Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

The next day, after having thought of a way to fight, I went to the Adventurer’s Guild to get the permission to do it.

Like the previous day, the employees of the Adventurer’s Guild were busy, and didn’t stop moving at all.

The fact that half of the jobs they did should have been done by the Commerce Guild was strange.

Even though Atora-san was the one giving orders, the Commerce Guild’s employees were also doing their jobs normally.

I found Atora-san, who seemed really busy, and talked to her.

「Yuna, why are you here?」

「I wanted to discuss something with you. If I may, I want to ask a favour from you.」

「What would that be? If it’s Yuna’s request, I would do anything.」

If I were a boy and heard this 『anything』, I would surely have a reaction.

While I was thinking about that, Atora-san approached.

Her big chest came close to my head.

Don’t put those big things in front of me, please.

I wasn’t jealous at all, okay!

「Is it okay if we go somewhere private?」

I looked around and asked that, so she led me to a room at the back of the guild.

「It’s a bit messy, but please sit.」

There were mountains of documents.

Were they all related to her additional responsibilities?

It started yesterday, right? Was it possible that Atora-san didn’t sleep at all?

「So, what’s your request?」

「I was thinking about defeating the Kraken, so I just wanted to request a few things from you.」

「…………」

Atora-san’s mouth opened wide.

「Are you for real?」

「I now have a reason to kill it, so…」

「And what is this reason? Is it worth enough to put your life on the line?」

「It’s not a significant reason. It’s just really personal.」

I couldn’t really say that it was for the rice and soy sauce.

「Haa, so your request is “I want to defeat the Kraken, so help me, please”, right?」

「I will fight the Kraken alone, so don’t worry.」

Atora-san approached me and put her hand on my forehead.

「You don’t seem to have a fever… You know, a Kraken is not something you can fight on your own. Just because you were able to fight the bandits, that doesn’t mean you can also fight the Kraken, you know.」

Well, it was not a monster that you could fight alone in the game either.

「If I say ‘Trust me’, would that be enough?」

「I will just ask this. What are the chances of success?」

「If the Kraken appears at the place I want it to, I will defeat it.」

Atora-san peered into my eyes for a long time, and then let out a little sigh.

「……I understand. So, what do I have to do?」

「On the path where the bandits appeared, there is a big cliff facing the sea, isn’t there?」

「Yes.」

「I want to fight around there, so I don’t want anyone to approach it. Also, it will get dangerous on that day, so I would like for no one to go fishing.」

「You will fight it there?」

「I don’t really know how big the Kraken is, but with a cliff like that, I think it will be okay.」

「And how will you make the Kraken go there?」

I explained what I would use as a bait.

「I don’t know if it will work though.」

「Fufufufu, that’s right. Nobody would ever think of baiting the Kraken, so no one has ever tried it, after all. But, even if you do manage to bait it, there is a possibility of it fleeing, isn’t there?」

「I don’t plan on letting it flee.」

When it came to the cliff, it would be in my territory.

I would carve the fear of being hunted into this Kraken.

「Hmm, I understand. I will need three days. Also, could you give us a bit more wolf meat?」

Atora-san thought about it for a while before accepting my request.

The three days were meant to convince the fishermen to not bring out their boats. The wolves were meant to restock, because there were none left.

I left everything concerning the residents to Atora-san and went to the cliff for some preliminary investigations.

As confirmed yesterday, mistakes weren’t allowed when the Kraken appeared. If the Kraken didn’t appear, it wouldn’t be a problem. If it came and I failed, it wouldn’t be possible to bait and capture it with the same method ever again.

From what I remembered, the Kraken’s length could range between twenty to hundreds of meters.

Between the depths of the sea and the highest point of the cliff, there was more than enough space.

After that, there was just one thing left to do. Pray that it would go well.

—-

The next day, Atora-san came to the inn.

「Yuna, two days from now, all boats will stay in port. I will also forbid everyone from leaving the city.」

「Hmm, this might be strange coming from me, who asked for this to happen, but aren’t you way too fast?」

I had made the request just yesterday. She had to explain everything to the residents, and persuading them should have taken even more time.

「I just had to convince the eldest and the most important person among the fishermen, and since the Adventurer’s Guild will be the one to take care of the cliff, there should be no problems.」

「But this grampa, did he really willingly accept not going out to sea that day?」

In such a case, it would be more normal for a stubborn old man to decline it.

「Well, in this city, no one would refuse a request that comes from you.」

「That’s just…」

「Well, you provided food, subjugated the bandits, and ended the oppression of the Commerce Guild. And now, you are also going to fight the Kraken for this city’s sake.」

「Regarding the Commerce Guild, that was not…」

「We discovered those problems when you gave out food and subjugated the bandits. It was also thanks to Yuna, wasn’t it? That’s why this gramps happily agreed to prevent the boats from setting sail. He also gave me a message for you. 『Don’t do the impossible. We are grateful already, Bear Missy. I don’t know how you will defeat this monster, but if you need some help, don’t hesitate to ask.』. It’s really impressive that you could make that gramp say something like that, you know.」

It was becoming harder and harder to admit that I was only fighting for the rice’s sake though…

The day of the fight came.

When I woke up, I looked outside my window.

It was a nice day to go and fight.

Having good weather was better than having rain, of course.

Since Atora-san had already made the preparations for the fight, I would be able do my best. I really couldn’t say something like ‘It is raining today, so I won’t do it’, so I was really happy that the weather was good.

「Missy, are you going somewhere today?」

「I will go and take a walk. Why do you ask?」

Deiga-san asked me, but I couldn’t really say that I was going to subjugate the Kraken like it was nothing, so I said that.

「A walk, huh… Missy, I will make you a good breakfast, so eat well before going, okay?」

「Your meals are always delicious, Deiga-san.」

I told him how I really felt.

「Don’t make me cry!」

He sniffed, and I faintly saw tears in his eyes.

「I will prepare a meal and wait for you, so you have to come back!」

「Of course. I will be in your care for some more time, after all.」

He worriedly repeated that I had to come back so many times that it almost became awkwardly troublesome before I left.

Was he worried about me not paying for my stay?

When I arrived at the entrance of the city, I saw some employees of the Adventurer’s Guild, Atora-san included.

「Hello.」

I greeted them all.

「Hello.」

After Atora-san returned the greeting, the employees did the same as well.

「I will go then. After this, whatever happens, do not let anyone pass through.」

Atora-san gave her orders to the employees.

Wait, ‘I will go’?

「Is it possible that Atora-san wants to come with me?」

「Yes, of course. You will win after all, won’t you?」

「If I fight it, then it’s possible.」

「There is no problem then.」

When I left the city, I summoned Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.

「Are these your summoned beasts?」

We talked about them when I was attacked at the inn and when I had to report on how I found the bandits, so there was no problem.

「Ride the black one, Swaying Bear, please.」

「Ara, is it okay?」

「I want to defeat the Kraken as soon as possible, and then take it easy, after all.」

I hopped onto Hugging Bear, and then the two bears headed towards the cliff.

「You are going to fight here, huh?」

「If it doesn’t come, I won’t be able to do anything, though.」

I brought out the bait that I would use to take care of the Kraken.

What came out was a worm that was dozens of meters long. Since time was stopped inside of the Bear Box, it was a raw, freshly killed worm.

「You really had something like that, huh.」

「It’s from the time when that Hero title was stuck to me.」

「I can finally understand now. I am not the King, but I absolutely don’t want to argue with you. Become my friend as well, please.」

「If you don’t try to take away what I think of as important, I don’t plan to become your enemy.」

「I understand. I will be careful.」

I was working while we were having this kind of talk.

I used ice magic to coat the lower half of the worm in ice and hung it over the cliff, right above the ocean. It looked like the worm was suspended over the water by a giant icicle.

I set it up so that half of the worm was submerged in the sea.

A long time ago, I saw people use larvae to capture fish on TV. Worms looked like larvae, didn’t they? So I thought, ‘Wouldn’t that be great bait for the Kraken?’.

The key point was that the Kraken was a carnivore that ate humans.

In that case, it wouldn’t be strange for it to eat a worm, right?

The worm was huge. That made its odor spread inside the sea much easier and faster. If all went well, there was a possibility that the Kraken would come all the way to this cliff.

If it didn’t, I didn’t have any choice other than fighting it on the sea while riding the bears. I didn’t want to fight like that, so I prayed that it would come.

It had been one hour since the worm was suspended from the cliff.

If I wasn’t daydreaming, the waves were getting bigger.

I wasn’t daydreaming, they really were getting bigger.

When I used detection magic to confirm it, I saw the Kraken approaching.

Then, a long and narrow tentacle leapt out and coiled around the worm.

The ice broke, and the worm plunged into the sea.

「Yuna!」

「Atora-san, please move back!」

I began casting my earth magic and created an image.

A giant bear, dozens of meters in size.

From the depths of the sea to the center of the cliff, forming a semicircle, a lot of earth bears emerged. I had just constructed a wall of bears.

It had been awhile since I last used such an enormous amount of magic, and the fatigue that came with a large expenditure of magic power hit me.

I didn’t just make them big, I also made them sturdy, so that the Kraken wouldn’t be able to break them. Yet, in proportion to this, I used up a lot more magic power.

Thanks to using that much power, I could lock up the Kraken inside the wall of bears.

The Kraken did not realize that he was imprisoned and was still eating the worm.

It was a really big squid.

The Kraken was a monster that represented either a big octopus or a big squid.

In this case, it was more like a big squid.

I made a lot of Fire Bears and launched them at the Kraken.

The Fire Bears hit it square on and burned its flesh.

The scent of the burnt flesh reached us, and the Kraken dove into the sea in order to put the flames out.

The Kraken noticed me, and stretched out its tentacles. Would they reach me?

I didn’t know how long the Kraken was, but it was long enough to stretch its tentacles to the top of the cliff.

I dodged the tentacles and launched Fire Bears at them. The tentacles were lit on fire, but the Kraken quickly plunged them underwater to put out the flames.

I was creating Fire Bears one after another.

The Kraken tried to flee towards the ocean, but it couldn’t, thanks to the Bear Wall.

If it came up to the surface, I attacked it.

Even if it didn’t come up, I still attacked it.

The temperature of the sea water rose, thanks to the Fire Bears.

The Kraken suffered while continuing to struggle. Time and time again, it rammed the Bear Wall.

I used up a lot of magic power to make that wall. If it broke that easily, it would really upset me.

The sea water was boiling, makes lots of bubbles.

The Kraken stretched its tentacles to climb the Bear Wall, but I wouldn’t let it do that.

With a Bear Cutter, I cut off his tentacles. They regenerated rapidly though, and the tentacles stretched out once again.

Wasn’t that an infinite food dispenser?

It was only limited to the tentacles, though.

The Kraken continued to stretch its tentacles without stopping.

This was the fight between my magic power and the Kraken’s strength. If my magic power dried up, the Kraken would flee.

I should have made the Bear Wall bigger. I really didn’t think that the Kraken would be this big.

We weren’t having a melee fight, so I started thinking that I should have put on the White Bear Suit to fight it. If I did that, I could have recovered my magic power while fighting it.

If my magic power dried up, then, I would have to do a strip show to change into the White Bear Suit here, huh.

I really didn’t want to do that…

Even though it was just Atora-san here, changing in front of people was embarrassing.

Still, if it would be of help in killing this Kraken, I would have no choice but to do a strip show.

Thanks to the Fire Bears, the sea was now boiling, and vapor started to rise up, making the sea look like a steam bath. The surrounding temperature also rose because of that. It was really hot, but thanks to the Bear Suit, I didn’t feel hot at all.

Because of the water’s high temperature, the Kraken was now struggling desperately.

When a part of the cliff started to crumble, I understood that it was at its limit.

I continued to inflict more damage to the Kraken, so that it wouldn’t escape.

At that moment, I thought that it would have been great if I also made a lid.

If I started making a lid strong enough to trap it now, I would be really worried about the magic power that would remain.

Hmm, it was an idea that I had just recently thought about, so there were a lot of flaws to my plan.

If I ever had to fight like this again, I would have to pay more attention to the details.

This exchange of blows, where I one-sidedly launched Fire Bears at the Kraken, continued.

The Kraken continued to stretch out its tentacles, doing its best to flee, but I didn’t let it.

I prayed for this to finish quickly.

The feeling of fatigue was becoming worse and worse.

I could feel my magic power starting to dry up.

Was it time for a really fast strip show?

The moment I thought about that, the movements of the Kraken suddenly became dull.

It couldn’t raise its tentacles nor ram into the Bear Wall anymore.

I stopped attacking and looked at the state of things.

The Kraken stopped moving.

I used detection magic and checked if the Kraken’s signal had really disappeared.

It was over…

I sat on the floor and laid down.

So tired.

I used up too much magic power, so my body felt really sluggish.

「Yuna!」

Atora-san rushed over.

Streams of sweat were flowing from her face.

It was really hot here after all.

「Atora-san, it’s over.」

「Is it really dead?」

Atora-san looked at the Kraken that was currently floating on the boiling sea.

The Kraken didn’t move.

I checked using detection magic, so there was no doubt about it.

「Don’t worry, it’s dead. Atora-san, can I leave the aftermath to you? As expected, I used too much magic power this time. I just can’t move anymore. My movements are sluggish, and I feel sleepy.」

I didn’t have the strength to even walk.

「Yes, no problem. And really, thank you very much.」

Without revealing that it was for the rice and soy sauce, I responded with a smile.

I summoned Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.

Hugging Bear approached me and crouched down so that it would be easier for me to ride him.

「Thanks.」

With me riding on Hugging Bear and Atora-san riding on Swaying Bear, we returned to the city.

When we arrived at the city entrance, a lot of people were assembled at the gate.

「Master!」

The employees ran up to us.

「What’s happening here?」

「When you were gone, there was a report of someone seeing the Kraken, so the residents started making a fuss.」

Atora-san thought about it for a bit, then opened her mouth to speak.

「Speaking of the Kraken, this girl killed it.」

She pointed at me, who was currently collapsed on Hugging Bear.

Ah, I forgot to tell her not to make a big fuss about it.

The current me didn’t even have the strength to request that.

I just really wanted to go back to the inn to sleep.

「Master, is that true?」

「Yes, it is. If you don’t believe me, you can go and see it for yourself. The dead body of the Kraken is there, after all.」

「Isn’t it dangerous?」

One of the guild employees asked.

Atora-san responded.

「What is? There are no bandits, and no Kraken. What could possibly be dangerous?」

「That’s…」

「More importantly, won’t you open the way? I want to let the hero who saved this city get her sleep at the inn.」

「But letting these bears inside the city is…」

He looked at Hugging Bear.

「There will be no danger. I guarantee it. And the least I can do is not ask the hero who saved the city by exhausting her strength against the Kraken, to get down from this bear. And I will scorn anyone who will say that as well.」

Atora-san shut the mouths of the crowd with just a look.

The guild employees and the residents cleared a path.

When they made way for me, Hugging Bear, who I was riding, moved forward and walked towards the inn.

When I arrived at the inn, Deiga-san screamed.

「Missy!」

「Don’t worry. I am just tired, so I will just sleep for a while. Don’t wake me up, okay?」

The big form of Hugging Bear entered the inn, and started moving upstairs by climbing the narrow stairs. Behind him, Swaying Bear also followed. When we arrived to the room, I got down from Hugging Bear and opened the door.

「Hugging Bear, thank you very much.」

I transformed Hugging Bear and Swaying Bear into their cub forms, and entered the room.

「Even if it’s the president, the prime minister, or the king, no matter who, don’t wake me up please.」

It was just past noon, but I was already dead tired.

That was because I overused my magic.

I was so tired.

I did my best to change into the White Bear Suit.

I then collapsed on my bed like that, and the bears snuggled up close to me. While thanking the bears, I fell asleep.

Author’s note:

The answer to how she would kill it was to use the worm as a bait, making a big pot, and boiling it.

Next up is a squid festival.