Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear (Chapter 75-260)

Chapter 255

Chapter 255 – Bear-san Arrives at the Capital

The following day, we rode out under a bright, blue sky complemented by a few fluffy, white clouds. With such weather, we shouldn’t need to worry about rain anymore. The road wasn’t in bad shape, either, so the rain had most likely ended earlier than I had expected it would. We had been so focused on playing card games yesterday that we didn’t even notice when it had stopped.

Proceeding smoothly, the wall surrounding the Capital came into sight in the early afternoon.

「So big.」

Shuri gasped in awe.
It was her first time seeing it, so it made sense for her to be this surprised. When I had first laid my eyes upon the capital walls, I had been awed as well.

「Okay, let’s walk from here on out. It would be problematic if the Bears caused a commotion.」

I had already told everyone in advance, that once we were in sight of the walls, we would walk. I had explained the reason properly, so they all obediently climbed off the Bears.

「Thank you, Hugging Bear-chan, Swaying Bear-chan.」

Shuri patted both Bears, and was quickly followed up by Fina and Noa, who also gave their thanks. The Bears cried happily in reply. I then proceeded to thank them myself and returned them to their gloves.
We didn’t walk for too long and soon reached the gates. Compared to the last time when we had come here for the king’s birthday party, it was much less busy with way fewer people entering and leaving. Still, just like usual, the passing people stared at me weirdly.
It was a gaze I could never get used to no matter how hard I tried. With three cute girls by my side, it was even worse this time.
The girls tried their best to protect me from getting stared at by walking beside and in front of me, but it felt like that simply made us stand out more. This situation could easily be described as the Beauty(ies) and the Beast (Bear).

Passing through the gates, our next problem was figuring out how we would get to Eleanora-san’s mansion. We were quite the distance away, and of course, I couldn’t just summon the Bears in the middle of the capital. We could hire a horse carriage or walk all the way. What should we do?

「Oh right, Yuna-san, there’s something I forgot to tell you.」

As I was deciding on which means of travel to pick, Noa suddenly spoke up.

「In Mother’s letter, she said we should go to the gatehouse after arriving at the capital.」

「Gatehouse?」

「Yes. There is a carriage waiting for us there. She figured we wouldn’t be able to travel with Swaying Bear-chan and Hugging Bear-chan inside the capital, so she prepared one for us.」

How thoughtful of her.
I wished she had told me beforehand, though. I had no idea she would have carriages prepared for us; what if we had used the Bear Gate and skipped entering through the city gates, instead? That was a close call. Well, there were plenty of excuses I could come up with, but it could still have been a pain to use them on her.

「So, do you know where the gatehouse is?」

「Yes, it’s over here.」

As we followed Noa, a guard approached us.

「I knew it. I heard that a girl dressed as a bear has been spotted entering the capital, so I figured it must have been you, Yuna-dono.」

Taking a closer look at him, I recognized the person in front of us.

「Good afternoon, Ranzel-san.」

「It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Thank you for all your help with the Salbert family case.」