I put the letter and the box with the goblin’s king sword into bear storage.
“I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow, Yuna.”
“Yeah, you too.”
I left the lord’s residence to prepare for tomorrow.
Chapter 49:
The Bear Reports About Going to the Capital
FIRST, I headed to the merchant guild to tell Milaine I was heading out of town. There weren’t many people at the merchant guild—possibly because it was past noon. When I went to the reception desk, Milaine seemed bored.
“Yuna? What do you need?”
“I’m heading to the royal capital for a while, so I wanted to ask if you could leave the egg stuff to Tiermina.”
Actually, she was pretty much already handling it all anyway. The most I did was weigh in on prices every once in a while.
“You’re going to the royal capital?”
“I just have a quick escort job.”
“I see. Well then, since you’re going to the capital, I’ll look forward to the souvenirs.”
“Sure, is there something you want?”
“I’ll leave that up to you.”
When it came to souvenirs, meals, or anything, that was the most difficult response to ever get. I guess it was better than if she’d asked me for something unreasonable.
“This isn’t really a souvenir, but you can have this, Milaine.”
I took a pudding out of the bear storage.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a cuisine called pudding. I made it from kokekko eggs. Put it in the refrigerator and eat it on your break. Let me know what you think about it when I get back from the capital.”
“Thank you very much. I’ll eat it later. Please take this in return.”
Milaine wrote something down and handed me a sealed letter.
“What’s this?”
“It’s my letter of introduction. If you give this to the royal capital’s merchant guild, I think they might give you favorable accommodations. Use it if you run into trouble with them.”
Since I was planning to visit the merchant guild, I gratefully accepted the letter.
“Don’t forget about the pudding. Make sure you chill it before eating it,” I said on my way out.
After that, I just needed to visit three more places: Fina’s house, the adventurers’ guild, and the orphanage. The adventurers’ guild was the closest on my route. When I got there, it wasn’t all that busy. I hit up Helen at the reception desk.
“Oh, Ms. Yuna.”
“Could you help me with this?”
I handed Cliff’s letter to Helen. Her eyes scanned its contents.
“I’ll process this at the reception desk, so if you could let me have your guild card, please.”
I passed it to her.
“Well, I suppose this means you won’t be in town for a while.”
“I’m not sure for how long, though.”
The Guildmaster appeared from who knows where and called out to me.
“Yuna, you going somewhere?”
“It seems she’s going to the royal capital at Lord Cliff’s request.”
“Oh, for the king’s birthday celebration?”
The Guildmaster looked carefully at me.
“Yuna, hold on a sec.”
He ducked away into an inner room. I got to wondering what it might be just when he returned.
“Take this with you.”
Another stop, another letter.
“What is this?”
“It’s so you won’t cause a ruckus at the capital’s adventurers’ guild.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You’re going to the capital looking like that, aren’t you? Did you forget your first day here?”
No one tried to pick fights with me when I came into the guild anymore. I didn’t even get as many strange looks walking around town anymore. Actually, kids had started following me around more lately. It was like I was becoming some kind of hometown mascot. I couldn’t expect the same treatment abroad.
“I think if you give this letter to the adventurers’ guild, they’ll look after you a little.”
I’d be thankful for that. I mean, knocking people down one by one gets tedious after a while. After I thanked him for the letter, I took off.
My next stop was Fina’s house. Gentz wasn’t there, but all three of the women were.
“Oh, come right in, Yuna. What brings you by?”
“Yuna is here?!”
Fina came down from upstairs. Shuri followed after her.
“I came to let you know that starting tomorrow, I’ll be going to the royal capital for a while.”
“You’re going to the capital?” asked Shuri.
“I’m there for an escort job. Tiermina, I think you’ll do fine, but if you could look after the orphanage stuff?”
“Got it. I’m sure we won’t run into any trouble, so please take your time sightseeing at the capital. It’s your first time, isn’t it?”
“I wish I could go,” Fina mumbled softly as she listened in on us.
“You haven’t gone before?”
“I haven’t.”
I guess with no father and Tiermina sick, she wouldn’t have been able to.
“You want to come, too?”
“Oh, are you sure?”
“Well, it’s a two-person trip with just me and the person I’m escorting, so adding another person won’t cause any problems.”
“Are you sure, Yuna? Isn’t it a job?” Tiermina asked.
“I’ll ask the person I’m escorting tomorrow, then. If I get permission, we’ll go together. Otherwise, guess you’ll need to keep shop.”
“I’m so jealous, sissy,” Shuri said, giving her sister an envious look.
“You can’t go, Shuri. You’ve got to look after the house with Mommy.”
“Waaaah.”
“You really don’t want to be alone with your mom then, huh?”
Shuri shook her head from side to side, “Nuh-uh.”
Tiermina gave Shuri a hug.
“Well then, I’ll come for you tomorrow morning. You don’t need to prepare anything, but if there’s something you’re taking, get it ready so I can put it in my bottomless bag.”
Finally, I went to the orphanage to let the headmistress and the kids know I wouldn’t come by for a while and left them some wolf meat.
Chapter 50:
Fina Thanks the Bear
JUST RECENTLY, Dad came home looking really glum. I wonder why?
I heard that apparently a black viper came out and was attacking a village nearby. It was a huge deal at the guild. Apparently Dad got to come back from his job butchering and trading, but the other employees couldn’t change shifts.
The black viper is supposed to be a ginormous snake.