Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

「Yuna-chan, I also have a request for you.」

Eleanora-san suddenly spoke up after the talk about the picture books was finished.

「What is it?」

「Yuna-chan, you’re free, right?」

Eleanora-san asked with a smile that seemed to carry a hidden meaning behind it.

It wouldn’t be a normal request when she asked me with such a smile.

Saying that I was free straight to my face, there was a limit to how rude could she be.

That left me with only one response.

「Sorry, I’m busy.」

「It’s not good to lie like this. Cliff complained to me that you seemed to be totally free, you know.」

「I’m an adventurer, so I have to work, I own a shop, and also help the orphanage, so…」

「Oh, is that so? Could you show me your guild card then, so I can see which requests you did? I also heard that you let other people manage the shop and the orphanage, but…」

「……」

Only Cliff could give her all of that information.

A married couple should be talking about their own daughters, not me…

「So, about this request…」

「I didn’t accept it, though…」

Even though I knew it was futile, I tried to resist.

「Can you at least listen? Yuna-chan, I would like you to escort some academy students.」

「Escort some students?」

「The students will undergo practical training soon. I say practical training, but it really isn’t anything major. They just go to a nearby village and back.」

「That’s all?」

I thought it would be a pain, since it was Eleanora-san’s request, but it ended up being something simple.

「Yes, that’s all. I want you to escort them. I tried requesting help from the Adventurer’s Guild, but due to certain circumstances, I wasn’t able to assemble the adventurers. All of the students are from respectable families, so I need their guards to be strong.」

「Then don’t make them do something that puts them in danger…」

「Only the best students will participate, so they know some self defense. Yuna-chan, I need you to be there, just in case something bad happens.」

「They don’t have any experience. This practical training is for them to learn about the dangers outside, to not make rash decisions, and the importance of guards.」

The king explained Eleanora-san’s words.

「They need to learn all the difficulties that the trip offers, the management of the horses, the terrible camping at night, the fear of monsters, the trust in comrades, and the reliance on the guards. They undergo this practical training to learn at least a bit about those things.」

「I understand that, but that job is under the academy’s jurisdiction, right? Why is Eleanora-san assembling adventurers?」

「Ah, that’s because I’m doing some odd jobs for the academy.」

Again with the odd jobs. She said something about doing odd jobs for the castle a while back as well. Just who was she, really?

「I get what you’re saying, but you still have a few days left to find someone, right? It doesn’t really have to be me…」

「I would like to gather the people soon, and there aren’t many people suitable to be the students’ guards, you know. They must have the strength, the time, and the patience to take the abusive language of those kids from the noble families. In the past, some of the children said abusive things to their escort, so the adventurer got mad and decided to abandon them halfway. 」

「What happened to those students?」

「One was killed by monsters, one was gravely injured, and two others were traumatized.」

「I’m no good then. If I took abusive language, I would beat them close to death and throw them into a goblin’s nest.」

It seemed like children from noble families were in the group, so if there were children like that guy who took the money meant for the orphanage, I would abandon them without a second thought. I didn’t think I would save them.

「You can beat them close to death, but my daughter is also inside the group, so don’t throw them into a goblin’s nest.」

「Shia will be there as well?」

「Yes, she will participate in the training this time around. She is more or less the child of a noble, after all. People at the top have to learn and experience a lot of things.」

「If Shia is participating, that means that the students will be of my age or older, right? Will they accept me as their guard?」

I had completely forgotten to mind the ages of the people I would have to guard.

They were students, so normally, the youngest should be 12 and the oldest should be 18.

Would the students, who considered themselves to be at the top of their generation, accept me as their guard, even though I was of the same age as them?

Moreover, I was shorter than other people of my age.

「I will just order them to keep silent about it.」

「I believe Eleanora telling them off will be sufficient, but if you want, should I also say something to them?」

The king said something really dangerous.

If the king himself came to a classroom, that would be the same as the prime minister coming to a classroom in Japan, right? He wasn’t somebody they could refuse.

「Ah, that seems interesting. Should I take part as well?」

Even the queen ended up saying such crazy things.

「I will also say it!」

Since the parents were saying such things, even Flora-sama was trying to imitate them…

「I will properly submit it as an Adventurer Guild’s request, so you will receive a reward as well.」

I wasn’t really in need of money.

Also, any place with nobles sounded troublesome.

「You don’t necessarily need the guards to be adventurers, right? You have knights and magicians in the castle, don’t you? You just have to make them do it.」

「We have a lot of knights and magicians who listen to orders, but if we just order them, students won’t see their real thoughts or actions, so they’re no good. We want them to go with the adventurers, who are of lower social status than them, and see how the adventurers think and act.」

The more I heard, the more troublesome I thought it was.

「That’s why, Yuna-chan, please do this for me. I will properly pay you.」

「It seems troublesome, so I refuse.」

Since I didn’t agree, Eleanora-san brought out another condition.

「Then how about me owing you one? It may be strange for me to say this myself, but there’s nobody I’m indebted to.」

A debt from Eleanora-san, huh. That seemed interesting, but I didn’t have anything to request.

「Me owing you one is more valuable than having Cliff owe you one, you know.」

More valuable than a debt from Cliff, who was a Feudal Lord… I really wanted to ask who the heck Eleanora-san was.

「I understand. But, just this time, okay?」

It could be interesting to use this debt to ask who Eleanora-san was.

「So, what will my tasks be?」

「As I said before, you will guard the students. I also want you to report their actions.」

「Report their actions?」

「For example, you just have to report things like if my daughter didn’t take part in the camp preparations, if she went to kill a monster alone, or if she didn’t follow your orders.」

In short, I was some sort of an examiner.

「Also, Yuna-chan, if someone says anything abusive to you, please report that as well. We will deduct points for that.」

「What should I do when a monster appears?」

「You just have to essentially watch over them, and save them if it seems dangerous.」

「How many monsters can the students cope with? Is a hundred goblins still okay?」

「Yuna-chan, only you’re okay with that many goblins. They can only take on one.」

Was it like that?

It was a bit late to say this now, but the Bear Equipment really was overpowered.

After this exchange, Eleanora-san explained the details of the practical training to me.

At some point during this, the king and the queen left.

Flora-sama kept reading her book in silence, and Anju-san prepared drinks for us.

「I just have to wait at my house on the appointed day, right?」

「I will come and get you in the morning, since you won’t be able to enter the academy wearing those clothes.」

When we finished talking, Eleanora-san borrowed the picture book 『Bear-san And The Little Girl: Part 1』 from Flora-sama, and left the room.

Eleanora-san’s job really consisted of many odd tasks. She was really close to the king though, so I really didn’t understand who she was.

I also decided to leave and said goodbye to Flora-sama.

「Bear-san, thank you.」

She was embracing her new picture book with care.

「I am happy that it pleases you. Anju-san, I will be leaving as well.」

「I’m grateful for what you did for Flora-sama today.」

Anju-san bowed.

「Also, Yuna-sama, thank you very much for letting us copy the picture books.」

「I knew it, Anju-san, you wanted it too.」

She had glanced at Flora-sama’s book a lot, so it was totally obvious.

「Yes, the drawings are really cute, so when Flora-sama showed it to me, I wanted to show it to my daughter as well.」

「You have a daughter, huh. How old is she?」

「Yes, she is of the same age as Flora-sama. That’s one of the reasons why I became Flora-sama’s attendant.」

「Then, even though this isn’t a picture book, give this to your daughter.」

I brought out a pudding and a popular type of bread.

「Is this really okay?」

「Cool the pudding before she eats it, okay? The bread should be good as it is, I think.」

「Thank you very much.」

I left the castle and decided to shop for a bit in the capital before going back to Crimonia.

I knew it, there really were a lot of gazes looking my way in the capital.