Happy Christmas! Did you know that Dec25 = Oct31? Merry Halloween!
Anyways, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Cheerful Lazydays, whatever floats your boat!
Countdown: 582, 25, 50, 75, 100, 2, 6
Here’s something visual… though it may need esoteric knowledge to decode.
I did just learn from a friend this year that people think Hanukkah is important just cuz Christmas is so close to it, and we’re trying to be multicultural or something. How funny.
(TL note: This author really loves her erofus!)As we moved forward, I noticed that the Elf Village was quite a large settlement. That elf from earlier had also seemed to tell the villagers about us coming, because a few of them had already gathered ahead of time and were waiting for us, most likely to greet us. As we entered, I thought that they would be focusing on Sanysan, who hadn't come home in ten years, but they all seemed to stare at my Bears and me instead. Their eyes sparkled like those of excited children as they looked at my Bears. Then, an elf, who looked like a human in his forties would, stepped forward.
「Sanya, it's been awhile.」
「It indeed has, Grandpa.」
「Ruimin, thank you for bringing Sanya back to the village.」
Ruimin looked very happy when the man told her that.
Even though Sanysan had called him Grandpa, he didn't look that old at all. He looked more like an uncle. If their grandpa looked this young, I couldn't imagine how much younger their parents looked. What a fearsome race the elves were.
「Sanya, Ruimin!」
「Mother!」
An elven lady who the elf sisters called their mother appeared from behind the crowd. She was thin and had long, beautiful hair. Did elves exist just to pick a fight with the human race? She also appeared rather young and similar enough to the elf sisters that one might assume she was actually their elder sister. It felt really weird hearing them call her mother. The same with grandpa: it would make much more sense to me if the had called him father.
「Father-in-law, wouldn't it be best if we discussed everything tomorrow? They've only just arrived and from such a far-away place no less.」
「I wouldn't mind that, but I would appreciate if they at least introduced our guests first.」
お爺ちゃん（長）がわたしとくまゆるたちを見る。だから、必然的に他のエルフの目もわたしに向けられる。 わたしが口を開こうとしたら、先にお爺さんが口を開いた。
The grandpa (chief) looked at me and the bears. That shifted the attention of the villagers towards us as well.
Is this the part where I do a self-introduction?
I was about to speak, but the grandpa spoke first.
Their grandpa, or better in this case the village elder, said and looked at me and my Bears, which shifted the attention of all the villagers towards us as well. Was this the part where I had to introduce myself? As I was about to do so, however, their grandpa did it first.
「My name is Mumuroot, and the chief of this village. You may have already heard, but I'm also Ruimin and Sanya's grandfather.」
「I'm Yuna, an adventurer. I asked Sanysan to bring me along on this trip. I will do my best not to get in your way, so please let me stay here for this short while.」
In order to make a good first impression, I gave a polite introduction. Still, I wasn't sure how well it went through since I was wearing a Bear Suit.
「Are those your bears, young lady?」
He said, glancing at Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.
「Yes, they're my summoned beasts.」
「Summoned beasts, you say…」
「They won't do anything to harm you, and neither will I, at least as long as you don't attack us first.」
After I explained that, I decided to unsummon Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear for now. The villagers let out surprised gasps, and I even heard some children saying 「The Bear-sans disappeared.」in sad voices.
「I see. If you yourself feel in any danger, you may deal with it accordingly.」
So, if I understood correctly, they would let me be as long as they knew I wasn't a danger, and we were even allowed to retaliate if somebody tried to attack us.
「Sanysan, please look after the guests for me.」
「Yes, of course.」
「Yuna, right? You traveled far to get here, so we will treat you like an official guest.」
It looked like everything would be fine as nobody seemed to have any hostility towards my Bears or me. I had been worried about them driving me out, but it seemed like it was all for naught.
「Sanya, please do come to my home tomorrow morning.」
「Okay, I will.」
Mumuroot-san then turned around and left. Some of the villagers went with him, while a few others stayed to talk to Sanysan. Ruimin quickly used the chance and started chatting with her mother, which kind of left me to myself. I took a quick look around the area before going to join Ruimin and her mother.
「Yunsan, this is our mother.」
「Hello, my name is Talia. Thank you for taking care of my daughters.」
She was even more beautiful up close. I would have never imagined that she could be a mother of two.
「I'm Yuna and I work as an adventurer. Sanysan has also taken care of me a great deal.」
「Fufu, Sanya brought back such an interesting young lady with her. Please tell me more at our home; you must be tired out from such a long journey, after all.」
Once Sanysan was free, all four of us headed for their their home. Ruimin hadn't seen her mother in quite a while, so she was happily walking next to her. Sanysan was lagging a bit behind even though she had already finished talking to her acquaintances. Shouldn’t Sanya act more like Ruimin? Sanya hadn’t seen her mother for even longer than her sister. Maybe she would be embarrassed to do so due to her age? Pondering on whether that really was the right reason, we arrived at a house, which I immediately noticed was a bit bigger than the ones around it.
「Our house is a bit cramped, but please make yourself at home.」
Wasn't saying that a bit insulting to the other houses? Compared to them, their house seemed quite large. Well, maybe there were a lot of people living inside? Ruimin opened the door and went in first.
「How about it, Sanya? Have you thought about settling down and starting a family?」
「No, marriage is still too early for me. Besides, I'm having fun with my job right now.」
「That may be true, but I'd like to have some grandchildren soon.」
「Okay, well then, you still have Ruimin.」
「Onee-chan! Don't drag me into this! You know I already fell in love with Yunwhoops!」
Whoa. What a bombshell. I didn’t know she felt that way!