Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

Bear-san Speaking with Primme’s Sister.

When I got up, there were two fairies in the room.

Based on the conversation, I could assume that the other one was Primme’s sister.

“Yuna!” (Primme)

“I thought I made everyone inhale the sleeping powder so that they wouldn’t wake up.” (Ronne)

Primme’s older sister said so.

“Noa! Swaying Bear, Hugging Bear…” (Yuna)

I called out to them, but they didn’t respond. They were sleeping.

“Ronne, I believe. What do you mean by you’re not going home with Primme?” (Yuna)

“It’s just as I said. I’m staying here.” (Ronne)

“Why do you say that, sister? If you are being held captive by humans, why are you not trying to escape with us?” (Primme)

Ronne shook her head.

“I have someone important here, so I can’t go back with Primme.” (Ronne)

“Sis!” (Primme)

Primme shouted, but Ronne ignored her and turned her attention to Noa.

“I can feel a connection to my magic from that girl over there.” (Ronne)

“That’s because Sis’ handkerchief went inside Noa.” (Primme)

“I see. Well, okay, Primme, get out of this town and go back to the fairy forest. Also, forget about me.” (Ronne)

She shut Primme out.

“And a word of advice, later tonight you will be deprived of your magic power. It may affect your health, so be careful.” (Ronne)

Primme’s sister then turned her back to Primme.

Primme tried to say something, but she couldn’t utter any word. Nonetheless, we couldn’t just let her sister go just like that.

“Wait a minute, even if you say that, neither Primme nor I will be convinced to back off like this.” (Yuna)

Ronne looked straight at me, at my words.

“Just answer a few questions.” (Yuna)

“Fine, I’ll answer them in return for bringing Primme here.” (Ronne)

“You’re the one granting the Knights power, right?” (Yuna)

“Yes, I am.” (Ronne)

“Why do you give power to the knights?” (Yuna)

“To collect magic stones.” (Ronne)

“Why are you collecting magic stones?” (Yuna)

“To gather magic power.” (Ronne)

“Why are you collecting magic power?” (Yuna)

“So that he doesn’t die.” (Ronne)

“Not to make the knights stronger?” (Yuna)

Then all the magic power was not used directly for the knights?

Was it to keep the Lord of this town from dying? 

“I’m done talking. I have nothing more to say.” (Ronne)

“One last thing. What if we force you out of this place?” (Yuna)

I moved.

“Yuna!” (Primme)

Primme shouted.

“Fufu, I don’t think you can.” (Ronne)

Ronne chuckled, and the wind whipped around the room, and then she was gone.

She must have gone out of the open window.

I immediately looked out of the window, but I couldn’t find her anymore.

Things were much trickier than I thought.

“Sis…” (Primme)

Primme didn’t even try to follow, looking at the window where Ronne left with tears in her eyes.

“Primme…” (Yuna)

“Yuna, I’m sorry. You brought me all the way here and this…” (Primme)

Primme apologized as she held back her tears.

“Are you giving up?” (Yuna)

“Yuna?” (Primme)

She looked at me with a puzzled expression on her face.

“If your sister is helping someone who is clearly doing something bad, you, as her sister should wake her up and stop her. That’s what family is for, and that’s what you, as her sister, should do.” (Yuna)

My parents were… Well, not that great, I would say, and I have no siblings, so I never knew what it was like to have siblings. However, from my observation of both Fina’s and Noa’s family, I could tell that everyone in their family looked out for each other.

If an important family member was heading towards the wrong path, it should be a family member or someone close who should stop them.

“Primme, you came here because you are worried about your sister. If she was not bothering anyone and was living happily, I think it was okay for us to leave her be.” (Yuna)

I have read love stories between fairies and humans.

I have no intention of denying that I also enjoyed them.

“But since her love is built on the inconvenience of other people, we have to stop this.” (Yuna)

It was causing trouble for the Guild Master, Carla-san and others, and even for the people of this town.

It was no longer a question of whether to take her back with us or not.

We now knew what was going on, and we could not just leave her like that.

Primme thought about my words as if she were chewing on them.

“…Yuna, I understand. I’ll talk to my sister again.” (Primme)

Primme’s eyes, which had looked like they were dead a while ago, were now filled with motivation.

Even if we couldn’t bring her sister back, we at least needed to understand the situation clearly to decide what we should do next.

But I wonder if I’ve been more meddlesome than usual.

I think I’ve become more meddlesome since I came to this world.

“Well then, let’s make a move first.” (Yuna)

“Move?” (Primme)

“I was warned by your sister, Ronne, that I would lose my magic power if I stayed here, so I’m going to take measures to prevent that from happening.” (Yuna)

I did not like the idea of losing my magic power, even if it did not cost me my life.

I put out the Bear Transfer Gate and returned Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, who were sleeping comfortably, then held Noa in my arms, as well as the basket that became Primme’s bed.

Then, we moved through the Bear Transfer Gate to my Bear House in Crimonia.

Moving to Crimonia would prevent me from losing my magic power.

I put Noa, who was sleeping comfortably, on the bed.

I lay down on the bed next to Noa because I didn’t want her to make a fuss when she woke up.

“Thank you, Yuna.” (Primme)

Primme, who was in the basket instead of the bed, turned around and thanked me.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s just that things have become a little tricky, and we can no longer take your sister back with us easily.” (Yuna)

“Yeah.” (Primme)

At first, I thought that we could bring her back after finding her.

Next, I thought that the Lord might be keeping her in captivity, and I believed I could rescue her if that were the case.

But if Primme’s sister, Ronne, out of her own volition, was siding with the Lord.

Things would become a lot more complicated, that’s for sure.

“Sleep well, and we’ll do our best tomorrow.” (Yuna)

“Yes.” (Primme)

“Primme, good night.” (Yuna)

“Good night.” (Primme)

The room was quiet, and I settled down to rest in my home for the first time in a long time as I drifted into slumber.

…

The next morning.

“Ugh, Yuna-san, good morning?” (Noa)

Noa woke up.

“Noa, good morning.” (Yuna)

“Huh, where am I? Is this Yuna-san’s house?” (Noa)

Noa looked around.

“Am I dreaming?” (Noa)

“No, it’s not a dream. You are in my house in Crimonia. We moved last night.” (Yuna)

“Why?” (Noa)

I explained to Noa what happened last night.

“So Primme-san’s sister showed up in the middle of the night?” (Noa)

“Yes, she doesn’t seem to be planning to leave.” (Yuna)

“Then what are we going to do about it?” (Noa)

“As I told Primme, if she’s helping with something bad, we need to open her eyes.” (Yuna)

“Yes, that’s right. That’s what family and sisters are for, right? If my sister is doing something wrong, I will do whatever it takes to stop her.” (Noa)

I knew Noa would say that.

“I’m sure that only Primme, as her sister, can do that because she would not be convinced by us.” (Noa)

“Only I…” (Primme)

Even if Primme gave up and said she was going home, I would do my best to settle things.

Primme again expressed her determination.

“…Yeah, I will definitely stop my sister.” (Primme)

“Then, let’s go to the Adventurer’s Guild again today and talk about it.” (Yuna)

***

And so we returned to town and went to the Adventurers’ Guild.

“Are Yuna-chan and the others okay?” (Carla)

Carla-san asked when she saw us enter the Adventurer’s Guild. Today, she was looking a little sluggish.

“It looks like our magic power was taken away from us late last night.” (Guild Master)

The Guild Master also arrived, but he seemed to be okay.

“We are fine. Yesterday, Primme’s sister came and told us it will happen.” (Yuna)

He looked surprised at my words.

We moved to a private room to talk about the details.

Carla-san seemed to be getting tired, so I took a refrigerator out of my bear item box and pulled out some bottles from the fridge.

It was a bottle of tea made from the sacred tree.

“What’s that?” (Guild Master)

“It’s a tea that restores magic power. Drink it, and you’ll feel better.” (Yuna)

It also relieved fatigue, and it restored magic power over time.

I took out cups and filled them for Carla-san and the Guild Master.

They both thought it stank, but they still drank it. It wouldn’t work right away, but the concoction should work after some time.

Meanwhile, I explained to them what happened last night. Of course, I misrepresented the Bear Transfer Gate.

“So Primme-chan’s sister is really here.” (Guild Master)

“Yes. But she said she didn’t want to leave the town. But if she’s doing something wrong, we’ll do our best to stop her.” (Yuna)

“I’m counting on you guys.” (Guild Master)

“But the reason they’re collecting magic power is to keep someone from dying, right?” (Carla)

“Apparently so, that’s why she’s been empowering the knights and collecting magic stones.” (Yuna)

“Is the Lord sick?” (Carla)

“As I told you before, we don’t have much information about the Lord. I’m sorry, that includes no information about his health.” (Guild Master)

“That doesn’t mean it’s okay to steal other people’s magic power.” (Yuna)

“Yes, you’re right. To the extent that the residents of the town are suffering. Some have lost their jobs, and some have even died.” (Guild Master)

“But if the Lord’s side loses their source of magic power, the worst that can happen is that the Lord will die, right?” (Noa)

Noa said something that no one else had mentioned.

If Primme’s sister was right, and the magic power supply was stopped, the Lord could end up dead.

That’s what everyone here thought. But no one said anything about it. However, 11-year-old Noa ended up saying it out loud.

“Oh, yes. But that doesn’t mean they can continue like this.” (Guild Master)

“Yes. A Lord must make sure that the local residents are happy. He must not trouble the residents just so that he can live.” (Noa)

Noa said as if telling herself.

Perhaps she was thinking of what she would do if the same thing happened to Cliff and Ellelaura-san.

Should she choose to save her family or the residents? This was something she had to weigh in her own mind.

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