’s care. Even if I wasn’t here, there wouldn’t be any problems.

To prove it, I gradually reduced the number of times I went to the store.

「That’s fine, but Erezento’s mountain range is steep, you know.」

「If I really find it dangerous, I will come back here. Not to mention, with Hugging Bear, Swaying Bear, and everything else, there won’t be any problems.」

「Big Sis Yuna…」

Fina also looked extremely worried.

「There will be no problems. When things calm down a little on the other side of the mountain, I will contact you.」

I took two palm-sized Bear Figurines from the Bear Box and gave one to Fina.

「This is?」

「It’s a Bear Phone that can call anywhere. It’s a magic tool that allows us to talk to each other, even if we are far apart .」

After I defeated more than 10,000 monsters near the capital, my level increased and I acquired two new skills.

The first skill let me use magic to create Bear Phones for communicating with others.

It was a communication device that used magic instead of electricity.

The second skill transformed my summoned beasts into their cub forms.

I got a really strange skill that just permitted me to transform my summoned beast to different sized versions.

How could I use Hugging Bear and Swaying Bear’s cub forms? Maybe I could to use them as watch dogs when I was at an inn? Or maybe as pillows?

However, if I wanted a pillow, their bigger versions would be better, right?

I tried the skill when I was in my house, but there was no way to make use of it.

Was it just a skill that allowed your tired heart to recover by looking at the cubs?

It was true that they were really cute though.

「If something happens or if you just want to talk to me, you just have to pour magic into it and it will connect to my Bear Phone, so you will be able to talk to me.」

As I was giving the explanation, with a serious look,

「…Big Sis Yuna. It’s just impossible to talk with people who are not in the same place. Even if you try to make me feel better by lying, I am not a young enough child to believe this.」

She showed her dissatisfaction by puffing her cheeks.

Hmm…was it possible that she didn’t trust me?

Also, ten years old was still a child, right?

「Yuna-chan, there might be those sort of tools in the capital, but well, maybe just one here and there…」

Was it such a rare item?

In the game though, there was a chat-like function.

「You will believe me once we use it. I will use the Bear Phone now.」

I said that, but it was also my first time using it.

I didn’t have anyone to test the Bear Phones with, and doing it by myself wasn’t really possible.

I didn’t know how the connection between the two bears worked.

Was there a phone ring melody?

We would find out by trying it, so I poured magic into the Bear Phone and prayed that it would connect to the one Fina had.

As I did that, the Bear Phone that Fina held started ringing.

「Kuun, Kuun, Kuun, Kuun, Kuun」

A bear’s crying voice?

That kind of calling voice?

Wasn’t it strange?

Couldn’t it be changed to a normal cellphone’s melody?

「B-Big Sis Yuna. What do I do about this!?」

Fina panicked while looking at the Bear Phone ringing in her hand.

「Try pouring magic into it. It uses magic power instead of a switch, after all.」

When Fina poured magic into it, the cries of the Bear Phone stopped.

「I will move away a bit, okay?」

I moved to about 10 meters away from Fina.

「Fina, can you hear me?」

I started talking, facing the Bear Phone.

『Big Sis Yuna?』

I could hear Fina’s voice coming from the Bear Phone’s mouth.

「Can you hear my voice?」

『Yes I can.』

「Then I will distance myself a little more.」

I moved away even more.

「Can you still hear me Fina?」

『I can hear you clearly.』

『Yuna-chan, is this really a magic tool that makes long distance communication possible?』

「I don’t know how far away we can communicate, but I think we can talk even if there is quite a distance between us.」

I thought so at least.

I had never used it before, so there was no way I could know how far away I could use it from.

「Then, I will cut the connection for now and this time Fina will be the one to call me.」

『Yes, I will try.』

When I cut the connection and waited for Fina’s call, the Bear Phone started ringing.

「Kuun, Kuun, Kuun, Kuun, Kuun」

As I thought, this crying voice was really unpleasant.

Of course, having a mechanical sound or a musical ring might be strange in this world, but if I could register voices, I would register Fina’s voice.

「Big Sis, pick up the phone. Big Sis, pick up the phone.」something like this.

I decided to try to see if it was possible to change it later.

As I poured magic into it, the crying voice stopped.

『Hmm, Big Sis Yuna, can you hear me?』

「Yes, I can.」

We confirmed that the transmission could be started from both sides.

The next problem was the distance, but we couldn’t really test that here.

Should I go to the capital and test it from there?

「Well, I will return to where you are now.」

I cut the conversation and went back to where Fina was.

「Big Sis Yuna, this Bear-san is incredible!」

She was carefully hugging the Bear Phone.

「With this, wherever we are, we will be able to talk with each other, right?」

「Yes.」

「Bear Phones are great. You can talk to people that are really far away.」

「Terumi-san too, if you have something to talk about, don’t hesitate to call me. If I think I will be able to come back, I will do so.」

I had the transfer gate so I could come back quickly.

「I understand, but is it okay to give us such an incredible magic tool?」

「Yes. They would be pointless if I had both of them.」

If I had them both, I would would be like a loner playing telephone…

「But if you have something like this, you can call your friends and family in your hometown.」

Terumi-san’s words pierced my heart.

Friends… Are they delicious?

Family… Where are they?

「Yuna-chan, what happened?」

Terumi-san asked me when I was in the orz pose..

Mustering my strength, I got up.

(ED: orz pose = hands and knees on the ground. o = head, r = arms, z = legs)

「Nothing. Don’t worry, and please use the magic tool. My home country is too far away, so I can’t use it.」

「Is that so? Sorry.」

Terumi-san might have sensed something about my past, but she didn’t say anything about it.

「So, Fina, take it and don’t worry, okay?」

「Okay. But, Big Sis Yuna, take care of yourself, okay?」

The next day, early in the morning, I hopped on Swaying Bear and rode towards the Erezento mountain range.

It had been a long time since I went on a trip by myself.

I advanced in the direction of the mountain range.

I could see the mountain range from here. Its summit was pure white. I wasn’t sure if it was due to snow.

The Bear Clothes protected me from the cold, so it was probably okay.

Swaying Bear left the town and kept running on the path.

As I looked at the nearing mountain, my map was expanding.

「It’s really big, huh.」

I arrived at the entrance to the trailhead while atop Swaying Bear.

When I looked around, I saw a thin path.

I heard that it was narrow, but Swaying Bear could just barely fit it.

Then, let’s go!

Swaying Bear started ascending the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain there were many trees and forests, but as we climbed higher, they started to thin, little by little.

Swaying Bear steadily ascended the mountain.

I noticed some monsters in the distance, but they didn’t approach us.

After ascending some more, we reached the snow, and our steps started to sink a little.

Thanks to the Bear Clothes, I didn’t feel the cold.

There was more and more snow, but Swaying Bear kept running through it.

While ascending the snowy mountain, I spotted a white wolf.

A Snow Wolf.

A wolf with a white pelt.

Would a white pelt be a good souvenir for Fina?

As I was thinking that, the Snow Wolf noticed me and ran away.

Swaying Bear was with me, so he didn’t attack.

I kind of wanted his fur, but I wouldn’t go to the extent of chasing him down.

There were three species of monsters on the mountain range.

Snow Wolves, Yetis, and Snow Darumas.

The Yetis were hairy Snowmen and comparatively gentle monsters. If you didn’t attack them first, they wouldn’t do anything.

The problematic ones were the Snow Darumas. They had an ice magic stone and their bodies were assembled from the snow.

Appearance wise, they looked like snowmen without arms and legs.

They attacked slowly, trying to tackle you or blowing snow from their mouths.

Physical attacks didn’t work on them because of their characteristics.

If Swaying Bear or I attacked them like that, they would only collapse and rapidly regenerate their bodies by gathering the snow around them.

The way to kill them was to use fire attribute magic to melt the snow, so that they couldn’t assemble their form anymore.

That was why I plunged a fireball into the first Snow Daruma I saw.

When the fireball touched it, the snow evaporated and the ice magic crystal dropped.

Those magic crystals could be used to make fridges or freezers.

The crystals had a lot of uses, so I decided to store them.

The mountain climbing was progressing nicely, until a snowstorm appeared.

Would it be better if I stopped a little and waited for the storm to calm down?

Swaying Bear and I were doing fine, but our vision was too restricted.

It wasn’t really a trip that required me to go as fast as I could, so I looked for a good place to stop.

While climbing the mountain and looking for a place to rest, Swaying Bear reacted to something.

Thinking that it was a monster, I used detection magic.

The Detection magic sensed no monsters.

Instead, it reacted to two people.