Chapter 135: The Bear Heads to the Orphanage to Deliver the Book

Chapter 135:
The Bear Heads to the Orphanage to Deliver the Book

 

IT WAS EVENING on the same day the students bought me a meal. After getting back to Crimonia, I collapsed onto my bed in my white bear outfit, post-bath and ready for nappin’ in the comfort of my own home.

What would I do without my bear transport gate? Probably die instantly.

Yeah, sleeping in your own bed really couldn’t be beat.

I summoned my bears in their cub form. Shia and Cattleya had been hogging the bears for a while, and I really missed their fluffiness. Like huggable melatonin or something, they were so comfy that I was gonna be out in a millisecond. My eyelids started to steadily droop.

“Kumayuru, Kumakyu, I’m going to bed now.”

I fell asleep, sandwiched by my fuzzy little buddies on either side, and slipped into a dream.

 

When I woke the next day, I found my bears sleeping curled up on either side of me like cinnamon rolls by my pillow. I gently stroked and then recalled them.

I changed into my black bear outfit and headed out to the Bear’s Lounge for breakfast. The smell of freshly baked bread wafted over to me at the back entrance; Morin was baking inside. The kids were working their darndest to knead the bread and make pudding around her.

“Yuna, you’re back?” Morin called out, and the kids looked over at me too. Morin warned the kids when they tried to approach me: “I know you’re happy to see Yuna come here, but we need to prep for opening—wait till then before your breaks, all right?”

I nodded, putting my bear puppets on my hips for good measure. “Everyone, listen to Morin and get your work done first.”

“We wiiill!” they practically sang. Morin rolled her eyes a little but couldn’t hide her smile.

“Morin, can I have some bread?” Eating oven-fresh bread was a special privilege that came with owning the place, but I also needed to order up some bread to replenish the supply in my bear storage. I was running pretty low after the practical training mission.

“You can take whatever bread you like.”

Oh, you know I was gonna wreck that fresh bread. A delicious aroma wafted over me. I didn’t know which to choose. Truly, this was the worst situation anyone could ever be in.

I brooded over the decision, and the kids watched me. Maybe some of the bread had been baked by them?

I picked out a couple of loaves and watched them immediately divide into a delighted group and a disappointed one. Sorry, guys.

Maybe I could make my way through all of their bread someday.

 

I went for the refrigerator to get juice, but Karin just brought some over for me, smiling.

“Thanks.” I took a big swig.

“You’re welcome. You sure are popular with the kids.”

Popular? Maybe. It felt more like they were chicks attached to me because I’d fed them. I picked at my bread and watched them work. “How’s the shop?”

“We’re super busy every day, like usual.”

“Do you have enough people?”

“We’re fine on that front. Mil and the others do a thorough job of things.”

Hmm. Suddenly I felt a little guilty that I was the one putting those kids to work. I mean, it was normal for kids to work in this world, mind you. Kids on a farm helped out with the farming, merchant’s kids helped out with the business. There were a lot of cases where kids would help out with their parents’ jobs at a young age. It was pretty normal.

That even applied to Karin here. She’d been baking since she was young. “They’re such dedicated workers.” She flashed a strained smile. “Much better than I was at their age.”

“You didn’t help out?”

“This girl,” someone called out, “was always goofing off.”

“Mom!”

Morin cackled. “In fact, this particular problem child wouldn’t help at all, no matter how many times I asked her to.”

Karin rubbed her eyes. “Moooooom…”

“Oh, don’t give me that. It was only a few years ago, mm?” Even though it seemed like old news to Karin, it was apparently fresh in Morin’s mind.

“You didn’t help out, Karin?” the kids looked at Karin with their innocent eyes.

“Of course I did. I just skipped out a teeny-tiny bit.” She was wiggling her hands now as she talked. It was kind of adorable.

Morin nodded absently. “A teeny bit, mm?”

“Mom!”

“Ha, I’m kidding. You’re earning your keep now, dear.”

“It’s not like I’m still a little kid.”

“Yes, of course not. You’ve grown so much. Father would be proud of you. I’m sure he is.”

“Oh, Mom, I…”

As mother and daughter shared a touching moment, the kids started forcing their way in.

“I-I’m being really thorough about learning too.”

“Me too…”

“And me.”

The kids started to advocate for themselves.

“Oh my, look at all these apprentices. Karin, if you become too complacent, these kids’ll start overtaking you.”

Karin laughed. “All right, the lot of you. Let’s get back to work. I’ll race you, eh?”

The kids ran after her. Morin watched their backs in delight.

Yeah. It was good to be back.

 

Once I finished eating breakfast, I headed to the orphanage to pass out picture books. The bear ornament was there to greet me. It was supposed to be a guardian deity to protect the orphanage, but it looked more like a cartoon mascot than a fearsome protector.

I passed by the bear and headed inside. The shop gang was hard at work and the kokekko gang was in the henhouse. I realized the only ones around would be the little kid gang—some little guys ranging from about five to six. Even the five- and six-year-olds helped the headmistress take care of the smaller kids—by playing with them, admittedly, which probably wasn’t that much labor-wise.

The little kid gang was in their playroom. I actually found the headmistress and the smaller kids there too.

“Headmistress, good morning.”

“I see you’re back from your job, Yuna.”

Like hounds called to a hunt, the little kid gang ran over to me on their stumpy legs and latched on.

I gave them head pats and squeezed my way to the headmistress. “Yep. I came by to see how the kids are doing and bring them some souvenirs.”

“A soo-veh-near? Wassat?” one of the kids holding my bear hands asked.

“Is it food?”

“Is it yummy food?”

“Sorry, it’s not edible.”

“Aww…” Maybe I should’ve picked up snacks instead?

The headmistress shook her head. “You must not say such selfish things. Thanks to Yuna, we’re able to eat delicious meals every day.”

It wasn’t really like it was thanks to me. No, it was the older gang of kids working at the shop, taking care of the kokekko, and putting food on the table. All I did was set up the foundation. Everyone else had done the hard work.

“Yes, ma’am, we’re sowwy.” The kids apologized.

“I’ll bring some yummy things for you next time, okay? The souvenir I’ve got for you today is a picture book.”

“A pik-chur book?”

I pulled out The Bear and the Girl from my bear storage.

“It’s a bear!” One of the kids took the book from my hands.

“Aw, no fair. I wanna see too!”

“But I wanna see…”

“Don’t fight over it.” I pulled out another volume of the book. “Make sure you all share it when you read it.”

“We wiiill!”

The kids started to read the book together.

“Yuna, thank you so much,” said the headmistress.

“There’s also a second volume, so please read this one to them when they’re done.” I handed the headmistress two copies of the The Bear and the Girl, Volume 2.

“Oh my, what charming illustrations.”

“If you’d like other picture books, please let Tiermina know.”

“It should be fine. Those kids won’t be selfish.”

“And picture books will help them learn to read. Nothing selfish about that.”

“Oh, marvelous! Come, everyone, make sure to thank Yuna.”

The kids looked up at me from the picture book they were reading and thanked me.

“Everyone, make sure to study really hard. Don’t cause any trouble for the headmistress.”

The kids agreed with great enthusiasm. After that, I spent my time talking to the headmistress about what had happened recently, and I finally read the book to the kids.