Chapter 161: The Bear Hears a Damsel in Distress
Chapter 161:
The Bear Hears a Damsel in Distress
AFTER ORDERING knives from Ghazal, I took the opportunity to quickly check off a task that Morin had asked me to do. “Fina, is it okay if I make another stop somewhere?”
“Where are we going?”
“Morin asked me to check on her shop if we were going to the capital.”
To check if it was intact, more or less. Her husband had left it behind, so it was important to her to know. Maybe she wanted to return to it in the future? If so, I wouldn’t stop her, though I kind of hoped she’d wait until the kids were grown and the shop was taken care of…and I did think she’d want to wait for that too.
We got to Morin’s shop. It was small, but it brought back memories. I’d bought Morin’s bread here and saved Morin and Karin when they’d been attacked. If that hadn’t happened, I would’ve never met those two, and they would never have come to Crimonia.
Huh. There wasn’t even any graffiti on the old shop. In my original world, someone would’ve tagged the shutters or something.
“Yuna, who’s that out front?”
Hm? There was a girl sitting in front of the store,hugging her knees. I wonder who this was? Maybe she was feeling sad that she couldn’t buy Morin’s bread? But it’d been so long since the store had closed…
I was curious, so I decided to talk to her. Real bummer if she thought the place was open.
“What are you doing sitting in a place like this?”
When I addressed her, the girl raised her head. She seemed about the same age as me, with light-brown hair just beyond shoulder-length. “Bear?”
I ignored the bear remark and just told her the truth. “If you’re trying to get in, the bakery closed down.”
“Yeah, I heard. There was some trouble, and the people working here went away.”
Was that the impression bystanders had come away with? It was true that there’d been a struggle inside the bakery. And people had vanished a few days later. It’d also been right around the time of the king’s birthday celebration. Since they disappeared during that commotion, I supposed it was only natural that rumors would abound.
“Where did you go, Auntie Morin?” she said sadly. “If you’re safe, let me know...” The girl lowered her head and hugged her knees more tightly. Fina and I exchanged surprised looks at that.
“Um, do you know Morin?” I’d been thinking of just heading out, but I couldn’t very well do that now, you know?
“Do you know Auntie Morin?!” The moment I said Morin’s name, the girl practically whipped her head up and looked at me. “Do you know where Auntie Morin is? I asked so many people, but no one knew.”
I guess Morin didn’t tell her neighbors that she was going to Crimonia?
“Morin and her daughter, Karin, opened a new shop in Crimonia.”
“Really!?” The girl stood up and firmly grabbed my shoulders.
“Yeah. We just came from Crimonia. We know Morin and Karin.”
The girl looked at Fina for confirmation. Fina nodded. “Yeah, they let me eat yummy bread.”
“It’s true. It’s really true. Oh, thank goodness. They’re not dead. When I heard people saying the shop had been destroyed, or that scary men were searching for them, I thought something might have happened…”
The girl sank to the ground as if she couldn’t support her own weight.
If she’d only heard bits and pieces of what happened, it was reasonable she’d think they might be dead. I guess no one had been talking about a bear saving them?
“They opened a shop in Crimonia, then. When my uncle died, I wondered what would happen…but that’s good!”
“So you do know Morin, right?” Just to get clarification, you know.
“Mmhm! Auntie Morin, she’s my dad’s little sister.”
I could see the family resemblance, now. Still…wow. Did Morin not even tell her family that she was going to Crimonia? She seemed like someone who’d be more considerate than that…right?
“Umm, thank you very much for telling me,” the girl said, grasping my bear puppet. “You said Crimonia? Do I have enough money to go there?”
She popped open her purse and began counting the change within.
“Oh, I don’t know…and then there’s today’s stay at the inn. I was hoping Auntie Morin would look after me, so I don’t have much.” The girl gave her purse a forlorn look. “I’ll need to find work somewhere to save up…”
“Yuna...” Fina tugged at my clothes. I know. I didn’t know why she had to meet Morin, but I wasn’t about to leave somebody’s family behind. I wouldn’t be able to face Morin again if something happened to the girl.
I took some money out of my bear storage and held it out to the girl.
“Huh?”
“You can use this.” It was the same amount, enough to cover a safe carriage to Crimonia, that I’d given to Morin and Karin before.
The girl looked at the money. The girl looked back at me.
“Umm?”
“This should pay for a carriage to Crimonia.”
The girl just stared at the money and didn’t really move to accept it. It started annoying me, so I grabbed the girl’s hand and stuffed the money in it.
“But, um, I—I can’t accept money from a girl I never even met. I’m already in your debt for you telling me where Auntie Morin is. And you really can’t just hand out money to people you don’t know. Didn’t your mom and dad ever teach you that?”
This girl was my age and treating me like a child? Come on. “You’re not a stranger, not really. I know Morin, and I’m not going to abandon her family. I mean, if she found out, I wouldn’t be able to face her again. Don’t worry about the money. If it really bothers you, you can pay me back when we’re both back in Crimonia.”
The girl thought and then tightly held onto the money in her hand.
“Thank you. I’ll definitely repay you. Will you tell me where your house is?”
“You’ll know it when you see it. Head to where Morin is first. She’s at a bakery called the Bear’s Lounge. Don’t forget that.”
“Could you at least tell me your name?”
“They call me Yuna. Morin will know me if you ask her.”
“I’m Nerin. Thank you, Yuna. I’ll definitely return the money.”
And with that, Fina and I parted ways with Morin’s niece, Nerin. It had never occurred to me that I might meet a relative of Morin’s in front of her bakery. Maybe Nerin would end up working at the shop.
“Yuna? Why didn’t you tell her Morin was working at your shop?”
“Thought it’d be more interesting that way.”
“You’re so mean, Yuna.”
Maybe that was the reason. Or maybe, deep down, I considered the shop more Morin’s than mine.
After leaving Nerin, we ate a meal at a food stand and returned to Crimonia.
“We’re finally back.”
It’d been a while since I’d been back in my primary home in Crimonia. I’d originally thought we’d be gone for a day, not several. I guess I could think of the whole thing in terms of a special event in the MMO, complete with it being much longer than I’d expect it to be.
Still, I was happy that I’d been able to get mithril...even if I’d caused some trouble for Fina.
“What are you going to do today, Yuna?” Fina asked.
Since we’d stopped to buy and eat some snacks at food stalls in the capital first, it was a little past lunchtime now. “You’re tired too, aren’t you? I was going to take you home to rest up.”
She was just ten. She had to be beat after staying out for a few days. Besides, I wanted some rest too.
But Fina rejected my offer. “I’ll be fine going home on my own.”
“But…I need to say hi to Tiermina.”
“That’s okay. My mom knows you’d like to say hi, even if you’re tired.”
“Really? In that case, how about you come by my house tomorrow morning with Shuri?”
“With Shuri?” Fina tilted her head to the side like I’d said something strange.
“Yeah, both of you.”
“Okay. I’ll come with Shuri tomorrow morning.”
“And do say hi to Tiermina for me, all right?”
Fina nodded. “I know it was all kind of crazy, but thank you for taking me to the capital. I felt kinda like I was dead when I met the king, but it was fun.”
“Hey, long as you had fun.”
“I, uh, didn’t really like meeting the king, but I do want to try going with Shuri next time to see the castle garden.”
“We’ll all go together sometime.”
“Uh-huh,” Fina answered and left the bear house.
Now that I was alone, there was no way I was going out. Instead, I just relaxed, spending time with Kumayuru and Kumakyu in my room.