799 Bear, does a puzzle - Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

"Yuna, are you really not going?" Fina asked after she finished butchering the wolf. Yesterday, I had heard about pressed flowers. Instead of going to the royal capital, I decided to stay home. I'm not sure if it's the same type of flower Shia used, but there's a pressed flower I'd made together with Fina at her house. So, I told Fina what Cliff had shared with me. "It's fine." I've said it many times, but I just got back. I just fought the Ice Dragon. The gods won't be mad if I take a little break. So, there shouldn't be any problem if I rest. "Is it really okay?" "Well, it's not urgent, and it's nothing too significant. Besides, everyone needs some downtime." Hugging Kumayuru, who had transformed into a cub, I sat down. Fina joined by grabbing hold of Kumakyuu. "But there were some rare flowers in there, huh?" A flower blooming in Targui. Many of them bloomed, and Fina, Shuri, Shia, and the others picked them. I couldn't tell which ones were rare. "I wonder if any are in the pressed flowers I made." For now, the only way to know is to go to the royal capital and check. I'm curious, so I plan to go eventually. But for now, I just want to relax. Fina started playing with Kumakyuu, and watching her reminded me of something. "Fina, are you good at jigsaw puzzles?" "Jigsaw puzzle?" "Yeah, jigsaw puzzle." "What's that?" ".........." Now that I think about it, I've never seen a jigsaw puzzle here. Maybe there's no game in this world where you piece together scattered pictures. And I was referring to a 3D puzzle this time. "A jigsaw puzzle is about connecting separated pieces." "Connecting separated pieces... like repairing? Restoration?" I understood what Fina was getting at, but it’s slightly different. "I haven't done much repair work, so I might not be good at it." So there are things she's tried? If it's Fina, she'd give her all to fix them. "But I can mend clothes. When things were tight financially, I used to sew them." This child used to work on butchering jobs to pay for her mother's medicine and look after her sister. Money was tight, and they had to be thrifty. But now, she shouldn't have to worry about that. "Not clothes, but repairing an egg." I spoke cheerfully. Rising from the sofa, I spread a sheet on the floor, placed a cushion? Something to sit on, and carefully laid out the cracked Ice Dragon's egg so it wouldn't roll. "...Is this the Ice Dragon's egg we saw the other day?" Fina sat down and looked at the egg. It seemed to be about 50 to 60 cm in size. "I thought you might help me restore this." About two-thirds of the eggshell was intact, with a third missing — the part where the baby Ice Dragon emerged. I also pulled out the broken fragments of the egg. "Do you think I can do it?" Fina took a piece of the egg in hand. I've never done a 3D puzzle, let alone a jigsaw puzzle. My parents never did them, and I was never interested either. That's why I thought I'd ask Fina for help. "But how do I stick them back together?" Fina attempted to attach a fragment to the egg. Would glue be suitable? "Is there some kind of adhesive for eggs available around here?" "Well, they do sell glue for paper, but..." Would it stick? As I pondered purchasing some to try, Kumayuru and Kumakyuu, both in cub form, approached the egg. They curiously examined the fragments, dexterously picking up slightly larger pieces. Could they also pick up beans? Wondering what they were up to, I watched as Kumayuru and Kumakyuu brought the fragments closer to one another. Magic? It looked like Kumayuru and Kumakyuu infused the pieces with magic. Two fragments became one larger piece. "Amazing, it stuck together." Fina was surprised by the phenomenon Kumayuru and Kumakyuu initiated. I picked up the piece they had glued together. It was firmly attached. No seams were visible. I examined the egg fragments. Maybe I could join this piece to this one? I aligned two pieces like a puzzle and sent a small flow of magic. The two fragments adhered. It seemed certain. "It looks like they stick together if you infuse them with magic." "Magic?" Fina, too, found a pair of fragments, and just as I had done, she transferred her magic into them, resulting in them sticking together. "I did it!" Fina beamed. "Did Kumayuru and Kumakyuu teach us this? Thank you." I patted both Kumayuru and Kumakyuu on their heads. "But it's strange. For them to link with magic." "Could it be because it's the Ice Dragon's egg?" I doubt it would work on a Kokeck egg or anything like that. "But it seems we won't need glue." Fina and I divided the work and began repairing the Ice Dragon egg. Does this fit here? "This small piece goes... here?" Fina examined the 3D puzzle, the egg puzzle, with a serious gaze. It's curious, though. If you direct magic to the right spot, they stick together. But if the fragments aren't a match, no amount of magic will fuse them. It's helpful that they won't accidentally stick together, but still fascinating. Fina's expression was focused as she diligently pieced the egg together, showing absolute concentration. "Can this tiny fragment fit here?" She looked pleased whenever a piece fit smoothly into place. "Could it be that you're enjoying this?" "Um, yes. It's fun to see it gradually return to its original form." Indeed, that's the joy of a jigsaw puzzle. It's exciting when the pieces fit, and you watch the picture take shape. Though I've never actually done it, I can't state this definitively. As we worked on it ourselves, as I experienced, just as Fina said, it was enjoyable. However, finding where pieces fit could sometimes be frustrating. "Yuna, I think this goes over here." Following Fina's suggestion, I moved the piece, and it fit perfectly. I infused magic, merging it together. This was more challenging than expected. Unlike regular jigsaw puzzles, there's no color. Typical jigsaws have pictures, allowing you to guess the area based on the colors. But our task is to assemble an eggshell, all in the same color. Perhaps it would be difficult if a white sheet of paper were divided into puzzle-like fragments. And the larger it is, the more complex. Thankfully, two-thirds were already intact, making our job easier. Had it shattered entirely, it would have been a nightmare puzzle. Finally, we completed the task over the span of a day. "Yuna, what will you do with this egg now?" Its bluish-white sheen was beautiful enough to display. But first, I thought... "I think I’ll show it to Kagari." We obtained the egg together, and I wanted to show it to Kagari. With that thought, we used the bear gate to transport ourselves to the Land of Wa, accompanied by the cub forms of Kumayuru and Kumakyuu. "Hey there, you didn’t come bringing trouble, did you?" What a greeting for someone as soon as they see you. And she's drinking, too. She couldn't drink when she was in the Ice Town, so maybe she's making up for it now. "No, it's not like that. I just came to show you this." I pulled out the completed Ice Dragon's egg from my bear box. "This is the Ice Dragon egg from that time, isn't it? But it's not broken..." Kagari approached the egg and touched it gently. "Fina and I pieced together the fragments and repaired it." "You poor thing, having to deal with all this trouble. If you don't like it, you should just say so." Kagari looked at Fina with a sympathetic expression. But Fina responded with a smile. "No, it was actually fun connecting the pieces together." Her words were genuine and sincere. Fina had genuinely enjoyed putting the egg fragments back together. "Is that so? Well, if you had fun, that's what matters." "By the way, didn't anyone notice when you left?" "Oh, that." Kagari reached for a piece of paper on the low table. "It's a note from Suzuran." She handed the paper to me. I took it and read Suzuran’s note. It explained that she had left a note whenever she went out, expressing concerns about Kagari's absence and whether she'd return. The end was filled with worried words about her. "Seems like you worried them a bit." "All this fuss over being gone just for a week. I'm not a child, you know." Despite her appearance as a young girl, Kagari is every bit an adult. "They might have thought you left the Land of Wa for good." Messages like "You'll come back, right?" and "When will you be back?" were written. It seems Suzuran stayed in this house for about three days. At the end, she wrote that she’d report to the King, expressing certainty that Kagari would return. "The King knows, too." "Such a hassle. I just went out for a bit." "That just shows how much they care about you, Kagari." Suzuran, the King, and Sakura all care deeply about Kagari. So it’s only natural they’d worry if she disappeared. "Next time I head out with you, maybe I should leave a note." The way she said it made it sound like any trip with me involves getting caught up in some trouble... Considering the things with the slime and the frozen town, I can't deny it. Still, it's nice to know that Kagari is willing to accompany me even if she knows trouble might follow. That makes me feel a bit happy. While we looked at the Ice Dragon egg, Fina started asking Kagari all sorts of questions.