Late. Tamer's day.

I was looking for Rickett as I headed to the fishing area. I'm exploring my surroundings with my skills while I call my name...

"Hmm. You're nowhere."

"Cu"

"Bear."

Rick and Kuma are the ones who snorted at my words. I have the skills I can use to find people: sign detection, Rick's alert, and bear's sense of smell. But Rickett's presence was not caught up in anyone's skills.

It's all the monsters that come by. Rabbit's the only way out around here, so I should have been able to knock him down a lot......

"You have so many petite devils and black rabbits!

"Mm!"

"Thanksgiving Ort!"

"M!"

Olt, who sheltered me from the Black Rabbit advance, responds to my voice with a thumbs-up without turning around. Shit, it looks like Han!

I guess Petite Devil wasn't supposed to leave yesterday around here. I don't know about the black rabbit though. But yesterday I've only encountered one black rabbit, and today I've counted three more times.

"If Ricke was really out of the village, wouldn't it be pretty dangerous?

"Cu ~"

"Kuma!"

"Well, you better find him soon."

Rick and Kuma are inviting me to hurry. Rickety and I have been fishing together. My kids must be worried too.

I kept kicking the rabbits and proceeded as far as the fishing grounds, but there was no sign of Rickett there. But it's not empty at all.

――

"Sakura, what's up?

Sakura is picking something up. It was a small fish-shaped model with a red color. Is this a lure? I think I saw it somewhere... Yeah, that's the lure Ricke had! Is Rickett here after all!

"Everybody, look around here!

Exploring the fishing grounds with any other clues, Ort picked something up from among the rocks.

"M!"

"Oh, have you found anything?

"Moo"

What Ort discovered was a woman's hair decoration. It's just, this isn't Rickett's stuff, is it? Well, let's get to the inventory for once.

"Cu!"

"Rick too!

What Rick dragged on was some kind of dirty cloth sachet. If you open it inside, it contains herbal seeds.

"Isn't this going to be a clue to Rickett either?"

But nothing more came out of it. Well, what do we do after this?

"If you think about it normally, I guess there's something about bears"

Rickett kept the bear's story a secret for some reason to a giant bear likely to be related to the event. And Ricke, who disappeared, is almost certain he's back in this fishing area.

"Which means the bear's likely headed upstream where he was witnessed."

Um, what do I do? If you meet a bear, you will be wiped out. No, even if you're not a bear, you'll usually just run into a strong MOB and go back to death.

But I'm sure Ricke's disappearance has something to do with the event...

"I have no choice, go. Avoid fighting as much as possible and find out just where Rickett is. Worst case scenario, even if you go back to death, you can have someone else pick you up."

So we decided to go further upstream. Everyone climbs the rock shelves along the river. This is pretty tiring. It feels like climbing a rock.

It's especially difficult to climb a giant rock that is occasional. Rick runs up lightly, so there's no problem. The other members rely on the soil magic handle that Ort makes for them to climb the rocks...... The ortho goes light and swiss. And Sakura. Kumama is less agile but has climbing skills so she is doing something about it.

I'm the problem. I have low agility, so I really do. I have Sakura's whip wrapped around me like a lifeline, with the aid of Orto and Kumama, who went up first, and I have managed to climb. Ultimately, I managed to climb the big rock by having Ort, Sakura and Kumama pull it up.

Rick? Rick is a caller. The Orts pull me as Rick squeaks over Ort's head.

"Cum, cum!

"Mum, mum!

"Cookma, Cookma!

―― ――

As we managed to go upstream with everyone's help, changes began to manifest themselves in the monsters that emerged. Little bears and attackbores, not just rabbits, are emerging, and powerful individuals, sometimes wrapped in black bears, are also attacking.

While we managed to fight, we kept going as we fled on time. Then I go out to the open place. There was only no rock there, and it was like a square with pebbles laid down.

Besides, there is something at the edge of that square that cannot be missed. There was an undisputed cave open its mouth.

"Ooh! You've never seen a real cave before!

The moss and rock feel is so real, it feels like fantasy! I smelled adventure!

But are you okay to come in? Isn't there a powerful monster, a trap, a danger ravaged? Thinking about it, can I just go in there all of a sudden...

"Kumar"

"Oh? What's wrong with this?

I was thinking about it, and my bear came up to me. And I'll hand you something. Is that a bamboo-knitted cage? No, if you look closely, that was a fish cage to use in fishing. Looks just like the guy Rickett was lowering to his waist.

"Where was it?

"Bear!"

When I asked, my bear pointed between the rocks at the entrance to the cave. They were pinched there.

"By the entrance to the cave or... Did Ricke come to this cave?

I glanced into the dreaded cave and saw something white falling at its entrance.

"That, what is this?

Pick it up and it's a handkerchief. It has floral embroidery and is a woman's object, no matter how you look at it.

――

"Oh, what's up, Sakura?

――

I watched the handkerchief, and now Sakura came to get me. He's pulling my hand and he's about to sue me for something. Apparently Sakura discovered something too.

As I followed him later, Sakura pointed to the tree on the edge of the square. Something brown is caught on the tree. Maybe a straw hat.

"Rick, can you get it?

"Cu!"

Rick saluted my words pisciently and climbed the tree. I'll get to the straw hat as soon as I can, take it and come back.

"Ricke's? No, was Rickett's straw hat bigger?"

This is a slightly smaller type. Speaking of which, you said you lost two kids with Ricke, right? Could it be the possession of those children?

"I'm sure you went into this cave. I don't have a choice, do you want to come in? Guys -"

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

"Ugh! Huh? Is that a rumored bear?

If we were gathering everyone together to cave in, we would hear a low, heavy roar from afar. When I looked that way, I saw a giant black shadow coming this way.

It's a bear. Nor is it cute looking like a bear or a little bear. Eyes distorted by anger, stripped gums. From his mouth was sprinkled with abundance of saliva, and his madness could be understood from a distance. A giant bear in such a horrible shape is coming at all costs.

"To, we're getting away!

We fled the square at full speed.

"Gao-oh-oh-oh-oh!"

"Geez! They're coming after us!

"Moo!"

"Cu!"

"Kumar!"

――