As I drank my juice, she told me about what we would do today. Apparently, she was going to go out to find the tigerwolves on her own. She told me I was allowed to go around the mountain and look for herbs. She told me that I could do the butchering whenever I wanted.
I decided I would go look for herbs for at least a little while. I was scared about trying to do it alone, but apparently Kumakyu was going to go with me. I guess it would keep me safe?
I decided that if I couldn’t find any herbs after looking a little, I would come back and do the butchering.
Yuna left with Kumayuru. I got onto Kumakyu too and went out to look for herbs. I rode on Kumakyu and we explore the mountain. I did really want to do some butchering, so I hoped we would find herbs some.
“Kumakyu, can you find herbs?” I asked, because why not? Kumakyu craned its neck toward me and nodded. Did it understand me?
The bear went deeper and deeper into the mountains. Was it looking for herbs for me? I kept an eye out too from on top of Kumakyu. I’ve done this a lot, so I can spot them even from far away.
Then Kumakyu started to go really fast.
Over there! I thought. I could see the herbs that Kumakyu was running towards. This bear was amazing.
I jumped off Kumakyu and gathered the herbs. I didn’t want to pick them all, so I just took half, which was still a lot. Maybe no one harvests these because they’re so deep in the mountains?
When I was picking the herbs, I heard the grass rustling. I looked where the sound was coming from and saw a wolf. I jumped back, scared, and the wolf ran off right away.
Oh, right, I thought. Kumakyu was with me. The wolf probably took one look at Kumakyu and decided not to mess with it.
“Kumakyu, thank you.” I petted the bear’s head. It was so cute.
I put the herbs in my bag and decided to head back, which was when I realized something. I didn’t know the way back. I was lost!
But I thought that, Kumakyu started walking confidently. Maybe it knew the way back?
“Do you know where the house is?” I asked, and it nodded in reply. The bear was smarter than me.
Thank you, Kumakyu!
Chapter 24:
The Bears Are on the Job
Until They Get Home
I WENT BACK to the bear house on Kumayuru. Kumakyu was curled up comfortably in the garden, taking a nap, which meant Fina was home. After I told Kumayuru to rest, I headed to the storage room. Fina was hard at work butchering monsters.
“Oh, welcome back, Yuna,” she said as she saw me come in.
“Glad to be home.”
“You came back so early. What happened to the tigerwolves?”
“I beat them. Sorry, but could you harvest the mana gems from them later, so I can prove I killed them?”
“Sure, that’s fine.”
I pulled two tigerwolves out of the bear storage. Fina looked shocked by the sight of their giant bodies. “You’re so amazing, Yuna.”
“They were definitely strong. Regular magic didn’t work on them, and they moved fast, so I ended up having to use my trump card.”
“I still think it’s amazing that you could beat them.”
“Thanks. So, did you end up going searching for herbs?”
“Yes, Kumakyu helped me.”
“It did?”
“Yeah! I asked ‘Kumakyu, can you find herbs?’ and it took me to a place where there were plenty.”
I had no idea Kumakyu could do that. I’d have to try it out later.
Fina kept skinning, even while we talked. I watched as she expertly separated the pelt from the meat and bones. “Do you just want the mana gems from the tigerwolves?” she asked.
“Yeah, just the mana gems are fine for now. I might ask you to do the rest later, though.”
When she got to a good stopping point on the wolves, Fina switched over to the tigerwolves. She slit their stomachs, stuck her hands right in, and pulled out the mana gems. She gave them a rinse and handed them to me. They were more than twice the size of regular wolf gems and shone bright white.
“You know where the gems are?” I was impressed that she hadn’t hesitated before going right for them.
“Usually they’re right in the middle,” she said.
“Really?”
“Yeah, but I haven’t butchered every kind of monster there is, so I’m not completely positive. I knew tigerwolves have their gems in the same place as wolves, though.”
“You’re amazing, Fina.”
“No, you’re amazing, Yuna. I can’t believe you can beat monsters that strong all by yourself.”
“Thanks. It’s kind of late now, but do you want to have lunch?” I packed the two gem-less tigerwolf corpses away into my bear storage.
“I…haven’t made any lunch…” Fina murmured softly, looking at her feet.
“That’s okay, I had them make us some at the inn, so come to the dining room after you wash your hands.”
“Okay.”
Once I got back to the main bear house, I pulled juice from the fridge and the steaming meals from my bear storage, grateful for the time suspension. Fina came in as I finished setting the table. “How about we eat while it’s still hot?”
I pointed her toward a seat and plated up our meals next to each other.
“It looks so good.” Fina seemed delighted to see our meals side-by-side.
“What do you want to do now?” I asked.
“Do for what?” Fina seemed puzzled.
“Should we head home? Do you want to keep butchering things?”
“I want to keep working, if that’s okay.”
“Then we’ll stay here for a while.”
“Thank you very much.”
I told Fina that I was going to take a nap on the second floor once we were done eating, and headed to my room. It was about eight-tatami-mats wide, and pretty
