Chapter 218: 218

Chapter 218 – Bear-san Arrives at the Elf Village

Now that she had gotten her bracelet back, Ruimin was smiling a lot more often . She had often looked quite depressed before, like as if she was feeling sorry . It was good to see her laugh and smile more now .

Well, I only noticed how drastic the change was now that she was showing her natural smile; she must have been forcing herself before .

「We’ll reach the village soon . 」

Ruimin said from atop Swaying Bear .

「Yeah . I never would have thought we would get here this quickly . 」

Based on what they had told me before, we should reach the village today as the Bears were already running towards a large forested area .

I wasn’t sure if forest was the right word to describe the area; it almost seemed like a jungle .

Anyway, the Elf Village should be inside this forest, and it it weren’t for my Bear Map recording anywhere I went, I would surely get lost in this dense forest immediately . Even from here, all I could see was a whole lot of trees and nothing else .

In no time, the Bears reached the edge of the forest .

The road practically disappeared here . Would we have to stride right through the forest, with no path to follow at all? That made me a bit worried .

「From here, the road gets narrower, but still wide enough for things like horses to pass through . 」

So, a carriage wouldn’t be able to pass through, but there was enough space for someone riding a horse .

Because of this, I could no longer have the Bears run on blindly, and had Sanya-san and Ruimin lead the way from atop Swaying Bear .

As we entered, I noticed that the whole forest was completely overgrown with all sorts of plants and vines, and only a bit of light managed to pass through the leaves .

I was looking forward to seeing the village, hoping there would be interesting things to be found there, or maybe some unique foods .

Maybe someone could even teach me how to make a protective bracelet, just like the ones Ruimin and Sanya-san wore .

First, I would have to figure out how to get a gemstone like theirs . They seemed quite precious so it might end up being an issue .

Still, if I actually managed to make one, I would definitely give it to Fina as a souvenir when I got back .

「This feels really nostalgic . 」

「It has been ten years, right?」

「I’m not sure . We elves don’t really keep track of time . For me, it doesn’t feel like much time has passed . 」

「It’s definitely been ten years, Onee-chan . 」

「You sound like you know for sure . 」

「Yeah, I do . You will understand once we get to the village . 」

Ruimin didn’t explain any further, so we rode in silence for a while, eventually reaching a small river . We could easily cross it by just walking on it, but there was no need for that as there was a bridge we could take .

As soon as we crossed the bridge, however, something felt off to me .

It felt like my entire body passed through something . It felt like like going through a thin membrane of magical power .

As I looked around restlessly, trying to find the source of the feeling, Sanya-san noticed and spoke up .

「Could it be that you felt something?」

「As soon as we crossed the bridge, I felt some weird magic-like thing pass through me . 」

I answered her, telling her what it felt like . It was difficult to explain it otherwise .

I wasn’t exactly sure what a magical membrane would feel like, but this sure seemed to come close to it .

「Yuna-chan, your magic is really sensitive . What you felt was most likely our barrier . Most people can’t feel it when they pass through it, though . 」

「Really?」

「Yeah . From what I gathered, members of our family had been the only ones who could sense the barrier . Our magical power is very similar to that of the barrier as we were the ones to make it, so it makes sense for us to feel it . But, in your case… it’s quite weird for you too feel it, too . 」

Well, that didn’t really help explain much…

「Does that mean Ruimin also felt it?」

「Yes, but only a little . 」

Well, I only felt it slightly, too . It was most likely due to the Bear Suit; if I walked through without it, I surely would have not felt a thing .

「Still, this means that the barrier is working like it should be . 」

「That’s true, but monsters can still pass through from time to time . Grandpa said that its because the barrier must have gotten weaker . 」

「I don’t really understand how it would get weaker so soon, but if grandpa says so, then he’s most likely right . 」

「By grandpa, you mean the village elder, right?」

「Yes . He’s really kind, so I’m sure he will give you a warm welcome, Yuna-chan . 」

We continued to trod along the narrow path, which was just wide enough for the Bears to pass .

We traveled for quite a while longer, but the village still wasn’t in sight . Well, the Bears were forced to walk slowly because of the path, so it made sense for it to take some time .

I decided to use detection magic to see if we were getting close enough for it to be in my range . Eh, what the…? There were four people quite close to us, two on each side .

Not only that, they were even matching our speed . Were we being followed per chance?

I looked over to where they were supposed to be but couldn’t see anything .

They were most likely elves, but why would they be hiding from us?

It would have been understandable if I was traveling by myself, but both Sanya-san and Ruimin were with me .

Yeah, there should be no need for them to hide themselves . It didn’t look like they would attack us, either, as they were following us at a set distance .

Whatever their reason was, I couldn’t calm down knowing they were this close, especially once one of them moved a bit ahead and another one a bit behind, making us completely surrounded .

This could turn out to be problematic if they were actually enemies .

「Sanya-san . 」

「Yes?」

「Just wanting to let you know we are being followed or better surrounded by what I believe to most likely be elves . 」

Sanya-san’s eyes widened when she heard me say that .

「Yuna-chan, you noticed?!」

「Wait, what?!」

It seemed that Sanya-san had noticed as well while Ruimin most certainly hadn’t as she started to look around restlessly .

「You really are simply amazing, Yuna-chan . They are skilled enough to be able to conceal their presence from normal people, but it seems these ones aren’t on the level to fool you yet . 」

It was actually thanks to my detection magic, but I didn’t really want to explain about that .

Still, I had noticed nothing with my naked eye, so they really were very good at hiding .

「Even I only noticed them once I focused on it . 」

「Are we going to be fine?」

「Yes, since we are here with you . 」

「I see . So, is it really necessary for four of them to be following us, then?」

「Yuna-chan, you even know how many of them there are?!」

Oops, I shouldn’t have said that .

I accidentally told them how many people I detected through the skill while it seemed that even Sanya-san only knew that there were people nearby but not how many of them .

Yeah, she looked very surprised that I was able to figure out how many people there were; I really should have kept it to myself .

「If you know how many there are, does that mean you also know their exact locations?」

Should I really answer that truthfully? Well, I already told her I knew how many of them there were, so there wouldn’t be much use of trying to lie from her on out .

「One on each side of us . 」

「Yuna-san, you’re kidding, right?! I can’t see them at all . 」

Ruimin frantically looked all around her but was unable to spot any of them .

Well, I also only knew where they were because of the detection magic . Without it, I wouldn’t have known, either .

「I think it’s because of Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear . They must have been surprised to see us riding on them . 」

「They aren’t just going to attack us suddenly, right?」

「No, of course not . No need to worry about that, Yuna-chan . 」

After she said that, Sanya-san looked towards the forest, and then,

「Labriatt!」

She called out what was most likely a name .

「Sanya-san?」

It seemed like I was right, and it really was somebody’s name .

After a few moments, I noticed that the tree in front of us began to sway with a few leaves even falling off . Looking up, I saw a male elf standing on top of a branch .

「You noticed us?」

The man asked, and I noticed he had quite the handsome face .

Was he an elf?

He sure seemed to be, as elves were said to be beautiful, whether they were male or female . That information was most likely true as Sanya-san was quite beautiful, Ruimin very cute, and this man clearly seemed to be on the better-looking side of people .

「It’s been a while, Labriatt . 」

「Yeah, it has . Still, I’m quite surprised you managed to notice us . 」

「It’s your job to watch the forest, isn’t it?」

「That’s true . 」

「You don’t have to worry about these bears . I can guarantee that they are quite harmless as long as you don’t attack them . 」

「Does that include the bear on top of them?」

He said, looking at me .

「Does she seem dangerous to you?」

「… No, she doesn’t . 」

「In that case, could you stop following us around? It’s a bit uncomfortable . 」

「… I understand . I will head to the village to make a report in advance, then . 」

He replied only after thinking for a bit .

「Can you tell the other three the same thing?」

Labriatt’s expression changed when Sanya-san said that .

「Sanya, you noticed that much!?」

「There’s two on each side, and another one behind us . 」

She told him exactly what I had told her .

「Well, honestly, the one who noticed them was this girl, Yuna-chan . It bothers her to have you follow us around and would like you to stop . 」

Sanya-san looked at me .

「Wha…」

I hadn’t said that .

Yes, they were indeed following us around, but I had never said it was bothering me . I was only worried that we might be getting in position to attack us .

「That bear noticed us?」

Labriatt said and looked at me again, his eyes clearly inspecting me .

「Yuna-chan may be wearing this very cute outfit, but she’s quite strong so I would recommend you not to attack her . 」

「I wouldn’t do something like that . Anyway, I get it . I’ll ask the three of them to pull back . That’s enough, right?」

「Please do . Also, we’ll all be heading to the village like this, so please let them know so they won’t be too surprised, okay?」

Sanya-san said and patted Swaying Bear .

「Okay, I will let them know . 」

The man said then disappeared out into the thin air .

Well, I was still using my detection magic, so I know he actually just left the spot he was standing at .

Then, we heard a small sound, which reminded me of a flute, and the other three began moving away as well .

「Okay, should we head onwards ourselves?」

「Sure . Sanya-san, who exactly was that person earlier?」

「He’s one of the forest lookouts . He makes sure dangerous things don’t enter the forest . Well, most of time he just keeps an eye on the merchants traveling through . 」

「Then, since you two are with me, there really was no reason for them to follow us, right?」

「They were most likely startled by Swaying Bear-chan and Hugging Bear-chan, and from what I gathered, also your outfit . It should be fine now, though, as they know that you guys aren’t dangerous . 」

Okay, that was enough for me .

The Bears continued walking down the narrow path, and eventually the trees began to thin out and opened up to a large crop fields and a village a small distance away . We had finally arrived at the Elf Village .

Author Notes:

With this, they’ve finally and safely made it to the Elf Village .