While watching the two of them absorbed in eating, I thought about what next.
A dragon?
"Kagari-san, do you know anything about that dragon?" (Yuna)
"You, don’t you think you know everything more than me?" (Kagari)
"I think you know more than me." (Yuna)
I thought Kagari-san, who lived in this world, knew more about it than me, who was from another world. Although she looked like a little girl, she had lived for hundreds of years.
"Well, from what I've heard, it's probably an ice dragon." (Kagari)
"Ice dragon?" (Yuna)
"It's a dangerous creature with pale skin that freezes anything it touches." (Kagari)
"Have you ever seen one Kagari-san?" (Yuna)
"There's no way they exist. Ice dragons are said to live deep in the mountains where no humans live. They never show up in human villages." (Kagari)
If there was an ice dragon, then I wondered if there were also fire dragon and wind dragon.
I had never seen such a request for monster subjugation, and maybe the encounter rate was low.
But just how strong was it to freeze an entire city?
It's one thing, wasn't it?
"Just to confirm, there's only one dragon, right?" (Yuna)
I asked what was in my heart.
"Eh, phew...I only saw one." (Lise)
Lise-san swallowed the bread in his mouth and answers.
I was glad it's all together.
"So, why did you two come to town so early in the morning?" (Yuna)
Kagari-san and I had a dream time. If Kumayuru and Kumakyu hadn't woken me up, I would have slept even longer.
"That's because I saw lights in the city last night." (Lise)
"Light?" (Yuna)
"It's probably the light that leaked from this bear's house." (Kagari)
Yesterday, I turned on the lights and talked with Kagari-san until late.
At that time, it seemed like they could see the light leaking from the bear house.
"Then, we thought there might be someone in town, so we talked about it, and Father and I decided to go check it out." (Lise)
Then, when they were checking out the town, they saw my bear house in the middle of the road, and it seemed like they were trying to figure out what to do.
"So, I don't know if I should ask." (Lise)
"If I can answer, I will." (Yuna)
"Why is Yuna-san dressed as a bear?" (Lise)
"……" (Yuna)
"……" (Lise)
A moment of silence passed.
"That's just because she likes bears." (Kagari)
It was Kagari-san who broke the silence and answered.
"Do you like bears?" (Lise)
"You can tell by looking at this house. And the bear she's taking with her." (Kagari)
Kagari-san looked at the house, then turned to Kumayuru and Kumakyu.
"What's more, she even has a stuffed bear. She's just a bear lover, so don't pursue it too deeply." (Kagari)
"Ah, yes. Sorry." (Lise)
For some reason, I received an apology from Lise-san.
"Also, I've never seen Kagari-san's clothes before." (Lise)
If she didn't know about kimono, did that mean she didn't know about Land of Harmoni?
It was possible that she knew the name of the place. However, it might just be that there was no trade.
But it would be complicated to talk about it, so I was not going to answer.
"My clothes are from a country far away, so don't worry about it either." (Kagari)
"Ah, yes. Understood." (Lise)
While they were talking, Bollard-san and Lise-san finished eating.
"There's still something I want to ask you, but please both of you go take a bath." (Yuna)
"Are we taking a bath? Maybe we smell? We're wiping ourselves with a towel." (Lise)
Lise-san looked apologetic.
"That's not it. I thought you didn't even take a bath in this condition." (Yuna)
When I prepared the tea, I prepared the hot water for the bath.
Even though it's preparation, it's just touching the magic stone and turning on the hot water.
The water should have filled up by now.
"Is it okay?" (Lise)
Lise-san looked at her father, Bollard-san, as if she was interested.
"I'd appreciate it if she could use it. Please let Lise in." (Bollard)
Lise-san looked happy at those words.
I led Lise-san to the bathroom.
"Feel free to use the towels and soap there." (Yuna)
"Thank you very much." (Lise)
"Then please come in slowly." (Yuna)
I closed the door and returned to where Kagari-san was.
"Thank you for the bath. I was giving her so much trouble that I couldn't even give her a bath." (Bollard)
"No, don't worry about it." (Yuna)
Maybe he'd had a hard time as a father.
Nothing like a bath.
"Now that I think about it, why are you and your daughter in town together? There must be six other people as well."
"An elderly couple who manage the mine. Their son and his wife came to see us because it was their day off. Also, the people in charge of the mine, except for us, my son, and my wife, are all elderly." (Bollard)
If they couldn't put too much stress on the elderly, the only people who could come were his son, his wife, and Bollard-san and the others.
"Also, I am the lord of this city. If there are any people, I am in a position to negotiate with them. That girl came with me because she was worried about me." (Bollard)
She was a girl who cared about her father.
"So, when you arrived, there was a bear house." (Kagari)
"Oh, yes" (Bollard)
That connected us to where we met.
"Has anyone ever come to town?"
"A ship that trades with this town once came. When I learned that the ship had come, I immediately went down to the city and headed for the dock. However, a dragon came down to this town again. When the ships saw the ice-covered city and the dragon, they feared the dragon and went away. After that, ships came several times for a while, but after a few months, they stopped coming. I haven't seen the ship since." (Bollard)
"You were abandoned." (Kagari)
"……"
It could be seen from the sea using a telescope.
Confirmation of the frozen city and even the dragon. It was determined that there were no living humans, so it was abandoned.
"I guess they thought there was no one there. There is no other way." (Bollard)
"I guess you should have sent out some smoke and called for help." (Kagari)
"We thought about it, but at the time we were afraid of the dragon noticing us, so while we were worrying about it, the ships stopped coming." (Bollard)
There was also a possibility that the dragon would react.
Without the means to fight or escape, the Bollard-san and others might not have been able to make potentially dangerous decisions.
While there was silence, the door leading to the bathroom opened and Lise-san came out.
"Thank you for the bath." (Lise)
Her messy hair had become beautifully long and straight.
However, her clothes were still dirty.
"Father, came in too, and it felt so good." (Lise)
"That's right. Well then, I'll also come in." (Bollard)
Bollard-san headed to the bathroom, passing Lise-san.
"Lise-san, what did you do with your clothes?" (Yuna)
"I'm wearing clothes that were left in the mines. They were dirty because they were worn by people in the mines, but I had no choice but to wear them in order to survive." (Lise)
So maybe the size wasn't right? She was wearing clothes that were too big for Lise-san.
"At that time, I hated it and caused trouble for Father. I was a bad child." (Lise)
Three years ago, maybe there was some reluctance for a 12-year-old girl to wear the clothes of a man who worked in the mines. Even more so, she was the daughter of the local lord. Maybe she wore nice clothes back then.
"Kagari-san. Can I ask you Lise-san for a moment?" (Yuna)
"What?" (Kagari)
I whispered to Kagari-san in a low voice.
"I'll get some clothes for Lise-san." (Yuna)
Kagari-san saw Lise-san and immediately understood.
"You'll be back soon." (Kagari)
"Yeah" (Yuna)
I used Bear's Transfer Gate in the warehouse to move to Crimonia.
As I was heading to the clothing store, my name was called.
"Yuna-onee-chan!" (Fina)
When I looked towards the voice, I saw Fina. Fina trotted towards me.
"Yuna-onee-chan, where are you going?" (Fina)
"I'm on my way to buy some winter clothes." (Yuna)
"Are you wearing winter clothes? Are you going somewhere cold?" (Fina)
I explained to Fina as we walked.
When I went to Targui with Kagari-san, I found land.
It's cold there, and there's a girl in need of warm clothes.
"I see. In that case, this is the store for you." (Fina)
I headed to the store with Fina's guidance.
"Well then, I have some shopping to do that mother asked me to do." (Fina)
"Thanks" (Yuna)
Fina waved and left.
I entered the store and called out to the male clerk.
"Excuse me. Please give me cute winter clothes for girls around 15 years old." (Yuna)
"Yeah? Bear girl?" (Clerk)
The store clerk looked at me and reacted.
It seemed like he knew about me.
But I didn't know the clerk.
Maybe this was what it felt like to be a celebrity.
"Are there any cute winter clothes for girls to wear?" (Yuna)
I asked again.
"Will missy wear it?" (Clerk)
"It's not me, but she's a girl around the same age." (Yuna)
I let him know that she was a little taller than me.
The store clerk showed me several winter clothes.
I had some beautiful white winter clothes, so I decided to wear that.
If it's flashy, it might stand out and be a problem.
I also purchased a muffler to wrap around neck.
I wondered if something like this would be okay?
I said thank you and left the store.
Then, I returned to the bear house, used the teleportation gate, and returned to the ice city.
"Are you back?" (Kagari)
Kagari-san looked at me and felt relieved.
I came back in about 30 minutes, but she seemed to have worried me.
Bollard-san had come out of the bath and was sitting in a chair.
"Yuna-san, where have you been?" (Lise)
"Sorry, I was just looking for this in the warehouse." (Yuna)
I couldn't say I bought it at Crimonia, so I would just say I was looking for it at a warehouse.
I put out the winter clothes I bought earlier on the table.
"This is……" (Lise)
"Wear it if you like." (Yuna)
"Is it okay?" (Lise)
"I don't wear these because the bear clothe is warm, so I'd be happy if you could wear them." (Yuna)
I went to the trouble of buying it.
"Thank you very much." (Lise)
Lise-san happily picked up the winter clothes.
"You should change your clothes in the bathroom." (Yuan)
Lise-san went to the bathroom, changed her clothes, and came back.
Yeah, it suited her.
White winter clothes and pants. A yellow scarf around her neck.
"It's warm." (Lise)
Lise-san looked happy.
I was glad I bought it for her.
Author's Note
Fina appears in a small role.
Now, what will happen?
...
*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.