Bear-san and the others Visit a Town in the Land of Wa
Early in the morning, I went out of the house.
âHow are we going to travel?â (Sakura)
âBy riding on Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, surely?â (Kagali)
âHayatemaru is there too.â (Shinobu)
Hayatemaru was the name of Shinobuâs horse.
The eight people heading to town were Fina, Shuri, Noa, Misa, Sakura, Shinobu, myself and Kagali-san.
I didnât expect Kagali-san to join our excursion.
Kagali-san said she was just passing the time.
Thus, the means of transport were Swaying Bear, Hugging Bear, and Hayatemaru.
To carry everyone, we had to divide everyone into groups of 3, 3, and 2.
âI will be going with Swaying Bear then.â (Kagali)
âKuu~n.â
âUm, I willâ¦â (Sakura)
Sakura looked at Hugging Bear.
Of course, Fina, Shuri, Noa and Misa also wanted to ride Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.
ââKuu~n.ââ
Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear looked at me with a âWhat are we going to do?â expression.
It would be a little troublesome if they started fighting over who would be riding Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.
Besides, Hayatemaru was also there, and if no one but Shinobu wanted to ride it, I would feel sorry for Hayatemaru.
If I didnât deal with the situation immediately, it would become a big problem.
I thought about how to deal with this.
Since we were a group of peopleâ¦
âWeâll instead travel in a bear carriage.â (Yuna)
âA bear carriage?â (Sakura)
Technically, it was a Bear Bus, but they didnât know what a bus was, so I called it a carriage instead.
It was quicker to show them the Bear Bus than to explain it, so I took out the Bear Carriage, or Bear Bus, from my bear box.
âWhat is this?â (Kagali)
âIt has the face of Bear-san.â (Sakura)
âItâs big.â (Shinobu)
Kagali-san, Sakura and Shinobu were surprised when they saw the Bear Bus for the first time.
âIs Swaying Bear-sama and Hugging Bear-sama pulling it?â (Sakura)
âFufu.â (Noa)
Noa laughed when she heard Sakuraâs words.
âYou are saying the same thing I once asked, but Sakura, no, itâs Yuna-san who moves it.â (Noa)
âYuna-sama?â (Sakura)
âIâll explain the details when we get on.â (Yuna)
I opened the door of the Bear Bus next to me.
âSit wherever you like, but the front seat is mine.â (Yuna)
I didnât want them to sit in the front as it was the driverâs seat.
âMisa, come on in.â (Noa)
âYes.â (Misa)
Noa boarded the Bear Bus with Misa.
Then she turned around.
âSakura, too?â (Noa)
âYes.â (Sakura)
Sakura also boarded the Bear Bus with Noa.
âSis, us too.â (Shuri)
âYes.â (Fina)
Fina and Shuri followed, and then Kagali-san and Shinobu got on the Bear Bus. I was the last one to board after Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear transformed into cubs.
After boarding the Bear Bus, I looked at the seat behind me and saw Noa and the others sitting there.
âItâs so unusual to see Noa in the back.â (Yuna)
Last time, she sat next to me as if she were competing with the others.
âIf I sit in the back, I can sit with everyone else.â (Noa)
Noa looked to the left and right.
Shuri, Fina, Noa, Sakura, and Misa were seated from left to right.
Kagali-san sat alone in the middle of the Bear Bus while Shinobu took up a seat between Kagali-san Noa and the others.
Was that position because of her role as an escort?
âWell, itâs dangerous when it starts to move, so donât stand up.â (Yuna)
I warned them and sat in the front seat with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, who had turned into cubs.
I then turned around and ensured everyone was appropriately seated before we set off.
Slowly, the Bear Bus started to move.
âOh, itâs moving.â (Kagali)
âIs it powered by magic?â (Sakura)
âItâs an application of an earth magic golem.â (Yuna)
âI see. I didnât know it could be used in this way.â (Sakura)
âI think anyone could come up with the idea of moving the wheels with magic power.â (Yuna)
Just use magic power to move the wheels.
With simple instructions, the entire bear bus operations could even be automated.
âEven if we could think of it, we canât make use of it.â (Noa)
âWhy not?â (Yuna)
âThatâs because there is a limit to the magic power one innately possesses.â (Noa)
Noa replied.
âThe girl is right. If adventurers used a carriage similar to this one, a mage would have to move it with a lot of magic power. But when the group encounters a monster along the way, the mages will end up low on magic power or end up getting so drained that he cannot use as much magic power as he normally could. At worst, he may not even be able to participate in the battle. Thus invalidating him in battle.â (Kagali)
Indeed, if someone used magic power for movement, they might end up unable to fight monsters.
âThe opposite is also true.â (Shinobu)
âThe opposite?â (Yuna)
âIf you use your magical power to fight monsters and use too much of it, you wonât be able to move the carriage.â (Shinobu)
âSo you canât go anywhere until your magic power recovers.â (Sakura)
Sakura added to Shinobuâs explanation.
I remembered the time when I fought the Kraken. When I defeated the Kraken, I ran out of magic power. Even if I had been asked to move the Bear Bus then, I doubt I could have done it.
With a horse, you can still somewhat move around and reposition even if you run out of magic or have no strength.
âSo even if someone came up with this idea, they wouldnât be able to use it in real life.â (Yuna)
âItâs more practical to use a horse, you see.â (Shinobu)
I knew I had more magic power than others, but it made sense now that they mentioned it.
âWell, magic stones can also be used, but I donât know how many of them will be needed.â (Kagali)
âItâs a question of cost efficiency and benefit.â (Noa)
Noa added to Kagali-sanâs words.
âYou said you are a nobleâs daughter; you are intelligent.â (Kagali)
âWell, thank you?â (Noa)
Noa was at a loss for words when Kagali-san, who appeared younger than her, complimented her.
âActually, it wasnât my conclusion. I just happened to mention it to my father after I tried this bear carriage for the first time. At that time, my father told me the same thing as Kagali-san. But he also said that it might be possible to utilize it as a means of transportation.â (Noa)
âI agree with that.â (Kagali)
The Bear Bus debate centered around Kagali-san commenced.
âBut he said there are many problems with it.â (Noa)
âWeight and distance.â (Kagali)
âYes. If the carriage is heavy, it will naturally use more magic power. If the distance is longer, the amount of magic power used increases proportionally.â (Noa)
âYuna Onee-sama makes it look easy, but it is not so easy, right?â (Misa)
âYes, it is. No ordinary person can do it.â (Kagali)
âEven Kagali-sama?â (Sakura)
âIf compared to others, I can make such a carriage run. However, I have no need for it.â (Kagali)
Of course, Kagali-san alone could fly after all.
If I were to be asked if I really needed it, I didnât need one either because I have Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear to ride on.
The Bear Bus was only meant to move large groups of people quickly.
âThen Iâll speed up a little.â (Yuna)
I channelled magic power into the steering wheel.
The wheels moved faster, and the vehicleâs speed increased.
âItâs faster now.â (Sakura)
âItâs faster than a carriage.â (Shinobu)
âJust donât run out of magic. If it stops, I will not move it with my magic power.â (Kagali)
âDonât worry about it.â (Yuna)
I increased the speed even more to prove it.
Noa and the others looked out with delight.
The Bear Bus continued driving forward without incident, and soon, the destination came into view.
âIs it safe if we keep going?â (Yuna)
The entrance to the town came into view.
âIâm afraid there will be a commotion if we continue like thisâ¦â (Sakura)
âI suggest we stop here.â (Shinobu)
Taking Sakura and Shinobuâs advice, I stopped the Bear Bus.
âAre we going to walk from here?â (Shuri)
Shuri appeared to be sleepy.
Fina pulled her hand, and we got out of the Bear Bus.
Noa and Misa followed her.
âWake up, Lady Kagali.â (Sakura)
âHave we arrived already?â (Kagali)
Kagali-san fell asleep on the way and was roused by Sakura.
âYes. Itâs a bit of a distance to town, but weâll walk from here.â (Sakura)
Sakura explained why we would walk to the town instead of riding the Bear Bus.
âWhy donât we ride Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear instead?â (Kagali)
âThe people will be surprised if we take the Bear Bus, or even approach them while riding bears.â (Sakura)
âThat will indeed be too much attention and trouble for us.â (Kagali)
Kagali-san reluctantly got off the bear carriage.
When I confirmed that everyone had dismounted, I put the Bear Bus away in the bear box.
Then we all started walking towards the town.
âHmm, Iâm looking forward to it.â (Noa)
âWhat kind of town is it?â (Misa)
Noa and Misa seemed excited.
But Sakura and Shinobu responded differently.
âWell, Iâm sorry to say that even if you are looking forward to it, itâs just a normal town.â (Sakura)
âThatâs right. Thereâs nothing much to see.â (Shinobu)
Sakura and Shinobu appeared a little apologetic.
But Shuri denied it.
âThatâs not true. There were many unusual things, it was fun.â (Shuri)
âYes. I think Noa-sama and Misa-sama will enjoy seeing so many things theyâve never seen before.â (Fina)
âIâm glad to hear that.â (Sakura)
In Mileela, Cliff said something similar to the people living there. But for those living there, it would be the same old thing, scenery and food, which would be attractive to people from other places.
âThere is good food, but there is also stinky food.â (Shuri)
Noa reacted to Shuriâs casual remark.
âStinky food?â (Noa)
âYes, sticky, disgusting and smelly.â (Shuri)
âAre you talking about natto?â (Sakura)
âOh, I did remember eating natto when I came here with Fina and Shuri.â (Yuna)
âI see, so you like it.â (Sakura)
âI heard that people donât eat natto outside the Land of Wa.â (Shinobu)
âDo you eat that sticky, disgusting, smelly stuff?â (Noa)
âYes, we eat it. Itâs delicious.â (Sakura)
âI agree with that, but people from other countries seem to have a problem with it.â (Shinobu)
âI guess we have to try it to understand.â (Noa)
Noa said so.
âNoa-sama, I donât think you should force yourself to eat this.â (Sakura)
âHas Fina tried eating it too?â (Noa)
âYes. It had a strange and mysterious taste.â (Fina)
âWhen you say so, it makes me want to try it.â (Noa)
Noa was willing to eat natto.
I wondered if this would be a case where I would end up eating the leftover natto.
Well, I didnât mind because I didnât dislike natto.
While having this conversation, we approached the town.
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