Chapter 199 – Bear-san Returns To Crimonia
After a few leisurely days, the inspector finally arrived from the capital and released Cliff from his work. Eleanora-san and Gran-san now formally took over to resolve the issue, meaning today was the day we could finally head back to Crimonia.
「Noa, listen to Cliff properly, okay? I will be coming home as soon as I get my next vacation.」
A few people had gathered to send us off, with Eleanora-san in front, making sure to say goodbye to her daughter.
「Okay. Mother, please tell Big Sister Shia I said hi.」
Eleanora-san would be departing back to the capital tomorrow, and Gran-san intended to join her, too. They were going to take the toad man and his son along with them, of course, as well as the black-clothed man. At the capital, they would finally be officially judged by the king.
A few of the servants working for the toad man would also be brought along while the rest of them would be sentenced by the town instead.
Their sentences would surely vary depending on who would be making the judgment, but I was sure they would be able to distinguish between those more guilty than others.
The only one I was worried about was the maid who had been taking care of the abducted children. Eleanora-san had told me that she had cooperated and confessed everything, so I hoped she would only receive a light punishment. Either way, she seemed like a nice person to me, but sadly, I would get no say in her judgement.
Eleanora-san patted her daughter’s head, then turned to Fina and me.
「Please continue to take care of my daughter. She can be a little selfish sometimes, but she’s a good girl at heart.」
We nodded in reply.
We knew that Noa was a good girl; she had become such good friends with a commoner like Fina, after all.
She did go a bit nuts over anything bear-related from time to time, but she was usually just a simple, kind child.
Looking to the side, I noticed that Noa looked embarrassed as if she wanted to tell her mother to stop.
With Eleanora-san’s goodbye all done, Zelef-san decided to speak up next.
「Yuna-dono, I would like to thank you for all the valuable experiences I received on this trip.」
「Sorry that it got a bit out of hand.」
「Oh no, I’m really happy that I was able to meet up with an old friend. There is nothing you need to apologize for, Yuna-dono.」
I was glad that he thought of it that way.
Zelef-san had really saved us this time around even though we had only ended up causing him a lot of trouble in return.
「It is unfortunate, however, that I will be unable to ride on Swaying Bear-dono and Hugging Bear-dono on the trip back. I would have loved to experience that again.」
Zelef-san looked rather glum.
Zelef-san would be taking a carriage back together with Eleanora-san, which was why he was so disappointed.
Since Zelef-san had taken his time to help us out, I decided I would make sure to bring him a new recipe next time I visited the castle.
After Zelef-san said goodbye to everyone else, the Faren Gramm family approach me.
「Yuna, thank you for your help. If you weren’t here, my family would most likely end up in ruin.」
Gran-san said with a bow.
「It’s fine. You’ve already thanked me plenty of times.」
Gran-san and Misa’s parents had thanked me so many times in these past few days that I had completely lost count.
Since they wanted to show their gratitude, they kept asking me if there was anything they could do for me, but it felt wrong to receive something for simply doing what I wanted. I most certainly hadn’t rescued her because I wanted a reward, so I had no intention of receiving money from them.
If I accepted it, all the anger and feelings I had felt when saving Misa would just be a lie.
「Everybody’s going home...」
Misa looked sad, but we couldn’t really help it.
Crimonia was our home, after all.
Misa then looked at her father enviously.
「Uuu, Father, this is unfair. I want to go, too.」
Misa’s father, Leonardo-san, was coming to Crimonia with us because he wanted to apologize to Fina’s parents for what had happened here. Originally, the plan had been for Gran-san to go, but he was required at the capital, so it was decided for Leonardo-san to accompany us instead.
Fina had told them that it wasn’t necessary, and tried to stop them from going, but to no avail.
She had looked at me many times for support, but I didn’t really have any say in that matter, either. I had to apologize to Terumi-san and Gentz-san for putting Fina in danger as well, so I understood how Gran-san and Leonardo-san must feel. That was why I had simply kept quiet.
Still, it was because of how things had turned out that Misa was now envious of her father, who got to accompany us to Crimonia.
「I’m going so that I can apologize to Fina-dono’s parents. I won’t be long, so be a good girl and stay at home, okay?」
Leonardo-san patted his daughter’s head to soothe her.
「Misa, you can come along next time, and I will even take you to my shop.」
On the side note, both Misa and Noa really wanted the shop’s bear uniforms, so we decided to let them keep the uniforms.
What would they use the uniforms for, though? I couldn’t think of any other use for them other than pajamas...
Anyway, when I got back to Crimonia, I would have to order two new Bear Uniforms for Fina. Luckily, I could just ask for them as I pick up the plushies.
「Okay. I’ll come for sure!」
Crimonia was not that far away from here. At the very least, it was a distance we could travel fairly quickly, so we could meet whenever we wanted. Thanks to the ‘Play with Bear-sans’ event, I could now safely come back to this town without having to worry about causing another Bear incident. Well, someone might still try to bother us, but that was just the usual reception I could receive at any town.
Once everyone finally said their goodbyes, we departed for Crimonia.
Because Leonardo-san and his guards were coming along, I decided not to use the Bear House this time around. Cliff was okay with it, but Noa seemed very disappointed. In order to cheer her up, I promised her that she would get to spend some extra time with the Bears and even snuggle to sleep with them.
Before long, we returned to Crimonia safely. I had felt a bit homesick by this point, so it seemed like I hadn’t been home in ages.
When we entered town, I took a look up at the sky; it would be getting dark in a couple of hours. I wanted to head straight home to take a bath and cuddle up in a bed, but I had to take Fina home first. Oh, and I also had a lot to report to Terumi-san.
We parted ways with Noa and Cliff then headed to Fina’s home together with Leonardo-san.
He had planned to apologize to Fina’s family the following morning, but I told him that they would most likely be busy then, so we decided to just take him there now.
I didn’t really lie about them being busy, but it was mostly because having to go there first thing in the morning would be a pain for me, so it ended up being a good excuse.
I had to go with them as it would be best if I explained what had happened; I was responsible for Fina on this trip, after all.
Besides, regardless of when we would pay them a visit, I was sure they would be a bit freaked out having a noble show up at their door unannounced. I kind of felt bad for them, but I really wanted to get this over with, so that I could go home and relax.
「Is it really necessary to speak with my parents?」
Fina tried asking again, looking really dispirited.
She still hadn’t given up even though Leonardo-san had already came all this way.
She really didn’t like the idea of having a noble like Leonardo-san visit her home, huh.
Well, I kind of understood how she felt.
Back in my old world, I would have felt uncomfortable if the mayor had come all the way to my house to apologize for something. Heck, anybody would feel troubled if someone of a higher social status came to their house.
Not to mention that, there was a large, visible gap between the commoners and the nobles in this world.
Still, since Leonardo-san was already here, Fina might as well give up.
「I allowed Misa’s beloved friend to be put in such a dangerous situation. If I don’t properly apologize, Father will scold me.」
「But, nothing really happened to me.」
「You were put in a dangerous situation; not getting hurt doesn’t change that.」
Fina finally gave up when we reached her home.
「I’ll go call Mother.」
Fina said and entered the house. We could hear her call out「Mother! Mother!」to Terumi-san. Since Fina left the door open, we heard Terumi-san’s reply. 「Fina, you’re home?」「Fina, you’re back!」Gentz-san pitched in as well. 「Mother, can you come out? There’s somebody who wants to see you.」
Eventually, Fina dragged both Terumi-san and Gentz-san outside. Gentz-san must already be done with his job for the day since he was home, huh.
「Oh my, Yuna-chan. Welcome back. You’re back a little later than you’ve originally planned, though. Is that why you wanted to see me?」
「I’m glad you’re both back. We’ve been worried.」
They didn’t look concerned in the slightest, though.
「It’s not me who wanted to see you, it’s this person.」
Leonardo-san took a step forward.
「Yuna-chan, who is this?」
「He’s the son of the Sheelin’s feudal lord. He is Misa’s father.」
「Good evening. My name is Leonardo Faren Gramm.」
Leonardo-san greeted them with a bow.
「Feudal lord’s son?! As in, a noble?! Why is he here?!」
Terumi-san and Gentz-san panicked a bit, which was a normal reaction since it was unusual for nobles to visit commoners’ homes.
「Could it be that our daughter did something rude?」
Terumi-san asked with dread in her voice. Yeah, it made sense for most people to think of that first if they had a noble come to their home.
「No, on the contrary, I have come today to apologize for the trouble we brought upon your daughter.」
Terumi-san looked at me like she was begging me to explain what was going on.
Just as I was about to do so, Leonardo-san explained everything himself with me simply chipping in some details from time to time.
「When my daughter was being kidnapped, your daughter tried to save her.」
Terumi-san looked at Fina.
「I see, that’s why you came all the way from Sheelin. We apologize for the trouble.」
Terumi-san and Gentz-san were quite troubled, as they didn’t know how to deal with this situation.
They seemed conflicted on whether to invite us into the house and try to do something for the sake of hospitality, or simply stand here.
They even looked at me a couple of times, but I didn’t know what they should do either. We only had two choices: head inside or stay outside. Well, Leonardo-san had mentioned that he would head home right after apologizing...
It was a strange sight to see Terumi-san worry, however. She always had this image of doing her work with steadfast confidence.
Gentz-san looked even more concerned than her. He looked pitiful though he was the head of the household.
Once Leonardo-san was done with his apology, he handed over some goods.
「Even though such a thing occurred during their trip this time, I hope that you will treat my daughter kindly the next time you meet her.」
Leonardo-san said and bowed once again. Terumi-san and Gentz-san followed suit and bowed back.
「Well then, I will be taking my leave now.」
Leonardo-san said then turned to me.
「Yuna-san, thank you for all your help.」
「Leonardo-san, are you leaving tomorrow?」
「Yes. Father will be heading to the capital, so I should get back to Sheelin as quickly as possible.」
He bowed at Fina’s parents one final time and left. He would be staying the night at Cliff’s place and then depart early tomorrow morning. He seemed like he wanted to stay longer, but with Gran-san being absent from Sheelin due to the kidnapping incident, Leonardo-san was forced to return early.
「Phew...」
Terumi-san sighed the moment Leonardo-san was out of sight.
「Now this was something. I never thought a noble from Sheelin would visit our home.」
「Yeah...」
「Mother, Father, I’m sorry.」
Fina apologized.
「You have nothing to apologize for. You tried to protect your friend, right? Just try not to make us worry too much.」
They said and gently patted Fina’s head, not getting angry at all.
「Thank you, Yuna-chan, for taking such good care of our daughter.」
「I’m sorry, too. I had promised I would make sure nothing happened to her Fina, after all.」
「Don’t worry about that. We know that you care deeply for our daughter. I’m just happy you’re all back home safe and sound.」
Terumi-san said and pulled Fina in for a hug.
「Mother, it hurts.」
「It’s been a while since I last saw you, so this much should be okay.」
「It’s embarrassing.」
What a pleasant sight. Gentz-san looked like he wanted to join in, too, but held back.
As I didn’t want to bother them any longer and ruin the moment, I told them I was going to head back home.
「Before you go, why don’t you join us for dinner? There’s lots I want to hear about.」
「You should spend this evening together as a family...」
I tried to talk my way out of it, but Terumi-san wouldn’t budge.
「What are you saying? Don’t worry about that, we want you to join us. Come on in.」
Terumi-san grabbed my arm with one hand and Fina’s hand with the other. I knew it would be meaningless to resist and let her drag me into the house.
Author’s note:
Some new information has been released on the second volume of the novel at PASH!
http://www.pashplus.jp/blog/pash_books/2690/
