Bear-san meets Ronne
Having locked the Knights in the Bear Cage, we sneakily headed toward the mansion to avoid being seen from the windows.
âYuna-san, the walls are too high.â (Noa)
Naturally, the mansion was surrounded by high walls to prevent intrusion. I could use magic to build a staircase, but I would also have to build one on the other side to get down.
Soâ¦
âNoa, come here for a minute.â (Yuna)
âYes?â (Noa)
I held Noa in my arms as she approached me.
A princess carry.
âYuna-san!â (Noa)
âQuiet!â (Yuna)
Noa raised her voice at my actions, so I warned her.
ââ¦â (Noa)
Noa covered her mouth with her hand.
âWell then, Iâm going to jump over the wall, so keep your mouth closed tightly.â (Yuna)
I warned her that she would be in trouble if she bit her tongue.
After confirming with my detection skill that no one was nearby, I jumped over the wall. Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear jumped over after me, and Primme flew over.
âYuna-san, please donât suddenly carry me. It startled me.â (Noa)
Noa complained in a whisper as I set her down on the ground.
âBesides, I was not ready to be suddenly lifted up and carried over a wall and then landing on the ground.â (Noa)
It might be similar to bungee jumping for her.
But explaining my plan and then waiting for Noa to get mentally prepared would have wasted a lot of time in this urgent situation.
âNext time, Iâll jump after you tell me you are ready.â (Yuna)
I ignored Noaâs protests and, using my detection skills, started walking in the direction where there were no people.
Noa silently followed me.
âNoa, do you know how many more knights there are?â (Yuna)
My detection skill could tell the number of people, but it could not distinguish between knights and civilians. When I asked, Noa closed her eyes.
âThey are scattered, but I can sense around five connections in this mansion.â (Noa)
âCan you sense Ronneâs presence?â (Yuna)
âYes. As we are really close right now, I feel a strong connection from that direction.â (Noa)
Noa pointed in the direction Ronne was supposedly at.
âPrimmeâs sister is just up ahead.â (Noa)
Seeing Primme barely restrain herself from jumping out, I reminded her not to act alone. In return, I promised to make sure she sees Ronne.
After confirming with my detection skills that no one was around, I entered the mansion through what looked like a back door.
Thanks to my detection skills, I could tell where people were and proceed safely through the corridors and around the corners.
âYuna-san, are you sure we can continue going ahead as fast as we are currently going?â (Noa)
âItâs okay. Because thereâs no one around. But if I tell you to stop or to be quiet, you must follow my instructions.â (Yuna)
Noa nodded.
We slowly moved forward to Ronneâs location as indicated by Noa. With Noaâs and my help, we should be able to find Ronne easily.
âThere are people in this room, so weâll pass quietly.â (Yuna)
Noa and Primme nodded. Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear also let out a small âkuâ sound.
With my detection skills, I could tell that there was someone in this room, and since Noa said she couldnât sense any connection inside, it may be a servant who works there.
Using this method, we made good progress through the mansion.
âIs Ronne getting closer?â (Yuna)
âI can feel her from close by. It is a little further. But I feel another response nearby. Maybe itâs a knight because itâs a weak connection.â (Noa)
Indeed, there was a human response.
And it was moving toward us. If we continued on, the Knight would find us.
It would take a lot of time even if we tried to go around.
I would have appreciated it if I could go behind that knight like in a manga and knock him out with a smack on the neck, but unfortunately, I didnât have that kind of skill.
Could that be done in the first place?
As we were looking for somewhere to hide, we heard a small cry from Swaying Bear, who had turned into a bear cub. I checked with my detection skills, and a new response was coming from behind us.
âWhatâs wrong with Swaying Bear-chan?â (Noa)
âSomeone is coming from behind.â (Yuna)
Noa immediately closed her eyes at my words.
âI couldnât detect Ronneâs presence from that person.â (Noa)
If Noa didnât sense any connection, then it wasnât a knight. A servant?
If we remained like this, we would be caught in the middle.
I looked around the corridor.
There was a door in front of us.
I moved in front of the door and turned the doorknob. It was unlocked.
I entered the room with Noa and the others.
I put my ear to the door.
âDorito!â (???)
âRena?â (???)
âThe knights just left, what happened?â (Rena)
A man and a woman started talking at the door.
Donât talk, just go away.
âWhat, you donât know? Smoke went up from the town. Thatâs why some of the knights left.â (Dorito)
âAnd Dorito?â (Rena)
âI donât think all the knights can leave the mansion. The Lord is not well-liked by the people of the town, so you never know what might happen.â (Dorito)
âI agree. After the Master died, his son Master Bellung came back from the royal capital and started studying fairies, and after Master Ronne showed up, the people around here have changed.â (Rena)
âYes, some of the residents resent the Lord for going mad because of the fairies.â (Dorito)
âIt used to be said that the fairies brought happiness, but the only ones who are happy are the Lord and you knights who were given the power.â (Rena)
âThat doesnât mean this power will last forever. If Ronne-sama doesnât give it to us continuously, we will lose it. That is the extent of this power. But there are knights who are fascinated by it.â (Dorito)
âAnd you?â (Rena)
âI was delighted to gain more power. But the people who wielded this power soon aimed it at the townâs inhabitants. This power should be wielded against the nearby monsters. I would have been thrilled if I could challenge stronger knights outside this town and monsters in other places, like the royal capital. However, that doesnât mean I am not happy receiving this blessing. I have decided to protect Ronne-sama as repayment for giving me such power.â (Dorito)
âHow does Ronne-sama look?â (Rena)
âWell, I guess you donât know, but you donât need to know. Ronne-sama can make herself invisible and rarely shows herself to people. I said I am willing to protect her, but Iâm sure she wonât think much of me or anyone else.â (Dorito)
âWell, I suppose so. To be fair, I donât think anyone would break inside this mansion.â (Rena)
The voices gradually became more distant. Even my detection skills confirmed that they were moving away.
They doubt anyone would be breaking in here, huh?
âWhy do they think it was a blessing that my sister is giving them power? It is not even a power they can use properlyâ¦â (Primme)
Primme was complaining about the knightâs words, but those words also stabbed me, so I didnât respond.
I have become strong thanks to my Bear Equipment, which God granted me. If God decided to antagonize me, what would I do? Would I fight that God? If the power of this bear equipment was made up of things taken from other people, would I be able to separate myself from it? If I had to part with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, would I be able to do it?
âYuna-san, whatâs wrong?â (Primme)
âNothing.â (Yuna)
I tried placing myself in the position of the Knights, but I could not answer my doubts.
All I could think about now was meeting Ronne.
âThen letâs go to Ronneâs place. Do you know where she is?â (Yuna)
âYes, I do. I have confirmed it.â (Noa)
We left the room and headed back to Ronneâs place.
âI can feel her presence through this door.â (Noa)
There was an iron door in front of us.
The door was tightly closed. But something unnatural had been drilled in the top part of the door, a hole big enough for a fairy to pass through.
âMy sister is just beyond this door.â (Primme)
âPrimme!â (Yuna)
Knowing that Ronne was simply beyond the door, Primme went ahead of us, passing through the hole in the iron door.
âYuna-san, what should we do?â (Noa)
âOf course weâre going in.â (Yuna)
I used a miniature bear cutter to cut a joint in the gap between the door and the wall where I think the lock was supposed to be.
The door opened.
âLetâs go.â (Yuna)
âYes.â (Noa)
We opened the door and followed Primme.
Beyond the iron door were stairs that led down to a basement.
I think there should be lights somewhere, but I used magic to create lights as we descended the stairs.
âSister!â (Primme)
I heard Primme yell.
Me, Noa, Swaying Bear, and Hugging Bear ran down the stairs.
âSister, letâs go home!â (Primme)
âPrimme, why did you come here? I told you to forget about me and go home on your own.â (Ronne)
âI canât do that!â (Primme)
We went down the stairs to a large room.
In the center of the room were Primme and Ronne.
âThat fairy is Primme-sanâs sister, Ronne-sanâ¦â (Noa)
Noa was sleeping when Ronne came to the inn, so this was the first time she saw Ronne.
âI suppose you brought those humans along with you.â (Ronne)
Ronne noticed us.
âWhy would my sister do something bad to humans? Thatâs not the sister I know.â (Primme)
âSorry. There is someone in this place that I couldnât leave behind. Thatâs why I couldnât leave this town.â (Ronne)
Ronne said and landed on top of something.
âYuna-san, someone seems to be sleeping there.â (Noa)
Noa was right. Was that an altar? A person was sleeping on what looked like an altar or a bed.
Ronne was snuggled up to the person sleeping in the bed-like structure.
We approached.
A man was sleeping.
Was this the Lord?
Why would a Lord be sleeping here in the basement?
There were magic circles painted on the floor, and magic stones were set all over the place.
My head was spinning in confusion.
Could I be wrong about many things?
âMay I ask you something?â (Yuna)
âWhat?â (Ronne)
âWho is that sleeping man? He is not a Lord, is he?â (Yuna)
âDonât put him together with those people.â (Ronne)
I knew it. Heâs not a Lord.
âThen who is he?â (Yuna)
âThe man who can see me. He is my precious.â (Ronne)
Ronne gently touched the manâs face.
âYuna-san, this isâ¦â (Noa)
âWhat do you mean? Isnât the Lord of this town the one who can see you?â (Yuna)
âYouâre making a mistake, please donât compare him to that person. That person isâ¦â (Ronne)
Ronne retorted angrily.
I was mistaken.
We thought the Lord was Ronneâs partner, but we were wrong. The man sleeping here was Ronneâs partner. But why was Ronneâs partner sleeping here in the basement? He was also very skinny.
The iron door that we entered, the basement, the magic circle, the magic stones, the skinny guy, who didnât wake upâ¦
I could only imagine what unpleasant things this could be.
âIt seems that I, Primme, and the people of the town have misunderstood many things, Ronne, so tell me about the relationship between that sleeping man and Ronne, and also about the Lords of this town. Without hearing that, neither Primme nor we will know what to do from now on.â (Yuna)
Ronne looked at Primme and us.
ââ¦sister.â (Primme)
âOkay.â (Ronne)
Ronne started to speak up.
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