We were in front of Bear's Transfer Gate.
"Please come again." (Sakura)
Sakura looked a little lonely.
"I wish Sakura could have come with me."
"It happened so suddenly that I can't leave for days." (Sakura)
Sakura had plans, so she had to go home.
Yesterday, she changed her plans to have a day off.
"I'll come with you guys again." (Yuna)
"Yes, I will ask Yuna-san to bring me again." (Noa)
Noa and the others looked at me.
"I'm fine with bringing you with me, but only if you get permission to go out." (Yuna)
I couldn't let them stay out for many days like we did this time.
"No problem for a day trip."
Of course, if that were the case, I could make an excuse.
"Wow, I'm jealous of Noa-chan and Fina-chan who live in the same town as Yuna-chan." (Misa)
Misa lived in a different city, so she couldn't just go on a day trip.
"Please come visit us at Crimonia any time. It would be nice to live in Crimonia." (Noa)
"Living apart from mother and father..." (Misa)
Misa was only 10 years old. She would never live apart from her parents.
If she ended up attending a school in the royal capital like Noa's older sister, Shia, she would have to leave the city.
So, until then, she would not be separated from her parents.
"Well, you can come when everyone is together." (Yuna)
"When that happens, please come to me as well." (Luimin)
Luimin also lived in a place far away.
"Yes, I'll go at that time."
I opened the door to Bear's Transfer Gate and connected it to the elf village.
"Well then, it was fun meeting everyone. Let's meet again. Kumayuru-chan and Kumakyu-chan, please come visit too."
"Kyuu~n" (Both Kuma)
Luimin patted Kumayuru and Kumakyu, then went through the door and waved. Sakura and the others waved back at Luimin.
And I closed the door to Bear's Transfer Gate.
"Then, shall we go too?" (Yuna)
I opened the door to the next destination.
"Yuna-san, please let me know in advance when you come. I will clear my schedule. Everyone had a great time. Next time I would like to visit your city."
"In that case, I'll show you around."
"Of course, I'll go then too." (Shinobu)
"Shinobu too?"
"I hope you don't hate me so much. You'll cry." (Shinobu)
Shinobu pretended to cry.
But if I made a promise here, it would be troublesome, so I looked at Kagari-san.
"Well, if you want to protect Sakura, ask Kagari-san." (Yuna)
"Concubine?" (Kagari)
"I can trust Kagari-san." (Yuna)
"Yuna trusts Kagari-sama, right?" (Shinobu)
"For some reason, I'm indebted to Kagari-san, and she's an adult." (Yuna)
Kagari-san might look like a little girl, but she was a reliable person.
Shinobu was always smiling, so it's hard to tell what she's really thinking.
That's not to say I couldn't trust her. But if you asked me if I believe her 100%, I couldn't give an immediate answer.
"Hehe, it's fine. Last time I went there, I fell asleep. Leave it to concubine. Shinobu should stay behind." (Kagari)
"I don’t want you to say that!" (Shinobu)
Everyone laughed.
"Kumakyu-sama, Kumayuru-sama, please come too." (Sakura)
"Kyuu~n" (Both Kuma)
Sakura hugged Kumayuru and Kumakyu one last time and said goodbye.
After seeing Sakura left Kumakyu, I passed through Bear's Transfer Gate, followed by Kumayuru and Kumakyu.
I closed the door while watching Sakura waved her hand slightly.
"Sakura-san and Luimin-san were both nice people."
"Kagari-san was a mysterious person."
"Shinobu-san was, to put it simply, an elusive person."
Apparently, what I felt was the same as how everyone else felt about Shinobu.
"So, Yuna-san, where are we?" (Noa)
Noa looked around the room.
They didn't know where it was from here.
"Desert city, Dezelt." (Yuna)
I thought about going to a dwarf town, but it wouldn't be fun to take a noble's daughter there.
I chose this place because I thought it would be more educational if the culture was even slightly different.
"Desert city, Dezert..."
"If I remember correctly, it's a city south of the royal capital." (Noa)
"It must have been a city that didn’t belong anywhere." (Misa)
Noa and Misa answered from what they knew.
"Both of you are very knowledgeable." (Yuna)
"It had no contact with Crimonia, so I don't know much about it, so this is just my knowledge." (Noa)
"Yes, me too. But I hear that it's an important city for the country." (Misa)
Still, I thought it's amazing. It meant that they were studying properly.
"So, I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in store."
"I know. You can ride a bird here." (Shuri)
Noa and Misa tilted their heads at Shuri's words.
Shuri was also great. Just by mentioning the name of the city, she could understand which city it was. It meant she understood the place she had been before.
"Are we going to ride a bird?"
"Yes, big bird." (Shuri)
Shuri used her small body to try to convey the size of the bird to Noa and Misa.
As if thinking that this wouldn't get the message across, Fina continued speaking.
"Well, there's a bird that's big enough for a person to ride on. Last time I was here, Shuri and I rode on it together." (Fina)
"A bird that people can ride on..." (Noa)
"I've never seen a bird like that before." (Misa)
It seemed like there were things that even Noa and Misa didn't know.
"There's also a big lizard." (Shuri)
"A big lizard?"
Shuri said what she knew.
Noa and Misa were surprised each time.
The large lizard that Shuri was talking about was called a Lagarut, and it was a creature that we rode instead of a horse in the desert.
Although they were monsters, they coexisted with humans.
After sending Kumayuru and Kumakyu back, I took Fina and the others out of the house.
"Ugh, it’s hot." (Noa)
"And the sun is strong." (Misa)
"Even with this, it's cooler because there's a water barrier." (Yuna)
"Water barrier?"
"So, it's hotter outside the city." (Yuna)
Thanks to the bear suit, I was comfortable even in the desert because it regulated my temperature.
I had tried the hood outside of town before and it was pretty hot.
"The house isn't a bear, is it?" (Noa)
Noa said, turning around and looking at the house.
"I bought it because it stands out as a bear." (Yuna)
We walked in the city.
"Yuna-san, what is that!?" (Noa)
"It's a big lizard." (Misa)
"Maybe it's what Shuri said something earlier." (Noa)
"Yeah, it's Lagarut." (Yuna)
"There are really people on board."
"They're here to replace the horse." (Yuna)
Noa and Misa looked at Lagarut curiously.
"Do you want to ride?" (Yuna)
"No, I..." (Noa)
"No, me neither..." (Misa)
Noa and Misa refused.
Maybe they didn't like reptiles.
Well, I was not good at it either.
"Why, it's fun." (Shuri)
Shuri seemed to be riding alone.
Maybe she's at an age where she's full of curiosity.
"And, what can I say, it’s not fluffy."
"If I were to ride, I would like to ride Kumayuru-chan and Kumakyu-chan." (Misa)
If Kumayuru and Kumakyu had heard those words, maybe they would have been very happy.
Well, if I were to ride one of those big lizards, I would choose Kumayuru and Kumakyu.
For the time being, I didn't say I wanted to ride the Lagarut, so we walked while looking at the city.
"As expected, we’re wearing different clothes, so we stand out."
"Everyone is watching."
Noa and Misa said while looking at their clothes, but I think it was me. From here and there, I heard the words "Bear", "Bear", "Bear", and "Kuma?"
If I was in a city I had hardly ever visited, I would get this kind of reaction.
"In that case, let’s buy some clothes and change clothes." (Yuna)
"You don’t have to go that far…" (Fina)
"Fina and Shuri don't care, but Noa and Misa dress like young ladies, so they stand out." (Yuna)
We walked around town, found a clothing store, bought some clothes, and changed clothes.
The clothes everyone changed into were similar to those worn by Karina, an acquaintance in this town.
"By the way, do you know anyone in this town?" (Noa)
While I was thinking about Karina, Noa asked me.
"There's though." (Yuna)
Karina was the daughter of the lord of this city.
This was the girl I went with when conquering the pyramids.
"By the way, just to confirm, is that person a girl?" (Noa)
"You know well."
Noa made a look of surprise at my words.
"Does Fina know about that girl?" (Noa)
"Um, yes. Her name is Karina-chan." (Fina)
"Is it okay to not go see that girl?" (Noa)
"Karina doesn't know about that gate." (Yuna)
"I see"
When I explained that, Noa and Misa seemed a little happy.
"But I think Karina-chan would be disappointed if we didn’t come to see her when we came to town." (Fina)
Fina responded with Karina in mind.
When it came to meet her, it's not just Karina. I also had to say hello to Karina's parents, Balima-san and Listil-san.
There's a part of me that thought it's a little troublesome.
"Yeah, but we'll be leaving soon, so she won't know we came." (Yuna)
"Yuna-san, I don't think that's possible." (Noa)
Noa looked around.
People passing by were looking at me.
"Yuna-onee-sama’s appearance stands out." (Misa)
"That's why you should have changed clothes with us."
No, if I took off my bear suit, I wouldn't be able to protect Fina and the others if something happened, so I couldn't change.
Well, I couldn't say that.
"That's right. If we have time, we'll come see her." (Yuna)
"I'll be with you." (Noa)
"Are you coming?" (Yuna)
"I’m curious about what kind of girl Yuna-san helped." (Noa)
"No, she's just a normal girl." (Yuna)
"I'll confirm that after we meet." (Noa)
What should we visit?
For the time being, we looked at the cityscape and headed to the bird boarding area at the lake to ride the birds at everyone's request.
Author's Note
Goodbye to Sakura.
I would like to bring her to Crimonia someday.
...
*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.
Translator's Note
It seems Kagari uses 妾 (concubine (?)) to refer herself, as an alternate way to say "I" or "me". I might make some revisions later.
It also seems Shinobu uses some kind of accent, every sentence always ends with っす. I am not sure to translate that to English. I also might revise later after I find out.