Chapter 226: 226

As everyone exited the room, only Mumuroot-san and I were left behind .

Sanya-san had been the last to leave, wearing a very apologetic expression on her face .

She didn’t really need to feel bad about this .

「Well then, we should get going as well . 」

Mumuroot-san said and headed for the door, with me on his tail .

「All I have to do is subjugate any monsters that get to the village, right?」

「I will get rid of the monsters . All I need you to do is tell me if and where the monsters appear . 」

Mumroot-san seemed to be doing the same thing as Sanya-san, keeping me away from harm and trouble, but that wasn’t necessary . If I spotted any monsters, it would be quicker if I simply took them down myself .

To not get in any unnecessary arguments, I kept that to myself and simply summoned Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear in their regular sizes .

Mumuroot-san brought his hand up to his chin and simply stared at the Bears for a while .

「Let us know if monsters come our way, okay?」

I told the Bears, then used detection magic to check the nearby area .

There weren’t any monsters in the vicinity of the village; the only reactions I got seemed to be those of the elves .

Like Mumuroot-san instructed, the elves had split into two groups and were slowly leaving my detection range in the direction two groups of monsters were supposed to be . I wished I could tell where exactly the monsters were, but they were sadly too far away .

I knew Labilata and Sanya-san would be able to take down Wolves and Volcrows easily, but Tiger Wolves could be a problem .

Even a single Tiger Wolf was quite a formidable opponent on its own, so if they didn’t pay attention they could be in danger .

I didn’t know which group Sanya-san was in charge of, but I prayed that she would return safely .

Mumuroot-san and I then slowly began to patrol the village with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear walking by my sides .

Many people greeted us as we passed, and while the adults stopped only to chat, the children immediately ran to the Bears .

Mumuroot-san calmly informed every villager we came across that monsters might come close to the village and instructed them not to leave the village at any cost .

After doing this of a while, we eventually ran into Ruimin and Luca, who seemed to simply be walking around hand-in-hand .

「Grandpa! Yuna-san!」

Once they spotted us they rushed over .

「What are you two doing here?」

「We were about to head outside the village but were stopped and told we couldn’t . 」

「I’m sorry, but you will have to stay inside the village today . 」

Mumuroot-san then proceeded to give them a brief explanation .

Since the two of them already knew about the monsters coming through the barrier, they simply nodded in understanding .

「By the way, what are you two doing here?」

Both of them looked at me curiously .

They probably thought it was weird to see me and Mumuroot-san walking around together .

「The Young Bear Lady is helping me patrol the village . 」

Mumuroot-san explained and gestured toward Hugging Bear and Swaying Bear .

Before I realized, Luca was already patting Hugging Bear .

「Grandfather, can we come along, too? We promise not to get in your way . 」

Ruimin asked, most likely because she notices that Luca looked like he really wanted to ride on top of one of the Bears .

Mumuroot-san thought about for a bit before agreeing .

「If something happens, make sure you follow my instructions, okay?」

「Okay!」

I let Luca ride on top of Hugging Bear since he seemed like he really wanted to while Ruimin got on Swaying Bear without even asking .

We continued our patrol through a very peaceful village, which made it seem like there was no monster problem at all .

The Bears hadn’t detected anything yet, either, so the village appeared to be safe for now .

Maybe the barrier, even weakened as it was, was still doing its job .

The peace didn’t last for long, however, as soon, other children saw Luca and Ruimin riding on the Bears and rushed towards us to join in .

At first, Mumuroot-san was trying to tell them to stay in their homes, but the children were too jealous of Luca and Ruimin, making it quite difficult to convince them to go .

After a minute or so, Mumuroot-san sighed and said, 「This was a mistake,」to himself but his expression lightened up soon, and I could hear him whisper, 「This is better than having them run outside . 」

Children tended to run off even when told them to stay at home, so having them busy with the Bears wasn’t so bad .

Mumuroot-san must have realized that and seemed much more content now .

Since the children took over Hugging Bear, Ruimin now walked beside me .

「Everything seems to be fine for now, doesn’t it?」

Once we made a full round around the village, we headed to the plaza at the center of the town .

Even more children gathered there when they saw Hugging Bear and Swaying Bear, and I let them play with my Bears so that they would stay with us instead of heading outside .

Ruimin made sure to watch over the children so that the Bears didn’t get overwhelmed .

I was thirsty, so I took out some juice, which prompted the children to start staring at me, clearly wanting some as well, so I was forced to take out enough for everyone .

「Thank you very much . 」

「Thank you . 」

At least they thanked me properly . They were brought up well .

I almost dozed off a bit as I watched the Bears play with the children .

It was really peaceful here . Which was a good thing, of course .

The fact that no monsters were coming this way meant that the subjugation was going well .

As Mumuroot-san happily watched the children play, he spoke up .

「Young lady, your bears are very docile . 」

「Yeah, they are only dangerous when there are enemies around . Oh, that reminds me, Sanya-san can summon a bird, right?」

Since the conversation moved in the direction of summoned beasts, I tried asking about it .

Since Sanya-san had kept quiet about it he might not tell me the details, but it was still worth a try .

「Well, first thing first: unlike your bears, those birds cannot sense monsters . 」

Still, being able to look through the summoned bird’s eyes was amazing and very useful . If I had one, I would be able to look over a mountain, or fly out to the sea to see what it was like .

I was envious that they were able to see the scenery from the skies .

「Do many elves have bird summons?」

「No, the only ones who have one are Sanya and Ruimin . 」

「Ruimin has one, too?」

I looked over at Ruimin after hearing that unbelievable fact .

Hearing her name being mentioned, Ruimin looked back .

「Ruimin, you can summon a bird, too?」

「Umm, yes . Somewhat…」

Ruimin admitted that she could in a quiet voice .

「That’s amazing . 」

「N-no, not at all . 」

For some reason, she stumbled a bit as she said it .

「Emm, could you show it to me?」

I asked her, thinking she would most likely refuse at this point, but she nodded instead .

She put both of her hands out and gathered magical power . After a few moment, something close to a baby chick appeared in her palms .

「Summoned birds need magical power to grow, and since I don’t have much power, this is my limit . Compared to Onee-chan’s it’s… 」

Even so, it was a cute baby bird .

The little bird began walking around in Ruimin’s palm, looked at Ruimin and chirped .

It recognized her .

「It’s so cute . 」

「Yes, it is, but, I want it to grow up quickly, so it can be more like Onee-san’s…」

When this baby chick grew up, would it look just like Sanya-san’s bird?

I thought about how it would be nice if I could make my Bears this small, but I figured it would be impossible .

Soon after, Ruimin unsummoned her bird .

Still, I was very interested in how one could get their hands on a summoned bird?

Just as I was about to ask, Hugging Bear and Swaying Bear looked up and let out a cry, startling the children .

Did a monster appear?!

I immediately followed their gazes .

「What’s that?」

One of the children said, pointing upwards .

It was something huge .

Since they were looking at the sky, I had thought it was going to be a Volcrow, but I was wrong .

A bird even larger than the Volcrows flew by .

Using my detection magic I learned that it was a Cockatrice .

「It’s a Cockatrice…」

When I said that, everyone showed shocked expressions .

A Cockatrice had the body and head of a bird, while its tail was long like a snake . It was a difficult monster to deal with, especially since it could fly .

「Ruimin! Take the children and hide in a nearby house!」

Mumuroot-san quickly gave loud and clear orders .

「Hugging Bear, Swaying Bear, please take care of everybody . 」

At my request, the Bears let the children ride them as they ran off to safety .

Ruimin quickly followed along, making sure no children were left behind .

「Young lady, thank you telling for me about the monster before it got close to us . Now you should get to safety as well . 」

Since I had noticed the Cockatrice before it rushed at us, we managed to get all the children safely away .

Still, could he take down a Cocaktrice by himself?

「If the Cockatrice dives at us, I will try to draw it away . . 」

If what Sanya-san had said was correct then the monsters goal of breaking through the barrier was to get to the Sacred Tree .

In that case, the Cocaktrice was most likely heading there as well .

「Can you really take it on by yourself?」

Mumuroot-san looked at the Cockatrice and gulped .

「I don’t know, but I’m willing to try if the worst comes to pass . 」

「I’ll help you, then . 」

「Young lady, what are you saying?! That’s a Cockatrice! It’s an atrocious monster!」

Yeah, I knew that, but I couldn’t just abandon him either .

Just as I was looking for a response, the Cockatrice turned its focus to us, flapped its chicken-like wings and dove straight at us .

「Are we fighting here?」

Although there was a lot of space between the buildings, we were still inside the village .

If we fought here, many of the houses could end up being destroyed .

「That depends on how the Cockatrice will react . I want to at least try to lure it out of the village . 」

Mumuroot-san then proceeded to land the first strike by sending wind magic at the Cockatrice, which was approaching us fast .

The magic hit the Cockatrice, but it managed reduce the effect by flapping its wings .

Now, the cockatrice had its eye on Mumuroot-san, acknowledging him as a threat .

「Young lady, run!」

Mumuroot-san said and ran towards the edge of the village while shooting more magic at it .

Wow, he sure was quick .

The Cockatrice immediately began to chase after Mumuroot-san .

Deciding on a plan of my own, I ran after them .

Author’s Note:

It’s been awhile since our last battle chapter .

The last one was the golem battle, wasn’t it?