Chapter 817

Bear-san Discovers a Cave

The view from the top of the pillar was excellent.

We could see far into the distance.

Mane-san was trembling as she looked around. I checked the Bear Map to confirm our location.

I was thinking this must be where Mane-san found the medicinal herbs and moved around. And this was where I’d moved when defeating the monsters.

The paths we’d taken looked like a wriggling earthworm.

So I knew which direction we came from.

Normally speaking, the direction the “worm” extended toward was the direction we were heading.

“We came from over there and are moving in that direction.” (Yuna)

“How can you tell without Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear?” (Mane)

Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear were staying behind below and watching the situation.

“Well, technically.” (Yuna)

“Yuna even has a sense of direction.” (Mane)

Mane-san looked toward where I pointed with the bear puppet.

“If we’re on the right path, we should be able to see a rocky mountain somewhere.” (Mane)

Squinting her eyes, she looked into the distance.

I didn’t have any useful skills to see far away, so I had to strain my eyes.

I could see something that looked like monsters flying in the distance.

What kind of monster were those?

“Isn’t it over there?” (Mane)

As I was looking at what seemed to be like a monster, Mane-san pointed in a direction while gripping on to the fence.

I looked where Mane-san was pointing.

It’s partly hidden by trees, but I could see a rocky mountain.

“There aren’t any others, right?” (Mane)

“Nothing, as far as I can see” (Yuna)

I looked around the whole area, but I couldn’t see anything else that looked like it.

“Then it’s decided, we’ll head that way.” (Yuna)

“Yes.” (Mane)

Having decided which direction to go, I dispelled the earth pillar I’d created

“Aaaahh!

Mane-san screamed.

I caught her midair and landed cleanly on the ground.

“Swaying Bear, Hugging Bear, we’re heading over that way.” (Yuna)

I called out to Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear who were waiting below.

“Kuuun~.”

“Mane-san, let’s go.” (Yuna)

“Y–Yunaaaa—!” (Mane)

Mane-san suddenly shouted.

“What?” (Yuna)

“Don’t just make the pillar disappear like that! I thought I was going to die.” (Mane)

Mane-san grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me back and forth.

“I-I’m sorry.” (Yuna)

When I set her down, she collapsed onto the ground.

“I’m serious, I thought I was going to die.” (Mane)

“I’m sorry.” (Yuna)

I apologized again.

“I’m never going up high again.” (Mane)

Mane-san stood up.

“So, just to confirm. Is your magic enough after making such a huge pillar?” (Mane)

She was angry, but she was still worried.

“I’m fine.” (Yuna)

“Well, if you say so. Just don’t over do it.” (Mane)

Even after I scared her like that, she still worried about me.

She’s such a kind person.

Mane-san and I rode on Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear and headed towards the rocky mountain we saw from above.

“Was it really okay not to deal with the flowers? There are adventurers who get lost because of them, right?” (Yuna)

Considering the adventurers who would come in the future, it would be better to dispose of them.

Mane-san also said that there were adventurers who got lost because of it.

“I’m not an adventurer or an explorer. It’s not my job to cut through the forest. Above all, from a researcher’s perspective, I wouldn’t dispose of such precious flowers. Besides, no monsters or animals come near that area, so it’s also a safe zone.” (Mane)

“But if people can’t approach—.” (Yuna)

It was pointless.

But Mane-san shook her head.

“It’s old, but there are traces of campsite. For adventurers who know about that place, it’s a safe resting spot. If there are adventurers who can make use of it, it should be left as it is. So, speaking personally, I think doing nothing is the right thing to do.” (Mane)

What flower that was dangerous to some adventurers might be a place of relief for others.

The fact that the area still existed was proof of that.

“I understand. I agree with you, Mane-san.” (Yuna)

If other adventurers were using it, it wasn’t my place to interfere.

Satisfied, we continued towards the rocky mountain.

Just like yesterday, Mane-san collected herbs whenever she found them. In the meantime, I created pillars to check the direction we’re heading.

We proceeded smoothly and reached the rocky mountain without encountering any monsters.

There was a ribbon tied to a nearby tree.

I couldn’t tell who tied it anymore.

But it meant that there was an adventurer who had been here before.

“This is the place.” (Mane)

“There must be a cave somewhere nearby” (Yuna)

Riding Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, we walked around the rocky mountain.

There were no monster reactions nearby, so we could concentrate on searching for the cave.

“Kuu~n.”

Swaying Bear cried and started running.

Ahead of where Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear ran was a cave. It seemed they’d found it.

“Is it here?” (Yuna)

“I think it’s probably here” (Mane)

The entrance was large, with a massive hole.

The inside was pitch-black, and you couldn’t see what was ahead.

“Ugh, did that adventurer really go in there?” (Mane)

Mane-san stared at the dark cave, hesitating to enter.

I activated my detection skill to check.

“Ugh…” (Yuna)

The detection skill showed “Snake.”

That means it’s a serpent.

Those slithering, unpleasant creatures.

Yeah, it’s a creature I’m not good at dealing with.

Moreover, it was registering as monsters—not ordinary snakes.

I’d encountered snake monsters in games before, but they were disgusting, so I always defeated them with magic from a distance.

What was even more annoying was that there were a lot of reactions indicated.

I’d rather have one black viper than this.

I would simply have to throw a spell in its mouth, and it would be over.

“What’s wrong?” (Mane)

-Mane-san asked after seeing my reaction.

“Um, do we have to go through here?” (Yuna)

“I don’t like going into something so dark either. But this cave is a tunnel, and there’s an opening on the other side.” (Mane)

I peered into the cave.

It was deep and pitch black.

Should I dig a hole next to it?

But the cave was not necessarily a straight line.

If this passage had twists and turns, I wouldn’t know where we would come out.

“Did you find monsters?” (Mane)

“Yeah…” (Yuna)

“The monsters in the cave…” (Mane)

“These bears told me they look like a snake” (Yuna)

“Can they tell?” (Mane)

I couldn’t say in detail, so I simply reasoned that Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear could tell.

“Yeah, well, Not the full detail but roughly what kind of monster it is” (Yuna)

“I knew that you had been communicating with these bears before, but I didn’t think you would understand their language.” (Mane)

“That’s also thanks to the bear’s blessing” (Yuna)

When it was too difficult to explain something related to bears, I could only use the excuse of it being the bear’s blessing.

“Bear’s blessing, huh…” (Mane)

Looked at me suspiciously.

“Well, that’s fine. But snakes… I don’t like them either.” (Mane)

Apparently, Mane-san didn’t like snakes either.

Mane-san thought deeply as she looked at the cave.

“Alright, just a bit,” (Mane)

Mane-san said that and got off Swaying Bear. Then she spread a sheet on the ground and sat down.

I waited to see what she was going to do, and she took out some herbs and some equipment from her item bag.

“What are you doing?” (Yuna)

“I’m going to compound a medicine that snakes hate” (Mane)

“You can also make something like that?” (Yuna)

“Yes, I can do that by compounding some herbs that I had picked along the way in the right proportions” (Mane)

Mixing was not just like in a game, where you combine herbs A and B with a single click and get the results.

In reality, one would need the proper ratio of herbs A and B and the ratio of magic water. It seems that you would also need to consider the stirring time and temperature.

Mane-san puts the crushed herbs into the heated magic water and stirs them.

“How long will it take?” (Yuna)

“It’s almost done” (Mane)

The magic water, which was clear, had turned bluish.

“If you sprinkle this on your feet, snakes won’t approach you” (Mane)

Mane-san sprinkled it on her own shoes and on the ground, then on the feet of Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.

Then, she approached me and crouched down.

“Looking at it closely again, I see, they’re Bear Feet” (Mane)

Mane-san sprinkled the liquid on my Bear Shoes.

“Will this keep snakes away?” (Yuna)

“It’s proven effective. But there’s no such thing as a sure thing in this world. It may not work for some individuals. People also have preferences when it comes to smell.” (Mane)

“That’s true” (Yuna)

“However, most snakes tend to dislike it, so I don’t think they’ll suddenly wrap around our feet” (Mane)

Even if it was only 90% or 80% effective, that was more than enough to give me a sense of relief.

The only problem was whether it was properly getting on my Bear Shoes.

My shoes usually didn’t get wet in the rain or get dirty in muddy water.

I could not tell. It might be possible that the liquid Mane-san sprayed on me was repelled by my shoes.

Well, I would be riding on Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, so there would be no problem if the effect was on them.

Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear could get muddy and get dirty, so I didn’t think they would repel the concoction like my shoes.

“Well, let’s go” (Mane)

Mane-san stood up and climbed onto Swaying Bear’s back.

“Have you ever seen a snake monster before, Mane-san?” (Yuna)

“Yes. It’s not very pleasant to look at” (Mane)

I’ve never seen a monster snake, but I could agree when it comes to normal snakes.

“It’s way smaller than a black viper, right?” (Yuna)

“Don’t put them in the same category just because they are similar monsters” (Mane)

Black vipers were huge monsters, after all.

“There aren’t many monsters like that” (Mane)

I was told that they were rare as well.

“Now that I think of it, black viper materials were being sold not longe ago” (Mane)

Could that be…?

“It was on auction, so I bought some. It was a painful expense” (Mane)

I thought so…

“What did you buy?” (Yuna)

“Meat was up for auction as well, but I only bought the skin and a fang. It was a rare material, so it was a fierce competition.” (Mane)

I guess the price skyrocketed because it was sold at an auction.

“Are you using it for medicine?” (Yuna)

“The skin is used to make magic tools. It’s durable and resistant to magic, so it’s useful when making magic tools that need heat resistance.” (Mane)

Ah, I remember the creature-repelling fire magic.

So I threw the Bear Flames inside its body in order to defeat it.

“Then what about the fang?” (Yuna)

“They can be used for various purposes. Some people can grind them down and use them as weapons. I mainly grind them down and turn them into powder to use as medicine” (Mane)

“It can be used as medicine?” (Yuna)

“I can’t tell you what effects it has, but it’s very valuable.” (Mane)

I was a little curious, but just because I was told about the possibilities of its uses didn’t mean that I was going to make something similar.

There should be various ways to make use of those materials.

Even so, I never thought that Mane-san would have the materials from the black viper I defeated.

“By the way, do you know how big a snake monster is?” (Yuna)

“You don’t know?” (Mane)

“Well, I’ve never encountered one before” (Yuna)

“They’re about 2 to 5 meters long, and the thickness varies depending on the individual” (Mane)

So they were like large snakes.

“If they wrap around you, it could be dangerous. They’ll break your leg bones and eat you when you can’t move, so be careful” (Mane)

Just imagining a snake wrapping around my body made me shiver.

If I had to choose between fighting a horde of snakes or a single Black Viper, I’d choose the Black Viper.

Fighting a horde of those slithering things would be gross. Unlike fighting a large monster, as easy as it could be beaten, it still instills a different kind of fear.

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