Before the giant bear appeared, Laws and the others had already noticed the anomaly over there.
Birds took flight in alarm as the earth trembled; a giant white bear charged fiercely toward us.
A Rasta Bear—a massive monster standing at least three meters tall.
With its tough hide, immense strength, and violent temperament, the Adventurers Guild ranked it as a B-rank monster on its own, while a group of over twenty was considered an A-rank threat.
These creatures typically inhabit the northern Central Continent, so why did one appear within the borders of the Asura Kingdom?
Was it due to animal migration?
“This is bad!
Rudy, Luna, get over here now!”
Paul, who had been handling things with ease just a moment ago, suddenly grew tense.
His distraction nearly caused him to be hit by the Termination Boar in front of him.
It was too late; the Rasta Bear was already charging at us with incredible speed.
Swish, swish, swish!
Laws fired three arrows in quick succession, all of them striking the Rasta Bear.
However, the thick-skinned giant bear took no substantial damage at all.
The men from the village, except for Laws, had long since been frightened into scattering by the ferocious Rasta Bear.
“You two run, I’ll hold it back!”
Laws drew his hunting knife and stood heroically in front of us.
He truly was a noble adult, willing to sacrifice himself rather than let us get hurt.
Rudy and I exchanged a glance; we couldn’t let him face this kind of monster alone.
Rudy and I pulled out our wands and flanked the Rasta Bear from both sides to launch our attack.
“Fireball!
Fireball!
Fireball!” A triple-cast Fireball spell flew out, instantly blasting the Rasta Bear’s skin open.
Next, Rudy’s ‘Vacuum Slash’ severed one of the Rasta Bear’s front paws, but it still didn’t stop its advance.
The two of us regrouped, deciding to hit this big bear with a more powerful magic spell.
When it was only a few steps away from us, the giant bear reared up fiercely, about to swing down its remaining, but extremely sharp, front paw.
“It’s over.”
With perfect timing, Rudy and I held our wands close together.
“‘Shockwave’!”
The intermediate Wind Magic ‘Shockwave’, launched by both of us simultaneously, instantly crushed the Rasta Bear’s head with its immense power.
The once-menacing giant bear collapsed with a thud, turning into a corpse instantly.
“Are you two okay?” Laws asked with concern.
“We’re fine, just got our clothes dirty.”
Being so close to a crushed skull meant being splattered with brain matter; it was slimy, greasy, and smelled disgusting.
Rudy was hunched over to the side, vomiting uncontrollably.
“Rudy, Luna!”
By then, Paul came running over out of breath, covered in foul blood as well.
It seemed the Termination Boar had also been defeated by him.
“Whew, thank goodness.”
Paul breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that we were both unharmed.
Afterward, we checked for casualties.
There were no serious injuries, only a few people whose arms or legs had been bitten by Aggressive Hounds.
Rudy and I treated them, and they recovered quickly.
“Alright, the boss of the forest has been eliminated.
There won’t be any threats for a while.
Everyone, let’s head back!”
“Yeah!”
???
However, instead of a triumphant return, the three of us were now kneeling in the courtyard.
Zenith stood there with a grim expression, holding a rolling pin.
“Dear?
What is the meaning of all these stains on your clothes?”
“It’s—it’s nothing.
I just took them out to see the world and dealt with some monsters in the forest.”
Paul’s voice trembled slightly.
Taking a son and daughter who weren’t even seven years old into the forest to hunt monsters was madness no matter how you looked at it.
Thump!
Zenith suddenly smashed a pumpkin sitting next to Paul, scaring him so much that he cowered with his hands over his head.
“Dear, don’t let there be a next time.
And you two, don’t go messing around with your father again until you’re ten, alright?”
“Yes, we understand.”
Since we weren’t injured, Zenith let Paul off the hook, but we wouldn’t be able to go deep into the forest with him anymore.
“Phew, anyway, it’s great that nothing happened this time…
Luna, what is that pose?”
“Dedicate your heart to humanity!”
I used to think Paul’s outfit looked familiar, and now I finally remembered—it looked a lot like the Survey Corps from ‘attack on titan’.
“What heart?”
“It’s nothing, Dad.
You should go take a bath; you stink.”
After sending Paul away, I called out to Rudy.
“Rudy, can you help me make something else?”
“Sure, what is it this time?”
“I’ll give it to you once I’ve finished the drawing.”
The papermaking technology in this world was very primitive, making paper quite expensive.
Fortunately, Paul had made a decent amount of money selling glass crafts recently, so buying a few sheets of paper wasn’t a problem, even if it was a bit of a luxury.
What was Isayama’s design again?
I thought about it carefully and ended up spending the whole night drawing it.
“What is this?”
Rudy looked at the blueprint, unable to understand what the object was for.
“3D Maneuver Gear.”
“Huh?
What’s that?”
“Haven’t you seen ‘attack on titan’?”
Rudy shook his head.
“Oh, sorry, I forgot we reincarnated at different times.
This is an anime that came out after you died; it was incredibly popular.”
“What is the plot of ‘attack on titan’ actually about?”
“It’s like this: once upon a time, there was an island where people lived…”
I gave Rudy a rough summary of the plot.
Before I knew it, three hours had passed.
I told the story vividly, and Rudy listened with great interest.
He really did love this kind of anime content; he was a NEET, after all.
During that time, Zenith even peeked through the crack in the door.
She didn’t disturb us and closed the door with a smile, likely finding the warm scene of sibling affection very touching.
“So what happened to Eren and the others?
Who were the people across the sea?”
“Later, Eren…
wait!
Weren’t we going to make the 3D Maneuver Gear?”
“Oh right, I completely forgot too.”
Rudy laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.
I suspect you did that on purpose, kid.
“Alright, help me make it first.
I’ll tell you the rest of the story tonight.”
“Okay, leave it to me.”
Two hours later, Rudy used Earth Magic to create rough versions of all the parts.
Then I began assembly, using a manual file to correct any inaccuracies.
Since there was no need to swap blades, there were no blade slots, which saved a lot of space.
The compressed air in the gas canisters was naturally filled using Wind Magic.
As for the steel cables, I had Rudy make them with Earth Magic as well.
They might lack flexibility, but this was just a prototype.
If the test was successful, Paul would surely buy real steel cables to replace them.
The final product looked decent enough.
“It’s finished.
I’ll let Paul try it out.”
“Aren’t you going to use it yourself?”
“How could I?
I’m too young.
The pull from the 3D Maneuver Gear would snap my waist.
Even when I’m an adult, I won’t be able to use this gear unless my body is wrapped in Battle Aura.”
I secretly called Paul over.
Since he practiced North God Style, he naturally knew how to use dual swords.
I just had to mount the controls for the 3D Maneuver Gear onto the sword hilts to operate the gas jets and grappling hooks.
“What is this?”
Paul asked the exact same question as Rudy.
“This is a piece of equipment from the Human-Demon War era that Rudy and I reconstructed.
Master Roxy told us about it.
It’s perfect for fighting in the forest.
I wanted to help Dad become even stronger.”
Paul smiled happily upon hearing those last words and ruffled my hair.
Regardless of whether it was useful, he didn’t want to dampen his daughter’s spirits.
“Let’s go.
To the forest.”
However, Rudy’s gaze was a bit shifty as he looked at Paul.
“Father, you and Luna go ahead.
I have something to take care of.”
“Going to find Sylphiette, are you?
Go on then, stay safe.”
Paul smiled with satisfaction, likely thinking that being so lecherous at such a young age proved Rudy was truly his son.
“Mm!” After getting Paul’s approval, Rudy gave a quick reply and headed out happily.
There was no sign of his former severe psychological trauma anymore.
Paul led Calvajo out.
“Where are you two going?”
Zenith appeared behind us with a smile that didn’t reach her grim eyes.
She had just warned Paul not to take Rudy and me to the forest again.
Now that he’d been caught, Paul’s fate was likely to be unpleasant.
“We’re just going to the edge of the forest.
Dad is going to help me test a Magic Tool.”
“Right, right, we’re not going inside.
Just testing it on the outskirts.”
“Hehe, it better be.
If there is even a speck of blood on Luna-chan, you know what to expect, right?”
With a dark face, Zenith issued a ‘death notice’ to Paul.
“Don’t worry, dear.
The monsters on the outskirts of the forest are nothing.”
Paul gave Zenith a solemn guarantee that he would never let me encounter danger, then he mounted the horse and took me with him toward the edge of the forest.
???
Passing villagers greeted Paul very politely.
It was clear just how high Paul’s reputation was in the village.
According to Laws, in the years Paul had been here, no one had died from monsters emerging from the forest, except for villagers who had ventured deep inside on their own initiative.
The militia Paul organized, the alarm system he set up, and the seasonal monster-culling expeditions in the forest—these measures had greatly reduced the threat of monsters to the village.
Many people, especially those living near the forest, were profoundly grateful to Paul.
“This spot should work.”
We arrived near Laws’s watchtower.
He naturally spotted us, but seeing that we had no intention of coming over, he waved and continued his sentry duty.
Paul lifted me down from the horse, then took down the 3D Maneuver Gear and finally tied up the horse.
“Hmm?
Isn’t this deerskin from Laws’s family?”
“Sylphiette gave it to me.
Alright, Dad, don’t worry about the details.
Put on the gear.”
Once Paul finished putting it on, I realized he only had one sword, but the 3D Maneuver Gear required dual swords to operate.
So I used Earth Magic to make him a sword…
well, just an earthen mold that looked like a sword.
After fixing the control triggers, Paul began listening to my simple explanation of how to operate it and how to use it in combat.
Of course, this was all just theoretical knowledge; Paul would have to figure out the actual application himself.
“Here I go!”
Pshhh!
Compressed gas sprayed out, and Paul suddenly flew five meters into the air.
Then, the grappling hooks on both sides of his waist shot out, latching onto two thick trees.
Paul pressed the triggers again.
The two hooks retracted, creating rapid movement, and instantly detached from the trees to return to their storage slots.
Paul successfully completed a maneuver…
or not, as he crashed into a tree.
“Are you okay, Dad?”
I hurried over to treat him.
When Paul got up, his eyes were full of excitement.
“Interesting!
This device is very interesting.
If I master it, I can move through the forest with ease.
It’ll be very useful for future monster-slaying work.
Luna, you’re a genius!”
“Hehe, it wasn’t just my doing.
It was Master Roxy’s wisdom and Rudy’s help.”
“Alright Luna, stop pushing everything onto Roxy.
Actually, Daddy saw through it long ago—you designed this yourself, didn’t you?”
So Paul isn’t stupid after all.
I hope you’re enjoying the fanfiction so far!