Chapter 137: The Bear Shows Anz Around

Chapter 137:
The Bear Shows Anz Around

 

ANZ’S GROUP OGLED the town like they’d never seen anything like it before. I’d done the same thing when I got to Crimonia for the first time, so I wasn’t one to talk, but I’d been looking around to figure out whether I was in the game world or in an alternate universe…and all the while, everyone had been looking at me, this interdimensional bear onesie girl. At least the locals didn’t do that anymore.

Somehow, it’d been a few months since I’d arrived in this world… Man, tempus really do be fugit.

The women talked among themselves:

“There are so many people.”

“Yeah, for real.”

“Are we really working in this town?”

“I wonder if I can manage it.”

“Well, we’ve got each other!”

“All the townspeople are dressed so nicely.”

“Yeah, but…I don’t see any.”

“You’re right.”

Just as I was wondering what they didn’t see, they all turned to look at me. Uhh? “What do you not see?”

“People wearing outfits like yours, Yuna.”

“There aren’t any other bears.”

“We thought that there would be people wearing bear clothes in town like you.”

All of them nodded.

But…huh? C’mon, no way townsfolk would walk around town wearing a onesie like me. This had been a onesie-less world till I showed up.

Then again, if a person lived in Mileela all their life and hadn’t gone anywhere else before and hadn’t heard anything about Crimonia, I guess they’d assume people in town might wear onesies if the first Crimonian local they’d ever seen was me?

Then again, there were people heading to Mileela from Crimonia to work, so my outfit still had to have seemed a little weird.

“So no one else wears clothes like you, Ms. Yuna?”

They were really going to make me answer that one out loud, huh? “Um. Ah. No.”

That was the only answer I could give. What else could I say? I couldn’t hide behind the kids working at the shop with their outfits. After all, those were just jackets. Parkas made to look like bears—like the ones on the kids coming up to us right then.

My eyes landed on a crowd of ’em walking around. They were definitely the kids working at the Bear’s Lounge. Wh-what were they doing walking around in a place like this? Actually, why were they walking around wearing the shop uniforms?

And at a time like now… What was going on at the shop? The gears in my mind spun at maximum power, but they weren’t spitting out any answers.

While I tried to get a read on the kids, Seno noticed them. “Huh?! There are bears. Those kids are dressed up as bears.”

At that, everyone looked toward the kids in the bear jackets. The kids noticed me too.

“Yuna!” The kids scrambled over to me—three girls.

“What are you all doing in a place like this?” I asked. “What’s happening with the shop?”

“We have the day off.”

Ohhh, right, today was their weekly free day. I hadn’t visited the shop, so I’d forgotten.

“Ms. Yuna, who are these kids?” Anz asked.

Even if I tried to wave it off, she’d find out eventually, so I gave her an honest explanation. “Oh, they’re my orphan workers.” Then I turned to them. “But why are you all wearing your uniforms? The shop really is closed today, right?”

“Well, because it’s cute and warm,” one girl answered with a full and honest smile.

“Also, Tiermina said that we’d be safe as long as we wear these.”

“You’d be safe?”

“She said we’d have the bear’s protection, so we won’t get caught up in anything bad or get tricked. We wear them when we go out shopping.”

“Oooh! And when we go shopping? We get free stuff!”

When they said they got the bear’s protection, did they mean…I was the bear? Because being dressed as a bear only ever seemed to bring me fights.

Were they really going to be okay? I’d need to check in with Tiermina on her logic. What if they got bullied? “So why are you all here?”

“We came to buy ingredients. Headmistress asked.”

“Yeah! We got the day off, but everybody else is working.”

Agh, too cute! “You’re all so good.” I gave each of them a head pat. They squinted happily. “Be careful while you’re out shopping, guys.”

It wasn’t like I could waste their time too long while they were on errands. They were all thumbs-up and enthusiastic nods as they left.

“They’re such cute kids, aren’t they?” Neaf cooed. The others agreed—they were so well-behaved, so sweet.

I nodded. “The headmistress who looks after them is a nice person. The kids follow her example, so they’ve grown up to be really good.”

Good really was the word, huh? The orphans had grown into upstanding kids thanks to the headmistress and Liz.

 

After we left the shopping kids, I started walking to the shop where Anz’s group would be working. Then something caught their eyes.

“Huh? What’s that?”

“A bear?”

“Looks like.”

“Is that a shop?”

Everyone was looking at the Bear’s Lounge. Anz’s shop was nearby, so of course they would see it as we headed there.

A giant bear stood in front of the entrance. Other bears decorated the rooftop. A sign read Bear’s Lounge in big letters. They all stared at the shop and bears, their mouths agape.

“I’ve…seen something like this before.”

“Oh, what a coincidence. Me too.”

“Me as well.”

All of them nodded, then looked at me.

“It’s the same as the bear in front of the tunnel, isn’t it?”

Ding ding ding, we’ve got a winner.

“That one was carrying a sword, but this one has a loaf of bread.”

“How cute.”

“Yuna, this isn’t your shop, is it?”

Sigh. “It’s one of the places I manage.”

“Then were the kids we just saw employees from here?”

“So that’s why they were dressed like bears.”

“We’re not working here, too, are we?”

They all had a different expression—worry, anxiety, a forced smile, and delight.

“This shop mainly sells bread and light meals. I’ve prepped a different shop for you.”

“You did?”

“Since I’m planning on having the new shop focus on rice and seafood.” You just had to have rice with fish, after all. Then again, we didn’t have rice right now, or even miso, so…I guess we’d only have seafood for a while? “Actually, what’s been going on with the Land of Wa?”

“One of their ships came the other day to start trading.” Finally. Maybe soon I could get my hands on rice, soy sauce, and miso… “Jeremo said that he would send you the things you requested once he got them.”

I was looking forward to it. Looked like Japanese food might soon reenter my culinary life!

 

I took Anz and the others toward the shop. Well, I didn’t really have to take them far since, as noted, Anz’s shop was close to the Bear’s Lounge.

Once we got there, the group stared in awe at the giant building in front of them.

“It’s huge.”

It was smaller all around than the Bear’s Lounge, but it was still two stories and on the large side generally speaking.

“But there are no bears.” Seno placed a hand to her forehead and searched the surroundings.

Well, the only reason why we’d ended up with bears on the outside of the shop in the first place was because Milaine had made the uniforms, and I’d had to elaborate a little on that.

“Let’s make bears for this shop too,” said Seno, looking to Anz. “You want bear decorations too, don’t you?”

“I don’t mind either way.”

“Then why not? Since it’s Yuna’s shop, I’m sure that people from Mileela will just like it all the more.”

Forne nodded. “True, true.”

“Oh, and let’s make the bear unique. It could hold a fish.”

“What if we gave it rice too?”

Seno nodded sagely. “You’re right. That would be a good way of getting word out to people in Crimonia too.”

“Anyway,” I said through gritted teeth, “let’s talk about that later and go inside. I’m sure you’re all tired.”

“Of course,” said Seno from behind me, “one statue is the bear minimum, and…”

Yeah, Seno had taken a liking to the bear decorations.

Well, it wasn’t like I’d fight putting up decorations if they asked. I’d already given up on that front. Trying to resist didn’t do anything.

Then again, this time, maybe I’d put up a teeny-tiny bit of a struggle.

 

Once we got inside the building, a huge, open space spread out before us. This was the dining area.

“Sure is empty, isn’t it?”

“But it’s so large…”

Anz and the others started walking through the room.

“Are you sure we can open a shop in here?”

I nodded. “Yeah, it’ll be yours, Anz.”

“Wow.”

“Hey, as long as you like it, it’s whatever.”

“Yuna, can we head to the back?”

After I gave my okay, Seno and the others started exploring the first floor. It had the kitchen and storage. Since it’d originally been a normal house, it had baths and stuff too. Anz and Neaf headed to the kitchen. Seno and the others headed to the storage and bath areas.

“This is nicer than the one in our inn,” said Anz from the kitchen. Wasn’t too surprising, since we’d cleaned the area up. Tiermina had done most of the work.

“The bath is nice too,” said Seno, and suddenly cried out excitedly: “And ohmigosh there are even bears in there!”

Everyone rushed to the bath.

“That’s a bear right there.”

“Yeah, it’s a bear all right.”

“It sure is a bear.”

Just like the bear house, the hot water came out of a bear’s mouth. Look, don’t ask me… The bath had needed some repairs, so I’d rebuilt it.

“But this sure is large.”

“Yeah, I think all of us could fit in here.”

“Though it might be hard to clean.”

All true. “Be sure to talk with each other about keeping it tidy while you’re using it.”

After she’d mostly examined the first floor, Anz headed up to the second floor. The second floor was the living quarters.

“There are five rooms here, so you can use the ones you like,” I said.

Seno opened a door nearby and gasped. “Yuna, you don’t mean this room is for a single person?”

Since I’d heard that Anz was going to have four helpers, I’d furnished each room with a single bed. If they brought on more people, then they would need to share rooms, but right now since there were five of them, Anz included, they could each have their own.

Seno shook her head. “I never would have thought we’d each get our own room.”

“Well, we were all thinking of renting a house,” said Anz. “We wouldn’t have been able to get separate rooms if we wanted an inexpensive place.”

“Yuna, we are going to get wages, right?” Seno asked me anxiously. Come to think of it, we hadn’t discussed pay. I needed to consult Tiermina first.

“I’m going to pay you properly. It’s just that I need to ask the person in charge of finances to figure out how much.”

“Okay, I’m fine even if it’s a small amount, as long as we’re paid something.”

“If we get to live in a place like this, we really can’t complain either way.”

Yeah, I’d talk with Tiermina tomorrow. “Also, this is going to be a women-only house, so make sure you don’t bring any men here. If you want to fool around with boys, please do it somewhere else.” Since they were young women at a particular age, things like that might happen, and—you know, whatever. Just as long as they weren’t bringing strangers into the house.

“I’m good as far as men go for the time being.”

“Same here.”

“My husband was killed, so I’m sure you can figure out the rest.”

All of them except for Anz nodded. Some of them had lost their husbands and children, after all, so the rule might have been unnecessary. Maybe I should’ve spoken more carefully. “Is there anything else you want to know?”

Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads slightly. No questions right now, looked like.

“All right then, rest up for now.”

It was already night. There wasn’t time to show them around town, and I was sure they were tired from the long trip. I wanted them to rest early.

I laid out some bread Morin and the kids had made on the table for them to have as dinner and breakfast. “Well, I’ll be back tomorrow morning, so take it easy until then.”

After that, I stopped by Tiermina’s place real quick and headed home.