Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Vol. 2

  Chapter 27:

  The Rumored Bear

  THE STREET where I set up shop became infamous in a matter of days. It made sense; a bear-shaped house with a mysterious, bear-suited inhabitant springing up in the empty lot from out of nowhere would give anyone pause. Tons of people started coming by to ogle the bear house from afar. As a result, I wasn’t going outside much. I did go out for food the day after I settled in, but since then, I’d gotten in the habit of cooking at home.

  “Yuna, I finished the butchering for today.”

  Since Fina came by every day after I asked her to do my butchering, I decided that, as a rule, she had to rest for a day after three days of work. I also decided that I’d limit the butchering to five monsters a day. Otherwise, Fina would just keep her head down and work herself to the bone. If she kept it to five, she’d finish her work in half a day.

  “Thanks. Be careful on your way home.”

  “I will. Aren’t you going to work, Yuna?”

  “I’ll go sometime…”

  If I was in my previous world, turning into a recluse wouldn’t be an issue, but I couldn’t stay like that forever here. I decided to go to the guild first thing tomorrow. I needed to slay some monsters for Fina to butcher, anyway.

  The next morning, I followed through on my decision.

  “Oh, Ms. Yuna! You’ve finally come back,” Helen yelled at me as I entered the hall.

  Why did the guild have to be this annoying?

  “Good morning, Helen,” I greeted her, heading over to her desk.

  “Really now, where have you been lately? We’ve been waiting for you.”

  “Waiting for me?”

  “Yes. We have a quest you’ve been nominated for.”

  “Me? Nominated for a quest?”

  “It came from a Lord Cliff Fochrosé.”

  “Who’s that?”

  No one I knew went by that name. It was my first time even hearing it.

  “You don’t know who he is? Count Fochrosé presides over this town.”

  “He’s the lord?”

  If he was a count and a lord, that made him part of the aristocracy. Someone like that had sent me a quest? In manga and novels, aristocracy were always just as much trouble as royalty. I’d rather keep my nose clean. That was why…

  “Pass.”

  “Huh?”

  “I refuse.”

  “Huh?”

  “I’m heading home.” I turned around.

  “W-wait just a moment, please,” Helen leaned out from the desk and grabbed my bear suit.

  “What?”

  “What are you going home for?”

  “I’m going home to sleep.”

  “It’s still morning.”

  “When I go to sleep has nothing to do with you, does it, Helen?”

  “In that case, please listen to me before you go to bed. You haven’t been by much lately, and Lord Fochrosé’s envoy has stopped by several times.”

  “Not my problem.”

  “Please just listen to what I have to say.”

  “No way!”

  “Pleeease.” Helen tightened her grip.

  “Once I hear you out, can I turn it down?”

  “Why are you so against doing this?”

  “My grandmother’s dying wish was for me not to get involved with the aristocracy or royalty.”

  “What kind of last request is that?”

  “Well, aristocrats and royalty will kill people right away when they don’t like someone, or they’ll imprison them. Or if they find a pretty girl, they’ll lust after her body and threaten her if she refuses them. They’ll charge people with crimes they didn’t commit, take the populace’s money, and use that money to have their way with things. That’s the kind of people they are. Plus, they’ve got arrogant, stubborn kids who expect everything to go exactly the way they want and throw their weight around to get it.”

  “What kind of thinking is that?”

  “Am I wrong?”

  “There certainly are some aristocrats like that. But Lord Fochrosé is different. He is a kind and decent person.”

  “You’ve met him before?”

  “I’ve seen him. And I haven’t heard any terrible rumors about him, so he’s fine.”

  “But on the other hand, if he just killed them, no one would know. Dead men tell no tales, so the saying goes.”

  “Why is that what your mind goes to?”

  I couldn’t tell her that I’d been influenced by manga and novels.

  “Hey, what’s with all this early-morning commotion?”

  As Helen and I argued, the clump of muscles (the Guildmaster) came over from the back.

  “Guildmaster!”

  “Helen, you know that it gets busy in the mornings. What are you doing?”

  “This isn’t my fault. I want to tell Yuna about the designated quest Lord Fochrosé has nominated her for, but she has strange prejudices against the aristocracy and won’t even hear what the job is about.”

  They weren’t prejudices. In manga and novels, they were facts.

  “Prejudices?”

  “She’s saying all these things about how the aristocracy kills people they don’t like and demands the bodies of beautiful women, and how their children are arrogant and stubborn.”

  “Well, that’s for sure,” the Guildmaster said.

  “Guildmaster!”

  “Right, sorry. There definitely are aristocrats like that, but Cliff is different, so you can rest easy.”

  Cliff? I thought. Is he really allowed to be on a first-name basis with the aristocracy like that?

  “You’re completely sure?”

  “Yeah. Plus, I know the guy.”

  I supposed it made sense for the Guildmaster to know the lord.

  “Please do it,” said Helen. “If you turn it down, you’ll put his trust in the guild in jeopardy.” She switched into a fierce two-handed grip. I got the impression she wouldn’t let go until I accepted.

  “Ummm. Okay, I got it. I’ll just hear you out.”

  “Thank you so very much. But actually, there’s nothing to tell you. He has just ordered you to come to his house.”

  “What now?”

  That was a hundred times more sketchy. If he tried to pull something while no one was around to see…

  “You haven’t got anything to worry about. I think he just wants to meet the bear that everyone’s been talking about.”

  “That who’s been talking about?”

  “You’ve become a bit of a celebrity in this town, Ms. Yuna.”

  Well, I thought, I guess a person would get famous walking around town in a bear onesie, but I don’t think that’s enough reason to summon me.

  “Just give in this time around,” said the Guildmaster. “You’ve slain hordes of wolves and goblins—a goblin king, even—alone, in a bear suit. That’s ignoring the fact that you built that bear house and conjure bears to get around and crush your enemies. That’s going to get you in the gossip mill. Even a lord couldn’t help wanting to meet you after hearing about that, right?”

  “What was that about a bear house?” It seemed that Helen wasn’t up to date on my business.

  “You don’t know? She rented some land and built a house on it. It looks like a bear from the outside. On top of that, she supposedly built it without anybody noticing, so she’s been the hot topic of the town.”

  “I had no idea. I will go take a look sometime.”

  No, you don’t have to, I thought.

  All I was doing was completing quests like a regular adventurer, making a (bear) house like normal with magic, going slaying on my (bear) rides, and wearing my normal (bear) clothes while walking around town.

  “Can’t I just
say no?” I didn’t want to meet him. I just wanted to go home.

  “Who knows?” said the Guildmaster. “Adventurers don’t normally reject quests from the aristocracy. If you’re going to turn him down, your only option might be to skip town.”

  “What a pain.” That was all I could say.

  “Don’t say that. You’ve just tickled his fancy. If it’s just a meeting, you might as well go see him.”

  “Well if I were to meet him, when should I do it? A lord isn’t exactly going to have spare time.”

  “Yes, he has informed us of a few days that would work. Either tomorrow or the afternoon three days from now would be ideal.”

  If he was that busy, he didn’t have to go out of his way to meet me.

  “I won’t let you go until I hear you say that you’ll accept the quest.” Helen still had my outfit in her immovable clutches.

  “I got it. I’ll go meet him. That’s all I’ve got to do, right?”

  “Will you really? Thank you so much.”

  She finally let go. Without any other options, I ended up deciding to go meet him the following afternoon.

  What a pain, I thought again.

  Chapter 28:

  The Bear Goes to the Lord’s Residence

  THE NEXT DAY, I followed Helen’s directions to the lord’s mansion. A guard with a scary-looking face was posted at its outer gates. She had told them that I’d be heading over today, right? This whole thing was a pain in the butt, but I resigned myself to it and approached the gate.

  The guard turned and locked his eyes on me. He definitely thought I was suspicious, and it wasn’t like he had any choice. Somebody wearing a bear onesie was approaching him, in a world where onesies didn’t exist.

  “What business do you have here?” He scanned me from head to toe.

  “I’m the adventurer, Yuna. I was called here by the lord.”

  “You’re the one…I heard about that. I’ll need you to show me your guild card to confirm your identity.”

  Oh, good. I suppose you’d have to be real stupid to summon someone and not warn the staff they were coming. After he finished checking my guild card, the guard led me all the way to the entrance, where a maid in her early twenties took over.

  So such maids really do exist, I thought. She was even wearing the picture-perfect black and white outfit. People with a real specific fetish would be ecstatic right around now.

  The maid was clearly surprised by the sight of me, but immediately recomposed herself. She told me her name was Lala and, after lightly bowing her head, asked me to follow her. Lala walked silently through the mansion, stopped in front of a door, and knocked on it.

  “Master Cliff, I have brought the adventurer Yuna.”

  “Come in,” a voice answered from within.

  “Excuse me.” Lala opened the door and urged me inside. I obeyed, and she shut the door behind me.

  The room was expansive, containing a large desk and a table flanked by a pair of sofas. It felt like an office. A blond man in his thirties sat behind the desk.

  “Please, take a seat on the sofa over there,” he directed.

  I did as he asked.

  “Looks like you really are dressed like a bear.”

  The man came over and sat on the sofa across from me. A wry smile took over his mouth as he looked at me. Looked like he really was some slimy aristocrat.

  “If you just called me over to laugh at me, then I’m going home.”

  “Oh, no. I apologize.”

  “What did you want with me, then?”

  “I just wanted to meet the bear everyone was talking about.” Hadn’t the Guildmaster said basically the same thing? “My daughter wanted to meet you, too.”

  “Your daughter?”

  “I hear she spied you once in town. Since then, nothing delights her more than to have me relate all the reports about you that make their way to me.”

  Wait a sec! Aren’t there privacy laws against that?!

  “So does that mean you called me here for your daughter?”

  “Partly, yes, but I also simply wanted to see the bear that everyone’s talking about.”

  Like I’m a zoo exhibit, I thought. “My name isn’t ‘the bear’—it’s Yuna.”

  “Right. I’m Cliff. You must already be aware of this, but I’m the lord of the town.”

  “Well, are you satisfied now that you’ve seen me?”

  “Don’t be mad. You’re ruining your adorable face.”

  It was kind of embarrassing to be called adorable in a face-to-face conversation. I pulled my bear hood low over my head, so he couldn’t see me.

  “Still, I find it hard to believe like a little girl like you could have possibly slayed a goblin king and tigerwolves.”

  “Maybe it’s all a lie.”

  “I did some looking into you before summoning you here—since I was going to have you meet my daughter.”

  He’d been investigating me? That didn’t make me feel great, though there wasn’t anything I could have done about it.

  There was a knock at the door. “I have brought Madame Noir,” Lala called.

  “Come in.”

  A cute girl about Fina’s age, with long, blonde hair, entered the room. “Father, is it true that the bear is here?!”

  “This is my daughter Noir. She’s been wanting to meet you.”

  When she caught sight of me, the little girl’s eyes glittered. She dashed over to me. “Are you the bear? My name is Noir. Please call me Noa.”

  “Umm, I’m Yuna. Could you please call me by my name instead of referring to me as the bear?”

  “Got it. Your name is Yuna.”

  Noa sat down next to me and looked me up and down.

  “Um, may I give you a hug?” she asked, seeming sheepish.

  “Sure.”

  I would’ve said no to a boy, even if they were a kid, but I couldn’t turn her down such a cute little girl.

  “Thank you so very much.”

  Noa hugged me. I gave her a pat on her head, which just reached my chest. Between Fina and this, maybe little-sister types were just my thing.

  “You’re so soft. And you also smell nice.” She rubbed her head into my belly. “I saw you in town once, Yuna.”

  Cliff just said something about that, didn’t he?

  “I only saw you from afar, but you looked so cute that I couldn’t stop looking at you. Since then I have been asking father to tell me about you. I’ve wanted to meet you for so long!”

  “So, what do you want me to do?” I asked Cliff.

  “I haven’t decided on anything in particular. Why don’t you just talk to my daughter?”

  “I want to hear about how you defeated the monsters!”

  It wasn’t that exciting a tale—all I did was sling some magic around. Still, the little girl was clearly desperate for a story, and I didn’t want to disappoint her, so I told her about my fights with the goblin king and the tigerwolves, leaving out the grim and unflattering parts. Noa’s eyes glittered as she listened to me. Cliff remained silent and sipped his drink.

  “That’s amazing!”

  “You believe me? I might be lying.”

  “I believe you. My father has told me the same stories, anyway.”

  “As I said earlier, I looked into you. The least I could do was fact-check what I heard about your accomplishments,” Cliff said.

  I guessed that since you could determine time of death from a mana gem, the only thing they couldn’t verify was whether I’d racked up those kills entirely on my own. Since my well of monster-slaying yarns had run dry, I figured I was done, but Noa was still watching me.

  “May I ask you something, Yuna?” she ventured, as though it were difficult to say.

  “What do you need?”

  “Um…would you show me your bear summons?”

  “My summons?”

  “Yes. I’ve been wanting to see your beast summons ever since I heard about them from my father.”

  “I’
d like to see them as well.”

  “You sure? Might be dangerous.”

  “Is that so?” said Cliff.

  “Well, I suppose it should be fine as long as you don’t try to attack them or hurt me.”

  “I have no intentions of doing that. I have nothing to gain from attacking you—not to mention that my daughter would hate me if I did.”

  With Lord Cliff’s assent, I decided I’d summon Kumayuru and Kumakyu in the mansion’s gardens. Noa led us there happily while Lala trailed behind us.

  Chapter 29:

  The Bear Finishes Her Quest

  WE ALL MOVED over to a place I figured was the back of the gardens. The gardens were spacious, as you’d expect of a lord’s residence. Apparently, the guards also used it as a training ground, though it was empty at the moment.

  “Yuna, is this enough room?”

  “This’ll do. I’m going to summon them, now. Come, Kumayuru, Kumakyu.”

  It wasn’t like there was a set phrase to summon them, but I tried to come up with something that seemed appropriate. Two giant furballs, one black and one white, exploded out of the bear puppets. They started to move, slowly, turning to show us their faces.

  “Kumayuru, Kumakyu, come over here.”

  When I called them, they happily trotted over to me. They looked pretty cute when they did, but everyone behind me started making a commotion.

  “They’re bears. There are bears! Yuna, may I touch them?!” Noa was jumping up and down.

  “Madame Noir, that’s dangerous! Please keep back!” Lala grabbed Noa’s arm, shielding her with her body.

  “Lala, please let me go! I can’t see the bears! I want to touch them!”

  But the maid held her firmly. “Please say something, Master Cliff!”

  “I think it should be fine.”

  “Master Cliff?!”

  Since her employer had given the go-ahead, Lala backed off. Freed from the maid’s grip, Noa slowly approached the bears.

  “May I really touch them?”

  “It’s fine. Give them a gentle pat.”

  Noa gently touched Kumayuru. She patted Kumakyu with her other hand. The two bears squinted their eyes at her, seeming pleased.

  “They are so warm. And soft!” Noa hugged Kumakyu’s neck.

  “Want to ride them?”