The following day, Fina and Shuri dropped by early, so Fina helped me prepare dinner while we waited for Noa to arrive.
「Yuna-oneechan, I’ve set the plates.」
「Thank you. Can you prepare the tea as well?」
「No problem. Shuri, Noa-sama will be arriving soon, so don’t tire yourself out too much from playing with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, okay?」
「Okay… Let’s play again later, Swaying Bear, Hugging Bear.」
I listened in on their exchange while I focused on the cooking.
While Fina was helping me set up for dinner, Shuri rather chose to play with my cub-sized Bears.
Just as we finished all the preparations, Noa knocked on the door.
「Welcome.」
「Could it be that I’m late?」
Noa asked after seeing that Fina and Shuri were already by the table.
「No, you’re on time. Those two came early, so I got them to help me make dinner.」
「Oh, is that so? I should have come earlier as well, then…」
「Don’t worry about that. Well, let’s continue talking while we eat.」
After everyone got seated at the table, Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear curled up next to me. Today’s dinner was fried rice with a side of salad and soup.
「We’re going to decide on our date of departure, right?」
Noa asked after she ate her first spoonful of rice.
「Yes, but first, there’s something I want to tell Noa and Shuri.」
「Tell us something?」
「What is it?」
Noa and Shuri looked at me with their spoons hanging in midair.
「The two of you want to ride on Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear on our way there, right?」
「Yes!」
「Mhm!」
The two replied without hesitation, as I had expected.
「Just thinking of being with Bear-san for an entire day makes me happy.」
「Yes, me too.」
Shuri nodded at Noa’s words.
Could it be that those two were actually more similar than I had thought?
Of course, Fina liked my Bears, too. I often saw her petting them when I summoned them.
「Riding Bear-sans to the Capital… It will be the best trip ever!」
「I want to ride Bear-sans soon.」
They have already entered Bear-san mode… The trip would take longer, but maybe it would be a better idea to keep quiet about the Bear Gate and just go to the capital with the Bears?
It still felt like a waste of time, though.
「Yuna-san, what’s wrong?」
Noa asked me when she noticed me playing with my spoon.
「Hm,? Oh, nothing, I was just thinking.」
「About what?」
「I was just thinking that it would be nice to be able to get to the capital in an instant.」
「In an instant? If I could do that, I’d be able to go see Mother anytime I want!」
Well, if she used the Bear Gate, she would indeed be able to meet Eleanora-san whenever she wanted… I decided to swallow those words and keep quiet for now.
Grasping the timing to reveal a secret was unexpectedly difficult. When I had told Fina, I thought she already knew about it, so it was easy. Telling someone who I was sure didn’t know was much harder, especially since it wasn’t absolutely necessary to do so.
「Well, if that was possible, then what would the two of you do? Would you still want to ride all the way to the capital on Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear?」
「I want to go with Bear-sans!」
Shuri replied immediately.
「If I could get there in an instant, I would love to try it out sometime, but I also want to go on a trip with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear…」
It seems that Shuri wanted to go with Bear-san no matter what while Noa was a bit more undecided.
「Why did you ask us something like that anyway?」
「Just as a reference.」
I understood their feelings. Even if I told them about the door, they probably wouldn’t want to use it in the end, and even if they did, they would regret not going on a trip with my Bears.