Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

After giving Princess Flora the picture book, I went straight back to Crimonia and stayed there for a couple of days.

I soon realized I couldn’t come up with a solution to the means of travel on my own, and decided to bring in Fina.

「So, what do you think we should do?」

「Even if you ask me that, I’m not sure, either.」

I called Fina over to my house so she could help me decide but got shot down by such a response immediately.

I had even given her tea and snacks to welcome her, so she could at least have tried to entertain me. I kind of wanted to tell her that I wouldn’t give her anymore snacks if she failed to give any constructive insight, but I couldn’t bear to do something like that and rather brought out even more snacks.

「So, if I get this right, both Shuri and I are coming to the Capital with you?」

「Yes. Eleanora-san wants to thank the two of you for taking care of her when she was visiting my shop.」

「I didn’t do much, though.」

「Didn’t you guide her around and explain stuff to her?」

「I did a bit, but that was so Mother didn’t have to.」

Terumi-san had really been too nervous to be of any help here, huh. I could clearly picture Fina trying her best for her mother’s sake.

「I don’t think you need to look into it to deeply. She just wants to thank you for being her guide. Or do you not want to go?」

「Is the school festival a festival that Shia-sama’s school will be holding?」

「Yes, I think so. I’ve never seen it before, so I’m not completely sure, either. I believe the students will run a few stands and put on a show or two.」

Having never experienced a school festival in my former world, I barely had any knowledge of it. Thus, I was basically clueless on what a fantasy world school festival would be like.

「I want to go, but am I allowed to?」

「Shia and Eleanora-san said it was fine, so there shouldn’t be a problem.」

「But we’ll cause trouble for you, Yuna-oneechan.」

Why did she think so?

「I never once thought of you as a bother. In fact, you will actually cause me trouble if you don’t come.」

Fina didn’t understand what I meant by that and tilted her head in confusion.

「If I don’t bring you along, Eleanora-san will surely complain to me. 『Why didn’t you make her come?』or 『Did you even ask her?』, maybe even『You didn’t tell her anything strange, did you?』, and so on.」

Well, I didn’t think that would actually happen, but she would definitely be disappointed.

「Uuu, when you put it like that, there is no way I can decline the invitation.」

What a good girl.

「I’m just kidding. Tell me if you really don’t want to go and I won’t force you. I’ll also make up an excuse for Eleanora-san, so you won’t have to worry about it.」

If she really didn’t want to go, I had no intention of dragging her along.

I wanted Fina and Shuri to have fun at the school festival; if they had to force themselves, then they would surely be miserable.

「I really won’t be a bother to you?」

「As I said, I have never once thought of you being a bother. Actually, I’ve dragged you around a lot, so did you think I was being a bother to you?」

「I never thought about it that way! I enjoy being able to travel to different places with you, Yuna-oneechan.」

「Really?」

「Mhm. I got to go to the capital for the first time, and then I went out to the sea. I also got to visit many different villages. Not to mention the bee tree, and Misa-sama’s birthday party. I was nervous and tired many times, but I also had a lot of fun.」

I studied Fina’s expression for a moment and gathered that she wasn’t lying.

「Thank you. I’m happy to hear that. Then, there’s no problem going this time either, right?」

「Mhm. I’m a little nervous about Eleanora-sama’s invitation, but I would like to go to the school festival.」

「In that case, let’s enjoy it together. I’d get lonely if I have to go by myself.」

I wanted to pat her head, but because she was sitting across a table from me, I couldn’t reach her.

Instead, I just sent her a smile.

「You said Shuri is coming along this time as well, right?」

「The invitation is for the both of you. You will have to get permission from Terumi-san and Gentz-san first, of course.」

「I think Mother will be okay with it. I wonder if Father will allow it, though?」

「You have to ask him, no matter what. I’ll come with you, so you don’t have to worry.」

I was always taking Fina around to all sorts of places, so getting permission for her should be easy. Still, we only brought Shuri out with us once, and even that was only staying overnight by the seaside.

Since we were going to the capital this time, I didn’t know if Gentz-san would be willing to let both of them go.

I would be the one taking them along, so if we asked nicely, he should allow the two of them to go, right? My adventurer rank was high, after all, and he also knows I had defeated many strong monsters so far. He should trust me with them at this point.

「Oh right, do you think it’s okay for me to tell Shuri about the Bear Gate?」

「I think it should be fine. That girl keeps her promises and doesn’t blab about secrets. She likes traveling with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, though...」

The same should go for Noa. Just how would she react if she found out she couldn’t travel with her beloved Bear-sans?

In the end, I did at least manage to get Fina to discuss our trip with me. We couldn’t settle on a good solution though, so we decided that I should go and ask Noa directly, while she should return home and inquire with her family.

「Yuna-san, welcome.」

When I arrived at Noa’s mansion, Lala-san came out to greet me.

「Are Cliff and Noa in? I have a letter for Cliff, from Eleanora-san. Can I meet him now?」

「Noa-sama is in her room at the moment, so that should be fine. Cliff-sama is currently working, however, so I’m not sure if he is ready to meet you. I will confirm with him, so please wait inside.」

Lala-san brought me to a room, and as I waited, Noa barged in.

「Yuna-san?!」

She rushed up to me with a smile.

Looking at her closely, I could see her resemblance to Shia. When she grew up, would she look like Eleanora-san? I hope her personality wouldn’t end up being similar, though.

I really hoped she wouldn’t change, and stay the way she was.

「Yuna-san, why are you looking at me like that?」

Noa returned my stare with a troubled expression.

「It’s nothing. I just thought about how cute you are.」

「I think you are cuter than me!」

「Why, thank you.」

I patted Noa on the head as she sat down next to me.

「I heard from Lala that Mother gave you a letter to bring to us, is that true?」

「It was addressed to Cliff, though. Actually, it is about getting permission for me to take you to the capital, upon Shia’s request.」

「To the Capital?!」

「Shia wants you to come and see their school festival, and she asked me to bring you over.」

「Onee-sama did...」

Noa looked rather happy.

Noa and Shia really did get along just like Fina and Shuri. It filled my heart with joy simply seeing how pure their relationship was.

「So, do you want to go?」

「Of-of course I wanna go!」

She blurted out immediately to no surprise.

「Okay, now we just need to get permission from Cliff.」

「Don’t worry, I will convince Father myself.」

She strongly declared.

Well, we had Eleanora-san’s letter, and I also planned on asking him myself. If I remembered correctly, Cliff still owed me a favor. Even though I had caused a lot of trouble for him and it might feel like I had already been repaid, I was sure there was still a bit left.

「This means I can travel with Swaying Bear-chan and Hugging Bear-chan again.」

She smiled and looked at me.

Would it be better to let Noa travel with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, after all?

「Do you really enjoy going out with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear?」

「Of course. Just hearing about the trip is getting me excited. I get Swaying Bear-chan and Hugging Bear-chan all to myself.」

She couldn’t hog them, though. Even if Fina and Shuri somehow weren’t allowed to come, I still had to ride one of them myself.

「Actually, Fina and Shuri are both coming this time, so you can’t monopolize both Bears.」

「Fina and Shuri are coming too?!」

「Eleanora-san invited them. Would you be okay with sharing the Bears with them?」

「Of course. I’m a little disappointed I can’t have the bears all to myself, but if we can all go together, it will be really fun.」

「What will be fun?」

Cliff interjected as he entered the room.

「Sorry for keeping you wait, Yuna.」

「Don’t worry about it. I was chatting with Noa.」

Cliff sat down in front of me, looking awfully tired.

Was he working too much? His work as a feudal lord must be quite tiring.

「So, I hear that you brought me a letter from Eleanora.」

At his prompt, I took out the letter from Eleanora-san and handed it over to him.

Cliff opened it and skimmed through the contents. Did he look surprised at some point or was it just me?

「The school festival, huh? Is it that time already?」

「Father, please. I want to go and Yuna-san will be there as my bodyguard. Can I please go?」

「I will bring her back safely, so can you please let her go?」

If I used the Bear Gate, the trip would be instantaneous and free of danger anyway.

Even if we decided to travel by the bears, we should be safe with me and my Bears, so I really saw no reason for him to refuse.

「I have no worries in regards to the escorting. There is no adventurer better than you for protecting Noa.」

It looked like he trusted me quite a lot.

Why did he have such a grim expression when we asked him, then?

「Noa, have you been studying properly?」

「Yes, I have.」

Cliff thought for a bit.

「Is there something you are worried about?」

When I asked that, Cliff looked at Noa.

「The last time, when we went to His Majesty’s birthday party, I got dragged into a lot marriage proposals talks for Noa.」

「Marriage proposals for me?!」

Noa said with an uncomfortable look on her face.

Well, obviously she wouldn’t be fine with it. Anyone would be disturbed to suddenly hear about discussions of her own marriage like that.

「Of course, I declined all of them, but...」

Noa looked relieved to hear that.

I was relieved, too. It was shocking to hear that she got marriage proposals at this age.

「Still, if we’re talking about marriage, shouldn’t Onee-sama be first?」

「Shia will succeed my position here, so she must take a groom herself. Yet, there are many people aiming to be related to our family and are going after Noa instead. There’s no way I’m handing over my daughter to those types of people.」

He must be worried about the idiots that would go after Noa if she went to the school festival.

I understood what they were after, even though I wasn’t too familiar with noble customs. The easiest way to become related to Eleanora-san and Cliff would be marrying into the family.

Still, this was not a conversation for a ten-year-old girl. Were they trying to get to her while she was young and couldn’t decide properly on her own? Maybe this was a common way to act in this world, but I didn’t think it was a good thing, though.

「Father, you don’t have to worry. I won’t marry anybody.」

Noa declared with a serious expression.

「Noa, that itself would be a problem too, you know.」

「If I really have to get married, then I will marry Yuna-san.」

「....」

「...」

Cliff and I looked at each other. We didn’t hear that wrong, it seemed.

「Noa, I’m a girl too, you know.」

Yes, a certain part of me may be flat, but she didn’t think I was a guy, did she?

We had gone into the bath together before, so that shouldn’t be the case. If she considered me a guy, I was going to cry in my pillow tonight.

「I know that, of course.」

Okay, good. She had me worried there.

In my former world, there were some countries where people of the same sex could get married. Could it be that this world was the same, where girls could get married to each other?! What a shocking revelation.

「If I marry Yuna-san, then I can be together with Swaying Bear-chan and Hugging Bear-chan forever.」

It looked like she was aiming for the Bears, not me...

That was so like her. I just hoped she wouldn’t say something so misleading at first.

「Okay, then. Yuna, please take care of Noa.」

「Eh, you want me to marry Noa?!」

「No! Girls can’t get married to each other anyway. I mean escorting her to the Capital. That way, she’ll be fine even if weird guys try to approach her. Therefore, Yuna, please make sure to stay by Noa’s side at all times during the festival.」

「I planned on doing that from the start. Still, Shia and Eleanora-san will be with us too, so we might have to separate at some point.」

「Then, just make sure there is someone always with her. If anybody tries to approach Noa, show them the Forscheroze family crest you got from Eleanora. If they still don’t back down, feel free to let them feel some pain.」

「Really?」

「If they don’t back down even seeing the Forscheroze family crest, it’s their own fault.」

「What if they’re some bigshot?」

「I don’t think there will be any of those. If that were to happen, then information about that will be sent in advance to either me or Eleanora.」

That made sense. If it was somebody that could speak to Cliff or Eleanora-san, then they would probably be informed of it beforehand.

So, from what he told me, all I had to do was show anybody that approached Noa the family crest knife, and if they didn’t back away then, I could hit them.

Easy, peasy.

Just like that, we had permission for Noa to attend the school festival.

I wished Cliff would have explained things properly, though. For a second there, I had thought that he was giving his daughter to me for marriage. If he wasn’t more clear about his words, people could misunderstand him easily.

I had received a shock today, thanks to them not being careful with words.

Author’s Notes:

I considered calling this chapter 「Bear-san is getting married to Noa?」lol

Volume 3 is now on sale now.

I really do appreciate your continued support.