Chapter 138: The Bear Explains to Anz

Chapter 138:
The Bear Explains to Anz

 

IT WAS THE DAY AFTER Anz had come to Crimonia. While I was waiting at home, Tiermina came by. “Morning, Yuna. Am I a little late?”

“Right on time. I’m counting on you today.” There were a lot of things I needed to talk to Tiermina about when it came to the shop-slash-living-area that I’d given to Anz and the others, so I’d asked her to stop by. I knew she was busy in the mornings, but Tiermina had still agreed. “But you’re sure you’ll be okay?” I asked. “Work won’t pile up?”

“It should be fine. My daughters went to help out in my stead, and Liz is there too. It might take them a while, but they’ll make sure to get everything done. Don’t worry.”

Liz had apparently been managing the eggs and dropping by the trade guild. Tiermina had taught Liz how to fill in for her, knowing she might get sick again at some point in the future. Still, Tiermina had been taking care of things for me this whole time, and I was going to rely on her again now…

I took Tiermina to Anz’s shop. When we got inside, Anz and the others were hanging around the first floor.

“Oh, Ms. Yuna. Good morning,” Anz greeted me.

“Yuna, morning.” Neaf also came by and greeted me.

“Morning. You guys sleep well?”

“Yeah, we got to sleep. The beds were so fluffy and felt so comfortable.” Anz didn’t look tired at all—yeah, she’d gotten some good rest.

“Yuna, are you really sure we can use those rooms?”

“And for free?”

“Even though you’re paying us?”

I guess they’d really liked the rooms. They were all dubious.

“You’re not getting us involved in any funny business, are you?” Seno added.

Their eyes all centered on me.

“I’m going to pay you an actual wage for really normal business.” Though I could see how it might seem too good to be true. Of course they’d feel anxious. I didn’t know much about how the workforce in this world was normally treated. I’d happened to hear that apprentices were sometimes provisioned with necessities without a real wage, though that probably depended on the type of work.

“So, Ms. Yuna, who’s this?” Anz asked about Tiermina, who stood beside me.

I introduced Tiermina to everyone, explaining that she was the mother of Fina and Shuri, who these women had met in the past. I also told them she’d be helping with the shop, focusing on the finance work. With that done, I introduced the group, Anz included, to Tiermina.

“Sorry for imposing on you, but we are looking forward to working with you!”

Tiermina smiled. “If there’s anything you don’t know, you can ask me anything.”

“Yes, ma’am! Thank you.”

Once Anz and the others had finished introducing themselves, we moved to a break room on the first floor and started talking next steps. “I’m going to give a simplified explanation of the work. Ready? If you have any questions, just chime in.”

From there, I gave them a concise summary about my vision for the shop. Anz would be responsible for management; everyone would follow her directions, it being her shop and all. Anz would design the menu and decide what dishes to offer—though they could discuss it with each other, Anz had final say. The others would help out with the shop and the orphanage. After every six days of work, they’d get one day off, just like at the Bear’s Lounge.

“I’m going to be responsible for things…” Anz murmured.

“Tiermina and I are going to help you, so don’t worry.” Especially Tiermina, I added internally. I wondered if she could sense that somehow. Her smile looked pretty…was strained the right word? I’d maybe say anticipatory instead.

“Well,” said one of the women, “Anz just needs to cook like Deigha.”

“Okay, I’ll do what I can.” Anz nodded diminutively.

“Anz, when you make the menu, please make sure to write out how much of each ingredient you need. We’ll discuss stocking costs and price points for selling once you’ve done that.”

“Yes, I will,” Anz answered, looking earnest.

“Also—and we won’t do this for a while, but—you should decide on how many of each item we’ll sell in a given time frame. If we don’t figure that out, it’ll cause issues with our stockpile.”

“Of course. We would have a problem if we bought too much and the ingredients spoiled.”

“Will you be procuring the ingredients, Tiermina?”

“For now, at least. Of course, once you’ve gotten to know the town and have a little more time, you can start handling it on your own.”

“All right. In that case, I’d like to see the ingredients in person. Could you tell me which shops they come from?”

“Yep,” said Tiermina. “I have some butchers and grocers to recommend. I’ll show them to you later.”

“Thank you so much!”

“What about our work?” Seno asked, raising her hand slightly.

“You’ll learn how to cook the food from Anz and support her. You’ll total sales, manage the ingredients, clean the shop—and I suppose also look after the orphans?” Hmm. Anything else?

“So mainly we’re helping out Anz?”

“Yeah, just don’t let her work pile up.”

“Of course we won’t. We’re here in Crimonia because Anz agreed to bring us. We won’t cause trouble for her.”

“Thank you, everyone,” said Anz cheerfully. She looked over at the older women, a determined look in her eyes. “I’m going give this everything I’ve got.”

From there, Tiermina explained their wages and such. I mean, I had no idea what a fair rate would be. All I’d told Tiermina was to pay above average—no way did I want any headhunters coming for my people.

It seemed Tiermina did that part well, because she got no complaints. In fact, they asked if we were really okay with paying so much! Apparently, you usually deducted money from a person’s wages when they lived on site, but I’d told Tiermina not to.

“Are we really okay with this?” I asked. “Anz, don’t regret saying that.”

“Wh-why would you say something so frightening?”

“Because the culinary skills you’ve developed under your father are far greater than you believe. Don’t undersell yourself.”

I wasn’t kidding. We were probably gonna get swamped after people tasted her food. At least, that’s what I hoped. There was always a chance the shop would flop. But Deigha’s food, and Anz’s by extension, was delicious. It’d probably be fine, as long as word of mouth spread fast enough.

“My dad’s cooking is great, but my skills are still in development…”

“The food you cooked up was crazy good, Anz. C’mon, puff out your chest a little. Have some pride.”

“Th-thank you. I’m going to give it my all.”

“But we’re not about to bump your wages up for a day just because things are hectic for a while.”

“I-I understand.”

Everyone laughed, which was good because that was a lie on my part. I was planning to increase their pay as we sold more. I needed Anz to save up a good amount for her dowry, after all. Regardless of what kind of guy she got hitched to, having money wouldn’t be a problem, even if it led her to quit her job someday.

 

Next up—interior design!

“As you can see, stuff’s pretty barren right now. Why don’t you guys decide what you want?” The inside of the shop was empty. The chairs and the table in the break room we were using had been there from the start, but they weren’t the kinds of furniture you’d use for a shop.

Anz blinked. “We get to decide?”

“It’s your shop, Anz. Make it how you want. Once you’ve decided, just put in a word with Tiermina and she’ll place an order with the furniture store. Or maybe the carpenters? I don’t know, it’ll be some kinda merchant.”

Tiermina sighed. “I knew I’d be the one doing it.”

Anz winced.

I smiled sheepishly. “Aaaanyway, if there are any tools or whatever you want for the kitchen, make sure to mention that too.”

“Oh! I brought over my tools from home, but I don’t have enough for everyone. I suppose we’ll need more.”

“Then just look into what you need. You can also tell me what plates and cups you’d like to use for serving the food.”

“Um, I can really choose the plates and such?”

“Yeah. But make sure you talk to Tiermina about cost.”

“Yes, Yuna!”

From there, we decided that Anz would devise the menu and split up the jobs in the next few days.

 

With the shop out of the way, we covered the orphanage next. I explained that the orphans were taking care of kokekko and working at the Bear’s Lounge—the kids in the bear clothes, I clarified.

Neaf interjected at that point. “Yuna, what did you want us to do for the work at the orphanage? Should we help the kids take care of the birds?”

“The kids have got that covered, so I’d like you to look after the littler kids and do other chores. I’m sure the kids’ll help out, too, but if you could do things like the laundry, cleaning, and cooking? There are so many kids that they’re really having a heck of a time. Oh, and if you have time, I’d like you to give them some early lessons on reading, writing, and arithmetic.”

The kids used their free time to study, at least, but the headmistress wasn’t able to manage the education of every single one of them on her own. If the kids couldn’t read or write, they might get swindled by a contract someday. If they couldn’t do math, they also might get swindled in the future. No matter where the kids went, they’d need these skills both to protect themselves and give them a wider range of opportunity.

“That seems unexpectedly hectic,” said Neaf. (Well, yeah—the headmistress and Liz were doing the work on their own right now. It was a handful for sure.) “Yes, with kids, you have no idea what they’re thinking or what mischief they’ll get up to.” She laughed softly. Her eyes were distant. “It’s an awful lot of trouble to take care of them.”

As though she had experience… Oh.

Some people who’d been saved from the bandits had lost their children. Neaf might have been one of those people. I wasn’t going to ask her, but…

We finished talking and headed to the orphanage to introduce the group to the kids.