Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

Bear-san Receives a New Request

After returning from the royal capital, I spent a leisurely time.

Perhaps it was thanks to the King and Cliff that I was able to spend my time in such a leisurely manner.

I would have loved just to relax and do nothing, but I couldn’t stay idle forever.

Fina asked me yesterday, “Aren’t you going out again today?” To which I replied, “I’m going out tomorrow,” and so I decided to go to the Adventurers’ Guild today.

If something piqued my interest in the request boards, I might take it.

When I entered the Adventurers’ Guild, it was bustling with people as usual.

“Rurina-san, Gil-san, when you’re done with your current request, please accept this job.” (Helen)

“Um, I’ll think about it.” (Rurina)

“That means you’ll think about it, but you won’t accept it.” (Helen)

Helen-san, the receptionist, was questioning Rurina-san and Gil. But Rurina-san stood before Gil and seemed to be trying to keep Gil from saying anything strange.

Back in the royal capital, when I first met Deborane and Lanz, they seemed to be focused on working together over there, but over here in Crimonia , Rurina-san and Gil had continued their partnership.

“I’ll only register the request if you succeed, so if you fail, I won’t record it on your guild card, please.” (Helen)

“We’ll talk about that when I get back. Then I am going to finish my current request. Gil, let’s go.” (Rurina)

“Rurina-san!” (Helen)

Helen-san was talking loudly, but Rurina-san pretended not to hear her and came towards me at the exit, pulling Gil along with her.

“Oh, are you working today as well, Yuna-chan?” (Rurina)

“I was wondering if there are any interesting requests.” (Yuna)

“Interesting request. …Looks like, Helen-san just the thing for you then.” (Rurina)

Rurina-san thought for a moment, then smiled and turned to Helen-san.

“Helen-san! Yuna-chan said she’ll listen to what we were talking about earlier.” (Rurina)

“Rurina-san?” (Yuna)

“Well, we’re going to work, so you take care of the rest.” (Rurina)

Rurina-san left the Adventurers’ Guild with Gil.

I looked at Helen-san, who was beckoning to me.

I didn’t want to approach her. But her smile looked like she was waiting for me to come.

I guess I had no choice but to go.

“Yuna-san, long time no see. It’s been a while, Yuna-san. I have a request that is perfect for Yuna-san right now.” (Helen)

“Can you provide me with something other than what Helen-san has in mind right now?” (Yuna)

“Yuna-san, that’s terrible.” (Helen)

I didn’t want to accept the request because Rurina-san had avoided it as if she was trying to escape. Even if it was indeed interesting, I wouldn’t want to accept such a request.

“Please just listen to what I have to say.” (Helen)

Helen-san grabbed my Bear Puppet.

“Alright, what is it? But this doesn’t mean that I will accept the quest. You can’t force me to accept it, okay?” (Yuna)

Since even Rurina-san turned it down, I wanted to clarify that just because I listened, did not mean I would accept the quest offer.

“That’s okay.” (Helen)

“You promised me. So, what’s up?” (Yuna)

“Do you believe in ghosts, Yuna-san?” (Helen)

Was she really serious about asking me about the existence of ghosts?

“Ghosts? Just to confirm, are you talking about ghosts of dead people?” (Yuna)

“Yes, that’s right. That kind of ghost.” (Helen)

I didn’t think this world had the concept of ghosts.

I had never talked about such a topic with anyone before, so I never knew.

“I’ve never seen one, so I’m a skeptic. That doesn’t mean I’m going to outright dismiss it without a second thought.” (Yuna)

There were mysterious things in this world that science could not explain. The fact that I came to this other world could not be explained by scientific knowledge, and that alone was far more mysterious than the existence of ghosts.

“What is it about ghosts? Did it come out of somewhere or from something?” (Yuna)

The real question would be, what kind of beings were ghosts in this world?

This was a world where monsters and other strange things existed. It would not be surprising if there were actual ghosts.

“Yes, that’s right. A report came in, detailing ghost encounters.” (Helen)

Was it really a ghost?

Really?

Ghosts?

“I never thought I’d be asked to deal with ghosts. I don’t even know if I can do anything about them, much less exorcising them.” (Yuna)

Ghosts were not my area of expertise.

I have never fought with a ghost in the first place. Moreover, would ghost-type monsters not be immune to physical attacks? Would magic work like in the stories, though?

I have no holy or saintly powers. All I had was the power of bears.

And wouldn’t the extermination of ghosts be the job of priests and exorcists?

“Please don’t say that. I only need you to verify the report.” (Helen)

“Just to verify?” (Yuna)

“If possible, I’d like you to defeat it if you can, the ghosts…” (Helen)

Helen-san’s true feelings leaked out.

“I’m sorry. I can’t do it, so please find someone else to do it.” (Yuna)

I could see why Rurina-san ran away.

I wouldn’t want to be a part of it if I could.

As I tried to leave, Helen-san reached out and grabbed my bear clothes.

“Wait!” (Helen)

“No, I’m telling you, it’s really impossible for me to deal with ghosts. Ask other adventurers to do it.” (Yuna)

“I’ve already asked various adventurers, but they seem to have heard rumors that there were ghosts actually appearing, so they avoided it.” (Helen)

“Rumors?” (Yuna)

“There’s a house, but the owner sold it to a commercial guild, and it’s been abandoned for the past few months. When the guild decided to sell that house, and was cleaning the inside of the house, a woman’s voice came out of nowhere crying out the words, [Pleas, help, me~].” (Helen)

Helen-san said so with some animated acting.

“And there are some people who can hear and some who can’t. The people who can hear are freaked out, and the people who can’t hear are scared because the people who can hear are making so much noise.” (Helen)

If some could hear it, but others couldn’t, that would certainly be frightening.

“But is hearing a voice alone enough proof to say that there’s a ghost?” (Yuna)

“Of course, that’s not all. Some have seen flickering lights or curtains shaking even though the windows are closed, or a vase on a shelf rattling.” (Helen)

“…” (Yuna)

Human souls or poltergeists.

But was that really a ghost’s doing?

“By the way, have any adventurers seen them?” (Yuna)

“Yes. Some have.” (Helen)

“I’m going home.” (Yuna)

I decided to run away.

I didn’t want to be haunted by ghosts or anything like that. Most of all, I would not be able to go to the bathroom alone at night. I would need Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear to go to the bathroom with me. And as an adult woman, I would rather not have to do that.

“Please wait.” (Helen)

Helen-san grabbed my clothes again and tried to keep me from escaping, but thinking about it, I tried to reason out what might be going on.

“Can’t that ghost be just someone’s prank. They might be using light magic or a magic stone of light.” (Yuna)

“Who would?” (Helen)

“Someone who doesn’t want to give the house to someone else, so they scare others away?” (Yuna)

I was about to say that I’ve seen this in some comic books or novels.

“For what reason?” (Helen)

“Probably, to lower the value of the mansion or something?” (Yuna)

If it was proven to be a haunted mansion, it wouldn’t sell, and the price would undoubtedly drop. It was possible that they were trying to cause haunting disturbances to get the property once the price had dropped low enough.

“But you know, some people can hear the ghost and some people can’t.” (Helen)

It seemed like some people do, but well, this was a different world after all. There were ways to do that.

“Hmmm. Maybe they used wind magic.” (Yuna)

“Wind magic?” (Helen)

Sounds were transmitted through vibrations. If you use wind magic to your advantage, you should be able to carry the sound just far enough and limit who can hear it.

“What? You seem to be on to something.” (Guild Master)

“Guild Master?” (Helen)

While we were talking, the guild master appeared from behind Helen-san.

“So, you think one can do that with wind magic?” (Guild Master)

I wanted to explain, but it might be difficult.

“Sure it can be done, but I think it’s a very complicated process.” (Yuna)

Well, I doubt people could do it in the same way that I used wind magic.

I tried to demonstrate it to the Guild Master and Helen-san.

“I have activated it. As we speak right now, the Guild Master won’t be able to hear us.” (Yuna)

“Even though we are so close?” (Helen)

Close, but not close enough. They were about 2 meters apart. Usually, at that distance, the two of them should be able to hear each other well enough.

The distance between me and Helen-san was also 2 meters.

Then I decided to have a conversation with her.

“Is the Guild Master working?” (Yuna)

“Yes, he is.” (Helen)

“Why don’t you just ask the Guild Master to take down the ghosts?” (Yuna)

“That’s not possible. The Guild Master is afraid of ghosts.” (Helen)

I looked at the huge Guild Master.

“Such a big man is afraid of ghosts?” (Yuna)

“Yes, even though he looks like that…” (Helen)

Helen-san and I looked at the Guild Master again.

“Wait a minute, what are you two talking about?”  (Guild Master)

It seemed like the Guild Master didn’t hear our conversation.

I released my wind magic.

“Guild Master, did you not hear us?” (Helen)

“I could see that you guys were looking at me and having a conversation, but I couldn’t hear any words nor sounds from both of you.” (Guild Master)

“That’s great. Then this concluded that someone might have used wind magic to be the ghost.” (Yuna)

“I see. And Wind Magic can also be used to shake the curtains.” (Guild Master)

The two of them were convinced by one of the possibilities I had presented.

“That’s why it should be fine. So, I’m going home.” (Yuna)

I should leave that to some other adventurers to determine if it was true.

“Wait a minute. That is just Yuna-san’s imagination, and we still don’t know if that is the case, right?” (Helen)

Helen-san was correct; using wind magic was possible, but it didn’t prove that ghosts didn’t exist. Even the ghosts could be real.

“Well then, I am suggesting that Yuna-san should go and check it out.” (Helen)

As I have said many times, wind magic was just one of the possibilities. It was just in the realm of my imagination. And yes, it did not prove that there were no ghosts.

I would hate it if there were ghosts.

By the way, I hate horror stories.

I simply could not understand why people like to watch horror movies and enjoy them while exclaiming that they were frightening.

I could understand if it was a couple watching it together. But I just never understand the feeling of watching them alone.

If I watched it, I might be unable to go to the bathroom alone late at night.

As I was thinking about how to say no, Guild Master and Helen-san followed up.

“A magician like you would know if it was someone who was just using magic.” (Guild Master)

“You can just verify if there was someone around doing magic. Please help us out.” (Helen)

Helen-san asked, clasping my hands.

“Umm, I have to go home.” (Yuna)

I was trying to escape.

“Please.” (Helen)

But Helen-san wouldn’t let me go.

“Can you not ask a weak girl to do that for you?” (Yuna)

Again, I let loose my words and tried to run away.

“A weak girl will not be able to defeat a Goblin King or a Black Viper by herself.” (Helen)

Helen-san shot the words back at me, blocking my escape route.

“That is that, and this is this…” (Yuna)

“Please, I only want you to check.” (Helen)

Helen-san stared at me.

“Sigh, fine. I’ll just have to check, okay? If there really is a ghost, I’ll run away.” (Yuna)

“Thank you.” (Helen)

Helen-san and the Guild Master looked happy at my words.

No one really took on the job, huh?

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