Chapter 188: The Bear Reports to Gran

Chapter 188:
The Bear Reports to Gran

 

WHEN WE RETURNED to Gran’s residence, Meishun came to greet us.

“Welcome home. What happened?” Meishun asked. She must’ve sensed something was wrong from the expression on Misa’s face. Misa cheered up a bit on our walk, but Meishun could still tell.

“We had a bit of trouble.”

Meishun gave me a look. Hold on, it wasn’t like I caused it. Or, uh. Then again, he had spotted me from far away.

“We ran into that irritating idiot Randle from the Salbard family,” I said. “He was pretty awful to Misa.”

Meishun’s expression changed in a flash. She gave Misa a worried look. “Lady Misana, are you all right?!”

“Yuna protected me. I’m okay.”

“Is that so?” Meishun bowed deeply. “Mademoiselle Yuna, thank you for protecting Lady Misana.”

Ehh, it was my job. Still, I never expected to run into such a picture-perfect stupid noble brat.

 

We went back to our room to relax. A while later, there was a knock on our door.

Meishun came in. “Mademoiselle Yuna, please excuse me. Lord Gran would like to meet with you.”

“Gran? Wait, is this about today?”

“Yes. It seems that he would like a detailed account of what transpired.”

Meishun showed me the way to Gran’s room.

 

“Here it is,” Meishun said as she knocked on the door. A reply from inside told me to come in. I opened the door.

“I apologize for calling you, Miss.”

It wasn’t just Gran in the room, but also Cliff. It looked like they were discussing things. Documents were piled atop the table; Gran shuffled them together and offered me a seat.

“I heard that you met the son of the Salbard family,” he said.

“I did. He was mean from the start.”

“Were you okay?”

“No one was injured. He was all talk.” Still, it probably was tough on the kids. I reported to Gran what that stupid noble did to Misa.

Gran sighed as he listened to me. “Again?” he muttered, annoyed.

“I heard a bit from Noa and Misa. Is it really as bad as it seems?” I asked.

“It is, and much worse recently. The harassment started a few years back. At first it was trivial things. We didn’t even know who had done them, and so we paid it no mind. But recently, he’s stopped even trying to hide it. The boy directly harasses Misa, for one thing. Though I objected to what was happening, I was told that parents weren’t to get involved in squabbles between children unless one got hurt. That is the state of things,” Gran said, irritation plain in his voice.

Even if he didn’t hurt Misa physically, words can hurt your mind. Some people never recover from wounds like that. Some people even hurt or kill themselves over stuff like that…

Since this felt like it’d be a long conversation, I pulled three drinks out of my bear storage. They both accepted theirs readily. “Based on all that, Gran, do they also harass you too?”

“The Trade Guild was taken over by a supporter of the Salbard family. As a result, the guild openly gives them preferential treatment. They direct merchandise to the district Salbard manages, for instance, and so the residents go to stores in the Salbard district to buy goods, which lowers sales and tax revenue in my district.”

“Have the merchants protested against the guild?”

“The merchants were told that they are free to sell things wherever they want. And it’s not a terrible inconvenience for the townspeople to walk a little farther to shop.”

“It’s the merchants in the district Gran governs that are hurting,” Cliff added. “Some have moved into Salbard’s district.”

“I had no idea a guild master could be that powerful.”

“Power? I prefer to call it bribery,” said Cliff. “They’re offering to make things convenient if people sell in his district. Naturally, a merchant will choose to do business in places that offer more favorable conditions, no matter how minor the difference.”

“And so,” said Gran, “the stores in my district are having stock shortages.”

I suppose that was efficient if he was trying to hit them hard. “Despicable. Basically, he’s not selling to people based on whether he likes them or not?”

Then Cliff, seeming exasperated, said something surprising. “Yuna, have you forgotten what you did to me?”

Huh? What I’d done to Cliff? I didn’t remember anything like that…

“Did you really forget? You asked Milaine to not sell me eggs.”

I struck my puppets together after remembering—right. I did that when I thought Cliff had suspended financial support for the orphanage. He still remembered that after all this time? Pretty petty, Cliff. Not a good look.

If Cliff had been paying close attention, the orphanage wouldn’t have been destitute in the first place, so that whole incident hadn’t been my fault.

“It’s the same as what you did to me, Yuna,” said Cliff. “But the scale is larger and the intent far more malicious.”

“The influential people in town have started to side with the Salbards, and my side of town has a goods shortage. I was consulting with Cliff about this.”

Cliff sighed. “You should have spoken to me earlier.”

So this was what they’d been discussing…

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to cause you any trouble.” Gran bowed his head to Cliff, even though Cliff was the younger one.

“Well,” Cliff admonished, “that’s how you got into this situation.”

“I didn’t think they would actually try to ruin us.”

“Ruin…” I repeated. “So a noble’s family can be ruined?”

Gran nodded. “Even a noble household can fall if they have no tax revenue. Our land would be forfeit to the king, and it would be turned over to someone else.”

“And it is quite likely that the other party would be the Salbard family,” said Cliff. “If you only look at the taxation reports, they appear to be excellent feudal lords.”

If he increased his tax income, Salbard would look superior on paper. The Salbards weren’t about to document down all the nefarious deeds they committed to get there, after all.

“As it is, Gran and I have taken measures against that. I will be sending over goods from Crimonia, but the fact that they control the guild is quite the irritation.”

“Truly. Since we have invited wealthy people and merchants, it is imperative the party is a success. I cannot pass down my land to my son in this state.”

“Yes. We must win people to our side in this contest, even if it’s only a few.”

So the party had another purpose, then. And Misa and Randle’s relationship ran deeper than a quarrel between two kids. Randle viewed Misa as an opponent he needed to steal territory from—or, no, he viewed her as an opponent he already beat. And ugh, he thought he could have Misa as a maid? I’d take Misa in if she were destitute. As if I’d hand her over to an idiot like him!

In the best-case scenario, Gran would win out, but he seemed outnumbered right now. Maybe things would be okay since Cliff was helping out now? Anyway, it wasn’t my place to get involved in issues between the nobility…

“Yuna, can I ask you to take care of Noa?” asked Cliff. “I don’t know if Salbard will try to pull something. Please keep an eye on her.”

Gran nodded. “Please do the same for Misa.”

They didn’t need to ask. Misa and the others were like little sisters to me. I’d protect them no matter what.

“Also—and I apologize, Yuna—but I’ll have to ask that you refrain from going out for some time. I don’t know if anything will happen. Of course, I believe that they’ll be safe with you, but the unthinkable could happen. Please stay within the grounds until after the party.”

They really didn’t know what level of shut-in they were dealing with, huh? I’d kept myself cooped up for years. A few days? That’s nothing.

Even though I didn’t have a computer or television, I could find games to play if I wanted to. And hey, I wouldn’t be a shut-in by myself this time. There were tons of ways to have fun with four people.

With our talk finished, we stood up…and right then, there was a commotion from the hallway. Meishun rushed in without even bothering to knock.