Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

Bear-san Visits the Adventurers’ Guild

With Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear in our arms, we approached the city gate.

The man who manages the gate noticed us and called out to us.

“Why are you dressed like that?” (Guard)

“I just want to be dressed as a bear.” (Yuna)

There was no other answer.

“Well, I can see that.” (Guard)

If you can see it, then don’t ask.

“I’m just doing this because I like bears.” (Yuna)

“”Kuh~n.””

Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear squealed happily at my answer.

“Is that a bear you’re hugging?” (Guard)

The man looked at the Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear that Noa and I were holding.

“I see, so you really like bears. What about you, are you a fan of bears as well?” (Guard)

“I like bears as well. I even have similar clothes.” (Noa)

After saying so, Noa pulled out a store bear uniform from her item bag.

Why was she carrying that?

“So you also have the same outfit. My bad, it seems like you two really like bears.” (Guard)

The man was satisfied with the bear stuff and didn’t pursue the matter further.

“Well then, can I have your card?” (Guard)

“I’m new in town, so I don’t have a card, but…” (Yuna)

I lied, just as we had discussed.

“Then you’ll need to pay entrance fees if you want to enter the town. Did you two come here together for the first time?” (Guard)

“Yes. My father was injured and couldn’t come to town himself, so we took his place.” (Noa)

“I see. But rules are rules. If you can’t pay, you can’t enter the town, even if you are a child.” (Guard)

If I could pay to enter the town, it would be a small price compared to getting caught and questioned.

I offered the man our money. The man’s expression changed slightly as he accepted it.

“What is this? Is this money from somewhere else?” (Guard)

Noa and I looked at each other.

“It was given to me by a merchant a long time ago, and I was wondering if I could use it.” (Yuna)

I quickly lied.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t accept this money. Do you have anything else to offer other than money?” (Guard)

I didn’t have any jewelry of any kind, and even if I did, it would look suspicious if I offered it here.

I considered what I had on hand that could be used as money.

“Well, we did come here to sell materials from monsters… Can we use those?” (Yuna)

I asked politely, a little subdued.

The gatekeeper glanced at me and Noa.

“Huh, okay. I really shouldn’t, but let me see.” (Guard)

At first, I showed him about five Wolf magic stones.

“Magic stones, huh?” (Guard)

“Father defeated them, and we’re here to sell them.” (Noa)

“Well, it will cost you about four magic stones, including the little bear’s.” (Guard)

It may be a rip-off, but I accepted it since we didn’t know the market price.

The man happily accepted the magic stones.

I still felt ripped off, but why did he have to charge the bear cubs an entrance fee in the first place?

But I didn’t complain because I could simply use Wolf’s magic stones, which were just laying around in my bear item box. I also didn’t want to cause a commotion by taking out more valuable items.

Besides, it would have been more troublesome if I was told that I couldn’t enter town with bear cubs.

“Oh right, we want to go to the Adventurer’s Guild or the Commercial Guild. Where can we find them? Also, a place to stay.” (Yuna)

I asked politely, and the man was generous enough to tell us.

It appeared that paying entrance fees wasn’t all that bad. Four Wolf Magic Stones was a small price to pay if we could get a lot of information.

“But going to the Adventurer’s Guild may be futile.” (Guard)

The man said something very strange and meaningful.

I was about to ask him why, but someone arrived behind us that was also planning to enter the town, so the guard told us to move inside already, as he went to the next visitor.

I wanted to get some more information, but we had no choice.

“I didn’t expect that the money we have wouldn’t be usable…” (Noa)

“Yes, that’s right. And since they don’t even know about money from our country, it might not even be in circulation around here.” (Yuna)

“Yuna-san, what are you going to do now?” (Noa)

“We have to find my sister!” (Primme)

Primme shouted from inside Noa’s pouch.

“I know how you feel, but first we need to find a place to stay.” (Yuna)

Finding an inn was within the basics of traveling. If we looked for it later and it ended up being full, we would be in trouble.

Even if I did have my Bear House, I couldn’t use it in town, and people would think we were crazy if we went outside during the night.

“But that would cost money…” (Noa)

“That’s why, first I’ll sell some monster materials at the Adventurer’s Guild for money. The question is whether they will buy it from me or not.” (Yuna)

I would prefer not to use a guild card or anything that would reveal my identity.

Even if I told them I was an adventurer, they might not believe me.

If they didn’t buy the items, I might have no choice but to show them my skills directly.

“Anyway, it looks like the Adventurers’ Guild is close by, so let’s go there first.” (Yuna)

We started walking towards the Adventurers’ Guild that we learned about.

As people passed us by, they stared at us.

“Hey, everyone is looking at us. Maybe they know I’m here.” (Primme)

Primme asked, peeking out from inside Noa’s pouch.

“No, that’s not it, so Primme, stay well hidden.” (Yuna)

“But everyone is staring at us.” (Primme)

“It’s me they are looking at.” (Yuna)

“Why?” (Primme)

“Well, Yuna-san is dressed so adorably that everyone is looking at her.” (Noa)

Noa explained to Primme, choosing her words carefully.

I wouldn’t mind if she called it a strange outfit.

I made an 11-year-old girl be considerate of me.

“Really? I don’t understand.” (Primme)

“If I were dressed like how Primme-san is dressed, I think people would have still looked at me in the same way.” (Yuna)

“Eh, are you saying that my clothes are strange as well?” (Primme)

The dress-like outfit that Primme wears was also not something that was commonly worn by normal people.

It was so beautiful and mysterious that it would be difficult to see it as ordinary clothes.

I wouldn’t feel uncomfortable if Primme, a fairy, was wearing it, though. I think it was a very fairy-like dress. But if Noa or I were to wear it, I think it would be too eye-catching for a different reason.

“That’s why you don’t have to worry about it.” (Yuna)

As if to prove my point, we could hear people around us saying, “What’s with that outfit?”, “Is that a bear?”, “That girl is cute”, “What are those two holding?” and so on.

It seemed like our Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear were also getting a lot of attention.

“By the way, Yuna-san, I wonder where we are.” (Noa)

“If we were to ask people about it, it would look suspicious, so we can’t ask them outright.” (Yuna)

If by any chance they asked us back where we came from, we would not be able to answer correctly.

It would be difficult to gather information without disclosing our own.

“The streets are not so different from those of Crimonia.” (Noa)

It seemed like the culture was also not so different from where we came from. There were some slight differences, but nothing major.

Noa seemed to have no problem with the letters and numbers they were using while we were walking around, since she could read the letters on the merchandise and see the monetary figures on the products. In my case, it would be thanks to my auto translation skills that I could read and write in any language, so I could not judge the difference.

“Ah, Yuna-san, isn’t that the Adventurers’ Guild?” (Noa)

Noa pointed to a sign that looked similar to the typical sign of an Adventurers’ Guild.

When I got closer, I noticed that it was clearly labeled as [Adventurers’ Guild].

“Noa, there might be adventurers who want to cause trouble, so don’t leave my side, okay?” (Yuna)

In my experience, such adventurers were everywhere.

It was usually my outfit that got me into trouble.

After Noa said “yes” to my request, we entered the Adventurers’ Guild.

There were no noisy adventurers.

“Huh?” (Yuna)

The Adventurers’ Guild was quiet and empty. Looking around, I saw a few people sitting in the corner, drinking quietly. No one bothered me.

“It’s so quiet.” (Noa)

This was unexpected.

At any rate, I headed for the reception desk, but there was no one present. The reception desk was empty.

Maybe they were taking a break?

However, we didn’t find anyone in the reception area either.

“Oh, what a cute customer for such a desolate adventurer’s guild.”

I heard a voice from behind me and turned around to see a woman in her mid-twenties holding a bottle of alcohol.

“I don’t see anyone at the reception desk.” (Yuna)

“Well, of course there’s no one there.”

“Why not?” (Yuna)

“Because I’m here.”

Does that mean that the woman drinking the alcohol was the receptionist?

Unlike the guild officials in Crimonia, I didn’t recognize her as a receptionist because she wasn’t wearing a uniform.

“Fufu, you are dressed so cutely. But wait, are those bears you’re both holding in your hands?” (Receptionist)

“Yes, but they are our friends.” (Yuna)

“”Kuu~n.””

“What cute little friends you have. I’ve heard that if you take care of bears from the time they’re born, they’ll grow attached to you. I guess this is true.”

The woman gently patted the head of Swaying Bear in my arms.

“So, what are two pretty girls doing in this desolate adventurer’s guild?” (Receptionist)

I couldn’t believe that she would say that it was a desolate place on her own.

“Well, we’re looking to sell some monster materials to the guild.” (Yuna)

“Monster materials?” (Receptionist)

“It’s a monster that my father killed, and I’d like you to buy it.” (Noa)

“Well, did you two come to this town with your father?” (Receptionist)

“My father was injured and couldn’t come to town, so we took his place to come over here.” (Noa)

“But you two are not sisters, are you?” (Receptionist)

I had black hair while Noa had blonde hair. We didn’t even look alike, nor did we look like sisters.

“The only one who was injured was her father. As she couldn’t come to this town by herself, I, who lives in the same village, came to escort her.” (Yuna)

“Oh, I didn’t know that. You look like as well, you know” (Receptionist)

With my fluent lie, I was able to convince the woman, but I was a little uncomfortable with the woman saying that I too was small.

“Well anyway, let me see it, so can you please put it out on that counter for me?” (Receptionist)

I placed some magic stones and wolf pelts on the counter.

Because I used materials from wolves, it shouldn’t look strange, knowing that there were a lot of them around here. We also encountered the knights fighting them on our way to this town.

“Oh my, you have a cute item bag.”

The woman said as she looked at my white Bear Puppet.

She then checked wolf magic stones and pelts on the counter.

“I see it has been dismantled neatly.”

The woman examined the pelts, one by one.

“It seems like your father is quite skilled.”

The woman said as she looked at Noa.

“Oh, why do you say so?” (Noa)

“It seems like he took out the Wolf’s head with a single strike. And the dismantling was beautiful.” (Receptionist)

Well, I actually killed it with an ice arrow, and Fina dismantled it beautifully.

“I’ll pay you a little more for it.” (Receptionist)

“Are you sure?” (Yuna)

“Yes, of course, it’s so beautiful. We’ll get to sell it for a lot more than usual.” (Receptionist)

Fina would have been flattered by the compliment.

The woman offered us the payment.

I didn’t know what the market rate was, but it didn’t look like we were being cheated, so I accepted it as is.

Even if I had been cheated, that couldn’t be helped. We had too little information about this town or this country. Currently, what we needed the most was to at least have some usable cash to spend in this country.

“Thank you.” (Yuna)

“No problem. From now on, if you have any more materials, please don’t hesitate to sell it at the Adventurer’s Guild.” (Receptionist)

The woman happily stored the materials away.

At any rate, this completed our first objective.

I decided to ask for the next piece of information.

“Um, I have a question.” (Yuna)

“What is it?” (Receptionist)

“Why are there so few people in the Adventurers’ Guild?” (Yuna)

“If you’ve never been to this town, it’s no wonder you don’t know. There are hardly any adventurers in this town.” (Receptionist)

“What?” (Yuna)

An unexpected answer came out.

“The only ones remaining here are adventurers who are doing nothing but drink or those who can’t even fight.” (Receptionist)

The woman glanced at the adventurers by the wall.

“Why are there no proper adventurers?” (Yuna)

“Because…” (Receptionist)

As the woman was about to explain, the entrance to the guild became noisy.

“This place is still as grim as ever.”

“Yuna-san, those people…” (Noa)

Those people were the knights who were fighting with the wolves before we came here.

Why were they here?

“You girls should go hide in the back.” (Receptionist)

The woman told us before facing the knights.

Noa and I followed her words and moved to hide at the back of the counter where the pillars could cover us.