797 Bear, going to see Fina - Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

Kagari and I have returned to the land of Wa. "We certainly went through quite a lot," she remarked. "I only intended for it to be a short walk," I admitted. Initially, I was merely curious about the land I could see from Targui, intending to make a brief stop. Never did I imagine things would turn out like this. "It seems you've been blessed by the god of troubles," she teased. Please, I'd rather not be blessed by such a deity. Yet, given the god that brought me to this world, it's not entirely impossible—much to my dismay. Ever since arriving here, I’ve been caught up in all sorts of strange events. My motto, after all, is to take life easy and slow. "Well then, I'll be heading back," Kagari said. "If anything comes up, let me know. I'll join you if I'm free." Has Kagari had nothing to do since defeating the great serpent? Maybe accompanying me would just be a way to pass the time. It's not something I could refuse, so I gratefully accepted her offer. "I'll hold you to that." I closed the Bear's teleportation gate and then reopened it towards Crimonia. With Kumayuru and Kumakyu by my side, we returned home. Once there, I immediately flopped onto my bed. As expected, nothing feels as comforting as my home in Crimonia. The next morning, I made my way to the orphanage to meet Fina. She often helps Tirmina with her work there bright and early. As I arrived, I headed towards the aviary. Children's cheerful voices echoed as they moved birds and cleaned the area. Inside, just as I heard, they were busily at work. One of the children noticed my entrance. "Big Sis Yuna!" At their voice, everyone turned to greet me. "You're all doing your chores diligently. Good job." I praised a girl who approached me, patting her head. Soon, they all gathered around, wanting the same attention. I gave each of them a gentle head pat. "Alright, I know you're excited to see Yuna, but you can't neglect the birds," Liz gently reminded the children. I smiled at them encouragingly. "Keep up the good work." "Okay!" they replied, returning to their tasks. "As always, Yuna, you attract them like a magnet." "I haven’t visited in a while," I explained. A lot had happened, after all. "Is Fina here?" "She's with Tirmina, counting eggs, I believe." Leaving Liz, I headed to the shack where Tirmina was working. This place handled the egg management. Inside, I found Tirmina, Fina, and Shuri counting eggs. "Fina, are we set on the supply for the commercial guild?" "Yes, all set." "And for the shop? Shuri, how are the cracked eggs and extras?" "Um, we have 34." Shuri responded immediately, showcasing her growing prowess in calculations. Any cracked eggs are used at the shop or for meals at the orphanage. For making things like pudding, minor cracks don’t pose an issue. "Alright, take those to the director's office." "Got it." Shuri carried the eggs, glancing towards the door. She met my gaze. "Big Sister Yuna!" With Shuri's voice, Fina and Tirmina turned my way. "Oh my, Yuna, were you here? You should've said something." "Didn’t want to interrupt your work." "Welcome back, Big Sister Yuna!" "I’m home." "When did you get back?" "Yesterday." As I updated Fina on my return, a commercial guild member arrived to collect the eggs. After Tirmina double-checked the numbers, she signed off for them to take the eggs away. The guild staff loaded the eggs onto a carriage parked outside. Besides the eggs for the guild, Fina and Shuri assisted with loading the shop's eggs, conveniently taken care of by the guild, thanks to Milene's gracious offer. "Passing through anyway, don’t worry about it," she had offered. I helped load the eggs onto the cart, ensuring all were secured. "Thank you very much." "We appreciate it," Fina and Shuri thanked the guild staff as the carriage departed. With that, Tirmina's work was complete. She mentioned checking in with the director, so I tagged along. When we reached the director's office, the director and Nief were surrounded by the younger children. Ever since Nief came, managing the children had become easier, the director had mentioned. Liz typically cared for the older ones, while Nief looked after the youngest. After a brief greeting with the director, Tirmina informed her of completing the task and departed for shopping with Shuri. I left with Fina. "So where did you go? You mentioned a cold place once," Fina asked as we walked. I had briefly mentioned this to her when we purchased the winter gear from Liese. So, I filled her in—Kagari and I visited Targui, spotted land, and went to check it out. I shared how we found the town and its people frozen by an ice dragon. There were six survivors, including a girl to whom we gave the winter gear. I detailed our battle with the ice dragon and its eventual departure. With each part of the story, Fina's expressions changed rapidly. "And then what happened?" "After the ice dragon left, the town thawed out, and the frozen people began moving again." "They were alive? Thank goodness," Fina said, relieved as if it were her own concern. "It is curious, though, how people frozen for three years could just revive." I shared her surprise. The ice from the ice dragon might be different from normal. Still, it's better for people to be alive, which should bring happiness to Liese and the others who suffered for three years. "Would it be okay if I got frozen in our store's freezer too?" "Don’t! That’s dangerous." Even as a joke, attempting that is out of the question. The freezing involved magic-laden frost from the ice dragon; normal freezing would certainly be lethal. So, I firmly stopped her. Understanding, Fina assured me she wouldn’t try. "Then you didn’t slay the ice dragon?" "Were you hoping to dismantle it? I could try if you want me to." "I wasn’t thinking that." Fina, ever diligent about her work, seemed uninterested in dismantling the dragon. "Even if we knew where the ice dragon lives, hunting it down would be another matter." "Yuna, you’re being mean." Fina pouted. "Sorry. But I do have some ice dragon scales; would you like to see them?" "Um, yes, I’d like to!" Fina answered shyly, likely intrigued by the materials of an ice dragon, given her dismantling work. To show her the ice dragon's scales, we headed to the Bear House. After all, we can't exactly examine them while walking. Once back, I promptly revealed the ice dragon's scales. "They're such a beautiful shade of blue," Fina admired, cradling the scale in her hands. "Would you like one?" I offered. "N-no, thank you," she replied. "There are plenty, so giving you just one wouldn't be an issue." I had gathered a lot back then. Even after sharing some with Liese and the others, I still had enough left to give Fina. "It's not that. If I brought back an ice dragon scale, Mom and Dad would be shocked." "Even if they saw it, they wouldn't necessarily realize it's from an ice dragon." Especially since they'd likely never seen one before. "But they'd definitely ask where I got such a pretty scale." "Well, you could come up with something." "And do you even know how valuable an ice dragon's scale is?" "So, it is valuable?" "Ice dragon scales aren't easy to come by. It's not like there's anyone fearless enough to fight an ice dragon, except maybe Big Sis Yuna." Harsh, but true. "If word got out to the Adventurer's Guild, there'd be quite an uproar." I supposed that was inevitable. Best to keep it quiet. I could sell them if I ever found myself in need of money, though I doubted that time would come. After all, there were earnings from the dismantling event in the royal capital and revenue from the tunnel linking Crimonia and Mileela, so my funds were steadily growing. Maybe I could even buy a castle. Not that I would. Maintaining it would be a hassle. Cleaning? Managing staff? Living with others doesn't appeal to me. Besides, I'm not cut out for life in a castle. "So, showing the ice dragon's horn would be a big deal, wouldn’t it?" I mused. "You have a horn too?" "I also have eggshells." I recounted how I came by these. While the horn is too large to show here, the eggshell can be displayed indoors, so I let her see it. "It's huge," Fina noted, observing the cracked eggshell. "A baby ice dragon was inside this. You didn't...take down a baby ice dragon did you?" she asked, concerned. "What do you think I am? Like I mentioned earlier, I promised that once the baby dragon was born, the dragon would leave, so I didn’t do anything." "It's just, with you, Big Sis Yuna, it seems possible," she said, half-jokingly. Hey, I do have some sense of restraint, you know. "I found this after the ice dragon left." Afterwards, Fina bombarded me with questions about the ice dragon. I started to wonder if she really did want to dismantle one.