Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear (Chapter 75-260)

Chapter 218

Chapter 218 – Bear-san Arrives at the Elf Village

Now that she had gotten her bracelet back, Ruimin was smiling a lot more often. She had often looked quite depressed before, burdened by regret. It was good to see her laugh and smile more now.
Well, I only noticed how drastic the change was now that she was showing her natural smile; she must have been forcing herself before.

「We’ll reach the village soon.」

Ruimin said from atop Swaying Bear.

「Yeah. I never would have thought we would get here this quickly.」

Based on what they had told me before, we should reach the village today as the Bears were already running towards a large forested area.
I wasn’t sure if forest was the right word to describe the area; it almost seemed like a jungle.
Anyway, the Elf Village should be inside this forest, and if it weren’t for my Bear Map recording anywhere I went, I would surely get lost in this dense forest immediately. Even from here, all I could see was a whole lot of trees and nothing else.

In no time, the Bears reached the edge of the forest.
The road practically disappeared here. Would we have to stride right through the forest, with no path to follow at all? That made me a bit worried.

「From here, the road gets narrower, but it’s still wide enough for things like horses to pass through.」

So, a carriage wouldn’t be able to pass through, but there was enough space for someone riding a horse.
Because of this, I could no longer have the Bears run on blindly, and had Sanya-san and Ruimin lead the way from atop Swaying Bear.
As we entered, I noticed that the whole forest was completely overgrown with all sorts of plants and vines, and only a bit of light managed to pass through the leaves.

I was looking forward to seeing the village, hoping there would be interesting things to be found there, or maybe some unique foods.
Maybe someone could even teach me how to make a protective bracelet, just like the ones Ruimin and Sanya-san wore.
First, I would have to figure out how to get a gemstone like theirs. They seemed quite precious, so it might end up being an issue.
Still, if I actually managed to make one, I would definitely give it to Fina as a souvenir when I got back.

「This feels really nostalgic.」

「It has been ten years, right?」

「I’m not sure. We elves don’t really keep track of time. For me, it doesn’t feel like much time has passed.」

「It’s definitely been ten years, Onee-chan.」

「You sound like you know for sure.」

「Yeah, I do. You will understand once we get to the village.」

Ruimin didn’t explain any further, so we rode in silence for a while, eventually reaching a small river. We could easily cross it by just walking on it, but there was no need for that as there was a bridge we could take.
As soon as we crossed the bridge, however, something felt off to me.
It felt like my entire body passed through a thin membrane of magical power or something.
As I looked around restlessly, trying to find the source of the feeling, Sanya-san noticed and spoke up.

「Could it be that you felt something?」

「As soon as we crossed the bridge, I felt some weird magic-like thing pass through me.」

I answered her, telling her what it felt like. It was difficult to explain it otherwise.
I wasn’t exactly sure what a magical membrane would feel like, but this sure seemed to come close to it.

「Yuna-chan, you’re really sensitive to magic. What you felt was most likely our barrier. Most people can’t feel it when they pass through it, though.」