Chapter 190: The Bear Requests to Borrow the Palace's Head Chef

Chapter 190:
The Bear Requests to Borrow the Palace’s Head Chef

 

SPLETCH SPLETCH.

I was right in the middle of sleeping peacefully when I felt something soft slapping my face. Ah, yep, it was Kumakyu’s paw, reminding me that I had to head out today first thing in the morning.

I looked over at the window. It was still dim out.

“Thank you, Kumakyu.” I patted Kumakyu on the head for waking me up, then stretched out and got out of bed.

At the same time, Fina shifted in the adjacent bed and got up. “Are you leaving, Yuna?”

“Did I wake you? Sorry about that. You can sleep in a bit more.”

“That’s okay. I wanted to say bye, so I asked Kumayuru to wake me up when you got up.”

I was happy to hear that.

Grateful for Fina’s consideration, I changed into my usual black bear outfit. “All right then, I’m off. Call me on the bear phone if anything happens. I’ll run right back. Don’t go outside while I’m out since it’s dangerous, though,” I warned her. I was worried about leaving her, but she would be safe as long as she stayed indoors.

“Okay, Yuna, but you be careful too.”

I patted Fina’s head and called back Kumayuru and Kumakyu. As everyone slept in the early morning, I opened the window and headed onto the veranda. I was headed for the roof. I jumped up right onto it.

Maybe this spot would work?

The center of the roof had a spot that wasn’t visible to anyone nearby. I set up a bear gate so it would lie flat against the roof, ensuring no one in any direction could see it. I opened the door below me and teleported to my bear house in the capital.

The instant I entered, gravity turned; I crumpled right to the ground.

Oops. I kind of headed through like I was jumping straight into a hole, so I lost my balance. It didn’t hurt, but it was pretty embarrassing for a second. Good thing no one saw that.

 

I had breakfast in my capital bear house and killed some time before heading for the castle. I supposedly left yesterday night and came here on my bears without sleeping, but that still would’ve only been half a day of travel. I made sure to time things in a way that wouldn’t raise anyone’s suspicions.

 

The guards in front of the gate noticed me when I arrived at the entrance of the castle.

“Um, could I go inside?”

“Ah, yes. Please come in.”

After they gave me permission to enter, one of the guards started to run off.

“Just a minute,” I called out to stop the running guard. “I’m not meeting Lady Flora today, but I do have urgent business with the king or Ellelaura. Could I meet with them?”

“Umm, please wait a moment. Ellelaura is here, but we don’t know where she currently is. We can report your presence to His Majesty, but we can’t necessarily guarantee an audience...”

Ah, yeah, I guess it was kind of unfair to expect a normal guard to know stuff like that.

In that case, I wondered if it’d be best for him to report directly to the king, then for me to wait in Lady Flora’s room. But then, Lady Flora wouldn’t want me to leave right away. I could see the sad look on her face right then. Argh, if only I’d brought the stuffed animals just in case, but…the only ones I had in bear storage were for Misa’s present.

It was weird that they didn’t know where Ellelaura was. Where was she and what could she have been doing?

“What would you like me to do?” the guard in front of the gate asked me.

Hmm…the best case would be if I could see Ellelaura. I agonized over what to do when, speak of the devil, Ellelaura herself just so happened to come over to me.

“I spotted a bear from far off and came over for a look. I knew it had to be you, Yuna.” Ellelaura, who was so elusive just a second ago, appeared just like that. Normally that penchant for popping in out of nowhere was a pain, but today it was helpful.

“Ellelaura, I wanted to ask you for something, if I could?”

“What is it? Why don’t we take a walk and talk about it; I’m strolling and patrolling at present.”

Uh. Weird way to put it, Ellelaura—weren’t walking, patrolling, and strolling all the same thing? Or was she just trying to sound busy?

Ellelaura told the guard he didn’t need to report to the king. Then, we started on our walk/stroll/patrol. “So what do you need? You hardly ever ask me for anything, Yuna.”

“Well, I’m not asking you so much as the king. I’d like to borrow Zelef for a few days.”

“Zelef? May I ask why?”

I explained what was happening in Sheelin.

Ellelaura nodded slowly. “Now that you mention it, Cliff did mention in one of his letters that he was going to Sheelin. The Salbard family, is it? Their reputation has been a little spotty of late.”

I knew it.

“Of course, I can’t give you permission to take Zelef on my own,” she said.

Right. He was the royal family’s head chef, so I couldn’t whisk him away without the king’s permission.

“Well then,” said Ellelaura, “let’s go see His Majesty.”

“Can we really?”

“We can. I would have to report to him about your arrival regardless.”

What kind of a rule was that?

Well, all fine by me as long as I could see the king. Ellelaura guided me deep into the castle. During that time, when we passed by other people, they all greeted Ellelaura by bowing their heads at her. Ellelaura gave them a casual greeting back. Maybe Ellelaura really was someone important? As we continued down a corridor, we came upon a door guarded by two soldiers.

“Why, Lady Ellelaura, is that you? Is this the girl dressed as a bear from all the rumors?”

What rumors? I wanted to ask. But I could guess, so let it go. Besides, it’d probably be better not to know what weird things people were saying about me.

“We would like to meet with His Majesty. May we proceed?”

“Yes, just one moment.” The soldier knocked on the door to check inside. Then we heard a verbal approval from the other side of the door. The guard turned to us. “Come in. Please make your way inside.”

Ellelaura and I went in, and inside the spacious room were three other people. One was the king, another a man the same age as him. Finally, at a desk to the left, sat a handsome man in his twenties. He looked oddly familiar.

“Why, Ellelaura and Yuna. What brings you here? You never come to see me, Yuna.”

“It seems Yuna has a request,” Ellelaura told him.

“A request from me?” he repeated. A smile came to the king’s face, but the other two looked kinda uncertain. I guess that’s the sort of look anyone would have if a girl in a bear onesie suddenly appeared and started making direct requests to the king.

“What did you need, Yuna? Keep in mind there are some things I can’t do, even if it’s coming from you.”

True, but I was just glad that I could ask the king for something at all. I cut straight to the chase. “I’d like to borrow Zelef for a few days.”

“Zelef? Why is that?”

Once again, I explained everything I already told Ellelaura to him.

“The Salbard family and the Fahrengram family, you say?” said the man beside the king.

Who was he? I’d never seen him before, but he had to be a big deal if he was hanging out with the king.

“That territory, then...” The king leaned back in his chair. “My grandfather did make some odd choices,” he lamented.

“Well,” said the man beside the king, “he must’ve had his reasons. There’s no changing it now.”

“No matter the reasons, now we’re stuck with those pesky consequences.”

I guess they were talking about one of the previous kings—specifically the one who divided the territory between two noble families. For my part, I agreed. This never would have happened if that king hadn’t divided the land like that.

“You already know about what’s going on?” I asked.

“There are rumors that the Salbard family has been up to no good behind the scenes,” said the man.

“The tax yields from Salbard have increased, while Fahrengram’s have fallen,” said the king. “I had a report compiled, but it gave no reason for the changes.”

And if you didn’t know better, it might’ve looked like the Fahrengrams were just failing to attract clientele compared to those good ol’ hardworking Salbards. If anyone went under the magnifying glass, then, it would be the Fahrengrams.

“The nobility is always squabbling over territory. To put it rather harshly, the Fahrengram family simply weren’t a powerful enough player in the game.”

That had crossed my mind too. There were disputes like that in my old world too, both big and small. It was the duty of the ruling class in a territory to make their land easier to live in and to develop it.

Still, why hadn’t these guys here done anything about it? It felt like they were going around in circles, just talking and talking…

“However, there have been those terrible rumors about the Salbards.”

“Mm, yes. Embezzlement, blackmail, violence…constant rumors, but never any proof from their subjects. We are unable to get involved.”

Right, that was the red tape of bureaucracy at work. Even the king couldn’t pass judgment on people—no matter how villainous—without proof. Not if he still wanted to be on the side of justice, anyway. And without proof, there was always the chance he could make the wrong decision.

“If I’m not mistaken, there are rumors that the Salbard family is connected to the Bornardt firm,” said the blond dreamboat who was silent so far. He really looked like someone I knew. The king noticed me staring at the guy’s blond hair.

“Come to think of it, is this the first time you’re meeting Ernat?” the king asked.

“Ernat?” I hadn’t heard that name before. I tilted my head to the side and the pretty boy smiled.

“Really, now? I never thought I’d find someone who came and went from the castle and was unaware of me. I am pleased to make your acquaintance, bear maiden: I am the heir of King Forot, Ernat.”

Oh! So it was the king he reminded me of. He was the prince.

“You know about me?” I asked.

“I’ve heard all about you from Father, Mother, and Flora. After all, my father dumps his work on me and disappears whenever you appear.”

He said that with a smile, but there was something foreboding about it. But was that really my fault? I’d just come to visit Princess Flora. I never summoned the king on any of those occasions. He wasn’t blaming me, was he? When I gave the king a hard stare, he cleared his throat.

“So, ah, the Bornardt firm?” Wait, he just changed the subject. That was my signature move, my Secret Technique of Subject Change.

That name had piqued my interest, though, so I asked Ellelaura about it.

“You don’t know about them, Yuna? It’s the largest company in the capital. Their merchants do business across the country. With all their influence, even the nobility can’t defy them.”

“Their reputation is good, but there have been some terrible rumors as well.”

“You think they’re some of the merchants causing all those problems?” I asked.

“They might be the ones pulling the strings, but for all we know, they might also have nothing to do with it.”

“It would mean trouble if they were trying to target Gran’s territory, though.”

I guess they had seedy corporations even in this world, eh?

If the Bornardt firm and the Salbards were in bed with each other, Gran wouldn’t be able to win over the merchants and bigwigs easily. The odds were stacked totally against him, even with his party. The ending would have been set in stone all along—if the party failed, it would just come sooner. For now, though, we still needed that chef…

“So, will you let me borrow Zelef?” I asked. There wasn’t much I could do about sinister firms, but I could at least grab my chef.

“Ah, yes. I can’t intervene on account of the chef being attacked...but we’re talking about the head of the Fahrengram family’s birthday party, after all. I can give you permission to borrow Zelef.”

It wasn’t like the king could go out there himself just because a chef had been attacked. It might be a different matter if Zelef—the palace’s head chef—had been the one attacked, but a chef from a mere noble’s household didn’t quite cut it. We also didn’t have solid proof of the culprit’s identity, even with our suspicions about the Salbards.

Besides, if everyone came to the king for every petty little issue, he’d never be able to get his work done.

In Japan, this would be the equivalent of someone being punched and expecting the prime minister to investigate a random guy for being kind of sus. No—finding the culprit would be Gran’s job since he was the lord of the territory. If the culprit ended up being a commoner, he’d levy a punishment. If it were the Salbards, he’d have to find proof before running it up the ladder to the king.

“However, we’ll say that Ellelaura asked you to take on Zelef for the party. Are you fine with that?” The king looked at Ellelaura.

“Of course. Cliff is attending, after all. If the other nobles object, we can use that as a cover.”

We needed an excuse for having Zelef himself at Gran’s party, and obviously, we couldn’t say it was because a girl in a bear onesie cashed in a favor.

Once we were done talking things out, we headed to the kitchen to find Zelef.