Kuma – Chapter 63

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Bear-san Goes To The Castle

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First, I started to build a stone oven in the uselessly big garden.
I had watched how it was made on TV in the past, and now I tried making it while recalling it.
This was when magic was really useful!
Even if you made a mistake, you could easily remake it after all…
It might be a product of trial and error, but here goes the Stone Oven Number One!

While I was constructing the oven, the two girls kneaded the flour.
When the dough was finished, I prepared the ingredients to put on the pizza.
We chose to use potatoes, chicken meat, peppers, tomatoes, and cheese.
They were all placed on top of the dough, which was then fed into the oven, and we waited for it to brown nicely.
The melting cheese created a nice odor that wafted through the air.

「It’s good, I think?」

I took the baked pizza and cut it.

「Is that a pizza?」

「It’s hot, so don’t burn yourself!」

After putting the hot pizza on a plate, I gave each of them a slice.
I cut out my share too, and ate it without waiting.
It’s so good when it’s hot!
It’s the nostalgic taste of home!
If you ordered by phone, they would deliver it in less than 30 minutes. So nostalgic!
Upon seeing me eat it with a happy face, the two of them started to eat it timidly.

「Hot! But it’s delicious.」

「Really delicious!」

「Isn’t it? Why is nobody eating something so delicious?」

「The thing that is stretching is cheese, isn’t it? So it becomes like this when it melts…」

「The potatoes are so soft. So delicious!」

「It’s because cheese and potatoes are good together.」

I wanted to make other kinds of pizza, but I didn’t have the ingredients.
For example, a seafood pizza with toppings like squid, shrimp, or shellfish.
Sausage or bacon would be good too…
Well, for now, I will make do with this first one.
Not to mention, if I made all sorts of pizzas, I wouldn’t be able to eat them all.
Even with just this one large pizza we made, whether we could finish it all, with just the two little girls and myself, was questionable.

「It’s better when it’s hot, so hurry and eat!」

While the three of us were eating pizza, I heard the sound of someone running in the distance.

「What are you all eating?」

Shia came.

「Big sister, why are you here?」

「School finished early and I got home sooner but…Noa wasn’t there. I thought you would be at Yuna-san’s place. And? What are you eating?」

「Pizza.」

「Pizza?」

「It’s a meal where you put various ingredients and cheese on flattened bread dough and bake it.」

「It’s really delicious, you know!」

「Yuna-san, could I have some of this pizza too, please?」

「Yeah, I have enough ingredients after all.」

I put the rest of the pizza on a plate and handed it over.

「You eat it with your hands?」

「Normally you use your hands to eat it, yes. If you don’t want to, I have prepared a fork.」

After seeing her little sister eating with her hands,

「It’s okay. I will eat it like this.」

「It’s hot, so be careful!」

Shia handled the hanging cheese beautifully and ate it in one bite.

「………It’s delicious.」

「Good! If everyone wants, I will bake some more.」

「I want to eat a little more.」

「Me too.」

「Me too, please.」

Answering the requests, I baked another pizza.
There wasn’t a variety of ingredients. That was rather sad.
I baked the same one as before.

「Be careful and don’t burn yourself.」

The three of them vigorously responded 『yes』 and began eating.
Two large pizzas disappeared beautifully into four bellies.
In the end, our stomachs were nearly bursting.
I think I will make them a little smaller next time.
The next morning, Eleanora-san came to the Bear House.

「Hello. What made you come here so early in the morning?」

「I came to see your house and eat the pizza I heard about from my daughters.」

「It’s not really a meal you eat first thing in the morning.」

「Is that so?」

「There may be people who do, but you normally don’t.」

If you ate it in the morning, your stomach wouldn’t hold.

「Then, I will have to eat it for lunch.」

It will become two consecutive days of pizza…

「You want to eat it that badly?」

「Yesterday, my daughters didn’t eat dinner. When I cornered them with questions, they said that they ate a really delicious meal called pizza at Yuna-chan’s place. They talked about it with really happy faces…The fact that I was the only one who couldn’t eat it really frustrates me.」

「Haa. Understood. Then, I will make it for lunch.」

「Really? Thank you. It’s not really a thank you, but I will show you around the castle.」

「The castle?」

「Yes. Last time, Fina-chan said she wanted to see the interior of the castle. However, fundamentally, unauthorized people cannot enter it. If I am present though, it’s another story. You will be granted access. That’s why, if I let you visit the castle now, we can eat pizza at lunch time.」

That’s right. The chance to tour the interior of the castle was not an opportunity that would present itself very often.
Also, I knew that Fina wanted to see it. I decided to accept this idea.

「Then, I want to finish the preparations. Let’s go?」

That was why we came to the castle.
An enormous building that towered over its surroundings was right in front of me.
Two soldiers holding large lances stood in front of the entrance.
Stressed, Fina held my hand.
First of all, was it okay for me to enter with this kind of appearance?
If they stopped me at the entrance, I would just have to go back alone.

「Eleanora-sama, good morning. Who might this person be?」

「It’s my guest. I wanted them to see the interior of the palace. Is that a problem?」

Eleanora-san said to the soldiers with an overpowering feeling.

「No, not at all. It’s just my job to confirm the facts. Please, enter.」

The soldier saluted and let us enter.
Was that okay?

「Do the two of you have something you want to see in particular?」

「Not really…」

First of all, I didn’t know what was in the castle.

「Me too. I am already satisfied.」

Fina seemed to want to go back after just passing through the gates.
Her desire to see it and the feeling of being out of place must be fighting in her heart.

「Then, let’s just walk aimlessly.」

「But…is it really okay to not say anything to Noa before coming?」

「Yes. It’s okay for the girl who just sleeps to stay in bed. Has Cliff really been educating her diligently? The next time I see him, I will properly give him a lecture.」

That was the reason the three of us were walking around in the castle.
If I had to use words to describe it, they would be: big, pretty, lots of people.
Everyone who passed by us bowed to Eleanora-san. Then they saw me, tilted their heads in wonder, and left.
That reminds me. What is Eleanora-san’s job?
The husband, Chris, was a feudal lord, so the wife, Eleanora-san, was probably an assistant of the feudal lord?

「Eleanora-san, what is your job?」

「My job? I am the person in charge of miscellaneous jobs.」

「Miscellaneous jobs?」

「Following the knights, processing documents, advising the king, there are many things for me to do. In all honesty, I wanted to quit and go to Chris’s place, but the king, prime ministers, and knights wouldn’t let me. With that in mind, I will work in the castle while my daughter, Shia, is attending school. But, when it’s Noa’s turn to start school, I’m going to end up working at the castle again.」

Was Eleanora-san a really eminent person?
That was why everyone bowed to her.
Well, I can’t really understand managerial positions though.
If I asked for more details, it might be a really scary thing, so I will stop asking.

「Then, do you want to see how the knights are doing? You have to see them practice diligently, right?」

When you leave the interior of the castle, you arrive at a small but wide area, where the knights trained.
There were a lot of soldiers in armor there.
When Eleanora-san appeared at the training field, one knight came over.

「Eleanora-sama, what are you doing in this sort of place? Is it possible that you came here to watch the training session?」

「I just came to check you didn’t skip it, that’s all. You can return to your training.」

The knight obediently returned to his training.

「What do you think when you see it, Yuna-chan?」

「What do I think?」

「Can you win against the knights?」

What are you asking, right in front of the knights?

「I can’t win.」

I’ll say that for now.
The eyes of the knights were scary.
Let’s stop this conversation.

「We will be a hindrance to the knights, so let’s go?」

「I wanted to see Yuna-chan fight, but…」

「I will politely reject that offer.」

「That’s sad.」

I glanced back to the castle, in order to go back inside. There, a little girl was running towards us.

「It’s Bear-san!!」

The child hugged my waist with a ‘Bofu’.
Who?
It was a 4 or 5 year old girl.
She was wearing beautiful western clothes.
Was it possibly………

「If it isn’t Princess Flora.」

I knew it.

「Why is Bear-san in the castle?」

「Bear-san is in the middle of touring the castle.」

Was Eleanora-san’s response.

「Is that right?」

I nodded for now.

「I see. Then, I will guide you to my room.」

She held my hand.
What should I do? I looked at Eleanora-san.

「I see. Then, thank you for your guidance.」

Heeeeeeee!?
It’s the princess, you know!
Well, it wasn’t like we could refuse.
But…what would happen if we opposed her?
Actually, was it even okay to go to the princess’s room?
It was the room of a royal person, you know?
I only had knowledge from manga or novels, but it wasn’t really a place where a normal adventurer could go, right?

「Eleanora-san, isn’t it really bad? This person is the princess, you know! I am just a commoner, you know!」

On the side, Fina just froze with a pale face.
She was probably closer to losing her soul than me, and her train of thought just stopped.

「Bear-san, you won’t come to my room?」

She was looking at me with moist, upturned eyes.
I had no way to escape.

「Princess Flora, why are you here?」

「When I was strolling around the castle, everyone said that they saw Bear-san, so I have been looking for you.」

Is it possible…that it’s my fault?

「Eleanora-san, is it okay if I go?」

「If I am with you, there is no problem. I will assume all responsibility.」

I had no choice but to go.
I couldn’t shake my Bear Hand, which was being held by the little hand, free.

「Then, princess, could you guide me to your room?」

「Yes!」

What would happen?
Fina followed us, her face still pale.
Then, we arrived at the princess’s room.
What to say. It was gorgeous.
I said gorgeous, but it wasn’t a golden room. There were no pricey jars or high class paintings.
There was a beautiful carpet, a bed with a canopy, a futon that seemed really soft, and a table and chairs that seemed high class.
It was that sort of room.
The fact that we came to this room is okay, but what do we do after that?

「Princess Flora, what should we do? Read a picture book?」

「Picture books are boring!」

The book Eleanora-san brought out was the story of a princess and a prince.
It was a picture book, but the pictures were not cute.
It was only a picture book if the pictures were drawn cutely, wasn’t it?

「Princess Flora, you have to learn how to read!」

「Boring!」

「Eleanora-san, do you have some papers and something to write with?」

「Yuna-chan?」

「I will draw a picture book.」

Everyone has wanted to be a Mangaka at least once.
It’s not like that was what I wanted to do, but somehow, there was a time when I drew.
The time when I was a hikikomori was long.
I had lots of free time.
I also had time to draw manga.

「Yuna-chan, is this okay?」

Eleanora-san brought some paper and tools to draw with.
I received them and started drawing.

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