Chapter 214: The Bear Holds a Jambearee

Chapter 214:
The Bear Holds a Jambearee

 

THE NEXT DAY, Kumayuru and Kumakyu would walk to the center of town, and we’d have our event. Here was the schedule:

First, the four of us would ride Kumayuru and Kumakyu from Gran’s house. Since that might not be enough to reassure the townspeople, Gran would also go with us for an added boost of confidence. Cliff and Ellelaura, as well as Misa’s parents, would head out after us.

Next, we would go down the main street toward the public square. There, Fina and the others would play with Kumayuru and Kumakyu to show that they weren’t dangerous.

According to Gran, there was already a place for us at the square. Then again, if we went to the public square and there wasn’t a place to play with the bears, our plan would’ve gone straight down the drain.

 

I summoned my bears. Fina and I would be with Kumayuru, and Noa and Misa would ride Kumakyu. The girls were wearing uniforms from the Bear’s Lounge. That ended up happening because of a conversation from yesterday that had gone a little something like this:

“Yuna, can we wear Bear’s Lounge uniforms?” Noa had asked.

“The lounge uniforms? Why?”

“I thought it might be good if we all dressed as bears. I think if you’re with us, Yuna, people will focus on you no matter what. If that happens, then there wouldn’t be much point in us being with you. But if we’re all dressed up, you won’t stand out!”

Noa kind of had a point. If she and the other kids didn’t stand out, there wouldn’t be any point and all eyes would be on me instead. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any shop uniforms on me.

“I’m sorry. I don’t have any with me.”

“You don’t?” Noa seemed disappointed.

“I have unforms,” Fina interjected.

“Really?!”

“But do you have enough for everyone?”

“I think so.” Fina pulled three Bear’s Lounge uniforms out of her item bag.

“But why are you carrying three of them?”

“I usually carry two just in case.”

“And what about the third one?”

“That’s Shuri’s uniform.”

Apparently, Fina had taken it from Shuri for safekeeping and had accidentally brought it with her.

“What about the sizes?”

“The sizes should be okay. Shuri’s is the same size as me. It’s a bit big for her, but she can still wear it like that.”

Well, Shuri was still growing. In that case, it seemed like it’d be all right. The three of them weren’t that different. Misa was a bit smaller, but if Shuri could wear it, then it’d probably be fine.

 

And so, the three of them had ended up wearing bear uniforms.

“All right, let’s go!” Noa shouted, and we headed out.

With the four of us all beared up and riding Kumayuru and Kumakyu, we walked into town. Since we were girls dressed as bears riding on bears, we obviously gathered attention—and a crowd.

“Everyone’s watching us…” Fina seemed embarrassed as she rode with me.

On the other hand, Noa and Misa were energetically waving their hands while riding on Kumakyu and seemed to be having fun. They were totally different compared to commoners like me and Fina.

I’d walked around towns and even the capital while in my bear onesie since coming to this world, but I still wasn’t used to people looking at me. It was still super embarrassing. I kind of felt like that sense of embarrassment was what still made me a girl. It was kinda my last bit of femininity, so I couldn’t just throw it out the window.

Yeah...I hadn’t abandoned it yet.

No way.

 

Thanks to Noa and Misa’s happy smiles and Gran being with us, no one made a scene, even with Kumayuru and Kumakyu accompanying us. We slowly walked through the town until we came to the square, where we got off of Kumayuru and Kumakyu.

Who made up our gathered audience, you ask? Townspeople gathered around us in a circle. Gran’s servants were at the square, directing people just as expected, and the townspeople were obediently listening to their instructions. When I looked closely, Marina’s adventurer group was directing people too. Our eyes met.

“I’m looking forward to this,” she briefly said and immediately returned to her work.

There was a rope strung up to section off an area, and improvised seating had been set up too. The townspeople wore all kinds of expressions, from worry and fear to hope and anticipation. I spotted Cliff, Ellelaura, and Misa’s parents among them.

Once we were done prepping things, Gran went out in front of everyone. “Right now, you know these bears as the ones that created all the ruckus in town, but let me assure you that they were guests for my own granddaughter’s birthday party. We had an urgent situation that caused a disturbance, but these bears wouldn’t harm a fly. Today, I invite you to watch these young girls and see the myriad things they can safely do with these bears.” Gran bowed, moved back, and swapped places with us.

We started out with something simple. First, Fina came out in her bear outfit with Kumayuru. At the sight of her, I could hear an audience member say, “How cute!” Fina seemed a little embarrassed by that, but she still stood in front of the townspeople, did a small bow, and looked at Kumayuru.

“Kumayuru, shake!” Fina held out her hand, then Kumayuru placed a paw on top of it. The audience stirred, just from that.

“Now…spin!” Kumayuru spun around in place, which made the audience murmur even more—and applaud. Maybe this was actually enough? The audience was getting more worked up, in a good way.

Next, Misa made her entrance with Kumakyu. Misa was carrying a ball about the size of a soccer ball. She stood in front of Kumakyu and lightly threw the ball to the bear. The ball drew a light arc towards Kumakyu, who caught it.

Ample applause broke out. But there was more coming up…

This time, Kumakyu threw the ball back to Misa with an underhand pass using both paws. Misa caught it and passed it back to Kumakyu. Even though they were just throwing the ball back and forth, the townspeople were eagerly applauding. For the last trick, Misa threw the ball up high, which Kumakyu headbutted back to Misa.

The townspeople didn’t look scared anymore. All I could see was delight. The kids sitting the closest were smiling and happily clapping.

 

Next, the girls made an entrance—Noa rode Kumayuru, and Misa rode Kumakyu. I made small obstacles with earth magic.

Noa climbed up a hill while riding Kumayuru and leapt off from the top. We hadn’t prepared a net, though…so there was nothing to catch their fall. It felt kind of like being in a traveling circus troupe.

Each time Kumayuru overcame an obstacle, there was another round of applause. I could see Ellelaura among them, and Cliff looking like he was enjoying himself beside her. Misa’s parents seemed like they were having fun too. They looked like proud parents who were watching their kids put on a school performance.

 

After that, the three girls prepared apples. Then they moved away from my bears and tossed the apples. My bears caught each one in their mouths and chomped ’em. Misa threw one of the apples in a random direction, but Kumakyu still jumped up and caught it. That winning move earned a big round of applause.

I looked around. There wasn’t a single person who looked scared of Kumayuru and Kumakyu. This was probably enough for them to know that the bears weren’t dangerous, but we had a cincher to make double sure that everyone understood.

“Would anyone like to ride the bears?” Misa called out to the audience as she looked at the children sitting in front. She invited two boys and a girl over. “Would you like to try riding them?”

The boys and girl exchanged looks and then nodded slightly. The people around them seemed a little anxious, but the boys and girl approached Kumayuru and Kumakyu without fear. Then, they each petted and mounted the bears.

Even the initially nervous spectators started clapping in appreciation.

Oh, and I should mention that these boys and girl were the children we’d rescued from the toad man’s house the other day. We’d asked them to do this yesterday—they were basically audience plants.

Thanks to them, when the next children were called on, they went up to Kumayuru and Kumakyu without any hesitation. After that, the event turned into a Kumayuru and Kumakyu petting zoo.

 

Eventually, the event came to a close. When we announced that, even the adults were disappointed. I hadn’t thought that’d actually happen, but Noa had anticipated it. “After the event is over,” she’d told us, “there will be children who won’t even want to leave the bears. I guarantee it!”

Just as Noa had said, there were kids who just wouldn’t leave my bears alone.

As a countermeasure, we gave pudding to the kids who had played with my bears. Once one of them had some, it’d catch the other kids’ interest and their attention would shift from my bears to the pudding. The kids who had received pudding were eating it on their own or with their parents.

The love of a good snack is universal, I guess, no matter what world you come from.

Seeing their faces, it looked like we might’ve successfully cleared up that whole lunatic-bear incident. Then again, I doubted I’d walk around in town with Kumayuru and Kumakyu very often, but at least I’d be able to ride into town without a problem.

And with that, the jambearee came to a close…and mega-successfully, to boot.

Cliff, Ellelaura, and Misa’s parents had returned to their work halfway through. I was grateful they had come at all, considering how busy they were.

 

Noa and Misa had wanted the bear uniforms, so we ended up gifting those to them. I wondered what they’d do with them. I couldn’t see much use for the outfits, unless they used them as pajamas or something.