What should I do? Try to plunge forward and slip by it on the side? No, that’s no good... If things went badly, it could force me off the cliff.
On my own, I could probably manage to cling to the cliff face. But with the weight of all three of us we could end up falling, which’d be about as bad as things could go...
“Damn it!”
“Miss Ann! That’s the wrong way!”
I know. I’m going the complete opposite direction from town.
I’d love to go to the right and get back as soon as possible, but that’d take us way too close to the bergbear. If we ran into it now, I wouldn’t be able to out-maneuver it.
It’d be a real bad move to approach the enemy.
In that case, the safest route would involve taking a large detour to the left and keeping a reasonable distance as it chased us. It was frustrating having to climb back up the mountain, but still...
I got going to the left alongside the cliff, moving in the opposite direction of that presence I sensed from behind us. We were moving away from the cliff, bit by bit...
Fwump, fwump, fwump...
Huh? What’s making these tremors?
Fwump, fwump, fwump, fwump...
I slowly looked to the left, breaking out in a sweat.
“I-it’s rolling after us?!”
A big black mass was coming this way crazy fast! What, so it’s countering my rotations with some of its own?!
M-my eyes won’t start spinning too, right...?
Fwump, fwump... whack!!!
I-it flew!
“T-this is bad!!”
Almost instinctively, I leapt into the air to dodge. That black shadow was closing in real, real fast.
Ka-thuuuuuuuud!!!
The bergbear crashed down right where I’d just been standing.
I couldn’t believe what was happening... The ground at the top of the cliff had burst apart!
No way... We’ve got nowhere to land...
“Waaaaaaaaaah!!” the two runts on my back screamed.
We started to accelerate, downwards, downwards...
There was nothing around.
Well, there was a burning mountain.
Man, we’re high up.
“Whoooa!!!”
I wasn’t even entirely sure what I was doing. I fixed some gears in the air below where we were falling. Maybe that’d work as a foothold?
Maybe it was because I was in too much of a hurry, but I just bounced off.
My body was spinning.
This was already my third try. I just had way too much momentum. We broke on past them and kept on falling.
Ugh, man, it was all for nothing.
The forest below us was wide and huge. I must’ve been screaming.
I don’t want to die in a place like this.
Is that what everybody thinks at the end?
The wind was whipping by so fast that my eyes were stinging. My gears streamed on by overhead.
I struggled and struggled and struggled some more. I wasn’t the only one in this mess, after all.
It was then that random chance struck.
I’d been firing off gears all the way down the cliff, and this was a big one. So big that my whole body would just pass through the middle.
That thing wouldn’t be any use as a foothold. But I’d been in such a hurry that when I made the gear, I’d ended up with teeth on the inside, too.
When I went to pass through the gear, the inner teeth notched into place with the gear spinning on my ankle.
Whoosh!!!
That big gear was spinning, with my small one as its axis. My body stopped in mid-air thanks to the centrifugal force.
For an instant, we floated.
I spotted a tall tree off to one side. It was too far for my legs to reach, but it was all we had.
“Crown, chain!”
[—Executing predicted desired action.]
A golden chain ran through the air.
“—-ss Anti, Miss Anti!”
“Oh, you’re up!”
When I came to, I found myself collapsed on the ground.
We were alive...
I did it!
Sluggishly, I pulled myself up.
Kwabaaaaaaam.
Looking ahead, I saw the spot where the bear had landed. He looked to be as furious as ever.
Still at it, Mr. Bear... You’re so busy blowing your top that you haven’t even noticed. I’m pissed off, too.
“I’m...”
“You’re...?” the two runts said in tandem.
“I’m really... really... sick of thiiiiiiiis!!!!”
Clink! Clink!
The golden restraints holding the kids in place came loose.
Thump.
“Wah!”
“Ow!”
The two of them fell to the ground. Well, they landed on their butts, so they should be fine.
“W-why? It’s right in front of us...”
Right, the bear was right there. That’s exactly why.
And man, you two sure must be cleaning your plates at dinnertime, huh? Because you’re definitely heavy.
“Rooooooooooooooooooooooooar!!!”
Man, that’s loud. You sure are a noisy one. I’m already used to it, though. And I’m sick of just running away.
Plus, we can’t afford to fall back any farther. We’re already at the bottom of the cliff, so we’re on the same level as the town.
The gates to Cardiff weren’t all that far from here. And there was no way those wooden gates could handle this thing.
Geez, what the heck even is this?
Everything’s been a real mess ever since you showed up.
I got pulled out of bed! And the mountain caught fire! And the runts went missing! And the town had to close its gates! And I hit my shoulder on a tree! And I fell off a damn cliff!
And somehow, now it’s up to me to protect the town!
Just what do you think you’re making the pretty young poster girl for a restaurant go through?! You’re a bear, so can I even expect you to pay the bill you’re racking up?!