Chapter 118 – Bear-san Finds Goblins
The sun was going down, so the students started setting up the campsite.
There wasn’t really much to do, though. They just had to tend to the horses and start a campfire.
We then all ate our own food before going to sleep.
「So, I will be first lookout, then Timor, Cattleya, and Shia. Is that okay?」
「Yes.」
They all nodded.
He didn’t list my name, so that meant I could sleep, right?
The person on lookout also had to tend to the fire.
The others would be sleeping in the narrow-spaced carriage.
「Timor, are you okay?」
Cattleya called out to Timor when he left the carriage.
「I don’t have the courage to sleep next to three girls. I will sleep outside with Marcus.」
「I really appreciate this. After all, I can’t sleep with boys either.」
Cattleya-san thanked Timor.
The three of us found places to sleep inside the small carriage. Even without the boys, there was barely enough space. I was sure Timor had decided to sleep outside because he had realized that.
We wrapped ourselves in our blankets and lied down.
「Yuna-san, Shia-san, have a good night.」
「Goodnight.」
「Night.」
I thought we would have some girl talk, but they weren’t used to traveling, so they fell asleep really quickly.
I didn’t change into the White Bear either. I was sure that they would have mocked me if I had changed. I didn’t use any magic and didn’t do anything that would have tired me out either. If I had to complain about something, it would be that I was tired mentally.
I didn’t think that being around boys of the same age as me would wear me out this much.
This must have been the reason I stopped going to school and became a hikikomori.
I dove deep under the blanket and summoned Hugging Bear in his cub form under it.
Hugging Bear climbed on top of my belly; he felt light thanks to the Bear Clothes.
「Wake me up if any monsters or bandits come, okay? ...Also, I don’t think they will, but if the boys come to assault us, tell me, okay?」
Hugging Bear cried out softly to avoid waking the other two up.
I used Hugging Bear as a stuffed toy replacement and went to sleep.
Hugging Bear was warm and gave me a sense of security; it wasn’t long before I fell asleep.
I opened my eyes when Cattleya moved.
It seemed it was time for a lookout change.
「I’m coming.」
She silently said to someone. According to the lookout order, it should be Timor.
Cattleya climbed out of the carriage.
I hugged Hugging Bear and fell back asleep just after.
A while later, Cattleya returned and woke up Shia.
Shia was the last lookout, so it would be morning soon, right?
Shia left the carriage while Cattleya rolled up in her blanket and went to sleep.
Carefully, trying not to wake Cattleya up, I stretched and left the carriage with my blanket still rolled up around me.
I was still embracing Hugging Bear, of course.
「Yuna-san, why did you wake up?」
Shia whispered when she noticed me leaving the carriage.
「You see, I would feel bad if I was the only one sleeping without being on the lookout duty. So, I will do it with you.」
I sat next to Shia.
「Thank you very much.」
Shia thanked me. She then shivered and extended her hands toward the fire.
「Are you cold?」
「Just a little.」
The sun didn’t rise yet, so it was probably chilly.
Not like I could feel it wearing the Bear Clothes, though.
I was also hugging something warm under my blanket.
「Shia, should I lend you something warm?」
「Something warm, you say?」
I showed her Hugging Bear from inside the blanket.
「B... Bear-san!」
「He is warm, you know!」
I offered Hugging Bear to her. Hugging Bear gave me a confused look, as if to say『What is going on?』.
「Hugging Bear, keep Shia warm, okay?」
「Is it really okay?」
Even though she said that, she was already stretching out her hand. Hugging Bear cried out softly and was then hugged by Shia.
She brought him under her blanket.
「He is warm. Yuna-san, thank you very much.」
She seemed really happy while holding Hugging Bear.
「But why is he small?」
「He is a summoned beast, so he can be made small. Well, even if you ask me about the specifics, I wouldn’t be able to answer.」
「He is warm and feels good. It makes me sleepy.」
She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling.
「Sleeping is no good!」
「Yes, but I will be able to boast to Noa about this.」
「Boast, you say...」
「Noa was boasting she had slept with the bears, you see. And she was talking about it really happily! It made me really frustrated.」
I couldn’t understand what those sisters were competing about...
After some time had passed, the sun began to rise, so we decided to wake everyone up.
That also meant saying goodbye to Hugging Bear.
「Hugging Bear, thank you!」
Shia said regretfully.
When everyone woke up, we ate a simple breakfast and departed towards the village.
The boys drove the carriage while the girls rode in the back.
When I was with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, I didn’t really notice it, but traveling was really boring, huh. There was nothing to do in a shaking carriage. Would some games help kill time? Thinking about traveling, the standard games were Poker or Othello, but would we be able to play them in the carriage?
The carriage hit a rock and shook. Playing Othello would probably be impossible if the pieces weren’t magnetized.
Poker might work since we would be holding the cards in our hand?
Asking for the impossible wouldn’t help my job, so I used detection magic to check our surroundings.
Huh? I found two goblins in the direction we were moving towards.
If we stayed on this path, we would encounter them without a doubt.
What should I do?
Should I tell them?
I didn’t think that just two goblins would be a problem.
Hmmmmmmm......
「Yuna-san, what is it?」
Shia called out to me as I was still troubled over what to do.
Would it be okay if I told her?
Worrying didn’t really help, so I decided to talk about it.
「There seem to be two goblins not far ahead. You guys should talk about what’s the best thing to do.」
「Goblins, you say?」
「You sure?」
「I didn’t know if it was okay to tell you since this is a practice training...」
I replied honestly.
I wasn’t their teacher, so I didn’t know if the goblins were considered dangerous.
If it was a monster they couldn’t defeat for sure, like an orc for example, I wouldn’t hesitate to tell them.
「How do you know about the goblins?」
Cattleya asked the logical thing.
They weren’t at an age where they would unconditionally trust me like Fina.
Fina would believe me for sure, but....
I was troubled over how to explain it to them; it was time for my Bears to shine.
I summoned Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear in their cub forms.
「Wh, What are those!」
「My summons. They told me about the monsters.」
「Summons...」
Cattleya was surprised by the Bears who suddenly appeared before her.
「Yuna-san, are the goblins really in front of us?」
「If we continue to move forward like this, we will encounter two goblins.」
「Marcus, stop the carriage!」
Shia shouted to Marcus who was driving. Did she trust the bears and me?
Marcus, surprised by Shia’s voice, stopped the carriage.
「What!? Did something happen!?」
「It seems that there are goblins ahead of us.」
「Haaah? What are you saying? I can’t see any goblins!」
Marcus looked ahead and was annoyed by Shia’s words.
Of course he would be annoyed when he was told something like that so suddenly.
「Yuna-san said there are two goblins in front of us...」
「Why would the Bear, who is inside the carriage and can’t see the road, know that there are goblins in front of us?」
That was a totally reasonable opinion.
「Well, Yuna-san’s bears...」
「Bears? What are you talking about?」
When she said something like that so suddenly, there was no way Marcus would understand, right?
Since she didn’t know how to explain, Shia didn’t respond.
That was why I decided to explain it myself.
「The reason I know about the goblins is thanks to these children.」
I showed him the bears.
「What are those!?」
「They are my summons. They told me that there are monsters not far ahead.」
I didn’t really lie.
I knew about the goblins thanks to my detection magic, but these children knew their location too.
「And that’s why I know there are monsters even from inside the carriage.」
「Something like that is just...」
「I know. Well, even if you don’t believe me, you just have to move forward and you will see them. More importantly, what will you do about the goblins when you get there? If you can’t kill them, I will do it in your place, but...」
「D, don’t joke with me. There are only two goblins. We can kill them. Timor, we should move on!」
He wasn’t saying that he would fight them alone, huh.
Marcus made the carriage move forward.
「Yuna-san, the Bear-sans had such an ability, huh.」
「Well, yeah. So, can you two kill the goblins?」
「Yes, no problem.」
「They are only goblins; we can kill them.」
They were saying some really reassuring things.
I would just watch this time then.
「More importantly, are these bears really your summoned beasts, Yuna-san?」
Cattleya looked at Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.
「I summoned them right in front of you, didn’t I?」
「Would it be possible for me to touch them?」
When I gave her permission, she timidly extended her hand and caressed Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear’s heads.
「They are really docile, huh.」
「Well, they are docile as long as you don’t harm them.」
「I thought that bears were scary, but they are cute, right?」
Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear narrowed their eyes and looked like they were really enjoying it.
While Cattleya was still caressing Swaying Bear, a voice was heard from the coach.
「Marcus, those are...」
When we heard Timor’s voice, we all looked ahead. There were two silhouettes. After the carriage advanced some more, they realized that they were indeed goblins.
Marcus stopped the carriage and looked at the goblins as if he couldn’t believe what he saw.
The goblins also noticed the carriage, of course. They were looking towards us while holding weapons in their hands.
「Marcus, what should we do!?」
Shia called out, and Marcus turned towards us.
「Timor and I will take on the right one and leave the left one to you two. Bear, you take care of the carriage, okay?」
Marcus gave us instructions and jumped down from the coach together with Timor.
「Yuna-san, I’m going.」
Cattleya and Shia also went towards the goblins.
I couldn’t drive a carriage, but I still took the coach reins.
Wasn’t this the most dangerous place for me to be at, then?
If the carriage started moving, I wouldn’t be able to stop it. Honestly, I was more scared of a horse running wild than fighting a goblin.
What was wrong with me? I was more stressed about being left alone with a carriage than in a herd of goblins...
Praying for the horses not to move suddenly, I watched the battle unfold.