Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Chapter 271-272

Now that the royal family was here, maybe we should leave?
When I suggested that, however:

「As long as you don't make a lot of noise, we don't mind having you stay.」

「Really?」

「Do you really think I would kick you out after seeing Flora like that?」

The king said, looking down at my legs, which Princes Flora was very happily hugging. I petted her head again, and she seemed to enjoy it very much.

「I wanna be with Bear-san.」

I wasn't Bear-san right now, but she still called me that regardless…

「Besides, Tilia brought you here, so we have no reason to make you leave.」

Thanks to the good will of the king and the queen, we stayed to watch the theatre.
It was a rare experience, so we all appreciated it. However, except for Shuri, all the younger girls in our group were visibly nervous. Misa hid behind Noa, while Noa straightened her back, wanting to look like she was protecting Misa from the king.
Fina was also grasping Shuri's hand tightly, making sure she wouldn't wander off.

「You can sit on that sofa, if you like.」

We weren't completely sure if the kingy was joking or not when he pointed at an expensive-looking sofa, but we all politely declined.
Afterwards, the king kept looking at my face and muttering 「Yes, that really is Yuna…」.

「I really didn't realize it was Yuna since she changed into the uniform. Kitia, how did you know it was her?」

「I can recognize a cute girl like her no matter what she wears. You should look at women more closely.」

My image of the queen just changed a bit. I had thought she was simply being nonchalant all the time, but it seemed she was actually paying attention the entire time.

「I had no idea someone's aura could change drastically like that.」

「That's not good for a king, you know.」

「Yes, I understand that… I made sure to remember her face now, so I will be able to recognize her in any strange outfit.」

Why was he still calling me strange? I was wearing a regular school uniform which should be considered a completely normal set of clothing.
Well, the uniform was only for the school festival, so once it was over, I wouldn't have to wear it anymore. Once the festival ended, I would just go back to my usual Bear Outfit.
I decided to forget about the uniform issue and focus on the play, which was about to start.
We all moved over to the balcony and looked at the stage. Soon, a loud ringing sound signaled the beginning of the play. This was the first time I would see a play in real life, so I was really excited.

The play was a love story between a knight and a princess. They loved each other deeply, but due to their status, they were forcefully torn apart.
Yup, this was a pretty standard plotline.
The king wanted to let his daughter do as she pleased, but then an evil minister appeared and tried to set up a political marriage between his own son and the princess.
The king was kind to his daughter and didn't force her. Well, it was possible that the country's king would come and watch the play (like he really did), so they couldn't do anything that could show kings in a bad light.
The play continued, and the minister's son appeared. I had thought the son would also be evil, but it turned out he was actually a sympathetic character who was good friends with the knight. Still, due to the evil minister, the marriage between his son and the princess drew closer.
The minister even decided to hire an assassin to kill the knight, allowing nothing to stand in the way of his ambition.
However, his son found out and saved the knight at the last possible moment.
Afterwards, the knight and princess faced many more challenges, set up by the evil minister, while the minister's son helped them from the shadows.
What was this? The minister's son was a really cool guy, wasn't he?
Could it be that the main character was actually the minister's son?
At the end of the play, the son managed to expose all of his father's evil deeds, reporting it to the king. The minister found out, however, and got angry at his son for betraying him, going as far as to order his subordinate to kill him. The knight somehow got involved, and we got a good battle scene, where the knight saved the minister's son from harm's way.
The minister got overthrown after that, and the knight and princess could finally marry each other in peace. The minister's son also participated in the wedding before setting a journey by himself.
Personally, I believed the main character of this play was actually the minister's son. There were even parts, here and there, where it seemed like the son actually had romantic feelings for the princess as well. However, he gave it all up for his friend.
Hmm, that was interesting, but it left me hoping that the minister's son would find happiness on his journey.
In my opinion, the story would be better if the minister's son found happiness in the end. He tried his hardest for his friend's sake. He even exposed his own father's evil deeds for his friend. If only there was someone to stand by his side at the end, the ending wouldn't have left such a bad aftertaste. Maybe if there was a second princess, who was actually in love with him the entire time?
Well, the ending was a bit disappointing, but the whole show was still quite interesting.
As I was still lost in thought, the king suddenly said something unbelievable.

「It wasn't bad. Still, I think that Yuna's picture books are more meaningful.」

What on earth was he saying?
Even the girls on the balcony all nodded.

「I agree. I found the scene where Bear-san tries her best for the girl to be very moving. I think it would be very nice for the children to watch if it gets made into a play.」

Even Her Highness agreed with him.
Then again, I had noticed Florsama looked a bit bored watching the play, but that might be because it was a little early for someone her age to watch this.
Well, no matter what, I just hoped nobody would make my picture books into a play.
Fina seemed to agree with me as well, rapidly shaking her head in dread.
Also, even if it was made into a play, what reason would adults have to go and see it?

「Okay, let's make a play based on the picture books next.」

「Please don't!」

I objected strongly. That picture book was already embarrassing as it was. If they made it into a play, they would only make it even worse.

「You sure? I think it's a really good idea, though.」

「If you make it into a show, I will never bring you food again.」

「Uuu, that's…」

The king had tried to tease me, but luckily, I had a hold on his weakness. As long as I bought food into the conversation, he could do nothing but give in.

「Does that include Flora's share?」

I shook my head.

「I will still prepare Princess Flora's share, but even if you two come to her room, you won't get any.」

If they forbid me from entering the castle, though, then that would be the end of it. The king thought about it for a bit then said:

「I understand… I will give up on the idea.」

「Yes, but it really is unfortunate that it has to be this way.」

It seemed like the food had won in the end. I was very surprised that it was possible to triumph by winning over someone's stomach.
When I stopped them from going forward with their idea, Fina looked quite relieved as well. Thinking about it from her perspective, having a picture book based off of her own life made into a play would be really embarrassing, wouldn't it?
Also, what would they do about the role of the Bear? I wouldn't play it, no matter how much they asked me to.
The king and the queen seemed to be very disappointed, but I wouldn't ever give them permission for something like that. Even I had my limits.

Now that I had safely prevented the picture book from becoming a play, I asked Tilia what the next program was.

「Next is a performance by the academy's singing princess.」
(TN: The Japanese word for songstress is utahime, or literally song princess.)

It seemed like they would finish it off with a singing performance. Still, did singing princesses really exist in this world? Singing princess sounded more like someone who only appeared in manga and the like.

「Well, she's called a singing princess, so doesn't that mean you, Tilia, a real princess should be able to sing as well?」

「I don't think I'm bad at it, but this person is extraordinary.」

If Tilia was praising her like that then I should look forward to it, right?
We looked at the stage and saw a girl in a beautiful white dress just getting on it. She was a student, right? She looked more like an adult. She bowed once and began singing what seemed to be an opera.
Everybody's gazes were glued to her as she sang, and we all listened in ecstasy. Her song reached every corner of the hall, touching all of our hearts.
As soon as the song finished, the hall exploded into the loudest applause we heard all day.

「What a beautiful voice.」

The girls were all moved while the king and the queen seemed to be quite enthralled by her
singing as well.

「Mhm. We got to listen to something wonderful for the end.」

「Yes, what a wonderful voice she has. Tilia, you should do your best as well.」

「Mother, I'll be troubled if you expect me to achieve that level of singing.」

Yes, it was impossible for most people to reach such a level. Both talent and practice were required to achieve it. If anybody could pull it off without regular practice, they could only be considered a cheat like existence.
With the final performance finished, the guests slowly began to exit the hall. The king told us they would wait for the crowd to clear before leaving. Tilia decided to stay with her family, so
we thanked her for bringing us here and prepared to leave the room.

「I'm happy to hear that you've enjoyed it. I didn't expect my family to come here at such a time, though.」

「We didn't expect to find you girls here, either.」

「However, because of it, we got to enjoy the performances together. Thank you for coming, everyone.」

The queen thanked us, so we all nervously replied back.
We were just about to leave, when Princess Flora began to look sad, and tugged at my uniform. I promised I would see her again soon and got her to let go. It seemed like I would have to visit the castle again before heading back to Crimonia and also give the king some cotton candy while I was at it.

We finally left, and were met by several guards waiting outside the door. They were very surprised to see us come out from the room.
Well, they must have thought that only the royal family was inside, so it must be shocking for them to see us come out instead. The king quickly came out to explain the situation, so we didn't get in any trouble and left the building without any further issues.

「Um, Yunsan…」

The second day of the festival was coming to an end, and we were going to leave the academy, when Noa spoke up.

「What is it?」

「What was His Majesty talking about when he mentioned the picture book you drew?」

She listened in, it seemed. So, Noa didn't know about the picture book yet, huh. I thought for sure that Eleanorsan would have told her all about it.

「I drew a picture book for Princess Flora.」

「You've been doing things like that as well?」

「Well, yeah. I drew it for her the first time I met her, and she enjoyed it very much. Since then, I often go to the castle and bring her food.」

「What kind of story is it? Her Highness mentioned something about a bear.」

「I guess we could call it a story where a bear tries its best to help a girl.」

The story was based on when I saved Fina, where the helping Bear had been me. I changed it around a bit, but it was still based on that encounter.

「Uu, I want to read it now. Princess Flora is the only one who has it though, right?」

Well, it was normal to think there weren't any copies of something personally drawn for someone.
However, this picture book had gotten copied and duplicated, and I also happened to have a copy on me, so I could easily show it to her.
Still, Fina might not want Noa to see the contents of the picture book, because the girl was so clearly modelled off of her. Maybe I should discuss it with Fina first?

「Yunsan, I must say, you are really talented. You're a strong adventurer, you open up shops and can cook well. Now I learn you're even drawing picture books.」

I was able to be an adventurer only thanks to my overpowered equipment, and I was only good at cooking because my parents had never been home and I had to fend for myself. The drawings were based on the practices I had done when I was young (which had really only been a few years ago).

For the second day of the school festival, I decided to give one vote each to the sword dance, the ensemble, and the singing princess.
The play was good as well, but the plot had a couple of bad points to it, so I decided it would be the one left out.

Author's Note:
The second day ended without any trouble, and then Noa found out about the picture books.
I haven't decided what to do with the picture books yet.
We're finally reaching the third day, though!
With it the school festival is coming to an end.

We returned to the mansion and were greeted by Suririnsan, who was quite surprised to see me wearing a uniform.

「Yunsama, you look just like a regular student in the uniform.」

It had been a while since somebody last called me normal.

「Still, is it rude of me to think that maybe your bear costume suits you better?」

Yes, it was rude.
I was still just a fifteen-year-old maiden, after all. I didn't think there were any girls who would be happy to hear they looked good in a Bear Suit.
Yet, even with me complaining as such in my head, I still decided to change back into the Bear Suit the moment I returned to the guest room.

「Yunsan, you're going to change?」

「Yeah. I mean, we are not at the festival anymore, are we?」

Since I was back at the mansion, I wanted to change into something I could relax in. Moreover, I couldn't simply wear the uniform forever, right?
I took off the uniform, retrieved my Bear Suit form the Bear Box, and put it back on.
The softness and warmth that came with it made me loosen up immediately. This was the best outfit to relax in, even though that wasn't something I should be admitting to myself. No matter how I looked at it, I did indeed feel most comfortable in my Bear Suit.
This outfit made me feel safe, softly wrapping and protecting me from foreign entities.
This was God's curse for sure…

「The Bear Outfit is nice and all, but I wish you had stayed in the uniform a little while longer.」

I didn't really mind wearing it that much, but I just couldn't stay calm in it. Also, I would probably have to wear it tomorrow as well, so Noa shouldn't be too disappointed. I had promised Shia not to stand out, after all, so I most likely didn't have any other choice but to wear it again.
I had spent the whole day today wearing a uniform and nobody had called me 「Bear」, pointed at me, mobbed me like those children yesterday, and most importantly, didn't make fun of me.
Still, for some reason, it had felt as if the boys were gazing at me every now and then. Perhaps I really was getting overly self-conscious after suffering so much due to the Bear Suit.
Those gazes had most likely been directed at Tilia, who had walked next to me most of the time. That must be why it had felt like I had been getting stared at. I had been just an unknown student, while Tilia was the princess of the country. Of course people would look at her.
Yeah, I had just been overly self-conscious, mistaking the glances meant for Tilia to be meant for myself.

After I was finished changing, I noticed the girls were already playing cards with Misa. Gran-san would come get Misa here once he was done, apparently.

「Okay, I have a pair of threes.」

Fina said and placed two cards into the middle.
It looked like they were playing Old Maid.

「I have the Bear-san card. I should be happy that the Bear-san card came to me, but I will lose if I keep it.」

Everybody called the joker 'Bear-san'. They also called the kings 'Bear King', the queens 'Bear Queen', and the jacks 'Bear Knight'.
They weren't necessarily wrong as the drawings did have Bears on them. Normal cards, however, weren't called in such a way. Still, I couldn't find a good way to explain that, so I simply let it continue without correcting them.
After they played for a while, the adventurer Marina came to get Misa.

「Marina, you're here, too.」

「Yes, I'm here as Gran-sama's and Misansama's escort. Misansama, did you have fun today?」

After Marina greeted us, she turned to Misa to ask about her day.

「Mhm, I had a lot of fun.」

「That's good to hear. Thank you for taking care of her today, Yuna. We would love to let Misansama stay here a little longer, but we have to head back tomorrow.」

Well, that couldn't be helped, since Gran-san only came to the capital because of his work. Misa already knew this and wasn't acting selfishly. She obediently went to say goodbye to the other girls.

「Nooneesama, when I visit Crimonia next time, please take me around town.」

「Yes, I'll be waiting. I will bring you to all sorts of places.」

「Finchan, Shuri-chan, let's meet again.」

「Yes. If you happen to come to Crimonia, I'll bring you around as well.」

「See you soon, Misneechan.」

They made a promise to meet her in Crimonia.

「Okay, I will invite you to my shop when you visit.」

「Yes, please. I will definitely come.」

Misa happily agreed before leaving with Marina. Shortly after she left, Shia and Eleanorsan came home.

「Listen to this. His Majesty skipped out on work and went with Florsama to the school festival. Can you believe it? Thanks to that, all of his work came to me, and it was awful. I wanted to go to the school festival, too…」

Eleanorsan complained to us over dinner.
The queen had mentioned that the king skipped out on his work, but it seemed like the receiving end hadn't been the hard-working prince, after all. It had actually been Eleanorsan who took the brunt of it.
When Noa mentioned that we had met him on his outing, Eleanorsan pouted even harder.

I understood how she felt but instead of saying it like Flora was being taken, shouldn't she put it in a better way, like 'escort'?

「Anyway… Did you girls have fun at the festival today?」

「Yes, we had a lot of fun. We listened to a concert, and the play after was really moving.」

「The singing princess' song was really amazing and beautiful.」

「Thanks to Tilisama bringing us with her, we got to watch all of it from a special area reserved for royalty.」

The three of them told Eleanorsan about their favorite parts. Fina had finally gotten used to Eleanorsan in these past couple of days. At first, she was still very nervous, but now, she could speak normally.
Well, Eleanorsan was a kind person, so it was easy to get comfortable around her. Occasionally, she did say and do some unbelievable things, but looking past that, she was a really nice person as a whole.

「I see… I'm glad the two of you had fun. Noa, you must have had more fun than you would by yourself, right?」

「Yes, Mother. I'm very grateful that you invited the two of them to the festival.」

True, if Fina and Shuri weren't here, it would have been just Noa and me. The programs were way more fun when enjoyed as a group. It was great that Fina had managed to make new friends. If it had been my old self, I would have rather gone alone, but now I preferred to go with these girls, whom I loved dearly.
Thinking about it like this, I really had to thank Eleanorsan for inviting the two of them along.

「By the way, how did it go on your end, Shia?」

「Thanks to the bear statue Yunsan made for us and the help Tilisama gave us, customers kept coming, and we sold quite a bit.」

Shia proceeded to explain to Eleanorsan about how the Bear statue and Tilia had brought in so many customers that it had become a huge problem to deal with the crowd.

「Fufu, of course that would happen. When Tilisama calls for people, they are sure to gather.」

「I didn't think it would be that many, though.」

Yeah, even when we had just been walking around with Tilia, the people's gazes had more often than not been attracted to us.

「Mother, do you have to work tomorrow as well?」

「I will be going to the academy with His Majesty tomorrow, so we may be able to meet up.」

So, the king would be visiting the academy tomorrow, huh. I should prepare myself for him to approach us. If he told me that I looked weird in my outfit again, I would be sad for sure. Also, the royal family would surely stand out a lot, especially if the king acted lovingly towards Florsama in front of everybody.

「Well, everyone seems to be having fun, so I'm not that distraught over not meeting with you today.」

We had checked out many attractions, ate plenty of delicious foods, and even visited a theatre. We had most certainly had a lot of fun.

「Yes, but even with all the attractions, I think that the most shocking thing today was seeing Yunsan in a uniform. She looked so cute in it.」

Noa suddenly blurted out.
Just what was she saying?

「Uniform?」

「Yes, Yunsan wore Onee-sama's uniform today during the festival. Her usual Bear-san costume is nice and all, but the uniform suited her quite well, too.」

「Shia said my Bear Outfit stood out too much and made me change clothes…」

Well, thanks to the uniform, nobody had pointed at me or called me a Bear, so I couldn't really complain.

「The people passing by were all still looking at Yunsan, though.」

「They were looking at Tilia because she's a princess, no?」

I had felt some glances on us, but I was pretty sure they were meant for Tilia, not me. There was no reason to look at me when I wasn't wearing my Bear Suit, after all.

「I think some of them were looking at Tilisama as well, but I'm almost certain most were focused on you.」

Noa said and looked at Fina and Shuri to see if they agreed with her.

「There's no way that's true.」

I objected and also looked at them. There was just no reason for people to look at me.

「Um, I think they were looking at both of you.」

「But why would they look at me? Tilia is a princess, so of course they would look at her. If I'm not wearing my Bear Suit, what reason do people have to even pay attention to me? 」

「It's probably because you are pretty, Yunonechan.」

「Fina, you sure know how to flatter people already. You don't have to do it with me, though. They were probably looking at me like because they were curious about the student walking together with a princess.」

I had been wearing a uniform, after all. If they had been looking at me, they had probably thought something like「Who's that student walking together with Tilisama?」
Still, why did both Fina and Noa look surprised when I said that, clearly not knowing how to respond?

「Yunchan in a uniform, huh? I wish I could see that.」

「I will be wearing it tomorrow as well, so you can see it then.」

「Really? In that case, I will be looking forward to it.」

I was only going to wear the uniform during the time I was at the academy, so I didn't really have to tell her that, but it was likely she would see me in it anyway.

The next day came around, and I put on the uniform I had borrowed from Shia again so that we could go to the academy. Since Shia had taught me how to put it on yesterday, I could change without any problem now. Once I was done, I didn't forget to put on the Bear Hands and Feet, of course.

Still, not having my Bear Suit on made me nervous.
Without it, I couldn't take attacks easily. The defense power of the suit was so high that I could even withstand attacks from the Black Viper. Hence, I didn't feel completely safe with only my feet and gloves on, but at least I could use magic, swing a sword, and summon my Bears. Still, there should be no danger at the school festival, so I just had to stay out of trouble for the duration of it.

「I had also thought this when I saw you wear a dress, but clothes really do change people, don't they?」

Eleanorsan gave her opinion of me wearing a uniform.
Basically, she was saying that 'clothes made a person', right?

「You can't beat my daughters, though.」

Noa and Shia were both cute, so I wished she didn't compare me to them.
Eleanorsan, satisfied for having seen me wearing the uniform, headed off towards the castle after reminding us that she would be attending the festival with the king later in the day. I very much hoped we wouldn't run into them…

Author's Note:
She managed to change back into her Bear Suit only to go back to the uniform again…
Next chapter will be the third day of the school festival.

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Chapter end