An Adventurer Mom, Who Awakened [Housewife] Skill Through a Login Bonus, Is Making the Most of Her Adventurer Life With the Weekly Flyers She Gets! - Chapter 69

Meanwhile, at that very time, Kachua was inside a dungeon.

During a break, she was keeping Ann company and eating healthy soy cookies that the team had baked using beans instead of wheat.

“Kya!”

All of a sudden, a status board appeared right in front of Kachua, displaying a message.

『Kuma-Kuma Spearmanship – Kuma Spear!』

“Eh! What on earth?”

Before the startled Kachua, another message appeared.

『Puppet – Stuffed Animal Spearman Kumatarou, Poison Centipede (Larva) Defeated!』

Then: Defeated, Defeated, Defeated, Defeated… the message repeated ten times in a row.

“Eh, Kumatarou… could it be that something happened to Ed?”

Kachua could no longer sit still.

Her agitation drew the attention of her teammates.

“What’s wrong, Kachua-san?”

“Did something happen?”

With tears welling in her eyes, Kachua told them:

“It’s just… the teddy bear Kumatarou I gave my son defeated Poison Centipedes”

“Poison Centipedes?”

“Why would such monsters show up at the school?”

Even the usually calm Ann and Bernhardt were shocked.

“If a Poison Centipede bites you, it takes an advanced antidote potion to counteract it—that’s a pretty strong antidote”

“Eh…”

Hearing that, Kachua shuddered involuntarily.

Today was the day for Special Scholarship Candidate activities at the Junior Division. Other than that, she had no idea what could have happened to Ed.

“No way… Ed…”

“If it was just the larvae, then even if he was bitten, he’ll be fine. A normal antidote will cure it. They showed up in our town sometimes too”

Rick explained.

Beside him, Laura nodded firmly as if to encourage her.

Poison Centipedes were monsters that could easily breed outside of dungeons and to Rick and Laura—both from towns a bit more rural than the labyrinth city of Loa—they were a familiar kind of pest.

In their larval stage, they weren’t much more than disgustingly colored, but as Ann and the others had said, once they matured, they grew to a much larger size and their toxicity increased.

It was best to wipe them out before they could reproduce.

“In any case, let’s head back once”

“Y-yes, you’re right”

Kachua was just about to put the snacks she had laid out back into her backpack when, all of a sudden, a stuffed animal leapt out of it.

It wasn’t Kumakichi or Kumanosuke.

It was a stuffed rabbit dressed in an outfit like a ballerina.

The rabbit’s name was Usami.

She(?) was the third puppet Kachua had made.

Her designation was Puppet – Stuffed Animal Ballerina.

Skills:

『Usa-Usa Dance Arts』

[a cute/onomatopoeic way to mimic usagi (rabbit) hopping or bouncing]

『Rabbit Dance』

『Rabbit Substitute Dance』 – takes an attack in someone else’s place

…Clearly, she didn’t seem very suited for a bodyguard role, which was why the next puppet Kachua made, the Stuffed Animal Spearman Kumatarou, had been entrusted to Ed instead.

And now, right before Kachua’s eyes, the stuffed rabbit Usami began to twirl around and dance.

『Puppet – Stuffed Animal Ballerina Usami, Rabbit Dance – Effect: Restores 10 Magic Points to the team』

A message appeared.

Unlike the bears, Usami did not fight, but whenever she performed the Rabbit Dance, a small but pleasant support effect would activate for the team. This time, it seemed to restore 10 points of magical power.

The lowest-grade magic recovery potion restored 30 MP. Recovery-support spells ranged from high to low, and even the weakest class of support magic could restore 20 MP to a single person at once.

Compared to that, Rabbit Dance was only 10 MP, and it was random at that, so the support effect was by no means strong. But recovery potions were expensive consumables, and support magic consumed the caster’s mana. In contrast, this low-cost technique, which restored 10 points to the entire team, was actually quite a useful recovery skill.

Usami finished one dance, and it seemed that was the end—

『Message in the dance: (Ed is safe)』

To Kachua’s astonishment, an additional message appeared before her eyes.

“Eh… Ed is safe? He’s not hurt?”

Kachua couldn’t help but ask Usami.

Usami began to dance once again.

『Puppet – Stuffed Animal Ballerina Usami, Rabbit Dance – Effect: Increases team’s Agility Points by 10』

This time, it seemed to be a support effect that boosted agility.

And once again, an additional message appeared.

『Message in the dance: (Ed is well. He isn’t injured)』

Apparently, Usami was able to sense the state of her fellow puppet, Kumatarou. Through Kumatarou, she also seemed to know about Ed, who was with him. And through the passion put into her dance, she could communicate with Kachua.

“Thank goodness…”

Kachua sighed in relief, pressing a hand to her chest.

“…………”

Laura stared at Usami for a long moment, then murmured softly, 『…Cute』.

As if hearing her voice, Usami waved a little paw in Laura’s direction before toppling over and returning to being just an ordinary stuffed animal.

For now, it seemed Ed was safe.

“What should we do? Should we head back?”

Ann asked. After thinking a bit, Kachua answered.

“No, let’s keep going”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Right now Ed should still be at the Loa Academy Junior Division. If he’s on campus, the teachers will be there and if Usa-chan says he’s safe, then he must be safe”

Kachua still didn’t fully understand what exactly her puppets were, but she knew she could trust them.

Kumatarou would surely protect Ed, no matter what happened.

“Besides, the Junior Division is said to value student independence, and apparently it’s not good for parents to inquire about their children too much”

Though as a mother, Kachua was more than a little—no, very—worried, making unnecessary inquiries might only cause trouble for Ed.

“Then let’s hurry and reach today’s planned point in time to meet Ed when he returns. After all, the rabbit doll just gave us an agility boost”

Bernhardt suggested.

“Yeah”

“Let’s do that”

“Thank you, everyone”

Gamma Team picked up their pace and reached their target for the day: the 45th floor.

＊＊＊

“Ed!”

“Ah, Mom”

Thanks to everyone’s cooperation, Kachua had been able to go and meet Ed as he returned from the Academy, riding the shared carriage back to the city center.

Hurrying to the carriage stop, Kachua saw Ed climbing down, looking perfectly healthy, and she finally felt a wave of relief.

“What’s wrong?”

Ed looked puzzled, not understanding why Kachua seemed so flustered.

Kachua wasn’t particularly athletic. Since she had suddenly run, she was out of breath, and after taking a deep breath, she said to Ed:

“Don’t『what’s wrong』me. What about you, Ed—what happened? You actually encountered a monster? You’re not hurt, are you?”

Ed’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Eh, how come you know about the centipedes, Mom?”

“Because whenever Kumatarou defeats a monster, a message gets sent to me as well”

“Really?”

“It seems so. It was my first time finding out, too. So, Ed—you’re really all right?”

The two of them began walking side by side.

Their destination was the guild daycare where Barbara was. Today, Barbara was being looked after with extended holiday care. With her daycare friends around, she was probably having fun, but she was surely waiting for the two of them to arrive.

“Yeah, I’m fine. You know what, Mom, Kumatarou defeated the centipedes for me”

“Hmm, is that so?”

When Kachua reached out her hand, Ed—who normally would feel embarrassed—was so caught up in talking that he naturally took her hand in return.

“It was amazing! Kumatarou is a spearman. And you know what else? I even made friends. Mark, and Isaac, and then…”

Talking together like that, the two of them headed toward the daycare.