Chapter 207: The Bear, Enraged

Chapter 207:
The Bear, Enraged

 

NOW I NEEDED to figure out where exactly I was heading. I wandered around the town after I left Zelef and Botts. Just when it felt like I was really getting my browse on, I heard an odd “Cwoom, cwoom, cwoom…!” Was that coming from my white bear puppet?

Oh, duh. It’s the bear phone! I took it out of my bear storage.

“Fina, is that you?”

“Y-Yuna...it’s Lady Misa...” Fina sounded positively fraught.

“Fina! Fina, what is it?! What happened?!” I shouted into the phone.

“Yuna, she’s...”

“She’s what?!” I shouted, but I just got dead silence in return.

I rushed toward Gran’s place. Kept dialing Fina, kept running. Fina…where was she?!

When I got to the house, there was a servant waiting out front.

“Are Misa and the others all right?!” I snapped. The servant seemed shocked by how threateningly I’d shouted it.

“What’s this about Lady Misana?” he replied. So even the servants didn’t know what had happened. Which meant…maybe nothing had happened?

But where were Fina and the others?

Fina had told me she’d have a tea party with Misa and Noa in the garden. I thought about asking the servant in front of me where that was, but it’d be faster to just go myself. Without another word, I leapt onto the roof.

I spotted the flower garden to my left. “Fina!”

I leapt down from the roof and landed in front of a beautiful, blooming flowerbed…and Fina and Noa were collapsed beside it. The stuffed animals I’d gifted to Misa were abandoned on the ground near them, but I didn’t see any sign of Misa.

Fina was clutching her bear phone.

“Fina! Noa!”

I rushed over and held Fina. There was a bruise on her face, like someone had hit her.

Who…who had done this?!

“Ugh...” Fina groaned.

I gently touched her face and used my healing magic. That got the swelling to go down. I checked on Noa next, but she was just passed out—no other injuries.

Relieved as I was, I still couldn’t find Misa. The only things left behind were her stuffed animals, strewn all over the ground. Something must have happened here.

“Misa!” I called, but no one answered.

If they’d been attacked, had she run away? Had they caught her?

If Misa had escaped, there would’ve been a huge commotion, but the servant had been totally calm. No one was freaking out yet. If they had been, it wasn’t like they’d just leave Fina and Noa on the ground like this…

Which meant that Misa must have been kidnapped just moments ago.

“Yuna, what happened? You startled one of the servants...Noa!” Cliff’s voice went up a decibel the moment he saw Noa on the ground. “Yuna, what happened?!”

“I don’t know. I knew that Fina was in danger, so I came rushing over...”

Cliff held Noa. I went back to Fina, but she was still out like a light. What could have happened? Was Misa safe?

While I talked to Cliff, some servants came along with Meishun. “Mademoiselle Yuna! What happened?!” Meishun exclaimed.

“Looks like someone attacked them. Meishun, please let Gran know. And could you make sure Misa isn’t inside the house, just in case?” I doubted she would be there, but we had to know for sure.

Meishun immediately delegated tasks to the other servants and gave them instructions for the search.

Right as they headed out, Gran arrived on the scene. “What is all of this?”

“Misa isn’t here, and I found Fina and Noa unconscious.”

“What did you say?”

I didn’t know anything beyond that. Gran looked at Noa and Fina, who were each in our arms. Misa was the only one missing. Yeah…it was obvious what had happened. But just as Gran was about to do something, Fina opened her eyes slightly.

“Fina!!!” I cried.

“Y…Yuna?”

“What happened?”

Fina looked around, then grabbed my bear clothes and used everything she had in her to wring out a name. “It’s Lady Misa—Lady Misa was...”

“Relax. You can take your time,” I said.

“We were talking and looking at the flowers. But…there was a man in a black mantle and a white mask. He showed up and…and he grabbed Lady Misa and tried to take her. L-Lady Noa and I wanted to protect Lady Misa. We grabbed the man’s clothes, but we…we couldn’t do anything. And then...”

Fina rubbed her face. That must’ve been where he hit her. “Yuna, please save Lady Misa!” She clung onto me, looking as if she’d burst into tears at any moment.

“It’s all right. I’ll save Misa. Meishun, please take care of Fina.” I gently patted Fina’s head and slowly stood up.

I was about to explode with rage. Just seeing Fina’s face after someone had punched her had already gotten me to my boiling point, and knowing that someone had kidnapped Misa? No way could I just stay calm.

Cliff turned to me. “Yuna, what do you intend to do?”

I picked up the stuffed animals from the ground as I spoke. “I’m going to rescue Misa, obviously. Because, you know, Misa was kidnapped? Why are you even asking me that?”

Stupid question for such a smart guy. But…

No, this wasn’t good. If I lost my cool, I wouldn’t be able to keep my emotions in check. I handed the bear stuffed animals to Fina.

“You’re going to save her?!” Gran firmly grabbed hold of my shoulders. “Do you know where Misa is?!”

I calmly removed his hands, then stretched out my arms and called out to summon my bears. “Kumayuru! Kumakyu!”

They were full size, so people were clamoring around me, but I ignored them. “Can you guys find Misa?”

My bears sniffed around. “Cwoom!”

Good answer. I hopped up on Kumayuru.

“Miss, wait!” Gran called out to me.

I didn’t have time for this! “What?!”

“I’m counting on you to find Misa,” he said.

I nodded, then directed Kumayuru to jump over the wall and dash off. My bears flew through the middle of the road, scattering frightened townspeople.

They’d be fine. I didn’t care.

All I knew was that whoever did this wasn’t coming out in one piece.