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Armored Bear
「Nina, please stay with Yukishiro and Yukinko over here. Don’t come out no matter what, until I say it’s okay, alright?」
「U, un. Okay」
Nina nods despite her slightly tense expression and hugs Yukishiro and Yukinko.
After confirming that, I teleport outside the secret base.
My vision warps and twists, and the next moment, I find myself in a sunlit forest from the secret base.
The moment I realize this, I sense something charging ahead toward me from the front.
「Teleport!」
I immediately teleport away to take some distance from that spot without checking the details of the sound.
Snow crunches beneath my feet as I land and turn around to look at the creature charging at me.
It was a large bear, with light brown fur and pitch-black hardened armor.
「Armored Bear, huh!」
I’ve seen the subjugation request for this monster on the Adventurer’s Guild bulletin board.
It’s a large bear monster over 3 meters in size. It’s a dangerous monster that requires a party of B-rank adventurers to subjugate, as it has absurd physical strength, combined with its hardened armor on its body.
It goes without saying that a monster with an aggressive personality
Truly a ferocious monster, as it came attacking as soon as I stepped out of the secret base.
I’ve never heard of a dangerous monster coming out of the forest in the Howling Village’s vicinity, but it might have come out from deep within the forest due to the decrease in food sources during winter.
It was the correct decision for Nina to stay inside the secret base without coming out carelessly.
It will probably attack her gleefully if she shows herself and tries to escape.
The Armored Bear glares at me while growling, but I can remain surprisingly calm.
This is probably because of my experiences as an adventurer after subjugating monsters such as Harpy, Unil, Ebira Monkey, and Akariris.
I don’t get scared even when facing a monster with a far larger body size than mine.
The Armored Bear moves its four limbs and charges at me while kicking up snow.
It’s a reckless thought to face an Armored Bear - a monster with terrible
power - with its hardened armor, all by yourself from the front. Even the
active adventurers in the royal capital say so, so it’s probably the truth.
However, I have Space Magic.
It doesn’t matter how huge their size is or even how hard their armor is.
As long as there’s ‘Space’, it doesn’t matter how strong their physical body is.
「Space Slash」
I cast Space Magic at the Armored Bear charging at me.
Space splits open from the side, and the living creature in that space is also affected.
As a result, the Armored Bear’s body is cut into two parts, falling on the snow while blood sprays all over and its entrails scatter around.
After confirming that the Armored Bear has stopped moving, I store it in my subspace.
I can’t possibly let Nina - who grew up in the village - to see such a shocking scene.
Although the red snow that was stained with blood gives off a bad feeling, Nina can probably handle something like this.
After confirming there are no other monsters around, I head to the secret base and call out to her.
「Nina, it’s fine now」
「Really?」
「Yeah, I’ve defeated the monster outside, so Yukishiro and Yukinko will also be safe after this」
Nina comes out of the secret base, bringing Yukishiro and Yukinko after I answer like that.
She looks around - looking scared - and then she let out 「Uwaa…..」 when she sees the red snow and looks a little taken aback.
Yukishiro and Yukinko must have also sensed that the Armored Bear is no longer around. They are running around as if rejoicing to be outside after a long time.
Seeing those two creatures, Nina and I can’t help but smile.
「Now, let’s go back to the village. Andre-san and Stella-san are worried」
「……un」
I want to play around with Yukishiro and Yukinko, but we can’t let Andre and Stella- who go around to look and wait in their house for Nina - to worry more than this.
After saying goodbye to Yukishiro and Yukinko, I teleport back to my house with Nina using Teleport.
●
「Kureto-san, did you find Nina?」
As soon as I knock on the door, Stella immediately opens the window and asks.
Stella’s appearance has become more haggard, perhaps it’s because she has been waiting for a long time and it is now evening. You can tell how worried she was from waiting.
「……okaasan」
「Nina!」
Stella finally smiles in surprise and relief after seeing Nina move her body behind me so Stella can see her.
And just when it looks like she’s about to cry, she bites her lip and waves her hand, as though she's bringing her emotion back to normal.
A sharp, dry smacking strikes Nina’s cheek.
「Where have you been until this late hour! Do you know how worried I was !」
Being slapped on her cheek, Nina apologizes through her tears while Stella hugs her.
I’ve never seen Stella hit Nina even once, so I got completely dumbfounded by the scene, but considering Nina’s rash action this time, I guess it’s natural for her to be angry.
「Kureto-san, thank you very much for finding my daughter」
「No, rather than that, I think Andre-san is also worried as he is looking around for her so is it okay to activate the magic tool?」
I don’t know where Andre has gone to look for Nina, so we probably should quickly send the signal to the sky to tell him that Nina is already back home.
「Ah, that’s right. Umm, is it like this?」
She points her left arm - equipped with the magic tool - to the sky, and presses the switch, then a magic circle appears as a Fireball launches skyward.
Once the Fireball shoots high in the sky, it makes a loud bang as it explodes.
「Now Andre-san should notice it and return home」
As I mutter like that, I hear someone shouting from afar 「Uuooohhh!!! Ninnaaaa!」and Andre rushing back.
Err, that’s too fast considering the Fireball just launched into the sky.
I want to make that retort, but I stop myself when I see Andre with his bloodshot eyes.
「Nina! Are you okay!」
「Otousan! It hurts!」
「Dear! You’re hurting Nina!」
「I, I’m sorry!」
Andre tightly hugs Nina while shouting, but Stella scolds him pretty seriously, causing him to look dejected. It’s the result of his love for his daughter that she behaved recklessly.
Even so, the fact that he still hugs Nina shows how doting a parent he is.
Moments like this are exactly what make it Andre’s family who they are, and I genuinely feel relieved that Nina is back safely.
「Dear, it was Kureto-san who found Nina」
「Oooh! Is that so! Thank you for finding Nina, Kureto」
「Don’t mention it, it was really dangerous so I’m glad she’s safe」
「Dangerous? …..Kureto-san, what exactly happened to Nina?」
Stella is smiling gently, but she looks startled after hearing what I said.
Andre is the same, he has an expression as if saying 「Explain」.
「U, umm, I’ll say it」
Just when I’m troubled about how to explain it, Nina timidly begins to speak.
At first, the two of them are listening quietly, but then Stella’s expression turns stern after hearing that Nina had gone into the forest alone.
And when the story turns into the part where the Armored Bear appears, blood drains from the two’s faces, and then they look greatly relieved when they hear that I finally meet with Nina and kill the Armored Bear.
「To think you would enter the forest alone……」
「That Armored Bear is a monster that needs a party of B-rank adventurers to defeat, isn’t it? It’s surprising enough that you can defeat not just wild boar, but such a terrifying monster like that」
The amazing one is not me, but magic. It’s all thanks to Space Magic.
「I thought I would just look for Nina - who has been playing out and late in coming back - and bring her back home but I never thought it would turn out like this either….」
Stella and Andre are stunned by the series of unexpected events.
It seems like they didn’t realize Nina had been trapped inside the cave and could not move because of the Armored Bear.
「Truly, thank you for saving Nina!」
「Thank you very much!」
Andre and Stella bow deeply to me, a step behind them, Nina also bows.
I become flustered when the important people who have been taking care of me bow their heads to me.
「Please raise your head! It’s natural to help people who have taken care of you when they're in trouble!」
「No, you normally won’t risk your life to save others, right?」
「To me Andre-san, Stella-san, and Nina are all like my family already」
Stella cries out 「Oh my!」 when I honestly tell them my mind and covers her mouth with her hand, smiling happily.
For me, it’s all thanks to Nina, Andre, and Stella.
It’s because of these 3 people that I want to live here. It’s like being in my parents’ home, so to speak.I can’t imagine life without them. There’s no choice but to help them when they are in trouble.
Even without Space Magic, I would find a way to help Nina somehow.
「Kureto is so straightforward as always. Well, you know, that. We also think of you as family」
「Yes. You’re like a family to us, and a reliable neighbor too」
「Un! Kureto is a family member, you know!」
It seems that Andre and his family also think of me as their family. Those words fill my chest with warmth.
「Thank you」
I don’t have a lot of friends due to my poor socializing skills in my previous world, but in this new world, I met people who are like family to me, even though we are not related by blood at all. This makes me very happy.
「Hey, Nina. How about giving that to Kureto as a thank-you gift?」
「Un!」
Nina begins to smile after Stella tells him that, and she enters the house.
Then, she immediately comes out.
She seems to be holding something and hiding it behind her back, it’s hard to tell.
「Kureto, crouch down and close your eyes!」
Nina brightly smiles as she says it so I crouch down to meet her eye level and close my eyes.
In the pitch-black darkness, I feel something like a soft cloth being wrapped around my neck.
「You can open your eyes now!」
Opening my eyes after receiving her permission, I see Nina happily smiling at me.
Gingerly touching my neck, there’s a blue knitted wool scarf.
「A scarfー?」
「Un. Okaasan taught me and I’ve been working on it little by little」
「Is that so? So this is the reason you visit less frequently during winter, huh」
「Sorry to make you worry, okay? I wanted to surprise Kureto」
Did she stop visiting because she hates me? I had such thoughts before, but I’m relieved that it’s just my misunderstanding.
「Thank you, Nina. It’s really warm」
「Ehehe」
Nina smiles bashfully when I thank her.
The handmade scarf made by Nina feels really good to the touch.
The good quality of the item makes me realize that they bought the materials when Emilio Company came to visit during the Harvest Festival.
So she’d been planning all along and took over such a long time to make it?
This is the first time I’ve ever received a handmade scarf.
Although she’s far younger than me, receiving something from a girl is nice.
「Kureto, come here for a moment. Your scarf is slightly off」
I lean closer once more as Nina tells me to, and I feel something like soft lips touching my cheek.
「Eh?」
「This is my thanks! Thank you for saving me!」
Smiling with flushed cheeks, Nina ran back to her house as though to hide her embarrassment.
Outside, Stella looks strangely happy while Andre and I are watching all that in blank amazement.
「Aaaaahhh! Nooo! Even if you saved her life, marrying off Nina is another matter entirely!」
「Err, I don’t intend to take Nina as my bride, you know. How many years do you think the age gap is between us?」
「Whaat!? Are you saying you don’t like my Nina!?」
「Aagh, this is such a hassle!」
Despite being fed up with Andre’s frenzied anger, I nevertheless patiently try to calm him down. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
Author Note : The next chapter will be the last chapter.
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