Extra Story: Encounter with A Bear: The Headmistress Chronicles

Extra Story:
Encounter with A Bear:
The Headmistress Chronicles

 

WE HAD NOTHING to eat today, either. It’s taken everything we could to make a soup from vegetable scraps once a day. It has been about three months since our funding was cut, and we haven’t been able to provide the children proper things to eat.

As the adult, I had to do something. Liz and I would go to get food, but there were limits. If we begged every day, they would give us dirty looks. Even if we were to go somewhere else, they would not look upon us kindly. Regardless, because the children were waiting, we had to beg even as we endured their disgust.

Liz had been gone since morning, but I could not know how much she would bring back. I soothed the small child in front of me and couldn’t help but worry as I thought about the future. The other children had gone out. They likely headed for the central plaza. The children searched for leftovers from the food carts there.

I could hardly admonish them for doing that.

If only I could prepare them some food, they wouldn’t need to do that. However, I didn’t have the means to do that, so all I could do was tell them not to be an annoyance. If things continued like this, someone might die, or the children would likely start stealing. If the children resorted to crime, those who currently gave us food would stop. If that happened, that would spell the end of the orphanage. I had thought about asking the lord for help, but if he were to think we’d turned defiant, he might evict us, and the children would have no place to go.

There was nothing I could do. I held my head and went deep into thought when I noticed a commotion outside. It seemed the children had returned earlier than usual.

Had something happened?

I anxiously went outside to find the children gathered around a girl with a strange appearance. A bear?

I called out a greeting to this girl with the appearance of a bear.

“Who might you be? I am the headmistress, Bo. I manage this orphanage.”

“I’m Yuna, the adventurer. I saw these kids in the central square.”

“In the central square…you went there again?”

I knew they had, but I had to admonish them for appearances’ sake. The children apologized, but I was the one truly at fault.

“It’s fine. It is my own fault for not being able to provide meals for you, after all. Did these children do you wrong?”

Even if they had done something to her, all I could do was apologize. I hoped she would accept.

“No, it just seemed like they were hungry.”

“I’m sorry. Um, though it is an embarrassment, we don’t have much to eat.”

It wasn’t anything to hide, so I told her the truth. Normally I wouldn’t talk about such things in front of the children, but since she was asking me so many questions, I ended up telling her. Then Yuna, the girl dressed as a bear, brought out wolf meat for us. Moreover, there was quite a large amount of it. She even produced bread and something for us to drink.

She told us to eat as much as we wanted. In truth, I didn’t want to take anything without a reason, but the children could not pry their eyes off the food. I decided to thank her and accepted it.

 

After we prepared the food, the children ate it in delight. How long had it been since I saw them smiling like that?

Yuna stood up and began inspecting the inside of the orphanage. I was grilling the meat she prepared for us, so I could not leave it be.

“Are you children already done?”

There was still meat. The children looked at it hungrily.

“Miss, I don’t need anymore.”

“Me neither.”

They all laid their forks and chopsticks down on the table.

“Why is that?”

“I want to eat it tomorrow…”

Of course. Even if they had food today, that didn’t mean they would have any the next day.

“All right. Let’s ask Yuna if we may have permission to eat it tomorrow.”

I went searching for Yuna. When I found her, she was repairing our crumbling, hole-filled walls with magic.

“What are you doing?” It was plain as day, but I still had to ask.

“I’m mending the walls. It must be cold with the wind coming through the gaps.”

That certainly was true. Yuna inspected the room, repairing the walls as she went. Then she went to the children’s bedroom and saw the small towels on their beds. We had no warm blankets. She pulled out warm-looking wolf pelts from the bear on her hand and handed them to me.

“Yuna?”

“Please give these to the kids. It’d be cold with just a single towel. There’s enough for you and extras.”

Why was she doing all this for us? I was so perplexed by Yuna’s actions that I forgot to ask about the wolf meat, and we ended up returning to the dining area. When Yuna noticed that the food she gave us hadn’t been eaten, I asked her about it.

“Yes, if you’d let us, I’d like to hand this out tomorrow. The children said they would rather eat it tomorrow rather than today.”

“Oh, sorry. I forgot to tell you. I’ll prep several days’ worth, so you can eat it.”

Yuna brought out more meat and bread.

“Um, why are you doing all this for us?” I asked. I couldn’t keep silent

“If an adult can’t eat, it’s their own fault for not working, but a kid not being able to eat isn’t their own fault. It’s the adult’s fault. If they don’t have parents, the adults around them can help them. That makes us allies.”

I was almost about to cry. Even though she was an adventurer, those were warmer words than I would expect from such a young girl. The children ate until they were full. As Yuna watched them, she gave us more food. All I could do was thank her. After she watched over the orphanage for some time, she excused herself. The children were sad as they came up to her.

“You’re putting Yuna in a difficult spot. Everyone, say thank you.”

“Thank you, bear girl.”

“Thank you.”

 

It was the morning three days after Yuna came to us.

We were eating breakfast using the food Yuna had given us. Since she had given us so many provisions, we were able to eat morning meals. The children were delighted to eat. We really would need to thank Yuna again the next time she came. At first, I thought she was just a strange-looking girl. I suppose you can’t judge a book by its cover. I had to make sure I taught the children that as well.

After the children ate breakfast, they went outside, but they came back immediately.

“Headmistress!”

They rushed over to me.

“Why are you so shaken?”

“There’s a weird wall outside.”

I didn’t understand what they were saying. What was outside? The children grabbed my hands and pulled me outside, into the shadow of a gigantic wall. It could not have been there yesterday. If it had, the children would have made the same fuss they were now. I tried asking Liz about it, but she simply shook her head. Regardless, even if it was potentially dangerous, we could do nothing about it. I warned the children not to get close and returned to the house.

What in the world was that wall? I couldn’t fathom that it had sprung up overnight. It was fine as long as it wasn’t a danger to the children. As I thought over the wall, the door opened and the children entered…with a bear? No, it was just Yuna. I put aside the matter of the wall so I could greet her and introduce Liz.

“So what brings you here today?”

Out of all things, she replied that she wanted to give the children work. I worried that she was planning to have the children do something dangerous.

“Don’t worry, it’s not anything dangerous.”

“What kind of work is it?”

Though Yuna had helped us so much, I had to make sure I knew exactly what she wanted the children to do. They were my wards to protect, after all. Apparently Yuna made the wall neighboring us, and she was keeping birds inside of it. She explained that the work involved would be things children could do, such as collecting eggs, cleaning, and raising the birds. Based on what she said, none of it seemed dangerous. It seemed she planned to sell the eggs she gathered for money, and just by doing that, the children would receive wages.

As the children listened to us, I asked them, “What do you all think? It looks like Yuna has a job for you. If you work, you’ll be able to eat. If you don’t, we’ll end up back to the situation we were in just a few days ago. Yuna isn’t bringing food anymore.”

It was wrong to force the children to do it. They had to decide for themselves, so I waited for their response. They looked at one another and all nodded at once.

“I’ll do it.”

“Please let me do it.”

“I’ll do it too.”

“Me three.”

“Me four.”

Their replies were energetic. Their words made me happy.

“Yuna, I’ll leave the kids in your care.”

I bowed my head.

Yuna took Liz and the children to the wall. I was sure the kids would be fine with Liz there.

 

Later, Yuna introduced me to a woman named Tiermina, who she said would be our intermediary with the merchant guild. The children told me she was a kind person. The number of birds increased before we even realized it, much to the children’s surprise.

As I was watching the smaller children at the orphanage, Tiermina came by.

“Headmistress.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“I heard from Yuna there was a cold storehouse. Do you know where it is?”

“What about it?”

A few days ago, Yuna made a cold storehouse for us. She said we would need one since we had so many children, but at the moment, all that was in it was the wolf meat we received from Yuna.

“I think someone will bring by food before long, so when they come, could you show them where it is?”

“They’re bringing food?”

“You have so many children, and with us borrowing Liz, it must be difficult going out to buy food. Because of that, I’ve arranged for the minimum you’d need to make meals to be delivered.”

“Thank you very much.”

I finally understood what she meant—we were being provided food in place of wages.

“If there is anything else you need, please let me know. Anything is fine as long as it’s not too expensive. Of course, we can also provide things that are expensive if they’re necessary, but I would need to talk to Yuna before doing it.”

“Excuse me, but may I ask why Yuna is doing all of this for us?” I asked. It bothered me. There was a possibility Tiermina would know.

“I guess it’s just because she’s Yuna, right?”

“Because she’s her?”

“I don’t know what she’s thinking, but she’s kind. My daughter Fina is also very fond of her. I don’t think she will do anything bad to the orphanage, so there’s no need to worry.”

“I see.”

“Oh, but she occasionally just blurts out the most ridiculous things, so be careful when she does.”

Tiermina laughed.

That girl dressed as an adorable bear…that girl dressed as an adorable bear had come abruptly into our lives, given us food, given the children work, and even given us proper wages. She completely changed our situation. The children were laughing, and smiles seemed to spread within the orphanage. We could eat our fill. I no longer saw sad children going hungry. We had warm places to sleep. We no longer had to sleep in the cold. It was an unshakable fact that the one who had given us all of that was the bear girl.

I decided I would trust in Yuna from now on.