Chapter 28 – Bear-san Goes To The Lord’s House
It was the afternoon of the day after I received the request, and I was standing a slight distance from the Lord’s mansion.
It seemed like I would be noticed by the soldier standing at the front gate if I went any closer.
I had a hunch that I would be interrogated if I was found.
Even though the gate soldier for the lord’s mansion didn’t do anything, he gave me such a feeling.
It was an unavoidable ha.s.sle.
I gave up and walked towards the gate.
Even when the gate guard caught sight of me, his line of sight remained fixed straight ahead and did not waver.
He was still looking straight ahead when I arrived.
Somehow, it was an unpleasant gaze.
「What business do you have?」
「I am Yuna, the adventurer. I was called here by the Lord.」
「Were you…」
He looked at me as if he was licking me all over.
「I’ve heard about your situation. For confirmation, please hand over your guild card.」
Unexpectedly, it seemed like the gate guard was well-informed about me.
With this setting, I thought there would be trouble.
Well, at least the Lord wasn’t an idiot who would invite me and forget to inform the gate guard, huh.
After the guard finished confirming the guild card, I was led to the front door of the mansion.
When I arrived at the door, a maid-san in her early 20s took over.
This was the first time I had seen a maid here.
She was wearing a black maid uniform.
As expected, they exist, huh.
If a maid lover saw this, they would rejoice, right?
I thought it was cute but, unfortunately, I don’t have that attribute.
Maid-san walked silently through the mansion, stopped in front of a door, and knocked.
「Cliff-sama, I’ve brought the adventurer, Yuna-san.」
A voice from within called out, “Come in.”
「Pardon me.」
Maid-san opened the door and urged me to enter the room.
After I obediently entered the room, the door was closed behind me.
Maid-san didn’t come in.
The room was wide and contained a large desk, a large table, and a sofa.
The room seemed like an office.
The inhabitant of the room was a man in his late thirties, sitting in front of the large desk.
「I’m sorry, but please feel free to sit on the sofa over there.」
I obediently sat.
「You really do look like a bear.」
The man came over and sat on the opposite end of the sofa.
As he looked at me, an amused smile appeared on the man’s face.
As expected, he was a s.h.i.tty n.o.ble after all.
「If you called me just to make a mockery of me, I’m going home.」
「No, I’m sorry.」
「So what do you want?」
「It’s true that I also wanted to meet with you, but my daughter was the one who wanted to meet you.」
「Your daughter?」
「Ah, I think she saw you in town once and she wanted to see you again, no matter what. In addition to that, she gets really happy when I talk about your achievements in the reports.」
Which is why we need a Protection of Personal Information Act!
「So you called me for your daughter’s sake?」
「While that’s half of it. The other half is because I wanted to see the bear girl from the town rumors.」
Am I a bear from the zoo?
Knock, knock.
Someone was knocking on the door.
「I have brought Noire-sama.」
「Come in.」
A girl around Fina’s age came in through the door.
It was a blonde-haired girl.
「Daddy, is it really true that Bear-san has come?」
The girl’s eyes lit up when she saw me.
「It’s Bear-san! My name is Noire, but please feel free to call me Noa.」
「My name is Yuna, you know. Instead of Bear-san, can you call me by my name?」
「Yes, I understand. Yuna-san, right?」
「So then, what should I do here?」
「Will you be my daughter’s companion? I’ll pay the request fee, of course.」
Noa pulled on my hand and took me away.
「Where are we going?」
「My room!」
Judging from the conversation, I had been taken to Noa’s room.
「Um, would it be alright if I hugged you?」
She asked me shyly.
「It’s fine, but-」
「Thank you very much!」
Noa came and hugged me.
I also embraced the golden-haired girl.
It’s possible that, since Fina is fine too, I might have a younger sister lover attribute.
「You’re so soft, and you smell nice too.」
I rubbed her head in reply.
「I’ve seen you once in town before.」
Yeah, I heard about that.
「Although I was far away, it was a super cute appearance, so you easily caught my attention. When I talked with my daddy, I was told all kinds of stories about Bear-san, I mean Yuna-san, many times.」
I patted her head.
After that, we talked about many things.
I told stories about defeating the goblins, the wolves, the Goblin King, and the Tiger Wolves.
「So then, I have a favor to ask of Yuna-san.」
「A favor?」
「Umm, won’t you show me your summoned beasts?」
「Summoned beasts?」
「Yes! When I heard about the summoned beasts from my daddy, I wanted to see them.」
「It’s fine, but not in this room. Also, we need to get permission from your father.」
It would be troublesome if I became a criminal because I summoned them on the grounds of the Lord’s mansion.
「In that case, let’s get daddy’s permission and go outside.」
I was pulled out of the room by my hand.
We left Noa’s room and headed towards her father’s, or Cliff’s, room.
Noa opened the door and entered without even knocking.
「Noa, haven’t I always told you to knock on the door before entering?」
「I’m sorry, daddy. I have something I want to ask.」
「What is it?」
「May I have permission to see Yuna-san’s summoned beasts?」
「Summoned beasts? Ah, the rumored bears, huh. Isn’t it dangerous?」
He asked me, who was standing behind Noa.
「They won’t do anything, so it will be safe.」
「I see, then it’s fine.」
「Is it okay? If I wanted to kill you, you’d die, you know?」
「But you won’t do such a thing.」
「So you trust me, huh.」
「I looked into many things before calling you. A kind Bear-san who will do many things for a young girl’s sake.」
Cliff laughed brightly.
However, I noticed a brief killing intent in that smile.
As I thought, a n.o.ble’s character is naturally bad.
「Even if I’m nice to young girls, it doesn’t mean that I’ll be nice to you.」
「Even so, I’m the Lord here. I’ve seen many kinds of people, so I can tell just by looking.」
「You do know that I’m wearing a hood, right?」
My hood has been on since I first met Cliff, so my real face hasn’t been seen.
In hindsight, it was probably quite rude.
「More or less. Will you take off your hood and show me your face? From what I heard, you don’t take off your hood, even when asked.」
I don’t remove the hood?
There was that kind of rumor going around?
I’m just hiding my face because wearing the bear dress is simply embarra.s.sing.
I took off the hood and showed my face.
「Y-y-you…」
「Yuna-san is a beautiful person! So pretty.」
「I-is that so, thanks.」
I thanked Noa and patted her head.
Although it was flattery, it made me happy.
Still, I put the hood back on, since it was embarra.s.sing.
「What a waste.」
Cliff was saying something, but since we had received permission, we immediately headed out to the mansion’s garden.
For some reason, the Lord, and even the maid, started following along behind us.
=========================================
The Lord’s family structure hasn’t been decided yet.
Well, it’s fine even if I write it out later, right?