The sinkhole in the collapsed ground looked like a large footprint.
But it's not a good idea to make a hasty decision. It might seem that way by chance.
But that part certainly looked like a finger divided into three parts.
"Kagari-san, what is this?" (Yuna)
"I don't know for sure. It might be a hole that was created by accident." (Kagari)
I wanted to think so too.
"But, you don't think that way, do you?" (Yuna)
That's why she called me to show me this sight.
"The buildings around are collapsing. There are holes in the ground from the weight. I don't even want to imagine it." (Kagari)
There were no signs of it crawling or coming out from underground.
In other words, a large creature came down from above.
And the ground caved in due to its weight.
Looking at the surrounding buildings and roads, there was no sign that it had moved.
In other words, it flew upwards.
It's not Kagari-san, but I didn't even want to think about it.
"I'll check around." (Kagari)
Kagari-san's body floated up and went to check the surrounding area.
I also got down to the ground and moved onto the sunken ground while being careful of my surroundings.
I was looking for clues, but I couldn't find anything that would tell me what was going on here.
As I surveyed my surroundings, Kagari-san, who had been flying in the sky, returned.
"Did you find something?" (Yuna)
"The only thing is that there are no signs of a fight. If there were any signs of a fight or an attempt to drive them out, there would have been dead bodies or weapons on the ground." (Kagari)
Certainly, there were no human corpses lying around, and no weapons had fallen.
I was looking for signs of monsters, but Kagari-san was looking at it from a different perspective.
As expected, the things I noticed were different.
"There was nothing I could do to say it wasn't there. Or it was only a moment that I got off." (Kagari)
It landed on the ground, but it's also possible that it took off immediately.
If that's the case, it's understandable that no damage had occurred elsewhere.
"It landed here. Do you think it is near here?" (Yuna)
"I can't say it's not there. I can't say it's there at the same time. If it's flying in the sky, it's possible that it's already far away." (Kagari)
"I guess so" (Yuna)
"Besides, your bears aren't reacting either." (Kagari)
Kumayuru and Kumakyu had also not responded. My detection skills didn't respond either.
"However, I cannot say that there is no danger. As concubine, I recommend that you pretend that nothing happened this time and go home." (Kagari)
I could understand what Kagari-san was saying.
I didn't think there's any point in knowing what happened this time.
On the contrary, by staying, we were taking risks.
If the "Bear Signpost" had not responded, maybe we would have had no choice but to retreat.
The only thing that bothers me was that the "Bear Signpost", which had never responded before, had responded.
Well, what happened? Even if I thought so, it was already decided in my heart.
"I'll look into it some more." (Yuna)
There's Bear's Transfer Gate, so I could always escape.
As I said yesterday, I was worried about this frozen city.
Also, leaving a mystery as a mystery was confusing and disgusting.
"If there is any danger, I will run away." (Kagari)
Apparently, she would stay with me until there was danger.
For some reason, Kagari-san was kind.
"What are you laughing at?" (Kagari)
"In that case, I'll open the teleportation gate immediately and run away with you." (Yuna)
We resumed our search.
Every house was frozen.
Maybe there were people frozen in the house.
"Well, you won't be able to get any information if you keep walking like this. I saw a big house up ahead. I think it's frozen like the guild, but there might be more information than checking the small house." (Kagari)
Kagari-san decided to head to the house based on information she saw from the sky.
As I was walking and checking my surroundings, I saw a particularly large house.
Surrounded by a wall, there was a mansion that looked like a noble's house.
The garden that could be seen through the gap between the iron lattice gates was large.
"I guess it's a great person's house." (Yuna)
"Well, I guess so. If they live in such a big house." (Kagari)
Kagari-san and I jumped over the fence and entered the premises.
The once beautiful garden was frozen.
Well, the frozen scenery was beautiful too.
However, it was scary to think of people freezing in the quiet house.
We came to the door of the house.
Kagari-san melted the ice on the door with fire magic.
The door was locked, so I thought it was bad, but I used wind magic to break the lock and enter the mansion.
The inside of the mansion was frozen like the rest of the house.
"Where do you want to look?" (Yuna)
"I don't know the floor plan, so I guess I'll just have to go around as I see fit." (Kagari)
We decided to check from the first floor.
I went around a few rooms and found the servants huddled together in a room with a fireplace.
No matter how many times I watched it, I felt sad and indescribable.
Then we discovered the basement, which was a place to store food. It was also frozen.
"It doesn’t seem like it would be good if it was on the first basement floor." (Kagari)
We went up the stairs and moved to the back room.
In that room, a person who appeared to be a member of the family was wrapped in a blanket in front of the fireplace.
Commoners and nobles seemed to have the same idea.
At the end with their family.
We left the room and moved to another room without looking for anything next to the sleeping family.
We found a place that looked like an office, melted the ice on the door, and entered the room.
Everything here was frozen, but there were no people.
I felt a little relieved.
I felt reluctant to search for things in front of frozen people.
I couldn't even imagine how cold it must have been to have the inside of the house frozen.
"It's no good." (Kagari)
"Yeah" (Yuna)
I looked for clues but couldn't find them.
I checked the other rooms, but they were all the same.
And with that, today's exploration was over, and we went back to check the door of the Adventurer's Guild for the last time.
The door that had melted the ice was frozen.
It looked like it's going to freeze over time, as if it's going to erode.
I decided to put out a bear house in the middle of the road and take a rest, just like yesterday.
"Kagari-san, what's wrong?" (Yuna)
I asked Kagari-san, who had kept her mouth shut since returning to the bear house.
"What, I was just remembering about the big snake." (Kagari)
"Big snake?" (Yuna)
"A huge snake appeared out of nowhere. It terrorized people and many died. However, I thought the situation was similar to that one." (Kagari)
"I guess you think it's a monster after all." (Yuna)
"I can't think of anything else." (Kagari)
"Maybe it was frozen in a magic circle that someone made." (Yuna)
"There was a good chance of that happening. But if you look at that sunken hole... No, is there a possibility that the monsters were frozen in the magic circle and attracted by the mana-tinged ice?" (Kagari)
So that's it, the monsters came as if drawn to the magic circle.
10,000 monsters in the royal capital. When the serpent was revived, monsters were being attracted to it. There were things that attracted monsters.
"It's just my imagination. I don't know what's right. It's best you're not to make any decisions. You won't be able to find an answer." (Kagari)
There were many cases where decisions were made based on preconceptions and the reality was different.
If I went in the wrong direction, it could take a long time to get back.
"Yeah, I'll be careful." (Yuna)
There were many types of disasters, including man-made, monsters, and natural disasters.
However, there's a high possibility that it's a monster, then it's man-made, and the last possibility was a natural disaster.
Consideration progressed more than thinking alone.
I was really glad Kagari-san was with me.
The next morning.
"Kyuu~n"
A paw pressed against my face.
"Kuu~n"
Pechi Pechi Pechi Pechi Pechi. A paw slapped me in the face.
It looked like either Kumayuru or Kumakyu was trying to wake me up.
"Is it morning already?" (Yuna)
When I opened my eyes, I saw a white bear's paw.
Apparently it was Kumakyu who was trying to wake me up.
I rubbed my eyes.
I was talking with Kagari-san until late yesterday, so I was a little sleepy.
"Will you stop?" (Kagari)
Kagari-san shouted.
When Kagari-san looked, Kumayuru was crying out "Kyuu~n", trying to wake her up. But Kagari-san tried to brush it off.
But Kumayuru was not defeated either.
The hand that slapped Kagari-san's face quickened.
"Would you please wake me up a little more gently?" (Kagari)
Eventually, Kagari-san got up.
Kumayuru left Kagari-san and looked out the window with Kumakyu.
"Kyuu~n" (Both Kuma)
Maybe that's it!
I immediately used my detection skill.
There were two reactions people have.
And it's close.
"Kagari-san, there are two people near my house. Kumayuru and Kumakyu told me about it." (Yuna)
"Is that so" (Kagari)
Kumayuru nodded.
"Sorry about that." (Kagari)
Kagari-san apologized and patted Kumayuru on the head.
"Kumakyu too, thank you for letting me know." (Yuna)
I also patted Kumakyu on the head.
"So what are we going to do?" (Kagari)
"Friend or enemy..." (Yuna)
Depending on that, the response would change.
"Well, if it's me and you, even someone with malicious intent will be fine." (Kagari)
"Kyuu~n" (Both Kuma)
"That's right. You were here too." (Kagari)
Me, Kagari-san, Kumayuru, and Kumakyu. There were two opponents.
Maybe it's okay as long as the opponent wasn't a demon lord.
"Then let's go see their face." (Yuna)
"That's right. But before that, I need to change." (Kagari)
Kagari-san changed from her nightgown to her usual kimono.
I was sleeping in a black bear in case anything happened, so I didn't need to change clothes.
I waited for Kagari-san to change clothes, then moved to the first floor.
"Do you know where in the house they are?" (Kagari)
"Front, right side." (Yuna)
I opened the door slowly.
"On that side." (Yuna)
Kagari-san looked in the direction I said.
When I checked with my detection skill, they were in the direction Kagari-san was looking. There were buildings and a fence in that direction.
Were they behind that fence?
"Well, I know you're behind that wall. We won't attack you, could you please come out?" (Yuna)
I called out politely.
I didn't say "come out" in a commanding tone.
That would be like starting a fight from the beginning, and they might get scared and run away.
"Are you sure you're not going to do anything?" (A man)
It's a man's voice.
"I am not" (Yuna)
I didn't know if my words reassured him, but he looked at us as if he were peeking through a gap in the fence.
"The bear behind it might attack us." (A man)
I looked back.
There were Kumayuru and Kumakyu.
"These kids are fine. However, if you attack, they'll fight back." (Yuna)
"……"
I could hear soft voices talking behind the wall.
It's like he was talking to another person.
"Okay. I'll go that way. So please don't attack us." (A man)
"I promise" (Yuna)
When I said that, a man in his late 30s and a girl around 15 came out from behind the fence.
Author's Note
...
*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.
Translator's Note
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