Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

Author’s note:

I made some changes to the previous chapter.

There was no talk about the opening hours after all.

To explain it simply, it’s a talk about how changing the opening hours like that would entail troubles.

Today’s story is about how they will deal with that.

So that people would learn about the change of opening hours even a little bit, I asked Tirumina-san to edit the posted pamphlets.

Even so, there would still be people who came without knowing about it.

To deal with this problem, I went to the Adventurer’s Guild.

「Yuna-san, what are you doing here at this hour?」

I saw Helen coming out of the guild.

「Helen-san, are you going back now?」

「Yes, it’s closing time now, after all. What’s the matter, Yuna-san?」

「I came here to make a request.」

「A request?」

「Yes. I want to erase the troubles in advance, you see.」

「Troubles?」

I explained what happened today.

「That’s why I thought of changing the opening hours for tomorrow, but…There will surely be people who will not know and will come earlier. It would be great if they went back after we apologized, but…」

「And that’s why you want to make a request?」

「There are only women and children working at our shop, after all. That’s why I want to hire adventurers who would protect them from violent customers.」

「That’s right, there are children at your shop, aren’t there? In that case, you have no other choice.」

「For now, I would like guards for one week, but are there adventurers who would accept this job?」

「That depends on the money you are willing to pay, I think. Adventurers are people who move for money, after all.」

「Money, huh. I don’t really know the market prices, so how much would I have to pay?」

Even if they were expensive, thinking about the security, it would be a small price to pay.

If I was stingy here and the children were harmed, I wouldn’t know how to face the director of the orphanage.

In order to avoid that, I wanted to recruit some guards.

「Hmm, that would depend on the rank of the adventurer you want to hire. The content of the request is to protect the shop. If the other party is a normal citizen, a low rank adventurer is okay, but in case a higher rank adventurer goes wild, a low rank adventurer would not be enough to face him.」

I didn’t think there would be such outlaws, but there was the case of Deborane, who I saw at the Adventurer’s Guild.

「Yuna-chan and Helen-san, what are you doing?」

The one who appeared was Rurina-san, who I went to kill the goblins with.

I saw her a number of times after the goblin subjugation.

Deborane and his party members were standing behind Rurina-san.

Deborane, who was punched by me, the silent Gill, and the bad-mouthed Lanz were all there.

The whole party appeared.

Even so, why in the world was Rurina-san with those people?

Was it possible that she had a hobby of assembling low quality products?

「Yuna-chan, are you thinking something rude?」

Was it possible that she had a skill to read my mind?

「I was thinking why would a beauty like Rurina-san be in that sort of party.」

「I am not an official member, you know. Just a temporary one. As you can see, this party is an assembly of no-brain idiots.」

Yes, she was right, those three were real muscle-brains…

「So I decided to make a party with them. It dragged on for some time, and before I knew it we were together until this day.」

「Let’s just be an official party already!」

「I don’t wanna. If I had to make a party, I would like to make one with someone cute, like Yuna-chan.」

She said while embracing me.

Ever since I princess carried Rurina-san, she liked to randomly touch the Bear clothes.

「Anyways, what happened, Yuna-chan?」

「I was thinking about requesting guards to protect the shop.」

「The shop? The one from the rumors?」

「I don’t know what the rumors say, but it’s this shop. There might be some trouble tomorrow.」

「Trouble?」

「The shop opened today, but there were some problems, so from tomorrow onwards, the opening hours will change. Because there is a possibility of intrusion from the customers tomorrow, and possibility of threats, I thought of hiring adventurers to gently turn them away.」

「I see. Then, want to hire us?」

「Is it okay? It would help me a lot, though.」

「There is no problem.」

「Don’t decide on your own, Rurina.」

Rurina, on the verge of accepting the offer, was stopped by someone.

「Deborane?」

「I won’t do it!」

「If Deborane-san says so, I won’t do it either.」

「…」

When Deborane opposed it, Lanz opposed it too.

As always, Gill didn’t open his mouth, not accepting or refusing.

「I see, then this is the end of this temporary party.」

「Wait, this…」

「There is no other choice, right? If you use me when you need me, but you don’t help me when I need you, I don’t want to be in your party.」

After Rurina-san said so, she looked at me.

「Yuna-chan, is it okay if it’s just me?」

「I will do it too.」

「Gill?」

「I heard that the food was delicious. If you are going to give me some, I will help too.」

「Gill, are you betraying us?」

「She helped us last time. And, I agree with Rurina’s words.」

「Thanks, Gill.」

Rurina-san expressed her thanks.

Gill was always silent, but he seemed to be someone decent.

「Do what you want! We are going, Lanz!」

「Yes, Deborane-san.」

The two of them went away, leaving Rurina-san and Gill.

「Is it okay?」

「It’s okay. During the previous incident involving Yuna-chan, I was already thinking about leaving them, but they stopped me. I stayed until today, but it was time to end it.」

「When you stop being an adventurer, come and tell me, please. We are in need of talented people.」

「I will count on you when the time comes.」

I decided to accept this as her being polite.

However, if she really stopped being an adventurer, there were a lot of things I wanted her to help with.

In Rurina-san’s case, there were no problems when it came to personality or ability.

「Talking about the guard request, I want to hire you for one week. Is it okay?」

「Yes, there is no problem. And for this request reward, can I also ask for meals?」

「I will properly provide food and money, no problem.」

「Excuse me, you two, please accept the request properly through the guild, okay?」

Helen-san’s suggestion was the right thing to do.

Entering the guild, I gave a request, and Rurina-san accepted it.

The reward was the『Bear-san’s Relaxing Shop』’s food and some silver coins.

I had obtained some guards, so I went back to the Bear House.

I might have not done much, but for a hikikomori like me, it was a really tiring day.

I entered the Bear Bath, and cleansed my body and soul.

I knew it, the cultures with baths were the best.

I exited the Bear Bath, put on the white bear, and dived into my futon.

The next day, when I went to the shop, the two of them were already there.

「Good morning.」

「Good morning, Yuna-chan」

「…」

The one who responded was Rurina-san.

Gill was silent, like usual.

「The shop is exactly as the rumors say.」

「What are they, those rumors? You talked about them yesterday too.」

「It’s not something strange, you know. The fact that the new Bear adventurer made a shop is widespread, and the people say that the shop looks like a mansion, that there is a really delicious scent coming from it, and that the children working here ressemble Yuna-chan…It’s these sorts of rumors.」

She was right, there was nothing strange. All the things she said were true, but for some reason, I felt like I couldn’t accept that.

「So, what do we have to do?」

「I said it yesterday, but if customers come too early, I want you to say that the shop won’t open before lunch. After that, it would be great if they just went back, but…」

「Well, Gill is here too, so there won’t be any idiots who will dare complain.」

She hit the mass of muscles on Gill’s back.

「They are customers, so try to not be violent.」

「That’s for sure! I won’t do anything to normal people. The worst case would just be threatening them.」

「If it doesn’t work, call me. I will deal with them.」

I told the two of them, then entered the shop.

When I entered, the delicious scent of baked bread reached me.

In both worlds, a bakery started early in the morning.

When I went to the kitchen, I could see the children and Morin-san moving around.

Morin-san and her daughter were baking bread. Some children were watching from nearby, in order to learn the technique.

It could be great if I took some of them to the capital after a few years.

The other children were doing their best to prepare the dough and pudding.

They were making tomorrow’s share.

Last night, they made enough for today, and they were now making tomorrow’s share.

「Big Sis Yuna, good morning.」

When one of them saw me, all of the children started greeting me happily.

But I noticed the weariness on their faces.

Morin-san and her daughter seemed okay because they were accustomed to it, but the children were tired doing a job they were not familiar with.

Yesterday, they made preparations for today until late at night, too.

Even more, they started working early today.

They should be able to sleep tonight, so if they could bear with it today, it would be okay.

However, it was a job that involved fire and oil, so it would be dangerous if they worked while being tired.

I walked around the kitchen, and put the Bear Paw on the heads of the children.

「Big Sis Bear?」

A girl tilted her head when I suddenly put the paw on her head.

『Heal.』

「Hold on a little more, okay? You will be able to rest tonight.」

I put a strength restoration spell on all of the children.

With this, it would be okay now.

The children, not understanding what happened, tilted their heads.

I did a last check of the interior of the shop before going back to where Rurina-san was.

When I went out, I saw Rurina-san explaining things to a customer.

The client went back obediently, after receiving the explanation.

「Are you okay?」

「Yes, there were no problems. When we explained it to them, they all went back. Well, I think it’s thanks to Gill, too.」

「I was just standing here, though.」

「With Gill just standing behind me, all the customers listened to what I had to say, so it was a big help.」

「…」

It seemed there were no normal citizens that could go against adventurers.

「And, was it okay when adventurers came?」

「It was even less of a problem. Who do you think this shop belongs to?」

「Hmm, it’s mine?」

「Exactly. It’s Yuna-chan’s shop. The adventurer who crushed more than ten adventurers on her first visit to the guild, killed the Goblin King, and, on top of that, even killed a Black Viper. There are no idiots who would want to pick a fight with you. If there were, it would be newbies or adventurers who are not from this town. If there was one, that would be Gill’s job.」

「Leave it to me.」

「Thanks. When the shop opens, you will be able to eat whatever you want.」

Finally, I went inside the shop to help the others.