Chapter 153 - Even Apart, We Will Always (1/2)

“A bear?”

Saeki whispered, her mouth twitching.

“Y-yeah, a bear cub…?”

Mikuma replied to the question with a question.

What emerged from the grass was a small bear cub covered in pitch black fur.

I’m not sure if it’s wary of us, but it was slowly retreating.

Eventually, with only its face sticking out of the grass, it was staring at us.

“Hmm. Still a young child and you’re all making too big a deal out of it.”

Rouge grabbed one of the rice balls from the chair and headed for the river.

“Oh, hey, Rouge.”

Without listening to me, Rouge easily jumped across the width of the river.

She landed without making a sound, as if she was trying not to scare the bear, and sat down with her knees.

“Come here. There’s nothing to be afraid of, there’s food.”

“Kyu?”

The little bear tilted his head and looked at Rouge.

“Don’t worry. No one will hurt you. Are you hungry? The smell of onigiri is what drew you here, wasn’t it?”

Smiling a little more gently, Rouge continued to talk to the bear cub.

“A bear… huh. In this situation, it’s the police and the hunting club, right.” The old man asked Officer Inoue.

“I guess so. We should also contact the town hall, because it would be serious if a bear appeared in this area, which is close to human habitation.”

“I think we should contact the police station that has jurisdiction over this area. I’m sure they the parents are nearby. Toshio-kun, do you know anyone?”

Wait, a hunting club.

Are they going to kill the parents? That’s…

“Wait a minute. That… that kid is a beastmen, aren’t they?”

“Eh?”

At Mikuma’s words, everyone looked at the bear cub again.

Well, for a bear, it’s moving a bit… huh?

“It’s wearing something around the neck. Rouge, do you see that thing around the neck?”

“Hmm. A necklace with a sparkling stone, like some kind of black gemstone. The string is made from a wooden vine, it’s triangular and pointed.”

Black, pointy, triangular?

“Is that an arrowhead…?”

Mikuma put her hand on her chin and started to think about something.

“An arrowhead, like a tip of an arrow?”

“Yes. I think it’s a stone tool…”

While answering Saeki’s question, Mikuma was observing the baby bear closely.

“… Officer Doggy, I’ve seen something about it before, wasn’t there a special reserve nearby?”

“Ah!”

Officer Doggy clapped her hands as if she remembered something.

“There is! Oh, yeah, that’s this prefecture. Now I remember.”

“Now that you mention it, there is a special tribal reserve in the mountainous area between here and the next prefecture. Even though it’s a neighboring prefecture, it’s bad that we both forgot about it.”

What’s that? Another word I never heard of.

Is this going to be another pattern where my lack of knowledge is going to be exposed?

“Saeki, what’s a special protection zone?”

“There’s no way I know about it. Do you know Shouhei?”

“No? What about Kou-chan?”

“Nya nyai.”

Oh, good. I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t know.

“Oh, I knew there was such a thing. I didn’t know there was one in the next prefecture.”

What? Does my father know about it?

“It’s related to work. Um, it’s a restrictive inviolability zone protected for the beastmen tribes that don’t fit in with human society. They can’t be forcibly removed from their homes, so it’s decided through consultation between the government and the tribes.”

“Sorry dad, your eldest son… is an idiot.”

How am I supposed to know what’s going on if you explain it to me in such technical terms? How many years have we been living together? I hope you’ll learn by now.

“… I’ve been trying not to bother you about your studies, but I guess I was wrong.”

“I’m really sorry about that.”

No, seriously. I’ve been making an effort to stay awake and listen to my classes lately.

I thought I’d at least try.

“Yuuno-chan, can you help me?”

“Let’s see.”

Mikuma, who had been thrown the role of explainer by his father, immediately went into explanation mode.

I’m really sorry for the trouble you’re going through, teacher.

“The world clash brought many different races into human society, but there were a few tribes that just couldn’t leave where they lived. There are differences in customs and lifestyles, but mostly physical differences.”

Even physically, Gasara, Seijitsu-san and Nanairo-san look very different from humans, but they are still able to live.

“What’s so different about them?”

Saeki, Koji, Officer Doggy, and Yuri-san are relatively human-like in appearance, but there are many beastmen that look exactly like animals that walk on two legs.

“The thing that’s most different, and most troubling, is physical ability.”