“What was that about a bear house?” It seemed that Helen wasn’t up to date on my business.
“You don’t know? She rented some land and built a house on it. It looks like a bear from the outside. On top of that, she supposedly built it without anybody noticing, so she’s been the hot topic of the town.”
“I had no idea. I will go take a look sometime.”
No, you don’t have to, I thought.
All I was doing was completing quests like a regular adventurer, making a (bear) house like normal with magic, going slaying on my (bear) rides, and wearing my normal (bear) clothes while walking around town.
“Can’t I just say no?” I didn’t want to meet him. I just wanted to go home.
“Who knows?” said the Guildmaster. “Adventurers don’t normally reject quests from the aristocracy. If you’re going to turn him down, your only option might be to skip town.”
“What a pain.” That was all I could say.
“Don’t say that. You’ve just tickled his fancy. If it’s just a meeting, you might as well go see him.”
“Well if I were to meet him, when should I do it? A lord isn’t exactly going to have spare time.”
“Yes, he has informed us of a few days that would work. Either tomorrow or the afternoon three days from now would be ideal.”
If he was that busy, he didn’t have to go out of his way to meet me.
“I won’t let you go until I hear you say that you’ll accept the quest.” Helen still had my outfit in her immovable clutches.
“I got it. I’ll go meet him. That’s all I’ve got to do, right?”
“Will you really? Thank you so much.”
She finally let go. Without any other options, I ended up deciding to go meet him the following afternoon.
What a pain, I thought again.
Chapter 28:
The Bear Goes to the Lord’s Residence
THE NEXT DAY, I followed Helen’s directions to the lord’s mansion. A guard with a scary-looking face was posted at its outer gates. She had told them that I’d be heading over today, right? This whole thing was a pain in the butt, but I resigned myself to it and approached the gate.
The guard turned and locked his eyes on me. He definitely thought I was suspicious, and it wasn’t like he had any choice. Somebody wearing a bear onesie was approaching him, in a world where onesies didn’t exist.
“What business do you have here?” He scanned me from head to toe.
“I’m the adventurer, Yuna. I was called here by the lord.”
“You’re the one…I heard about that. I’ll need you to show me your guild card to confirm your identity.”
Oh, good. I suppose you’d have to be real stupid to summon someone and not warn the staff they were coming. After he finished checking my guild card, the guard led me all the way to the entrance, where a maid in her early twenties took over.
So such maids really do exist, I thought. She was even wearing the picture-perfect black and white outfit. People with a real specific fetish would be ecstatic right around now.
The maid was clearly surprised by the sight of me, but immediately recomposed herself. She told me her name was Lala and, after lightly bowing her head, asked me to follow her. Lala walked silently through the mansion, stopped in front of a door, and knocked on it.
“Master Cliff, I have brought the adventurer Yuna.”
“Come in,” a voice answered from within.
“Excuse me.” Lala opened the door and urged me inside. I obeyed, and she shut the door behind me.
The room was expansive, containing a large desk and a table flanked by a pair of sofas. It felt like an office. A blond man in his thirties sat behind the desk.
“Please, take a seat on the sofa over there,” he directed.
I did as he asked.
“Looks like you really are dressed like a bear.”
The man came over and sat on the sofa across from me. A wry smile took over his mouth as he looked at me. Looked like he really was some slimy aristocrat.
“If you just called me over to laugh at me, then I’m going home.”
“Oh, no. I apologize.”
“What did you want with me, then?”
“I just wanted to meet the bear everyone was talking about.” Hadn’t the Guildmaster said basically the same thing? “My daughter wanted to meet you, too.”
“Your daughter?”
“I hear she spied you once in town. Since then, nothing delights her more than to have me relate all the reports about you that make their way to me.”
Wait a sec! Aren’t there privacy laws against that?!
“So does that mean you called me here for your daughter?”
“Partly, yes, but I also simply wanted to see the bear that everyone’s talking about.”
Like I’m a zoo exhibit, I thought. “My name isn’t ‘the bear’—it’s Yuna.”
“Right. I’m Cliff. You must already be aware of this, but I’m the lord of the town.”
“Well, are you satisfied now that you’ve seen me?”
“Don’t be mad. You’re ruining your adorable face.”
It was kind of embarrassing to be called adorable in a face-to-face conversation. I pulled my bear hood low over my head, so he couldn’t see me.
“Still, I find it hard to believe like a little girl like you could have possibly slayed a goblin king and tigerwolves.”
“Maybe it’s all a lie.”
“I did some looking into you before summoning you here—since I was going to have you meet my daughter.”
He’d been investigating me? That didn’t make me feel great, though there wasn’t anything I could have done about it.
There was a knock at the door. “I have brought Madame Noir,” Lala called.
“Come in.”
A cute girl about Fina’s age, with long, blonde hair, entered the room. “Father, is it
