Chapter 139: The Bear Leads Anz and the Others to the Orphanage — Part One

Chapter 139:
The Bear Leads Anz and the Others to the Orphanage
Part One

 

AFTER WE FINISHED the explanations, I led Anz and the others to the orphanage.

“Tiermina,” said Anz, “you’re Fina and Shuri’s mother, aren’t you?”

“Yes. And I heard that they were treated very well in Mileela. Thank you.”

“Oh,” said Anz with a wave of her hand, “we just made them food.”

“Delicious food, I’m told.”

“Not compared to my dad’s.”

I shook my head. “Nah. Your cooking’s delicious, too, Anz.”

“Ms. Yuna…” Anz seemed delighted. It wasn’t like I was giving her empty flattery either. Anz’s cooking really was fantastic.

“Ha! Well then, Anz, I’m looking forward to your cooking too.”

“Um! Then…then I’ll give it everything I’ve got.”

While we were talking, we caught sight of the orphanage…and of that.

“Another tiny bear?”

“It’s a bear all right.”

“This bear is cute too.”

The kids had requested a bear statue in front of their newly built orphanage, so there it stood.

Seno beamed. “We should definitely make bear decorations for the shop too.”

Tiermina nodded. “It’s Yuna’s shop, so it really is a requirement.”

Yep, I’d have to make a bear statue for Anz’s shop, too, if this kept up.

Must…resist… Maybe Anz could help me? “The shop belongs to Anz, so it’d be weird for there to be a bear there, right? Don’t you think, Anz?”

Come on, Anz. Come through for the bear girl here!

“I wouldn’t mind having a bear…” she said, turning her eyes away.

Anz had betrayed me.

“So you think so too?” If vipers could smile, they’d look a little like Tiermina there. Seemed Milaine was influencing her. Maybe they’d hit it off without me noticing?

“In that case,” said Seno, “I think we’ve got to have the bear hold a fish.”

“Fish are a given, but maybe a squid or octopus might be nice?”

“In that case we need one with shellfish too.”

Tiermina nodded. “Why don’t we make them all?”

Hold on, what did she mean we? I’d be the one making them! Just like when Cliff forced me to make the bear statue in front of the tunnel… All of these schemes were branching out from Seno. And here I was without allies—with Anz and Tiermina both turning against me. Despair… Agony… Horror…

“That’s enough about the bear decorations. Let’s get inside.” Pretty please? We were at the door, and they kept talking!

 

I took them in and headed to the kids’ playroom. We found them gathered around the headmistress for a picture book reading.

“Welcome, Ms. Yuna.”

“Morning, Headmistress.”

The kids who noticed me came running up.

“Bear girl!”

The kids latched onto my stomach, legs, and arms. If I weren’t wearing my bear gear, they probably would’ve toppled me right over. Even a large adult might’ve been knocked down if three or four kids glomped them.

I guess my bear gear was working as usual, since I wasn’t knocked over by the kids grabbing onto me. The room was all smiles. That included Neaf—though her smile looked a little forced.

“What brings you here today?” The headmistress looked at Anz and the others behind me. “And who might these people be?”

I briefly introduced everyone. I explained that they’d come from Mileela and would be managing a shop in Crimonia.

She nodded. “Right, and these are the ladies who will be doing that.” I’d told the headmistress earlier, and that I’d like to have the kids work there just like they had at Morin’s bakery. Of course, I didn’t want to force any of the kids or the new arrivals into any of this stuff, but I wanted to offer everybody options.

This applied to Anz, too, but there was no telling whether she’d stay forever. She might get married or move back to Mileela. I was hoping she’d teach the kids how to do the job before then.

“I’m Anz. It’s nice to meet you.” Seno, Forne, Bettle, and Neaf introduced themselves in kind.

The headmistress nodded. “Greetings! I am Bo. I take care of these kids at the orphanage. I’ve heard about you all. You’ll work at Ms. Yuna’s shop then? It will likely be a lot, but I hope you do well.”

“So, Headmistress…uh, I was thinking of having everyone help out at the orphanage too?”

“At the orphanage, you say?” The headmistress seemed a little surprised.

I’d told her about the arrivals working at the shop, but not about the orphanage. I’d wanted to get Neaf and the others to agree to it first—you know, so I didn’t put anybody on the spot. “It’s my fault that you and Liz are having a rough time. I even asked Liz to take care of the kokekko.”

“Oh, dear, thank you for thinking of us, but we’re fine. The kids are all good and, most importantly, you and Tiermina have helped us. I don’t believe we’re in a tight spot at all. We had trouble finding food to eat before we met you. We no longer have to worry about that, and now I can spend more time with the children.” The headmistress stroked the head of the kid on her lap.

Sure, she was saying all that, but I could tell she was having a rough time. A different kind of rough from before we met, but still rough. The only things Tiermina and I were doing were giving jobs to the kids. It wasn’t like we were helping take care of them.

“I don’t know, Headmistress, I mean, what if you collapse or something?”

The kids looked horrified. “Headmistwess, are you gonna cowwapse?”

The moment I floated that, the kids ran over to her seat, grabbed at her clothes, and latched onto her arms—all looking worried that at any moment, the headmistress might explode into dust.

“I’m fine, dears. I won’t collapse.” Even with them holding onto her, she didn’t so much as totter. She might’ve been stronger than me even without the bear clothes on.

Still, she seemed troubled as she stroked the kids’ heads and placated them, even if it was a really adorable image.

“Please make sure you don’t collapse for the kids’ sake, Headmistress. I’ll help you so that won’t happen.”

“Ms. Yuna, thank you.”

Now that I had approval from the headmistress, I led Anz’s group over to the kids who were taking care of the birds.

 

I headed by the fence where the kokekko were, next to the orphanage.

“We keep ’em fenced in to stop the birds from wandering off,” I told them.

Inside, the kids were catching the birds and shutting them away in the pen. The kokekko had been multiplying a lot recently, so they’d partitioned the henhouse and were cleaning it.

“Once we get the birds into the pen,” said Liz, “we’re having lunch.”

“Okaaay!”

Liz was putting the birds into the pen with the kids when they all noticed us. “Ms. Yuna? And Ms. Tiermina?” Liz looked at us with a kokekko still in her hand. “Ms. Tiermina, I thought you were busy today?”

“This is that business I mentioned earlier.”

“Ah, right.”

“Did the egg deal go all right?” Tiermina asked. Liz had gone to sell the eggs today.

“Yes, it went fine. I made sure to double-check our count before I handed them off at the guild.”

“Thank you.”

“Oh, it was nothing. Fina helped too.”

“Where are my daughters, by the way?”

“They’re working inside the pen.” While we were talking to Liz, the kids gathered around us. “I know you’re happy Yuna’s here, but if you don’t hurry, we’re going to be late for lunch.”

Liz told the kids to go back to work. After I told them to “go get ’em” the kids nodded and headed back to their job.

Liz smiled. “Everyone becomes so motivated whenever Ms. Yuna comes by.”

“They’re all taking their work seriously, aren’t they?” said Seno.

Anz nodded. “It seems like they all like you, Ms. Yuna. The kids with the headmistress ran over to you as soon as you came into the room.”

I shrugged. “It’s because I look like a bear.”

“Oh, Yuna, you know very well it’s not that. The kids are always so happy when you come here. They even work harder,” Tiermina said with a smile.

Liz nodded. “Even the troublemakers take things seriously when you show up.”

Okay, fine. I wasn’t about to argue with Liz, of all people. But I’d only ever seen the kids working their butts off.

“So, Ms. Yuna,” said Anz, “who might these people be?”

Oh! Uh, right! I introduced Liz to Anz’s group and gave her the same explanation I had to the headmistress.

“They’re helping at the orphanage?” asked Liz.

“Yeah, since I’ve been putting a burden on you and the headmistress.”

“Compared to things before we met you, this is nothing. We had our hands full just trying to survive back then. We had nothing to eat and couldn’t seem to find anything to eat. But it’s different now. We have a lot on our hands, sure, but with work and will, we can always get food for the kids and ourselves. That’s all thanks to you, Yuna. Even if we have our hands full, we can keep our stomachs full too.”

Really? Liz was saying the same things as the headmistress. It really would be a big deal if the two of them collapsed, but they didn’t seem to even be thinking about that.

From there, Liz explained what kind of work the kids were doing. Anz nodded along. “Did you make this place too, Yuna?”

“She did. When she saw the kids had empty bellies, Ms. Yuna gave them work so they could eat until they were stuffed. Thanks to her, the kids can now eat their fill.”

I shrugged. “It’s tit for tat. They’re the reason I can get eggs.”

Liz laughed. “I guess so, eh?” Had she not realized?

“Still,” said Anz, “that’s a lot of birds that they’re taking care of.”

“And you’ll be able to use eggs and birds as ingredients, so make sure to cook something tasty.”

“I-I’ll do what I can.”

I’d have Anz work her hardest to make tons of delicious meals.