Chapter 211: The Bear Rescues the Children

Chapter 211:
The Bear Rescues the Children

 

EVEN THOUGH we asked the toad man where the children were, he wouldn’t tell us. Ellelaura was still angry, but we had plenty of ways to conduct a search—I could use my skills or Kumayuru and Kumakyu. When I offered to help out, a short-haired maid in her twenties raised her hand slightly. “I know where the children are.”

“Lufa!” The toad man glared at the maid.

Ellelaura immediately silenced the toad man with a blast of water and addressed Lufa, “You know where the children are?”

“That’s right. I prepare their meals.”

“Lufa, do you know what will happen if you betray me?!”

“Please, let me put an end to these crimes. I…I also want to atone for what I’ve done.”

“Stop screwing around!” Gajurdo roared. “Who do you think it was that paid off your parent’s debt when they disappeared?!”

“That was you, Lord Gajurdo,” Lufa replied.

“You see?!”

The moment the toad man shouted, Ellelaura sprayed water on him again and he went silent.

“Ranzel, could you please gag him?” Ellelaura asked. “He’s noisy, and his breath is intolerable.”

“Ellela—”

Ranzel shoved some cloth into the toad man’s mouth, as commanded.

“Let’s see…Lufa, was it? Please don’t worry about Gajurdo. Could you guide us to the children?”

“Certainly.”

Ellelaura surveyed the area, then looked at Ranzel. “Ranzel, please get the names of any servant who isn’t present from the ones who are. When Cliff and the others arrive, entrust this situation to them. Then you’ll go and search the house and look for any remaining servants.”

Ellelaura turned to me now. “Yuna, sorry, but…could you stay with me?” I didn’t really mind, so I nodded in agreement. “And it would be helpful if you left either Kumayuru or Kumakyu behind to stand guard.”

“In that case, Kumayuru, keep an eye on things please.” Kumayuru crooned in response.

“And Misana...” Ellelaura started to say.

“I’m going with Yuna.” Misa clung to me.

“...Don’t get separated from Yuna,” she said. Ellelaura had put Misa in my care. That was fine by me.

I picked up Misa and put her on Kumakyu’s back. “You’ll be safe there. Don’t get down, okay?” Misa clung to Kumakyu tightly.

“What a docile bear…” Lufa was surprised when she saw Misa riding on Kumakyu—and a little frightened.

“They won’t attack if you don’t hurt them,” I told her.

“I wouldn’t attempt anything so frightening,” she said. Still, she really didn’t need to be so scared of my bears…

Lufa took the lead, followed by me, Ellelaura, and a bear-riding Misa. Cliff and Gran’s estates were huge, just like this one. Did these guys really need so many rooms?

“Isn’t kidnapping children a crime?” I asked.

“Well…” said Ellelaura, “there are written contracts.”

“So, what then? Does he just get found innocent and released?”

“It’s complicated,” said Ellelaura. “From my point of view, it is a crime. But if there is a written contract, the law sees it differently. When people borrow a lot of money, it would be a problem if they took the money and ran, and so some merchants will even take a debtor’s children.”

Children as collateral? Didn’t that make them hostages?!

It sounded cruel, but I guess that sort of thing even happened in my original world…even if we thought of it as nothing more than history.

“There were also some people whose children were taken because their parents defied Gajurdo,” Ellelaura continued. “I don’t think he’ll come out of this completely innocent. Luck was not on Gajurdo’s side when you got involved.”

Whoa, what? Was it unlucky to get involved with me? It sounded like she was saying the toad noble had been taken down because I’d showed up.

“You seem surprised,” Ellelaura said. “If you hadn’t gone to the capital and brought Zelef, Gran’s party would have ended in failure. If that had happened, I don’t think Misa would have been abducted. If that hadn’t happened, you wouldn’t have punched your way through the Salbard household. If you hadn’t done that, then this wouldn’t have come to pass. And finally, if you hadn’t come to the capital, I wouldn’t be here. Everything is connected to you, Yuna.”

When she put it that way, I suppose she had a point.

“But all of that was because Misa sent me an invitation to her birthday party,” I said.

Had…Misa been kidnapped because of me? No…if I hadn’t come here, she still might’ve been taken if the party had been a success. And if the party had been a failure, Misa might’ve lost her status as a noble. So, it was good that I’d come here…right? Yeah, it was good—and our chance encounter had been pretty important too…

“Lufa, why do you work here?” I asked. Lufa looked like she was a decent person, so I was curious why she’d work for such a toad of a man.

“I inherited my father’s debt, so I am being made to work.”

“His debt?”

“My father was a merchant and he had needed a large sum of money to conduct his business. He borrowed money from Lord Gajurdo, but the business failed. He was left with significant debt. After that, Lord Gajurdo seized my citizen card in order to prevent my father from running away. In truth, I’m a hostage. Though my father worked as hard as he could, his debt was not a payable sum. Then one day, my father went to another town to replenish supplies. He… He never returned. And so, I work here to pay off the debt in place of my father.”

Hm. Something about her words bothered me. “Ellelaura, what’s the significance of confiscating a card?”

“I think you already know, but citizen cards and guild cards are necessary for entering and exiting towns. If someone has theirs taken away, they can’t leave town.”

“But can’t they be reissued?”

“Normally, yes. But, as a noble, Gajurdo could put pressure to prevent one from being reissued, keeping someone from leaving. Gajurdo has the influence to pull it off.”

“That’s just how it is,” Lufa said. “My father ran away because he couldn’t pay back the debt, which means I can’t run either.”

“But...”

“My father just wasn’t cut out to be a businessman.”

The group went quiet at Lufa’s blunt reply. All that could be heard were Ellelaura and Lufa’s footsteps as we walked. I didn’t make a sound, thanks to my bear shoes. What about Kumakyu? I couldn’t hear my bear’s footsteps either. Now that got me thinking about Kumakyu’s precious toe beans.

Lufa led us out of the estate through a back entrance and brought us to a small storage shed. “There are stairs inside that lead underground. That’s where the children are.” She opened the lock on the door and brought us to the staircase entrance. It was wide enough for Kumakyu to fit as well, so Misa also came with us.

“A dungeon?”

“That’s right. I’ve been in there before as well.”

We went down the stairs and came to a passageway lined with doors. There were about six rooms.

Lufa stopped in front of one of them. “This is it.” She opened the lock. I looked through the opening to see two boys around the age of five or six and a girl around ten.

“Is that you, Lufa?” the oldest girl asked.

“Someone has come for you all, so you can leave.”

“We can leave…?”

“Yes.”

“We’re not going to be hit, are we?” the girl asked. Ellelaura and I winced at that.

“Not at all,” said Lufa. “It’s going to be okay.”

“My name is Ellelaura,” she said gently. “I was asked by your fathers to come and retrieve you.”

However, that children didn’t look at Ellelaura, but instead at me, standing behind her.

“A bear…?” The children approached me, which led them to leave the room and encounter Kumakyu. The shocked children gasped in surprise and fell backward. The girl stood in front of the younger boys to protect them, but then they spotted Misa riding Kumakyu.

“There’s a girl on the bear...”

“It’s not scary bear,” said Misa. “Kumakyu is gentle!” She hugged Kumakyu, which put the kids at ease.

“Everyone, this bear isn’t dangerous,” said Lufa. “It’s safe.”

Lufa and Misa got the three kids to calm down and relax.

“All right, everyone. Want to ride the bear and get out of here?” I asked. The kids piled onto Kumakyu. It wasn’t like we could fit four of them, though, even if they were kids, so I had Misa walk with the girl, while the two boys rode on Kumakyu. Even though the kids had been scared at first, Misa talked them through it. They saw how she was acting and got up onto Kumakyu. Once they were on, they seemed pretty happy about it. Kumakyu took the lead as we walked back.

In the back, I could hear Lufa whispering something to Ellelaura. “Please check the other rooms later. I think the keys are in Lord Gajurdo’s room, but please…never take children there.”

I was curious, but I knew no good would come from asking.

I pretended I’d heard nothing.