I want to relax today.
Whether the lord came, the Guild Master came, or the king came, I would just relax.
I made up my mind and went into relaxing mode, sandwiched between the normal-sized Kumayuru and Kumakyu.
Relaxing while others were working was the ultimate luxury.
Somehow, I was thinking like a useless person, but I wanted to be lazy. I wanted to laze around.
So today I decided to chill with Kumayuru and Kumakyu.
Hmm, it feels good. soft. Fluffy and warm.
Also, it would be great if there were manga and games here.
But it was also good to close my eyes and indulge in sleep.
Hap-pi-ness.
After a while, I heard a voice calling me from the front door.
"Yuna-san" (Noa)
It was Noa's voice.
I thought about staying home, but I felt sorry for her, so I decided to meet her.
When I stood up and opened the front door, I saw Noa, bright and energetic.
After saying hello, I let Noa into the house.
Noa found Kumayuru and Kumakyu and hugged them.
...That's my position today.
"So, what happened? Did you come to see Kumayuru and Kumakyu?" (Yuna)
"That's possible, but I want to confirm with Yuna-san." (Noa)
"Confirmation?" (Yuna)
"Fina knew about that door, too, right?" (Noa)
By door, she meant Bear's Transfer Gate.
"Well, just in case." (Yuna)
"Since when did she know?" (Noa)
I was being questioned.
"Um, I guess it was when Noa and I went to the royal capital for the first time." (Yuna)
As I recalled, while I was in the royal capital, the egg I had was gone, so I used Bear's Transfer Gate to return to Crimonia.
At that time, I didn't know how great Bear's Transfer Gate was.
So I casually taught it to Fina and ended up using it.
In hindsight, I was glad I told Fina.
Fina kept her promise and didn't tell anyone.
"Does that mean she has known about it since the King's birthday festival?" (Noa)
"Yeah, well." (Yuna)
"I can’t believe she knew that for a long time." (Noa)
Noa pouted.
It bothered me when people said things like that. Bear's Transfer Gate was a real secret. I could have talked about it if it was a common thing, but it seemed like there were no common means of transportation like Bear's Transfer Gate.
If Bear's Transfer Gate became widespread, it would be a big problem.
If Mylaine-san found out, it was likely to be used as a means of transporting goods. If the Adventurer's Guild found out about it, they might be able to send you a request from a faraway place. If Cliff and the king found out, they might treat you well.
"I'm sure Noa knows that it's not easy to talk about." (Yuna)
"... Yes. If there is an enemy country, I think they will want it. You can easily send large numbers of soldiers, knights, and magicians into the enemy country. You can also send supplies as you like. If you get injured, It will be immediately lowered to the rear. You can also recruit new soldiers. If I were the king, I would place them in each country." (Noa)
"Don't say scary things" (Yuna)
It was shocking that an 11-year-old girl would send soldiers.
But as expected, she was the daughter of an aristocrat. Her mind was quick.
"So, it's a secret. Like I said before, don't tell Cliff or anyone else." (Yuna)
"Yes. I won't tell anyone." (Noa)
If Cliff heard about it, there was a possibility that Ellelaura and even the king would get through.
Huh, but I guess this settles the matter.
That was what I thought, but it didn't end.
"But that's a different story. Did you think I would tell my father or someone else? Is that why you didn't tell me?" (Noa)
Noa asked more questions.
"I don't really think Noa will tell anyone. Noa is a bit talkative sometimes, so I was wondering if she'd accidentally say something?" (Yuna)
"Yuna-san, that's terrible. I'm not that talkative." (Noa)
When I went to the capital, Noa and I had just gotten to know each other.
It was no exaggeration to say it was our first time.
Besides, she was looking forward to going out with Kumayuru and Kumakyu.
The main reason was that I didn't have the time to teach.
Also, I thought it would be best not to talk about Bear's Transfer Gate too much. That's why I still only told people I trust about Bear's Transfer Gate and people who did Mumloot-san's contract magic.
Just when I thought the interrogation was over, Fina showed up at an unfortunate timing.
There shouldn't be any dismantling today.
"Fina, welcome." (Yuna)
"Noa-sama!?" (Fina)
Fina, who didn't expect Noa to be in my house, was surprised to be greeted by Noa.
"Hehe, the timing was just right." (Noa)
The timing couldn't have been worse for me and Fina.
"W-What?" (Fina)
Fina was a little frightened by the look on Noa's face as she approached her.
"Look, Fina must be scared. Go away." (Yuna)
I moved Noa away from Fina, who was about to question her.
I told Fina that Noa found out about the existence of Bear's Transfer Gate.
"Fina knew too, right?" (Noa)
"……yes" (Fina)
"It’s cruel to stay silent." (Noa)
"Sorry" (Fina)
"Noa, don’t bully Fina." (Yuna)
"I'm not bullying." (Noa)
"As I said before, that gate is a secret, so I asked Fina to keep quiet." (Yuna)
"Okay. So, where did you take Fina?" (Noa)
"Um... it's a lot of things." (Yuna)
"Where are all the things!?" (Noa)
"Um..." (Yuna)
Fina looked at me as if asking for help.
Fina wanted to keep her promise to me, so she was wondering if it was okay to talk to her.
"Fina must be in trouble. Next time, I'll use that gate to take you somewhere else, so don't question Fina any further." (Yuna)
"Really!" (Noa)
Well, if that was the case, there was no problem.
"I promise. But then, please get Cliff's permission to stay the night." (Yuna)
"Are we staying the night?" (Noa)
Maybe you could soak in a hot spring while looking at the starry sky at Land of Harmoni. If that happened, you would need to stay overnight.
Also, it took a lot of time to look here and there.
"You could take a day trip, but that might cut the fun in half. If you have the chance, you might as well enjoy it." (Yuna)
"Okay. So, I have one more request." (Noa)
"What?" (Yuna)
"Can't we tell Misa about that door? It's painful that only we know and we kept silent to her." (Noa)
Misa was Noa's childhood friend and the daughter of the lord of a nearby town.
Fina and I were also invited to the birthday party and attended.
The three of them were bear friends.
Misa was not the kind of girl who spread out someone's secrets.
However, it was too widespread...
"Let's just have fun..." (Yuna)
"Well, Yuna-onee-chan, I feel the same way as Noa-sama. It was hard for me to keep silent from Noa-sama." (Fina)
"...I understand. Next time, let's go out together with Misa." (Yuna)
"Yuna-san!" (Noa)
"Yuna-onee-chan!" (Fina)
They both looked happy.
I knew from our past interactions that Misa didn't overstate things.
But I was going to keep her mouth shut.
"Then let's start planning our outing." (Yuna)
"Yes!"
The two responded amicably.
Maybe it was nice to have friends with whom you could share secrets.
On the other hand, it might have been hard for her to keep quiet from her friends.
I didn't have any friends so I didn't know, but it might be hard to keep it a secret from Fina.
After meeting Fina and Noa, I could understand a little more about their pain.
"But, Noa, are you okay? You were out a few days ago. Will Cliff allow you to go out again?" (Yuna)
I was away for about a week because of the fairy thing.
I didn't think she would ever be allowed to go out again.
After all, Noa was the daughter of a noble family.
"In that case, it's okay. That outing was also part of my study. After I came back, I wrote about that city and submitted it." (Noa)
"Submit..." (Yuna)
It was like a report.
"You didn’t write down everything that happened there, did you?" (Yuna)
There were some things I hadn't told Cliff.
"Regarding that incident, I have not written anything other than what Yuna-san reported to father. However, because of what that lord caused, the residents suffered damage and their position. Furthermore, the arrogant knight followed the lord’s orders, and the residents gave up. I wrote the thoughts of merchants and other things for adventurers leaving the city." (Noa)
Oh, did you write that?
It really looked like a report.
"So, my father told me that nobles have power and have the power to make the residents obey them. But he said that this is because there are residents in the city." (Noa)
If the residents disappeared from the city, there would be no one to give orders to.
If there were no residents, no money would come in. Therefore, there might have been fewer servants in the mansion.
"Also, I was told that power should be used to protect the powerless. Look elsewhere. Listen to what others say, but don't just take it at face value." (Noa)
"Cliff-sama is amazing." (Fina)
Fina, who was listening to the story, was impressed.
"Yes, but father also said that there are times when you make a mistake or don't realize it." (Noa)
Every time I heard these words from Cliff, I thought of the orphanage.
Humans were not omnipotent. They made mistakes. However, if we did not take the wrong path ourselves, fewer residents would suffer.
Even I didn't believe that everything I did was right.
Everyone made mistakes.
All you had to do was realize your mistake and moved on to the right direction.
Well, I didn't think you'd want me to say that because I was lazy.
"It’s tough being a noble, isn’t it?" (Yuna)
"Yes. It's all difficult. But I was told to keep studying because by expanding my knowledge, I'll have more information to make decisions. So, it's okay to go out!" (Noa)
A good story was ruined at the end.
Author's Note
Thank you to everyone who watched the anime.
...
*Thank you to everyone who reports typos.
Please note that some kanji have been revised to match the book, so some may not have been revised.