Chapter 172 – Bear-san Explores The Town
The door swung open, and Misa’s head peeked inside before she rushed into the room.
「Big Sister Noire!」
「Misa!」
The two of them embraced each other, excited by their reunion.
Misa then looked at us happily.
「Yuna-san and Fina-chan, you two came as well.」
「Yeah, we did receive an invitation from you, after all.」
How could I tell her that we wanted to refuse when she was smiling like that?
「Misa-sama, I would like to thank you...」
「You don’t have to be so polite.」
Fina tried her best to give a formal greeting, but was interrupted by Misa.
「Everyone who come for grandfather’s party also give their greetings to me. I’m tired of them already.」
Being a noble sure seemed troublesome.
Luckily, I was just a humble adventurer.
Hmm, looking at Noa, though, being a noble didn’t seem that difficult. Maybe it was just because Misa was having a party.
「Could it be that you came here to escape from them?」
「Yes. When I heard from Meshun that Big Sister Noire arrived, I escaped from my room to come here.」
Misa said, with a big smile on her face.
Was it really okay for her to leave her room like that?
「Oh right, Misa. Is it okay for us to take a walk around the town?」
「Hmm, I think it should be. Some other guests also went out.」
Well, that made sense. There was no way they could keep us in our rooms until the party. People wouldn’t put up with that.
「Okay then. Fina, want to take a walk around town with me?」
「Yeah, I’d love that.」
「I want to go, too.」
Noa said, raising her hand.
「I don’t think you can just come with us, Noa.」
「Why not?!」
「Don’t you need to get Cliff’s permission first?」
Noa was a noble, after all.
「Fine, I will go and get his permission then!」
Noa said, darting out of the room.
Just a moment later, however, she returned together with Cliff.
「I got his permission!」
That was just too fast, not to mention that she even brought Cliff back with her. Well, from what Meshun-san had told us, he had met with Gran-san, and he must have just come back from that.
「Yuna, can you take care of Noa until the party?」
「I don’t mind. What are you going to be doing, though?」
「I have work to do. There are many people I have to meet, after all. I also have a few things to discuss with Old Man Gran. And, because of all that, I won’t have much time to spend with Noa. There’s no way I could make her stay in her room until the day of the party, of course, and I know I won’t have to worry if she’s with you.」
I was rather pleased by the fact that Cliff trusted me.
「Noa, I’m letting you go outside, but you must not wander away from Yuna, okay? If you run off and she won’t be able to protect you, I won’t let you go outside again.」
「Thank you very much, Father. I will make sure to stay close to Yuna-san. Even if I have to cling onto her, I won’t leave her side.」
She said and grabbed onto me.
I pulled her off of me then turned to Misa.
「Okay, we’re going to take a walk around town, so could you please tell Gran-san we said hi?」
I asked her to deliver the message for us, so we could head out immediately.
「I-I want to go, too.」
Misa said.
I would feel bad for her if she couldn’t come with us, but, just like Noa, we couldn’t take her without getting permission first.
If we were to take her along, she needed permission from either Gran-san or her parents.
Her parents? They weren’t dead or anything, right?
If my memory wasn’t failing me, they should be alive. When we had met Misa on our way to the capital, she had mentioned something about her parents going there ahead of her.
「I don’t mind taking you with us if you get permission from your parents first.」
I would be troubled if they thought I kidnapped her, after all.
「Really?!」
I saw no problem in adding another person or two to our sightseeing group.
Besides, Noa and Misa weren’t the types to wander off on me.
I trusted Fina the most, of course, as I knew she wouldn’t do anything that would cause me worry.
「Yes, as long as they allow you to go.」
「Okay. I will go ask Father and Mother, then.」
Misa said and darted for the door, just like Noa had. Just as she opened it, though...
「Grandpa!」
「What’s this? So, this is where you’ve been, Misa?」
Gran-san walked into the room.
「Cliff, you’re here as well, huh.」
「I am really sorry for leaving so suddenly.」
Cliff said and bowed apologetically.
「Now, no need to be so formal here.」
「Why did you come here, though, Old Man Gran?」
「I heard that Yuna, who had taken quite good care of me back on our way to the capital, just arrived. I figured that I would come and greet her.」
If anything, hadn’t he taken care of me by guiding me through the capital, sorting out the bandit problem and even helping me purchase a plot of land at the capital?
「It’s been a while, right? Young Bear Lady, Fina.」
「Ah, yes. I’m Fina.」
Suddenly hearing her name being mentioned by Gran-san, Fina acted suspiciously.
Also, my name wasn’t ‘Young Bear Lady’.
「Thank you for coming for my granddaughter’s party.」
「I came because I myself wanted to see Misa as well.」
「I appreciate it.」
He proceeded to thank me for saving them from the orcs again, and then....
「Grandpa, can I go for a walk in town with Yuna-san and the others? They said they wouldn’t let me go with them if I didn’t get permission.」
「For a walk in town?」
Gran-san looked at me.
「If Young Bear Lady goes with you, I see no problem with that.」
He was leaving her to me as well?
Well, I didn’t really mind it, and Misa also seemed excited to come with us.
After finishing our greetings, the girls and I set out to sightsee the town.
「Yuna-san, where are we going?」
「I don’t really know this town, so I planned on just walking around. Does anybody have a place they want to go?」
I asked them.
「Any place is fine.」
「Wherever you want to go, Big Sis Yuna.」
「I just want to get out of the house.」
Nobody had a specific place in mind, huh.
「Okay, then we’ll just wander around a bit. But, stay close to me, okay?」
They all obediently agreed.
As we wandered around, many people stared at us.
A normal girl wearing a Bear Suit and three beautiful young girls.
We were an eye-catching group, indeed.
Wait, all I could hear was ‘bear, bear, and bear’.
It seemed like the girls wouldn’t start catching attention till they were a bit older, huh.
Pondering when exactly that would be, I turned to the three of them.
「Want to eat something?」
We had eaten lunch not long before going out, but wandering the town might have made them hungry.
「Yes, I do.」
「Me too.」
「I wouldn’t mind it.」
They all approved, so I asked Misa where we could find some food stalls.
According to her, just like in Crimonia, quite a few of them were lined up at the plaza.
Food stalls were the quickest way of finding local specialties. I honestly wanted to check out other shops as well, but that might get boring for the girls, so food stalls would have to do.
Just as we were about to reach the plaza, we crossed paths with a few girls and boys dressed in beautiful clothing. They all seemed to be older than Fina but younger than me. Next to them stood a guard-like person, wearing a black mantle. This didn’t mean much coming from me, but it was a suspicious-looking figure.
Judging by how the boys and girls were dressed, they should be nobles, right?
When they noticed us, they smirked and looked at me. No, wait, they were looking at Misa.
When she saw them looking at her, she hid behind me.
Was there something wrong? Well, just by looking at them, I could tell that these children had bad attitudes. Their guard had an evil look as well.
Still smirking, the group walked over to us.
