After receiving the request fee from Marné-san, all I had to do was submit the request completion form to the Adventurer's Guild. By the way, it seemed that the commission fee had already been paid to the Adventurer's Guild.
After seeing Marné-san grow, I decided to go home.
"Yuna, wait a minute, haven't you forgotten?" (Marne)
"......?" (Yuna)
Was there something I forgot?
"Monsters, you know. Giant Monkey and Goblin King. And the Giant Snake." (Marne)
Oh, I forgot.
Marné-san was supposed to take the Giant Monkey.
She also agreed to take the Goblin King and the giant Snake.
"Well, because of the ice dragon's materials, I had completely forgotten about those too." (Marne)
"Can I put it out here?" (Yuna)
"Clearly, that’s not good. If we bring out a bloody monster, it'll be a big problem." (Marne)
It was not good after all.
"Then, how about on the roof like earlier?" (Yuna)
"Well, there are other research rooms for the Goblin King and the Giant Monkey, so please go there. There's something I want to check with the Giant Snake, and we can't do it inside the research building." (Marne)
Marné-san was thinking deeply.
"Yuna, you can stay the night. I'll have everything ready by tomorrow morning." (Marne)
"Am I staying here?" (Yuna)
"My bedroom is at the back." (Marne)
"With Marné-san?" (Yuna)
"You can stay here or in the dormitory of the servants who work at the castle." (Yuna)
I didn't like that.
"I'll be back soon." (Yuna)
"Going back? To Crimonia?" (Marne)
"I also have a house in the royal capital." (Yuna)
I hardly use it though.
"Really?" (Marne)
"So I'll come tomorrow morning." (Yuna)
"Okay. I'll let the gatekeeper and the reception know, so please come back tomorrow." (Marne)
"Got it" (Yuna)
It was annoying, but there was no other way.
I left the Ministry of Magic laboratory and came to the gate leading into the castle grounds.
"We've been waiting for you."
"What?" (Yuna)
"Ellelaura-sama has asked me to take you home."
I wanted to refuse, but I was tired, so I accepted the ride.
And then, I arrived safely at my Bear House in the royal capital.
The driver driving the carriage had his eyes wide open when he saw the Bear House.
Apparently, he didn't know that there were bears in my house.
I thanked him and went inside the Bear House.
"I'm tired~" (Yuna)
It had been a while since I last visited Bear House in the royal capital.
I thought it would end today, but it didn't.
The next morning, when I left the Bear House to meet Marné-san, the carriage that had taken me the previous day was waiting there.
"Good morning. We've been waiting for you."
The coachman from yesterday greeted me politely.
"Um, what?" (Yuna)
"Marné-sama has asked me to take you there."
This time it looked like Marné-san had asked him.
"How long have you been waiting for?" (Yuna)
"Don't worry about it."
No, I'm curious.
I wish you had called me.
I was rocked in the carriage and headed towards the Ministry of Magic.
After a quick identity check, the carriage entered the castle grounds and stopped in front of the Ministry of Magic building.
"Thank you" (Yuna)
I thanked him and got off the carriage.
And when I showed up at the reception,
"We've been waiting for you. Here's your admission pass."
I was given a card.
Then, I took the elevator and headed to Marné-san's laboratory.
"Yuna, I've been waiting. I've notified various departments." (Marne)
Although I had only just entered the room, I got into the elevator with Marné-san and got off on an intermediate floor.
"Where am I?" (Yuna)
"It's the department that studies monsters. It's not my specialty, so they'll be doing their research about the Goblin King and the Giant Monkey here." (Marne)
Marné-san moved down the passage.
People passing by were surprised at my outfit.
"I'm entering." (Marne)
Marné-san opened the door without waiting for a reply from inside.
There was a man in the room.
"Marné-sama, we've been waiting for you. Umm, she's..."
"She's the provider of Goblin King and Giant Monkey. Yuna, put it on the floor there." (Marne)
The Goblin King and the Giant Monkey were big.
It wouldn't fit on a normal dismantling table, so I had to put it on the floor.
I did as I was told and bring out the Goblin King and the Giant Monkey.
"Well then, I leave the rest to you." (Marne)
With that, Marné-san left the room.
I followed her out of the room.
"Then let's move on." (Marne)
We got in the elevator and went back to the first floor.
Just when I thought we would walk out the same reception desk I had entered through, Marné-san started walking in a different direction.
"Marné-san?" (Yuna)
"The back of the building is the same as the rooftop, and is used as a testing site." (Marne)
Marné-san held the card over the magic stone near the door.
The door opened and we were able to exit to the back of the building.
The back of the building was surrounded by a wall so it could not be seen from the outside and it was quite spacious.
It was spacious enough to take out the Giant Snake.
There was a familiar face in the center.
"Yuna-chan, I've been waiting." (Ellelaura)
It was Ellelaura-san.
"Marné-sama, the dismantling is ready" (Ellelaura)
"Thank you. Yuna, then the Snake, please." (Marne)
I took out the giant double-headed Snake from the Bear Box.
"It's really big, isn't it?"
I was so big so it could swallow people in one bite.
Its mouth was split open and it was in a horrible state.
"And the Goblin King and the Giant Monkey." (Ellelaura)
She spoke softly, as if she had heard the story from Marné-san.
"I've asked the higher-ups to look after the Goblin King and the Giant Monkey, so if you want to check, please come later." (Marne)
"Okay then. I'll call someone to do the dismantling." (Ellelaura)
"Please do" (Marne)
Ellelaura-san opened the door we came through and entered the building.
"Who's going to dismantle it?" (Yuna)
"I wanted to check on Snake's magic stone, so I asked Ellelaura to help me." (Marne)
"Magic stone?" (Yuna)
"If I'm right, there are two magic stones. If we have two, we might be able to create a certain magic tool." (Marne)
Just as I was about to ask, "What is that magic tool?" the door opened and Ellelaura-san returned. Behind her were about five men.
"There's a really big Snake here."
"Ellelaura-sama, can we come close..."
"Sure." (Ellelaura)
When Ellelaura-san gave permission, the men approach the Snake.
"It has two heads, but they're destroyed."
"There are cut marks on the body."
"It must be an attack mark."
"You were able to defeat such a monster."
"Ellelaura-sama, this monster..."
"I can't tell you where this monster came from. You two should keep quiet too. I'll just ask you to follow the contract and dismantle it." (Ellelaura)
"As long as we get to dismantle rare monsters and some money, we'll be fine."
"Ellelaura-san, who are they?" (Yuna)
"They are experts in dismantling. Occasionally, rare monsters are brought to the castle. They are the ones we ask for the dismantling. They are tight-lipped and we have a contract, so nothing will leak out, so don't worry. But if it does leak out..." (Ellelaura)
"We take pride in our work. We don't spread rumors."
"If we can dismantle a rare monster, that's good enough."
"Well then, after we finish our dismantling here, should I ask you to also dismantle the Goblin King and the Giant Monkey?" (Marne)
The men's eyes light up when they hear Marné-san's words.
It was a little scary.
"Sorry about that, but I'd like you to retrieve the magic stones first." (Marne)
"It will take some time though, since I don't know where the magic stones are."
"I don't mind." (Marne)
Once Marné-san gave permission, the men begin the dismantling of the giant Snake.
The men dismantle the bodies carefully and quickly.
During the previous dismantling event, they hadn’t been on the losing side.
Maybe they would have participated in that dismantling event.
Unfortunately, I didn't remember any of the participants.
All I remembered was seeing Fina trying her best to do dismantling.
"There it is."
A man came up to us.
In his hand was a colorless magic stone.
"It's big, isn't it?" (Marne)
It was big, but small compared to the Kraken's and the Giant Serpent's.
"I think there's another one. Try looking for it." (Marne)
Just as Marné-san said, after a while another magic stone was found.
The same colorless magic stone.
"Marné-sama, are there two magic stones from one monster's body?"
"Yes, this two-headed Snake had separate wills. Moreover, it had separate powers. One was a normal Snake. The other one spat out poison. That's why I thought there were two magic stones." (Marne)
"Is it that unusual to have two?"
"It's rare. It's rare to encounter a monster that has two magic stones. And if you consider having to defeat it, the chances of obtaining one are quite low." (Marne)
It was true that I had never encountered a monster with two magic stones.
There were about five Giant Serpents.
In other words, the Two-Headed Snake was a rare monster.
"Hehe, maybe I can make that with this." (Marne)
"What's that?" (Yuna)
"It's a magic tool that allows you to talk to people far away, you know." (Marne)
"...!?" (Yuna)
"Marné-sama, is that true?" (Ellelaura)
"Yes, with this size it should be fine for quite a distance." (Marne)
So that means you can make a Bear Phone?
"Can't you make it with other magic stones?" (Yuna)
"I can't. Past researchers have tried to do so, but they were never able to make one, even if they were of the same race. It's unclear whether this is possible because their magic stones resonate with each other, or because they were born in the same body. The only time it has been possible to make one in the past is when two magic stones were taken from the same body." (Marne)
Like identical twins?
"This magic stone is so valuable that it cannot be compared to any other magic stone of the same size." (Marne)
"Ah, I see." (Yuna)
"It's light, isn't it?" (Marne)
Because, I had Bear Phone, even though only I could use it.
What's more, I could make as many as I like.
For me, those had seemed just like ordinary large magic stones.
"Ellelaura, that's why I want you to give Yuna a generous gift. Don't spread the word that I bought it cheaply." (Marne)
"I wouldn't say that. But I don't think I'll ever sell it again." (Yuna)
"Yuna-chan's retaliation is scary. Anyway, according to Marné-sama's report, the monsters they took in were a giant two-headed Snake, a Giant Monkey, and a Goblin King. Yuna-chan, can I pay you later?" (Ellelaura)
"I can lend them to you though" (Yuna)
"Hehe, I'm a bit scared of this much debt, so I'll pay you. It'll come out of the national treasury anyway." (Ellelaura)
That is, it's a tax.
"It's not like I'm going to waste money on it." (Ellelaura)
She read my mind.
"If we can communicate with people far away, we can communicate faster. This will reduce time and human effort. The same is true for the Giant Monkey and the Goblin King. By studying monsters, it will be easier to deal with them if they appear in the future. Plus, once we've finished studying them, we can turn them into materials. So we're not wasting the tax payer's money." (Ellelaura)
If it was going to be useful in the future, then it was not a waste of tax money. I was sure they could make a profit by selling the materials.
For the time being, I wasn't particularly short of money, so I answered, "Anytime is fine."
Then, a research staff member comes and begins examining the Two-Headed Snake.
"Yuna, thank you." (Marne)
Marné-san happily took the magic stone and returned to the lab.
Author's Note
Sorry for posting a day late.
I am even more sorry.
The Marné arc wasn't over yet.
The plan was to just hand over the magical property as normal and have him return to Crimonia.
When I wrote Snake, I remembered the two magic stones that were in the initial setting and decided to write about it.
It may be possible to create a magical tool that allows you to communicate with people far away.
I think this is the end of the Marné chapter. Maybe...
Book 21 on sale February 7th (Fri)
Please check the activity report for details such as the cover and distribution locations of in-store purchase bonuses.
We are currently accepting requests for new stories for the 22nd volume of the book, short stories for store purchase bonuses, and other new stories. If you have any suggestions, please write them in the activity report.
*Posting will occur every 4 days.
*If I take a break, I will inform you in the postscript, and if I am suddenly unable to post, I will inform you via X (formerly Twitter). (I'm sorry if I can't)
*131st chapter of the "Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear" comic is currently available on PASH UP! neo (125th chapter of NicoNico Manga is currently available)
*Episode 23 of the "Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear" spin-off is currently available on PASH UP! neo (Episode 20 of NicoNico Manga is currently available)
If you have time, please check out the comic version.
[Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear to be released]
Book 21 released on February 7, 2025. (Next volume, volume 22, 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 Gaiden Volume 3 was released on December 20, 2024. (The release date for the next volume, Volume 4, 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, 12, has yet to be 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
Proofreader: TV.Station