"Yuna, are you really going to fight?" (Prim)
"I knew from the battle earlier that you were strong, but you can't fight that man. My power has made him much stronger than that knight." (Rhone)
Prim and Rhone looked worried.
"So, you took advantage of the opportunity and ran away with Prim. Also, thank you for bringing Prim. I was happy to meet you." (Rhone)
Rhone smiled kindly and tried to push Prim away.
"...Sister" (Prim)
After seeing these two, I wouldn't change what I would do.
That man's confidence probably came from the power he received from Rhone, just like the knight.
That being said, it didn't matter if he was a little stronger than that knight.
"Rhone, don't worry. I'm going to defeat that man and go home with everyone." (Yuna)
After all, I had the strongest bear equipment here.
Even though he had the power of a fairy, there was no way I could lose because I had the bear equipment.
After calling out to the two to reassure them, I headed towards Noa, who was behind Kumayuru and Kumakyu.
"...Yuna-san" (Noa)
Noa looked at me with concern.
I placed the bear puppet on top of Noa's head.
"Noa, that's all. Please wait at my house in Crimonia." (Yuna)
"……alright" (Noa)
Noa bit her lip and nodded in a small voice.
"Thank you. Thanks to Noa, I was able to come this far." (Yuna)
Noa looked a little happy at my words.
Maybe it must have been difficult for the daughter of a noble family to live in an unfamiliar land. But Noa didn't say anything selfish or wanted to go home, she came with me. If Noa wasn't here, maybe it would have been a lot harder to find Rhone.
"Prim and Noa will evacuate for now..." (Yuna)
I tried to continue speaking to Crimonia, but...
"I won't run away. When I run away, I'll be with my sister." (Prim)
Prim's will seemed to be strong. There was no use arguing here.
"I understand. But if you think it's dangerous, just disappear and run away." (Yuna)
I opened the bear's transfer gate and sent Noa out.
"Yuna-san, please be careful. I'll be waiting for you, so please be sure to come back." (Noa)
"Yeah" (Yuna)
"Prim-san, please be careful too." (Noa)
"Yeah, thank you too Noa. It's thanks to Noa that I was able to meet my sister." (Prim)
"Rhone-san too. Please be sure to come back with everyone. I'll be waiting for you." (Noa)
Seeing Noa's worried expression, I closed the bear's transfer gate and stored it.
"Well then, let's quickly defeat that man and go home together." (Yuna)
As I walked, I took out a blanket from the bear box, put it over the slain knight, and went up the stairs.
Following them were Kumayuru, Kumakyu, Prim, and Rhone.
"It was so late that I thought you had run away." (Beilung)
A man was waiting in front of the door at the top of the stairs.
"There's no escape in the basement." (Yuna)
"If you can use magic, wouldn't you be able to just dig a hole and escape?" (Beilung)
Well, it was certainly possible.
"I can't see the other young lady." (Beilung)
"Well, I wonder what's going on." (Yuna)
I was not going to explain it.
"Well, that's fine. As long as you and Prim are here, there will be no problem." (Beilung)
He didn't seem to be interested with Noa.
However, if he knew that she had the ability to take Rhone's handkerchief and find out where Rhone was, she might have become a research subject.
"So, where will we fight?" (Yuna)
"The garden would be fine." (Beilung)
The man walked away without saying a word.
I wanted to attack his defenseless back, but my petty sense of justice refused.
I had that kind of conscience too.
"Hehe, you're not attacking me." (Beilung)
It seemed like he read my mind and started talking to me.
"Was it okay to do that?" (Yuna)
"In that case, I will try to fight back. However, the mansion will be destroyed, so I would like you not to do so." (Beilung)
"Do you think the mansion won't be destroyed if we fight in the garden?" (Yuna)
If I used bear magic, it was easy to destroy a mansion like this. However, if it was destroyed, Riyan, who was sleeping in the basement, would be buried alive, and the other servants would also be crushed under the collapsed building.
Even with that in mind, it was not a good idea for me to fight inside the mansion.
"Well, it's better than fighting inside the mansion." (Beilung)
I didn't like it, but I agreed with the man.
We arrived outside the mansion.
"Is that smoke, your friend?" (Beilung)
The man asked, looking at the rising smoke in the distance.
I could see some smoke rising from the city. Apparently, Blitz and the others were doing well.
"That's right. I think the magic circle that steals magic from the residents will have been destroyed by now." (Yuna)
"Well, all I have to do is rebuild it. From now on, the amount of mana I can steal will increase. I need to make it stronger." (Beilung)
The man turned to Prim and Rhone.
"Then it won’t be necessary, so there’s no need to remake it. Rhone, Riyan's partner, and I will be leaving here." (Yuna)
"...Hehe" (Beilung)
The man and I laughed at each other.
Then, we arrived at the center of the mansion's garden.
There was a flower bed, but now it was just weeds. Were there flowers blooming in the past? The flowers were not blooming, probably because the owner had changed and the number of servants had decreased, so there was no longer anyone to look after it.
"Anyway, I've often thought about fighting a strangely dressed woman like you." (Beilung)
Normally, when they saw my appearance, they didn't think to fight.
Maybe they would laugh at me, make fun of me, and try to catch me right then and there.
"What are you talking about? That overflowing mana. I know you're no ordinary girl." (Beilung)
"Overflowing mana?" (Yuna)
"Thanks to Rhone, I can see mana." (Beilung)
Was that the same as how that knight felt my mana?
But this man said he didn't feel it, he saw it.
"I've never seen anyone with this much mana like you." (Beilung)
"It's only natural since you're confined to this city. I guess you haven't left the city since Rhone came to this city." (Yuna)
"That's true, but your amount of magical power is beyond standard." (Beilung)
I didn't know because I hadn't compared my mana with other people, but since I could use powerful magic and bear magic, I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me that I had a lot of mana.
After all, it was a gift from God.
"That's why I asked you to come outside because I wouldn't be in trouble if you were to act violently in that room." (Beilung)
"But if you can see my enormous mana, why don’t you admit defeat and return Rhone?" (Yuna)
"No, I will make that mana mine." (Beilung)
That man... Beilung took his stance.
"You think you can do that?" (Beilung)
I was ready too.
"The amount of mana and fighting skills are not proportional. You are too young. You don't have much experience." (Beilung)
Normally, I thought so.
However, I had more fighting experience than anyone else.
"Prim and the others stay back. If you think it's dangerous, please leave this place. Kumayuru and Kumakyu too." (Yuna)
"Kuu~n" (Both Kumas)
"Yuna, if you lose, I won’t accept it." (Prim)
"Don't push yourself too hard." (Rhone)
Prim and the others went down.
"Then let's fight."
I casted wind magic on my wrist.
Beilung held his hand in front of him and blocked it with a wind magic barrier as if nothing had happened.
Was it easy to prevent magic of this magnitude? Apparently, it was not just the mouth.
So, I tried to cast wind magic one after another, but it was blocked as well.
"Is that all?" (Beilung)
I was irritated.
I switched from wind magic to earth magic.
Earth magic sticked out from the ground like a spear and attacks Beilung.
However, the moment it entered Beilung's reach, the dirt on the spear turned into normal dirt and collapsed.
"......!"
What happened?
Has the spell been broken?
"I told you that I could see your magic. That's why I knew the magic was coming from the ground, so I used my magic to cancel it out and turn it back into normal earth." (Beilung)
It's easy to say, but can it be done instantly?
"That’s what happens when you sit cross-legged with the talent of immense mana!" (Beilung)
When Beilung screamed, the ground around me moved. I quickly moved and left the place. Soil sticked out from the ground like a spear.
Did you just return my attack?
"Huh, dodge? Your reactions are good. And your movements don't seem like they're a magician." (Beilung)
Beilung said with amusement.
"I don't have any intention of sitting down with a huge amount of mana." (Yuna)
But this amount of mana was also my weapon.
I used bear earth magic to make bears appear around Beilung. As expected, even Beilung shouldn't be able to offset the bear magic.
"Ugh" ()
Beilung moved. This time he dodged the surrounding bears instead of trying to offset them.
"What is that? What kind of magic has that huge amount of mana?" (Beilung)
In Beilung's eyes, bear magic seemed to be a huge mass of mana. So, he avoided it because he knew he couldn't offset it?
"You don't move like a wizard either." (Yuna)
"As the son of a feudal lord, I have learned swordsmanship and martial arts since I was young. Of course, I have also learned magic and lectures." (Beilung)
While saying that, he released wind magic.
I waved my arms and use wind magic to offset it.
Does that mean he can use swords as well as magic?
That sword on his waist wasn't just a decoration.
"Aren't you going to draw your sword?" (Yuna)
"I don't want to kill you by mistake. With magic, I can go easy on you." (Beilung)
"If you keep saying things like 'don't cut corners,' you'll lose." (Yuna)
I casted wind magic.
"It is a waste" (Beilung)
He canceled it out and it became just the wind.
I released a fireball.
He canceled it out and the fire went out.
Wind, fire, earth, water, basic magic. All magic was blocked.
There was also electric magic...
"Is that also after you gained Rhone’s power?" (Yuna)
"That's right. I studied Rhone and Riyan's magic powers, no matter how trivial. And I thought that someday I would be able to see Rhone without borrowing Riyan's mana. That dream never came true. So, this power is a product of that. It doesn't matter to me, but it's necessary to protect Rhone from those who would try to take her away." (Beilung)
A genius.
He had become the worst kind of researcher, whose thoughts were driven only by his own desire to research fairies. Furthermore, he was a feudal lord, and had the worst combination of money and power.
If he had studied in a different field, he might have become a lord that was well-liked by the residents.
But this man didn't use his talent for anything other than fairies. Genius within that narrow and limited space.
We might not be able to do anything about it.
Author's Note
So, the battle between the two began.
Noa was temporarily evacuated to Crimonia.
All that's left to do is blow it away.
* Volume 2 of the spin-off, Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear ~Today is also a good day for Kuma Kuma~, was released on September 2nd.
I'm sad, but this is the final volume.
If you see it at a bookstore, please give it a try.
* The 19th volume of the book will be released on October 7th, so please look forward to it.
* Thank you to everyone who reports typos.
Please note that some kanji have been revised to match the book, so some may not have been revised.