Chapter 447

Bear-san, Meets Sakura-sama

The next day, I left the inn to meet Sakura-sama and the king of this country.

“The hot springs were nice and the food was delicious.” (Yuna)

I thanked Konoha for taking care of me for the past few days.

“I’m glad you said that.” (Konoha)

Then Konoha said, “Please come again”.

Yeah, I’ll visit here with Fina next time in the future.

Then, Shinobu and Jubei-san rode their horses, while I rode Hugging Bear.

“Oh, it’s Hugging Bear today.” (Shinobu)

“Well, yeah.” (Yuna)

I only summoned Swaying Bear for the duration of the battle after all, so when I summoned both of them last night, Hugging Bear was sulking.

I couldn’t leave Shinobu behind at that time, and the reason I summoned Swaying Bear was because Shinobu was more familiar with him. Besides, I was also worried because Swaying Bear had been attacked.

But for Hugging Bear, he felt left out. So today, I summoned only Hugging Bear.

“Even so, Yuna, it seems like you’re a celebrity.” (Shinobu)

“What do you mean by that?” (Yuna)

“Actually, I heard a little story from an adventurer who knows you, Yuna.” (Shinobu)

I didn’t think there was any adventurer in town who knew me, but then, it reminded me of the first time I came to the Adventurer’s Guild.

There was a man who looked at me and muttered, “Bloody Bear”.

“He said he came from another continent. It seems Yuna has defeated some monsters there.” (Shinobu)

Maybe that guy knew me for a different matter?

In the first place, it depends on how much an adventurer knows about me.

If it’s just Crimonia, there’s only the Tiger Wolves and the Black Viper. The Kraken isn’t known, is it? And there’s no chance of finding out about the big Scorpion.

“Now that I think about it, it would have been better if you just allowed us to inspect your guild card.” (Shinobu)

Even if that’s the case, I would have politely declined because I didn’t want anyone to know the contents of my guild card. Even if someone suddenly asked me to show them the contents of my guild card, I would never let them see it due to my personality. Especially if it was Shinobu, who was a hundred times more suspicious. Of course, I wouldn’t show it to anyone else either, even if they asked me to.

When you think about it, isn’t it still difficult to capture me?

“Oh, by the way, Jubei-san. Are you still wearing that eye patch all the time?” (Yuna)

Jubei-san is still wearing an eye patch. But judging by the way he looked yesterday, his eye didn’t seem to be injured.

“This is a good way for me to train myself, and it’s also a good way for me to gauge my opponent’s strength, so I basically wear it for that reason.” (Jubei)

“I heard that it’s a good way for measuring the ability of subordinates and apprentices. That’s why the first goal of a subordinate or an apprentice is to remove their master’s eye patch. After that, they need to be able to dodge the master’s three-step thrusts, then dual wield swords, use magic on top of all that, all in the process to become stronger and stronger.” (Shinobu)

The gradual power increase, like some kind of battle manga.

“I really wanted to pull off my master’s dual wield technique and show it to you, Yuna.” (Shinobu)

“But if you want to see how good I am, what’s the point of showing me Jubei-san’s fighting style?” (Yuna)

“That’s not the case. I would have given up if you had run away when you saw my master’s fighting prowess, Yuna. I had a standard for judging that a person who cannot save a single person cannot save a country. But you, Yuna, you saved me.” (Shinobu)

Shinobu looked pleased.

“And I wanted to show you our fight to see how you could handle it. Young Miss, you handled it beautifully.” (Jubei)

Apparently, every action was a test in itself.

By the way, the tone of his voice at that time was like mocking me, but now, Jubei-san’s tone seems to be his true self here. I think he has the talent to be an actor.

I really thought he was just a battle junkie.

=====

Then, we rode our horses and a bear, and before noon we saw walls as high as Crimonia’s. It was the royal capital.

“Sakura-sama and the king are over there.” (Shinobu)

Within those walls, there’s the shrine maiden who can use precognition, the root of all of this mess. And the king.

Now, what kind of person is she?

“Speaking of which, let me first warn you. If that shrine maiden and the king laughs at me, I’ll immediately leave.” (Yuna)

I will nail them to a wall.

If they’re going to ask me to do something, they should at least have some manners.

Shinobu glanced at Jubei-san.

“I’ll contact the king later.” (Jubei)

Is that supposed to be said out loud?

Moreover, in front of me.

“Sakura-sama is probably fine.” (Shinobu)

In other words, the King will probably laugh, but Sakura-sama may be fine with me.

After a Short while, the gates came into view.

“Are you sure it’s okay to go in there as is?” (Yuna)

I turned my gaze to Hugging Bear. Then the other two looked at Hugging Bear and then me.

“What do you think?” (Yuna)

“I think it’s okay with me, but we might cause a commotion.” (Jubei)

“But either way, Yuna’s outfit stands out. She’s the center of attention whenever she’s walking down the street.” (Shinobu)

Shinobu seemed to be referring to the time when we were looking for Jubei-san together.

Well, the residents were watching me back then, too.

“Then will you ride with me on my Hayatemaru?” (Shinobu)

Shinobu stroked Hayatemaru’s neck.

Surely a bear on a horse would still be inconspicuous, wouldn’t it?

As I was thinking about such things, Hugging Bear made a lonely sound.

Don’t be so sad.

And then I thought about it.

I asked Hugging Bear to turn himself into a cub.

“Yuna’s bear became smaller!?” (Shinobu)

After weighing up whether to have him return or to ask him to turn into a cub, Hugging Bear’s mood improved, so I decided to stay with the Hugging Bear in bear cub form.

Shinobu and Juubei-san looked at Hugging Bear, who had turned into a bear cub, with surprised faces.

“My bears are special bears.” (Yuna)

“Are they really holy beasts, by any chance?” (Shinobu)

Well, they were given to me by God, so they might be more correctly classified as divine beasts.

Oh well, either way, I’m not going to tell Shinobu about it.

I picked up Hugging Bear and asked Hayatemaru to carry us, while Shinobu rode behind me.

I’ve ridden in a carriage before, but this might be my first time riding a horse.

And so, Hayatemaru, carrying us, started trodding towards the gate.

“Yuna” (Shinobu)

“What?” (Yuna)

“You’re soft, it feels good.” (Shinobu)

Shinobu is hugging my body.

I turned around and stared at Shinobu.

“If you do anything weird, I’ll hit you.” (Yuna)

“………”

“What’s with the silence?” (Yuna)

“U~u, I understand. I don’t want you to stare at me so intensely. I won’t do anything else.” (Shinobu)

Shinobu looked disappointed.

Then the guards inspected our guild cards and let us pass through the gate.

Of course, the gatekeepers looked at me as if they were surprised, but since I was with Jubei-san, they didn’t call out to me or stop me.

=====

“Yuna. Welcome to Tessera.” (Shinobu) (テッセラ)

We have arrived to Tessera, the capital city of the land of harmony, or should I say the royal capital, or the Miyako* capital?

It’s not Edo or Kyōto, apparently.

Then, a Japanese style scene spreads out in my field of vision, like the capital of Kyōto. Beyond that, I can see a castle that is different from the Western-style castle where Flora-sama lives. It looks more like a Japanese castle.

I have never been inside a castle in Japan, even when I was in my former world. I didn’t go to castles in elementary school trips, and I was a hikikomori** in junior high school, and I don’t have a hobby of visiting castles alone. I’ve only seen those on TV or the Internet.

“Is Sakura-sama in that castle?” (Yuna)

“She’s not here. Sakura-sama is somewhere else.” (Shinobu)

I’m a little disappointed. I would have liked to go inside the castle.

“But the king is there.” (Shinobu)

Well, of course, he is. So does that mean I can go inside the castle when I meet the king?

“But they’re watching us, aren’t they?” (Shinobu)

“Yeah, they’re watching us.” (Jubei)

Shinobu and Juubei-san looked around.

The people around us are looking at me. Not at Hugging Bear that has turned into a cub. I’m the one who’s drawing all the attention, after all.

“Shinobu. I’m going to report to the castle. You should guide her to Sakura-sama first.” (Jubei)

Jubei-san said, kicking the horse lightly in the side, and the horse galloped towards the castle.

“Ah, Master, that’s not fair!” (Shinobu)

Jubei-san’s figure disappeared, ignoring Shinobu’s voice.

We were left behind.

“He said he needed to report, but he just ran away, didn’t he?” (Yuna)

Isn’t it like saying he didn’t want to be with me, the center of attention?

“Then we’ll go to Sakura-sama too.” (Shinobu)

Shinobu lightly kicked Hayatemaru in the side and headed for where Sakura-sama was.

I looked around from the top of Hayatemaru. There were more people and more buildings than in the city near the sea.

“Is it so unusual?” (Shinobu)

“Yes, it is. It’s so different from where I live.” (Yuna)

Even in my former world, there are apartments and buildings. But there were no such Japanese style buildings in my neighborhood.

“That’s right. I’d like to go to the continent where Yuna lives someday.” (Shinobu)

Well, I don’t know how far away it is, but it’s not easy to get back and forth.

Hayatemaru kept on going.

“So, are we near to where this Sakura-sama is yet?” (Yuna)

Gradually, the streets become less and less crowded.

Since a while ago, we’ve been traveling beside a long wall.

“We’re already here, but the entrance is still further ahead.” (Shinobu)

“Is it perhaps on the other side of this wall?” (Yuna)

“That’s right.” (Shinobu)

I looked up at the wall.

Apparently, she lives in a house on a huge plot of land.

=====

After a while, I saw the entrance to this wall. Two gatekeepers with spears were standing at the entrance.

The gatekeeper glanced at me, but then quickly looked at Shinobu.

“Shinobu-dono, we’ve been expecting you. Sakura-sama is waiting for you.” Gatekeeper

“I understand. Yuna, we’ll be walking from here.” (Shinobu)

Shinobu and I got off of Hayatemaru.

“Another premonition perhaps?” (Yuna)

I ask Shinobu in a whisper.

It’s like they knew we were coming.

“No. I contacted them yesterday.” (Shinobu)

Shinobu unsummoned Hayatemaru and went through the gate.

The gatekeeper looked at me as if he was looking at something strange, but I was able to pass through without being told anything.

Once inside the gates, I found a large garden and a large building at the end of the walk.

We went straight into the building. We walked down the aisle and Shinobu stopped in front of one of the sliding doors.

“Sakura-sama, we’re here.” (Shinobu)

Shinobu opened the sliding door and I saw a person wrapped in a white shrine maiden costume sitting at the back of a large tatami room.

Is that Sakura-sama?

Looking at her closely, she’s small.

Could she be a child?

=====

Author’s Note:

Sakura-sama was a child, it seems.

Postscript.

※ I’m working on the book, so my next post will be delayed. Thank you for your understanding.

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