I managed to get some medicine from Veltora Grass, but it didn't cure my sister's illness. That didn't mean it's ineffective, though. If you gave this to someone when they had a fever, the fever would go down and their condition would improve. It's definitely more effective than regular medicines. However, if they become unwell, the fever would quickly rise again, and the symptoms would get worse. When I asked the pharmacist, he said that she would be cured if she took the medicine made in Veltora Grass. I went to see another pharmacist, but the results were the same. My brother and I had no choice but to ask this pharmacist for help, and we began to listen to his requests.
"If you find any of these herbs, please give them to me."
We were be given a new piece of paper with pictures of grass and flowers on it. During seasons when Veltora Grass could not be collected, we would go to nearby forests, other forests, or even deep into the forest where Veltora Grass was grown at the request of the pharmacist. The medicinal herbs we found were bought at a price that was not worth the effort. Even if we asked another pharmacist about the going rate, they would tell us that it was the price that they said it was. However, all the medicines on display at the pharmacist's shop were expensive.
If that's the case, then it might be acceptable for the herbs used in the medicine to be expensive, but they said that making medicine required knowledge and skill, and the mixing took time. When they said that, I couldn't say anything. Even though we had medicinal herbs, we didn't have the technology to turn them into medicine. All we could do was take the herbs we had collected over several days to a pharmacist and had him make the medicine for us. All we could do was to go and collect Veltora Grass. And once again, the season for harvesting Veltora Grass had come.
We got on a carriage bound for the royal capital and was allowed to get off along the way, then headed towards the forest. Because it was far from the city and the royal capital, few adventurers came to this forest. In this forest there were traces of pioneering adventurers who left ropes as markers. When I first came to the forest, I used that string as a marker to guide me deeper into the forest. I had been here several times, so even without any landmarks I was able to get to my destination, Veltora Grass.
"Nii-san, monster." (Lydia)
The sound of monsters walking. I told my brother, who was walking behind me, the direction the monsters were in.
"How many?" (Zect)
"Maybe, four." (Lydia)
"Well, the left is dangerous, so let's go right." (Zect)
My brother said this while looking at the simple map. The simple map showed us where we had encountered monsters in the past and where we had found medicinal herbs.
"There are some medicinal herbs up ahead, so let's go pick some." (Zect)
We were used to it now, so we just go with the usual flow. We were able to collect medicinal herbs without encountering any monsters.
"We'll go a little further and prepare to camp out."
Avoiding monsters and gathering medicinal herbs while progressing inevitably shortens the distance traveled in a day. And on one of the days, we ended up camping amongst the confusion flowers. The confusion flowers released a powder to keep people from getting close to them. If you inhaled it without realizing it, your sense of direction would be distorted, and you would find yourself moving away from the confusion flower. The last time I came here I was almost attacked by a pack of wolves, so I went in the opposite direction to the wolves to escape. My senses were going haywire and I was tempted to go back the way I came, but then I followed the sound and walked away from the wolf, and by chance I arrived there. The confusion flower not only led adventurers astray, but all living things. This was no exception even for monsters. When I reached the confusion flower, the sounds of the monsters stopped. It was a difficult time because my brother kept trying to walk in the wrong direction.
We wrapped a cloth around our mouths and noses. The best way to deal with stray flowers was to avoid inhaling the powder they produced. So we put a cloth over our mouths and noses to stop us inhaling the powder. Although it's hard to breathe, it allowed me to rest my body without being attacked by monsters. We came to a place where the confusion flowers grew.
"Even so, there aren't many monsters."
"Yeah, that's caused me to take a lot of detours."
"As I thought, it's tough with just the two of us, huh"
"However, that doesn't mean we can form a party and come to gather medicinal herbs."
If we formed a party, we had to share the profits from the herbs we harvested. Of course, if we defeated monsters, we got more profit, but our goal was medicinal herbs, not monsters. No adventurer was willing to listen to our request and form a party with us.
"It's been a while since we've had a rest. Make sure to get plenty of rest."
Here we could rest without having to keep watch. After I finished a simple meal, I rested my body.
The next morning, my body was sore from sleeping on the ground, but I was able to sleep well. We headed towards the cave. We made many detours and even spent the night in trees, but we always manage to reach the cave.
"It's dark so be careful." (Zect)
"Yeah" (Lydia)
I'd been there many times, but it's scary inside the cave. The only light was from a lantern hanging from our waist. This was to keep our hands free so we could fight at a moment's notice. If I could use light magic, I could illuminate it with magic. I could use it at home, but I couldn't use it in the forest. Even if I thought I was not nervous, maybe deep down I was. Certainly, monsters were scary. However, maybe it would be fine to use magic in places where there were no monsters, but I couldn't. Mentally, my heart was weak. If I had a strong heart, I could put my brother at ease. I felt pathetic that I couldn't use magic because I was nervous. But I had ears.
"Nii-san..." (Lydia)
I used hand signals to tell my brother behind me to stop. I could hear the crawling noises of Snake. I readied my bow and shot toward the sound. The crawling sounds could no longer be heard. Next, I shot the bow over there.
"It's done." (Lydia)
We set out. After walking for a while, we found a Snake with an arrow stuck in it.
"It's not my turn."
My brother said this as he stabbed his sword into the still-living Snake. I had said it many times before, but if they avoid me or got close to me, there was no way for me to fight back. I could do this because I had my brother. My brother retrieved the arrow from the defeated Snake and gave it to me. Even arrows weren't free. Previously, when I shot arrows at an explosive flower, I was unable to retrieve them and ended up wasting several arrows.
Then, we safely exit the cave and came close to where the Veltora Grass grew. To make matters worse, the sound of wolf footsteps could be heard coming from near Veltora Grass.
"Is it really there?" (Zect)
"Yeah, a lot of them. I think there are about 30 of them." (Lydia)
As expected, there's no way they could defeat them with this number.
"We've come so far." (Zect)
We could not collect Veltora Grass.
"Let's come back tomorrow. They might have moved by tomorrow." (Zect)
"Yeah……" (Lydia)
We decided to turn back and come back tomorrow. As I started to turn back, I heard a loud crawling sound. This was the first time I had heard such a sound.
What?
"What up?" (Zect)
My brother, who thought my reaction was strange, asked me worriedly.
"Something big is crawling around." (Lydia)
"What's the big one?" (Zect)
"I don't know what that is. It's the sound of something big and heavy crawling." (Lydia)
That was all I knew, but it was scary. I could hear the birds' frantic cried and the sounds of them fleeing.
"Let's get going." (Zect)
"Yeah" (Lydia)
We left this place. But I could hear the crawling sounds.
"Nii-san, there are monsters over here." (Lydia)
"Well then, let's go this way." (Zect)
The crawling sound headed towards the monster. The crawling sounds got faster, and the sounds of the monsters could no longer be heard. Something huge killed a small monster. To be precise, it was eaten. The unpleasant sound was ringing in my ears.
"What up?" (Zect)
"The monster is dead." (Lydia)
With just those words from me, my brother understood. I turned my eyes towards the crawling sound. At that moment, something large rose up. It was a giant Snake. The giant Snake sticked out its long tongue and moved its head from side to side to look around.
Is it looking for me and my brother?
My brother and I covered our mouths, didn't make a sound, and remained still. The giant Snake's_ head dropped and a crawling sound could be heard. The sound gradually faded away.
"Phew." (Lydia)
I let out a small sigh.
"It's okay now." (Lydia)
"Wh-what's that giant Snake?" (Zect)
"I don't know." (Lydia)
I had heard stories of giant monsters. But I had never actually seen it.
"Is it looking for us?" (Zect)
"I don't know. If it was a living thing, would it be fine?" (Lydia)
I would like to believe that. I didn't want to think that I was being targeted by such a monster.
For now, let's leave this place and move towards the cave. If we were near a cave, we could choose to either keep an eye on the monsters or give up on Veltora Grass and went home. Having made that decision, my brother and I started walking towards the cave.
"Can you hear the sound?" (Zect)
I listened carefully.
"I can't hear anything." (Lydia)
"Then I'll rest here for today." (Zect)
Perhaps the giant Snake was resting, as there was no sound to be heard.
"Let's rest here for a bit."
We've been walking in the forest for days and were beginning to feel fatigued. Furthermore, the presence of the giant Snake increased our mental fatigue. We didn't want to give up on Veltora Grass, but with that huge Snake there, we couldn't go. We decided to rest up now and think about it tomorrow.
Author's Note
Huh? They didn't get to meet Yuna.
Next time, they'll meet Yuna.
*Volume 11 of the Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear paperback edition is now on sale.
*Posting will occur every 4 days.
If I will be taking a break, this will be announced in the postscript, and if I am suddenly unable to post, I will let you know in an activity report or on X (formerly Twitter).
[Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear to be released]
Book volume 20.5 was released on May 2, 2024. (The next volume, volume 21, is planned and in the works.)
The 12th volume of the comic was released on August 3, 2024. (The release date for the next volume, 13, has not yet been decided.)
Comicalized spin-off volume 2 was released on March 5, 2024. (The release date for the next volume, volume 3, has not yet been decided.)
The 11th volume of the paperback edition was released on October 4, 2024. (The deadline for the campaign to win a big acrylic stand featuring Yuna and Shuri on the cover is January 20, 2025. 20 lucky winners will receive a prize.) (The release date for the next volume, 12th volume, has not yet been decided.)
*Thank you to everyone who reports typos.
Some of the kanji have been corrected to match the book, so please understand that there are some parts that have not been corrected.