“Who’d have thought?”
“How would thirty-five silver pieces sound for the plot of land we were just talking about?”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. If you harvest materials to sell to the adventurers’ guild, it benefits the trade guild as well.”
“Well then, it’s a deal.”
“In that case, allow me to escort you to the plot now.” She stood up from her chair.
“You’re going to take me all the way there?”
“Would that be a problem?”
“Of course not, but are you sure you can leave the front desk just for me?”
“I can have someone fill in for me. I’d also like to cement our partnership, starting now.”
“Our partnership?”
“Yes. You’re an able, brand-new, and extremely skilled adventurer. Many people are going to want to work with you, and I’m just one of those people. Apologies for taking this long to introduce myself—I’m Milaine. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
The place that Milaine brought us to was just as close to the inn and the guild as the map had promised. The plot was more than wide enough, and didn’t have much pedestrian traffic going by, which was great.
“If you could sign this contract and provide your guild card transcription, then.”
“A transcription?”
“Just put your guild card on top of this. It’ll verify your identity.”
After I wrote my name and transcribed my guild card, I paid the thirty-five coins for the month.
“In addition, since you will be building a house in this plot, the trade guild also does provide carpentry studio services. How would you like to proceed?”
“I’m fine. I already have a house.”
Milaine looked puzzled. I hesitated over whether or not to tell her about the bear storage and bear house for a second, but then decided to keep it under wraps.
“I see. If you need anything, please do come to the trade guild.” Milaine bowed and went back. I made sure she was gone, then made sure no one was passing through right then. Right, check. Left, check. Behind me, check. In front, check.
I pulled the bear house out of bear storage, and just like that, there was a whole house sitting on a plot of land that had been empty just a second ago. I headed into to the attached storehouse with Fina.
“Okay,” I asked her, “could you handle the tigerwolves now?”
I left Fina to her work and headed back to the inn to tell them I’d be canceling my stay. Starting today, I’d be living in the bear house.
Extra Story:
The Bear Summons Bears
AFTER BUYING A GRIMOIRE from the bookstore, I’d started practicing magic and grinding EXP off of the local monsters. I was slowly adjusting to the magic in this world, the fundamentals of which were, thankfully, the same as they’d been in WFO.
When I took a look at my status screen during a break a few days later, I noticed I’d gained some interesting skills.
Bear summoning… I thought. That’s got to mean I can summon bears, right? Apparently, I could summon a bear from each bear glove.
I decided to give it a shot. I poured some mana into my black bear glove and pictured summoning a bear. When the black bear puppet mouth opened wide, a round, furry black object jumped out from its mouth.
Is this supposed to be a bear? I thought.
The round object shuffled and turned its head towards me, and I realized I’d been looking at its furry butt. The bear looked around and stood up, then slowly walked towards me. It was kind of scary, and I took a step back.
The bear took a step closer. When I moved back again, the bear let out a sad coo. I couldn’t keep backing away now that it’d made a sound like that, so I let it get closer and snuggle up to me. Unsurprisingly, it was warm. When I patted its head, the bear seemed happy. Its fur felt soft and plush against my skin.
“Did I summon you?”
In response, it let out another coo and sat down with its back towards me.
“Are you trying to say you want me to ride you?”
It crooned again. I’d never even ridden a horse, but thinking about my plans for the future, I could certainly use a steed for long distance travel. I gingerly mounted the bear, and it stood up slowly, so I wouldn’t fall.
“Uh, whooaaa.” I felt myself tipping, but I didn’t fall. The bear turned to look at me, but it didn’t try to move.
“What’s wrong?” As soon as I asked, I realized what was going on. “Oh right, you don’t know where to go. Uh, you can just walk wherever for now.”
The bear crooned and started walking.
“Whoa.”
It was way better than I thought it would be. I wasn’t sliding around as much as I’d feared—if anything, it was kind of like riding on an expensive sofa.
“Could you try running for a little?”
The bear broke into a sprint so fast the scenery rushed by. I didn’t lose my balance or even feel like I’d fall, despite how fast we were going. Maybe that’s this summon’s ability? I thought. I swayed left and right to test it out, but even when I tried standing up, it was like there was some sort of force keeping me stuck to the bear. I didn’t even fall when I relaxed and laid down. Did that mean I could sleep while I travelled?
I decided I’d try that out later. I still had to check out the bear’s top speed.
“Try running faster.”
When I asked it to do that, the bear picked up speed. I was pretty sure we were going faster than a motorcycle. We hit the foothills of a mountain and just kept going as the ground grew steeply inclined. The bear didn’t even seem tired.
“Stop.”
Once we were halfway up the mountainside, I patted the scruff on the bear’s neck. The bear gradually slowed to a halt, and I got off and stretched. I had no idea where we were, but when I tried opening my map to check, the bear suddenly leaped
