Chapter 186 – Bear-san Is Shocked When She Finds Out About Udon
The next day, Gran-san and Cliff came to thank me while we were in the middle of breakfast.
Noa and Gran-san explained how Zelef-san had helped save the party yesterday.
Many merchants and influential people had agreed to listen to Gran-san, but they were mainly talking about Zelef-san.
It made sense that if the royal head chef appeared, the people doing shady deals in the background would take notice and would have to pull back, knowing that the king might hear about what they were up to. After all, nobody was stupid enough to go against the king.
The other people that stayed wanted to learn more about Zelef-san, of course.
The reason given for Zelef-san coming was that it was because he was acquainted with Botts-san, and because the Foschuroze family’s Eleanora-san had requested him to go.
Now nobody would know that I had actually been the one who asked Zelef-san to come.
In the first place, most people would question us if they found out that a Bear had brought him here.
I always hated dealing with troublesome things, so I was happy with that explanation.
Many people had enjoyed and talked about the pudding as well. Some of them even knew about my shop in Crimonia.
One of them had asked Gran-san, 『Do you happen to be acquainted with the bear?』
To that, Gran-san had whispered back, 『Yes, she is my granddaughter’s friend.』
The person who had asked him had seemed surprised, so Gran-san had asked him why.
Wait, why had he whispered it?
Well, it was better than loudly exclaiming it so that everybody could hear.
「Okay, Yuna. I have to help out Old Man Gran for a while, so can I ask you to take care of Noa? If she starts acting selfish, I don’t mind if you shut her in her room.」
「I’m not going to be selfish.」
「Okay, that means you can hold back if you see anything bear-related, right?」
「That’s...」
Noa hesitated.
Wait, what did they mean by that?
「Okay, it’s a promise.」
「Father, you’re so mean.」
Noa showed a sour expression.
Gran-san then asked me to take care of Misa as well.
He told me that it was fine if I just played with them.
So, that was why we returned to our room after breakfast to play some more Reversi.
「The one who loses switches out with Fina.」
「Okay. I’m not going to lose, though.」
How were Misa and Noa not tired of playing this game yet?
I was already completely tired of it.
At first, it had been fun because I hadn’t played for a while, but it wasn’t a game that would normally be played for several hours straight.
If we at least had playing cards, we could play many different games. I should seriously consider making the cards once I got back to Crimonia.
「Do the three of you want to continue playing in the room? I’m thinking of going outside.」
「Big Sis Yuna, can I go with you?」
「Yeah, sure.」
Fina jumped off the bed, leaving the other two to continue playing Reversi on their own.
Noa and Misa gave a quick look at each other, and then...
「I’ll go too!」
「Me too.」
Noa and Misa exclaimed.
「I just want to take a walk outside.」
「We would love that as well.」
Thus, we all ended up going outside for a walk.
We had run into trouble the last time we went out, so I was hoping that we could stroll in peace today.
Honestly, I wanted to go by myself so that I could go take a look at the Adventurer’s Guild, but it seemed like I would have to postpone that.
I wasn’t planning on taking any requests; I just wanted to see what requests they had.
If I found any interesting requests, I could come back and take them later.
Still, I shouldn’t bring young girls to the Adventurer’s Guild.
My Bear Suit was bound to attract trouble there.
「Is there any place you girls want to go?」
If I couldn’t go to the Adventurer’s Guild, then I wanted to at least see what kind of specialties were sold around here. I hoped to find some interesting ingredients. I might even be able to find something that didn’t exist in my former world.
From time to time, I saw some spicy dishes or sweet fruits that I had never seen before.
I wanted to try something that couldn’t be found in Crimonia.
Fina would be fine with that, but I didn’t think Noa and Misa would have fun searching for specialties.
That left me with no place to take them, though.
I was the type who had fun exploring new places. I had enjoyed exploring new maps each time they were released in the game.
The three girls looked at each other.
「I’m okay with going anywhere.」
「Me too.」
「I want to visit the food stalls again...」
Misa said with a bit of difficulty.
「The food we bought from the food stalls was really good. I mostly only eat the meals prepared by our chef, so...」
「I see.」
Could a noble’s daughter not go outside without permission?
「Are you two okay with that?」
「Yes.」
「I’m okay, too.」
Since we now had a destination, we headed straight for the food stalls.
「Noa, do you eat at the food stalls often?」
「I do. I often go with mother.」
True, her mother looked like the type who ate at the food stalls.
「Even now, I sometimes go there by myself. Still, lately I always find myself going to your shop, Yuna-san.」
Oh right, I often ran into her when she came to the shop to eat by herself.
I had always worried at the beginning, wondering if a noble’s daughter was allowed to wander around town by herself. However, I soon realized that the maids or butlers who came after her weren’t angry because she ran out on her own, but because she was skipping out on her studies.
There sure were many types of nobles in this world.
「Big Sister Noa, that’s not fair. I want to go to Big Sis Yuna’s shop as well!」
「Next time you come to Crimonia, I will take you there.」
「Okay, that’s a promise.」
We reached the plaza where the stalls were lined up and looked around for something that Misa would like to eat.
As we walked past the stands, all of their owners stared at me.
I got it, okay. This was the same treatment as the last time we came here.
I ignored the stares and ordered some snacks.
As we continued moving around the plaza, we found an udon place.
Wow, it existed in this world. Well, all you had to do was roll out wheat flour as thin as you could and cut it into noodles.
I was quite happy with this find. Yet, Fina said something unbelievable when she noticed me staring at it.
「Big Sis Yuna, you can eat those at Anzu-san’s shop, you know.」
「...Fina-san, could repeat that?」
「You can eat those at Big Sis Anzu’s shop.」
「...You’re kidding me.」
「The soup is different, but she serves it at her shop. Didn’t you know?」
「No, I didn’t!」
「Well, that’s because you always order rice dishes at Big Sis Anzu’s shop.」
She was right, I never looked at Anzu’s menu when I went there. I just always ordered a rice dish. That was what I got for leaving the menu-making to Anzu and Terumi-san, huh.
I had looked it over once at the beginning, but I didn’t recall seeing udon on the menu.
Maybe I had just missed it?
「Anyway, it’s still a rare dish. I‘ve never seen it in Crimonia.」
「It’s mostly sold at shops, not food stalls.」
So, based on what Fina just told me, I should be able to eat udon if I just went to a different shop.
When I had first arrived at Crimonia in this Bear Suit of mine, I had eaten my first meal at Elena-san’s inn. Her food was delicious, while the snacks I could procure from the food stalls were great as well. I really didn’t go to restaurants often.
When Morin-san had opened her shop, I had started to more or less always eat there.
Then, once Anzu had opened hers, I started going there as well, but I had never seen a udon dish before.
Maybe it was because I always ordered takeout or simply ate in a private room.
So, it had been a while since I had last tried a noodle dish.
Hmm, this udon was quite good, but the broth was a little lacking.
Anzu most likely used soup made with seafood as stock, so hers should be better. Ah, I wanted to go home soon.
After we finished the udon, we were quite full, so we took a break on a bench. Then, two familiar-looking people showed up.
「They’re really here.」
「They are indeed.」
Ehh, if I remembered correctly, they were Gran-san’s bodyguards. Marina and the magician with the huge boobs whose name I couldn’t recall.
They had introduced themselves to me just once, and I had never seen them again after that, so it was a miracle that I even recalled Marina’s name.
Yeah, it wasn’t my fault for not paying attention when they had told me their names.
「Marina, Elle.」
Misa greeted them.
Oh right. Her name was Elle. I silently thanked Misa for greeting them as such.
「Misana-sama, it’s been a while.」
The two of them returned the greeting.
「You two knew that I came to this town?」
「Yeah. When we were at the Adventurer’s Guild, we heard that there was a girl dressed as a bear in town.」
「Yep, everybody said your outfit is cute.」
「Although some people did also make fun of it.」
Elle tried to make it sound good, but Marina shot it down to the ground.
「Well, that’s how we knew it was you, Yuna. By the way, why are you together with Misana-sama?」
「I was invited to Misa’s birthday party.」
「Misa’s birthday party?」
Marina looked at Misa.
「Yes, I’m turning 10 in three days.」
「My, congratulations.」
「Are you going to be attending too?」
「No, please allow us to decline. Violent adventurers like us aren’t suited for noble birthday parties.」
When they put it that way, where did that leave me and the commoner Fina?
「I wouldn’t mind you two coming, though.」
「Please don’t mind us. Still, if something bad happens, just call for us and we will run over to help.」
Misa smiled when Marina made that promise.
「Marina, where are you headed?」
「Let’s see, I was thinking of going to a field just outside of the town.」
Marina answered Misa’s question.
An adventurer going to a field?
「It appears that some moles are causing problems over there. 」
Moles? Like, the moles that dug underground, right?
Marina further explained that the moles ate the crops, so she was going to exterminate them.
Did moles always eat crops?
「They do.」
「Of course, there are moles that don’t eat it as well. It depends on the species.」
「There are moles this big, too.」
Marina said and spread her arms wide.
That was way too big. I didn’t think that could be considered a mole anymore.
Well, maybe it could, in this world?
Leaving that aside, the fact still remained that an adventurer was going to exterminate some moles. Well, of course there were odd jobs out there that weren’t just monster subjugation or escorting.
Still, how were they going to exterminate moles if they were underground? Hmm, maybe earth magic would work?
I kind of wanted to see how moles were exterminated. I couldn’t go with them though, since I had the three girls with me.
I glanced at the three girls, and two of them were looking at me with extreme curiosity. They were Noa and Misa, of course. Fina looked at me normally.
Perhaps it was the difference between nobles and commoners?
「Yuna-san!」
Noa tugged on my suit.
Could she not look at me with those eyes...
「Is the field far from here?」
「You can see it as soon as you turn right at the first crossroad after exiting the town.」
「Is it dangerous?」
「Not at all. There are no monsters nearby, and it’s far from the forest, so there shouldn’t be any animals either. But, for some reason, moles appeared and started damaging the crops.」
「Food is important for every town, so adventurers are sent to exterminate the pests when necessary.」
There were no dangers, and the location was close by.
「Okay, do you all want to go?」
「Yes.」
「I want to go!」
Noa and Misa happily replied while Fina just stood there with a smile on her face.
Out of the three of them, Fina was the calmest, and sort of acted as a big sister to the other two.
「Oi, Yuna. Are you really planning on bringing Misana-sama and the other two girls?!」
「Yep. You said it wasn’t dangerous, right?」
「Yea, it isn’t dangerous, but it’s also not interesting at all. Elle will use magic to drive the moles out of the ground, and I will dispose of them.」
「Yeah, extremely boring.」
Elle agreed with Marina.
Yet, Misa and Noa said that it was okay, even if it wasn’t interesting.
「Misana-sama, I’m telling you, it’s really not interesting at all.」
「Yup, I got it.」
Did she really get it, though?
She was smiling suspiciously...
Well, it didn’t really matter since I wasn’t the one who took the job. If it ended up being too boring, we would could just leave, and it wouldn’t matter even if they noticed us leaving.
Marina sighed and began leading the way.
Author’s Note:
I just wanted Marina to show up.