Chapter 119: The Bear Rides a Boat

Chapter 119:
The Bear Rides a Boat

 

AFTER GETTING BOMBARDED by our beautiful bounty of bamboo shoots, I took Fina and Shuri to explore the seaport.

“That was so good,” said Fina, patting her tummy.

“Since we’ve still got plenty of bamboo shoots, I’ll make some for Tiermina and the orphans.”

Shuri nodded. “O-kay!”

As we walked around, we spied one of those harem parties—you know the kind, with the buff leader guy and a bunch of ladies, like something out of a self-insert light novel. I knew these guys, actually. The dude was Blitz. Then there was the beautiful Rosa, the petite and cute Ran, and the gallant swordswoman Glimos.

“I’ve spotted Yuna!” Rosa yelled, and ran over to us. “Deigha told us you were over here.”

“You guys are all still in town?” I thought they’d leave after finishing the food convoy.

“The guild master asked us to stick around for a while, since they’ve got some monster extermination jobs coming up.”

“But more importantly,” Blitz butt in, “is it true? They said you defeated the kraken, but…really? The kraken?”

“Blitz,” Rosa chided, “come on. The townspeople are saying it. Don’t you trust them?”

“Okay, but, I mean…this is the kraken we’re talking about. How could a single person beat that thing? Isn’t that a little, uh…unreasonable?”

“Maybe, but Yuna is beyond reason. She could probably beat the thing.”

Wow, Rosa, really? Beyond reason? Totally uncalled for, even if I couldn’t think of a good comeback.

“I get what you mean, Blitz,” said Ran, “but even the guild master is saying she did it.”

“I can’t think of a reason for the townspeople to lie,” said Glimos.

“But think about it reasonably,” Blitz protested.

Rosa shook her head. “Did Yuna look reasonable when she eliminated the bandits?”

“She, uh…okay, she didn’t, but…”

Oh my God, I did not ask to be verbally owned by an entire party of adventurers today. Blitz looked dissatisfied, but how dare he when I was the one being murdered live in front of an entire town?

“So, what’re you doing?” asked Rosa. “Didn’t you go home to Crimonia?”

“I’m just popping in with these kids.” I introduced Fina and Shuri, who were hiding behind me.

“I’m Fina.”

“I’m Shuri.”

They introduced themselves with little head bobs, seeming slightly embarrassed.

“Ooo, aren’t they little cuties!” Rosa couldn’t help but hug them. “Are they your sisters, Yuna?”

“No, but I guess they’re pretty close.”

“Yuna!”

“Ohmigosh, Yuna…”

Shuri and Fina seemed pretty happy about that, I guess.

“But they’re not dressed as bears,” said Blitz. C’mon, as if I’d let Fina and Shuri get the same weird looks I got, although…they did wear the bear uniforms when they helped out at the shop.

“Are you all going to be in Mileela for a while?” I asked.

“No, we’re thinking of heading over to Crimonia once that tunnel opens.”

“You are?”

Rosa nodded at Blitz. “The guild master said we just need to stick around until the tunnel is done. And since the tunnel’s there now, how could we not go to Crimonia?”

“A new town is just waiting for us, after all,” Ran interjected with a suave line.

“And honestly,” said Rosa, “I’d like to take a look at the town you’re living in, Yuna.”

Really? There was nothing there, though. Just a bear house, and a shop with bear statues, and an orphanage with some more bear statues—that was pretty much it. But if they were coming anyway… “If you’re stopping by Crimonia, I’ll treat you to a meal.”

“Oh, are you sure?”

“If you’re fine eating at my restaurant, that is.”

“Your restaurant?” Blitz repeated. “But aren’t you an adventurer? Fina, Shuri, does Yuna really have her own restaurant?”

“Yes, it’s a bakery. And it’s so yummy.”

“Mmhm! Yummy.”

The two of them backed me up, but Blitz and the others seemed unconvinced.

“Why have you got a restaurant?” asked Rosa.

Err. Why…why did I have a restaurant? “I guess that’s just how…things turned out?”

“Normal people don’t go around making restaurants just because things ‘turn out’ like that,” said Rosa.

“Yeah, but…I mean, that’s what happened.”

“Is Yuna always like this?” Rosa was no longer addressing me—now she asked Fina.

“Uh-huh! My mom says she never knows what Yuna is thinking.”

Thanks, Tiermina. Yeah, she and I were gonna have some words after this.

 

We parted ways with Rosa and the gang, who were headed over to exterminate monsters near the tunnels, and we made our way to the harbor; Fina and Shuri wanted to see the ships from up close.

“This is amazing,” said Fina in an excited whisper. “There are so many ships.”

“Ships!”

When we got to the harbor, the two went running off to go look at the boats docked at the port. It was past the time for catches, so there were a ton of boats docked. The girls’ eyes positively glittered. They didn’t say it out loud, but I could tell they wanted to board one. I wish I could’ve gotten them on, but I didn’t have a ship myself and there really wasn’t a way to do that.

“Sis,” Shuri gasped, “there’s a big ship over there.”

“Shuri, wait!”

But Shuri was already running. Fina went after her. Man, those two would have even more fun if I could get them on a ship, wouldn’t they? I looked around, looking for someone to ask about that, and just then a familiar couple came out from the shadows of a ship.

“Yuna?”

“Yuna!”

Ah, Yuula and Damon. We meet again.

“Yuna, you came by the seaport?”

“I got here yesterday.” I explained to them I’d come for fun by way of the tunnel.

“You came all the way from Crimonia with those little kids just for that?”

“That’s right.”

Damon seemed disappointed. “I can’t believe you’d just stop by here for fun from Crimonia. We almost died to get there, remember?”

“And now there’s a tunnel, so it’s all pretty chill.”

“I know that,” said Damon, “but it just feels…weird.”

“What are you talking about, Damon? Yuna saved our life, and then saved the whole seaport. What are you complaining for?” Yuula gave Damon a slap on the back.

“What are the two of you doing?” I asked. There weren’t any other sailors around, after all.

“Boat maintenance. If you don’t get that done now, you’ll be in trouble when things break down later.”

Yeah, true. Just a little hole could put a ship under after a while. Meanwhile, Fina and Shuri were staring at the ship in wonder as we talked.

“First time seeing a ship, you two?” asked Yuula.

“Yes, it’s my first time.”

“Uh-huh.”

The kids nodded.

“In that case,” said Yuula, “want to climb aboard?”

The girls were thrilled, but then they gave me a nervous look.

“Can we?” asked Fina.

“Of course,” said Damon. “We can at least do that much. Yuna did help us out, after all.”

“Would you two like to board the ship?” asked Yuula.

“I would, but…” Fina started.

“It looks a li’l scary,” Shuri finished. Yeah…if they’d never even seen the ocean before, of course they’d be a little overwhelmed. They probably were interested, but were frightened.

“Damon,” I said, “can I count on you to keep them safe?”

“Aye, of course. I’d never endanger anyone you know, Yuna.”

“That’s all I need to hear. You two go ahead and get on.”

“What about you, Yuna?” asked Fina.

“I’ll wait here.”

“But…but…” Shuri’s teeny hand grabbed my bear onesie and looked up at me with puppy-dog eyes. “…I wanna go with you!”

Argh. Irresistible cuteness. Who amongst us could stand against that? So yeah, Damon let all three of us onto the boat. With everyone onboard, Damon put up the sails and we headed into sea.

“If either of you feel sick,” I said, “let me know sooner rather than later.”

“…?” Fina tilted her head…

“…?” …and Shuri tilted her head even more.

I wasn’t about to try to explain seasickness to them when it was their first time on a boat, so I left it at that. Still, according to Yuula and Damon, the waves weren’t that tall today. Maybe we wouldn’t have to worry about seasickness?

My fears aside, the two of them were ecstatic whenever the boat really rocked. We made a circle around the nearby stretch of ocean and came right back.

There we go, everything was fine: they didn’t seem sick at all. I hadn’t felt sick either, but maybe that was because of my bear gear?

“Damon, Yuula, thank you so much.”

“’Course! I’m just happy you enjoyed yourselves,” said Damon.

“Let us know anytime you’d like a ride,” said Yuula.

We thanked Damon and left the harbor. “Did you two enjoy yourselves?”

“Yes! It was fun.”

“Uh-huh, the boat was real fun!”

With the full, bright smiles on their faces, I knew they weren’t just saying that.

 

The next day was our last day there, so I wanted to make sure it was a fun one before we headed back to Crimonia. “Is there anywhere you two want to go?”

We’d already gone to the ocean and ridden a boat. We’d dug up bamboo shoots, and we’d eaten Deigha and Anz’s food. We met with Yuula and Damon…and now I couldn’t think of where else to go, so I left it to them.

“Anywhere would be fine.”

“Uh-huh.”

Really? Ugh, that was the worst answer they could’ve had. Ah well, what can you do?

We’d probably find something if we headed into the seaport, so I decided we’d go and then think about it. When I held their little hands as we entered the seaport, there was a certain woman with very, uh, chestful clothes waiting for us.

“Atola?”

“Been a while, Yuna.”

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing much. I was just wondering why you didn’t come to me if you were in town.”

“Uhh, because I didn’t need anything from you?”

Atola glared at me. “Yuna!”

“C’mon, you know I’m joking. I was just about to head over to you.” I super was not joking, it was a big fat lie, and I hadn’t intended to see her at all. Don’t tell anyone.

“You mean it?” She looked at me dubiously.

“I do,” I said, subtly averting my eyes.

“Well…fine. What did you come for?”

“Just to hang out is all.” Which is why I didn’t have any business with Atola—I had no reason to visit the adventurers’ guild.

“You came to hang out? But there’s nothing in this place.”

“There’s tons to do. There’s seafood, bamboo shoot digging, the sea, the boats, the beaches. You two had fun, too, didn’t you?” I asked my little squad to back me up.

“Yes, it was fun.”

“Uh-huh, it was fun.”

“Was it? I mean, what even is ‘bamboo d’—eh, whatever, I suppose I’m happy if you had fun. So, who are these kids?”

“They’re the kids of…” Fina would get mad if I introduced her again as the person I owed my life to, so I tried something else. “…a lady in Crimonia who’s been helping me out?”

“No we’re not!” said Fina. “We’re the ones that are being taken care of by Yuna.”

“My mom said so. We get to eat yummy food thanks to Yuna.”

Absolutely annihilated once again by children. Devastating. And now Atola was…she was laughing about it?

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“Let me guess: you saved the family of these kids without asking for anything in return, am I right?”

Fina gasped. “That’s amazing. How did you know?!”

“Yuna did the same thing for this seaport.”

“Whoa, you really got it right!”

How were they hitting it off so quickly? And the way they summed me up so quickly made me sound so…so one-dimensional! I wanted them to back off and correct themselves, but the three of them were really getting into talking about me.

“She always says, ‘Don’t worry about it,’ right?”

“Yeah, she does say that.”

“Ohmigosh, she does.”

“And that she ‘doesn’t need’ anything in return.”

“Uh-huh, that’s just like her!”

“Yeah, that’s her!”

Why were they so excited to talk about me?

“We’re the ones who need to thank her, but, for some reason, Yuna helps us instead.”

“Right? Every time!”

“Yuna’s so nice!”

What was with this? All this nice talk was getting me all…itchy. I’m not that softhearted, okay? The reason I helped Fina was because she helped me out when I got to this world and had no idea how to tell right from left. Fina taught me all kinds of things without treating me like I was ridiculous or suspicious. That’s all.

Actually, now that I thought about it, I was amazed she taught me so many things while I was wearing this bear onesie.

“And you know what Yuna did—” Fina started.

“How about we cut things short soon and head somewhere else?” I proposed, because…come on, they were probably going to just yammer on forever.

“Oh, sorry.”

“Sorry.”

“Yeah, sorry!”

The three of them apologized. Ugh, now I felt like the bad guy here.

“What are you going to do now, Yuna?” asked Atola.

“I was going to say hi to you, Atola, but since we’ve met here, I thought we could just go around town a bit.”

It was only half a lie, okay? I really had been planning on wandering around, so I was telling her the truth.

“In that case, how about I join you?” she asked.

“Oh, are you free?”

“Oh, yes. Lord Cliff sent over adventurers from Crimonia in order to exterminate the monsters near the tunnel, and that’s all going swimmingly. Blitz and the others have come back and agreed to head over to do that for a while, too, so there aren’t any issues at the adventurers’ guild. The trade guild…now they’re having a time of it. There’s a ton of stuff coming in from Crimonia, and they’ve gotten piles and piles of instructions from Milaine.”

“Seems like a lot for Jeremo to deal with.”

“Yeah, but he’s doing a good job. Even if it does seem like he occasionally tries to escape,” Atola added with a laugh. “But yeah, people are smiling again here. We missed that, Yuna.”

“Cliff and Milaine were the ones who did all that work.”

“No one believes a word of that but you,” said Atola with a bright smile. She grabbed Fina and Shuri’s hands, then, and started walking.

I could’ve argued, if I felt like it. Instead I just followed after the three of them.