Last post for the year!

Hope you had a wonderful holiday (at least better than me..)

Btw. I will not put any name in the end of dialogue, because only Yuna is the one speaking here.

Well here's the LAST k.u.ma of the year… HAPPY HOLIDAYS..

298 Bear-san's Journey in the Desert

Is there a good place somewhere?

I looked around with at the surroundings while riding Swaying Bear. (TN: neck turning sfx.)

I have no plans at this time, but I would like to set up a Bear Gate.

There's no limit to how many I can install Bear Gates and it will not be wasted if made it.

But I can't buy a house or set up a bear house in town, so I'm looking for a hard-to-find place outside of town.

There are still many rocks in this area, so if I want to set up a Bear Gate, its better to make it in a big boulder.

I moved away from the road and went to a big chunk of boulder.

It seems that n.o.body comes around here.

I stopped when I found a boulder that looks good enough.

Is this a good spot?

I magically drill a hole in the boulder where a Bear Gate will be set up.

Then, I set up a Bear Gate a bit deeper in the hole.

Finally, I covered the hole with Earth Magic and hid the Bear Gate.

Is this good enough?

Whenever I use it, the hole will be pitch black, but I have to hide it so it can't be helped.

Then I head back to the road.

As I travel with Swaying Bear along the road, I saw some thin objects that were not visible from the boulder.

Is that a pillar?

From here, it still looks like a thin stick.

As I move closer towards the bar it gradually became thicker and larger, enough to be recognized as a pillar.

As I approach the pillars, the ground at my feet gradually turns into sand and the rocks gradually disappears.

When I arrive at the pillar, the whole area turns into sand and it seems like this is the real entrance to the desert.

The pillars are as big as a large tree, it has the thickness of four or five people holding hands around it.

The height is surprisingly high.

I looked up.

Doesn't it look like a 10-storey apartment building in the neighborhood?

I tried to touch it, I don't know whether it was made by magic or not, but it feels st.u.r.dy.

I want to challenge myself to make the same thing, but I don't want to surprise anyone, so I'll restrain myself.

And when I look ahead, the second pillar can be seen.

Certainly, if aim for the pillar, I won't get lost.

No matter how much skills I have for Bear Map, I will get lost if I didn't know the destination.

But with this, I won't get lost this time.

I jump into Swaying Bear and head out for the second pillar.

[Well then, Swaying Bear. Aim for that pillar.]

Swaying Bear started running after answering with .

When I look at Swaying Bear's feet, he's running on the sand just like on a normal ground without being buried in the sand.

As expected of the summoned beast that G.o.d gave me.

He runs fast and has a lot of stamina.

He can run on water, so there is no problem with sand.

Moreover, there's a high quality of .

It is the finest gift.

It is a desert I've seen for the first time, but it may be a surprisingly beautiful landscape.

Perhaps that seems to be the impression that I have because of the Bear Equipment and the Bears.

Without it, I might have perceived it as a land of the dead and be forced to escape quickly.

As expected, there's not so much in the desert.

I can see only sand.

Everywhere I look, it's just sand, sand, sand.

There are only hills made of sand.

It is both beautiful and scary.

Looking up, the sun is blazing so severely.

Maybe taking off the Bear Costume, would make the surrounding hot enough to kill me.

My appreciation of the Bear Costume soar even more further.

[Swaying Bear, tell me if it gets too hot.]

Swaying Bear speeds up after answering.

Apparently, he's saying there's no problem.

A black bear runs through the vast desert.

I imagine it's a bit strange.

Whether in the original world or in the fantasy world, it may be the first time for having a bear in the desert.

If only I have a camera, I would take a picture to commemorate it.

The landscape is good, [The Desert and the Bear].

Interesting combination.

Real photos, not synthetic. (TN: Photoshopped.)

It is a combination that you can never believe in this world or my former world.

Swaying Bear runs comfortably in the desert.

After a while, I arrived at the second pillar.

And I can see the third pillar ahead.

Certainly, if I head towards the pillar, I will not be lost.

Blitz didn't said it, but traveling in the desert seems to be monotonous.

In other places, like the forests or the mountains a lot of things can be seen, but there's only sand here.

There are very little changes in the dunes.

The rest of the scenery is similar.

Can I leave it to Swaying Bear and sleep?

Sleeping while moving in the desert, would look like mocking the people who are seriously traversing the desert.

Also using the Bear House and the Bear Gate.

Before going to the next pillar, I will switch Swaying Bear to Hugging Bear.

Swaying Bear had been running since we left the town.

He might be tired because he is running in the desert.

These children do their best for me.

I don't want them to keep running endlessly, even if they have infinite health and stamina.

I have two Bears, Swaying bear and Hugging Bear, so I just have to switch them.

[Thank you, Swaying Bear.]

I stroke Swaying Bear's head to show grat.i.tude and returned him to the Bear Puppet.

Then I summoned Hugging Bear.

The black bear doesn't fit in the desert, but so as the white bear.

Black bears are in the mountains, while white bears are on the snow, that should be the image.

[Hugging Bear, are you all right?]

Maybe there is a possibility that the resistance is different with Hugging Bear.

Hugging Bear cried and rubs his head on me.

He looks fine to me.

For a moment, I thought Swaying Bear was strong in the heat and Hugging Bear was strong in the cold, but it seems that wasn't the case.

Well, it seems that there is no such difference, because Swaying Bear can normally run on the snowy mountain.

But is it so hot?

I'll try taking off my Bear Hood for a bit.

At that moment, the hot air slaps my face.

And I can feel my face getting hot.

[Ooh, hot!]

I immediately put on my Bear Hood.

[What's this? This heat? This is not a place where people should be! Is Hugging Bear really okay?]

I'm worried and looked at Hugging Bear.

But Hugging Bear looks neither struggling nor stuffy.

He just have a cute face.

He looked at me with [What?] face.

He really looks okay.

I now respect the people who travel in places like this.

G.o.d, thank you for the Bear Equipment.

I really wanted to say that.

I used to have such an idea, I felt that G.o.d made me the way he wanted me to be, so I am half thankful for the Bear Equipment and I am also thankful for giving me Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.

[Then, Hugging Bear its scorching but please.]

I stroke the lower chin of Hugging Bear and climb on his back.

Later, I need to give thanks to Swaying Bear as well.

If I don't, he might pout later.

When that happens, they will not even look at me.

Hugging Bear ran through the vast desert.

He ran smoothly and the scenery gets boring.

I took out a cold drink from the Bear Box and drank it.

Keeping the drink outside, will make it warm quickly.

So I'll put it back in the Bear Box as soon as I'm done drinking.

I'm thankful to the Bear Box as well.

I can infinitely store things, big things like Bear House, I can also store cold things and it will never get warm.

I am really grateful.

When Hugging Bear is running, he cried and slowed down.

I thought it's a monster, but there are people traveling on a lizard ahead.

Maybe those are the ones who started earlier than me.

It'll be troublesome if me and Hugging Bear were seen, so I want to overtake without them noticing.

However, it is difficult to overtake in a desert with wide visibility.

I just need a place to hide and overtake, but I cannot find one in this desert.

There are only sand dunes everywhere.

What now?

Let's look at the map.

If I proceed within expectations, it is very likely that I might be able to do it.

For now, let's move without catching up.

Surprisingly, the lizard was running fast.

The speed was surprisingly fast, so I have to make a big detour to pa.s.s.

While I was wondering what to do, they stopped at a third pillar.

I will make a big detour and overtake them while they're resting.

I'll use the hills made of sand to hide and proceed carefully.

I could see a wolf-like shadow at the end of the dune, probably because of the detour.

Is that a Sandwolf?

I stopped and looked at it, but it's too far to confirm.

If it's going to attack, I'll just kill it.

Now I'm weighing myself down, just to defeat the attacking and dangerous monsters.

Normally, a wolf will not attack alone against something like Swaying Bear or Hugging Bear.

Occasionally they may attack if they think they can win as a pack.

How about this time?

I used Detection Magic.

Sandwolves are scattered around.

Looking at the detection skills, Sandwolves gradually begins to gather in one place.

And they slowly moves toward us.

Apparently, they recognized us as a prey.

I can escape with Hugging Bear, however.

If they attack, they might be a good souvenir for Fina.

Sandwolves had a reddish brown fur.

Normal wolf is gray, snow wolf is white, and sandwolf is reddish brown.

I got off Hugging Bear so that I can fight at any time.

While standing in the desert defenseless, Sandwolves slowly began to surround me and Hugging Bear.

Their number is about 10.

It seems they thought they could beat Hugging Bear with this number alone.

When a Sandwolf howled, they attacked us simultaneously.

I evade the attacking Sandwolf and hit a Bear Punch on it's torso.

Hugging Bear also countered with a Bear Punch.

Double Bear Punches explodes.

In addition, I shot an Ice Arrow at the head of the attacking Sandwolf.

Hugging Bear's sharp claws slashed a Sandwolf.

And within just a few seconds of the battle, all Sandwolves have fallen on the sand.

It's a weak meat diet.

If it didn't attack, I didn't even think it would.

This time, the Sandwolves who attacked are the bad ones.

For the time being, I was able to get some souvenirs for Fina.

Author's Note:

It's a Bear and Desert chapter.

–