773 Bear, goes to each house - Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

"If you need anything else, just let me know." I handed them some extra water and fire magic stones for the bath. "Thank you. This is more than enough. But..." Ballard and the others exchanged glances. Is there something they find hard to say? Do they want me to defeat the Ice Dragon, perhaps? With some effort, it might be possible, but I won't know until I see the dragon with my own eyes. It might be stronger than I imagine, and, more importantly, there's nothing I can do if it flies. "Miss, you can use magic, right?" One of the elderly men asks me. "Yes, I can. I'm a mage, after all." Although my guild card lists my profession as 'Bear.' "Could you let me see my family?" He asks hesitantly. "Bende melted them once before, but..." "Even though he can use magic, he doesn't have as much magical power as a typical mage." "Plus, he's gotten older." The caretaker and the miner both glance at Bende, the only one among them who can use magic. "I'm still young!" "That's what he claims, but we don't want to push him." "Ugh." When they put it like that, even Bende can't argue. Their conversation shows that they've been considerate and supportive of each other all along. That's why I'm willing to grant their request. "Alright." "Really?" "Thank you." The whole group looks overjoyed at my response. They've probably wanted this for some time now, but didn't want to burden Bende. "So, shall we go?" "Hold on, don't rush the elderly." "We also need to prepare for the journey to town." There's a path used for transporting ores that a carriage can traverse, but it's a long walk. As they said, most of them are elderly. They tell me that although they used to have horses, one was attacked by monsters half a year ago, leaving only one, which Baran uses for fishing trips to the sea. "There are monsters besides the Ice Dragon?" "Occasionally, when it snows heavily, monsters come down here." "That's when our horse got attacked." "We hadn't had heavy snow for a long time, so we let our guard down." "If only I had put the horses in the mine." "It's nobody's fault. We were all lulled into a false sense of peace." "It's as if we caused their deaths." Since they don't know when a snowstorm might hit or when monsters might come, they sleep inside the mine's tunnels at night for safety. "Yuna, could you perhaps let everyone ride on Kumayuru and Kumakyu?" Liese asks apologetically. There are four elderly people. We can manage to walk, but Kagari is a young girl. Walking might be tough for her. Although she can fly, making her the fastest if needed. I decide to use the Bear Bus after some thought. Since I made the Bear House for the bath, the Bear Bus, being smaller, shouldn't surprise them too much. I take the Bear Bus out of the Bear Box. "What is that?" "A bear?" "It's a magical vehicle I made." "A vehicle?" "Think of it as a carriage." "It does have wheels." "Does the bear pull it?" The old men eye Kumayuru and Kumakyu. "I use magic to turn the wheels." They seem a bit surprised but accept my explanation, having seen me create a bath with magic before. Kagari, who has experience riding the Bear Bus in the Land of Harmony, gets on first, easing everyone's concerns. "Everyone else, get on too." "Alright." I take a seat at the driver's position with Kagari beside me, while everyone else takes their places. Kumayuru and Kumakyu stay in the aisle. I thought about shrinking them to cubs, but that would be too complicated to explain, so I left them big. "Alright, it might jolt a bit, so be careful." The Bear Bus starts moving. From the back, I hear expressions of awe and excitement. The Bear Bus moves smoothly down the path, and Liese and the others in the back become lively. "Magic can do this too?" "She said she uses magic to move the wheels, so it must be possible if she has enough magic." "Creating a bath with magic... She's truly a remarkable young lady." Everyone seems to enjoy the ride in the Bear Bus as we reach the town. "Where should we go first?" "I guess the closest place is my house?" First, we head to the home of one of the elderly men. Following his instructions, I navigate the Bear Bus to his residence. "This is it." I get off the Bear Bus and stand before the door. "Allow me." Just as I start dissolving the ice on the door, Kagari steps forward to do it instead. She melts the ice off the door. The elderly man uses his key to open the door and enters the house while we wait outside. Soon, we hear the sound of quiet sobbing from inside. "Let's wait in the carriage." "Yeah." I obey Kagari’s insight, knowing they would prefer privacy for their tears. A while later, the elderly man returns. "Did you see her?" Kagari gently inquires. "Yes, I saw my wife. There are other places we need to visit. I can’t take up all the time. Let's move to the next one." "By leaving the door unlatched, you can visit anytime." He locks the door securely before returning to the Bear Bus, explaining that leaving it open could let monsters in during a blizzard, risking his wife. There's a possibility we might find the house demolished next time. Such an event would be heartbreaking. The elderly man looks at his house one last time before saying, "Let's go." Following his words, we proceed to Bende's house, known for his magical abilities. After melting the ice on his door, we wait in the Bear Bus again. Shortly after, Bende returns with tears evident in his reddened eyes. Our next stop is the home of the mine's overseer couple's son. Besides Baran, they said their eldest son lived there. After melting the ice, the overseer couple and Baran's family enter. "Yuna and Kagari, please come with us." They halt Kagari and me as we head back to the Bear Bus. "Are you sure?" "Yes, please meet my son." Inside the house, I see people frozen in an embrace, including a boy of about ten years old. "This is my son. That day, when we were visiting his grandparents, I left him with his brother." "I didn't realize there was a child here. I thought otherwise. Perhaps Baran's reason for staying isn't just for his parents, but because his child sleeps here as well." Kagari and I silently offer a prayer to the frozen family and leave them for privacy, returning to the Bear Bus. "Thank you, young lady," one of the elderly men says as they approach. "If only I had a bit more magical power, I could've brought them here more often." Once back on the Bear Bus, both elders speak to us. "What are you saying, Bende?" one of them protests. "Everyone knows how hard you worked last time to melt the ice. We're all so grateful." "Indeed," Liese concurs. "You pushed yourself so hard with magic, we could see the struggle." I've heard that for those with limited magic power, using magic can be quite strenuous. "We're thankful to you, Bende," I assure him. "Thank you for saying that," he replies, visibly relieved. Being the sole survivor capable of using magic, he must have tried his utmost. As we continue conversing with Liese and the group, Baran and the others return, eyes red from crying. They thank Kagari and I and take their seats again. It seems they had a meaningful visit. I'm glad we could help them reunite, if only briefly. Finally, we head to the home of Liese and Ballard. "So this was your home after all," I remark. Before us stands the large mansion we entered yesterday. "You know my house?" Liese raises an eyebrow. "Well, you see... We were looking for information about the town, so we went inside," I explain honestly. "Ah, I see." "It wasn't like we snuck in to steal or anything," I add quickly. "Kagari suggested that a big house might have more information." "Hey now, don't push that on me," Kagari retorts. Liese chuckles at our flustered exchange. "No need to worry. I wasn't suspicious." "But the gate is closed. What should we do?" she notes. Unlike an ordinary house, entering the mansion requires scaling a tall gate. "If we break the gate, monsters could enter," Ballard cautions. "What did you do before?" I ask. "We used a ladder. But, unfortunately, I forgot to bring it this time," Liese admits apologetically. "What if I just carry you over the gate?" I suggest. "Maybe another way, if possible," Ballard replies uneasily. It seems he isn't keen on the idea of being carried, and frankly, I feel a bit awkward about it too. So, I decide to simply use magic to create stairs. Stepping out of the Bear Bus, I cast an earth spell to build a gradual set of stairs complete with handrails for safety. "Kumayuru, Kumakyu, keep an eye on everyone here," I entrust the six remaining in the Bear Bus to the bears. "Ku~n," they both respond reassuringly. Leaving Kumayuru and Kumakyu to watch over the group, we use the magical stairs to cross the mansion's gate.