Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

Noa Talking to Sakura

Noa’s PoV

When Yuna-san opened the door, it was a large room.

The floor was a strange greenish color.

Inside the room, there was a girl about my age was sitting in the room, together with a person about Yuna-san’s age nearby, and a beautiful girl at the back of the room.

The girl about my age was named Sakura, and although she said she was not, she was of royalty in this country. Why would such a girl be here? 

I called her Sakura, and she called me Noa.

Sakura was wearing a light peach-colored outfit that I had never seen before.

She had a beautiful bearing, and I could tell by her tone of voice that she was not an ordinary child.

She may not have the right of succession, but she definitely was of royal blood.

Then there was the woman who, I think, was the oldest of them all.

Her name was Shinobu; she appeared to be Sakura’s escort.

And finally, there was the girl at the far end.

She was the girl Yuna-san had mentioned.

She looked younger than me, but Yuna-san addressed her as “Kagali-san” while Sakura, who had royal blood, called her “Kagali-sama”.

According to Yuna-san and Sakura, she is a very important person.

I remembered what Yuna-san said before we arrived here: Do not pursue too deeply.

Even I knew that there were things that it was better not to pry into.

So I decided not to ask about her any further.

After the greeting exchanges were over, we talked about what we were going to do, and I looked out the window to see a large lake.

Yuna-san said we were going to stay at this house today.

I was eager to go to the lake, but first, I decided to explore the house with Misa, Fina, and Shuri.

But soon I became curious about Sakura and called out to her.

“Would you like to go with us, Sakura?” (Noa)

“Are you sure?” (Sakura)

“Yes, because people who like Bears are our friends.” (Noa)

Sakura looked surprised, but quickly smiled and came over to us.

“Yes. If it’s not too much trouble, I’ll be happy to join you guys.” (Sakura)

Sakura walked alongside us.

“Fina, Shuri. It’s been a long time.” (Sakura)

“Yes, it’s been a while.” (Fina)

“Yes, Sakura nee-chan.” (Shuri)

Fina and Shuri were happy to be reunited with her.

“So you know not only Yuna-san, but also Fina and Shuri?” (Noa)

“Yes, Fina took care of Shinobu, and we also had dinner with Shuri and even took a swim together at the lake we just saw outside.” (Sakura)

That’s what happened….

As a member of the Bear-san fan club, I would like to protest to Fina and Shuri for not informing me, but even I understand that this was something I could not talk about.

It was sad that the existence of the Gate was kept a secret from me, but there was nothing I could do about it.

Even among nobles, some things remained a tight kept secret.

People who divulge information easily lose credibility, even if it were to someone close to them.

After all, no one would easily trust someone who gave away people’s secrets.

So I wouldn’t blame Fina and Shuri.

“We rode and played with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.” (Shuri)

Shuri happily shared.

“Hmm, you are right. We also played with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear at the lake, didn’t we?” (Sakura)

I couldn’t believe that they even played with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear at that lake.

I was envious.

Then Sakura gave me a tour of the building and told me about her relationship with Yuna-san.

She said that Yuna-san saved this country when it was in trouble.

If Yuna-san had not saved her, Sakura would probably be dead…

She explained that Yuna-san saved not only Sakura, but many other people.

In return, the King of this country conferred Yuna-san with this house.

I was surprised that Yuna-san saved a country, but I was also surprised that she was given this beautiful house.

The house was large, with three floors, and it was not an exaggeration to say that it was a big mansion.

It must have been such a monumental achievement for Yuna-san to have been given such a large building in this country.

“Well, what did Yuna nee-chan do?” (Misa)

Misa asked what I wanted to ask as well.

“I am sorry, but this is classified, and I can’t talk about it at my discretion.” (Sakura)

“I see. I am sorry to ask.” (Misa)

“No, don’t worry about it. I guess it’s inevitable to be curious. I am sure that Yuna-sama will talk about it with the people with whom she talked about that Gate.” (Sakura)

I would be happy if that were the case.

“By the way, do Fina and Shuri know?” (Noa)

“I don’t know!” (Shuri)

“Well, I know.” (Fina)

‘Yuna-san, you only tell Fina everything, don’t you?’ (Noa)

I was jealous of Fina for how much Yuna-san trusted her.

I wanted to ask Yuna-san for more details later, and we continued touring the building.

The third floor had large rooms and looked luxurious; Sakura said it was built to accommodate important people.

The second floor had rooms for servants, and the first floor had a kitchen, dining room, and storage room.

And to our surprise, each floor had a large hot spring bath.

Yuna-san said she wanted to bathe in the hot spring, so Yuna-san and everyone decided to do so later.

Still, although I had heard that it was a different country, I was surprised at how different it was in many areas.

Many rooms had something called tatami mats on the floor, which felt very strange.

Misa also stepped on it many times in wonder.

Fina was getting angry with Shuri for rolling around on the floor.

Sakura was happily spectating their antics.

We have only talked a little, but I got the feeling that she was the more mature acting person as she warmly watched over them.

By the way, according to Fina, these tatami mats also existed in Yuna-san’s house.

I did not know this because I had never been upstairs when I visited Yuna-san’s house.

I should ask Yuna-san to show it to me next time I visit her house.

After looking around the building, we went outside to go to the lake.

The building was surrounded by a forest.

But there was a road, nicely paved, that a horse-drawn carriage could pass through.

We moved to the back of the building and headed for the lake.

This was the lake we could see from inside the building.

It was beautiful.

Misa and everyone else was looking at it.

“So this is where you ate and played?” (Noa)

“Yes.” (Sakura)

“We rode and played with Hugging Bear and Hugging Bear.” (Shuri)

Shuri spoke happily.

Ugh, I envy her.

We walked around the lake.

It felt so good.

Even in Crimonia, I rarely go out of town, and more so into the woods, so it felt fresh.

“The air is so good.” (Misa)

Misa took a deep breath.

I imitated her and took a deep breath.

The clean air entered my body.

“Do you often go to the forest, Fina?” (Noa)

“I don’t go to the forest anymore, but before I met Yuna Onee-chan, I used to go there a lot.” (Fina)

“Really?” (Misa)

Misa was surprised.

“Yes. To pick medicinal herbs for my mother’s medicine.” (Fina)

I have heard that.

Fina’s mother was sick, but Yuna-san cured her.

Now, I see her working very well.

Yuna-san also saved my father and Misa when a monster attacked her.

I think Yuna-san saved everyone here in a way.

Shuri picked up a branch and swung it around happily as she walked.

Somehow, I found myself picking up branches too.

“Isn’t this forest dangerous?” (Noa)

“No, it’s fine. If we receive a report of a monster, adventurers and soldiers will move in. Besides, Kagali-sama is here now.” (Sakura)

Sakura’s words startled us.

“Kagali-sama is that beautiful girl in that room, right? Does that mean she is capable of fighting monsters?” (Noa)

“Yes. It appears that she is too lazy to report to us, and she defeats monsters on her own. Suzuran, who is taking care of Lady Kagali, said that she is troubled by her actions.” (Sakura)

“That girl is younger than us, isn’t she? But she can fight monsters?” (Noa)

“Well, I can’t tell you the details, but Lady Kagali is an extraordinary person who can fight monsters.” (Sakura)

Recently, I have been studying how to handle magic.

Yuna-san taught me the basics; the rest was self-practice or being taught by my teacher.

But if I were to be tasked to fight a monster, I wonder if I’d be able to fight it without losing my footing.

Initially, I thought that as long as I could use magic, I could fight monsters, but it turned out to be different.

Just imagining encountering monsters alone was scary.

Both Yuna-san and the teacher said that one needed experience, confidence, and many other things.

If one could use magic and have confidence in their ability to fight monsters, one would not be afraid of facing monsters.

That would require experience.

However, the teacher also said it was essential to know what fear was like.

I heard that many people died because they fought recklessly without knowing their own strength.

Even when we were helping a fairy, I wasn’t afraid because Yuna-san was there.

“Um, Sakura-san, I would like to ask you why that girl, Kagali-san, is all alone in a place like this?” (Misa)

“Kagali-sama does not like to associate with people. Many people with both good or bad intentions would approach her. That’s why she wants to be left alone.” (Sakura)

I think there must be some reason for her to be alone as a child.

I was curious, but I would not ask too deeply.

That was my promise to Yuna-san.

“But she’s a lonesome person.” (Sakura)

Sakura smiled.

“Did Sakura know that Yuna-san was coming?” (Noa)

After all, she was already waiting for us when we opened the Bear Transfer Gate.

“Yes, I was contacted and knew that she would be coming soon.” (Sakura)

“By ‘contact,’ do you mean the magical device in the shape of Bear-san that allows you to talk to people far away?” (Noa)

“Noa, I see, you know about this too.” (Sakura)

“Yes, I have it.” (Noa)

I took out the Bear-shaped magic tool from my item bag.

Yuna-san lent it to me when I went to look for Primme-san’s sister.

Since then, I have kept it with me.

Somehow, though, I forgot to return it.

“Just to confirm, do you all know Yuna-san’s secret?” (Sakura)

I wondered what Yuna-san’s secret was.

I have no idea which one she was talking about since Yuna-san often hid things from us.

“Hmm, by the way, did Noa and Misa perform contract magic?” (Sakura)

“Contract magic?” (Noa)

I have never heard of it.

Misa and I shook our heads.

“It means that Yuna-sama trusts you two as much as she trusts Fina and Shuri.” (Sakura)

Sakura said enviously.

Whatever it was, they did contract magic to protect Yuna-san’s secret.

Sakura was not supposed to tell anyone about the Bear Transfer Gate that could move people to different places, or about the Bear-shaped magic tool that would allow one to talk to people far away.

But apparently, if the other party already knew about those things, it wouldn’t be a breach of contract.

Sakura didn’t know the details about how contract magic worked, but she said that if she broke it, she would start laughing and would not be able to talk.

“You did that kind of contract magic with her?” (Noa)

“It was an emergency at the time, and Shinobu was about to report Yuna-sama to the king, so I had no choice. Besides, it was the second day of our meeting, so I didn’t have Yuna-sama’s trust at that time yet.” (Sakura)

I have known Yuna-san for a few months, but I only recently learned about the Gate and the Bear-shaped magic tool that allowed me to talk to people from far away.

I see, it must have been a really urgent matter for Yuna-san to do so.

Can’t wait to read more? Want to show your support? Click here to be a sponsor and get additional chapters ahead of time!