Chapter 188 – Bear-san Returns To The Mansion After Subjugating The Moles
We managed to exterminate the Big Mole without anyone getting injured.
「Now we don’t have to worry about this place anymore.」
According to Marina, there shouldn’t be any more Big Moles appearing.
Big Moles went to places with lots of food and gave birth there.
They gave birth to many moles at once, so the damage got worse the longer people took to subjugate them.
As expected of another world’s biology. The moles here were nothing like the moles from my former world.
We just had to finish off the leftover moles now, but it was about time we called it a day.
The people waiting for us at the mansion might get concerned if we stayed out too late, so we decided to head back.
「Marina, Elle, thank you for letting us tag along today.」
「No problem. I’m happy that I got to spend time with Misana-sama today.」
「Misana-sama, please call for us if anything happens, okay?」
The two of them decided to stay until Elle’s magic ran out, so the three girls and I headed back on our own.
We passed by the big tree where someone was taking a nap. I tried to catch a glimpse of them, but didn’t see anyone. They had still been there when we were exterminating the Big Mole, though... They must have left because we were making such a big commotion about it.
Halfway to the mansion, I took a look at the three girls. Their clothes and faces were all dirty, which was normal after walking around a field. Their skirts were especially bad.
I was pretty sure that people would get mad at me if I brought them home like this. Yeah, it would be awkward to go back without cleaning ourselves first.
We couldn’t do anything about the clothing, but we should at least wash our faces.
「Okay, stay still everyone.」
I soaked a towel with water magic and wiped their faces.
Their faces were clean now, but their clothes were still dirty... The maids would get mad about that, right?
I thought up some excuses as we continued our way back to the mansion. When we got to the gate, we were met by someone unexpected, who was also about to enter.
「Mother!」
Noa called out and ran to her mother, who turned around in surprise.
「Noa?!」
Eleanora-san smiled when she recognized her daughter.
「How have you been doing?」
「I’m doing well, but why are you here, Mother?」
「I’m here to see my beloved daughter, of course.」
Eleanora-san was about to reach out and hug Noa but stopped.
「Noa, you’re a bit dirty.」
Noa took a look at herself.
Her pretty clothing was indeed covered in dirt.
Since we had no excuses for this, Eleanora-san should get mad at me, as I was the one in charge of the girls.
「Eleanora-san, I’m sorry. I took the girls to a field.」
「It’s not your fault. It’s because I said I wanted to go.」
Misa tried to take the blame.
「Big Sis Yuna did nothing wrong.」
「Huhu, I’m not mad. When I was a child, I got my clothes even dirtier than this.」
Elearnora-san laughed and hugged Noa, not minding her dirty clothes at all.
「Mother, you’ll get dirty too.」
「There is no mother in the world who won’t hug her own daughter even if she gets dirty in the process.」
「M-Mother!」
Noa sounded concerned, but her smile told a different story.
「Okay, but why are you really here, Eleanora-san?」
「Hmm... It’s true I came here to see my daughter. I guess it’s 10 percent work, 10 percent Cliff, and 80 percent Noa.」
I didn’t even know how could I begin to retort to that.
Shouldn’t she split it equally between Cliff and Noa?
Also, wasn’t the work most important here?
「I also wanted to talk to you, Yuna-chan. I just have to greet Gran-san first, so let’s head inside.」
It didn’t take long for Meshun-san to approach us once we entered the mansion. As soon as she got a closer look, however...
「Why is everyone so dirty?!」
Meshun-san cried out, seeing the three girls covered in dirt. She looked quite angry.
「Meshun, I’m sorry. It’s my fault.」
Misa apologized and told her about going to the fields with Marina.
「I said I wanted to go, too, so it’s not just your fault, Misa.」
「Me too, I said I wanted to go, too.」
Noa and Fina stuck up for Misa.
Seeing them support each other like that, Meshun-san’s expression softened.
「I’m not really that mad.」
「You’re not?」
Misa was happy to hear that.
「That’s right; I’m not angry, so could the three of you please head into the bath and clean yourselves? I cannot let you eat looking like that.」
The three girls did as they were told and headed to the bath as Meshun-san saw them off with a smile.
「It’s been a while since I’ve seen Misana-sama this happy. Yuna-san, please join them, too.」
「I’ll go later. I need to talk to Eleanora-san first.」
「...Eleanora-sama?!」
Meshun-san seemed to have only noticed how dirty the girls were and was shocked to realize Eleanora-san was there the entire time.
「It’s been a while, Meshun.」
「I’m terribly sorry, I did not notice you at all.」
Meshun-san apologized with a bow.
「It’s okay, you don’t have to worry about it. I showed up unannounced, so I’m partly to blame. I want to see Gran-san if that is okay?」
「Yes, I think it should be fine right now. He has no more guests for the day.」
Based on their conversation this morning, Gran-san had been speaking with a lot of people.
「Yuna-chan, I’m going to talk to Gran-san first, so you can head into the bath, too.」
「Okay, thank you. I would just create more work for the maids if I kept walking around like this...」
Meshun-san looked at me.
「Yuna-sama, you also went to the fields, right?」
「Yeah, I did.」
「You’re not as dirty as the girls. I can’t tell from your black foot, but your white foot is still clean.」
I lifted up my foot and looked at the sole.
「This suit is made of some special material, so it doesn’t get dirty.」
My Bear Suit required no cleaning. It remained clean even after I had worn it for a year, with no stain or odour.
Even if muddy water splashed onto me, the Bear Suit still wouldn’t get dirty.
「How mysterious.」
Meshun-san tilted her head as she observed the Bear Suit.
「Yuna-chan, take your time in the bath. I’m sure you’re tired from having to look after the girls all day long.」
I didn’t think I could relax if I took a bath with them, though.
Well, maybe it would be fine since Noa and Misa were well-educated nobles, and they wouldn’t play around in the bath (the Bear Bath was a different story).
Also, Fina was a good girl and knew how to behave herself.
I headed towards the bath after promising Eleanora-san I would meet her later.
Once I entered the changing room, the three girls were already undressed.
「Yuna-san, you’re so slow.」
「I had to talk to Meshun-san and Eleanora-san.」
「Let’s go inside!」
「I’ll come after I undress, so you three should go in first.」
The three of them did as I told them to while I took my time to take off my Bear Suit before following them.
Gran-san owned a spectacular bath, being a feudal lord and all. It was so big that all four of us could get in with plenty of space to spare.
When I entered, Noa was already washing Misa’s body.
「Fina, come over here. I’ll wash yours.」
「I’m okay, I can wash myself.」
「Let me do it for you anyway.」
I got Fina to sit down in front of me and washed her back and hair then proceeded to wash myself as well. The girls tried to help, but I politely refused their help and told them to get in the bathtub ahead of me.
Noa complained, but I ignored her.
After we all spent some quality time soaking in the tub, we got out together and used my hair dryer to dry our hair.
I didn’t want to have them catching a cold, after all.
We headed to the bedroom, where the girls resumed their game of Reversi, and I just watched them from the side, taking a long earned rest.
After a while, Eleanora-san entered the room.
「Mother?」
「Wow, you’re all nice and clean now. Maybe I’ll borrow the bath as well.」
Eleanora-san patted her daughter’s head before speaking to me.
「Yuna-chan, I want to thank you.」
「...?」
「 Cliff and Gran-san told me what happened. Things would have turned out badly if you hadn’t brought Zelef-san here.」
「True, I did bring him here, but Zelef-san was the one who did his best to make the party succeed.」
「I know, they told me how he got mad at Gerardo for criticizing his food. I wish I could have been here to witness that.」
She said in a disappointed tone.
Speaking of which, I would have loved to see that stupid noble brat’s disappointment as he left the party as well.
「Oh right, about Zelef, I’ll be taking him back to the capital with me, so you don’t have to worry about taking him back yourself.」
「You will?」
「Yes, but in exchange, please take care of Cliff and Noa, okay?」
I was glad that I didn’t have to take a detour to the capital before going home. It would have been a pain.
「Great, but did you come here by yourself, Eleanora-san?」
「I have a few subordinates accompanying me, but they are staying at an inn until we leave.」
That made sense. As amazing as Eleanora-san was, there was no way she would come all the way here by herself.
「Honestly, I would have come here by myself, but His Majesty was being nosy and kept telling me to bring others with me, so I had no choice.」
She was a noble, after all. Nobles had to have escorts with traveling.
「Mother, will you stay with us?」
「I can stay for a bit, but I still have my job to take care of.」
「Your job?」
「That’s right, it’s an order from our mean king. I would love to to ditch this job and stay with you, though.」
Eleanora-san apologized.
Oh right, she had mentioned that she had come here for work, even though it was just 10 percent.
「Will you be able to finish it quickly?」
「Hmm, I think it will take the most of the day, but I should have time to spend with you in the evening. Yuna-chan, please take care of Noa during the afternoon, okay.」
「By the way, what is this job of yours? If you can’t tell me, I won’t pry any further, of course.」
I didn’t want to get involved in anything messy, after all.
Still, if the girls were to somehow got involved instead, maybe it wouldn’t be bad to hear her out.
「It’s just an inspection of this town. His Majesty planned to send a civil officer over, but I snatched the chance to, I mean, I asked to go instead.」
She just said she had ‘snatched’ it, didn’t she?
「I’m surprised His Majesty allowed that.」
「I had to beg him, more or less. I told him that I wanted to see my daughter and my husband. Let me see my daughter, my daughter, oh and my husband. I just kept chanting that to His Majesty until he agreed.」
Your Majesty, she must have been really annoying, huh.
「So, what exactly are you inspecting?」
「Not much. I will just go around town and collect information. I will hear what Gran-san and Cliff have to say before I decide on where to go, of course. Oh, and I also plan to attend Misana’s party since I’m here.」
That was a lot of freedom for an inspection...
「I guess I won’t start a full-scale inspection until after the party. I’ll have to look around town, and make sure to visit the Adventurer’s Guild and the Commerce Guild. I also need to see the Salbert family.」
Then, Eleanora-san noticed the Reversi board and joined in until Meshun-san called us for dinner.
Author’s Note:
With Eleanora-san’s arrival, the net around the Salbert family is slowly closing in. w