Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear (くまクマ熊ベアー)

Once upon a time there lived a little girl in a little town.

She loved her mother very much, but her mother grew very sick,

so she ventured out to gather herbs for her in the forest.

Unfortunately, the forest was full of scary

monsters and the girl was attacked by a ravenous

pack of them. I'm sorry, mom, she cried.

I won't be able to get you those medicinal herbs after all.

Suddenly, a heroic bear appeared out of nowhere

and saved the girl with a mighty swipe of its paw.

You're not going to eat me. The girl asked.

Oh, gross, said the bear. The girl

went on to explain why she came to the forest to begin with.

Much to her surprise, the friendly bear

carried the girl on its fluffy back

and took her to a place with

lots of herbs, perfect for the picking.

She could make plenty of medicine for her

mother with the treasure trove they found.

Once the girl's basket was filled to the brim,

the bear took her back to town.

Thank you for your help today, Miss Bear, the girl exclaimed.

She smiled and waved at the bear

until it returned to the forest. She just smiled and waved.

Not too shabby for my first ever picture book story, right?

I. Hmm. You confused? Did you forget

our last trip to the royal capital?

We got that letter in the mail from Princess Flora.

So we paid her a little visit.

Well, she really liked that picture book I made for her.

And now she wants to know what happens in part two.

I just got to figure out what to draw.

Fun fact I modeled the Missy after Fiona,

but I know how shy the real Fiona is,

so bear in mind this picture book is our little secret haha.

I finished harvesting today's Hall of Monsters. Hey! Atta girl! Fiona. Babe.

Huh? Is something wrong? No, nothing at all.

Miss Bear. Hey, I love her. She's like the bestest bear ever.

Still in the usual getup, huh? Uh, you want a roasted skewer?

Later on, I'll say one for you.

There's something you want to share. Giggles.

You've just gotten so popular. I'm glad that you're so beloved.

Huh? What's beloved is my costume. It stands

out way more than I do.

Three of our signature. Here's your piping hot pizza.

Yay! Pancakes, huh? Oh! Now. That's good.

These new honey soaked pancakes are one

of the yummiest things I've ever had. And the pear.

Shape is absolutely darling. Mm.hmm spoonfuls of

sinfully sweet honey drizzled over thick,

fluffy pancakes is a treat that can't be beat.

But, uh, I could do without the bear shape. Why?

The bear shape is what makes them

so cute. Why? I. Uh, more.

Importantly, why are you here? Shari? Mommy

brought me here for some lunch time. Then mom's also here.

And it looks like she has Miss Marlene in tow,

too. It's a straight up party.

I would call it a luncheon before a party,

but something besides food is on our minds.

What she means by that is there's trouble. Yeah.

What kind of trouble are we talking the business kind.

We won't be able to serve all

the wonderful items on our menu that use honey soon,

so enjoy those while you can, huh? Hmm. Yummy.

It's all over your face. Big girls

don't get this messy when they eat.

We aren't doing this by choice, but because the price

of honey is through the roof.

What made it so expensive? An unforeseen problem occurred.

The source of our supply. And now

trade of it has ceased completely.

We can either stop selling dishes with

honey or drastically raise their price.

Since it's such a hassle to get.

And you're saying those are really our only options.

Which is why this is presenting such a dilemma.

Our honey plates are so beloved, especially by all the children.

I'm so fluffy. Be ashamed to take them off the menu.

It would be quite the travesty if kids

in town couldn't get their fill of honey anymore.

So what's the problem that occurred at the source of the supply?

A group of monsters. They've nested right by the bee tree,

making it impossible for workers to get

close enough to collect any honey.

Dumb move. Who'd want a nest near a beehive?

No, I specifically said a bee tree. Miss Yuna.

Say what? You sure the hive isn't like in the tree?

Wait. You really don't know how bees operate?

When nectar collecting types gather, they do

so around a single gigantic tree,

creating a nest that's home to hundreds of thousands of bees.

Holy swarms of insects.

That concept kind of wigs me out.

Monsters aside, isn't it hard to get

honey from that many things that can sting you?

They're actually a quite docile species.

Huh? So what? Monsters are posing the threat?

The beekeepers report said that it was orcs causing the hold up.

The Adventurer's Guild has the request posted,

but there's no telling when someone will take it on.

As you well know. Orcs, huh?

Okay, wait. Are you. I'm going to find

out more at the Adventurer's Guild.

Huh? Somehow, I knew her talk would end up this way.

That really why you drop by here?

I don't understand what you mean by Fina.

I'm Adi. Be back soon. Bye. Please be careful.

Hunting the monsters near the big tree.

It's certainly a request, but nobody has

shown any interest in it yet.

All these adventurers just come to hang out then.

Actually, it's a whole horde of orcs.

At first we thought it was a small group,

but since the number increased, no one's up for it.

Hmm, an entire horde of orcs. Sounds fun.

It's adventure time, huh? Sally forth and take

me to this trio. Be. Um. Don't be reckless out there. Mhm.

Yep. Just keep heading for the center of this forest.

That's where Miss Helen said the big tree is.

And she made it sound like there's

no way we could possibly miss it.

Hmm'hmm.

Are definitely hard to miss that.

It's moments like these that really make

me feel like I'm in another world.

Sadly. No matter what world I'm in,

there's always something trying its best to ruin the scenery.

And they're hogging all the honey too. Unforgivable.

What's wrong?

Huh? Whoa! Those big rocks are moving.

Wait. I think they might be bears.

Hang on. Are my eyes playing tricks on me?

This world has real bears. Then again, Komatsu and Komatsu.

Are real too, but those are really.

Real and they look really beat up.

Is there some kind of turf war? Well, it's pretty one sided.

Huh? Come on. You know, I would

lend the bears a paw if I could.

It's just we also want the B-tree,

which kind of makes them another enemy to us.

Yeah. Guess so. It didn't say anything

about fighting bears in the request.

Mm. Huh? Are those bear cubs?

Oo oo oo oo. Oh oh.

Are.

The bears in this world might attack

humans just like they do in mine,

so saving them could very well be counterintuitive.

But I don't care.

Hurting kids of any kind is wrong.

And I'll make you pay for it.

All you jerks are his. Hey! Better cut out.

Take this bear punch.

All right. AWK prob solved. I'd consider the quest

complete if it weren't for this family of bears.

I won the territory dispute for them,

so they're free to move in as the new honey hoarders now.

I take it you two want me to patch

up their wounds, regardless of that?

Well, luckily for them, your bears I can't say no to.

He'll.

Your wounds are healed, but you'll

still need to take it easy for a minute, huh?

Is this your way of saying thank you?

Then you all are very welcome.

You know, I'm actually something of a bear myself,

but I'm also a girl on a mission.

So what do you say, guys? Do you

think you can stay away from the humans

that come to gather honey from this tree,

even though you have no idea what I just said?

Huh? Uh, no, I'm not a human that came to take honey,

I meant other. You know what? Never mind.

So in the end, the bears insisted I leave with a pot of honey

as thanks for thrashing the orcs.

Then bears have invaded as well. Yeah,

and that's prey I would rather not hunt.

Which is an understandable sentiment. Asking you

to destroy bears is like asking you

to destroy the very core of who you are.

It's really not that deep, Helen. You went after the bears.

You overheard. Unfortunately, yes. Those poor bears

just had cubs. And you hunted them.

Who's Mr. Melodrama over here? Oh, Mr.

rim is the current keeper of the beech tree.

And the one who posted the orc slaying quest.

I came to see if anyone had taken

up the job so we could get back to work.

But I'm heartbroken about the bears.

Um, dude, I believe there's been a misunderstanding.

Sorry. I panicked when I heard you say bears.

You knew they took up residence in that area?

I did. They protect the workers and valiantly oppose every monster

in exchange for their protection. We turn

a blind eye when they take honey from the tree.

So, yeah, we have a symbiotic relationship of sorts.

We safely tend flowers and they get fed.

We'll have to mention things like that in job requests,

because your fear of the bears being

slayed along with the orcs could have easily come true.