Chapter 802

Bear-san Goes to the Ministry of Magic

The next day, I woke up at Ellelaura’s residence.

Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear were sleeping comfortably next to me.

Yesterday, Shia said she wanted to meet Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, so I summoned them and we played with them until late into the night.

I had originally left them summoned to act as guards, but they were now sleeping soundly instead.

Well, it was fine since Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear would wake up if they sensed any danger.

“Swaying Bear, Hugging Bear. It’s morning. Time to get up.” (Yuna)

I shook, Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear’s soft bellies.

“Huun~”

Both bears stirred and slowly got up.

“Good morning.” (Yuna)

“Kwhhhh”

And just like that, a new day began.

After I got out of bed and switched from my white bear suit to black one, there was a knock on the door.

“Yuna-san, are you awake?” (Shia)

“Yes, I’m awake.” (Yuna)

After I replied, Shia came in, dressed in her school uniform and well groomed.

“Good morning, Yuna-san.” (Shia)

“Good morning.” (Yuna)

Her smile was dazzling.

“I also wanted to go to the Ministry of Magic.” (Shia)

“You have school, don’t you?” (Yuna)

“Yeah, and if I skip school, Mother will scold me.” (Shia)

A student’s duty was to study, after all.

I didn’t say this aloud since I’d never gone to school myself, but in my heart, I wanted Shia to study hard and grow into a fine noble lady.

We decided to have breakfast together, so we moved to the dining hall.

“Good morning, Yuna-chan.” (Ellelaura)

“Good morning.” (Yuna)

“Good morning to Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.” (Ellelaura)

“Kuun~.”

Seats were also prepared for Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, and fruits and honey were prepared in front of them.

“Is it really fine for them to eat while they’re in their small forms?” (Ellelaura)

“It’s fine. I always feed them while they are in their small forms.” (Yuna)

The bigger they were, the more they ate. The smaller they were, the less they ate.

“Mother, I want to come with you.” (Shia)

“No.” (Ellelaura)

Shia tried asking Ellelaura again, but was firmly rejected.

Shia then said, “I’m off” and reluctantly headed to school.

After that, Ellelaura-san and I prepared to leave for the Ministry of Magic.

I unsummoned Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, and when we stepped outside the mansion, there was a carriage already waiting for us.

“Come in.” (Ellelaura)

I climbed in after her.

The royal capital was big, so carriages were generally used to get around.

Some carriages ran fixed routes like buses, while others were like taxis that take you wherever you want.

This carriage seemed to be a private one. It had the crest of the Foschurose family.

Once we were seated, Ellelaura-san instructed the driver, “Take us to the Ministry of Magic.”

Then the carriage started moving.

“Is the Ministry far away?” (Yuna)

“It’s inside the castle.” (Ellelaura)

“Really? Then we didn’t need to use a carriage.” (Yuna)

“The entrance to that place is different. The main gate is the one Yuna-chan always goes through. There are several entrances to the castle, you see.” (Ellelaura)

That was to be expected, I suppose.

I’d already gone around the castle with Fina before, and there had been quite a few entrances along the way.

“There are gates for knights and other personnel, gates for magicians, and so on. This time, we’ll use the gate leading to the place where the Ministry of Magic is located.” (Ellelaura)

“I see.” (Yuna)

“It’s fine to move around from inside the castle, but we have to walk a long way, so it’s a pain.” (Ellelaura)

The inside of the castle was large.

I had no idea how many Tokyo Domes could fit inside the castle, but it would be a lot.

If you were to walk from one end of the castle to the other end, it would be a long distance.

When I went around with Fina, it had taken us quite a while.

“So the Ministry of Magic was inside the castle.” (Yuna)

“The Ministry of Magic holds important magic tools and research materials. The castle has round-the-clock security, which makes it easy to control who comes and goes.” (Ellelaura)

Indeed, the castle had good security and was considered a safe place. It was also difficult to steal information from inside.

Our carriage headed toward the castle, but instead of the main gate I usually used, it approached a different one.

After the carriage moved for a while, the entrance came into view.

There was a bridge that could be raised, and the carriage passed over it.

When we passed the bridge, we were greeted by a soldier standing by the gate.

The carriage stopped.

The driver said a few words to the soldier, and then the carriage started moving again.

“Aren’t they going to check inside?” (Yuna)

Normally they would confirm who was inside the carriage.

“Are you wondering why they didn’t inspect my carriage?” (Ellelaura)

Ellelaura-san gave me a look as if to say, ‘What a silly question.’

“I thought they’d at least check to see if there were any suspicious people riding inside.” (Yuna)

“Well, if it was a normal carriage, they would have surely checked. But this is the Foschurose carriage. The carriage itself is like a free pass.” (Ellelaura)

I see, so the vehicle itself was proof of identity.

“But what if the carriage is stolen, or if someone makes an identical one?” (Yuna)

“If the carriage is stolen, it would indeed be a big problem. On the other hand, no ordinary craftsman can make an identical carriage to this one. This carriage is special.” (Ellelaura)

“Special?” (Yuna)

According to Ellelaura-san’s explanation, this carriage had some special specifications.

The Foschurose family crest and a magic stone were built into the center of the carriage.

It was like an authentication system.

It seemed to work the same way as a guild card.

When the carriage passed through the gate, the magic stone inside the carriage was detected and verified as belonging to the Foschurose family, granting passage.

“But what if that magic stone itself gets stolen?” (Yuna)

“If it gets stolen, we just have to report it and have it disabled.” (Ellelaura)

I see, if it got stolen, they just had to report it.

“And besides, it’s not easy to remove the magic stone without destroying the carriage.” (Ellelaura)

If the carriage itself was destroyed, they would notice right away.

“So that’s what makes this carriage different.” (Yuna)

“Indeed. By the way, this design was also made by the Ministry of Magic. There are other things made by them that are being used, but not everyone knows about them.” (Ellelaura)

As Ellelaura-san was talking, the carriage stopped.

“Looks like we’ve arrived.” (Ellelaura)

Just as Ellelaura-san said, the driver called out, “We’ve arrived.”

Ellelaura-san opened the door and stepped down. I followed after her.

After we got off, the carriage started moving again, leaving us behind.

There was a large tower in front of us.

This tower was visible from outside the castle.

“Yuna-chan, this way.” (Ellelaura)

Ellelaura-san led the way inside.

Just as we entered inside, there was a reception desk. The woman at the reception desk looked at us with a surprised expression.

“Ellelaura-sama, and…?” (Clerk)

“She is a guest of Mane-sama.” (Ellelaura)

“Mane-sama’s…” (Clerk)

The receptionist glanced at me and then checked the records.

“Yes. Permission has been granted for Ellelaura-sama and her companion to enter. Here is your entry permit.” (Clerk)

“Thank you.” (Ellelaura)

After receiving her card, Ellelaura-san moved forward. I followed her after receiving my card.

Beyond the desk was a door, beside which a crystal plate gleamed.

“Hold the card you received earlier close to this crystal plate like this.” (Ellelaura)

When Ellelaura-san brought her card close to the crystal plate, the door opened. Then, once Ellelaura-san passed through, the door closed.

I imitated Ellelaura-san and brought my card close to the crystal plate, and the door opened for me as well.

When I went through the open door, the door closed behind me.

It was just like a ticket gate at a train station.

“Yuna-chan, this way.” (Ellelaura)

“It’s pretty hard to get in.” (Yuna)

“As I mentioned in the carriage, there’s confidential information here. Only those with clearance are allowed inside.” (Ellelaura)

It seemed like even a noble like Ellelaura-san could not act freely here.

“Don’t lose that card. You’ll need it both to go further, and to return back.”

It was more and more like a card to enter a train station.

Beyond the door stretched a wide floor, with a grand staircase like something out of a noble mansion.

“Yuna-chan, this way.” (Ellelaura)

Just as I thought we were going up the stairs, Ellelaura-san started walking down the left corridor.

Was the person we were meeting on the first floor?

Ellelaura-san stopped in front of a door, where another crystal plate was mounted on the wall.

She placed her card on the crystal plate.

The door opened and Ellelaura-san went into the room, so I followed her.

The door shut behind us.

The room was small – about four and a half tatami mats in size. There was nothing inside.

“Ellelaura-san, where are we?” (Yuna)

“Hehe, you’ll be surprised.” (Ellelaura)

Ellelaura-san said as she approached the wall.

There was a crystal plate with the number 10 written on it on the wall where Ellelaura-san was heading.

Ellelaura-san placed her card on the crystal plate.

“Yuna-chan, place your card on the number 10 as well.” (Ellelaura)

I did as I was told and placed my card on the crystal plate with the number 10 written on it.

A faint sound echoed, and suddenly I felt myself being pulled upward.

An elevator!?

“Fufu, you’re surprised, aren’t you? This is a device that lets you go up without stairs.” (Ellelaura)

So it really was an elevator.

“To think something like this exists here…” (Yuna)

“It would be hard to walk up ten flights of stairs, wouldn’t it?” (Ellelaura)

I had to agree.

But I didn’t expect that there would be something like an elevator here.

It seemed that this was what Ellelaura-san meant when she said “You can’t move around without a card.”

In other words, only authorized people could use this elevator.

With a soft chime, the elevator stopped, and the door slid open.

“It’s easy, isn’t it?” (Ellelaura)

Ellelaura-san looked proud.

“Is this the only place with something like this?” (Yuna)

“The castle also has one, but only a few people can use it.” (Ellelaura)

“Why? It seems convenient.” (Yuna)

“It’s expensive to build. Besides, it’s cheaper to extend the building sideways than upwards.” (Ellelaura)

She wasn’t wrong. If there was extra land, it was certainly easier to extend the building sideways (horizontally).

Of course, it couldn’t be helped if the building was in the middle of the city, though.

Building upwards only really made sense in crowded cities.

In the countryside, wide, low-rise buildings were more practical.

As we stepped off the elevator, a spacious room stretched before us.

The room lay at the very end of the corridor.

It was filled with books.

Various plants and minerals were also in place.

“Who?” (???)

A voice came from somewhere within.

“Mane-sama, it’s Ellelaura.” (Ellelaura)

“Ellelaura?” (Mane)

The voice came from the desk at the center of the room.

There was a pile of books on the desk, but the person was hidden behind the pile.

As we got closer, a person popped out from the side of the desk.

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