Chapter 41

“We’ve finally arrived…”

I wiped off the sweat from my forehead as I gazed at the pitch black forest in front of me . Next to me was Amako who was on Bluerin’s back . I was a little curious since she seemed exhausted . Amako was a beast girl, she shouldn’t be this worn out… Or at least that should be the case .

…While looking at this forest, I couldn’t help but think ‘I’ve come back’ . It was a forest that held various meanings for me . I was thrown into this forest by Rose the first time . I was launched in the sky by the Fall Boars the second time and was washed away by the river here… .

“Well come to think it, those aren’t very good memories…”

Actually, there was nothing but unpleasant ones . I really thought I would die to that gigantic snake… But when I had that stomachache for the first time, I really felt like I wanted to die . Still, this was the place where Bluerin and I first met . There weren’t a lot of good memories here but there were some that were worth experiencing .

Which reminds me…

“Bluerin, I just realized something very important…”

“Uu?”

“I don’t know the location of the cave that you lived in . ”

“Didn’t you come here because you knew where you were headed…?”

To put it bluntly, I still didn’t know the exactly where everything was in this forest . I felt a little embarrassed as I asked Bluerin… He looked at me with eyes that seemed to be looking at an idiot . After a few seconds, he gave a strong Bear Punch to my foot without holding back . Why you little… that really hurts .

While reluctant, Amako got off Bluerin’s back .

“Gufuuh~”

“Haah, Bluerin . My bad, I’ll be counting on you . ”

Bluerin displayed a ‘it can’t be helped’ look while raising his head high with arrogance . Afterwards, Bluerin started to use his nose and sniffed around . Bluerin was a Blue Grizzly that originally lived in this forest; this place was probably like a playground to him . I followed after Bluerin as he started to begin moving at a steady pace .

“This place, it really hasn’t changed . ”

“It’s my first time coming here but it’s quite the ominous place…”

“Once you get used to it, it’s not that bad . From the outside, you might only see nothing but trees everywhere . But once you’re inside, you’ll see that it’s unexpectedly bright since the sun does shine through . ”

“…That’s not really what I meant though…”

Amako replied as she stared at me with narrowed eyes . Did I say something strange?

“This forest has a dense amount of monster spirits… Humans might not be able to sense it but a beast girl like me feels tingly just by being here . ”

“Really now…”

There were also demerits for a beast kin’s sharp senses . We should quickly make Bluerin’s grave and get out of here . I might be a rough person but she was still just a child . I didn’t want her to push herself too much .

“Usato, how long did you stay here when you met Bluerin?”

“Eh? About 10 days?”

I don’t remember exactly but I felt it should be around that long .

To begin with, my objective was to take down a Grand Grizzly… Even if I wanted to go back, I couldn’t . And later on I learned from Rose that she intended for me to be beaten down by the Grand Grizzly…

“Kukuku…”

“U-usato? What’s wrong?”

Oops . I let out a dark laugh unintentionally when I remembered that unreasonable situation back then… I immediately smiled and Amako’s face cramped up from seeing the sudden change . I’ve done it now… I was used to acting like this around Senpai but Amako was just a normal child . Right, act normal…

“I really feel like good now that we’ve finally arrived in this forest! In fact, I suddenly want to blow away that Blue Grizzly over there to the skies!!”

This time, Amako moved away from Bluerin . Even if it’s me, there’s no way I could easily blow away a Blue Grizzly like that . I guess they didn’t get the joke? But even if I said that now, they might not believe me .

…I guess this was going to happen since I wasn’t used to it .

Maybe once I get a bit smarter, I’ll try thinking of other ways to get along better with children .

*

After walking inside the forest for a bit, I found a familiar marking on a tree . It was nostalgic to see the sharp lines engraved on the tree .

“I came here for the first time around one month ago… Then I got busy with the war and it feels like a lot of time has passed . ”

This mark was something that I left during my time here so I wouldn’t lose sight of my surroundings .

If I recall correctly, I made this particular marking when the Grand Grizzly was nearby .

“Well, let’s go . ”

“Gwah…”

Bluerin gave a cry lower than usual .

“You feel uneasy?”

I stroked Bluerin’s head as he stared at the cave he originally lived in . After bringing down that snake, I carried his parents over to this cave and left with Bluerin… He probably didn’t want to look at them with his own eyes .

It was extremely sudden and Bluerin probably couldn’t keep up with what was happening… He simply directed his resent at that snake and went straight towards it—

—He was fighting to die .

“They’re your parents, right? That’s why you have to give a proper farewell, you fool . You’re my partner, you’ll be going on a journey with me to save Amako’s mother . Therefore, you should settle this matter so time starts moving for you again…”

I learned a bit from seeing the funeral for the fallen soldiers in the battle we recently had . I was thinking various things like how I lacked power to protect people but… I thought that I should first save the people who need my help .

I could probably help those scary fellows back at the Rescue Squad but somehow I felt unpleasant at the thought of it . As for Rose…? I would die . Thinking along those lines, I was thinking of helping Bluerin to get over the death of his parents . It might be a bit late to start thinking like this now but I’m not complaining because I had high potential for this .

“Guruah—!”

Bluerin took a step forward while howling out . Without hesitation, Bluerin continued forward with reassurance as I followed after him… But it seemed that Amako was staring at me like she had something to say to me .

“…You… really will save my mother…”

“Eh?”

She didn’t believe in me?

While feeling a little hurt from her words, I turned to faced Amako who was in the opposite direction from where Bluerin was walking .

“Sorry . . It’s not like I don’t believe in you or anything… I just felt that things were going too well that I couldn’t believe it was really happening…”

“Ah, that’s what you meant . ”

She hasn’t met a healer like me until now . I only knew types like Rose and Orga-san so I didn’t know a whole lot .

Given this chance to talk, I might as well ask .

“What are the other healers like?”

“I don’t think it’d be very interesting to hear about though…?”

“…Please tell me about them . ”

Amako hesitated but I really did want to hear . I didn’t know what a normal healing magician was like .

That reminds me, Tong talked about them for a bit when I first came into the Rescue Squad… The healers didn’t have a very good reputation in this world .

“There is one healer in the country next to Lyngle Kingdom, the Magic City Luquis . ”

“Magic City…?”

“It’s an academy that cultivates magic . It’s like Lyngle Kingdom where everyone is from the same place . . Different people from each nation come to this academy . ”

“…I guess it’s something like exchange students? Amako, you’re enrolled there?”

“I snuck in . It was quite easy… I used my foresight to find a hole in the guard’s patrols . ”

This was quite the aggressive child . While the courage needed to jump out alone to save her mother is amazing, her ability to take action when needed isn’t normal . Coupling this with her special power, she might be invincible as a spy . “The human that I met was harassed and bullied . Even though being in the Magic City meant that their abilities were evaluated quite highly along with it being a scarce magic attribute… To the humans, it was something just slightly unusual…”

“…Even though this magic can cure poison and heal wounds… it was just something slightly unusual?”

“The magic was still ‘useful’ for healing wounds . However, most magicians don’t fight against enemies with poison . ”

I’m guessing that it wasn’t something necessary . Also from what I remember… no matter what attribute you had you would be able to use magic to heal yourself . This was why the healing magic attribute seemed useless as they were only slightly better at healing .

“Well, aren’t they aware that healing magic can also be used to cure diseases to a certain extent?”

“…There aren’t many healers who can do that… It seems that even without relying on magic, there are doctors to cure illnesses . That’s why this isn’t regarded as something highly important . ”

“There are even doctors in this world…”

I haven’t tried curing an illness myself but I remembered the scene I witnessed when I visited Orga-san’s clinic . He applied a high concentration of magical power and coated the entire patient’s body . The healing magic penetrated and restored the patient’s health .

It was different from healing a wound or poison . These types of injuries came from an external source while an illness came from the body itself .

“There’s also a place where demi-humans and beast kin commute . I hear that it was quite dangerous unless you had some considerable ability… One of the beast kin helped me out once while I was there . However, they immediately left afterwards…”

“I see… So the person who can use healing magic is that person?”

“…They’re not someone who would listen to you at all… I used my foresight and they wouldn’t even look at me, let alone help me . ”

“Haah, that’s quite something…”

No matter which world it was, there would always be people that were being bullied . They were thinking that there was no value in their only strength of healing magic… It might be better to let them see Rose so she can deliver a punch to them .

—That person would only need one month to transform a bullied kid into a different healer .

While I was going through the nostalgic training I went through with Rose in my head, Bluerin stopped walking . Something rustled in the bush in front of Bluerin . In response, Bluerin barked .

“Guruah!”

“What’s wrong?”

…Looking closely, wasn’t this the bush I used to observe the Grand Grizzly? Without time to confirm my question, Bluerin jumped into the bush . Amako and I followed along, leading us to a spacious area .

It was the cave where Bluerin was born and raised . It was also where his parents laid dead . It should’ve been a cave without an owner but Bluerin was glaring within the depths of the cave .

I didn’t understand the situation until the creatures inside showed themselves .

“Guru…”

“Guruah…!”

It was two Blue Grizzlies, were they a couple? They came out from Bluerin’s home . For the moment, I stood in front of Amako as I applied a healing coating onto her . I prepared myself to run at any time as well . They seemed to be a bigger species than Bluerin . If we couldn’t run away… I would have no choice but to be their opponent .

“Bluerin, calm down . ”

I tried calling out to Bluerin but he showed no signs of backing down . The Blue Grizzlies on the other side were cautious and treated me as a threat . I wasn’t scared but it would be bad if they attacked Amako . Although I wasn’t sure of what would happen since I couldn’t see the future .

After another moment of staring down at each other from opposite sides—  The two big Blue Grizzlies seemed to be frightened as they looked at me and slowly retreated backwards .

Nnn…?

“Usato, those Blue Grizzlies are afraid . ”

“Afraid?”

Did I do something that would make them afraid? I didn’t have a face like Tong’s, my face was just ordinary and nothing special . Don’t tell me… I’ve obtained an aura like Rose’s that oppresses everything around me?

To think I would be able to scary something like a Blue Grizzly away… I thought I would die from the two times I’ve met a Blue Grizzly . The first time was Bluerin’s mother and the second time was with Inukami-senpai when we got washed away…

“Maybe… They were the Blue Grizzlies we injured?”

Come to think of it, one of the Blue Grizzlies looks like the one I tackled . The size and form is similar too . If this is the case, it makes sense that they’re scared .

For now, I slightly swung my hand to see what would happen . . They backed up even further .

…Just how scared were they?

“……!”

“Stop it, Usato . They’re very frightened . ”

Was she mad at me just now?

While I felt it was a little unreasonable, I looked as Bluerin and the two Blue Grizzlies started talking with each other with cries . After this exchanged went by many times, I stood up since I had no idea what they were talking about .

They continued conversing for about a few more minutes . Afterwards, the two Blue Grizzlies stopped talking and seemed to lower their guards towards Bluerin .

…I wonder if they reached a resolution .

“It seems like it’s over . Bluerin isn’t angry anymore . ”

“I envy you . You can understand his feelings as a beast kin . ”

It was a skill that Inukami-senpai would want for sure . The two Blue Grizzlies came closer but were still vigilant . Was Bluerin introducing me?

Bluerin was still the Boss of this forest in a sense, with him being the son of the Grand Grizzly . Maybe that’s why he was able to persuade these two Blue Grizzlies . But I wonder what Bluerin would explain to these two that were afraid of me . I got the feeling that they were even more afraid of me than before .

“Usato, just what did you do?”

“What I did was normal… I tackled one of them and they lost conscious . ”

“A normal human wouldn’t be able to ram a Blue Grizzly and cause them to faint, you know . ”

Once again, Amako drew away further from me even though Inukami-senpai didn’t react to this . If I told her that I only made the Blue Grizzly unconscious and it wasn’t that amazing, she might pull away again .

I felt like my common sense with this world was different . In a world with sword and magic, shouldn’t there be plenty of people who could do this much?

“Haah… At any rate, let’s make the grave . ”

“……Guruh . ”

I took down the rucksack on my back as I said that and Bluerin responded with a nod .

*

“Alright . ”

Erecting the grave was a lot easier than I thought . Since I was just a high school student, there was no way I could make a real grave . I just made a simple one . I took two plank boards and formed a cross with them . I took the grave and stuck it on the hill near the cave along with a large number of fruits .

Leaving these as an offering, I kneeled before the grave .

Grand Grizzly, I told was by Rose to defeat you but in the end I wasn’t able to . I was only able to run around the forest until it got dark .

“…I really wanted to beat you down . ”

“Just what are you saying?”

“Guruah…”

You guys… aren’t you getting along a little too well?

Bluerin was staring at the grave until now, he must’ve already bid farewell . Even though this cross was a substitute, Bluerin understood it was his parent’s graves . For this reason—

“Kuah . ”

“Nn?”

A mysterious paw appeared at my feet . A Blue Grizzly that was a lot younger than Bluerin was playfully gnawing at my leg while lightly scratching at my feet with their paws . What’s with this child? So cute . It’s not like I had a weakness for cute things but I couldn’t help but have my heart be stolen by this small mascot-like blue bear .

I lifted the little cub up as gently as possible . However, one of the Blue Grizzlies returned from the cave and started crying out .

I suspect that this cub was the child of the two Blue Grizzlies from before . I didn’t want any unnecessary arguments so I let down the little blue cub and urged it to go back to its parents .

“Alright, there . ”

“Kuah?”

“Good grief, it would’ve been really bad if I was Inukami-senpai . ”

Although, Inukami-senpai was already really bad alone . Silently thinking so, I saw the Blue Grizzly parent urging their child to come back . The cub started to slowly walk back .

“There’s another Blue Grizzly cub here too . ”

Amako’s voice came from inside the cave and walked out . The other Blue Grizzly parent followed behind her along with another Blue Grizzly cub that seemed to be slightly bigger .

“They returned to the earth and resurrected again as a new life . ”

“Rather than resurrected, it should be that they were born . ”

“Certainly, you’re right . ”

Bluerin’s parents were born again but they were two different existences . There were a number of lines from books I’ve read to describe this scene but one thing I could say for sure was that I felt I’ve made the right choice . While I felt deeply moved, Bluerin was sitting there and watching the small blue bears with sad eyes .

“Let’s go back, Bluerin . ”

“… . Gauh . ”

We stood up and after giving one last glance back at the cave, we walked away . With this, Bluerin should have no more regrets… Probably . I wasn’t confident but maybe Bluerin wanted to live there with the other Blue Grizzlies in that cave .

It probably wasn’t a fun journey for Amako who tagged along . We basically came and made a grave for Bluerin’s parents . We also met two Blue Grizzlies along with their cubs .

“Amako, it wasn’t all that interesting, right?”

“Nope, I’m glad I came . I know what kind of person you are now, Usato . ”

Me, huh . Maybe she doubted me… . Well, the problem now was how to get back . I remember the way but whether I wasn’t sure if we could get back before it got dark .

The sun was close to setting, we had to hurry .

“Usato, am I riding on Bluerin on the way back?”

“Eh? Would that be too much?”

“… . . ”

She was unexpectedly silent as we came here, I didn’t think Bluerin’s back was that uncomfortable . If that’s the case, what should I do?

“… . Should I carry you instead?”

“That’s… I don’t want that . ”

She immediately turned away as she said that . I might’ve been able to accept it if an adult turned me away at the offer but a girl who seemed to be 14 years old rejected me .

If it was Inukami-senpai, she would have taken a lot of damage . That person really doesn’t hold back . Although I think that’s also one of her good points .

“I was the one who said I would tag along, I’ll get on Bluerin . ”

“Then let’s get back before it gets too late . ”

It’ll be fine even if I get back a bit late . I’ll just be yelled at a bit . Amako felt a bit reserved as she rode on Bluerin’s back . She seemed to be spacing out as she stared into the sky .

I didn’t notice it until now but she was probably looking into the future right now . She was probably seeing if it was dangerous to get on Bluerin right now .

Looking at her, various feeling sprung up .

“Other countries…”

Amako went to various countries . Places that were different from Lyngle Kingdom… What would I do and how would I face these countries? Should I hide the fact that I was a healing magician? Do I hide the fact that I’m a person from a different world? Or do I conceal nothing at all and head straight in…?

“What’ll happen will happen I guess . ”

The people who look down on healing magic, I’ll just tell them otherwise . I won’t lose sight of my goal as I had a duty . Amako who saved Senpai and Kazuki… She asked me to cure her mother . I definitely can’t betray that .

Which was why I’ll save your mother as repayment for saving my friends…

…Well, I was thinking of all this but… In the end, that decision would be left to King Lloyd .