As discussed, everyone was in place.
Ekaterina directed her magic into the ground. Because of the distance, she let it trace through the earth like a thin line before letting it accumulate beneath the monocular bear.
Forli, who probably sensed the amount and speed of the magical power that Ekaterina was manipulating, groaned.
Ekaterina nodded, and Forli raised one of his hands and swung it down.
With that, Ekaterina launched her magic power with all her might.
(Soryaaa!)
As a young lady, she could not let people hear this inner spirit. But it was effective.
Doon!
With a ground-shaking sound, the sugar beet field caved in locally. A cloud of dust was raised, and it seemed as if there was something being burned. When it settled, the displaced soil rose around it, giving it the appearance of an overgrown mole hole.
It was about three meters in diameter and an estimated ten meters deep.
The monocular bear was nowhere to be seen.
Forli waved his hand at the bear, which was the signal for Regina and the other hounds to come running out from the side of the wagon. They sprinted like unleashed arrows, quickly encircling the hole and howling.
“The monocular bear has already started to climb up. The head is in sight, but the hounds have roared at it, and it looks like it is unable to get out.”
…Forli-san, you can see that from this distance? What a wildlife on-the-spot approach!
And the physical ability of a monocular bear was astonishing as well. How could it climb up a ten-meter vertical hole so fast?
But even if it wasn’t a magical beast, bears in my previous life also had spectacular physical abilities. I once saw a video of a bear running alongside a car, and I believe it was running at 40 to 50 kilometers per hour. A monocular bear, a magical beast, could probably climb a vertical cliff faster than a human could climb stairs.
Ah, I could see it. It was using the dirt at the edge of the hole as a shield, looking for a way out.
I heard a roar, and the bear swung its burly clawed paws toward Regina. But then a gust of wind blows, and the bear falls back into the hole with the dirt it was using as a shield.
Ekaterina looked at Forli, who smiled back at her.
As expected of an old veteran, the speed of this activation and the precision of the control were outstanding.
The monocular bear quickly climbed back up and came out of the hole while the hounds retreated, but by then the knights had arrived. Surrounded by the knights with their spears at the ready, the bear tried to escape back into the hole.
Not so fast!
Ekaterina released her magic power and tried to build an earthen wall at the edge of the hole. However, the monocular bear forced its way into the hole.
It slammed into the earthen wall.
“…”
To be precise, it was caught up in the mud wall that was about to rise from the ground after it ran into it, and only its head and both paws went beyond the mud wall, leaving it suspended and flailing in midair, with its chest and below remaining on the other side of the mud wall.
Was this a comedy show? What are you doing, Bear!
…But magic was so useful that it could stop a bear without using firearms. I see…no wonder people with magic power became the ruling class. That explains why the nobles wanted strong magical power. I understand it now.
The knights, who laughed bitterly, regained their composure and readied their spears.
(Ah…)
Ekaterina quickly looked away.
I should see it through, right? She was responsible for it. But she couldn’t watch the scene.
However, she could hear voices.
Come to think of it…this was the first time in this and previous lives that I had witnessed the end of a creature’s life.
No, I didn’t just witness it. I was the one who decided to do this clean-up. Even if it wasn’t my fault, I was the one who put an end to that life. I took that bear’s life. I have to be aware of that.
