827 Bear collects explosive flowers - Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

I create approximately four Mini Bear Golems. "So cute." "Bears, huh?" Lydia and Zekt share their impressions of the Mini Bear Golems. Mane simply remarks, slightly exasperated, "You really do love bears, don't you?" Since the task at hand involves fine work, I move the Mini Bear Golems to confirm their capabilities. Lydia watches them curiously as they move. "They're moving. Is this also magic?" "You made them with earth magic and animated them? Yuna, you can do even this?" "Golems... I haven't seen many. Are they difficult to make?" "I think they're simple, but what about for others?" I'm not very familiar with common knowledge, so I ask Mane. "Unlike regular magic, only a few people handle manipulative types of magic, so it's true you don't see it often. If all you want to do is defeat monsters, flinging magic is quicker than making golems." Indeed, simply casting a spell would resolve things much faster. "The difficulty really depends on the person, I suppose." Lydia seems satisfied with the explanation and continues to watch the Mini Bear Golems with curiosity. "So, you'll use those bears to harvest the explosion flowers?" "Golems won't get hurt even if there's an explosion. By the way, Mane, just to confirm, do you know what triggers the explosion?" "If I did, I would've harvested them long ago." "Then, we'll just have to experiment." "Experiment?" "Possibly by shaking the flower, touching it, reacting to sound, or maybe temperature?" Could it be one of those? Shaking the flower and causing an explosion. Touching the flower and causing an explosion. Reacting to noises from passing animals? Sensing the temperature of animals and causing an explosion? "That's an interesting perspective." "If we can figure out the cause of the explosion, then we'll be able to harvest them." And so, the decision is made to conduct an experiment. First, I'll try this... I cast a wind spell. The buds sway, but there's no reaction. Next, I move a Mini Bear Golem, slowly guiding it through the flowers. No reaction from the buds. I have it walk as if animals were passing through the explosion flowers. No reaction. Even running doesn't elicit a reaction. No reaction upon touching the flowers either. "There's no reaction." Mane mutters while observing the Mini Bear Golem beside me. "I thought just getting close would trigger an explosion." I also thought that would be the case. Yet moving the Mini Bear Golem does not cause the explosion flowers to detonate. Could it be that merely approaching them doesn’t cause an explosion? While pondering this, a deer enters the midst of the explosion flowers, and the moment it does, they explode, and the deer collapses. "They exploded." "They did." The only remaining theory seems to be heat, but can the flowers detect heat? Skeptical, I alter the magic controlling the Mini Bear Golems to add heat. As the Mini Bear Golem heats up gradually, a bud explodes. "Yuna, what did you do? That bear wasn't even moving." "I made the Mini Bear heat up like an animal's body temperature." "Heat... So, body temperature, then." "It seems it reacts to the body temperature of living creatures, causing it to explode." Therefore, it's possible to harvest them using the Mini Bear Golems. "But if they explode due to body temperature, we can't transport them back." Maybe enclosing them with earth magic along with the flowers? However, if I undo the earth magic after taking them home, they'll explode. "That’s not an issue." Mane says as she pulls a flowerpot from her item bag. "This flowerpot can release magical energy." "Release magical energy?" "I didn’t know the cause of the explosion, but I understood that the source of the explosion was magic. Explosion flowers grow by absorbing the blood, flesh, and magic stone of dead monsters. The magical energy is stored in the seeds inside the flowers, causing an explosion. So, by draining the magical energy, it won’t explode." "So, with this flowerpot from the start, you could've harvested them?" Mane shakes her head at my assumption. "Even with this flowerpot, I couldn't have harvested them. They'd explode upon getting close. But if that bear gathers them and places them in this flowerpot..." "They won't explode." "Precisely." I call back the Mini Bear Golem and have it take the flowerpot. "But to think such flowerpots exist." "Some medicinal herbs have strong magical properties. If they're hazardous to use as is, the magic is drained beforehand." There’s so much I don’t know. The Mini Bear Golem carrying the flowerpot begins digging to harvest the explosion flowers. It places the harvested explosion flowers into the flowerpot. All that's left is to transport it over here. "Is it really okay to transport them now?" "Right. It’s better to wait about three minutes. That should allow the magic to dissipate. To confirm, if you give the bear the same heat as before and it doesn't explode, it should be fine." Following Mane's direction, I decide to wait for three minutes. While I'm watching over the Mini Bear Golems, Zekt speaks up. "Still, I never knew golems could perform such delicate tasks." "That's because Yuna handles them skillfully." Receiving such praise makes me a little happy. "There are two types of handling golems: command-based and manipulation-based. Command-based ones operate according to the orders given to them. You might’ve heard tales of ancient relics with moving golems." "Ah, the ones guarding treasures that attack anyone who tries to take it." "Exactly. They protect against intruders trying to steal treasures. They faithfully execute only the commands given. That's command-based. The advantage is their autonomy; the downside is they don’t act beyond orders given. They won't move if their magic runs dry. As for manipulation-based, you control them directly. The benefit is that they act according to your thoughts, but they stop moving if you’re too far away." Zekt and Lydia nod, impressed by Mane's explanation. "Golems made from earth can be created in unlimited numbers as long as there's magic. They're perfect for dangerous tasks like today's." As I've listened to Mane's lecture on golems, about three minutes have passed. I increase the temperature of the Mini Bear Golem to see if it causes the explosion flower to detonate. "Seems safe." I have the Mini Bear Golem carry the flowerpot with the explosion flowers toward us. "Can you all step behind me, just to be safe?" "I can't let you handle the danger alone, Yuna." "I'm perfectly fine. Besides, I'm here to protect you, Mane." I've got my bear gear to protect me. "Understood, but really, don't take unnecessary risks." Mane obediently moves behind me. The Mini Bear Golem approaches with the flowerpot. I can hear the others holding their breath behind me. I slowly reach out and take the flowerpot. It doesn't explode. "I'm putting it away in the item bag." Mane peeks from behind me and stows the flowerpot with the explosion flowers into the item bag. "All good now. Yuna, thank you." "How about we make the most of it and gather a few more?" To reduce the number of monsters, explosion flowers are necessary, but there are still plenty blooming. It should be safe to harvest a few more. In the end, we manage to collect around ten explosion flowers. With their task completed, the Mini Bear Golems crumble and return to the earth. Lydia seems a bit sad as she lets out a soft "Oh." "Yuna, I'll take the seeds buried in that bear too." The Mini Bear Golems had seeds embedded in them from the exploded flowers. Mane gathers the seeds from the remains of the crumbled Mini Bear Golems. "Thank you, Yuna. Because of you, we've learned about the characteristics of the explosion flowers." "But it seems quite challenging to cultivate them." "Now that we know they explode due to body temperature, there's a way to cultivate them using golems like you did." "But what purpose does researching such dangerous flowers serve?" I can't see any practical application. They seem only hazardous. "Though they'll be seasonal, they could be used for deterring intruders. Of course, we'd need to verify things like the distance for reaction and the growth stage at which they explode. I'll take my time investigating those aspects." Mane flashes a mischievous grin. It's a cute face with a hint of wickedness, and I wish she'd refrain from wearing that expression. Still, the idea of flowers exploding in a vase is frightening just to think about. "By the way, 'explosion flower' is such a straightforward name." "It's better for names to be easy to understand. Imagine if this flower was called 'Lydia's flower'—what would you think?" "It sounds cute." "If it were 'Yuna's flower'?" "It would probably turn into a bear." "Only you and your acquaintances would think that." That’s true. "But with 'explosion flower' as the name, everyone immediately realizes it's dangerous because it explodes. Clear names are better, especially for hazardous things." Indeed, names are sometimes derived from what they look like. Some get named after their discoverers, but names based on appearance are often easier to remember.