Marne-san moved under the tree.
"So, is this the tree that Marne-san was looking for?" (Yuna)
There were red flowers blooming here and there on the tree.
Marne-san was looking closely at the flowers.
"Yes, definitely. This flower." (Marne)
It seemed that she had successfully found the flower that could become the medicine she was looking for.
"Then I'll take it." (Yuna)
They were located high up and Marne-san was not tall enough to reach them.
Well, even I couldn't reach it so I had to use magic.
"Oh, wait." (Marne)
Marne-san grabbed my bear suit.
"I told you, the gathering method is special." (Marne)
Come to think of it, that's what she said.
Apparently, you could only collect it if you're Marne-san.
But from what I had seen, it seemed like anyone could harvest them.
"Maybe, it's a man-eating flower?" (Yuna)
If you reached out your hand, you'd be eaten.
"No, it's not. The only way to collect it is to put mana inside and collect it." (Marne)
"If that's the case, then anyone could have done it. There was no need for Marne-san to go out of his way to come here, was there?" (Yuna)
If she showed me how to do it, I could do it.
"That's right. Anyone can pick them. But the flowers can only be used by the person who picked them." (Marne)
"......?" (Yuna)
"This flowers will increase the effectiveness of the medicine. However, they're only available to the person who gave mana to them." (Marne)
"So, unless Marne-san collect it with your own mana, you can't use it on yourself?" (Yuna)
"That's right." (Marne)
Certainly, unless Marne-san herself came to gather it, she could not get it.
"Yuna, sorry, but could you use magic to make some stairs for me?" (Marne)
I did as I was told and created stairs using earth magic.
"Thank you" (Marne)
Marne-san climbed the stairs.
I left the surrounding area to Kumayuru and Kumakyu and headed up the stairs.
The flowers were within reach. Marne-san reached for them.
Red flowers turned blue.
Marne-san picked the flowers that had turned blue.
"Has the color changed?" (Yuna)
"It's proof that my mana has entered." (Marne)
Marne-san showed me the flowers so I could see them easily.
The flowers on the tree were red, but the flowers in Marne-san's hand were blue.
"By the way, what would happen if I picked these red flowers and then poured some mana on them later?" (Yuna)
"The color won't change." (Marne)
Marne-san picked the red flowers to prove it. And put her mana into them. But the color didn't change.
"The moment they leave this tree, they lose their effect." (Marne)
In that case, the person who will be using it will definitely have to come.
"Sorry, Yuna, but I'd like to harvest more than enough, so could you use magic to create a scaffolding around the tree?" (Marne)
I used earth magic to extend the stairs, making it easier to pick flowers in various locations.
"Thank you" (Marne)
Marne-san began picking flowers.
I also moved away from Marne-san.
There was a red flower in front of me.
I stretched out my arm, brought the bear puppet closer to the flower, and poured my mana.
The red flower turned blue.
It's strange.
I picked the flower that turned blue and put it in a basket.
"Do you need too, Yuna?" (Marne)
"There are no plans for that at the moment, but there may come a time when I need it." (Yuna)
"That's right. I plan to collect a lot as well. Ah, that's right." (Marne)
Marne-san seemed to have thought of something and went down the stairs.
"Lydia! Come here for a moment." (Marne)
She shouted at Lydia-san who was doing the dismantling at the river.
Lydia-san came as she was called.
"What?" (Lydia)
"Lydia too, please help the gathering." (Marne)
"But, I just heard that it won't be effective unless it's collected by the person in question." (Lydia)
"It's not for me. It's for Lydia's sister." (Marne)
"But still, it's someone else." (Lydia)
"It's true that she's someone else. But if she's your blood relative, it will still be effective. If it's your sister, the effect will be only half as strong, but it's better than not at all." (Marne)
"Um... what do you mean?" (Lydia)
Marne-san and I explained the effects of this flower.
"I hope you think it will be more effective in curing your sister's illness." (Marne)
"In that case, I'll collect it." (Lydia)
Lydia-san asked Zect-san to do the dismantling and came up the stairs.
"Pour in your mana and when it turns blue you can collect it." (Marne)
"Yeah. I'll give it a try." (Lydia)
We picked until our baskets were full.
Zect-san was lamenting the fact that he had to the dismantling of the Red Monkey all by himself.
But when I heard that it was for his sick sister, he was speechless.
"So, if it's a relative, does it have a certain effect?" (Yuna)
"Half from parent to child, and half again from grandchild." (Marne)
That was, a quarter.
"In the same way, the further away you are from your blood relatives, the weaker its effectiveness becomes. If it's a stranger, you can assume that it has almost no effect. Therefore, since it's not well known as a medicinal herb, even if you find it, no one will pick it, and there will be no reports of its discovery. Most people don't even know about it in the first place." (Marne)
It's true that from my perspective, I had no idea whether the plants growing around me were medicinal herbs or not.
I didn't know anything about the medicinal herbs that Marne-san and Lydia-san had been collecting, so I didn't even think about collecting them.
"Therefore, few adventurers know about this flower, and it was only by chance that a report of it reached me this time." (Marne)
"So that's how it was." (Yuna)
"So I had no choice but to come." (Marne)
We continued collecting until the sun went down.
It will bloom again next year, right?
"I'm tired~" (Lydia)
Lydia-san leaned back on the sofa.
We decided to camp out at Bear House and return the next morning.
"I'm the one who's tired. I was doing the dismantling by myself." (Zect)
"Kumayuru-chan and Kumakyu-chan would have helped." (Lydia)
Even though I say I would help, I couldn't do the dismantling, so I would just be the one carrying the things.
This was the case with the Red Monkeys, who I had defeated them at the bottom of the cliff, but I was also carrying the Red Monkeys, who had collapsed on top of the cliff, to Zect-san.
"It was a never-ending hell because you kept bringing in more and more." (Zect)
"But I helped out along the way." (Lydia)
After collecting a certain amount of material, Lydia-san began helping Zect-san with the dismantling.
"Until then, I was doing it alone." (Zect)
"And it's for our sister too." (Lydia)
"Ugh." (Zect)
When she said that, Zect-san had no idea what to say.
"Plus, nii-san's dismanlting is helping the family, so thank you." (Lydia)
When his sister thanked him, Zect-san couldn't say anything more.
"But is it really okay for us to take it all?"
"It's fine. I don't need it." (Yuna)
Wolves were fine, but monkey fur was a no-no.
I guess it's because it's humanoid.
For some reason, I couldn't help but felt that I didn't want Fina to do the dismantling.
This was just self-satisfaction.
By the way, it seemed that the wolves that the Red Monkeys defeated were also dismantled.
I was asked what to do with the Goblin King, and since it didn't have any magic stones, I thought about burying it, but Marne-san said it would be better to take it home, so I decided to retrieve it.
"But how do we report this to the Adventurer's Guild? Should we say that we defeated them? Or should we say that an adventurer gave them to us?" (Yuna)
"Normally, you wouldn't give away the monsters you defeated."
"So, are we going to explain that a girl dressed as a bear killed them?"
Zect-san and Lydia-san looked at me.
"They won't believe me. I'm a bear." (Yuna)
"No, just treat it as a passing adventurer."
"Normally, people would ask what kind of adventurer it was."
Sure, you'd be asked.
If they heard that Fina was helped by an adventurer, they would ask what kind of adventurer it was.
"That's just how it is." (Zect)
"The lies just keep on coming." (Lydia)
"We can just have Yuna come with us." (Zect)
Marne-san, who had been drinking tea in silence, suddenly spoke.
"Shall I come with you?" (Marne)
"Because if I go to Lydia's sister's house, that means Yuna will be coming to town with me. She's my bodyguard." (Marne)
That's true though.
"No matter what you're wearing, as long as you show them your guild card they won't say a thing. Plus, if you need anything I'll put in a good word for you." (Marne)
"I wonder. It seems like this is making things even more complicated..." (Lydia)
Lydia-san muttered this sentiment as she looked at Marne-san, who looked young standing with her chest puffed out.
Like me, you couldn't believe it when you saw her.
Well, I guess it'll be okay if I show my ID.
Even that seemed hard to believe.
"Well then, let's take care of the flowers before dinner." (Marne)
"I'll prepare dinner in the meantime." (Yuna)
"No. Today, Yuna will come too." (Marne)
"Well then, what about dinner?" (Yuna)
"Just the bread will do. And you have to take care of the flowers yourself." (Marne)
That meant you couldn't leave them to someone else.
"Um, what about me?" (Zect)
"You should clean the bathroom." (Marne)
Upon being told by Marne-san, Zect-san headed towards the bathroom with his head hanging.
"Well, Marne-san, we use mana, right? I, my mana..." (Lydia)
"Then you should drink this." (Yuna)
I took out the sacred tree tea leaves, added hot water, and served the tea.
"This is tea that will help you recover a little mana. I don't know how much it will heal, though. Try drinking it." (Yuna)
Lydia-san drank the sacred tree tea.
"Yuna, give some to me too." (Marne)
I made some for Marne-san too.
"This tea... Could it be from the Sacred Tree?" (Marne)
"You see, I got it from the elven chief, Mumloot-san." (Yuna)
"I see. Yuna was also acquainted with Sanya. When Sanya came back home, she brought it back as a souvenir." (Marne)
Sanya-san had given it to Marne-san too.
"Even so, it's amazing how easily you can get such high-quality tea leaves." (Marne)
"Eh, is this high-end?" (Lydia)
Lydia-san, who was drinking tea, stopped drinking.
"It's expensive. It's not something that's widely available. You can't buy it from the Commercial Guild even if you ask. Apparently, the elven chief only sells it to merchants he likes." (Marne)
Come to think of it, they did say that merchants sometimes come to the elf village.
"That's right. He said I could have as much as I wanted." (Yuna)
"…………" (Marne)
Marne-san looked at me in shock.
"You're so well liked by the chief. What on earth have you done? Perhaps you threatened him?" (Marne)
"No, I haven't. Please ask Sanya-san for details." (Yuna)
Since it was too much of a bother, I left the explanation to Sanya-san.
"Well, that's fine. If you don't mind, could you give me some tea leaves?" (Marne)
"That's fine. Why don't you just get it from Sanya-san?" (Yuna)
"No. I think it's going to be a pain, you know.[1]" (Marne)
It seemed like a difficult relationship.
I took the tea leaves from the burlap bag and put them into the glass container that Marne-san had prepared.
"It's hard to believe that such a big burlap sack is filled with sacred tea leaves." (Marne)
Marne-san looked at the large burlap sack in amazement.
Well, I heard that at one point, most of the sacred trees lost their leaves so they made a lot.
Author's Note
The collection was completed successfully.
*Side story volume 3 is scheduled for release on December 20th
*Posting will occur every 4 days.
*If I will be taking a break, I will announce it in the postscript, and if I am suddenly unable to post, I will let you know in the activity report or on X (formerly Twitter).
*"Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear" comic chapter 128 (11/13) is currently available on PASH UP (Niconico Manga chapter 123 is currently available)
*Episode 20 of the "Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear" spin-off is currently available on PASH UP (episode 17 is currently available on NicoNico Manga)
If you have time, please check out the comic version.
[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 next volume, volume 3, is scheduled for release on December 20th.)
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.
Translation Note
[1] The original is 貸りができるみたいでしょう which translate to (more or less) "I seems I can borrow some" and makes less sense to borrow consumables. Not sure if it's type or something, but I tried to swap the kanji character and follow the suggestion, and I got this. See comment section for details.