Chapter 48 – False Demon Bear

“…What is that?”

I couldn’t help but mutter in a quiet voice. And I was a veteran Adventurer.
That was how strange this creature was. No, was it even a living creature?

It was about 3.5 meters tall, humanoid, and covered in something that was dark brown.
Indeed, it did resemble a bear at a glance.
However, the thing that it was covered in was not fur.
It was more like smoke or mist.
The flesh within the smoke did not have a single hair on it. It did not even have skin.
It looks like a human or monkey who had been skinned.

(Is that brown mist just magic energy that is so dense that you can see it? Or is it evil?)

Well, it was surely not any normal animal or monster. It must be a spirit or demon.
In any case, it had such a strong presence. The pressure of its magic energy…no, the malice, was oozing from it.

“…So that’s what you call a Demon Bear?”
“…”
“…”

Fio and Shiro nodded silently.
I wanted to say, ‘That is no Demon Bear. It’s not even a bear,’ but I thought about it again.

In the first place, we were on a new continent with completely different animals.
Even if the red berries looked and tasted the same, they were poisonous.

Perhaps on this continent, this thing was considered to be a bear.
Fio was under the effects of the language god, and so if she said it was a bear, then it must be something like it.
Well, there were also other possibilities.
After all, Fio learned from the demon wolves.
So if Shiro and the demon wolves thought it was a bear, then she would think it was a bear as well.

(I will have to look into it later…)

Regardless, there was no doubt of it being strong and malicious.
It would be best to wait until Victor and the others were completely healed, and then we could discuss the matter.

“(Hippolius. Shiro. We’ll let the bear go this time.)”

I used the taming skill to speak to them without making a sound.
I had already told them not to attack it earlier, but I wanted to remind them.

And then I had Shiro tell Fio.
Fio nodded with a serious expression, so she must have understood as well.

And so I erased my presence and then quietly observed this false Demon Bear.
It was not even trying to hide its presence.
Most likely, it had no enemies in this territory.
And so there was no need to hide.

—GIAAAGIAAA!!

And then the demon bear would occasionally let out a strange roar.
Even with my taming skill, I could not understand what it meant.

(…In other words, this Demon Bear is neither animal or monster.)

Devil god, evil spirit, undead.
It must be one of those creatures that are enemies of humans.

Some of them were intelligent, but you could not speak to them. They were not under the influence of the language god.
So of course, the taming skill would not work.
However, the appraisal skill should.
After all, our god did not see them as living creatures.

Regardless, they were dangerous.
Use the appraisal skill to find out the characteristics of the demon bear, and then use the crafting skill to make a trap.
That was probably the best and safest way of defeating it.

And so I thought of traps that I could make as I observed it.
At the same time, I cast the appraisal skill on it from a distance.
Since we were far away, I could not learn too much.

I just understood that it was very strong.
It would probably be able to crush rocks with ease. And it seemed to be good at using body strengthening magic.

After setting a trap, and stopping the Demon Bear, Hippolius could attack it with long-ranged attacks. And then Victor and the best of his Adventurers could attack it at close range.
Such tactics would be the most appropriate.

Even as I observed it and thought of different tactics, the Demon Bear came closer and closer to the hot spring.
It was just as I was thinking about how troublesome it would be if we were caught…

–Gaaa! GIIIAA!!
As if enjoying itself, the Demon Bear let out a horrifying roar.
Fio and Shiro shook and their tails went between their legs. But they continued to glare at it.

The Demon Bear was walking through grass that was about 1.5 meters tall.
And so I could not see what its lower half looked like.

(I would like to see its lower half before leaving…)

Depending on if it had four legs or two legs, I would have to change the trap.
Well, it was a new kind of monster on a new continent. Perhaps it had eight legs like an octopus.

And so, I focused on the Demon Bear’s lower half.
Apparently, it had a cloth wrapped around its waist, and it walked on two legs.

Since it was wearing clothes, it really did resemble a human.
Perhaps for the god of evil spirits and devils, this was a human.

But thinking about it like that made me a little conflicted. And just then…

“…!”

I noticed for the first time that there was a different creature by the Demon Bear’s feet.
A small, gray wolf cub that was dirty.
When I looked closely, the Demon Bear was holding a rope. And the rope was attached to the wolf cub’s neck.

There were three cubs. And they were all skinny and covered in wounds.

Next Chapter

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