Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

Chapter 743

Chapter 743

Noa Explores the Castle

Noa’s POV

Sakura and Shinobu kindly allowed us to have a tour inside the castle.

Apparently, Kagali-san made the request when she had an audience with the King.

Who really was Kagali-san?

Everyone treated Kagali-san with such respect and care.

I thought she was a princess, but that didn’t seem right.

Anyway, our carriage finally reached the castle.

It was very different from the castles in my country.

As I looked around at the castle, Sakura shouted, “Uncle!”

Sakura’s uncle? In other words, the King?

I asked Yuna-san in a quiet voice.

Yuna-san answered, “Yes, the King.”

I felt nervous.

I had thought that we might meet, but I had not expected to see him so soon.

Moreover, I was the daughter of the Lord of the town of Mileela, which traded with the Land of Wa, so I needed to be extra careful.

I courteously extended my greetings.

However, since I did not know if it would be acceptable to use my family name under the current circumstances, I decided to use only my first name.

Misa also greeted him courteously, like a noble young lady. Like me, she only stated her first name.

The King seemed to sense something in our greeting but decided not to pry into it and treat us as friends of Yuna-san.

If that were the case, I would do the same.

After the greetings, the King said he had something to say, and we were brought somewhere else.

I didn’t know where he was taking us, but I was curious about the castle and looked around.

Misa, Fina, and Shuri appeared to share the same attitude, their eyes also scanning the surroundings. 

The King spoke to us as we walked, but Yuna-san and Sakura were the ones who answered him. 

We were then led to a room at the back of the building.

In this room, he said, it was safe to talk about anything.

“So, how long do you guys plan to stay?” (King)

“Not very long, I don’t plan on staying.” (Yuna)

“Really?” (Noa)

I asked back at Yuna-san’s answer.

There were still many places I had yet to see.

I only looked around the town a little yesterday.

“If I keep Noa and Misa away for a long time, Cliff and Gran-san will worry about them.” (Yuna)

I think my father would certainly have been worried a lot if we were in the past. Lately, however, as long as I was with Yuna-san, I think he would not worry so much.

As long as I keep up with my studies and other things properly, I could even obtain permission to go out.

If I were to ask to go out with only one escort or even several, he would never have allowed it if it was not for Yuna-san.

I think that’s how much father trusted Yuna-san.

Well, I have never known anyone who could defeat 10,000 monsters and a kraken single-handedly, except for Yuna-san.

“If you have any trouble while you are in this country, just let me know. I’ll do everything possible to help you.” (King)

“I will, thank you.” (Yuna)

Yuna-san thanked the King, who excused himself by stating that he had some work to do and would now excuse himself and leave the room.

“Well then, let me show you around the castle.” (Sakura)

Sakura got up, and everyone followed her as we left the room.

Still, this nation really was distinctly different from our country.

From the way the buildings look to the clothes people wore. Even the food tasted different.

The country we went to in the fairy incident was not so different from our country, although there were some  minute differences.

But the Land of Wa was entirely different.

We went up the stairs to the upper floor of the castle, where we were allowed to enter.

We could see far into the distance and have a panoramic view of the town.

“Wow, it’s wonderful!” (Misa)

Misa looked at the town with a sparkle in her eyes.

A sight like this was not something you could witness even in our home country.

If you wanted to enter a castle, you would need permission, which was difficult to acquire. Moreover, it was not every day that you could get invited to spectate a view from the top of a castle.

And be granted permission to see the view from the top of a castle in another country?

That showed how much the King trusted Yuna-san.

It was small when looking at it from here, but I could see people walking around.

The wind blew and swayed my hair. It felt good.

“People look like trash, don’t they?” (Yuna)

Yuna-san said as I was looking pleasantly at them.

“Yuna-san…” (Noa)

Everyone looked at Yuna-san with a dumbfounded look on their faces.

“Yuna Onee-chan, you said the same thing before.” (Fina)

Fina added. I see.

What was going on in Yuna-san’s head that she could say such a thing after seeing such a beautiful view?

“In my opinion, Yuna-san is the only person who can think of such a thing when she sees this view.” (Noa)

Everyone nodded at my words.

“What, isn’t [People are like trash] one of those lines you want to say at least once in your life?” (Yuna)

Yuna-san looked surprised…

“I’ve never wanted to utter that line.” (Noa)

We all nodded in agreement.

“Shinobu would understand how I feel, right?” (Yuna)

“I don’t think so.” (Shinobu)

Yuna-san asked Shinobu-san to agree with her but was cut off.

I doubt anyone would understand.

“Oh, I mean, they are like ants?” (Yuna)

“…Yuna-san, that is the same.” (Noa)

Yuna-san, who has been softly rebuked by everyone, was a little irritated, saying something like “Kagali-san would understand”, but Fina comforted her.

When I looked at such a beautiful view, I did not think [People are like trash] or [People are like ants].

But it really was a beautiful view.

“Where is Sakura-chan’s house?” (Misa)

Misa asked while we were looking at the scenery.

“Hmmm, I wonder where it is?” (Noa)

“That is the entrance to the castle, isn’t it? Did we come from that way?” (Misa)

Misa pointed, but I had a feeling that she was wrong.

I did not know where Sakura’s house was because we came here in a carriage.

I would be unable to find my way back to her house from here if I were left alone.

That’s why I vowed to never leave Yuna-san’s side and the others.

“Let’s see, my house should be around… there it is.” (Sakura)

Sakura, perhaps having heard our conversation, pointed.

We looked in the direction Sakura was pointing.

It was the opposite of where Misa was pointing.

“Is it in that direction?” (Misa)

“But which one?” (Noa)

I could not tell which one was Sakura’s house because I did not have a full view of her house.

“It’s the biggest house in that corner.” (Sakura)

Could it be that one? 

There was a house built on a large lot surrounded by a fence. The house itself was not big, but it was built on a large lot.

It was also not a tall house like my house.

Well, it was built on a spacious lot, so it was not wrong to say it was big.

“I didn’t realize the house was that big.” (Noa)

“Yes, it’s because there are many people living in the house.” (Sakura)

“But it doesn’t look like there were that many people there…” (Misa)

Misa was right, we did not see many people.

Suzuran and Shinobu-san prepared meals for us.

“That’s because Noa and the others were there, so I asked them to stay away from that room.” (Sakura)

“We?” (Noa)

“To be precise, it was more because of Yuna-sama, along with those related to her.” (Shinobu)

“The presence of Yuna-sama and her friends are confidential. Besides, I wanted you all to rest without any concern.” (Sakura)

It was true that we would have felt uncomfortable if many people had approached us.

But I didn’t realise that they had arranged everything to be more accommodating to us.

Sakura was still very young, but she was able to show such concern.

Then, having enjoyed the view from the top of the castle, we were allowed to continue our tour to the rest of the palace.

The castle, like Sakura’s house, had a garden.

There was a small pond with beautiful fish swimming in it. There were gold, red, white, and various patterned fish. We were told that these fish were for ornamental purposes.

Yuna-san told us to look at them as we would look at a flower.

Indeed, I have never seen a swimming fish so close.

“I have a small pond at my house with fishes in it but that pond does not look as good as this one.” (Sakura)

“Sakura-sama, this is the king’s castle. It’s no wonder that this pond looks so good. It is no exaggeration to say that it is the best in the country. But the pond at Sakura-sama’s house is also magnificent.” (Shinobu)

Shinobu-san explained with a bit of pride.

Yes, it sure was beautiful. In my country, the garden in the castle was claimed to be the most attractive.

It would be wrong to compare them though.

“But I would like to build a garden like this in my house.” (Noa)

“You too, Noa Nee-sama?” (Misa)

Misa responded to my casual remark.

“Misa too?” (Noa)

“Yes, I do. But when I imagined the garden in Sakura-chan’s house being built in my house, I felt that it would not fit well.” (Misa)

“…Yes, that’s true.” (Noa)

I tried to imagine it too, but Misa was right. It wouldn’t fit.

I liked the view from the porch, but I did not have a porch in our house.

While I was looking at the garden from the pavilion, Shinobu-san prepared sweets and tea for me.

For sweets, Shinobu-san served me a bun filled with sugary sweet bean paste and a rice cracker that I had tried to eat yesterday.

The buns were sweet and tasty, and the rice crackers were hard, but tasty, soy sauce flavoured, seaweed-wrapped rice crackers, and various other crackers.

Can’t wait to read more? Want to show your support? Click here to be a sponsor and get additional chapters ahead of time!