Chapter 803

Bear-san Speaks to a Girl Part 1

A girl about the same age as Fina or Noa came out from behind the desk.

“Mane-sama, I’ve brought the girl who found the blue magic flower.” (Ellelaura)

Mane-sama?

This girl?

Ellelaura-san said with a smile, “Yuna-chan, let me introduce you. This is Mane-sama, who works here at the Ministry of Magic.”

Looking at Ellelaura-san’s bright smile, she was most likely enjoying my surprise.

“Ellelaura-san, didn’t you say Mane-sama was old…?” (Yuna)

That was what I remembered from what she mentioned, at least. Yet the person in front of me looked no older than Fina.

“Who are you calling an old hag?” the girl snapped, glaring at me.

I protested, “No one said that.”

“The bear said I was old.” (Mane)

The girl kept glaring at me.

“Well, it was Ellelaura-san who told me that.” (Yuna)

I answered honestly.

Even though she looked so young, she had an intimidating presence.

“Yuna-chan?” (Ellelaura)

“Ellelaura-san said that you were old and might die suddenly.” (Yuna)

I wasn’t lying, you know.

“Ellelaura… do you want to die?” (Mane)

The girl’s eyes narrowed dangerously as she said so.

“I just said that you were old.” (Ellelaura)

Well, she also did say that Mane might suddenly die.

But if what Ellelaura-san said was right, then Mane was definitely an old person at least.

I looked at the girl again.

…her ears.

“An elf?” (Yuna)

“Half-elf.” (Mane)

The girl answered.

“Apparently, she’s close to a hundred years old. To me, that’s old,” Ellelaura said.

“I’m a half-elf, so I’m not old as per the lifespan of my race,” Mane shot back.

I understood that the girl was half-elf.

But…

“Even if elves live long, don’t you think she looks kind of strange?” (Yuna)

Ruimin had grown up quite a bit.

She was not the same as this child looking person.

“There’s a deep reason for that.” (Mane)

“A deep reason?” (Yuna)

“Hmmph, there’s no need for me to explain it in detail to someone I just met.” (Mane)

There definitely was not.

“… Can I go home now?” (Yuna)

This felt like it was going to be troublesome.

“No.” (Ellelaura)

“No.” (Mane)

The two of them spoke in perfect harmony.

“She (Yuna) is the girl who prepared those pressed flowers, right?” (Mane)

The girl, Mane-chan? Mane-san? Mane-sama? looked at me, then at Ellelaura-san. For now I decided to address her as Mane-sama.

“Yes, that’s right.” (Ellelaura)

Mane-sama looked around the cluttered room. “We don’t have anywhere to talk,” she murmured.

“Ellelaura, you clear that table. I’ll prepare some tea.” (Mane)

Mane-sama gave instructions to Ellelaura-san while looking at the table piled with books.

It was amazing that she could give orders to Ellelaura-san.

Mane-sama then headed toward the back of the room, while Ellelaura-san reluctantly began to put away the books and other things on the table.

We would probably be discussing about the flowers after the table was cleaned up.

“I’ll help you as well.” (Yuna)

Books and things were not only on the table but also on the chairs.

It would take some time to clear it all.

And besides, I couldn’t just stand there and watch Ellelaura-san work alone.

“Then, could you stack those books in the corner over there?” Ellelaura said, pointing.

I removed the books from the table and put them in the place where Ellelaura-san pointed.

The books I was carrying covered everything – plants, ores, research journals, magic theory, and magic tools.

There were a variety of books about plants, potions, and their effects as well.

The same went for ores.

There were all kinds of books, like books about the potential of magic tools and their practicality.

The books on the table were not the only books that could be found in this room, but there were also a lot of books in the bookshelves, and they could be found all over the room.

Had Mane-sama read all of these books?

Then there were also a number of magic tools in the room that I couldn’t identify.

Was that… a flashlight?

The most common glowing things were lamps that light up the surroundings.

This one was made to point light in a far away location.

“Yuna-chan, I know you’re curious about a lot of the things in this room, but it would be helpful if you could help me finish moving these first.” (Ellelaura)

“Sorry.” (Yuna)

Ellelaura-san and I continued cleaning up the things around the table.

And when we finished cleaning up, Mane-sama appeared with tea.

I still didn’t know how to address her.

Even though she looked the same age as Fina, she was definitely older.

Maybe if I imagine her having an adult form like Kagali-san, then I could easily address her as someone older, even though she looked so young, the same way that I didn’t have problems addressing Kagali-san despite her appearance.

But this was my first time meeting her.

And she didn’t talk like Kagali-san did.

Calling her Mane-chan would fit her appearance, but she was a half-elf, older than even Ellelaura-san.

Moreover, Ellelaura-san had introduced her as Mane-sama.

“Well, for now, sit down.” (Mane)

“Why do we have to do the cleanup?” (Ellelaura)

I understood Ellelaura-san’s feelings.

“This is your punishment for calling me old.” (Mane)

Mane-sama replied coolly as she put the tea on the table and sat down.

Ellelaura-san and I sat down as well.

“So, this girl in a bear suit is the one who brought the flowers,” (Mane).

“Yes, she’s Yuna-chan, an adventurer who lives in Crimonia.” (Ellelaura)

Ellelaura-san had given her a brief explanation of who I was.

“Yuna,” I introduced myself simply.

“I’m Mane. A researcher,” she replied.

“Researcher…” (Yuna)

“Mane-sama mainly studies plants, minerals, and nature.” (Ellelaura)

“That’s not all. I’m interested in anything. But since my father was an elf, I focus mostly on flowers and vegetation. I also study magic and create magic tools.” (Mane)

So her father was an elf.

Then… her mother was mostly likely a human.

“Um, what should I call you?” (Yuna)

I’d been silently struggling with that question for a while now.

“You can call me whatever you want.” (Mane)

“… Mane-chan?” (Yuna)

… She glared at me.

This was what I thought would fit her best, though. But it didn’t work.

“Mane-sama?” (Yuna)

“I’m not your boss.” (Mane)

“…Mane-san?” (Yuna)

“That’s fine.” (Mane)

She said it was fine, so it was decided.

It seemed she wanted to be seen as older. Adding “-chan” probably made her feel like I was calling an elder a child.

“I’ll call you Yuna. Is that alright?” (Mane)

“That’s fine.” (Yuna)

I was already used to Kagali-san addressing me like that since I was younger, and Mane-san was much older than me anyway, so I didn’t mind.

“Then, I’ll get straight to the point.” Mane-san’s expression turned serious.

“Why are you dressed like that?” (Mane)

Pfft!

Ellelaura-san spat out her tea.

“You, shouldn’t you be asking about the flowers first?” (Ellelaura)

Ellelaura-san said, hastily covering her mouth with a handkerchief.

“That’s important too, but if there’s something in front of me that interests me, I can’t ignore it. That’s what being a researcher means.” (Mane)

She said with her head held high.

That certainly sounded like something a researcher would say.

“Um, if possible, I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t ask me anything about this outfit.” (Yuna)

Mane-san looked disappointed.

Did she really want to know that badly?

“But you’re the rumored bear girl that everyone’s talking about, right?” (Mane)

“Rumored?” (Yuna)

“Yes. They say a girl dressed as a bear comes and goes from the castle.” (Mane)

Certainly, if someone walked around the castle in a bear costume, there would at least be some rumors going around about them.

In addition, some of the people who worked at the castle were given copies of my picture book.

It was not strange for those people to at least know about me because of those books.

“But I didn’t think that the girl in a bear costume would be this cute.” (Mane)

So far, I’d never seen anyone wearing any full body costume in this world.

“I certainly haven’t seen anyone dressed like Yuna-chan.” (Ellelaura)

“Well, if you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t force you to. Everyone has things they’d rather keep secret… I have at least a hundred or so.” (Mane)

Her number of secrets jumped a lot.

Well, I have a lot of secrets too. As a half-elf who had lived a long time, it was not surprising that she had more secrets than I do.

“Mane-sama’s age is one of those secrets.” (Ellelaura)

“I just stopped counting halfway through. Enough about me. Tell me about that flower.” (Mane)

At Mane-san’s words, Ellelaura-san took out a pressed flower frame that Shia had given her from her item bag and placed it on the table.

“I will ask this straight out,” Mane-san said, wearing the exact same serious expression as before.

“Where did you get this flower?” (Mane)

I told her that I picked it on Mileela’s moving island, just as I had decided beforehand

“If you want to confirm information about the island, you can ask Mileela’s fishermen. They know about it.” (Yuna)

“A moving island, huh? So there is such an island.” (Mane)

“So that island might not be in that same place anymore?” (Ellelaura)

Mane-san looked disappointed.

Targui was always moving, after all.

As far as I knew, it had already passed by the Land of Wa, then the town where the slime was, and the frozen town, and I didn’t know where it was at the moment.

Well, I could always go there using the Bear Transfer Gate, but I didn’t know where its current location was.

“I heard this flower is rare. Can’t you find it anywhere else?” (Yuna)

“It’s a special flower that only blooms in certain places, so it’s not easy to get.” (Mane)

“But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to find, right?” (Yuna)

“It usually grows deep in forests where monsters dwell. That makes it difficult to obtain.” (Mane)

I see.

So maybe the special flower bloomed on Targui because of the large number of monsters gathered there… or perhaps it bloomed because of Targui itself.

“Furthermore, its effect deteriorates the longer it’s been since it has been harvested.” (Mane)

Well, that made sense. A blooming flower and a withered flower were as different as fresh meat and rotten meat.

“By the way, what do you normally use that flower for?” (Yuna)

“That flower has many uses, but the most common is for making ink.”

“Ink?” (Yuna)

That was the last thing I expected to hear.

“You can make special ink using this flower.” (Mane)

“Mane-sama, that doesn’t explain it at all.” (Ellelaura)

“Ink made with this flower is unique and very difficult to replicate,” (Mane)

“In other words, it’s ink that’s especially valuable for making contracts,” Ellelaura-san added.

“It can also be used for drawing magic circles. If you draw a magic circle with this ink, its effect will increase.” (Mane)

“You’ll understand if you use magic. Yuna-chan, you could think of that ink as a material that makes it easier to control magic. It’s used in wands etc.” (Mane)

In my case, it would be similar to my bear puppets.

“But isn’t that done by the magic stone set in a wand, ring, or pendant, right?” (Yuna)

The students used something like that during the exchange event at Shia’s school.

“So what does that have to do with this ink?” (Yuna)

“Some people have knowledge about it, but some people don’t. Um…” (Ellelaura)

Ellelaura-san looked around.

Then, when she found something, she stood up and went to the edge of the room.

“Mane-sama, I’ll borrow this wand for a moment.” (Ellelaura)

Ellelaura-san came back with a wand.

The wand had a red magic stone on it.

Ellelaura-san pulled the magic stone until it came off.

“Look here.” (Ellelaura)

She showed me the part of the wand where the magic stone was placed before.

“A magic circle?” (Yuna)

There was a magic circle that had been drawn on the part of the wand where the magic stone was placed.

“This magic circle makes it easier to control magic power and increases the effectiveness of spells.” (Ellelaura)

I didn’t know that.

I thought for sure it was only the magic stone needed to amplify the magic.

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