Chapter 153: Even Apart, We Will Always

“A bear?”

Saeki whispered, her mouth twitching.

“Y-yeah, a bear cub…?”

Mikuma replied to the question with a question.

What emerged from the grass was a small bear cub covered in pitch black fur.

I’m not sure if it’s wary of us, but it was slowly retreating.

Eventually, with only its face sticking out of the grass, it was staring at us.

“Hmm. Still a young child and you’re all making too big a deal out of it.”

Rouge grabbed one of the rice balls from the chair and headed for the river.

“Oh, hey, Rouge.”

Without listening to me, Rouge easily jumped across the width of the river.

She landed without making a sound, as if she was trying not to scare the bear, and sat down with her knees.

“Come here. There’s nothing to be afraid of, there’s food.”

“Kyu?”

The little bear tilted his head and looked at Rouge.

“Don’t worry. No one will hurt you. Are you hungry? The smell of onigiri is what drew you here, wasn’t it?”

Smiling a little more gently, Rouge continued to talk to the bear cub.

“A bear… huh. In this situation, it’s the police and the hunting club, right.” The old man asked Officer Inoue.

“I guess so. We should also contact the town hall, because it would be serious if a bear appeared in this area, which is close to human habitation.”

“I think we should contact the police station that has jurisdiction over this area. I’m sure they the parents are nearby. Toshio-kun, do you know anyone?”

Wait, a hunting club.

Are they going to kill the parents? That’s…

“Wait a minute. That… that kid is a beastmen, aren’t they?”

“Eh?”

At Mikuma’s words, everyone looked at the bear cub again.

Well, for a bear, it’s moving a bit… huh?

“It’s wearing something around the neck. Rouge, do you see that thing around the neck?”

“Hmm. A necklace with a sparkling stone, like some kind of black gemstone. The string is made from a wooden vine, it’s triangular and pointed.”

Black, pointy, triangular?

“Is that an arrowhead…?”

Mikuma put her hand on her chin and started to think about something.

“An arrowhead, like a tip of an arrow?”

“Yes. I think it’s a stone tool…”

While answering Saeki’s question, Mikuma was observing the baby bear closely.

“… Officer Doggy, I’ve seen something about it before, wasn’t there a special reserve nearby?”

“Ah!”

Officer Doggy clapped her hands as if she remembered something.

“There is! Oh, yeah, that’s this prefecture. Now I remember.”

“Now that you mention it, there is a special tribal reserve in the mountainous area between here and the next prefecture. Even though it’s a neighboring prefecture, it’s bad that we both forgot about it.”

What’s that? Another word I never heard of.

Is this going to be another pattern where my lack of knowledge is going to be exposed?

“Saeki, what’s a special protection zone?”

“There’s no way I know about it. Do you know Shouhei?”

“No? What about Kou-chan?”

“Nya nyai.”

Oh, good. I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t know.

“Oh, I knew there was such a thing. I didn’t know there was one in the next prefecture.”

What? Does my father know about it?

“It’s related to work. Um, it’s a restrictive inviolability zone protected for the beastmen tribes that don’t fit in with human society. They can’t be forcibly removed from their homes, so it’s decided through consultation between the government and the tribes.”

“Sorry dad, your eldest son… is an idiot.”

How am I supposed to know what’s going on if you explain it to me in such technical terms? How many years have we been living together? I hope you’ll learn by now.

“… I’ve been trying not to bother you about your studies, but I guess I was wrong.”

“I’m really sorry about that.”

No, seriously. I’ve been making an effort to stay awake and listen to my classes lately.

I thought I’d at least try.

“Yuuno-chan, can you help me?”

“Let’s see.”

Mikuma, who had been thrown the role of explainer by his father, immediately went into explanation mode.

I’m really sorry for the trouble you’re going through, teacher.

“The world clash brought many different races into human society, but there were a few tribes that just couldn’t leave where they lived. There are differences in customs and lifestyles, but mostly physical differences.”

Even physically, Gasara, Seijitsu-san and Nanairo-san look very different from humans, but they are still able to live.

“What’s so different about them?”

Saeki, Koji, Officer Doggy, and Yuri-san are relatively human-like in appearance, but there are many beastmen that look exactly like animals that walk on two legs.

“The thing that’s most different, and most troubling, is physical ability.”

“Physical ability?”

I think that most of the beastmen have more strength and better reflexes than humans.

“For example, wolf beastmen are very fast on their feet and have great jumping ability, right? Compared to humans, they have a lot more potential, or basic status, or physical strength. It’s something that even humans can do if they have access to vehicles and tools. But of course, there are beastmen who have abilities that humans can’t even begin to match.”

Ah, I see.

So the ‘too strong to handle’ beastmen.

“A light tap on the shoulder can cause the arm to fall off, or a hug can fold someone in half. There were a lot of incidents like that a long time ago. Even now, though, there are a few minor inter-species problems.”

It’s like a gentle expression, but it’s a cruel one, you know? That analogy.

“It’s not the only reason, but there are a few tribes that don’t want to have too much to do with society. Let’s see.”

While supplementing Mikuma’s explanation, Officer Inoue started fiddling with his phone.

“From here it’s… Doc, is this the right place?”

“Well, I think so. Here is the border of the prefecture… here is the mountain range… here is the city… so we’re here now.”

Ah, you’re looking at a map on your phone.

“Come on, come here.”

I looked at Rouge and saw that she was still struggling to get the bear cub to come to her.

But the distance between them was much closer than before.

“Ru-anesama, can I take Jaja and Nana with me?”

Aoi, who was holding Jaja and Nana while sitting on a leisure chair, asked Rouge.

“Yes, it’s still scared, so give it some space, okay?”

“I understand. Okay, Jaja, Nana, it’s your friend, okay?”

“Au?”

“Dah?”

Aoi stood up with the twins in her arms and made her wings appear on her back.

It’s a good thing she’s wearing a bathing suit right now, because if she was wearing regular clothes, the back part would tear every time she takes her wings out.

That’s why Aoi always wears light clothes when she flies.

“Here we go!”

Once she flapped her wings, she flew over the surface of the river.

“Oh, I want to see it too. Do you think I can get there from here?”

“Yuuno… You’re not very athletic, so it’s dangerous for you to go alone. I’ll go with you, wait a minute.”

“Kou-chan, shall we go too?”

“Ni, ni!”

A group of young people brimming with curiosity crossed the river one by one.

They’re so energetic.

“Hmm, no matter how you look at it, it’s so far away.”

“That little bear didn’t come alone, did it?”

The pair of officers, staring at their phones groaned.

“Dad, how do you know about the special protection zone? What does it have to do with your job?”

What’s it got to do with construction?

“Idiot, this is something that has to do with buying and selling land. The land near a protected area has different building requirements. Land prices are naturally different, and you can’t build commercial facilities there. If you don’t know about it, you might get into unnecessary trouble.”

Wow. That’s tough.

Thank you for your hard work.

“But it’s scary.”

“What is?”

My father crossed his arms.

“Yuuno-chan was the only one who noticed that child was a beastmen, right? He’s still a cub, so we weren’t wary, but if it was an adult of the same species, it would have been mistaken for a bear. That’s the scary thing about beastmen society. It’s a problem that the only way to distinguish them from wild animals is through clothing or language.”

Oh, yeah.

If we were hunters, we might shoot a tribe that didn’t wear clothes by mistake.

“That’s a problem.”

“What?”

I asked Officer Inoue, who was scratching his head.

“There’s a tribal settlement in a special reserve, but the nearest one is about twenty kilometers from here. It looks like the child is by itself, so I was wondering what to do.”

“No, no, it’s just a kid. I’m sure its parents are with him.”

It doesn’t look like it can travel 20 kilometers by itself.

“Hmm. We’ll take care of it for now. I’ll make a call.”

“Please.”

I wonder if the parents are frantically looking for their child.

I look at Rouge and the others on the other side of the river.

The little bear sniffed the scent of the rice ball in Rouge’s hand.

They were already that close together.

It’s such a friendly little guy.

All right, I’m going to ask Yulie to prepare something for me too.

“Oh.”

I told my father and headed for the cottage.

I hope your parents will be here soon.