By alternating between riding Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, I managed to arrive at the capital.
There werenât a lot of people at the gate, so I was able to enter the city without having to wait long. Did I arrive at a perfect time or what?
After getting in, I went straight to the Adventurerâs Guild to give my report and as soon as I entered, the adventurersâ gazes turned my way before quickly veering away.
I wondered why for a moment before recalling what I had done the last time I had been here.
Well, they werenât picking a fight with me, so wasnât this okay?
I went to an open counter and asked for the guild master, Senya-san, and the receptionist quickly rushed off to call her. Did she know who I was?
ãYuna-chan!ã
Senya-san greeted me after coming out from a door in the back.
ãIâm back.ã
I said and greeted her by lifting my Bear Hand.
I wondered if we were going to talk here, but she took me to the Guild Masterâs room, where we sat down and were brought drinks.
This felt as I was treated like some sort of company president.
ãSo, how did it go?ã
I proceeded to tell her that the golems hadnât respawned after I had defeated the golem on the lowest floor and that Jade-sanâs party had stayed behind to make sure they werenât just late to respawn.
ãYou can ask Jade-san for more details.ã
ãOkay. If the golems really stopped reviving, we wonât have to send out the soldiers. You really saved us, thank you.ã
ãWe donât know for sure yet, though.ã
ãJudging from what you told me, it should be okay. The golems always revived over the night, but now they didnât. I still have to wait for Jadeâs report, so the request wonât be completed until then. Is that fine with you?ã
ãYeah. Is it okay for me to return to Crimonia?ã
ãYes, thatâs fine.ã
I had no problems with it, then.
ãI will be off, then.ã
I had to get Fina as quickly as possible, after all.
I tried to stand up, but Senya-san stopped me.
ãLeaving the request aside, why donât you start living at the capital rather than Crimonia, Yuna-chan? It would be great for us if you did.ã
She suddenly said.
ãI donât plan on doing that for the time being.ã
Over the time I had spent here, Crimonia had become easy to live in.
People had stopped staring, and the adventurers had stopped picking fights with me.
Not to mention that I had my shops there, so there was no real merit to living at the capital. On the contrary, my workload would probably increase here, and I wouldnât like that. I also had the Bear Transfer Gate, which made it easy to come to the capital, so there was really no point in moving here.
ãI see, thatâs really unfortunate.ã
ãI will still come here to play sometimes.ã
ãI might have a request for you when you do, so please come here to check, okay?ã
She finally let me go after that, so I went to Eleanora-sanâs mansion, where I was met by Fina running to me in beautiful clothes.
ãIâm back, Fina.ã
ãBig Sis Yuna!ã
She clinged to my waist.
I had a big belly, so I was able to properly catch her. By the way, I didnât mean that my actual belly was large. I meant that the costumeâs belly was big.
ãFina, you really are wearing cute clothes, huh.ã
The clothes suited her so well that she could only be seen as a young lady of high status.
ãBig Sis Yuna, I donât want to hear that from you when youâre wearing this cute Bear-san Suit! And itâs not like Iâm wearing them because I want to. Eleanora-sama forced me to wear them!ã
She said my Bear Suit was cute, but that was totally different than her clothes.
There was a big difference between the cuteness of a costume and the cuteness of beautiful clothes. Any girl would be happier hearing she looked cute in beautiful clothes than when wearing a costume, you know.
I was happy to see that Fina was well, though.
It would have been hard to face Terumi-san if something had happened to her, after all.
ãYuna-chan, welcome back. You finished with the mine?ã
Eleanora-san came from the mansion.
ãMore or less. They just need to wait and see if there is a chance of golems still respawning, so I decided to come back.ã
ãYou must have worked hard, right? I will prepare a delicious dinner today, so please eat with us.ã
I wanted to take a bath before dinner, so I used this chance to talk with Fina as we bathed together.
ãFina, did you enjoy the capital while I was away?ã
I asked Fina while washing her back, but she didnât reply.
Huh? Had she not enjoyed herself?
ãYou went to see the castle, right? And also walked around the capital...ã
ã Eleanora-sama made me wear beautiful clothes, so my stomach ached as I tried my best not to dirty them.ã
ãAhhh, I see.ã
ãThis isnât a laughing matter! She even took me to the castle in those clothes, you know!ã
ãBut you were able to sightsee the castle, right?ã
ãYes, Eleanora-san showed me all around the castle; I even got to see a beautiful garden.ã
Ah, now that she mentioned it, I also recalled seeing the garden; it had a lot of beautifully blooming flowers.
ãBut then, King-sama came to the garden, and I donât really remember what happened after that.ã
ãCanât a girl get some peace while watching flowers...ã
ãBecause of his appearance, I canât even remember the taste of the food you had prepared, Big Sis Yuna. Iâm sorry.ã
ãItâs okay, I can make it again. Still, I will have to properly lecture this King...ã
ãBig Sis Yuna?ã
Anytime I came to the castle, he always sought me out... Was he even doing his job as a king?
ãI will tell him not to get close to you anymore, so we can sightsee the castle without him ruining it next time, okay?ã
ãDonât say that!ã
Finaâs voice echoed throughout the bathroom.
Why did she get mad?
When we left the bath, Eleanora-san and Shia, who was already back from the academy, were already waiting for us.
ãAra, youâre in your White Bear Clothes already?ã
ãI will go straight to bed after we eat, after all.ã
I had been invited to sleep at Eleanora-sanâs place tonight, so it was easier this way.
ãYuna-san, were the golems strong?ã
Shia wanted to hear about what had happened at the mine.
ãIâm not sure if they were strong or not, but it was hard to fight them in the tunnels.ã
ãBecause you were underground?ã
ãYeah, I didnât want to collapse the walls by using too much strength, after all. The other adventurers who came to subjugate them had the same problem as well.ã
ãSo, how did you defeat them, then?ã
ãSwaying Bear and Hugging Bear helped me.ã
I wasnât really lying, they had helped me with the Earth and the Stone Golems.
ãOh right, Shia, thank you for taking care of Fina.ã
ãFina is a good girl, so it wasnât a problem at all.ã
ãThatâs not true, I caused you all sorts of trouble.ã
Fina denied it, but Shia just showed a pleasant smile.
Well, I was happy that they got along.
While we ate, I briefed Eleanora-san about what had happened at the mine, mainly talking about Jade-sanâs party, so that I wouldnât stand out.
I didnât mention lightning magic and the Bear Transfer Gate, of course.
I deceived them by keeping my fights vague.
ãYuna-san, we are of the same age, but youâre just incredible.ã
ãShia, youâre a noble, so you donât really need to be strong, right?ã
ãItâs because Iâm receiving education that I want to be strong.ã
ãI let you do it, but donât forget that youâre only allowed to go to the nearby beginner forest.ã
ãYes, I wonât forget, mom.ã
Shia obediently agreed with her mother.
We finished the delicious meal, and when I thought of going to sleep in the room that had been given to me, Eleanora-san stopped me.
ãYuna-chan, please wait a minute.ã
ãWhat is it?ã
ãYouâre going back to Crimonia tomorrow, right?ã
ãYeah, I plan on doing so. Finaâs parents will be worried if I donât return her soon, after all.ã
When I said that, Eleanora-san signaled Suririna-san, who then left the room.
ãWh-what is it?ã
ãI need to give you the reward for the request.ã
ãI will get the reward at Crimoniaâs Adventurerâs Guild in ten days time when they are sure itâs really finished.ã
ãIâm not talking about that. Did you forget? I promised you a mithril knife.ã
She was right, she had promised it, but since I had already obtained mithril, I didnât really need it anymore.
ãDid you think that you donât need it, just now?ã
Was she an esper!?
It didnât take long for Suririna-san to come back with something wrapped in a cloth and gave it to Eleanora-san, who unfurled it to reveal an embellished tantou and presented it to me.
(TL note: Tantou is a traditional Japanese ornamented dagger.)
ãYuna-chan, here.ã
The tantou had a very detailed engraving on it and seemed really expensive...
My consciousness was telling me not to take it.
ãWhat is this? This beautiful tantou?ã
ãItâs the knife I had promised you.ã
Eleanora-san pulled the tantou out from its sheath.
It really was beautiful.
ãThis isnât something used for dismantling, right?ã
ãYes, thatâs right.ã
ãItâs also not used for fighting, right?ã
ãItâs not, but itâs made of mithril and is very sharp.ã
It looked like something a woman would carry for self-defence, but I had the feeling that this was different.
ãI donât want it.ã
ãWhy? Itâs your reward, you know.ã
ãThere seems to be a trick to this...ã
The Bear Danger Sense was going off... even though there was no skill like that.
ãThereâs no trick, okay? Donât worry, you can take it.ã
Eleanora-san said while showing a frightening smile.
I couldnât lose here!
ãI will have to politely refuse.ã
ãJeez, your intuition is top notch...ã
Eleanora-san said and pouted.
ãAs I thought, there is a trick to it, right?ã
ãItâs not really something significant. This tantou just has the Foshuroze crest on it. You can get out of almost any bad situation by simply showing it to the other party.ã
So, it was like Koumon-samaâs seal.
(TL note: In his TV show, Komon-sama is a popular judge that puts on disguises and goes out to catch bad guys together with his followers. Whenever he apprehends someone, his followers show his seal to the culprit, and the culprit cowers just by seeing it.)
ãWhy... to me...ã
ãI mean, Yuna-chan, you get into trouble a lot, donât you?ã
She was right, so I couldnât deny it.
I got into all sorts of trouble because of this Bear Suit.
ãIs it really just because of that, though?ã
ãHonestly, my real motive for giving you the tantou is that I wanted to let the other nobles know that you and I are involved parties.ã
ãInvolved parties?ã
ãIt would be bad if people who know about your strength tried to misuse you, so the tantou is to prove that the Foschurose family stands behind you.ã
She wanted to give me the tantou for my own good, it seemed.
ãYou can use it all you want.ã
ãI wonât use it.ã
There was a good saying that could be used here: Nothing was free in this world.
If I kept using the crest all the time and was then suddenly asked for compensation... That wasnât something I wanted to chance.
ãYou can use it to buy land at the Commerce Guild without needing a letter of introduction, you know.ã
ãUgh.ã
ãIf you get into trouble with some idiot nobles, the crest will make them go away.ã
ãUgh.ã
ãStill, it wonât work if you show it to people who donât know of Foschurozeâs Crest. It should come in handy in most cases, though.ã
Eleanora-san offered the tantou again.
ãI could do something bad while using this tantou that represents your family, you know.ã
ãUfufu, Yuna-chan, you really say funny things from time to time.ã
ãIs this really something to laugh at?ã
ãIn which world would a girl, who has an orphanage under her wing, who went to kill a Black Viper on her own for the sake of a worried boy, who dug a tunnel for everyone and didnât even ask for any compensation, and who went to defeat an army of monsters just to protect a girlâs father, do something bad?ã
Eleanora-san said while also poking my cheek repeatedly.
ãI might be scheming in secret and waiting for the right time, you know.ã
ãWell then, shall I ask this girl?ã
Eleanora-san looked at Fina.
ãFina-chan, is Yuna-chan a bad person?ã
ãBig Sis Yuna is a really kind person. If she hadnât been around, my mother and I would have been dead, and the children of the orphanage wouldnât have been happy like they are now. I heard that she didnât ask for compensation when she killed the Black Viper and when she helped at Mireera either. Big Sis Yuna is strong and kind; she would never do bad things.ãn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Eleanora-san nodded.
ãFina, I get it, you can stop now. Iâm becoming embarrassed...ã
ãBut, I havenât even said half the reasons why youâre wonderful, you know.ã
ãYou should still stop, though.ã
I told Fina to stop singing praises of me.
When you praise a hikikomori, who was not used to it, they only get troubled.
I turned my gaze at the tantou again.
ãEleanora-san, if I take this, you wonât call me your subordinate, right?ã
ãI wonât.ã
I took the tantou in the White Bear Hand.
ãIf something happens, you can use the Foschuroze familyâs name, okay?ã
Even though accepting it was fine, I didnât plan on using it for now. I could probably call it my insurance policy.
I put the tantou straight into my Bear Box.