Chapter 269
Chapter 269 – Bear-san Brings Some Refreshments
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When it was noon, we decided to return to Shia’s stand .
Since Shia had told us about how none of them could take a decent break from working, I thought we could help a bit if we at least brought them some snacks . The girls naturally didn’t object .
Still, having to line up for snacks was a pain, so I was planning on simply giving them Morin’s bread . Shia had also mentioned that some friends were coming over to help her and I would feel bad if we didn’t bring enough for everyone .
I had plenty of Morin-san’s bread stashed inside my Bear Box, so they could have as much as they wanted, no matter how many people were there . That was why we decided that simply bringing them Morin-san’s bread would be the best .
As we made our way to the stand, we saw many people walking around and eating cotton candy . I was really happy to see that all these people were enjoying it . Shia’s group had worked hard to learn how to make it, so I really hoped it would continue to sell well .
Arriving at the stand, we immediately noticed an unknown student doing their best to attract customers . Was she one of the friends Shia had mentioned?
Unlike me, she actually had friends, huh .
「Shia, it looks like the stall is doing well . 」
I told her as she passed some cotton candy to a child .
「Yes, my friend came over to help us, so we get a lot of customers . 」
「Yeah, but don’t forget we owe her a meal in return . 」
Marcus cut in, explaining the favor needed to be repaid . A meal sure sounded like something a student would ask for . Asking for money was a thing for adults . I looked around some more, but I didn’t see Tilia anywhere . She had said she would come help after she finished whatever she had to do in the morning, so she most likely wasn’t done yet .
「Shia, Tilia isn’t here yet?」
I wanted to thank her for yesterday .
「Oh, Tilisama is at the back . 」
When we went around back, we came upon Tilia, crouching dejectedly with her back to us . She looked so gloomy I could almost imagine her just aimlessly twirling her finger in the sand .
「Tilia, what’s wrong?」
「Well, when we told her we didn’t need her help anymore, she started acting like that . 」
「You did that? Why?」
Shia proceeded to explain that when Tilia had began calling out for customers, all the students who knew her started to gather in front of her . After Tilia had happily told them that the cotton candy was delicious, all the students rushed to the stand, yelling their orders one after the other .
Seeing such a huge crowd form up, other people had wandered over to see what the commotion was all about and found out that Tilia was there . Then, word of her presence had spread further, which attracted more customers and garnered even more attention . That vicious cycle had spiraled completely out of control, and the crowd turned into a huge problem for the stand and the surrounding area .
Even with three people making the cotton candy, they couldn’t have handled the amount of orders pouring in . Shia and the others had felt a sense of impending danger and forced Tilia to hide at the back of the stand before it was too late . Eventually, things had calmed down, and we arrived soon after . Even with Tilia out of the way, there were still more people here compared to any of the other stands around . This was, without a doubt, the effects of a famous person .
Well, what had happened made complete sense when thinking about it . If Tilia, a princess, called for people to come then there was bound to be many who answered the call no matter if they were students, nobles, or commoners . In this case, even those who were here for different attractions would rather come here when they heard Tilia’s name being mentioned, and when a princess recommended something to them, no one would dare to say no to it . Not to mention that her beauty and smile were beyond captivating . Just a smile from her alone was enough to make men grovel at her feet . Such a technique was something I could never do…
Looking at the results, the princess’ charm had been far more effective in attracting customers than the Bear statue I had created .
「Because of that, we were forced to ask Tilisama to stop helping us . 」
So, that was why she had started to sulk…
I walked up to Tilia from behind .
「Tilia, are you okay?」
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「Yuna? Let me tell you…」
TIlia turned around when she heard me but then began looking left and right .
Was she looking for someone?
「Hmm? Where’s Yuna?」
I was standing right in front of her .
「I thought I just heard Yuna’s voice…」
Yes, she had, because I had just asked her something .
Tilia’s eyes stopped on me for a moment, but then continued on to the girls standing next to me .
「Where’s Yuna?」
「Yunoneechan is right in front of you . 」
Fina and the others looked at me slowly, and Tilia’s gaze came back to me again . Her head then tilted slightly .
「Yuna…?」
「Yes, I’m Yuna . 」
I reintroduced myself to her .
Tilia looked at me as if she didn’t believe me, though .
What was that reaction? Was she unsatisfied that a girl like me came out of the Bear Suit?
「Certainly, the hands and feet are like Yuna’s . 」
She recognized my hands and feet .
Everybody recognized me only after seeing those parts, huh…
「So, why are you wearing a uniform?」
「Shia said I can’t wear my Bear Suit because it stands out too much . She forced me to change into her spare uniform . 」
I gave a simple explanation .
「That’s true, your bear costume stood out quite a lot . Still, I didn’t know you were actually such a cute girl, Yuna . 」
Now that was a troubling comment . Even at this point, I had trouble believing that me wearing the Bear Suit could be considered cute, and then she suddenly brought out this…
「Yes, it was definitely unexpected for me, too . I didn’t realize such a cute girl was hiding underneath that bear costume . 」
「Not you too, Shia . 」
Tilia looked at Shia and immediately seemed as if she just remembered something .
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「That’s right . Listen, Yuna . Shia first asked me to call for guests and then told me to stop . I was doing my best but she said I was just causing trouble . 」
「That’s because a crazy amount of people gathered because of you and we couldn’t keep up with the demand . I do feel bad for making you come back here, but we had no other choice: we just aren’t efficient enough to keep up with such a crowd . 」
There was a limit to how many customers any food stand could handle . It depended on the size, the number of workers, and the speed at which the food was being made . It only made sense for Shia’s stand to be overrun when Tilia had been attracting customers .
「But the only reason I’m helping is to thank you for introducing me to Yuna . 」
Oh right, there was that, too .
Thinking about it, wasn’t it a completely unfair trade? Tilia needed to value herself a bit more . She had traded time she could have spent having fun at the festival just so she could meet me .
「Well, you’ve helped us plenty enough . 」
Tilia had tried her best, but what happened couldn’t be helped . Even though she was a student, the fact that she was also a princess didn’t change .
Besides, wasn’t asking a princess to help out kind of unfair to the other stands? In my former world, this would be akin to having a celebrity help out as a form of advertisement . It was complete overkill for something as simple as a school festival .
Shia tried her best to explain to Tilia that it wasn’t her fault, but Tilia wouldn’t accept it . It was very likely that Tilia had actually been looking forward to helping the stand, seeing her sulk like that .
Even I, having never experienced a school festival before this, also felt that helping out could be fun . It was why I had given them my cotton candy machines and had even made them a Bear statue . Knowing that my help was a factor in their success made me feel happy, so I somewhat understood Tilia’s feelings .
I tried to comfort Tilia, hoping to make her feel better .
「I understand . I’m fine now . I will stop being selfish . 」
Just as Tilia began feeling a bit better, someone’s stomach growled . We all looked around to find where the sound came from .
「Shia, did you guys eat lunch yet?」
「Not yet . We were going to take turns in going out to eat . 」
Well, seeing how crowded they were with customers earlier, they most likely didn’t get the chance to go .
「If you would like, I brought some bread for you . 」
「Is it the same bread we had when you were escorting us before?」
「Yes, it is . 」
「I want some!」
「Me too . 」
Marcus and Timor, who were still in the middle of making cotton candy, both replied . It looked like the three of them all remembered the bread I had given them when I had acted as their bodyguard during their school outing . Well, Morin-san’s bread was delicious, so that made sense .
「I will leave some out here, so eat whatever you like . 」
I took out enough so that everyone, including the female student who was helping out, could have their fill .
「Yunsan, what will you be doing now?」
「We will go around the festival again, I guess . 」
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There were still many areas we hadn’t visited yet .
Up until noon, Noa and Shuri had tried to take revenge on the games they had lost at, so we ended up going to the same places as yesterday . We planned to go to some new places this afternoon; it would be boring to keep returning to the same areas, after all .
「How about bringing Tilisama with you, then?」
「Shia?」
Tilia was surprised at Shia’s sudden request .
「Even if I can’t call for customers, I can help you with other things . 」
Shia shook her head .
「Thanks to your advertisement, plenty of customers already came to our stand . Those customers will spread the word, so we will be fine to do other things ourselves . 」
She was right . The line didn’t seem to get any shorter while we were here, and I could see even more people approaching .
「Also, if we let you help out any further, the other stands will start to complain . 」
Wasn’t it already unfair to have a princess help out to begin with?
「So, please enjoy the festival with Yunsan and the girls . 」
Marcus and Timor nodded to Shia’s words and the female student helping out seemed to agree as well .
「Please leave the rest to us and go enjoy the festival, Tilisama . 」
「Everyone… Thank you . 」
Tilia accepted their feelings .
After we had lunch together with a few of them who managed to switch out to eat, we left the stand with our new party member, Tilia .
「Fufu, if I were a boy, I’m sure I would look popular . 」
Tilia, who had been so depressed earlier, was now happily walking between Shuri and Misa, with Fina and I tagging close behind .
「They’re all children, though . 」
Except for me, who was fifteen, the girls were all only seven to ten years old .
「They may be small, but they are all cute ladies . 」
Well, I couldn’t deny that .
We didn’t forget to introduce Misa, and it seemed like Tilia knew who Gran-san was, but didn’t know about his granddaughter till now .
「I must say, I’m really happy to see that all of you are wearing the clothes I bought for you . 」
The three girls were indeed wearing the clothes Tilia had purchased for them yesterday, and she was clearly delighted to see it .
Well, I was pretty sure anybody would be happy to see the presents they had given being used . It was better than finding out they had just been tucked away to never see the light of day again .
「Misana, shall I buy something for you as well?」
「No, that’s okay, I’m…」
「You don’t have to hold back . 」
Tilia interrupted, grabbed Misa’s hand, and dragged her off to the same shop from yesterday, where we all picked out an outfit for her . Tilia tried to buy something for me again, but I managed to politely decline her offer .
Once Misa’s clothes were paid for, we left the store . Misa walked in front, spinning back and forth happily . She looked very happy that Princess Tilia had bought her something .
「I have now gained another wife . 」
「You’re a girl, you know . 」
I rebuked Tilia’s joke just as we were stopped in our tracks by a large crowd .
「I wonder what’s going on?」
Noa started to push her way through the crowd, and Misa followed . Shuri also tried to run off with them, but Fina tightly held her hand to stop her .
「Onee-chan!」
「No . 」
「Uuu . 」
We slowly made our way through the crowd and came up to something that appeared like a performance involving swords .
「It’s a sword dance . 」
So, it should be something like a dance with swords?
There were indeed six students dancing around with swords in their hands .
They swung their swords right and left, showing off their skills . The swords seemed like they could clash any second but always managed to pass each other by a hair’s breadth .
「Amazing…」
「So beautiful…」
The girls were all mesmerized by the performance .
I somewhat recalled watching something similar on TV, but this was the first time I had seen it in person . The students swung their swords with quite a bit of force, and it was a true spectacle watching all of them perform the same moves so perfectly in sync . I could see no blunders throughout the performance, and then suddenly everybody pointed their sword into the air . Like it was a signal, their movements suddenly became much more harsh, sharp, and quick, yet still, their swords managed not to clash . Finally, they swung their swords in a wide arc before sliding them gracefully into their scabbards, finishing their dance .
The whole crowd erupted in loud applause . Of course, my girls all clapped as well while I attempted to clap with my Bear Hands but sadly, no sound came out .
This was the first time I had seen such a good performance .
According to Tilia, from time to time there were events where groups performed such sword dances together . However, only the best of the students were picked to do it .
「Princess, can you do it, too?」
「Me? I’m not good at being in sync with other people . I can perform a sword dance by myself, but for something as spectacular as this, you need several very coordinated people to perform it . 」
Tilia answered Shuri’s question .
True, that dance could only be performed if everybody trusted each other . It also needed a lot of practice and was something I could never do . I was bad at working with other people to begin with, so it would be impossible for me even if I had the willpower to practice it .