Chapter 29: The Bear Finishes Her Quest

Chapter 29:
The Bear Finishes Her Quest

 

WE ALL MOVED over to a place I figured was the back of the gardens. The gardens were spacious, as you’d expect of a lord’s residence. Apparently, the guards also used it as a training ground, though it was empty at the moment.

“Yuna, is this enough room?”

“This’ll do. I’m going to summon them, now. Come, Kumayuru, Kumakyu.”

It wasn’t like there was a set phrase to summon them, but I tried to come up with something that seemed appropriate. Two giant furballs, one black and one white, exploded out of the bear puppets. They started to move, slowly, turning to show us their faces.

“Kumayuru, Kumakyu, come over here.”

When I called them, they happily trotted over to me. They looked pretty cute when they did, but everyone behind me started making a commotion.

“They’re bears. There are bears! Yuna, may I touch them?!” Noa was jumping up and down.

“Madame Noir, that’s dangerous! Please keep back!” Lala grabbed Noa’s arm, shielding her with her body.

“Lala, please let me go! I can’t see the bears! I want to touch them!”

But the maid held her firmly. “Please say something, Master Cliff!”

“I think it should be fine.”

“Master Cliff?!”

Since her employer had given the go-ahead, Lala backed off. Freed from the maid’s grip, Noa slowly approached the bears.

“May I really touch them?”

“It’s fine. Give them a gentle pat.”

Noa gently touched Kumayuru. She patted Kumakyu with her other hand. The two bears squinted their eyes at her, seeming pleased.

“They are so warm. And soft!” Noa hugged Kumakyu’s neck.

“Want to ride them?”

“May I really?!”

“Kumakyu, you good?”

Kumakyu lowered itself to the ground by way of reply, making it easier for Noa to get on. Noa cautiously started to climb onto Kumakyu’s back.

“It’s okay, you won’t fall.”

I lent her a hand and got her mounted. Once Kumakyu made sure Noa was safely settled, the bear slowly stood up.

“Whoa! It’s so high.” She seemed to be enjoying herself. “Yuna, may we take a walk? Just even once around the house?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Kumakyu, please take good care of Noa.” I didn’t know how big the house was, but I guessed going around it once couldn’t hurt.

Kumakyu cooed quietly in response. With Noa astride its back, the bear started to slowly shamble off.

“M-Madame Noir!” Lala scurried after them in a fluster.

Cliff watched Noa, the maid, and the bear depart. Once they were out of sight, he came over to me.

“Forgive me, but may I touch one too?” he asked.

“I guess,” I said. It’s not like I could refuse.

Cliff slowly patted Kumayuru. “Oh, the fur feels nice. A great texture, too.”

“You want to ride it?”

“May I?”

“Just once around the house, like Noa.”

“Right, I understand.”

As soon as Cliff was mounted on Kumayuru, he urged the bear on, trying to catch up with Noa. A little while passed before the two of them returned, side by side on their respective bears.

“Yuna, thank you so much. That was so fun!”

“Yes, that was quite a valuable experience for me as well.”

Lala followed in the bears’ wake, looking haggard. It wasn’t my fault though, so I decided not to pay any mind to it.

“Well then,” said Cliff as he dismounted, “I have work, so I’m going back to the house. I’ll leave Noa with you. Please come back see me before you leave.”

Noa had to have taken a liking to Kumakyu, since she was showing no signs of getting off. “This feels so nice…”

The little girl was splayed out on top of Kumakyu. She stroked the bear for a while before her hand stopped moving; I thought it was weird how quiet she was being, so went over to take a look. Noa was fast asleep, snoring quietly. I told Kumakyu to ease its way into the shade of a tree. It wasn’t like I could let her sleep out in the sun. Lala watched Noa with concern.

“There’s no need to worry,” I said. “Still, we don’t want her to catch cold. Have you got something to put on her?”

Lala rushed back to the house and brought back a blanket, but since Kumakyu was so tall, she couldn’t get it over Noa.

“Kumayuru, could you help her out?”

Kumayuru put its forepaws under Lala’s arms and hoisted her up so she could tuck Noa in.

“Thank you so very much, Master Kumayuru.”

It looked like she’d finally stopped wigging out. Lala and I sat down with Noa in the shade as she slept. I pulled out a small cask of oran berry juice—I’d gotten attached to the stuff, since it tasted so much like orange juice—and two wooden cups from my bear storage. I magicked up some ice and served it on the rocks; Lala took a long draft of hers.

“This is delicious.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“I needed the pick-me-up. Thank you.”

“I have more, so drink as much as you’d like.”

“They’re much more docile than I expected.” Lala looked at Kumayuru and Kumakyu.

“Well, they are summons, after all. They’re not like wild bears.” Then again, it wasn’t like I’d ever seen a wild bear before.

“Yes, of course. Madame Noir seems to enjoy their company. We are grateful for your service.”

“You don’t need to thank me. This is supposed to be a job.”

Lala explained that she had been Noa’s caretaker since the girl was five, and her charge was very precious to her. After we talked for a while, Noa started to stir.

“Morning. Are you awake?”

“Huh, where am I…?” Noa rubbed her eyes as she looked around.

“You dozed right off, Noa.”

“I did. Kumakyu just felt so nice I fell right asleep.”

“Madame Noir, may we head inside soon? We don’t want you to catch a cold.”

“I want to stay with Kumakyu.”

Noa was clearly set on sticking with the bear. That wouldn’t do, so I gave Kumakyu a subtle signal as I said, “Kumakyu is tired. Will you let it rest?”

At that, the bear cooed quietly, pretending to be sleepy.

“Yes, that’s right,” Lala chimed in. “Madame Noir, Master Kumakyu was making sure that you did not fall down as you slept. Please allow Master Kumakyu to rest.”

Kumakyu turned its head slightly to Noa’s place and looked at her with teary eyes. Noa looked back. I could see the gears in her head turning.

“…okay, I understand. Sorry, Kumakyu.” She climbed off the bear and gently patted it. “Rest well.”

“Kumakyu, Kumayuru, that’s all for now.” I unsummoned the bears, sending them back into the gloves.

“Well then, Madame Noir, shall we head back to your room?”

“I’m going to pay Cliff a visit.”

“Oh, Yuna? Are you going home already?”

“Well, my job here is done.” I was pretty sure I’d fulfilled the quest.

“Yuna,” said Noa, “please eat dinner with us!”

She grabbed my bear glove. I tried to turn her down, but she just dragged me by the hand back into the mansion, where we ran back into Cliff and got to talking about dinner. Eventually, Cliff also invited me to stay and eat with them, so I did.

I excused myself after dinner. They asked me to stay the night, but I politely turned them down.

“Yuna, you have to come visit again, okay?”

Noa and Lala saw me to the gate. After promising Noa I’d return, we parted.