Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

Bear-san Stopping by a Village

The following day, after breakfast, we departed.

“Noa, it’s this way, right?” (Yuna)

“Yes. I can feel as if a thin thread connects us.” (Noa)

“Primme, where is the closest village?” (Yuna)

“Ummm. Maybe around that way.” (Primme)

Noa was pointing a little to the left, while Primme, on the other hand, hesitantly pointed a little to the right.

“We will need to go in a different direction, huh?” (Yuna)

“What should we do?” (Noa)

“Well, it might be a bit of a detour, but I’d like to get some information, so let’s stop by the village.” (Yuna)

“I don’t mind.” (Primme)

“Are you really sure, Primme?” (Yuna)

“Yes.” (Primme)

And so we decided to stop by the village and gather some information.

“Swaying Bear, Hugging Bear, let’s go!” (Yuna)

“”Kuh~n!””

Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear ran off towards the village that Primme had told us about.

After running for a while, without encountering any monsters or people, the village came into sight.

“If someone sees you, there might be a commotion, so Primme, stay hidden, okay?” (Yuna)

“I know.” (Primme)

Primme flew and went inside Noa’s pouch.

“Noa, you mustn’t leave my side.” (Yuna)

I didn’t know what kind of village this was. It could be a dangerous place. But as we approached the village, a man near the village entrance screamed, “Girls riding on bears are coming to attack the village!” assuming that we might have come to attack.

After riding closer towards the frightened man, I explained that the Swaying Bear and the Hugging Bear were safe.

“If you don’t attack them, they won’t do anything to you.” (Yuna)

“Are you sure those bears are really safe?” (Villager)

“They’re safe.” (Yuna)

The man nodded after listening to my words.

For the first time in a long time, Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear were allowed to walk along with us while we were inside a village.

“First, let me ask you, why are you dressed like that, young lady?” (Villager)

“I want to dress like a bear.” (Yuna)

“I can tell that much by the way you’re dressed… Is that a popular outfit in your town?” (Villager)

Apparently, he thought we were from a nearby town.

Since I couldn’t tell him the truth, I decided not to clear the misunderstanding.

“No, it’s not popular there, but… you see…” (Yuna)

“I see. Since I’ve never been to the nearby town, I thought that kind of dress was in style. So what are two girls riding on bears wanting to do in a desolate village like this? Are you lost?” (Villager)

Sure, it was not lively, but he shouldn’t have called the village where he lived a desolate village.

“We’re not lost. We were just wondering if there are any dangerous places around here, as well as looking for the nearest town, and also if we can find anyone with information about fairies.” (Yuna)

“Fairies? You mean those little things in the shape of beautiful people, right?” (Villager)

“Wait, we are not little things, we are… mogomogoho.” (Primme)

Noa stepped back, clutching her pouch.

“Did you say something just now?” (Villager)

“No, I didn’t say anything.” (Yuna)

I tried to cover it up.

“I can tell you about dangerous places and the nearest town, but you’d better ask Grandma about fairies.” (Villager)

“Grandma?” (Yuna)

“Yes, because I heard that she saw one a long time ago.” (Villager)

The man told us about the dangerous places near the village while leading us to the Grandma.

The village was quite typical. There was nothing unusual about it.

“From the entrance you came in, if you turn to the left, you will find a forest and a meadow. You shouldn’t go there because that area is infested with monsters.” (Villager)

“What kind of monsters?” (Yuna)

“Mostly wolves.” (Villager)

So there were wolves around here as well.

Well, if the monsters were actually as powerful as the monsters around a village near a final boss, like in a game, this village’s inhabitants would likely be dead by now.

“You guys are not going to hunt them down?” (Yuna)

“They live far enough away from the village, so we don’t think they’ll come this far. Also, as long as no one from the village enters their territory, they won’t attack, so we’ll be fine.” (Villager)

Of course, that also implied that monsters would attack the village if the villagers repeatedly trespassed their territory.

“So we leave them alone. As long as they don’t come to our village, we also won’t force ourselves to hunt them down.” (Villager)

“What if they attack you at some point?” (Noa)

Noa asked.

“I also thought about that in the past, but even after all these years, that has never happened. We do not want to risk our lives to deal with it. Besides, it will cost us a lot of money to ask adventurers to help us. If that’s the case, both sides should leave each other alone.” (Villager)

That was a plausible way to look at it.

If it were me, I would have just driven them away to eliminate the risks.

The idea of leaving each other alone was rough, since it would still leave a chance for something unwanted to happen in the future.

“Oh, and speaking of the town, there’s a road leading to it just outside the village, so you can just follow that road. Wagons and carriages also use it.” (Villager)

“How far is it from here?” (Yuna)

“It’s about three days by carriage.” (Villager)

That was quite far. But with the speed of Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, we should be able to reach it in only a day.

“Now that I think about it, you girls probably came from the nearest town, right? While riding on those bears, I assume.” (Villager)

“Well, that’s…” (Noa)

If I said no, I might not be able to answer a possible follow-up question, “Where did you come from?” but that didn’t mean I could also answer yes.

“Ah, don’t tell me, did you really end up in this place because you got lost from that town, and asked for directions on your own?” (Villager)

The man nodded his head after assuming so.

Even if we denied it here, there was no better way to answer his possible follow-up questions, so I pretended that we were lost.

However, it would make it harder to ask the name of the town or the name of the country we were in. It would be strange not to know their names when you were their resident.

“Yes, we came here to try to look for fairies.” (Yuna)

At any rate, now that I have figured out some of the monsters and the location of the town, I decided to divert the conversation.

“Yuna-san?” (Noa)

I looked at Noa and shook my head to ask her not to say anything. Noa nodded her head as if she understood my intention.

“When you return home, be sure you apologize to your parents. And don’t make your parents worry about you too much, okay?” (Villager)

The man spoke gentle, warm words.

Noa and I nodded in agreement.

“But in the town, do people ride bears instead of horses?” (Villager)

The man asked as he looked at Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.

“No, these bears are special. We are the only ones who ride bears.” (Yuna)

I have to clearly deny that part because if he got the wrong idea, he might make a fool of himself if he visited the town or someone from the town came here to ask.

I doubt there would be any towns where people ride bears instead of horses, as fancy as that may sound…

…There wouldn’t be any, right?

And when we arrived at a lonely house, the man took the liberty of opening the door and calling out the person who was inside the house.

“Are you there, Granny? There are girls here wanting to enquire you about fairies.” (Villager)

“Fairies?” (Granny)

An old lady came out from the back room with her hands around her waist.

“Bears!?” (Granny)

“Sorry to startle you. They are not dangerous.” (Yuna)

I apologized and explained about the Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.

Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear made little “cooing” noises.

“They are really bears. And now that I look at you more closely, I see that you are dressed as a bear, as well.” (Granny)

Grandma looked at me and smiled.

“These girls came all the way from the town to look for fairies. Why don’t you tell them about it?” (Villager)

“Well, if they don’t mind me telling an old story, I’ll be happy to tell them about it. Come inside.” (Granny)

We parted with the man and went inside the house.

Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear stayed in front of the house while Noa and I went inside.

“So, as you have said, did you really come to this village to look for fairies?” (Granny)

Even if we have now confirmed that fairies have been to this village before, we could not confirm directly if it was the same fairy we were looking for or that we were actually looking for a specific fairy, so I told Grandma our purpose for coming to this village in a runabout way.

“Yes. There was someone who claimed that fairies were once sighted in this village, so we came here to check if anyone had really seen them.” (Yuna)

“Yes, I have seen them. They are so beautiful.” (Granny)

A happy smile emerged from the old Granny’s face. As if to follow up, Noa also asked.

“Have you really seen a fairy, Grandma?” (Noa)

“Yes, that was when I was young. There have always been rumors around here that there is a place near this village where fairies live.” (Granny)

I wondered if she was referring to the fairy forest where Primme and the others lived.

“Do you know where the fairies are?” (Yuna)

Grandma shook her head.

“No one knows. It’s only that fairies come to visit this village occasionally.” (Granny)

“But I heard that not everyone can see fairies.” (Noa)

“Oh, girl, it seems like you know a lot about them. Certainly, some people can see fairies while others can’t.” (Granny)

Fairies could only be seen by someone with a matching magical wavelength to their own.

“During that time, no one could see the fairies, even when I pointed at them as I asked the people around. I didn’t want to be called a liar, either, so I stopped talking about it after a while.” (Granny)

It would be difficult to convince someone who couldn’t see ghosts to believe me even if I could actually see ghosts. And if I already had a bad reputation, they might even think that I was an insane person. However, if the person saying that was a well-renowned medium or someone deemed to have special powers, then people might believe it.

“I was chasing a fairy all by myself. The fairy was happily flying through the village. But she didn’t even know that I could see her, and before I could go near her, she had already flown off into the distance. I looked for her again and again, but I never saw her again. How many times I wished I had called out to her back then? I would have loved to have talked to the fairy.” (Granny)

Seeing a fairy was almost a miracle.

You never knew when a fairy with the same magic wavelength as yours would visit this village.

The probability of them being in the same place at the same time and on the same day would be ridiculously low. If I hadn’t checked the haunted house, I would not have encountered Primme. If I were living like a hermit, the chances of us meeting would have dropped to almost impossible.

“I’m too old now. If possible, I would have wanted to see that beautiful figure one last time.” (Granny)

The old lady said sadly.

“I’m sorry. It was a little sad of a story.” (Granny)

“No, we don’t mind.” (Yuna)

I felt awkward.

I looked at Noa and saw that she was also troubled.

“That’s about all I know about fairies. I hope that was helpful.” (Granny)

“Yes, thank you very much for the story.” (Yuna)

In reality, the information didn’t really help us.

But then again, I was not so heartless as to dismiss it flatly.

Just as I was about to thank her and leave, Noa’s pouch moved.

“Do you want to see us so badly?” (Primme)

Primme stepped out of Noa’s pouch.

“Primme-san!” (Noa)

Noa looked at Primme as if she were in trouble, but Primme flew in front of the old lady.

“Fairy…” (Granny)

“Yes, I am a fairy.” (Primme)

“Ugh.” (Granny)

The old lady started to have tears rolling down her eyes.

“A fairy… a real fairy… I’m so glad that I got to see one before the end of my days.” (Granny)

Grandma held out her hand, and Primme landed on it.

“Well, after hearing your story, I’ll feel terrible if you die of regret just because you could not see a fairy before the end of your time.” (Primme)

“But I didn’t really have any regrets…” (Granny)

“What? Didn’t you have regrets of not being able to see fairies? If you consider yourself so lucky to have met me, you should live longer.” (Primme)

“Yes, indeed you are right. I should live longer because I might meet the fairy again.” (Granny)

The old lady smiled.

“Grandma, haven’t you heard of anyone seeing fairies lately?” (Yuna)

“There may be some, but I think they will be keeping it a secret. We are a small village, so if someone did make a commotion about it, they will be known throughout the village.” (Granny)

“Ah, just as I expected.” (Yuna)

Hearing the Grandma’s words, we concluded that if someone did see Primme’s sister, they should be easily trackable due to the commotion.

“But you said you were looking for a fairy.” (Granny)

Grandma asked as she looked at Primme on her hand.

“It’s her big sister we’re looking for. We are trying to track her whereabouts.” (Yuna)

“I see. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of assistance.” (Granny)

“No, it’s okay. We do have some clues.” (Yuna)

Well, our primary purpose behind coming to this village was to find information about dangerous places, towns nearby, and, if possible, the country’s name. Also, we wanted to check if there were any interesting stories about fairies. Since we had accomplished half of our goal, we were good to go.

We thanked Grandma and left the house.

“The Grandma looked so happy to see Primme-san.” (Noa)

“Well, we can now be certain that fairies do indeed make people happy.” (Yuna)

“When I saw Primme-san for the first time, I was moved as well. It made me delighted.” (Noa)

Indeed, I was surprised when I saw Primme, but at the same time, I was also moved since it was my first encounter with a fairy.

“Hmph, praising me so much won’t bring you happiness.” (Primme)

Despite denying it, Primme did look happy, as she turned her face away.