Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear - Chapter 772

Bear-san Enters the Mine

 

We decided to discuss our prospects a bit more. After some brainstorming, I decided to take a look inside the mine.

 

There may be something else we could do aside from making a bath.

 

Whether everyone continued to live here or migrated, or fled to another town, at the very moment there was an urgent need to improve the current living conditions.

 

“Inside the mine? That’s fine, but there’s nothing there.” (Bollard)

 

“You have the huts to use, but you all live inside the mine, right?” (Yuna)

 

“We basically only sleep here. During the day, everyone has their own work to do, so they’re often outside.” (Bollard)

 

So that’s why.

 

They had to manage food, clothing, and shelter, as well as doing laundry, and forage for food and scavenge for ingredients.

 

Above all, if one didn’t get sunlight, the body clock would go haywire and one would get sick.

 

They couldn’t survive by staying in the cave.

 

“I’ll wait for everyone here, so Lize-san, you can show Yuna-san and the others around.” (Bollard)

 

“Yes.” (Lize)

 

Leaving Bollard-san waiting for the others to come out of the bath, Kagali-san and I entered the mine with Lize-san’s guidance.

 

Hugging Bear and Swaying Bear followed behind.

 

The tunnel was dark.

 

Just as I was about to use light magic, a light lit up next to me.

 

I never noticed that Lize-san had a lamp.

 

The lamp with the light magic stone that Lize-san was holding illuminated the tunnel.

 

“Aren’t there any light magic stones installed in the tunnel?” (Yuna)

 

The mine where I defeated the mithril golem had light magic stones installed, which lit up the tunnel.

 

“There were. But we couldn’t get any new magic stones, so we collected all the light magic stones used in the mine. And we only use them when we need to.” (Lize)

 

It goes without saying that the more resources you consume, the faster they will deplete. There was no need for them to use precious magic stones in unnecessary places.

 

That was how they had lived for three years, by being frugal and efficient.

 

I didn’t use light magic, and entered the tunnel with only the light of Lize-san’s lamp.

 

After entering the mine, I found a door after walking for a while.

 

It looked like this was a newer installation.

 

We opened the door and went inside.

 

When Lize-san touched the magic stone on the wall, the light magic stone installed on the ceiling lit up and illuminated the room.

 

“This is where we all sleep.” (Lize)

 

There were eight beds. It really seemed like a place just for sleeping.

 

Three years in this place…

 

“It must have been difficult.” (Kagali)

 

Kagali-san said what I was thinking.

 

“I was always crying and causing trouble for my father and everyone.” (Lize)

 

If she was 15 now, she was only 12 when this hell all began for her.

 

She lost her mother and loved ones, her precious things froze, and she mostly lost everything.

 

It would be strange for a 12-year-old girl not to break down from all of that.

 

No, I think even adults would break down in that situation.

 

“Everyone comforted me kindly.” (Lize)

 

Lize-san talked about those days with nostalgia.

 

I couldn’t imagine how difficult it must have been.

 

While I was not sure what to say, Kagali-san approached Lize-san and touched her hand.

 

“Kagali-chan?” (Lize)

 

“You must have cried many times. No one can blame you for that. You overcame everything and have become what you are now. You should be proud.” (Kagali)

 

“Fufu, Father told me the same thing. It feels like I’m talking to someone older when I talk to you Kagali-chan.” (Lize)

 

Well, she was right to think so.

 

After all, Kagali-san may look like a little girl, but inside she was an old woman who had lived for hundreds of years…

 

As I was thinking this to myself while looking at Kagali-san, Kagali-san turned her eyes to me.

 

“Yuna, are you thinking something strange again?” (Kagali)

 

She was also as sharp as always.

 

“I’m not thinking about anything.” (Yuna)

 

She looked at me suspiciously, so I slowly looked away.

 

“I don’t think I could have done it alone. I’ve been able to do it because I had Father and everyone else.” (Lize)

 

“But even so, that didn’t change the fact that you are still strong.” (Kagali)

 

“Thank you.” (Lize)

 

I looked at the bed. There was something like a piece of cloth sewn together. I think it was their comforter.

 

Seeing this, I put out my spare comforters on the beds.

 

“Comforters?” (Lize)

 

“Do you want to use them?” (Yuna)

 

“Can I?” (Lize)

 

Lize-san asked, touching one of the comforters.

 

“They are spares I have, so don’t worry about it.” (Yuna)

 

“Thank you.” (Lize)

 

Lize-san seemed happy about even such a small thing.

 

After renovating it to make the place more comfortable to sleep, we left the bedroom.

 

“There’s also a storehouse for storing food.” (Lize)

 

When we looked at the storehouse, there was ice and fish stored.

 

“What is this ice?” (Yuna)

 

“We brought this from the town.” (Lize)

 

“Is it okay to bring it here?” (Yuna)

 

“If it’s only in small amounts, it’s fine. We are using it to preserve food.” (Liza)

 

“Alright, I’ll leave some meat here too.” (Yuna)

 

I used magic to freeze the wolf meat so it would last longer before handing it to Lize.

 

If it were frozen, they would be able to eat it later by thawing it.

 

I made a freezer and stored the meat there.

 

Then, I made it in the shape of a bear to strengthen it.

 

I also put out the vegetables I have.

 

Maybe there weren’t any fights over resources because there weren’t many people who survived the disaster.

 

If there were more people, food, clothing, and shelter would have been a big problem.

 

Regardless of whether it was 10 people, 100 people, or 1000 people… The fewer the number, the less resources they would need.

 

If there were more people, it would not be strange for fights to break out.

 

However, if there were more people, this group would be able to accomplish more.

 

I couldn’t decide for myself if this situation was a good or a bad outcome; having only a few people survived. The events here had already happened for a while now, and I didn’t really have any knowledge about how everything played out.

 

“If there’s not enough ice, just tell me and I’ll give you some.” (Yuna)

 

“Um, then, would it be okay for me to ask you to do that now?” (Lize)

 

After nodding, I made bear ice cubes and left them there.

 

I didn’t think the bear ice cubes would melt easily.

 

Think about it, it might become similar to the ice dragon’s ice pieces.

 

“Hehe, it’s cute.” (Lize)

 

Lize-san smiled as she looked at the bear ice cubes.

 

“The foxes are cuter.” (Kagali)

 

Kagali-san competed and also made ice foxes.

 

Ice magic was supposed to be difficult to use, but Kagali-san made it look so easy.

 

“Can Kagali-chan use magic too?” (Lize)

 

“Yes.” (Kagali)

 

“But normal children…?” (Lize)

 

“I’m not like normal children, so don’t worry about it.” (Kagali)

 

Well, just like my Bear Transfer Gate, I couldn’t say much about the foxes.

 

Lize-san seemed to have sensed that something was strange about Kagali, but didn’t say anything more.

 

After leaving the storehouse, we decided to ask her to show us where the spring water was coming out.

 

“It’s complicated inside, and you might get lost, so please don’t leave my side.” (Lize)

 

The tunnel was only lit by Lize-san’s lamp.

 

It was not exactly bright.

 

I wonder if she walked through such a dark path every day with only the light of her lamp…

 

“If you get lost, look at this and find your way back.” (Lize)

 

Lize-san shined her lamp on the wall of the passage.

 

On the wall, there was a sign that said “Exit” with an arrow pointing “?.”

 

“A long time ago, I wanted to help everyone, so I tried to carry water by myself. But I got lost. All I could do was cry. But everyone came searching for me.” (Lize)

 

Everyone was kind.

 

“Then the next day, Father and his friends made this so we wouldn’t get lost.” (Lize)

 

“Everyone’s so kind.” (Yuna)

 

“Yes.” (Lize)

 

I wanted to do something to help.

 

“It’s here.” (Lize)

 

The spring was about a 10-minute walk away.

 

It was closer than I thought.

 

But 10 minutes carrying water was still a long way.

 

“If we had bamboo, we could make the water flow further.” (Kagali)

 

Not like the ones used for Nagashi Somen, though. Bamboo was used to make water flow.

 

(T/N: Nagashi Somen, meaning “flowing noodles,” is a unique and fun Japanese culinary experience where thin somen noodles are served on a water slide made of bamboo.)

 

The spring water was at about the height of Lize-san’s head.

 

It certainly seemed like we could make it flow if we made it diagonally.

 

But it didn’t have to be bamboo.

 

“Then why don’t we make it with magic?” (Yuna)

 

“That’s true.” (Kagali)

 

Kagali-san and I discussed it and then decided to make a stone tube with magic and connect it to the exit of the mine.

 

We made a tray where the spring water was coming out, and adjusted it so that water would flow from there into the stone tube we made with magic.

 

It was easy to make a tube, but it was difficult to make it slope.

 

If we raised the angle too much, the water wouldn’t flow at all, and if we lowered it too much, it wouldn’t flow further.

 

Of course, there was a way to make it flow upwards, but that would be quite troublesome to set up.

 

I attached the tubes to the wall so that the water would flow smoothly.

 

Then, after arriving at the place where the bedroom and storehouse were.

 

“Is it okay to place it around here?” (Yuna)

 

“Please put it by that wall.” (Lize)

 

At Lize-san’s instruction, Kagali-san made something like a reservoir.

 

I extended the tube so that it was linked over there.

 

Soon enough, water flowed down from the stone tube and fell into the reservoir Kagali-san made.

 

“Now we can use water whenever we want. Thank you, Yuna-san and Kagali-chan.” (Lize)

 

As we were talking, Bollard-san and the others came from outside the cave.

 

“Lize-san, what are you all making such a fuss about?” (Bollard)

 

“Yuna-san and Kagali-chan brought the spring water all the way here.” (Lize)

 

Bollard-san and the others looked at the spring water we’d drawn in amazement.

 

“And that’s not all. They’ve also made the beds and the storehouse easier to use.” (Lize)

 

Bollard-san and the others went to check immediately.

 

When they saw it, they thanked us.

---

Can’t wait to read more? Want to show your support? Click here to be a sponsor and get additional chapters ahead of time!