Chapter 262

Chapter 262 – Bear-san Enjoys the School Festival, Part 1

After visiting Shia’s stand, we ended up going around the school festival with Tilia .

Everybody introduced themselves before we started our tour . Technically, Noa and Tilia already knew each other but had actually never spoken before .

Fina very nervously introduced herself, while Shuri was simply going「It’s a princess…」 . Fina quickly scolded her to introduce herself properly . Tilia laughed and patted Shuri’s head, not perturbed at all .

「Well then, are there any places you want to visit? Or, do you want to eat something first?」

I wasn’t particularly hungry .

「Girls, are you hungry?」

「I’m not hungry, so we can go to other places first . 」

「I’m fine with that, too . 」

「Me too, I’m not hungry . 」

Nobody was hungry yet, so it was decided that Tilia would bring us around first .

Thanks to the mood of the school festival, everybody we passed by smiled at me . They would often utter 「A bear?」or 「It’s Bear-san!」, but they didn’t try to surround me .

On the other hand, quite a few groups of students noticed Tilia was with us and approached to greet her . They would then look at me and ask「Why are you with a bear?」

As Tilia guided us away from one of the groups, she spoke to me .

「I’m so happy to finally meet the rumored Bear-san . Many people in the castle have met you, but most of them don’t know what kind of person you actually are . I heard from Mother that you are 『an adorable Bear-san』while my sister told me that 『Bear-san is very kind . 』Also, when I asked father, he simply said 『She’s a bear . 』」

Well, I never liked to talk about myself, and I was sure the king would keep his promise about not revealing that I had defeated the ten-thousand-monster army .

「Still, why do you wear this bear outfit? Isn’t it hot?」

She suddenly sprang the question on me .

Luckily, I already had an answer prepared for it .

「Um, I receive the Protection of the Bear with this . 」

「Protection of the Bear? Does such a thing exist?」

Tilia looked at me suspiciously .

Well, I wasn’t exactly lying, since if I took off my Bear Suit, I would lose all of the powers it granted me, including heat and cold resistances . Likewise, if I took off my Bear Puppets, I wouldn’t be able to summon my Bears, cast any magic, or even be able to lift a heavy sword . I would simply be unable to fight at all . Also, I wouldn’t have access to my item bag anymore, which was a very important tool to me . Not to mention that, without my Bear Shoes, I wouldn’t be able to run quickly nor jump far .

Really, without the protection of the Bear, I couldn’t do anything .

I could hear Shuri and Noa discussing「I want the Bear-san’s protection, too,」on the side . I wanted to warn them that they would need to wear the Bear Suit to receive its protections, but when I thought about it, I realized those two would be more than happy to, which was a very scary prospect .

「You wear this outfit for protection, huh . Well, it’s fine since it suits you, and you’re really cute in it . I think the boys would be too embarrassed to wear something like that, though . 」

No, I was a girl and had also been very embarrassed wearing it . It was just that I had given up caring at this point .

「Ah, talking about bears… Could you please show me your summoned bears next time? They should look just like Flora’s plushies, right?」

She heard about my summons as well, huh . I wondered what else the royal family gossiped about me . Surely, they had other more interesting topics to discuss, no?

「The bear plushies are very cute, but when I asked Flora if I can have one, she looked at me like she would cry and told me no . That’s why I want them even more now . 」

Just what was she thinking? How could she even consider taking the plushies from Princess Flora? Even I knew how important those plushies were to her . She always carried around at least one of them everywhere she went, and when she returned to her room, she would neatly place them beside her pillow . How could anyone think of taking the plushies away from her knowing that?

「You can’t take the plushies from the princess . 」

Shuri went up to Tilia and told her that . Fina instantly tried to cover Shuri’s mouth, but she was too late .

「Fufu, I know . It’s just that the plushies are so cute I want them myself as well . Still, you don’t have to worry . I won’t take them from her . I wouldn’t forcibly take something so important to her . 」

Tilia faced Shuri as she promised her that .

I was glad that she didn’t actually treat her little sister’s belongings as her own .

「If you really want them, I can give you a set as a present . Just leave Princess Flora’s alone, please . 」

「Yuna, not you too . I won’t take them, I said . She had two, so I thought it would be okay to ask for one, but realized my mistake as soon as I saw her expression . 」

「Swaying Bear-chan and Hugging Bear-chan aren’t supposed to be separated . 」

「That’s what Flora and Mother told me as well . I thought they were simply different colored bears before . 」

Yes, to someone who didn’t know them well, they were simply of two different colors . Yet, I was fully confident that even if my Bears were the same color, I could still tell them apart . That was how long I had been with them, after all .

「Anyway, Shuri-chan, do you have the plushies as well?」

「Mhm, I have the Hugging Bear-chan plushie . 」

「How about everybody else?」

「I have Swaying Bear . 」

「I have both . 」

「So, everybody has at least one then . Yuna, please make sure you really give me at least one as well . 」

I had promised to give her a set of plushies so she wouldn’t be tempted to take Princess Flora’s, hadn’t I?

The conversation about the plushies turned out rather lively, and before we knew it, we reached a new area .

The academy grounds were bustling with people, so each program had at least some people enjoying it .

「Now then, where shall we start?」

「Yuna-san, where do you want to go?」

「How about we start from the beginning?」

Since I didn’t know what programs there were here, I figured the best would be to just go through from where we were .

We entered the plaza, and we saw students showing off their sword and magic skills . It felt a bit weird watching students perform in their uniforms, but after reminding myself that I was in a fantasy world, I realized that shouldn’t be too much of a surprise .

「There seems to be something interesting over there . 」

With Tilia taking the lead again, we reached a big crowd . Stretching our necks to see what was going on here, we saw that the people here were gathered in front of a stand where a knife throwing game was being held . There were many targets of various sizes placed all over the lengthy stand for the participants to aim at .

The guy currently playing threw a knife and hit one of the targets . He rejoiced and received what appeared to be a prize which he then gave to a girl right after . Was that a hair ornament?

Before I could get a closer look, another guy stepped in front of the stand . He tried to aim for a target slightly farther away but missed all three times and had to apologize to the girl he was with .

「This looks like a place for guys to show themselves off to their girlfriends . 」

「We get a prize if we hit the target?」

Shuri was staring at the biggest and the prettiest hair ornament on display next to the stand .

It was a very beautiful hair ornament, and it was also the game’s grand prize .

「This is my time to shine . 」

Tilia boasted . Winning at this game seemed to be pretty difficult, though . Reading the rules on a sign next to the stand, the challenger would earn points for each target hit, with more points being given depending on the distance .

The prizes were separated into five grades, and to get the prettiest hair ornament, the challenger would have to earn the maximum number of points possible . The guy from earlier only received the prize from the third grade .

The next person in line tried aiming for the closer targets and managed to win a small hair ornament from the lowest grade . The girl he gave it to looked pretty happy, but the crowd began booing him . In my former world, they would probably be yelling “Die you normies!” .

A girl stepped up to play next . Was she trying to get one for herself?

「Does everybody want to try?」

「I want to!」

「Me too!」

「If everybody else is doing it, then I will as well . 」

Everyone looked excited to try .

For a split second, I wondered if it was okay to let children hold knives, but then I remembered that both Fina and Shuri were experienced with using knives to dismantle beasts, so I couldn’t really stop them, especially when they looked so eager . It wasn’t like they would be throwing them at people .

Hmm, since this was a festival, I should join in and have some fun as well .

When I followed the others to step into the line, I could hear people going 「Bear?」「It’s a bear . 」all around me but I simply ignored them .

Soon, it was our turn . Tilia stepped up first . When the students running the stand saw the princess, they were all shocked .

「Tilia-sama?!」

「Let me play, okay?」

「Y-yes . Go ahead . 」

「Fufu, I’ll take the prize for sure . 」

The student gave Tilia three knives, and Tilia stood in front of the targeting area . Which targets would she aim for?

Tilia readied her first knife and threw it gracefully . The knife soared through the air in a nice line and landed with a good sound, right in the middle of a target .

Ooh, she was quite good . The crowd also cheered for her . 「Tilia-sama, you’re amazing . 」「Tilia-sama, you can do it!」

Her next two throws also landed on their targets . With her combined points, she won a third-grade flower-themed, hair ornament .

If she had aimed and hit one of the farthest targets just once, she would have won the second-grade prize, yet she decided to play it safe .

After collecting her prize, Tilia returned to us .

「Princess, you’re amazing . 」

「Hehe, of course I am . I’m good at knife throwing, after all . 」

That was good and all, but for a princess to be skilled at knife throwing, wasn’t there something wrong with that? Well, it might be fine if she had learned it for self-defense, but why throwing knives?

「My turn . 」

Noa confidently stepped to the targeting area and aimed for the same targets as Tilia . Her first two throws missed, but she managed to hit her third throw, so at least she got the smallest hair ornament .

「That was close . I almost received no points . Fina, Shuri, it’s better to aim for the targets closer to you . 」

「Okay . 」

It was Fina’s turn next . She followed Noa’s advice and only aimed for the closest targets, earning her a small ornament as well . The closest targets were meant for children and beginners to aim at . That way, anybody could get a prize, and I noticed there was a large number of small hair ornaments prepared .

Just as I was about to try, Shuri jumped in front of me .

「My turn!」

「Are you sure you want to try?」

「Onee-chan taught me how to hold a knife, so I’ll be fine . 」

She had taught her how to hold it, not how to throw it .

Still, since Fina didn’t say anything, I figured there was no harm in letting her try .

When Shuri stepped to the targeting area, the spectators became rather excited . 「How cute . 」「Will she be okay?」「Do your best!」and other comments came flying at her .

Receiving her three knives, Shuri took aim for the closest targets just like Fina . Her first throw was too far to the right and the second was too far to the left . Her third throw managed to hit, but the knife didn’t penetrate the target and fell to the ground .

All around us, we could hear people saying 「She tried her best . 」or 「Give her a prize!」

「Uuu . 」

Shuri returned looking very dejected . Well, that couldn’t be helped . She was small and had never done it before .

「Shuri, I’ll give you mine . 」

FIna tried to give Shuri the ornament she won herself, but Shuri shook her head .

「But that’s yours, Onee-chan . 」

These two were such good sisters…

「Okay, then I’ll win one for you, Shuri . 」

「Yuna-neechan?」

「I mean, I can’t really use hair ornaments with this hood of mine . 」

I said and pointed at the Bear-san Hood that was covering my head . I didn’t need the ornament since I was covering myself with the hood anyway, so it was better give it to Shuri instead .

「Okay, time to show my skills . 」

The crowd started to clamor the moment I got up to the targeting area .

「It’s a bear . 」「Bear . 」「Did she make that suit for the festival?」「Who’s wearing the costume?」It looked like people thought I was a student here .

「Here you go . 」

One of the female students passed me the knives while taking a glance at my outfit . Did these girls make the ornaments themselves?

I took the knives and looked at the targets . Which ones should I aim for? Since all of the targets were stationary, my Bear-san Homing Skill could easily hit any one of them .

I decided I had to do my best for Shuri .

Grasping the knife in my Bear-san Puppet, I threw the first knife . It flew through the air and solidly hit the bullseye of one of the farthest targets . The crowd cheered . 「Amazing!」「She hit it right in the middle, and on the farthest target . 」「That’s gotta be a fluke . 」

I threw the second and the third knives, and of course, they hit dead center again, each on a different, farthest target .

「Amazing . 」「The bear is so cool . 」「What is this? She hit the farthest target three times in a row . 」「Bear-san’s amazing!」

The crowd continued to cheer wildly . They were exaggerating things . I was sure any regular adventurer could do this . I wasn’t a C ranked adventurer for nothing, after all .

I walked up to the girls running the stand to receive my prize . They looked shocked and exchanged a few questioning expressions before handing me the grand prize .

I felt a bit bad taking it like that, but, oh well, it was worth it for Shuri .

With the beautiful hair ornament in hand, I immediately decorated Shuri’s hair with it .

「Thank you, Yuna-neechan . 」

「It looks good on you . 」

She beamed me a bright smile . I was glad I worked hard; this smile was completely worth it . I couldn’t help that I had stood out so much, but the crowd seemed to think I was just playing a role for the program, so it should be fine… right?

「Uuu, I’m jealous . 」

Noa looked enviously at Shuri .

「Okay, how about I get one for everyone then?」

I looked over at the remaining prizes, and the girls running the stand turned stiff .

「Yuna-oneechan, I think you should stop here . 」

「Yes, you shouldn’t clear them out . 」

Fina and Tilia stopped me after seeing their expressions .

「Okay, I will try again myself, then . 」

We rejected Noa’s request, and left the knife throwing stand before we brought about even more trouble for the students managing it .