Chapter 123: The Bear Heads Out for Practical Training

Chapter 123:
The Bear Heads Out for Practical Training

 

EACH OF THE students introduced themselves to me.

First, we had a shorthaired boy with a good spirit and a bad attitude: Maricks.

Next up, a slightly longhaired, intelligent-looking boy: Timol.

Then we had that princess-y girl, who wore a hairband over her long, silver hair: Cattleya.

Then, finally, there was Ellelaura’s daughter Shia.

After some pretty straightforward introductions, Cattleya spoke up. “I’ve been wondering…what is with those bears?” She looked at Kumayuru and Kumakyu, who were resting by my feet.

“They’re mine.”

Maricks laughed. “You’re bringing your pets? What are you, some kinda princess?”

A princess? Me? Besides, Kumayuru and Kumakyu weren’t pets. They were family!

They uniformly disregarded my internal torment and left me to trail behind as we departed the academy to board the carriage. This was where the teacher and Ellelaura would be leaving us; the practical training started the moment we exited the classroom.

Along the way, Shia slowed down to my pace and spoke in a low voice. “Yuna, I’m looking forward to working with you. Kumayuru and Kumakyu, too,” she said, nodding at the bears trotting along beside us.

“Okay, but, Shia? You gotta help me out there. You’re the only one I can rely on.”

“Of course.”

All I could do now was trust her word. “And hey, what was all that earlier about one of those?”

“One of those?”

“Yeah, one of those.” When the three other students saw my guild card, they’d said something like that. I had no clue what they’d meant.

“They probably assumed you’re a spoiled girl from somewhere who bought your rank.”

Oh, right—someone could just go on quests with high-ranking adventurers to coast by and increase their own rank. In other words, they thought I was some hobby-adventurer pampered princess who’d bought her rank along with a couple of bear pets.

“But if someone tried that, wouldn’t the truth spread around to the other adventurers?” I asked. “What would be the point?”

“Well, that’s why they’ve accepted your whole…situation,” she said, gesturing vaguely at me. “Because they think you’re eccentric and coddled.”

Blurgh. Annoying. But then, here I was, a young-looking girl in a bear onesie, supposedly a C-Rank adventurer. That was pretty hard to swallow compared to me just being some bored, LARPing rich girl.

We headed out of the academy and to the back of the school building where we found a small shed. Inside of that shed was a single carriage and a stable.

Maricks scanned the stable with a restless look in his eyes. “I knew it. We’re the last ones.”

“Last ones?” I asked.

Shia nodded. “There are other parties with their own assignments. Maricks has a contest with the other boys about who comes back the fastest.”

Cattleya snorted. “How absurd.”

I mean, she wasn’t wrong.

“What are you doing?” Maricks snapped. “Hurry up and get ready! Let’s roll!” He was practically already climbing inside the carriage when he turned and shouted at us.

The carriage’s luggage rack had a roof, hopefully to keep the water away if it rained. There were two horses connected to the carriage—enough to pull it, apparently.

When I headed around to the back and passed by the driver’s seat, Maricks called out to me, “I have no idea why you’re coming with us, but you know what? Whatever. Just don’t get in our way.”

“That’s right,” Timol sneered. “Stay out of our way, and don’t even think about lowering our assessment result.”

Love to deal with crappy, yammering boys. Love it. Ugh…if Shia weren’t there, I would’ve peaced out then and there.

“You’re both being rude to Yuna,” said Shia. “She’s going out of her way to guard us, so make sure to treat her with proper courtesy.”

Maricks rolled his eyes. “You want me to play nice with some bear? Just look at her: She’s all full of herself because of that phony rank, the little weirdo.”

Full of myself?! They were about to shatter my glass heart…

“Maybe protecting her is part of the test?” Timol interjected.

“You think so?” Maricks mused. “You reckon we have to keep her safe?”

“That’s one possibility. If protecting her is a part of the test, that’d line up with a lot of stuff. They might even have given us false information, so she can report on our actions to the teachers.”

“Hey, is that true?” Maricks asked me.

“They just told me I’d be guarding everyone,” I said.

“It’s possible they didn’t tell her either.” Timol was developing his own pet theory.

“What a pain. Shia, Cattleya, you take care of the weird girl and the bears. Have some girl time. Talk about clothes and junk.”

Cattleya glared. “Who said you could make all the decisions? Why, I—”

“No problem,” said Shia quickly. “I’ll take care of Yuna and the bears.”

Cattleya tilted her head. “Shia?”

“Heh. No take backs, ladies. You better actually look after them, since you agreed to it. We’re sure not gonna do it.”

The two boys smiled like they’d dodged a week full of chores as they headed to the coachbox. Shia had practically the same smile on her own face…for different reasons, I could tell.

“Well then, Yuna, let’s board the carriage.” Shia pulled me up and we got into the carriage’s cargo hold.

There were bags of wheat for the village piled up inside, just like I’d been told about. I looked for an open space to sit down. Kumayuru and Kumakyu came over to my side, then got on my lap.

“I don’t mind looking after the bears,” said Cattleya uncertainly, “but are you really sure you’re all right with this, Shia?”

“Are you, Cattleya? I can look after Yuna by myself, you know.”

“Goodness, yes. A fine lady must be able to mind small children, so I don’t mind.”

But, but looking after them was my job! We’d reversed roles. All because of that freakin’ onesie, I bet…

“Cattleya, thank you.”

“Oh, don’t worry your sweet little self about it. Now, my tiny bear companion, kindly let us know the moment you require anything, mm?” What confidence she had in me as a guard. Ugh. She’d make this bear so sad she’d bawl her eyes out. “Still, I wonder if they couldn’t have let us have a carriage more suitable for refined young women like ourselves,” Cattleya murmured, looking around the interior.

“I don’t know. I mean, this is meant to be a cargo carriage, after all.”

“Yes, dear, of course, dear, but the thought of spending multiple days in this carriage is most dispiriting to my delicate demeanor.”

I was on the same wavelength as Cattleya. No traveling on Kumayuru and Kumakyu and their top-notch, uber-cuddly fur. No using the bear house to sleep for the night. No hot baths or fluffy beds…I was in for a pretty inconvenient trip.

When I looked over at Shia and Cattleya, they were pulling out pillows from their item bags and setting them up to sit on. Aha, cushions would soften the jolting. These two were fully prepared.

“Yuna, you can use my cushion, if you’d like.” Shia held out the cushion she’d been sitting on. I didn’t see any others. Was she trying to lend me her only comfort?

“It’s fine. I have one.” I pulled out a cushion embroidered with a bear pattern from my bear storage. One of the orphans, Sherry, had given it to me as thanks, and I’d kept it around as a sweet keepsake. I muttered a thanks to Sherry under my breath as I set it up.

“That’s a cute cushion.” Shia had set up her cushion close to mine.

“Umm, it was Yuna, correct? Not ‘bear’?” said Cattleya. “Once again, it is a pleasure to meet you. Let me assure you, dear, that you’ll be under sound protection while in our hands. No need to worry, not a whit.”

It didn’t seem like Cattleya believed the part about me being a C-Rank adventurer, but she was all right. Maybe this trip wouldn’t be so bad.

After Shia sat next to me, she started hugging Kumayuru, who was resting in my lap. “It really is just as soft as I expected.”

“Um, Yuna? Would you perhaps allow me to touch your bears too?” Cattleya seemed a little embarrassed. When I nodded, she cautiously extended her hand and patted Kumakyu’s head. Kumakyu closed its eyes, thoroughly enjoying the pets.

“Gracious, it’s so tame.”

“Well, as long as you don’t hurt them, they won’t do anything to you.”

“Why, I thought that bears were frightening, but they seem adorable when seen like this.”

Cattleya also hugged Kumakyu. Then Shia nabbed Kumayuru from me and Cattleya stole Kumakyu. The bear…was bearless and lonely.

Irrespective of my feelings, Maricks called into the carriage from the coachbox, “All right, we’re heading out.”

“You may depart anytime,” said Cattleya.

“Sounds good,” added Shia.

With that, the carriage was off, and before long we were out of the capital.

“All right—we’re the ones driving for now, but we’ll switch after midday.”

Shia hugged Kumayuru, Cattleya hugged Kumakyu, and I was rocked along by the carriage all by myself as we rolled along.

Thanks to my bear outfit, the jolting didn’t hurt my bum and the cushion was a snug seat. I really had to thank Sherry for making it. Maybe I’d buy her something in the capital.

 

The carriage rolled on smoothly, and we took a break for lunch and to rest the horses. Each student pulled out simple meals like bread and stuff from their item bags. Pretty sad-looking, if you asked me. I had tons of hot meals in my bear storage…but it wasn’t like I could pull out a steaming hot meal from there in front of ’em, so I went with some sandwiches that Morin had made.

There were tons of different kinds: egg, cheese, veggie, potato salad, and meat. Naturally, every single one of Morin’s sandwiches was delicious.

“That looks good, Yuna.” Shia peeked at my sandwiches.

“Want some?”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s fine. I have a ton. And you over there—Cattleya, right? You want one too?”

“May I really?” She was looking at them covetously. I handed her one. Cattleya thanked me, brought it to her mouth, and… “It’s so delicious. Why, this is even better than my family chef’s!”

“I bet. This baker’s brilliant,” I said. It kind of felt like Cattleya was praising me, honestly, which felt fantastic.

As the three of us made short work of the sandwiches, Maricks looked over at us from his spot a little farther away. When I looked at him, though, he turned right around. Weird.

We finished our break, and the girls took over driving. Obviously, I wasn’t about to suffer through staying in the cabin with the boys, so I headed toward the coachbox with Shia and Cattleya.

The three of us somehow managed to all fit up there. Shia grabbed the reins and I sat to her right, nabbing a big ol’ hug from Kumayuru—I’d finally managed to get my bear back.

As for Kumakyu, it rested in Cattleya’s lap. Looks like she made a new friend.

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Chapter 124:
The Bear Worries About How Much She Can Say

 

THE SUN BEGAN TO SET, so Shia and the others started prepping to camp. Wasn’t much work to do, though—they just took care of the horses and set up a fire. Each of us had already eaten separately, so all we had to do was get to bed.

“All right,” said Maricks, “the night watch is going to be in this order: I’ll be up first, then Timol, Cattleya, and Shia. We all good?”

Nods all around. Since he didn’t say my name, I guess that meant I could sleep.

Maricks sat in front of the fire to start his night watch. Shia and Cattleya went inside the carriage.

“Timol, are you quite sure about this?” Cattleya asked—but Timol was already prepping to sleep outside.

“No way am I going to sleep near some girls. I’ll sleep out here with Maricks.”

“I’m quite grateful for that,” said Cattleya with a polite nod. “I would have just as much trouble sleeping with boys around.”

The three of us staked out our sleeping spots in the cramped carriage. When we were all lying down, we barely fit…and I bet Timol had figured as much. Clever guy.

Shia and Cattleya used the narrow space they had to wrap themselves in blankets and lie down. Me, I spread out my blanket and called Kumayuru and Kumakyu. They waddled happily over to me. Sure, they weighed down on my stomach, but my bear outfit made sure it didn’t feel heavy. They were just fluffy.

“I’m so jealous, Yuna”

“Gracious me, I am too. Who wouldn’t want such cute bears?”

“I know I would.”

Kumayuru and Kumakyu poked their heads out of my blanket, and the girls gazed at them jealously. I hugged Kumayuru and Kumakyu close.

“Hey, girls, hurry up and get some sleep,” said Maricks from outside. “We’re not gonna wait for you to rest up before it’s your shift, got me?” Cattleya and Shia quickly pulled up their blankets.

“Well, everyone,” said Cattleya, “please sleep well.”

Shia smiled. “Good night, Cattleya, Yuna.”

“Yup, night.”

I thought we’d get in a little girl talk, but it seemed they were tired from traveling—they were snoring right away. I guess we can’t all be bearish globetrotters, huh?

I didn’t change into my white bear clothes—what if they laughed at me, you know? And anyway, I hadn’t used any mana or done anything that would have worn me out. If I was tired, it was all mental. Turned out that boys my age were a bunch of exhausting babies. That’s the thing about being a shut-in all your life who suddenly has to be around people: You get to catch up on a lot of fun everyday experiences.

I gave Kumayuru and Kumakyu a serious look while I hugged ’em. “Let me know if monsters or bandits show up… And I don’t think it’ll happen, but if those boys try any funny business? Lemme know so I can explode them.”

Kumayuru and Kumakyu let out their tiniest “cwooms.” (Didn’t want to wake the other two, after all.) I used them in place of a body pillow. Perfectly warm, perfectly fuzzy, perfectly comforting… And in a snap, I was out.

 

Didn’t take long before I felt someone moving. I opened my eyes slightly to find Cattleya standing up for her guard duty shift.

“I will head over this moment,” she said softly to someone else—probably Timol. Cattleya got off the carriage, I hugged Kumayuru, and I was out like a light again. Before long, Cattleya came back and woke up Shia. Since Shia was last, that meant it would be morning soon. Shia got out of the carriage, Cattleya wrapped herself in a blanket, and she was out again.

Carefully, quietly, I got up and managed not to wake Cattleya. Kumayuru and Kumakyu poked their heads out from the blanket as if to ask what I was up to. I picked ’em up, blankets and all, and got out of the carriage.

“Yuna, what’s the matter?” Shia asked me softly.

“I’m the only one who didn’t get a shift. Felt weird, so I figured I’d keep you company.” I sat down beside her.

“Thank you,” she said. She shivered a little and held her hands out to the fire.

“Cold?”

“A little.” The sun hadn’t come up yet, so I supposed it would be cold. Bear gear and all made that hard to tell—not to mention the heaters in my blanket.

I pulled Kumayuru out of the blanket and handed the bear over to Shia. Kumayuru cocked its head to the side and looked at me.

“Hey, little guy, can you warm Shia up a little?”

“Are you sure?” Shia said, but she still reached out toward me. Kumayuru let out a small “cwoom” as Shia gave it a hug and pulled it into her blanket. “It’s warm. Thank you, Yuna. Thank you too, Kumayuru.”

She gave Kumayuru a joyful little hug, and I gave Kumakyu one too.

“Your big bears are adorable, but the small ones are too.”

No surprise there: They were baby animals, after all, and all of those guys are tiny and adorable. No exceptions to the rule! Baby lions, and tigers, and bears…

“Oh my, this is almost too comfy. I’m getting sleepy.” Shia closed her eyes, looking like she was on cloud nine.

“Don’t fall asleep.”

“I know, but now I can brag to Noa.”

“Brag about what?”

“Noa was bragging about how she cuddled your bears till she fell asleep. She was so smug about, too. Who wouldn’t be annoyed?”

Was this a normal sibling rivalry thing? Weird.

Shia buried her face into Kumayuru. “Ohhh, this is so nice! Heh.”

“I mean it, don’t you dare fall asleep.”

Shia yawned a lot while hugging Kumayuru, but she managed to stand guard against the things in the night and her own drowsiness. Before long, her time was up and so was the sun.

Shia stood. “I’m going to wake everyone up soon.” Needless to say, she was still carrying Kumayuru.

 

After everyone got up, we had a simple breakfast before heading off toward our destination: the village. The mission was a go…

And the mission was super boring. I usually didn’t get bored while I was traveling on my bears, but this was dull. I could take a nap while riding my bears, but it wasn’t like I could sleep in the carriage when I was supposed to be on guard duty, especially if I wanted the students to stop thinking I was useless.

While I was thinking that over, Kumayuru and Kumakyu “cwoom”ed—they were being carried in Shia and Cattleya’s arms.

“What’s wrong?” asked Shia.

Shia and Cattleya patted Kumayuru and Kumakyu’s heads, but they didn’t stop crooning.

Cattleya frowned. “Yuna, Kumayuru and Kumakyu started whining all of a sudden.”

I took my bears. They looked at me, then in the direction the carriage was headed.

There weren’t monsters around, were there?!

I used my detection skill and checked the surroundings. Yeah—there were goblin signals in the direction the carriage was headed. Five in all, and no way to dodge ’em.

What was I supposed to do in a situation like this? I could tell them, keep my mouth shut, or even take care of the baddies for the students. But Shia and company could fight off five measly goblins, right? And I had been told not to intervene—but also to guard them?

Ugh, what was I supposed to do?

“Yuna, what is Kumayuru saying?” asked Shia, snapping me out of my thoughts. Could I even tell her?

Well, Shia was supposed to be supporting me, so maybe it’d be fine if it was just her. I leaned toward Shia’s ear and whispered to her so that no one else would hear: “It looks like Kumayuru and Kumakyu spotted some nearby monsters.”

“Monsters… They can tell?” Shia looked at Kumayuru and Kumakyu in surprise.

To be more accurate, I’d been the one to pinpoint the monster’s location with my detection, but Kumayuru and Kumakyu had spotted the monsters first. So… “Pretty much. They’re special.”

Shia accepted that. They were summons and they could change sizes, so that fit with everything else.

“This is supposed to be training and all, so I wasn’t sure who to tell,” I told her. It wasn’t like I was a teacher or anything, so I didn’t know what to do when weaker monsters appeared. If these were orcs, on the other hand, I’d have a better answer.

“And you’re certain?”

I nodded. My detection skill informed my own eyes and indicated goblins, but Shia couldn’t see what I could.

Shia nodded. “All right. I think you’re not supposed to tell us, but you want the others to trust you. I think it’d be good to say something this time.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I think it’s better for everyone to know if Kumayuru and Kumakyu can spot monsters. What if we get into a real emergency later and the others don’t believe you?”

How many emergencies actually cropped up on a round trip from the capital to a nearby village? As a rule, the monster encounter rate between towns was low, what with all the wandering adventurers who killed ’em, which made situations like this pretty unusual.

Shia stood and called out to Maricks and the others up front. “It looks like there are monsters nearby. Maricks, stop the carriage!”

Maricks brought the carriage to a halt, startled. “What! Monsters?! Where?!” Maricks swung his head left and right, checking the surroundings.

“There aren’t any around yet. Apparently they’re up ahead.”

“Up ahead?! I don’t see any.” Maricks squinted forward, but he wouldn’t be able to see them—they were too far, and a little off to the right.

“Yuna’s bears said there were monsters,” Shia said sensibly.

“Uh-huh. To be clear, you’re talking about the bears that that bear is holding?” Maricks gave me a dubious look. “Really?”

“Yep. Up ahead on the right.”

Maricks gave Kumayuru a skeptical look.

“Maricks,” said Timol, “animals have a good sense of smell. Maybe that’s how they know.” There we go, Timol—coming in with the save.

“Hm. Okay. Let’s keep an eye on our surroundings while we advance, yeah?”

Everyone nodded in agreement. He gripped the reins and drove the carriage forward.

“Yuna,” asked Marick from up front, “your bears are able to do that?”

“Basically. These cubs can warn me about danger, so they can be guards.”

“Pretty amazing pets for such a mediocre person,” said Maricks. Because I’d said that Kumayuru was the one to detect the monsters, huh? Ugh, so much for trying to show how useful I was.

“Maricks, don’t say it like that,” Timol mumbled.

“What, am I wrong?”

Come one, come all, and see the incompetent bear and her hyper-competent pets! Ah well… Even if they just trusted Kumayuru and Kumakyu, they’d still listen next time we ran into any danger. That was enough for now.

 

“So just to confirm,” I said to Shia and Cattleya, “you can handle goblins and wolves, right?”

“Yes, if there aren’t too many,” said Shia. “We should be fine handling monsters like those.”

“Yes, I could certainly defeat a goblin.”

Well, that was reassuring. “Gotcha. I’ll only step in if it gets dangerous, all right?”

“Quit trying to pull our legs!” Maricks whined from up front. “We don’t need help from a bear like you. We can handle a few monsters on our own. Your little bears can keep watch, if you wanna feel useful.”

At least he didn’t say he could solo it. Good job, Maricks: You mentioned literally anyone else in your calculations. You even knew the most obvious fact about combat: That it’s easier to fight together instead of recklessly plowing forward.

Well, fine. There were only five goblins this time, so I could just spectate. This was practical training, so I wasn’t supposed to intervene much.

Time to see just how practical Maricks was.

 

The carriage continued along. We were close.

“Maricks, look,” said Timol. We could see five figures ahead and to the right—the goblins.

Maricks stopped the carriage and stared at the goblins like he couldn’t believe it. “Just like the bear said…”

“What should we do, Maricks?” Shia said, bringing Maricks back down to earth.

“We’ll, uh, split into two groups. Timol and I will attack from the right, Shia and Cattleya from the left.”

Everyone nodded.

“Well, Yuna, I’m heading over,” Shia said.

Maricks got down from the carriage and the others climbed out after him. Wait, was everyone leaving? What about the carriage? I couldn’t drive a carriage. What if the horses started moving on their own?

I’d been left behind. They’d handed the reins off to me and there I sat, holding them limply, watching the four of them wander off toward the goblins. Just me, a carriage, some horses, and my anxiety.

Ugh, what if the goblins got too close and spooked the horses? It’d be chaos…

“Kumayuru, Kumakyu, can you drive the carriage?” I asked, just in case.

“Cwoom…”

“I figured. You don’t have to rub it in, though.”

It was almost funny: I was way more terrified of being in the driver’s seat of a carriage than in the middle of a gang of goblins.

Good horseys. Peaceful horseys…nice, calm, extremely immobile horseys…