Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

Chapter 809

Bear-san Visits the Adventurer’s Guild in the Royal Capital

The next morning, I left the bear house in the royal capital and headed for the adventurer’s guild, where I was supposed to meet Mane-san.

As I walked through the royal capital, I heard voices saying, “Bear?” “Bear?”

In Crimonia, people knew about me, but in the royal capital, only a handful of people could recognize me.

There was a big difference in population to begin with.

It was like living in the countryside and occasionally coming to Tokyo.

If everyone knew me, that would be scary in its own way.

So I pulled my bear hood over my head and headed for the adventurer’s guild.

I arrived at the adventurer’s guild on the main street.

I wondered if Mane-san was already here.

Looking around, I found Mane-san at the entrance to the adventurer’s guild.

She was wearing a different attire, so I didn’t recognize her immediately.

Yesterday she was dressed like a researcher in casual clothes. Today she wore a cloak and travel attire.

“Mane-san, sorry to keep you waiting. You’re early.” (Yuna)

“I just got here too.” (Mane)

It was like hearing the kind of line a partner who’d been kept waiting would say when you finally meet up.

I haven’t personally experienced something like that, of course, but do people actually say stuff like that?

Well, it was true that I made Mane-san wait.

I should have come a little earlier.

“Well, let’s go see Sanya.” (Mane)

Mane-san didn’t seem to mind that I was late and went into the adventurer’s guild.

I followed after her.

The Royal Capital’s adventurer’s guild was as crowded as ever.

“It’s a bear.”

“Cute.”

“That bear.”

“Don’t get too close.”

It had been a while since I’d been here, but it seemed like some adventurers still recognize me.

“Your outfit really is not normal after all.” (Mane)

I couldn’t deny that, so I couldn’t argue back on her comment.

Mane-san looked convinced as I drew everyone’s attention.

Everyone called me a bear and stared at me, but no one came near me.

As I was thinking what to do, a large male adventurer approached me.

“Hey, girl. It’s been a while.”

He raised his hand and greeted me.

I felt like I’d seen him before.

“Um, you’re from Desert City…” (Yuna)

He’s the adventurer who accompanied me to the pyramid in the Desert City.

I think his name was…

“U-Uragan” (Yuna)

“It seems like you remembered my name this time.” (Uragan)

The last time I went to the royal capital to buy Fina a birthday present. (Reference: Chapter 572, Bear Gives Fina a Present, Royal Capital Part 1)

I met Uragan again at that time, but I didn’t remember his name.

“So you were working in the Royal Capital.” (Yuna)

“This is my base. I do the work in Desert City when the money is good. It’s rare for you to come to the Royal Capital Adventurer’s Guild, young lady.” (Uragan)

“Just some work to take care of. How’s your armor?” (Yuna)

The armor Uragan was wearing was made from the shell of a large scorpion, which I gave him as a thank you and hush money.

“Yeah, it’s light and easy to move in, so I don’t use up much stamina. It’s also sturdy, so my companions and I have been injured less.” (Uragan)

That was good.

Even the slightest things could mean a difference between life and death.

If you got injured, you would become a burden to your companions, and you might have to give up on a request halfway through.

Although I gave it to him as hush money back then, I was glad to know that it was useful to him.

As I was talking to Uragan, an adventurer wrapped in red armor approached me from behind.

“When I heard the word ‘bear’, I knew it was you.”

The one who called out was an adventurer clad in bright red armor from head to toe.

Unlike Uragan, whose name I couldn’t remember right away, I immediately remembered this adventurer.

…Stupid Red.

Stupid Red was an adventurer I met when I went to the mines to get mithril, the material for making Fina’s mithril knife.

He made fun of me and called me Jade’s pet, so I called him Stupid Red in my mind.

Besides Stupid Red, there were other members of his party: Stupid Blue, Stupid Green, Stupid White, and Stupid Black.

Each of them had color-coded armor and weapons, so I called them that in my mind.

“What is it, Barbold? Do you know the girl?” (Uragan)

Uragan said Stupid Red’s name.

I was sure Jade called him by that name as well.

Since I always called him Stupid Red in my mind, his actual name had vanished from my memory.

“Yeah, this girl stole my prey.” (Barbold)

By stealing, you mean, you gave up on defeating the mithril golem and went drinking instead.

I had no idea that the next day you and Jade-san would be teaming up to take golem down.

“I’m not saying this as something bad, but you shouldn’t pick a fight with this girl.” (Uragan)

“I have no such intention. I know her abilities. Besides, you know that the Guild Master told me not to mess with a girl dressed as a bear.” (Barbold)

“Yeah, I found out later.” (Uragan)

The two of them got excited talking about me.

“You’re quite famous, aren’t you?” (Mane)

Mane-san, who had been watching us, said as she looked at Uragan and Stupid Red.

“We just happened to work together before.” (Yuna)

“I see.” (Mane)

I left Uragan and Stupid Red who were still talking, and headed to the reception desk.

Seeing me, the receptionist said, “You must be Yuna-san. What brings you here today?”

She might recognize me, since I caused some trouble in the Royal Capital’s Adventurer’s Guild and also provided materials for the dismantling event.

“Um, I’d like to speak to the Guild Master, Sanya-san.” (Yuna)

“Please wait a moment.” (Receptionist)

The woman stood up and went to the back.

She returned a short time later and led me to the Guild Master’s room, where Sanya-san was.

“Sanya-san, it’s been a while.” (Yuna)

“Welcome, Yuna-chan, and Mane?” (Sanya)

“It’s been a while.” (Mane)

“What kind of pairing is this?” (Sanya)

“Ellelaura recommended me to hire Yuna as a guard. I thought I’d like to hear your opinion of her too, Sanya.” (Mane)

“Could it be about the escort quest towards the Western Forest?” (Sanya)

“Yes, that’s right. So, what do you think of her abilities?” (Mane)

“Well….” (Sanya)

Sanya-san looked at me.

“If you do not mind walking with Yuna-chan who is dressed like that, I think she’s the best bodyguard you could ask for. There are no adventurers as strong as Yuna-chan, and she also has her summoned bears to help move around.” (Sanya)

“You mean black bear and white bear?” (Mane)

“You know them?” (Sanya)

“I saw them yesterday.” (Mane)

“They can detect monsters and move fast. In other words, you can always escape from monsters if anything goes bad. Above all, they’re soft and feel good to ride on.” (Sanya)

“They’re indeed soft.” (Mane)

“And they’re also cute.” (Sanya)

“That doesn’t matter.” (Mane)

“Yes, it does. If you’re going to be traveling for hours, you need something soothing.” (Sanya)

I could certainly understand Sanya-san’s point.

“If you had to pick between riding on the back of a sweaty old man or Yuna-chan’s bear, which would you choose?” (Sanya)

Mane-san froze for a few seconds.

That was a really bad analogy.

“I’m sorry. I was wrong.” (Mane)

Mane-san apologized sincerely.

Maybe she imagined it.

The sweaty old man may not be a bad person. But if I have to choose between him and my bears, I would certainly choose Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.

Again, the sweaty old man wasn’t at fault.

Sanya-san was the one at fault for using that analogy.

Normally, you would compare it to a horse.

“Plus, if Yuna-chan is your bodyguard, you’ll have a comfortable home to stay at night, so you’ll feel safe at night, and you’ll be able to recover from fatigue.” (Sanya)

“Home?” (Mane)

“With a bath in bed.” (Sanya)

“With a bath in bed?” (Mane)

“Plus, the food Yuna-chan makes is delicious. On long journeys, there’s always the problem of food, but with Yuna-chan, you don’t have to worry about that. There’s no better guard than Yuna-chan.” (Sanya)

I felt embarrassed to be praised so much.

“However, that is if you can stand the embarrassment of walking next to Yuna-chan dressed as a bear.” (Sanya)

So you were embarrassed to walk next to me?

“Once we leave the capital, it doesn’t matter, so there’s no problem. All I want is for her to have the ability to protect me and not run away and leave me behind. I’m weak.” (Mane)

I didn’t think that’s something to brag about.

“I think it will be fine if you are with Yuna-chan. Be careful if you go to the western forest.” (Sanya)

“It’s a dangerous place, right?” (Yuna)

“The deeper you go, the more dangerous it gets.” (Sanya)

“What about information?” (Yuna)

“Basically, no information about the forest is shared by adventurers, so the guild doesn’t know much about it.” (Sanya)

“Why?” (Yuna)

“For an adventurer, information is the second most important thing after life itself. If other adventurers find out about the safe route, their advantage will disappear.” (Sanya)

Adventurers were certainly friends, but they were also rivals.

Even in games, I wanted to keep the route I discovered to myself.

I might talk about it after the game I was playing had been cleared, but not before that.

“Yuna-chan, do you remember the 10,000 monsters?” (Sanya)

“Why mention that all of a sudden? Of course, I remember.” (Yuna)

I might forget Stupid Red’s name, but I would never forget about that event.

“I’ve looked into where the monsters were gathered from since then, and I’ve found that they were most likely brought from the Western Forest.” (Sanya)

It was not easy to gather monsters.

“So we have thoroughly investigated the reason.” (Sanya)

“Well. There’s no way monsters would just appear out of nowhere, after all.” (Yuna)

“Then I found signs that they were moved from the Western Forest.” (Sanya)

“There was also a question of how that man brought them to the forest near the royal capital without being noticed.” (Yuna)

And so many of it without anyone noticing.

“Well, that man did seem to have a good amount of magic power to spare. So that probably made it possible to control and move them around.” (Sanya)

I heard a little bit about the man from the king.

A long time ago, a magician who lived in the castle did something bad, and the king banished him.

Apparently, the magician held a grudge against the king, gathered monsters, and tried to attack the royal capital, which was the reason he gathered 10,000 monsters.

“What have you guys been talking about for a while now?” (Mane)

As Sanya-san and I were talking, Mane-san asked us, not understanding what we were talking about.

“You don’t know, Mane?” (Yuna)

“What are you talking about? Don’t leave me out.” (Mane)

“How much can I tell her? His Majesty the King has imposed a gag order.” (Sanya)

“Everything.” (Mane)

“No, I can’t. It’s not something I can tell you.” (Sanya)

“Then who can tell me?” (Mane)

“That would be the person involved…” (Sanya)

Sanya-san turned her gaze to me.

Mane-san followed Sanya-san’s gaze and looked at me.

“Yuna?” (Mane)

“It’s a gag order imposed by His Majesty the King to protect Yuna-chan.” (Mane)

“Seriously, who are you, Yuna?” (Mane)

Mane-san looked at me questioningly as she asked.

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