Author’s note:
I’m sorry for causing you trouble in the previous chapter.
The pastry shop had more and more customers, but it was smooth sailing thanks to Rurina-san and Gil.
If I really had to point out a problem, it was that the popular cakes disappeared in an instant. More often than not, customers couldn’t buy the cakes they wanted since those cakes had already been sold out. We could just call it the customer’s fault for coming too late, but I would prefer if they could eat what they wanted, no matter when they came.
「Elena-san, could you please adjust which cakes you make more of, so that we don’t run out of the popular ones so quickly?」
「Can I really make that decision?!」
「Yes, of course. You also have popular foods at the inn, don’t you?」
「Yes. We make sure to stock up more ingredients for the foods that are ordered a lot. If we ran out of the ingredients, the customers would be dissatisfied. Most would probably just order something else, but some would surely decide to go to a different place, which would end up lowering our profit.」
「Well, it’s similar with the cakes. You should make more of the popular cakes and less of the others. If you have any questions, you can always talk to Morin-san and Terumi-san. Also, if you end up making too much of one cake, you can just tell the children to take it to the orphanage, where they will be happy to eat it.」
Over time, it would become obvious which cakes to make the most of. Even now, we could already guess it by which ones were disappearing first, and which ones were left over in the end.
It would be great if we eventually made just the right number of each cake, and they all sold out right at the closing hour, but that might be a bit too much to hope for. Well, I would be happy if we came close to that goal at least. If we managed that, I could come to the shop to eat any cake at any time.
I decided to leave everything concerning the shop to Morin-san and Elena-san and went to do something I had neglected: fetching the mithril knives from the capital. While I was there, I could also bring some cake to Princess Flora.
Like the last time, I decided to invite Fina, but…
「Ehm, I will pass this time.」
She declined my invitation.
This might be the first time Fina had ever refused me.
What was it, this pain piercing my heart? It was like the disappointing feeling I got when a pet ran away after I approached it.
I felt like crying.
「Big Sis Yuna?」
「Why? Did… Did I do something to make you hate me, Fina?」
「Y-you didn’t! I don’t hate you, Big Sis Yuna!」
「Why don’t you want to come with me, then? Is it because of my clothes?」
Did she finally reach the age where she found it embarrassing to walk around with me in my Bear Clothes?
「Big Sis Yuna, that’s not it, so please calm down.」
Fina reassured me before giving me her real reason, clearly embarrassed.
「I don’t remember what happened after I met King-sama, and if I did something rude…」
Oh right, she had mentioned this before.
「Eleanora-san was with you, and she didn’t say anything about it, so shouldn’t it be okay?」
「Still, I don’t remember it at all, so…」
「I think that the King wouldn’t mind it anyway, and if he did actually have a problem with it, I will just have to knock him out.」
I said and threw a few Bear Punches into the air.
「You will be arrested if you do something like that, Big Sis Yuna!」
「Don’t worry, I will punch him when nobody is looking.」
「Big Sis Yuna!」
「I’m just joking.」
Well, if he really did something to Fina, it wouldn’t be just a joke anymore.
After talking with Fina for a while longer, I learned that it wasn’t just the king’s fault that she didn’t want to come with me, but also Eleanora-san’s since she had treated Fina like a doll and had dressed her up in beautiful clothes, which had ended up traumatising her.
She couldn’t dirty or rip those high-class clothes… Such thoughts still seemed to bother her young mind.
She would recall those bad memories if she went there, so she wanted to avoid it for a while.
Those clothes really suited Fina, though… Still, I understood her feelings. If I were forced to wear a pretty dress, I would sustain psychological damage as well. I sympathised with Fina because of that and didn’t force her to come.
She promised me that she would accompany me next time, though.
Because Fina didn’t come with me, I had to transfer to the capital all alone this time around.
I had to pass by a lot of people on my way to Gazar-san’s smithy, and if Fina had been with me, she would have diverted my attention from all the stares. Yet, she wasn’t here, so I covered my face with the Bear Hoodie and scurried to the smithy.
「Excuse me!」
I shouted when I entered, and soon, Gazar-san showed up from the back.
「You finally came, huh.」
「I’m sorry. A lot was going on, so I couldn’t find the time to come here.」
「I don’t mind, really. You had to come all the way from Crimonia, right?」
Gazar-san said with an expression of: ‘You came from far away, so there is no helping it.’
Sorry. In truth, I could have come here anytime because of my Bear Gate.
When I wasn’t at the shop, I was either napping or just playing with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear. If I really wanted to come and fetch it, I could have come much sooner. Honestly, I was postponing it just because it was troublesome. There was no way I could admit that to him, though.
「So, did you finish it?」
「Of course. How many days do you think have passed since you have commissioned them?」
Gazar-san handed me two things wrapped in cloth.
I unwrapped one, and a knife in a beautiful sheath appeared.
It had a splendid black handle, and when I looked at it more carefully,
「A bear?」
A bear head was carved on the handle, like some sort of a crest.
「It was a good idea, wasn’t it?」
「Did you engrave it, Gazar-san?」
「I didn’t plan on doing it at first, but since you didn’t show up for so long, and I had free time, I just went with it.」
「I’m sorry for being late.」
Now I was really sorry for not coming to get it sooner just because it was troublesome. Sorry for myself.
「No need to apologize. I did it because I felt like doing it. More importantly, unsheath it.」
I did as he said, and unsheathed the knife.
I wasn’t Fina, but I still knew that it had a beautiful edge. I raised the knife over my head, and it reflected the light coming in from the window.
「So, how’s the grip? The black knife you’re holding right now is for your right hand. Please hold it with the Black Bear Glove.」
「Black knife?」
「The other one has a white grip and is for your left hand. It will be easier to differentiate them since the colors are different, right?」
I unwrapped the second knife, and it was another beautiful knife, with a white handle this time. Of course, this one had a bear face carved into it as well.
「Thank you. How much do I owe you?」
「I told you that the golem was enough, didn’t I?」
「But, you also added this beautiful carving, so…」
「I did it just because I had time, plus the golem was more than enough to cover everything.」
Gazar-san threw a look at the Iron Golem that was still standing at the entrance.
「You left it there, huh.」
I was sure that he would melt it down to make other things.
「It’s really popular with the customers, so I left it be.」
「Really?」
「No one had seen an Iron Golem in such a good condition before, after all. A lot of curious people come just to see it. They don’t buy anything, though.」
I had told him that it was okay to destroy it, but I was happy to see it still intact.
「Well then, can I try out the knives?」
「Yeah, and if anything doesn’t feel right, just tell me. I might be able to fix it right away.」
I exited the shop and took out an Iron Golem from the Bear Box to check how well the knives cut.
「I just have to pour some magic power inside, right?」
「Yeah, its sharpness will improve depending on how much you pour inside.」
Well, it worked like that in the game as well, so… time to try it out here. If it wouldn’t work, I just had to figure it out later.
I gripped the two knives with my Bear Hands; I had used tantous a lot in the game, so this felt nostalgic. I could move the knives very quickly since they were light; the only problem was that they didn’t have a big offensive power. Well, compared to big swords at least.
I gathered magic power in my hands just like I did when casting normal magic and then slashed at the Iron Golem’s right arm, which was cut off without any real resistance and fell to the ground.
「Ohhh… This is amazing! Gazar-san, the knives are amazing! I was able to cut it without a problem!」
I was actually a little moved.
「You’re the amazing one. Normal people couldn’t cut an Iron Golem so easily, even with a mithril knife.」
He praised me.
「Still, a moving Iron Golem has a magic core which makes it sturdier than iron, right?」
「Yeah, but this is still the first time I have seen someone cutting iron so easily with a mithril knife.」
「Isn’t it because the knives you make are incredible, Gazar-san?」
I put some distance between the Iron Golem and me before charging at it and cutting it several times as quickly as I possibly could on my way past it. The Iron Golem broke into a number of pieces and crumbled down.
This somehow made me feel like a ninja.
It seemed that I could become a Shinobi when using my Bear Equipment.
「Wow! I didn’t even see how many times you cut it.」
Gazar-san approached what remained of the Iron Golem to inspect it and then turned to me.
「Show me the knives.」
After I handed him the knives, he lifted them up towards the sky.
「You cut iron, but there are no nicks on the blades. That much is enough to prove your strength. Be it your talent wielding knives or the flow of your magical power, I now understand why Gold said that you were an excellent adventurer. You really make an example for the proverb: ‘You shouldn’t judge a person by their appearance.’」
Nelt-san was the one who made him write it, though. What had been written in that letter, really?
Gazar-san returned the knives to me, and I put them inside the Bear Box, happy with the purchase.
「Well then, thank you and have a good day.」
I thanked him and tried to leave, planning to head to the caste, which Fina feared so much.
「Wait, I will return you the leftover mithril, so just give me a minute. Also, did you plan on leaving this wreckage behind?」
He pointed at the crumbled Iron Golem.
It was scattered in so many pieces that I had thought it would be a pain to put it back inside the Bear Box, so I had planned on leaving it here and fleeing the scene, but he had managed to thwart that plan.
「Gazar-san, want me to give you a job?」
「What is it? This gives me a bad feeling, though…」
「I will give you all the iron here, so could you please separate the mithril from the iron on the fake Mithril Golem?」
I didn’t quite know how much mithril I had since the golem was also made out of iron.
Knowing how much I had might end up being useful for something at a later time.
「Oh, that’s what you wanted. If it’s only separating the ores, you are offering me too much.」
「Emm… It’s troublesome to tidy everything up, so… I’m giving it to you.」
「You’re a real idiot, you know that? Even though you cut it into pieces, it’s still iron… How many weapons and tools do you think can be made from all of it?」
「You make some sense, but I have no intention of using iron in this crumbled state, so…」
「Just sell it, then. You will make quite the profit.」
I looked at the iron pile again. There were just too many pieces. Putting it back into the Bear Box would be too much of a pain.
「Like I already said, picking it up would be too much trouble.」
「Okay. I get it. I will buy it, then. It will be at a low price, though.」
「I don’t really need the money, though… If you really want to repay me, just separate the mithril and the iron from the fake Mithril Golem.」
「That doesn’t work, you would be giving me too much for the work I would do, missy. I would prefer for us to be on equal terms when we do business in the future.」
When he put it like that, I had no other choice but to accept his proposal.
「The mine is finally providing the ores for the market, so you wouldn’t be getting much from selling it to someone else anyway.」
「Oh, the ores are finally coming from the mine again, huh.」
Now that he mentioned it, I had completely forgotten to go to the guild.
Yep, it was all because of the commotion with the cakes.
Well, I just had to go there to record the achievement on my guild card and receive the payment, so there was no need to rush; I could just postpone it for a while.
I handed over the fake Mithril Golem to Gazar-san, and finally headed to the castle to bring the cakes to Princess Flora.
After leaving Gazar-san’s smithy, I was finally able to go to the castle.
Like usual, I was able to enter without even having to show my guild card, which had my castle entry permit on it. It was great being well known, or rather, being a bear. Also, one of the guards ran off when I entered. Yup, the usual treatment.
There was no point in even having the entry permit. The only time I might need to use it would be if I took off the Bear Suit. Still, if I did take it off, it felt like something bad would happen.
As I walked through the castle, the people I passed all greeted me with slight bows.
Normally, if someone were to walk through a castle dressed in a Bear Suit, people would report it, not bow, right? This would be comparable to walking through the Japanese Parliament building while wearing a costume, right?
On my way to Princess Flora’s room, I was approached by one of the women passing by.
「Thank you for making the picture book; the children really enjoy reading it.」
Having said that, she bowed and left.
I was wondering why she would approach me, but it was about the picture book, huh. Now that she mentioned it, I had allowed for it to be distributed throughout the castle.
Still, had the fact that I was the one who had made it leaked out?
Hmm, I had told Eleanora-san not to reveal that it was me. Maybe I should complain to her about this?
As I was about to reach Princess Flora’s room, another woman approached me.
「The children are very excited about the next book.」
Had my job changed to that of a picture book author?
No, no, I wasn’t a picture book author. I didn’t plan on making another book either.
Eleanora-san would hear about this. She must not spread it any further.
Still, how did people know that I was the author when I didn’t even write down my name?
People not knowing it was me was the very reason I hadn’t written it down.
Well, there was no point in thinking about things I couldn’t understand. I finally got to Princess Flora’s room and knocked on the door. I heard Anju-san’s voice from inside, and soon, the door opened.
「Oh, Yuna-sama, welcome.」
「Hello, Anju-san. Is Princess Flora here?」
「Yes, please come in.」
As I was about to enter the room to greet her, Princess Flora appeared next to Anju-san.
「Bear-san!」
Princess Flora cried out with a huge smile on her face and hugged me.
「It’s been a while, Princess Flora.」
「Yes, it’s been a while, Bear-san.」
Flora-sama returned my greeting properly.
Her cuteness made it hard to believe that she was related to the king. Oh, she did look more like the queen, so she would surely become as pretty as her in the future.
「Well then, Yuna-sama. Please enter.」
I was about to do so, but then a sudden idea stopped me in my tracks.
「Yuna-sama?」
「Bear-san?」
Both of them asked in confusion.
「Princess Flora, the weather is nice today; why don’t we go to the garden instead?」
If we stayed in her room, the king was bound to show up; we might be able to avoid him by going to the garden.
Yeah, since we ate in her room every time I came to visit her, he would surely come to look for me there.
So, the solution was easy: just eat somewhere else.
Because of the king and Eleanora-san, Fina had taken a lot of mental damage, so I wouldn’t be happy until I got at least a bit of revenge.
「You’re right, not being outside in a weather this nice would be a waste. Flora-sama, shall we head to the garden and eat there?」
「If Bear-san wants to go, then we should go.」
Anju-san went along with my vile plan without any suspicion while Princess Flora also accepted with a smile.
A pang of guilt hit me when I saw her smile like that, but since they both agreed, we headed to the garden to execute the 『King goes to Princess Flora’s room, but nobody is there.』 plan.
I could almost imagine his troubled face, once he walked into the room, and not a single person was there.
We could call this just a tiny bit of harassment, right?
「Yuna-sama, is something wrong?」
Anju-san asked, noticing the change in my behaviour.
Oops, I must have loosened my expression while thinking of my evil deed.
「No, everything is fine.」
「You sure? Well then, Yuna-sama, I’ll go prepare us some tea. Could I ask you to look after Flora-sama while I’m gone?」
I had no reason to refuse, so Anju-san bowed and ran off to prepare the tea.
「Princess Flora, we should head to the garden.」
I offered her my Bear Hand, and she took it, so we headed to the garden, hand in hand.
While it would have been ideal to reach the garden without being seen by anyone, we did meet three people. I just hoped that none of them would report seeing us on our way to the garden to the king.
When we finally arrived at the garden, we were greeted by a wide array of beautiful, blooming flowers. As expected of the royal garden. I had seen it before, but it was still breathtaking. Fina had seen this sight as well when she had visited the castle with Eleanora-san the other day.
Usually, the only people who could see this beautiful garden were those associated with the castle. That was just a waste. Not to mention the fact that everyone here worked the whole day and couldn’t come to see it.
So, it made sense that Princess Flora and I were the only ones here. Princess Flora was looking at the flowers happily, and based on that, I judged that she didn’t come here often either.
Tugging at her hand, I took her to the center of the garden, so we could sit down at the table there. We could enjoy the flowers all we wanted there, while also being able to chat and eat snacks.
There was even a roof set up over the table, so we didn’t have to worry about getting wet if it rained. I could just think of all the romantic things people could do in this place, like looking at flowers on a rainy day, but who here would do that?
The king was absolutely out of the question, but maybe the queen spent some time here.
When we reached the center of the garden, that very certain someone was already there.
「Oh my, it’s Flora and Yuna-chan. What are you two doing here?」
The queen was sitting at the table all by herself, looking at the garden.
Was it really okay for the queen to be left alone?
Well, we were inside the castle, so it should be fine?
「We were planning on having a meal out here today. Would that bother you?」
「Of course not. May I join you?」
There was no way I could refuse the queen, so I agreed. Still, was it okay to just give food to the queen like this?
Well, it was too late to think about it at this point since I had already fed Princess Flora so many different things.
「Bear-san, what are we having today?」
Princess Flora asked while sitting down on a chair next to her mother.
Now, everytime I came here, it was always about food. Well, I did bring her something every time I came, so it couldn’t really be helped. It still felt like feeding a baby chick, though.
「It’s something sweet and delicious, but wait a moment.」
I had to make it so that nobody could join us before I brought the cakes out, so I summoned my Bears in their cub forms and sat them down on the remaining chairs.
With this, the king would have no seat even if he managed to find us.
When I had to sit down, I could just pick one of the Bears up onto my lap.
It was a perfect plan.
Sadly, it fell apart in an instant.
「It’s a small Bear-san!」
Princess Flora jumped up from her seat to hug and pull Swaying Bear of its seat.
Hmm, I hadn’t expected this to happen.
To make the matters even worse, the queen also stood up and took Hugging Bear into her arms.
「My, how cute.」
I definitely couldn’t tell them to let go of the bears, so we were now left with empty seats.
「Bear-san, is this Big Bear-san’s child?」
Oh, was this the first time Princess Flora had seen the bears in their cub forms?
「No, I just made Big Bear-san smaller.」
「Amazing!」
Princess Flora said and kept hugging Swaying Bear. Somehow, this visit was no longer about cake. Well, it was fine as long as she was happy.
Princess Flora started running around the garden together with Swaying Bear. I started to fear that she might fall, but the queen just watched her while embracing Hugging Bear.
She was hugging it quite tightly, in fact. Hugging Bear seemed to be suffering, so I hoped she would let it go soon.
After Princess Flora played with Swaying Bear for a little while longer, Anju-san finally came, but not alone.
「You’re eating here today?」
「Yuna-chan, what did you bring today?」
The king and Eleanora-san both accompanied Anju-san, and with that, all the usual members had gathered. Just like that, my 『King goes to Princess Flora’s room, but nobody is there.』 plan fell apart.
「What are you two doing here?」
I asked, despite more or less knowing the reason.
「Oh, it was reported to me that you were at the castle. I ditched my work to go to Flora’s room, but I ran into Anju on the way there. That is how I learned you were planning on eating here today.」
Where should I even start?
First, it would probably be the best to tell him not to abandon his job!
「So, Yuna, what’s with the bear that my daughter is playing with?」
The king asked, glancing at Princess Flora and Swaying Bear.
「It’s my summoned beast, Swaying Bear. I did show him to you before.」
「The size is different, though?」
「Oh right, I heard that you can make them smaller.」
Eleanora-san knew about the bears’ cub forms?
She had probably gotten the information from Cliff.
Anything I talked to Cliff about went straight to Eleanora-san.
「Swaying Bear, come here.」
When I called it, Swaying Bear immediately ran to me, with Princess Flora right on his tail.
「That bear can get this small?」
The king picked up Swaying Bear when it got to us.
「Ooh, how soft.」
「Father, don’t take him from me!」
Princess Flora said and clung onto his leg in protest.
You shouldn’t be the one to say that; Swaying Bear was my family.
「Okay, but he’s heavy, so take care.」
The king said and returned Swaying Bear back to Princess Flora.
She was slightly bigger than Swaying Bear but still wasn’t able to hold him and ended up falling on her back. She didn’t care, though, and kept hugging Swaying Bear happily.
She would give him back, right?
The only outcome I could see was Princess Flora crying after I took Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear away from her.