Chapter 8: The Bear Goes Shopping

Chapter 8:
The Bear Goes Shopping

 

“WHAT KIND OF CLOTHES do you want?”

“For now, things that I can wear under these clothes.”

I tugged on my bear onesie. I was wearing underwear underneath. I wanted a shirt, at least.

“So…there’s an expensive store and a cheap one.”

“Either one is fine, but how are they different?”

“The expensive one has clothes that the aristocrats wear. I haven’t gone in before, but the prices are high, so they seem finely made. The cheaper store sells things priced so that normal residents can buy things. And there are also stores that sell secondhand clothes. Sometimes there are good finds there, so I like checking it out. Which would you like?”

Personally, I wouldn’t have minded going to the expensive store, but when Fina explained the expensive store, she didn’t seem very positive about it. I wondered

if there was an issue with it—were they selective about their customers? Considering how I looked, there was a chance they wouldn’t let me in.

Maybe the normal store was for the best. I’d pass on the secondhand one this time around.

“For now, could you take me to the normal store? I’ll consider going to the other stores later.”

Fina led me where I asked. A woman in her mid-twenties greeted us inside. When she saw my clothes, she looked shocked for a moment, but immediately went back to smiling at us.

“Welcome. What kind of clothes are you looking for today?”

“Just some underwear and clothes.”

“The underwear is over there in the back. Actually, we don’t have clothes similar to the ones you’re wearing…”

“That’s fine.” Like I’d want multiples of this outfit!

I left the employee where she was and went with Fina to the back. Underwear came first—I needed to graduate from the bear panties. After that, with Fina’s help, I bought a shirt-like thing I could wear under the onesie, and some unremarkable, ordinary clothes to wear the rest of the time.

“Thanks, Fina.”

“Not at all. I’m glad you found something to buy. What would you like to do next?”

“Maybe go to the bookshop or a library? Are there any in this town?”

“We have a bookshop, but no library. I feel like I’ve heard an adventurer saying that they have one in the capital, though.”

“Then I guess we’ll go to the bookshop. But before that, let’s eat lunch. Do you have a place you recommend?”

“Umm, is anywhere fine?”

“Yeah.”

“In that case, I’d like to eat where you’re staying. I’ve heard it’s really good.”

“At the inn?”

“Yes, guests from outside the guild come in around this time of day, since the adventurers who stay there are usually out for work.”

“I had no idea. In that case, let’s go.”

Fina was clearly delighted by the prospect of lunch at the inn as we headed back. When we got to the inn, it was bustling with customers. A delicious aroma wafted through the air. Elena, who was carrying a load of dishes, noticed us enter.

“Welcome,” she said. “Oh, Ms. Yuna! Are you back already?”

“For lunch,” I told her.

“There’s an extra fee for lunch.”

“That’s fine. Also, do you have two open seats?”

“We’re actually completely full right now. I think seats will open in a bit.”

“Can you make the meals immediately?”

“Yes, that we can do. It’s mostly all ready to go.”

“In that case, could we eat in my room?”

“Yes, that’s no problem.”

“We’ll figure out our orders. Fina, you can get whatever you want.”

“Are you sure?” Fina said, seeming very hesitant.

“It’s fine. Once we’re done eating, I’m going to ask you to take me to the bookshop as compensation.”

“Thank you so much. In that case…”

After waiting in my room for a while, Elena brought our lunch up and I took the tray from her. The contents of the plates were still steaming. They looked delectable.

“Once you finish, it’d be such a help if you could bring the plates downstairs.”

“Got it. I’ll bring them once we’re done.”

“Sorry for asking, but I’d be much obliged.”

We set our meals side by side on the tabletop. There was fluffy bread, meat, and even a salad. I wonder if there’s rice in this world, I thought. It’s only my second day, so I’ll manage…but I am Japanese, so I’m going to miss rice, soy sauce, and miso.

 

“Fina, how about we eat while it’s warm?”

“Yes!” Fina happily grabbed the bread. “The bread is so soft. The meat is delicious, too.”

“Yeah, it’s good.”

Fina’s hand paused as she was eating.

“What’s wrong?”

“Um.”

“What is it?”

“Could I take half of this meal home?”

“Why?”

“I have a younger sister at home,” she said, staring at her half-touched food. “I’d like to share it with her and Mom.”

Aww.

“That’s fine, but eat this. I’ll order two—no, three more later, so you can take that home.”

“Really?”

“Today is special. I won’t do it tomorrow, though, so don’t worry about it.”

“Okay. Thank you, Yuna.”

After we finished our meal, I brought the empty plates to Elena and ordered three portions to go for dinner. Our bellies full, we headed to the bookshop, which seemed to be in the opposite direction of the weapons shop. As usual, I tried not to mind the stares from the passersby as we went. I thought about wearing the clothes I’d bought, but I remembered what happened at the guild. Until I knew I was safe, I wasn’t taking off the bear gear.

When we came to the bookshop, the inside was half-buried in heaps of merchandise. The books that couldn’t fit on the shelves were stacked across the floor like a mountain range. It would be quite the undertaking to browse all of these.

“Welcome,” a little old lady called out to us.

“Ma’am, aren’t you going to organize these?”

“Oh, I know where things are. It’s fine. If there’s a book you’d like, just let me know.”

“Really? In that case, I’d like a bestiary and something on magic, and it’d be helpful if you had maps.”

“Please give me a moment.” The little old lady headed into the cramped back of the shop. After a while, she reemerged with books.

“These are bestiaries.” She handed me two books. “This one talks about common monsters. This one is about legendary-class monsters. I don’t suppose you need this one?”

“I’d like both.”

“I see. And, this is the one grimoire we have in stock. It’s for beginners, I’m afraid.”

“I’d like that one, too.”

“I only have maps for this town’s immediate surroundings. You won’t be able to get better ones without heading to the capital.”

She handed me a single sheet of paper.

“This works fine.”

I paid and left. I’d expected it to take a lot longer, but we’d wrapped that up in a couple of minutes thanks to the little old lady and her surprisingly good memory. And with the purchase of the books, I’d completed all my basic goals.

“Yuna, what would you like to do next?”

I hesitated before answering. “Right. Thanks to you, I got all the stuff I wanted, so I’m going to read the books in the inn. Plus, you’re probably tired after walking all over the place, aren’t you?”

I wasn’t tired because of the bear shoes, but without them I probably would have tapped out at the weapons shop and collapsed, based on my limited shut-in’s stamina.

“I’m completely fine.” Fina was right as rain. She was the very opposite of a sedentary shut-in like me, of course.

“So, what are you going to do, Fina?”

“It’s early, but I’ll go home after getting the meals from Ms. Elena.”

“Alright, then here’s your payment for today.” I handed her a silver coin.

“Are you sure? But you even ordered me dinner.”

“Like I said, it’s just for today.”

“Thanks, Yuna!”

Once I got to my inn, I parted ways with Fina, and because I had time until dinner, I went back to my room alone. I pulled the books and map from my bear storage.

I took a look at the map first. So, these are the woods where I started, I thought. There were some woods a bit away from the town. If you followed the path through them to the other side, it seemed like that was where the capital was. I couldn’t really tell how far it was without knowing the map’s scale, but it was probably a decent bit of travel.

Maybe it’d be good if I headed over to the capital next? I thought. It looked like there were a few villages around. I memorized the important locations, thinking wistfully about how it’d be great if I had a more detailed map. WFO’s auto-mapping would have been useful.

I pulled out the grimoire next. It was titled Beginner-Class Magic. I wondered if there were intermediate and advanced books, and if so, whether I could pick up copies in the capital. I flipped from page to page. Uh-huh; right, right; I see.

“Guess I’ll give it a shot. First, I collect mana.”

I tried doing it with the same motions I used in WFO. In the game, I would gather mana in my hands, and when I recited a spell, it would activate. If I collected mana in my right hand, I could invoke magic there, or I could collect and invoke it in my left hand. An ambidextrous friend of a friend got some notoriety in the community for using magic with both hands well. As for me? I was right-handed, so I collected my mana in my right hand and chanted the spell.

“Light.”

I couldn’t help but pay more attention to the shape of the ball of light that floated up from my open hand than the sensation of using magic. It was unmistakably a ball of light, but it wasn’t a sphere. It came in the shape of a bear’s head.

I got a bad feeling about it and opened up my status menu.

Name: Yuna

Age: 15 years old

Level: 8

Skills: Fantasy World Language, Fantasy World Literacy, Bear Extradimensional Storage, Bear Identification

Magic: Bear Light

 

Gear

Right Hand: Black Bear Glove (Nontransferable)

Left Hand: White Bear Glove (Nontransferable)

Right Foot: Black Bear Shoe (Nontransferable)

Left Foot: White Bear Shoe (Nontransferable)

Clothing: Black and White Bear Clothes (Nontransferable)

Underwear: Bear Underwear (Nontransferable)

 

I now had an additional tab for magic that was separate from my skills.

 

Bear Light

Mana collected in the bear glove creates a light in the shape of a bear.

 

I had to wonder: if it mentioned the bear glove, did that mean I couldn’t use this magic without it? In order to test it out, I took off the glove and tried to invoke the Light magic like earlier. Just as I thought, no light appeared.

I was one with the bear.

I put the bear gloves with their round eyes back on my hand. I wanted to practice attack magic, but I couldn’t do that in the inn, of course. I decided I would just read the magic book and learn what I could for today.

When dinner came around, I went back to the ground floor and ate a great meal. I got in the bath, changed the onesie to the white bear side, and crawled into bed to clear away the exhaustion from that day.

“Goodnight.”