840 Bears collect flowers - Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

Mane moved under the tree. "So, Mane, is this the tree you were looking for?" The tree had red flowers intermittently blooming on it. Mane was carefully observing the flowers. "Yes, this is definitely it, these flowers." It seems she successfully found the flowers that would serve as the medicine she sought. "If that's the case, I'll pick them for you." They were positioned too high for Mane to reach. Then again, even I couldn’t reach them without using magic. "Ah, wait." Mane grabbed my bear costume. "I told you, the collection method is special." Come to think of it, she did mention something like that. Mane was the only one who could gather them. But from the look of it, anyone could probably do it. "Is it something like a man-eating flower?" Like, if you reach out, it might bite you? "No, that's not it. To pick them, you just need to infuse them with magic." "If that's all, wouldn't anyone be able to do it? Wasn't there no need for you to come here specifically, Mane?" If she taught me how, even I could do it. "That's true. Collecting them itself can be done by anyone. But the flowers gathered can only be used by the person who picked them." "………?" "These flowers enhance the effects of medicine but only for the person who infused their magic into them." "So, this means unless Mane gathers them herself using her own magic, she can’t use them for herself?" "Exactly." Indeed, without Mane personally coming to collect them, she wouldn’t be able to obtain them. "Yuna, could you create a magic staircase for me?" As she requested, I used earth magic to create a staircase. "Thank you." Mane climbed the stairs. Leaving the surroundings to Kuma Yuru and Kuma Kyu, I also climbed up the stairs. Mane reached out toward the flowers, now within arm's reach. The red flowers turned blue as she picked them. "Did the color change?" "That's proof magic was infused." Mane showed me the flower so I could see it clearly. The flowers on the tree were red, but the one in Mane's hand was blue. "By the way, what happens if you pick the red flower first and then infuse magic afterwards?" "The color doesn’t change." Mane picked a red flower as proof and infused it with magic, but the color didn’t change. "The moment it's away from this tree, its effect disappears." Indeed, it’s essential for the user to come here themselves. "Yuna, I'm sorry, but I want to collect a bit more. Could you create a scaffold around the tree using your magic?" I extended the earth magic creating the staircase to make it easier to gather flowers from different spots. "Thank you." Mane began her collection. I moved to a different spot from Mane. A red flower was right in front of me. I extended my arm, bringing my bear puppet close to the flower and infused it with magic. The red flower turned blue. Fascinating. I picked the blue flower and placed it in the basket. "Yuna, will you use it too?" "I don't have any plans to at the moment, but there might be a time when I need it." "That's true. I plan to gather extra too. Oh, that reminds me." Mane descended the stairs, seemingly struck by an idea. "Lydia! Come over here for a second." She shouted towards Lydia, who was dismantling something by the river. Lydia responded to the call and approached. "What is it?" "Help us collect these flowers, Lydia." "But didn't you say earlier that without infusing personal magic, it's ineffective?" "I'm not going to use them. They're for your sister." "But still, isn't this for someone else?" "It is, but for a blood relative, it has effectiveness. For your sister, it’s half-effective, but it's better than not using any at all." "Uh… what's going on?" Mane and I explained the effect of the flowers to her. "Think of it as boosting the medicine's effectiveness for your sister's illness." "Then, I’ll help with the collection." Lydia asked Zect to take over the dismantling of the red monkeys and came up the stairs. "Just infuse magic so it turns blue, then you can pick it." "Okay, I'll give it a try." We continued collecting flowers until the basket was full. Zect was left to dismantle the red monkeys alone, lamenting the situation. Nonetheless, considering it was for his sick sister, he couldn’t complain. "So, dependents will receive some effectiveness too?" "From parent to child, it's half effective. To grandchildren, further cut, making it a quarter." Meaning about a quarter effectiveness. "The further the blood relation diverges, the weaker the effect becomes. For others, you can assume the effect is almost nonexistent. Hence, the flower isn't well-known as a medicinal herb, and even when found, people usually don’t bother picking it. Hardly anyone knows about it in the first place." Indeed, for someone like me, it’s impossible to recognize local plants as medicinal or not. I lack any knowledge of the herbs Mane and Lydia collected. Hence, I’ve never had the thought to pick them. "This is why adventurers who know about these flowers are rare, and it was just a stroke of luck that a report reached me this time." "I see." "That’s why I had to come myself." We continued gathering until dusk. They’ll bloom again next year, won’t they? "I'm beat." Lydia leaned against the sofa, tired. We decided to camp out in the Bear House and head back the next morning. "I’m the one who’s beat. I was dismantling them all by myself." "Kuma Yuru and Kuma Kyu did help you, didn’t they?" Though they couldn’t dismantle, they acted as transporters. They hauled the red monkeys we defeated at the cliff bottom to where Zect was. "It felt like an unending nightmare with them being brought over one after another." "But I did help out midway, didn’t I?" Lydia started helping Zect with the dismantling after collecting a certain amount. "Until then, it was just me doing it all." "That was for your sister’s sake." "Ugh." When reminded of that, Zect had nothing more to say. "Besides, your dismantling also benefits the family, so thank you." When thanked by his sister, Zect couldn’t say anything further. "But is it really okay? For us to take everything?" "It’s fine. I don't need it." While I’m okay with wolves, I’m hesitant about monkey fur. Maybe it's because they’re humanoid. I find myself reluctant to ask Fina to dismantle them. It’s just self-satisfaction. Apparently, they also dismantled wolves the red monkeys had defeated. As for what to do with the Goblin King, Mane advised it was better to take it back, so we decided to retrieve it. "But how are we going to report this to the Adventurer's Guild? Are we going to say we defeated them, or that we got them from an adventurer?" "It's not usual for someone to just give away monsters they've defeated, right?" "So do we tell them a girl dressed as a bear defeated them?" Zect and Lydia both turned their gaze toward me. "They probably won't believe it. It's a bear, after all." "No, let's just say it was a passing adventurer." "In reality, they'd definitely ask what kind of adventurer it was." True, they'd likely ask. If someone told me Fina was helped by an adventurer, I'd inquire about the details too. "Well, just give them some vague answers." "The lie would just spiral, growing bigger." "Isn't it simplest if Yuna just comes along?" Mane, who had been quietly sipping her tea, finally spoke up. "Shall I go with you too?" "Well, if I’m going to visit Lydia’s sister, it means Yuna will accompany me into town, since she's my escort." That's true enough. "It doesn’t matter how you're dressed; showing your guild card should solve any issues. Besides, if there’s any trouble, I’ll vouch for you." "Why do I feel like that would just make things more complicated..." Lydia glanced at Mane, who was standing confidently despite her youthful appearance, and mumbled her thoughts. Other than their appearance, it could indeed be hard to believe. Perhaps showing identification might help, though it’s not guaranteed to be accepted. "In that case, let's deal with the flowers before dinner." "I'll prepare dinner during that time." "No, Yuna, you’re helping with the flowers too." "What about dinner?" "Bread will do. Moreover, the processing of the flowers can't be done by others; it must be done with one's own magic." In other words, we can't delegate this task to someone else. "So, uh, what about me?" "You could handle cleaning the bath." Told by Mane, Zect drooped his shoulders and headed towards the bathroom. "Um, Mane, it involves using magic, right? But I'm not sure about my magic capacity…" "In that case, drink this." I brought out some holy tree tea leaves, added hot water, and served the tea. "This tea helps recover a bit of magic. I'm not sure how much, but give it a try." Lydia sipped the tea made from the sacred tree. "Yuna, could I have some too?" I made a cup for Mane as well. "This tea… Could it be from the sacred tree?" "You're sharp. Mumroot, the elder of the elves, gave it to me." "Ah, yes, Yuna, you’re familiar with Sanya too, aren’t you? When Sanya returned to the village, she brought some as a souvenir." So Sanya had given some to Mane. "Still, it's surprising to see you offering such fine tea leaves so casually." "Eh, is this tea really that valuable?" Lydia paused mid-drink. "It's quite expensive. It’s not commonly available. It's said that even if a merchant guild requests it, they can't buy it. The elves' elder only distributes it to merchants he favors." Come to think of it, merchants do occasionally visit the elves' village. "I see. Mumroot told me I could have as much as I wanted." Mane looked at me with a surprised expression. "You must really be in the elder's good graces. What did you do? Did you perhaps intimidate him?" "No, I didn’t. If you want details, you should ask Sanya." Not wanting to elaborate, I redirected her to Sanya. "Well, fine. Could you spare some tea leaves for me?" "Sure, but why not get them from Sanya?" "No, that would feel like a debt." Seems like they have a complicated relationship. I filled a glass container Mane provided from my large burlap sack of tea leaves. "I can't believe that huge sack is filled entirely with sacred tree leaves." Mane looked at the large sack with a mixture of disbelief and exasperation. Apparently, there was a time when nearly all the sacred tree’s leaves fell, leading to an abundant harvest.