The Teddy Bear's Friends and Family

Nao saw off Benny, Ansel, and Philia an hour before the morning sun would come up. As Benny was still asleep, it didn't have a chance to say good-bye to her. The two wolves would accompany the trio until the mountain pass where they would part ways as the wolves' territory is further north of the mountain pass.

"I had a weird dream last night." Benny is riding on the female wolf's head. "That there was stars all over and it was like I was sitting in a giant puddle. It was weird."

"Sounds like the Sea of Stars."

"The Sea of Stars?" Benny looked towards Ansel who is looking at the map on his lap. "Where's that?"

"It's the passageway between worlds, where the Gods like to live." Philia tightened her grip on Iris' reins. "I heard it is beautiful...but to go there means you must either be dead...or the Gods have summoned you there..."

"Gods..."

"What's wrong, Benny?"

"Hm...I don't know...I wonder why I dreamed of such a place...?"

"Hey, hey, what do you two think of this?"

Us?

What an idiot. Why would we care for human beliefs?

Be nice. We wolves do not believe in the gods nor do we care for them.

"You don't? Why?"

Because we are wolves. To us, what matters more is our own strength and ability. We have no intention in believing in things we have not met before. If we had not met you, Benny, we would not have believed in you either.

Animals are different from humans. We live based on survival and instinct. We live for ourselves and our pack.

"I don't get it."

Don't worry, so much about that. It is better to simply believe in what you see in front of you. Believe in what your own eyes and ears experience.

If anything, the humans are the weird ones. How can you have belief in a being who has never shown up in front of you? That weird building you said you went to is the weirdest thing of all. Why build such a big place for someone you've never met before?

"I wonder..."

"What do you wonder?"

"..."

Benny kept silent as Ansel is clearly someone who believes in the Gods wholeheartedly if him scolding Benny when it went wild in the church was any indication. Philia doesn't seem to hold much care, but does seem to pay respects in some ways.

"Ansel, what's the mountain we're going to like?"

"It's...something." Ansel isn't sure how to explain this to Benny. "Well, it's mostly volcanic and a hard place to travel. It's the fastest route to get to the forest Granny Estrella lives."

"Did you two grow up with Granny Estrella?"

"We lived in a village not far from the forest she lives in...Granny Estrella lives in isolation."

"Isolation?"

"She lives alone. I heard that some old graves were deeper in the forest and she's living there to protect her old companions."

"Old companions?"

"I don't know all the details, but I heard that Granny Estrella was once a member of the Hero's Party or something..."

"Hero? Something?"

"I don't know all the details myself since I'm not a member of their family...but Philia, you're an actual member of the family and you don't know your own family history?!"

"I-It couldn't be helped, okay?! I left home with you when we were ten to go to the capital! I ignored all my family's summons to return to the family manor too!"

"Does Philia not like her family?" Benny is curious about this as it never heard anything about their family. "Ansel too. I never heard anything about your family before!"

"My family are normal farmers."

"Most of my family are mages...or they do their own research in things and are never home...which is why I could get away with never returning home for any reason..."

"Oh!"

"Also...As much it pains me to admit this...Our entire household and lineage are full of weirdoes!"

"Ah..."

"I mean, who tries to give a kid a wyvern as a pet?! A fully grown one at that?!"

"Wyvern?"

"Think giant lizard with wings, but can't fly."

"Oh! Like the mean one that bit me!"

"Think bigger."

"How much bigger?"

"As big as a house."

"Like that?" Benny began to point upwards as a shadow went over them. "That's a big lizard with wings. It's flying so it's not a wyvern, right?"

"That's a dragon!"

"Why is there one in this area?! This is too close to winter for them to be this far south!"

"Ah, it's in the mountains we're going to."

"Seriously?!"

"Aaaaah...Don't tell me it built a nest there...There's no information about that...well, the other side is a volcanic area so maybe it's returning home there..."

"Is that bad?"

"Not just bad, but dangerous. At the next village, we need to discuss this with the people there to see if we can still head to the mountain pass there..."

"We can't take the wolves with us so-"

"NO!" Benny began hugging the female wolf's head protectively. "No! What if bad guys come after them again! No! I'm not leaving them!"

"I guess that's out...Okay, so who is going into town?"

"You do it. Most people drop their guard around women and you're a knight with an official coat of arms."

"Got it...Then, when we set up camp later we can decide what to do."

Benny wasn't paying too much attention to the situation as it considered the dragon to be a giant flying lizard. Neither of the wolves seemed to be bothered by it either so it thought that the dragon was harmless and not that big of a threat despite how Philia and Ansel were acting.

"What's the difference between dragons and wyverns?"

"Dragons are highly intelligent. Even more so than any humans and they're strong."

"Stronger than Philia?"

"Obviously." Philia could only shake her head. "I've never heard of any adventurer or knight being able to take down a dragon by themselves. Ansel has learned combat magic from Nao, but there's no way either of us had enough experience to take on a dragon."

"Oh!"

Dragons are dangerous. Very dangerous. Don't ever anger one.

With how foolish and innocent the bear is, I think the dragon would consider it the same as a rabbit or bird.

"What do you mean?"

Dragons are intelligent enough that those considered inferior to it would be ignored. The only time they ever act is when they believe themselves to be in danger or you anger it.

"So can we just go past it?" Benny is confused. "After all, we don't want to hurt it. We just want to go past the dragon."

"That's because there are always idiots who want to attack dragons for their scales and fangs." Philia glanced over at Benny. "Angering a dragon is akin to suicide unless you're confident you can..."

"You can what?"

"...Well, most people aren't dumb enough to attack a dragon. Even if they steal cattle or a horse, most would just have to accept their losses."

"Horse..." Benny looked at Iris and Rocco...then it got scared remembering that Philia and Ansel ate meat...meat that came from a living animal. "It'll eat Iris and Rocco?! I change my mind! Another way, another way! I don't want it to eat my friends!"

"Don't worry, so long as they aren't visible from the sky then the dragon wouldn't see them."

"Iris is my best friend! Rocco is mean, but I don't want him to get eaten!"

Don't be so concerned, child. It is simply part of life.

The horse is right. We always leave to find our own meals. This is the circle of life. Carnivores eat herbivores. Herbivores consume plants. Plants are grown from the bodies of the dead.

I don't know about you two insane females, but I rather not be eaten.

I agree with the horse. I'd fight to protect my alpha, but I'm not risking her safety over these two.

"That's mean!" Benny jumped from the female wolf's head to the male one. It began tugging on his ears...which didn't really affect the wolf as he continued walking. "We're friends so we all have to protect one another!"

Who the heck is friends with you?!

Ignore him. He says mean things like that, but he is soft at heart.

You too?!

"Iris is my bestest friend, she's smart and nice!"

"Why is the horse your friend?" Ansel looked a bit annoyed at that. "How are we ranked below the animals?!"

"Huh? Isn't being family different from being friends?" Benny felt confused. "Does this mean we're not family?"

"Which one would you prefer?"

"Me?"

"You have to make choices for yourself, Benny." Philia stared ahead, keeping her eyes on the mountain. "If you want us to be family, then we'll be family. If you just want us to be friends, then we'll be friends."

"What Philia is saying is that she's willing to accept you as either one. I feel the same way. Whatever choices you want to make, we can accept it."

"Then we'll all be one big happy family! I'll definably convince your granny to accept us into your family and I'll convince Marie to do the same!"

"With Philia's family of weirdoes they'd accept it without hesitation. Just watch out, Benny."

"Watch out for what?"

"You might get modified without your permission. While it might be helpful that you can grab things with your hands now, Philia's family are the type to not listen to the opinions of others unless you beat them up. They might try to give you a human body or something so they can fatten you up."

"B-Beat them up?! Fatten me up?!" Benny felt a bit horrified at this. "A-Are they going to eat me?!"

"They're not going to eat you!"

"They're just a bunch of weirdoes who do things at their own pace."

"Is Philia a weirdo?"

"Definably a weirdo."

"I heard that!"

"Good, you were supposed to!" Ansel laughed as he moved Rocco away from Iris as Philia tried taking a swing at him. "But they're good people at heart. They take care of their own."

"I hope they're all as nice as you two are."

"Don't worry, if they weren't good people then Granny Estrella wouldn't have tolerated them using the family name."

"Oh!" Benny waved its hands towards Philia who moved closer to the male wolf. She reached out with one hand, letting Benny grab ahold of her hand so she can carry it onto her lap. "When Marie and I are reunited then we'll visit you whenever we can! I'll bring lots of presents when we travel together!"

"You plan on traveling with Marie?"

"Oh...you're right. What if Marie doesn't want to travel anymore...then I'll convince her to do so whenever we can at least! It's always nice to visit family for special occasions!"

"If that fails, we can just visit you two instead."

"R-Really?!"

"Really. By then, I'll definably be an official knight."

"Don't worry." Philia leaned towards Benny. "I'll get my granny to teach him teleportation magic even if it kills him. Instead of this long three-month long journey, we'd be there within a week."

"Hehehehehe!"

Benny is clearly pleased with this idea if its giggles are any indication. Philia smiled as she looked towards Benny...Ansel also holding back his smile even though he's dreading learning teleportation magic as it is one of the most difficult spells to learn...but if it makes Philia and Benny happy...it's a worthy sacrifice.

"Marie, when can we go visit Philia and Ansel? I want to give them the presents I've been preparing for their birthdays. Oh, wait, when will they come to visit us like they promised? If they are visiting, I want them the flowers I grew this year! I can bake cookies and pour tea for them too! I want to show them how much I've learned since we've been apart!"