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“Yuna, it’s okay. Only me and Kumayuru and Kumakyu saw them. Father and the others weren’t in a place where they could see you.”
I heard her trying her best to explain.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. They were all looking at the casket. And when you turned around, only the three of us were behind you. Kumayuru and Kumakyu both protected you when they noticed too. Nobody else saw your bear panties.”
That was the finishing blow. She had indeed seen them. It wasn’t like I could stay in my bear house forever, so I tried to take it in stride—but when I looked at everyone, I could tell they were all averting their eyes. Right. After hearing Seleiyu freak out about my underwear, of course nobody could meet my eye.
Trying to keep my cool, I opened the casket lid again. It was as if I wasn’t even there as Seleiyu’s dad checked the man’s face.
“I don’t recognize him. But based on what you said, he might have been Shulia’s classmate.”
Seleiyu’s dad had apparently been three grades above her.
One of the guards ended up pulling the casket with his horse. Since we hadn’t explained the mini bear golems, they’d been confused when they saw them. The golems were no longer necessary to move the casket, so I cleaned them up, then put my bear house away in my bear storage. Everyone was surprised when I did that, of course.
“I was so shocked when it appeared, but it’s just as surprising to see it go back into your item bag.”
“Keep it a secret.”
Seleiyu’s dad left two of his four guards here and had the other two return to the town to ask the guild to dispose of the monsters. He had Keith on his back as he got on his horse. Keith was still asleep—I guess he really had been drugged. I hoped he would stay asleep until they got home.
Seleiyu mounted Kumayuru and I rode on Kumakyu. Then we headed off to where Seleiyu’s horse was hitched.
“Thanks, Kumayuru.”
“Cwoon.”
After Seleiyu got off Kumayuru, she approached her own horse. She patted its neck gently before getting on. The horse seemed happy that Seleiyu was back too.
We arrived back at the town without incident, save for the gate guard staring at me riding Kumakyu for a while. I guess anyone would be shocked to see a girl riding a white bear. Seleiyu’s dad had talked to him for us, so we had no trouble getting in. That was a feudal lord for you.
“I should head back to Noa now,” I said.
“Thank you so much, Yuna, truly. I’d like to thank you properly tomorrow, so you must come by.”
I’d already said I didn’t want a thank-you, but now that Seleiyu’s dad was saying it too, I couldn’t say no. A lot of stuff had happened and Seleiyu was exhausted, so we decided to save things for tomorrow.
Most importantly, Seleiyu was tired in both mind and body.
“Make sure you rest really well.”
“I should be the one to say that to you, Yuna. How many monsters did you slay?”
Seleiyu was worried, but I wasn’t all that tired. I had my bear shoes on, after all, so I wouldn’t get tired even if I ran around.
I took my leave and headed to the academy. Now the question was whether Noa would be upset.