Chapter 427

[By the way, Yuna-san. You really always come to the capital casually, don’t you?] Marcus

[Well, with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, it’s easy to come here.] Yuna

Yes, the usual lie.

I’ve lied so many times that the words naturally flow out of me.

Well, I can’t help it, since my existence was also a lie.

[I wish I had Swaying Bear-chan and Hugging Bear-chan so I could easily go back and forth to Crimonia. Then I could even go to the sea.] Shia

[You’ll have to settle for the stuffed animals.] Yuna

I stroked the head of the stuffed animal that Shia was holding in her arms.

[I can’t stand on it, much more ride on it.] Shia

Shia laughed.

[But I had fun at the beach. I want to go again.] Shia

[Yeah, let’s go again next time.] Yuna

[It’s a promise.] Shia

While Shia and I were talking happily, Marcus looked a little envious and opened his mouth.

[I wish I was there too.] Marcus

[Fufu. It was so much fun. Riding on Yuna-san’s bear golem, all of us got there pretty quick. The house we stayed at was a huge bear house and the playground had bear slides. We even got on boats and caught some fish.] Shia

Shia speaks happily of her trip to the sea.

I also remembered that there was an island called Targui, and the small incident happened on the said island.

[Invite me too.] Marcus

[I can’t invite Marcus to my home. Father will misunderstand it.] Shia

Certainly, if she brought a guy home to her parent’s house, Cliff might go crazy.

[Well, then, if Timor and Cataleya are with us, that would be fine, right?] Marcus

I wonder if it’s okay if they’re just friends from school?

I don’t know where the aristocracy draws the line in this area though.

[But at that time, we had to leave right away, so I didn’t have time to contact everyone.] Shia

It was true that Shia came the day before we left for the beach. If she had been even a day late, she would have missed the bear bus.

If she’s a couple of days late, then we’ll be halfway done, and if even later than that, it’ll be time to come home.

[Next year, you should invite everyone.] Marcus

[If I remember it.] Yuna

We walked up to the indoor training area, talking about our trip to the sea.

=====

We arrived at a big building. The gate was also huge. I didn’t know there was such a large indoor training hall inside the castle.

[We’ll wait for Tilia to get here, right?] Yuna

I want to hurry it up. I have to get to Flora-sama before it’s too late.

[But thanks to Lady Tyria, I’m glad we were able to borrow this place.] Marcus

[No one else will see Marcus get beaten to a pulp here.] Shia

[If anyone laughs at me after watching Yuna-san’s match, I would doubt his eyes.] Marcus

[Well, that’s right. But if you don’t do your best to some extent, you can’t bring out Yuna-san’s ability.] Shia

[I’ll do my best.] Marcus

Marcus casually puts his hand on the door, then the door opens.

[Hey, it’s open.] Marcus

Marcus opened the door completely and tried to get inside.

[Hey, you can’t just walk in there without permission!] Shia

[Perhaps Tilia-sama could have opened it ahead of us.] Marcus

I don’t know where the key is, but if Tilia runs ahead and left Flora-sama to Anju-san, it may be possible she’ll arrive here first.

As we entered the training grounds with Marcus in the lead, I saw a single knight wielding a sword. Of course, there was no sign of Tilia anywhere.

[Tilia-sama is not here. What are we going to do?] Shia

Shia asks while looking at the training grounds.

In the training area, a lone man is swinging his sword repeatedly.

Now, where have I seen that guy before?

It’s vaguely stuck in a corner of my memory, but I can’t remember. We may have passed by each other at some point.

[What’s wrong Yuna-san?] Shia

[No, I have a strange feeling of seeing that knight somewhere before, I just can’t remember. Maybe we passed each other somewhere in the castle, I dunno.] Yuna

[By that knight, you mean Vice-Captain Figo?] Marcus

[Marcus, do you know him?] Yuna

[Yeah, he’s the second-in-command of the knights.] Marcus

Marcus’ father is a knight, and Marcus himself is aiming to become a knight. If that’s the case, it’s not surprising that he knows the face of the vice-captain of the knights.

[……Figo. Oh, that guy.] Shia

Shia seems to remember something upon hearing Marcus’ words.

But I can’t recall anything.

[It’s the knight who fought you, Yuna-san, before your match with Rutum-sama.] Shia

Now that she explained it so well, I remember now.

[Ah, at that time.] Yuna

That’s right. I remembered that I had a match with a knight before that old man who was making a ruckus.

[By the way, Yuna-san, you had a match with Figo-san as well, didn’t you?] Marcus

Marcus seemed to know about that, too.

Well, if he listened to what his friend told him back then, he should know who I had a match with.

=====

As we were talking, the man Marcus called Figo looked at us.

[You guys, what are you doing here !?] Figo

[Excuse us. We’re about to have a practice here too.] Marcus

[You’re students, aren’t you? This is not a place for students.] Figo

[No, we have permission from Tilia-sama.] Marcus

[Tilia-sama?] Figo

[Yes. we’re going to practice a little bit somewhere, but then Tilia-sama said we could use the training grounds here. She’s coming over right now, so you can check with her to confirm.] Marcus

Marcus nervously answered.

[Oh, I see. I thought no one would be using it today, so I used it myself. It’s quiet when no one’s around.] Figo

Figo puts the sword back in its sheath.

I moved behind Marcus and Shia to hide.

[And the girl dressed as a bear too?…] Figo

I hid, but I was still found.

[Is that the girl who shows up at the castle every once in a while?] Figo

[You know about her?] Marcus

[Just the rumors.] Figo

Shia smiles at Figo’s words and Marcus looks interested.

I’m curious to know what those rumors are, but I don’t want to open my mouth because I don’t want to talk to him and have him find out that I was his opponent back then.

Besides, I know from experience that hearing rumors about me can be damaging.

Figo looked at me and then at Shia.

[I would like to ask Shia-sama, whom I had the pleasure of meeting here, if I may?] Figo

[You mean me?] Shia

Shia, not expecting to be approached, muttered in a small voice, .

[I asked the people that I knew at the school, but they said no one knew the girl named Yuuna whom I had a match with at the school festival. I couldn’t even ask His Majesty the King or Eleanora-sama about it.] Figo

[Etto…] Siha

Shia glanced at me, her eyes were swimming, but I shook my head.

Apparently, he didn’t notice me, the one who beat him.

But for a moment, who is Yuuna? I thought, but then I remembered that I was using a fake name back then.

[May I ask why you’re asking?] Shia

[I thought I’d like to try my hand at it again. She was really strong. I was really disappointed to lose, though. I wanted to give her a proper fight this time.] Figo

Shia looked at me for a moment, unsure of what to say.

[I’m sorry. She’s a friend of mine who lives in Crimonia. She just happened to be visiting during the school festival at that time.] Shia

[She wasn’t a student at the school. That’s a shame then.] Figo

He looked really disappointed. Did he really want to have a match with me that badly?

But that doesn’t mean I’m going to come forward and say it’s me.

Feeling a little guilty, the door opens once again.

=====

[Oh, the door really is open.] Tilia

[Is bear-san really here?] Flora

It was Tilia and Flora-sama who came into the training area.

When Flora-sama saw me, she immediately ran to me.

I caught Flora-sama with my stomach.

[I apologize, Tilia-sama, I was borrowing the training ground.] Figo

[Oh, it’s Figo?] Tilia

Figo apologized to Tilia, even though he hadn’t done anything wrong.

[Did we, by any chance, interrupt your practice?] Tilia

[No, It’s fine, I was just about to call it a day anyway.] Figo

[Really? Are you sure we’re not just making you feel uncomfortable? I don’t mind if you keep practicing though.] Tilia

[No, It’s about time for me to head back to my post.] Figo

Figo handed the door key to Tilia, bowed, and walked out of the training area.

[Shia, thank you for not telling him about me.] Yuna

I thanked Shia for not telling him about me. If she did, I would have gotten into trouble.

[Yuna-san, you always say you don’t want to stand out.] Shia

[Even though you’re dressed as such a prominent bear.] Tilia

[But did we get in the way of his practice?] Yuna

[Hmmm, I guess not. Figo is a hard man. Father told me that Figo was supposed to be the captain instead of Rutum. But he refused, saying that he was weak. It seems that after losing to Yuna, he had some things to think about. Even if Rutum had ordered him to do so, he seemed to regret the match with Yuna. Well, if it’s the commander’s order, he has no choice but to obey.] Tilia

[Is that so? If he doesn’t like it, he can just say no.] Marcus

Marcus gives a childish opinion.

[That would make it impossible to form a unit. Marcus, when you become a knight, your commander’s orders are absolute. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but a knight who can’t follow orders violates the knight’s code.] Tilia

Tilia replied a little more seriously.

[Even if you know it’s wrong?] Marcus

[That’s right.] Tilia

[…………]

What Tilia is saying is correct in the military.

But it’s not hard to understand how Marcus feels.

But what Tilia said can be said for any society, not just the military.

Regular employees have to listen to the orders of section chiefs, department heads, and the president. Teachers can’t disobey the grade head or the principal. Of course, they can disobey, but they will be ostracized by society.

Given that, I don’t want to be a member of society. Well, even in the original world, I didn’t mean to be a member of society. The stock market is enough to keep me alive.

If I’m going to live that kind of life back there, I’m rather grateful that I was sent to another world.

What’s more, I’m enjoying the different world.

[Marcus. If you don’t want to do that, then you should become a commander yourself. But even if you do, you’ll still have to obey the orders of the king above you.] Shia

If you defy the king, you’re done for.

[But you can rest assured. I don’t think Father or elder brother will give you any strange orders. But in Rutum’s case, being a nobleman, he probably couldn’t disobey even more.] Tilia

Originally, it should have been Rutum’s fault, but I’m starting to feel a little guilty.

Even so, I couldn’t lose that match for the sake of Shia’s future. Even if it would have ruined Figo’s life. But if his boss is no longer an idiot after that, then I guess you could say I saved him.