Chapter 779
Bear-san, Heading for the Summit
To meet the Ice Dragon, Kagali-san and I rode Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, headed for the summit of the mountain.
âI thought the same thing in the battle against the giant serpent, but youâre too soft-hearted to risk your life for someone else.â (Kagali)
âKagali-san has been protecting the Land of Wa for hundreds of years, too. I donât think you can say anything about other people being too nice.â (Yuna)
That meant she had spent a long time of her life protecting others.
Even after the people around her died, Kagali-san had been protecting the seal of the giant serpent alone all those years.
To me, that was an incredible amount of time.
I didnât think it would be strange if at some point she considered stopping doing so.
But Kagali-san endured and continued protecting that land on her own.
âThat was because I made a promise.â (Kagali)
Her reason was because of a promise to a boy she met in the Land of Wa.
Because of that promise she had been watching over the Land of Wa to keep her promise to that boy.
But I think Kagali-san was a very kind person, having watched over the Land of Wa for hundreds of years just to keep that promise.
âBut thanks to you, that duty of mine has been completed. From now on, I intend to live freely.â (Kagali)
Maybe that was why she came along this time too.
âBut when Iâm with you, I feel like I always get into trouble.â (Kagali)
When she said so, I couldnât say anything back in retort.
We did encounter trouble as well with the Slime incident as well.
But it was not like I was bringing trouble with me.
There was simply trouble wherever I went.
If anything, I was the one who ended up dealing with those troubles. You could even say I was the victim.
I didnât even know that such troubles were happening because Iâd been holed up in my house most of the time, but maybe I was just attracted to trouble?
Or perhaps this bear suit was cursed and brought trouble to me?
That seemed quite possible.
âSorry.â (Yuna)
âIâm not complaining or anything. Iâm having fun, so donât worry about it.â (Kagali)
Indeed, when I first met Kagali-san, she looked like sheâd given up on everything.
But now Kagali-san seemed to be having fun.
I also felt reassured that Kagali-san was with me, and I appreciated her fighting ability and her knowledge.
âAlso, I donât know if youâve noticed, but the magic power concentration is increasing. The number of monsters may increase, so be careful from here on out.â (Kagali)
Magic power concentration? I didnât know.
But the closer we got to the top, the more monster reactions I detected.
I wondered if this was also the effect of the Ice Dragon taking up residence.
âKagali-san, which do you think is stronger, the giant serpent or the Ice Dragon?â (Yuna)
âIâve never fought an Ice Dragon, so I donât know. Besides, you defeated the giant serpent, didnât you?â (Kagali)
âI fought a weakened giant serpent that had just emerged from its seal, and it wasnât in its full power.â (Yuna)
Only Kagali-san, who had fought the giant serpent in perfect condition, could know this.
âIâve never fought an Ice Dragon, so itâs the same either way. All I know is that neither of them are opponents that humans can easily defeat.â (Kagali)
When it came to fighting a dragon, it would usually be a hero or something who dealt with it.
I didnât think it would be a bear who would resolve it.
A bear was definitely not a hero.
âBut I surely donât want to fight either of them on my own.â (Kagali)
I agreed with that.
âIt can talk, so Iâm sure we should be fine.â (Yuna)
âYouâre optimistic.â (Kagali)
I think that was thanks to my Bear Gear.
My Bear Gear gave me a sense of security. I also have Swaying Bear, Hugging Bear, and even Kagali-san, so I felt reassured.
Also, if it came to an emergency, I could escape using the Bear Transfer Gate, so maybe that was why I seemed optimistic.
For now, I didnât know whether we would reach an agreement or end up fighting Ice Dragon.
Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear went through areas with fewer monsters, and because we all have detection skills, we could proceed without being surprised by monsters.
As we approached the top of the mountain, my detection skill displayed âIce Dragonâ instead of âno dataâ.
Was the information registered?
Snow had piled up all around, and the trees were covered in ice.
As we gradually got closer to the Ice Dragon, the Ice Dragon started to react.
Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear also stopped running then reacted with a loud âKuuuuuunâ sound.
Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear also seemed to notice the Ice Dragonâs movements.
âWhatâs wrong?â (Kagali)
âIt looks like the Ice Dragon is moving towards us.â (Yuna)
The Ice Dragonâs reaction was moving towards us.
Kagali-san and I looked up.
âThere it is!â (Yuna)
I saw the Ice Dragon flying.
The Ice Dragon circled in the sky and landed in front of us.
The ground shook and the snow on the trees fell.
âHuman, what are you here for?â (Ice Dragon)
He spoke to me.
I looked at Kagali-san, and she looked at me with eyes that said, âDonât pick a fight.â
I knew.
âI wanted to talk to you.â (Yuna)
âWhat do you want to talk about?â (Ice Dragon)
It replied.
I felt a little relieved that we could talk.
âWould it be possible for you to leave this place? If you continue to stay here, the town will eternally freeze and this island will become an uninhabitable land. The few people left are struggling to survive. Thatâs why, if possible, I want you to move somewhere where no humans live.â (Yuna)
Even if it moved to another place, if there were people there, they would also be in trouble.
I wanted it to move to a place where there were no people.
âThat is not possible at this time.â (Ice Dragon)
âWhy? You can fly anywhere, right?â (Yuna)
âThat cannot be done. Even if I have to bother the people here.â (Ice Dragon)
If it could leave, it would have solved all the trouble.
It was difficult to abandon oneâs hometown where one was born and raised.
Especially if someone important to them was sleeping in that place.
It was difficult for them to leave.
âJust to confirm, is there a reason why youâre here?â (Kagali)
Kagali-san, who had been silent, spoke to the Ice Dragon.
ââŠThereâs no need to mention.â (Ice Dragon)
If it wasnât just my imagination, it would not react that way if it was just living here without a reason.
Was there a reason it had to stay in this place?
I wondered what the reason was?
At that moment, something happened.
Something was flowing down from the top of the mountain.
It was a dense amount of magic power.
Even I could feel it.
But there was no monster reaction in the detection skill. It didnât even show âno dataâ.
âLeave, child.â (Ice Dragon)
The Ice Dragon spread its wings and flew away.
âIt seems like something happened at the top of the mountain. What will you do? I donât recommend going.â (Kagali)
Ice Dragon talked to us, albeit in a not so friendly manner.
If I ignored what the Ice Dragon said and headed for the top of the mountain, it might become hostile this time.
But if we went to the top of the mountain, I might find out why the Ice Dragon couldnât leave this place.
âI know what youâre thinking. You think that if you go to the top of the mountain, youâll find out why the Ice Dragon is here.â (Kagali)
âCan you read minds, Kagali-san?â (Yuna)
âI thought the same thing. But just because you know the reason doesnât mean you can do anything.â (Kagali)
âBut maybe I can do something.â (Yuna)
âItâs too risky. If we get close to the top, thereâs a high chance that weâll incur the Ice Dragonâs wrath.â (Kagali)
âThatâs true, butâŠâ (Yuna)
If I turned back now, nothing would be solved.
The status quo would remain.
Should I stop moving forward, fearing that things would get worse? Or should I keep moving forward without fear to find a new path?
I remembered what Lize-san and the others said.
âIâm betting on you two.â (Lize)
âIâm entrusting our lives to you, young lady.â (Bollard)
âIâm leaving it to you, young lady.â (Old Man)
I couldnât go back without doing anything.
âKagali-san, letâs go to the top of the mountain.â (Yuna)
âIf thatâs what youâve decided, Iâll join you.â (Kagali)
We headed for the top of the mountain where the Ice Dragon was.
However, cold air flowed down from the top of the mountain as if to reject us.
The cold air turned into a blizzard, blocking our path.
But Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, carrying Kagali-san and me, continued on.
âAre you okay, Kagali-san?â (Yuna)
âNo problem. This one is protecting me from the blizzard.â (Kagali)
âKuuun.â
Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear were covering us on their backs with magic, to protect us.
Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, carrying Kagali-san and me, continued on.
The Ice Dragon should have noticed that we were approaching the top of the mountain, but it didnât react.
Then, Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear reached the top of the mountain where Ice Dragon was.
The Ice Dragon was waiting for us at the top of the mountain.
Kagali-san and I got off Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear and stood in front of Ice Dragon again.
âWhy? Why did you come here?â (Ice Dragon)
Cold air erupted from the Ice Dragonâs body.
I created a wind barrier to protect everyone.
âI canât back down without an explanation.â (Yuna)
For Lize-san and the others, and for myself, I couldnât just go home even if I was told to.
âIf you want us to leave, I want to hear a convincing reason. Please tell me why you canât leave this place. Maybe we can find a compromise.â (Yuna)
I would like to know if there was a reason why it couldnât leave.
If it was actually injured and couldnât fly long distances, I could cast healing magic on it.
If it was waiting for someone, it would probably be impossible to persuade it to go, but even getting to know that it would be leaving someday would be a good result. I could tell Lize-san and the others about how long it would be staying.
âDo you want to die?â (Ice Dragon)
âI donât want to die. And Iâm not going to die that easily.â (Yuna)
At worst, I would fight it aiming to beat it. If I couldnât defeat it, I would use my Bear Transfer Gate to escape.
âMaybe it is protecting an egg?â (Kagali)
Kagali-san muttered.
âEgg?â (Yuna)
âI can sense magic wrapped around something other than the Ice Dragon.â (Kagali)
Wrapped around⊠Did that mean the magic power was wrapped around the egg?
The Ice Dragon reacted to Kagali-sanâs words and a burst of cold air was unleashed from its body.
I blocked it with wind magic.
Emotions were more accurate than words.
Being angry meant that Kagali-sanâs words were correct.
However, there was no marker on the egg in my detection skill.
âSo youâre here to protect your eggs?â (Yuna)
So that was the reason why Ice Dragon couldnât leave this place?
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