Chapter 95: The Bear Attends a Feast

Chapter 95:
The Bear Attends a Feast

 

I WATCHED THE OCEAN as I waited. It really was so peaceful. To think a kraken, of all things, lived there… And now that very kraken was stretched out on the beach. Just a big, deadly squid. I wasn’t really sure whether it was actually edible, with how different this world was. Probably? The wyrm, on the other hand…nope.

I heard human voices. There they were—old man Kuro was leading several men to the beach. “Apologies for the wait, lass.”

“There are more of them than I expected.”

“They want to butcher it for a seafood feast as soon as possible.”

Old man Kuro called out to the men, instructing them to start prepping, and the men answered with gusto. The old man was a bigwig, huh? Every single one of the men thanked me as they walked past where I stood, which was embarrassing.

As I watched the kraken butchering commence, Atola arrived with some guild staff members. “Oh, you’ve already started? Then we’ll leave that to the experts and work on butchering the wyrm.”

Atola gave instructions to her people and got right to work, leaving the old man in charge of the kraken and the guild in charge of the wyrm. “But Yuna,” she said. “Are you really sure we can have the wyrm carcass?”

“Sell it or eat it. Do whatever with it. Just don’t try to make me eat it, okay?”

“You really think I’d do such a thing to you, Yuna?”

“I mean,” I continued, “this bizarre thing can’t be that delicious, right?”

“No idea. I’ve just heard rumors.”

“Don’t tell me you’re considering trying it, Atola…”

“Eh. I could take it or leave it.”

I guess this was a difference in cultural tastes? I wondered which side Fina would be on. (Hopefully mine, right?)

Meanwhile, the guild staff were hard at work taking the wyrm apart. I sat a little distance away and watched both teams. A few minutes in, Yuula came by with a group of women.

“I saw it yesterday, too,” said Yuula, “but I’m never used to how big it is.”

“Yuula, are you going to help with the butchering too?”

“I’m no specialist, but it’s a kraken, isn’t it? Just a big squid! Anyone who’s been raised in this seaport can butcher one of those. That wyrm, on the other hand…” She just shook her head.

The women split up, too, now, and joined in on both types of butchering work. Well…the more the merrier?

“Lass, could I have a minute?” old man Kuro called out to me. “We can’t take this, of course, so please have it.” He held out a massive, gorgeous blue gem—a mana gem. A kraken’s mana gem. “Heh. For all my years, I’ve never seen such a grand mana gem. Figures that a kraken would have one.”

“Are you sure I can have it?”

“What use is it to a seaport? I’m sure an adventurer like you could find a good use for it. And you slayed the thing, too—it’s yours by right.”

Well, who could say? Maybe it could be useful.

“While we’re handing out gifts,” said Atola, “why don’t you take this?” She held out a brown gem—the wyrm’s mana gem. I guess it was an earth mana gem?

“You could just sell it though,” I said, knowing that they wouldn’t.

“You’ve done more than enough. Besides, a mana gem is proof that an adventurer slayed something. This is the proof that you defeated the kraken and the wyrm. We can’t just sell that—I mean, we can’t even legally sell that, even if you ended up giving us the funds in the end.”

Eh, fair enough. It would be a hassle not to accept the gems.

The butchering progressed well. The meaty results were piled on a carriage and taken to the town. They were going to put some of it in cold storage, just to be safe.

“Right, lass, leave this to us and go back to the town so you can enjoy the feast.”

“The feast?”

“It’s a celebration. The kraken is dead!”

The old man nodded. “Aye. The fish we caught this morning should be cooking about now. We’d like you to enjoy yourself.”

“You’d better,” said Atola with a laugh. “You’re the guest of honor, after all! I’ll head back to the town, too, so let’s go back together. They should be whipping the kraken and wyrm meat into a meal in the central plaza as we speak.”

I accepted old man Kuro’s courtesy and went back to the town with Atola.

A delicious smell filled the central plaza. Fish and squid were being grilled. And no way, were those clams? I wondered if they had shrimp and crab as well.

The fragrant aroma of soy sauce filled the air too. The cooks grilled and handed their meals off to the waiting people as they did. Kids or grown-ups, everybody was just going to town on the food. It was probably the first time in forever that they were able to eat until they were full.

A crowd formed in the plaza to watch the kraken roast. One of the kraken’s arms was on display, as if to show just how massive the monster was.

Seeing it so close…wow, it really was gigantic.

As I stared at the kraken’s arm, I realized that everyone was looking at me.

“It’s the bear girl who defeated the kraken. Go on, then—have a piece! It’s delicious.” A woman handed me a small dish of some kind of mixed seafood. There was shellfish and shrimp and stuff, and just one bite got me hankering for white rice to go with it.

“Lass, this is delicious too.” A man wearing a headband handed me a roasted fish. They even put soy sauce on it. I mean, soy sauce was a must-have with grilled fish. It would’ve been perfect if we had some ponzu sauce, too, but maybe that was a little too much to ask of a fantasy world.

“Thank you!” I headed over to the tables and dug right in. The townspeople thanked me and brought dishes, one after another. Soon enough, the tabletop was positively lined with seafood dishes. The residents were being kind, so I accepted them, but no way could I eat this much.

“Everyone, slow down a bit, okay?” Atola put a stop to it. Well, if I couldn’t eat it, I’d just put it away in the bear storage—it was fine. But, then again, maybe I’d eat before the food got cold. Everything was so delicious, after all.

Atola beamed. “You sure are popular.”

“I’m happy to eat all this delicious food, but I wish they wouldn’t make such a big deal out of it.”

“Then why don’t you change out of those bear clothes? If you do that, no one will notice you.” She was right about that, but…what if something bad happened, and I wasn’t in the suit? No, it wasn’t worth it.

“This is a cursed item,” I said solemnly, “so I can’t.”

“Is it really? Oh wow, do you smell bad?” Atola leaned in and actually sniffed me.

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

“If you can never take it off, that means you never bathe or shower.”

“Okay, okay! I’m lying, jeez.”

Thankfully, a bunch of little kids came over to interrupt that dumb conversation.

“Miss Bear, thank you for defeating the monster,” a boy said, and bowed his head.

Another kid piped up: “My mom said that we get to eat food thanks to you.”

The first kid nodded. “Thank you, Miss Bear!”

The two of them turned full smiles to me. I bent on my knee and got on the kids’ level.

“You guys getting tons to eat?”

“Yeah.”

They nodded, smiling. I gave them pats on the head.

“Good. Eat lots and make sure to help your mom.”

The kids nodded vigorously and ran off.

“You’re a good girl, Yuna.”

“Tch. They were thanking me. Of course I was going to be nice.”

 

The feast ran late. Partway through, old man Kuro came by to give a long, drunk speech about how amazing the ocean was. Atola got wasted, too, and made a real commotion. Man, some adults get really into that stuff. Weird. When the sun started to sink, I headed to the inn to get away from all that junk.

“Yuna, welcome back,” said Deigha’s daughter, Anz. She looked so healthy, and even a little tanned. I was kinda scrawny and pallid in comparison.

“Things are getting pretty wild out there,” I said. “And here, too, huh?” A bunch of guys in the inn were slamming back drinks; the place reeked of alcohol.

“Well, everyone’s happy that they can go out to sea. My older brother was overjoyed.”

“Yeah. Where’s Deigha?”

“My dad’s so drunk, he went to the back to sleep.”

“And so you took over from him, Anz?”

“Yeah! Would you like something to eat, Yuna? I can whip something up.”

“I ate tons outside, so I’m good.” I couldn’t eat another bite without exploding.

“Makes sense. There’s food everywhere, after all.”

“What about you, Anz? What’re you up to?”

“Watching the shop and prepping my own dinner, that’s all.”

“You didn’t go eat with the others?”

“My dad got too drunk too early, and I had to cook for everyone else, so I ended up needing to eat late.”

“Oooo, what are you making?”

“Sashimi. You probably haven’t heard of it; it’s a delicious cuisine from the Land of Wa. You prepare the fish raw and put soy sauce on it!”

Sa…shi…mi. I needed to have some with soy sauce. I consulted my stomach. She gave me permission. Maybe I…wouldn’t explode? “Is there enough for me?”

“We have tons of fish.”

“Do you have white rice?”

“Of course!”

Okay, I needed it.

Anz prepared the fish beautifully. There was even octopus and squid in there! “You’re pretty good at this.”

“My dad taught me. Someday I’ll even have my own shop!”

Oh, interesting…I was thinking of bringing fish back to Crimonia, but there was a chance no one would know how to cut or prepare it. Anz’s skills were exactly what I needed. She lined the sashimi up over the rice and offered it to me. I added just the right amount of soy sauce, aaaaand…delicious.

“I’ve got my own place in Crimonia, and we might be looking for a worker like you,” I said.

“You have your own shop?”

“I’m the owner, but I don’t really do any of the cooking. I’d like to eat seafood more often in Crimonia. Would you come join us?”

“I would if I could, but it’s far… It would make me sad to be separated from my family.”

In other words, she’d consider it if it was nearer? I finished off the rest of the seafood bowl and found myself smiling.

Anz and I ended up talking late into the night, laughing, enjoying ourselves, and downing more delicious seafood.