Chapter 53 – Strange Stone
"Hmm... it seems it's not completely dead yet. Just to be safe, we still have to do it."
The giant bear didn't react even as they got closer. Yukinoshita Yukino got the courage to lift the sharp spear in her hand.
"Hngh..."
The bear seemed to realize that something was dangerous.
It made a quiet sound, like a soft groan.
"Y-Yukinon!"
Yui jumped in surprise.
The two of them took a step back, their hearts pounding.
But aside from that little noise, the bear didn't move.
Its body was already completely paralyzed by the giant bee's venom.
"It's okay."
Yukino felt less afraid when she saw that nothing else was moving.
Even so, her hands still trembled as she held the spear.
The bear's head was swollen from the bee's sting. It was so big that it was even bigger than Yukino herself.
She took a deep breath, then slowly walked up to the giant's shoulder.
She aimed the spear at the beast's throat.
"Yukino, try aiming under its jaw, then push diagonally upward. That's the best way to kill large mammals. It should go straight through the head."
Yui, who wasn't usually known for her intelligence, suddenly made a technical suggestion.
"Upper jaw?"
Yukino looked at Yui, then pulled out the spear that had only gone through a little bit of the bear's thick fur.
"From here...stab from this direction."
Yui gritted her teeth and moved to the bear's side, her hand pointing at the monster's head to show where to attack.
She didn't understand why she had this knowledge.
"Like this?"
Yukino said this as she aimed the tip of the spear under the bear's nose.
"Yes, then stab upward, toward the top of its head."
Yui held the spear with her, helping to adjust the angle.
"Let's do it together!"
They didn't have time to wonder where Yui's knowledge came from.
The bear's body started to shake. It might get up at any moment.
Yui nodded firmly.
They used all their strength together to drive the spear through the bear's face.
Crack!
The sharp spear, aimed at the right angle, went through the bear's head and reached its brain.
"GRRHHH!"
With one last breath, the bear raised its arm, but then it collapsed.
Its claws hit the water, making waves.
"KYAA!"
Yui and Yukino were wet from the splash, but they knew for sure—the bear was truly dead.
The spear in its head was proof.
After a few seconds of silence, Yui hugged Yukino with teary eyes.
"We did it, Yukinon!"
"Yes..."
Yukino nodded, staring at the large body.
But at some point, a blue stone appeared in her hand.
"It looks like a sapphire."
She looked at it, confused.
"When did this stone appear in my hand?"
"Hey, Yukinon, what's that?"
Yui also saw the blue stone and was amazed.
"It's so pretty..."
"I don't know either."
Yukino gave the stone to Yui.
"Maybe it splashed up from the water?"
When Yukino tried to pull the spear back from the bear's head, she was surprised. What she thought would be difficult turned out to require only a bit of force, and the spear came loose.
She was not ready, and she fell back, sitting stunned as she stared at the spear now in her hand.
"Aah?"
— — —
Katō Jun and his group finally left the forest and arrived at the other side of the river, where they found a new camp.
When she saw the green meadow with a few trees, the savage girl was surprised.
It was a place she had never been to.
"Okay, next we just—eh?"
Jun stopped suddenly.
In front of him, something much more striking stretched between the two sides of the river: the body of a giant bear.
The river flowed more quickly because the creature's body was blocking the water.
"Katō-kun!"
Jun was even more shocked to see two figures standing by the bear's head. One was Yuigahama Yui, who was waving her hand in the air. The other was Yukinoshita Yukino, who was still holding the spear.
Jun felt like he was seeing a scene from a fairy tale.
Based on its body size and the wound on its left eye, this was definitely the bear he fought near the savage girl's camp, the one he attacked with arrows.
And now... the bear was dead.
"Don't tell me... you're the ones who killed it?"
Jun was shocked by what he was seeing.
Not only him, but Utaha, Ginko, and the others looked shocked, too.
They recognized this bear—the creature that nearly turned them all into food.
"You finally made it too!"
Yui and Yukino stepped over the bear's body, crossed the river, and joined them.
"It's really dead?"
Jun was shocked.
"Yes, but it took a long time. Yui and I finally finished it."
Yukino said this, sounding happy.
She looked again at the seven-meter-tall bear, which was lying still. She couldn't believe that she had actually brought it down with her own hands.
"Really?"
Jun checked Yukino's spear, then went to the bear's body to confirm. Yes, the stab wound in its head was clearly the cause of death.
"Can you two tell us more clearly about that big bear?"
"Yuigahama-san and I will explain later," Yukino replied.
Ginko and Utaha eventually accepted the reality in front of them.
But I was still curious. How could two normal girls kill such a giant monster?
Even Megumi looked at them with deep curiosity.
Yukino led the group across the bear's body to the other side of the river, toward the new camp.
There, she saw a tiny girl jumping around happily, like a child.
"Did you find another survivor?"
I asked Yui a curious question. She saw that the girl's arms were tied up with plants.
"But... why tie up such a small child?"
"Ah, that... there are many reasons."
Jun rubbed his head and looked at the girls behind him. He knew it was his job to explain things to them.
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