KKKB 735

Bear-san and the others Visiting a Town in the Land of Wa

Early in the morning, I went out of the house.

"How are we going to travel?" (Sakura)

"By Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear?" (Kagali)

"Hayatemaru is there too." (Shinobu)

Hayatemaru was the name of Shinobu's horse.

The eight people heading to town were Fina, Shuri, Noa, Misa, Sakura, Shinobu, myself and Kagali-san.

I didn't expect Kagali-san to come with us.

Kagali-san said she was just passing the time.

And the means of transport were Swaying Bear, Hugging Bear, and Hayatemaru.

To carry everyone, we had to divide everyone into groups of 3, 3, and 2.

"I will be going with Swaying Bear then." (Kagali)

"Kuu~n."

"Um, I will." (Sakura)

Sakura looked at Hugging Bear.

Of course, Fina, Shuri, Noa and Misa also wanted to ride Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.

""Kuu~n.""

Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear looked at me with a "What are we going to do?" expression.

It would be a little troublesome if they started fighting over Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.

Besides, Hayatemaru was also there, and if no one but Shinobu wanted to ride it, I would feel sorry for Hayatemaru.

If I didn't deal with the situation immediately, it would become a big problem.

I thought about how to deal with this.

Since we were a group of people...

"We'll travel in a bear carriage." (Yuna)

"A bear carriage?" (Sakura)

Technically, it was a Bear Bus, but they didn't know what a bus was, so I called it a carriage instead.

It was quicker to show them the Bear Bus than to explain it, so I took out the Bear Carriage, or Bear Bus, from my bear box.

"What is this?" (Kagali)

"It has the face of Bear-san." (Sakura)

"It's big." (Shinobu)

Kagali-san, Sakura and Shinobu were surprised when they saw the Bear Bus for the first time.

"Is Swaying Bear-sama and Hugging Bear-sama pulling it?" (Sakura)

"Fufu." (Noa)

Noa laughed when she heard Sakura's words.

"You are saying the same thing I said, but Sakura, no, it's Yuna-san who moves it." (Noa)

"Yuna-sama?" (Sakura)

"I'll explain the details when we get on." (Yuna)

I opened the door of the Bear Bus next to me.

"Sit wherever you like, but the front seat is mine." (Yuna)

I didn't want them to sit in the front as it was the driver's seat.

"Misa, come on in." (Noa)

"Yes." (Misa)

Noa boarded the Bear Bus with Misa.

Then she turned around.

"Sakura, too?" (Noa)

"Yes." (Sakura)

Sakura boarded the Bear Bus with Noa.

"Sis, we too." (Shuri)

"Yes." (Fina)

Fina and Shuri followed, then Kagali-san and Shinobu got on the Bear Bus, and I was the last one to board after Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear transformed into cubs.

After boarding the Bear Bus, I looked at the seat behind me and saw Noa and the others sitting there.

"It's so unusual to see Noa in the back." (Yuna)

Last time, she sat next to me as if she were competing with the others.

"If I sit in the back, I can sit with everyone else." (Noa)

Noa looked to the left and right.

From left to right, Shuri, Fina, Noa, Sakura and Misa were seated.

Kagali-san sat alone in the middle of the Bear Bus, while Shinobu was positioned in between Kagali-san and Noa and the others.

Was that position because of her role as an escort? 

"Well, it's dangerous when it starts to move, so don't stand up." (Yuna)

I gave them a warning and sat in the front seat with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, who have turned into cubs.

I then turned around and made sure everyone was seated properly before we set off.

Slowly the Bear Bus started to move.

"Oh, it's moving." (Kagali)

"Is it powered by magic?" (Sakura)

"It's an application of an earth magic golem." (Yuna)

"I see. I didn't know it could be used in this way." (Sakura)

"I think anyone could come up with the idea of moving the wheels with magic power." (Yuna)

Just use magic power to move the wheels.

With simple instructions, it could even be automated.

"Even if we could think of it, we can't make use of it." (Noa)

"Why not?" (Yuna)

"That's because there is a limit to the magic power one has." (Noa)

Noa replied.

"The girl is right. If adventurers were to use a similar carriage as this one, a wizard would have to move it with a lot of magic power. But when the group encounters a monster along the way, the wizard will end up low on magic power or end up getting so drained that he cannot use as much magic power as he normally could. At worst, he may not even be able to take part in the battle. Making him useless in battle." (Noa)

Indeed, if someone used magic power for movement, they might end up unable to fight monsters.

"The opposite is also true." (Shinobu)

"The opposite?" (Yuna)

"If you use your magical power to fight monsters and use too much of it, you won't be able to move the carriage." (Shinobu)

"So you can't go anywhere until your magic power recovers." (Sakura)

Sakura added to Shinobu's explanation.

I remembered the time when I fought the Kraken. When I defeated the Kraken, I ran out of magic power. Even if I had been asked to move the Bear Bus at that time, I doubt I would have been able to do it.

With a horse, even if you run out of magic or have no strength, you would still be able to move around.

"So even if someone came up with this idea, they wouldn't be able to use it in real life." (Yuna)

"It's more practical to use a horse, you see." (Shinobu)

I knew I had more magic power than others, but it made sense now that they mentioned it.

"Well, magic stones can also be used, but I don't know how many of them will be needed." (Kagali)

"It's a question of cost and benefit." (Noa)

Noa added to Kagali-san's words.

"You said you are a noble's daughter, you are smart." (Kagali)

"Well, thank you?" (Noa)

Noa was at a loss for a reply when Kagali-san, who appeared to be younger than her, complimented her.

"Actually, it wasn't my own conclusion. I just happened to mention it to my father after I tried this bear carriage for the first time. At that time, my father told me the same thing as Kagali-san. But he also said that it might be possible to utilize it as a means of transportation." (Noa)

"I agree with that." (Kagali)

The Bear Bus debate centered around Kagali-san commenced.

"But he said there are many problems with it." (Noa)

"Weight and distance." (Kagali)

"Yes. If the carriage is heavy, it will naturally use more magic power. If the distance is longer, the amount of magic power used increases proportionally." (Noa)

"Yuna Onee-sama makes it easy, but it is not so easy, right?" (Misa)

"Yes, it is. No ordinary person can do it." (Kagali)

"Even Kagali-sama?" (Sakura)

"Compared to others, it is possible for me to make it run. However, I have no need for it." (Kagali)

Of course, Kagali-san alone could fly after all.

If I were to be asked if I really needed it, I didn't need one either because I have Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear to ride on.

The Bear Bus was only meant to move large groups of people quickly.

"Then I'll speed up a little." (Yuna)

I channeled magic power into the steering wheel.

The wheels moved faster and the speed of the vehicle increased.

"It's faster now." (Sakura)

"It's faster than a carriage." (Shinobu)

"Just don't run out of magic. If it stops, I will not move it with my magic power." (Kagali)

"Don't worry about it." (Yuna)

I increased the speed even more to prove it.

Noa and the others looked out with delight.

The Bear Bus continued on without incident and the destination came into view.

"Is it safe if we keep going?" (Yuna)

The entrance to the town came into view.

"I'm afraid there will be a commotion if we continue like this..." (Sakura)

"I suggest we stop here." (Shinobu)

Taking Sakura and Shinobu's advice, I stopped the Bear Bus.

"Are we going to walk from here?" (Shuri)

Shuri appeared to be sleepy.

Fina pulled her hand, and we got out of the Bear Bus.

Noa and Misa followed her.

"Wake up, Lady Kagali." (Sakura)

"Have we arrived already?" (Kagali)

Kagali-san fell asleep on the way and was woken up by Sakura.

"Yes. It's a bit of a distance to town, but we'll walk from here." (Sakura)

Sakura explained why we were going to walk to the town instead of riding the Bear Bus.

"Why don't we ride Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear instead?" (Kagali)

"The people will be surprised if we take the Bear Bus, or approach them while riding bears." (Sakura)

"That will indeed be too much trouble." (Kagali)

Kagali-san reluctantly got off the bear carriage.

When I confirmed that everyone had dismounted, I put the Bear Bus away in the bear box.

Then we all started walking towards the town.

"Hmm, I'm looking forward to it." (Noa)

"What kind of town is it?" (Misa)

Noa and Misa seemed excited.

But Sakura and Shinobu reacted differently.

"Well, I'm sorry to say that even if you are looking forward to it, it's just a normal town." (Sakura)

"That's right. There's nothing much to see." (Shinobu)

Sakura and Shinobu appeared a little apologetic.

But Shuri denied it.

"That's not true. There were many unusual things, it was fun." (Shuri)

"Yes. I think Noa-sama and Misa-sama will enjoy seeing so many things they've never seen before." (Fina)

"I'm glad to hear that." (Sakura)

In Mileela town, Cliff said something similar to the people living there. But for those living there, it would be the same old thing, the same old scenery and food, which would be attractive to people from other places.

"There is good food, but there is also stinky food." (Shuri)

Noa reacted to Shuri's casual remark.

"Stinky food?" (Noa)

"Yes, sticky, disgusting and smelly." (Shuri)

"Are you talking about natto?" (Sakura)

"Oh, I did remember eating natto when I came here with Fina and Shuri." (Yuna)

"I see, so you like it." (Sakura)

"I heard that people don't eat natto outside the Land of Wa." (Shinobu)

"Do you eat that sticky, disgusting, smelly stuff?" (Noa)

"Yes, we eat it. It's delicious." (Sakura)

"I agree with that, but people from other countries seem to have a problem with it." (Shinobu)

"I guess we have to try it to understand." (Noa)

Noa said so.

"Noa-sama, I don't think you should force yourself to eat." (Sakura)

"Has Fina eaten it too?" (Noa)

"Yes. It had a strange and mysterious taste." (Fina)

"When you say so, it makes me want to try it." (Noa)

Noa was willing to eat natto.

I wondered if this would be a case where I would end up eating the leftover natto.

Well, I didn't mind because I didn't dislike natto.

While having this conversation, we approached the town.