Chapter 812

Bear-san Comes Close to the Forest

“It feels good.” (Mane)

Mane-san stretched out inside the bathtub.

“I can’t believe there’s a real bath. Yuna is definitely a noblewoman. She knows Ellelaura, after all.” (Mane)

“I’m an adventurer.” (Yuna)

Although I’d invested in shops, I still thought that “Bear’s Rest” was Morin’s store and “Bear Restaurant” was Anzu’s store.

“Besides, there’s no noblewoman without any grace like me.” (Yuna)

Both Tilia and Shia had an air of nobility. I could even give the benefit of the doubt and say that, at most, I could be mistaken as the child of a wealthy merchant.

“That depends on their upbringing. There are a lot of crazy nobles out there.” (Mane)

Well, that was true.

Not all of the noble descendants were remarkable like Tilia and Shia.

There were some truly terrible noble children out there.

Which reminded me of Misa’s birthday party.

That heir was terrible.

“Well, if Yuna doesn’t want to tell the truth, I won’t pursue it too deeply. Everyone has a past that they don’t want others to hear about.” (Mane)

Mane-san was right about the fact that I had a past that I didn’t want others to know about, but I think the past she was imagining was different from the past I wanted to hide.

Either way, I couldn’t tell her that I was from another world, so I would leave Mane-san’s misunderstanding to stand.

After getting out of the bath, I dried Mane-san’s long hair that reached her waist with a hair dryer.

“There’s even a hot air heater.” (Mane)

It seemed like there’s something similar to a hair dryer in this world also.

Fina didn’t seem to know about it, but since the hair dryer only blew out warm air, it’s not surprising that there was also one in this world.

“I think your hair is dry now.” (Yuna)

“Thanks. Then I’ll also dry your hair.” (Mane)

“It’s okay, I can do it myself.” (Yuna)

I’d always done it myself so far.

“I can’t let you who is younger than me dry her hair by herself while an adult like me let you dry my hair.” (Mane)

That’s right. Mane-san was older.

I couldn’t help but be misled by her appearance and treat her like someone younger than me.

I accepted Mane-san’s kindness and let her do it.

“You’re like a daughter to me in terms of age.” (Mane)

I wouldn’t mention that I would likely be a granddaughter instead, she’d probably be angry if I did.

Mane-san carefully dried my hair.

After we got out of the bath and our hair was dry, we got ready for bed.

“Mane-san, can you sleep alone?” (Yuna)

“I’m an adult. I can sleep alone.” (Mane)

She answered a little angrily.

It seemed like she thought I was treating her like a child.

“That’s not what I meant. It’s just this is a dangerous place where monsters appear, so I thought that you might be worried and unable to sleep.” (Yuna)

When it came to worrying about monsters, being an adult or a child didn’t matter.

Even adult adventurers were afraid to sleep alone in a place where monsters may appear.

There would always be danger in the surroundings.

“Hot food and a bath. I was so relaxed that I felt like I was still at home and forgot about it.” (Mane)

That meant that she would be able to rest well.

It was dangerous to be physically and mentally tired on a journey.

I was glad that she was able to relax.

“This is outside the royal capital, so there’s a risk of being attacked by monsters.” (Mane)

“As I said before, wolves and goblins are not a threat if they ever tried to attack this house. If you’re worried, I thought I’d lend you Swaying Bear or Hugging Bear. If anything happens, they’ll protect you.” (Yuna)

Mane-san looked at Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, who have turned into cubs.

“That’s right. I’d be grateful if you could lend them to me.” (Mane)

“Then Swaying Bear, please take care of Mane-san.” (Yuna)

“Kyuuuuh.”

Swaying Bear went to Mane-san.

Mane-san held Swaying Bear in her arms.

“Please take care of me, Swaying Bear” (Mane)

“Kuuuuh”

“Is it okay if we set off around sunrise?” (Yuna)

“Yeah, that’s fine” (Mane)

I asked Mane-san to use the guest room on the second floor, and I went into my room with Hugging Bear and sat on the bed.

“Thanks for today. Please help me again tomorrow.” (Yuna)

“Kuuuuh”

Hugging Bear cried as if to say ‘leave it to me’.

I set down Hugging Bear as my alarm and went to sleep.

***

Something soft was pressing against my face.

I knew what it was because I’ve experienced this many times before.

It was usually both Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear’s paws.

Or so I thought, but today Swaying Bear was sleeping with Mane-san, so this paw was Hugging Bear’s.

My thoughts became clearer.

“Good morning, Hugging Bear.” (Yuna)

“Kyuuuuh.”

The Hugging Bear alarm woke me up pleasantly.

I got up from my bed and opened the curtains, and the sun was just beginning to rise.

I think I’ve been living a really healthy lifestyle since coming to this world.

After all, even if I wanted to stay up all night, there was no entertainment like TV, games, internet, manga, or novels here, so I just went to bed early.

“I wonder if Mane-san is still asleep.” (Yuna)

For now, I should wake her up and then prepare breakfast.

I knocked on Mane-san’s room, but there was no response.

I opened the door and went inside, and found Mane-san sleeping comfortably, hugging Swaying Bear.

“Mane-san, it’s morning.” (Yuna)

“What, it’s morning already?” (Mane)

Mane-san’s eyes opened. Swaying Bear, who was sleeping with her, also started to move.

“When you get up, come downstairs. Swaying Bear, please make sure Mane-san doesn’t fall back asleep.” (Yuna)

“Kyuuuuh.”

I asked Swaying Bear to look after Mane-san. I went downstairs with Hugging Bear.

As I was preparing breakfast, Mane-san came down, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

It would be a cute gesture if she was a child, but Mane-san was an adult. She looked like a sloppy adult.

“…sleepy.” (Mane)

“Were you unable to sleep properly yesterday because you thought a monster might come?” (Yuna)

“No. I was worried about Swaying Bear. Bears shrinking like that just isn’t something that should be possible, right? I went to bed late because I was thinking about that.” (Mane)

I didn’t have an answer to that.

I could only say that it was a skill that could make them transform.

But there were no skills other than magic in this world, so I couldn’t explain it.

If I told her, she would definitely ask, ‘What is a skill?‘

Skills were impossible to explain.

Sleepily, Mane-san bit into the bread.

“Why do bears get smaller and bigger? Maybe people can get smaller too?” (Mane)

She muttered.

I ignored it  and just ate my bread.

Morin’s bread was really delicious.

After breakfast, we set off.

I put away the bear house and returned Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear to their normal size.

“The bears have gotten bigger. It’s strange seeing small bears grow large.” (Mane)

Mane-san touched Swaying Bear’s body.

“Well, first, please ride Hugging Bear like you did yesterday, and then we’ll switch halfway through.” (Yuna)

Mane-san obediently climbed onto Hugging Bear.

Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear ran towards the western forest with us on their backs.

We ran through the grasslands and over the rocky mountains.

On the way, a pack of wolves appeared, but I defeated them quickly.

“You’re really strong.” (Mane)

“You didn’t believe that?” (Yuna)

“I believe in Ellelaura and Sanya. But you’re a cute girl dressed like a bear. I won’t be convinced until I see it with my own eyes.” (Mane)

She continued, “Well, I also thought that the reason they considered you strong was because these bears were strong.”

Mane-san looked at Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.

“Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear are strong too. So when I’m fighting monsters, don’t leave Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear’s side.” (Yuna)

After lunch, we switched which bear we were riding, and as dusk approached, the deep forest entrance came into view.

“It’d be dangerous to enter the forest now, so let’s go in tomorrow morning.” (Mane)

I agreed with Mane-san. With the bear house, I thought we would probably be safe in the forest, but there was no need to take unnecessary risks.

I set up the bear house and we stayed there like yesterday.

By the way, I switched between Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, who slept with me.

The next morning, we went closer to the forest entrance.

Trees grew gradually denser as we approached.

“It looks like some adventurers came in from around here.” (Mane)

Mane-san said, looking diagonally upwards.

I followed Mane-san’s gaze and saw something red fluttering on a tree branch.

For a moment, I thought it was a red snake, but I was wrong.

“What is this red string? A ribbon? What is it?” (Yuna)

A red ribbon like the ones used to wrap presents was tied to the tree branch.

“What, you don’t know?” (Mane)

“You know about it, Mane-san?” (Yuna)

“It’s a marker. Adventurers use it when they enter deep forests.” (Mane)

I entered forests several times before, but I’ve never seen one of those.

Maybe that just showed how deep this forest was.

“Swaying Bear, move closer.” (Mane)

Swaying Bear approached the tree to which the ribbon was tied, as Mane-san told the bear to.

“The knot in the ribbon shows the direction they came from. And the direction the nail points is where they went.” (Mane)

Nail?

Indeed, when I looked closely, I could see that there was a nail driven into the tree.

It seemed that it wasn’t just to prevent the ribbon from flying away.

The direction the nail was driven was facing the forest.

If Mane-san’s explanation was correct, an adventurer had entered the forest from here.

“It’s quite faded, so it must be an old one.” (Mane)

Mane-san reached out and touched the ribbon.

“So, does that mean that an adventurer entered here a long time ago?” (Yuna)

“The adventurer who tied this ribbon, yes. I think many adventurers have used this ribbon as a landmark and entered after that. If they went through here, it means it’s safe.” (Mane)

If someone else also followed that direction, it should be a relatively safe path.

“Or it could also be possible that none of them ever came back.” (Mane)

In other words, they’re all dead.

“Also, it could also be possible that it’s false information to keep other adventurers from using it.” (Mane)

“If that was the case, then it’s useless.” (Yuna)

“Well, that’s unlikely. It’s up to you to trust it or not.” (Mane)

In the end, we would have to go there on our own.

Well, I had the Bear Map skill, so there was no chance of getting lost.

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