Bear-san, Gives Fina’s Present: The Desert Experience
The next stop is the desert city, Dezerto.
“Fina, it’s your first time visiting the city in the desert, right?” (Yuna)
I have taken Fina to almost every place where a bear gate is located, but I have never taken her to Dezerto.
There wasn’t any chance to take her with me since I’d been quite busy.
“Yes. It’s my first time there, so I’m looking forward to it.” (Fina)
Fina replies with a smile.
Initially reserved, she seems to enjoy her excursion with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear. Even now, Swaying Bear cub is in Fina’s arms. Hugging Bear cub, whom Ruimin has not seen in a long time, is in her arms.
Seeing Shuri letting them have the bears made me smile.
“Now then, please do as we discussed.” (Yuna)
And since the place we are going to is in a bit of a special place, I asked everyone to do as I say a bit.
“We’re going to pretend we went through the hot desert.” (Fina)
“And we know nothing about the bear gate.” (Ruimin)
We may have to talk about how hot the desert is with Karina and Balima-san. I don’t want to get in trouble.
As a prop, I have also prepared cloaks with water magic stones attached. It was purchased in the royal capital. Wearing this is an appeal to the people who have crossed the desert.
“But is it so hot that you need to wear a cloak like this?” (Fina)
“It’s hot.” (Yuna)
“Is it hotter than the sea?” (Shuri)
When I answered Fina’s question, Shuri asked me this time.
“It’s probably the hottest place you’ll ever know.” (Yuna)
“But I’ve never seen a desert before, so I can’t imagine it. It’s all sand, isn’t it?” (Shuri)
Indeed, it may be difficult to imagine with words alone.
Even if I have never been there, I can easily see it in my former world through images and videos. But in this world, I can only convey them through words and drawings.
“There’s no grass, no trees.” (Yuna)
There are only cacti.
“I can’t imagine it either. But you have been there before, haven’t you, Grandpa?” (Ruimin)
“Indeed, a long time ago. It’s a harsh place to live in.” (Mumroot)
“But thanks to you, Mumroot-san, and your friends, a lake was formed and many people are now living there.” (Yuna)
It allowed people to live there and made it easier for them to travel back and forth between countries.
Ruimin looks at Mumroot-san in admiration.
“But I think once you experience living in that desert, your energy will be sapped to nothing pretty quickly.” (Mumroot)
Indeed, the desert is different from ordinary places.
Well, I know that because I have been to the desert once and experienced how hot it was when I took off my bear hood to try it out.
That was back then when I did not know how difficult it was to survive in the desert.
If someone were to ask me about Antarctica or the North Pole, I think I could only say that it’s cold.
After all, the weight of the words coming out of one’s mouth is different if one has not experienced it.
So, after receiving Mumroot-san’s words, I decided to let Fina, Shuri, and Ruimin, who had never seen the desert, experience the desert a bit.
“Well then, let’s go and see the desert for a bit. It’s hot, so wear the cloak properly. And if you’re thirsty, drink water.” (Yuna)
Like a teacher leading a group of students, I do some safety checks.
I have detection skills. Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear are also there, so we won’t get lost, but just in case.
“Un, I’m okay.” (Shuri)
“Yes, I’ve got it.” (Fina)
I confirmed that everyone is wearing a cloak with water magic stones attached.
I opened the gateway to the desert. I open the door to the bear gate near the town of Callus.
“It’s pitch black.” (Fina)
“I can’t see anything.” (Ruimin)
“Yuna-oneechan, it’s dark, and I can’t see anything~” (Shuri)
The bear gate was built inside a big rock, so no light could come in from the outside. Therefore, it was pitch black beyond the opened door of the bear gate.
I casted light magic to make it brighter. Then I moved to the rock wall and made a hole big enough for a person to pass through. Sunlight entered the rock.
It looks like another clear day.
I took Fina and the others and went outside.
The surrounding area is full of rocky boulders. That’s why I hid the bear gate here.
“Is this the desert?” (Fina)
“I’m not sure if it starts here. Let’s get on Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear and move a bit.” (Yuna)
I plugged the hole in the big rock that we came out of and returned Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, which Fina and Ruimin were holding, to their normal size. I, Fina, and Shuri rode on Swaying Bear, while Mumroot-san and Ruimin rode on Hugging Bear.
With Fina and Shuri’s small bodies, I can ride together with them, but when they get bigger, will I be able to?
With such worries about the future, we started moving while riding on Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.
After moving for a while, the rocky boulders disappeared and the area was covered with sand.
Everyone got off Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear and checked the sand under their feet.
“It’s true, there’s nothing but sand.” (Ruimin)
“It’s hot.” (Fina)
Ruimin looks off into the distance and Fina touches the sand at her feet.
“How can anyone live in a place like this?” (Ruimin)
Ruimin asks while looking at the empty desert.
“I don’t think it’s possible in this condition. But thanks to Mumroot-san and his friends, a lake was created in the desert and a place where people can live there. Now it’s an important town where people come and go between countries.” (Yuna)
“Grandpa, you’re amazing!” (Ruimin)
Mumroot-san looks happy when his granddaughter praises him.
“But Yuna-oneechan. It’s hot even with this cape on.” (Shuri)
Shuri looked at me, feeling the heat. Sweat was floating on her forehead.
“Shuri, did you touch the magic stone in the cloak properly?” (Yuna)
I wiped the sweat off Shuri’s forehead with a handkerchief, put my hand inside Shuri’s cloak, and touched the magic stone.
“Ah~, it’s getting a little cooler.” (Shuri)
Apparently, the water magic stone in the cloak wasn’t working correctly.
When you touch the water magic stone attached to the cloak, the magic line sewn into the cloak cools your body.
If her cloak isn’t functioning properly, it’s no wonder she feels hot.
“Even so, Yuna-san, isn’t it really hot in that outfit?” (Ruimin)
Ruimin looks at my bear outfit.
Fina and Shuri knew how I was in the town of Mereera under the blazing sun dressed as a bear, so they were not worried about it anymore. But to Ruimin, it seemed odd for her to see me wearing a sweltering bear outfit in the scorching desert.
“It’s okay. It’s the same structure as that cloak, so it’s comfortable.” (Yuna)
No matter where I go, the temperature remains the same, which is excellent.
And it’s difficult to care for the people around me because I don’t know if they feel cold or hot.
“So that’s how it is. But it’s sweltering without this cloak.” (Ruimin)
Ruimin removes the hood on her cloak to make sure.
“Don’t take it off for too long, or you’ll get sunburned.” (Yuna)
As soon as I warned her, Shuri, trying to imitate Ruimin by taking off her hood, hurriedly put on her hood.
“I don’t want pain.” (Shuri)
“What’s a sunburn?” (Ruimin)
Ruimin asks while putting on her hood.
Perhaps the elves who live in the forest don’t know about getting tan? Or maybe the white beautiful skin of the elves does not tan?
“Simply put, the heat of the sun burns your skin and makes it sore or something?” (Yuna)
I don’t think she’d understand even if I told her about ultraviolet rays and many other details, so I explained it to her in a way that’s easy to understand.
“The heat of the sun?” (Ruimin)
?”:Ruimin looks at the sun while covering her eyes with her hands.
“Better not look at the sun directly.” (Yuna)
“Even though it’s so far away, it can burn?” (Ruimin)
“It won’t happen right away, but if you’re under the hot sun for a long time, you’ll get sunburn and your skin will sting.” (Yuna)
“It hurt a lot when I took a bath.” (Shuri)
Shuri told Ruimin about her experiences.
However, while it looks healthier to be tanned, tanning too much is also not good for the future.
I imagined a tanned Ruimin.
A dark Ruimin.
Would she become a dark elf?
Perhaps the dark elves were just tanned elves.
This may be the moment when a new dark elf theory was born.
“Yuna-san. What’s wrong with you, staring at my face?” (Ruimin)
“It’s nothing.” (Yuna)
I took the liberty of imagining it and stared at Ruimin.
“But how far does this sandy land go?” (Fina)
“It’s like it takes forever.” (Ruimin)
I don’t know how wide, but I’m pretty sure it’s vast.
“Yuna-oneesan, what are those sticks in the distance?” (Fina)
Fina pointed to a pillar in the distance.
“It’s a signpost to the city.” (Yuna)
“So there’s still some left.” (Mumroot)
Mumroot-san looks at the pillars nostalgically.
“Was it already there when you came here, Mumroot-san?” (Yuna)
“It wasn’t there when we came here. We made it.” (Mumroot)
It was at that moment when a new fact came to light.
“When the lake was created, we made it so that no one would get lost. Even if there’s a lake, if you can’t get there, then it’s meaningless.” (Mumroot)
If there were history textbooks, Mumroot-san’s name would be recorded in them.
But still, knowing that Mumroot-san was the one who created it, was profoundly moving.
“Well then, let’s go back to the bear, gate then go to Dezerto city.” (Yuna)
We can’t stay here forever. All three have experienced the heat and seen the sights of the desert. That should be enough.
“Are we not going to ride Swaying Bear-chan and Hugging Bear-chan like this?” (Shuri)
Shuri asks while stroking Hugging Bear.
“It’s kinda far away.” (Yuna)
We have the convenient bear gate. There’s no way not to use it.
And even if we have Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, I don’t want to travel through the desert with children.
The temperature change might make you sick, and there are monsters. Above all, moving around in the desert is a hassle.
“If possible, I’d like to move through Bear-san gate. Even with this cloak, it’s too hot.” (Ruimin)
“That’s right. if we could move through that gate it would be a great help.” (Mumroot)
The two elves have asked me to use the bear’s transition gate to get around. Especially Mumroot-san. He has experienced crossing the desert, so I think he knows how hard it is even more.
“Shuri, don’t be selfish.” (Fina)
“Un, I’m sorry.” (Shuri)
When Fina persuaded Shuri, Shuri apologized without any further selfishness.
Well, maybe Shuri just wanted to get around on Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.
We returned to the rock where the bear gate was hidden near the town of Callus. On our way back, I turned back Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear into cubs.
However, when we returned to the place where there was a rock pile, we could not figure out which rock had the bear gate. But Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear led us to the front of the rock without getting lost.
They are terrific kids.
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Author’s Note:
I was contemplating where to go next, the Land of Harmony or Dezerto city, but it turned out to be Dezerto.
※ As always, thanks to everyone who has reported typos. I am not able to reply, so I will leave this here.
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