“I’ll do it too.”
“Me three.”
“Me four.”
I appreciated the energy behind their reply.
“In that case, can I assume everyone is in?”
The reply was unanimous.
“Yuna, I’ll leave the kids in your care,” the headmistress said, bowing deeply.
“Sure. Also, could I borrow Liz?”
“Me?”
“Yeah, I want you to manage the kids.”
“That’s no trouble, if that’s what you need from her. Liz, make sure you listen to everything Yuna says.”
“Yes, headmistress.”
I made a beeline for the henhouse, trailing kids. Inside, we found the kokekkos napping.
“Here are your jobs: First, when it’s nice out, let the birds out first thing in the morning. Second, collect any eggs in the henhouse. Third, clean the henhouse. Fourth, give the birds food and water. Fifth, get the birds back into the henhouse once everything’s done.
“Can you do that?” I asked.
They agreed without hesitation.
“Alright, let the birds out. The eggs that they lay are going to become your food money, so make sure you’re gentle.”
The kids confirmed they’d understood me.
“Put the eggs in these containers.”
I conjured up ten egg cartons with an earth spell, each with ten holes. That first day, the kids gathered enough to fill one pack. I guess that was pretty good for twenty kokekkos.
“Liz, have you got any vegetable scraps?”
“Yes, we do…”
“Is it okay if I feed them to the birds?”
“Well…”
Even though they were just scraps, Liz had still gone out and begged for them. It was no wonder she’d feel weird feeding them to the birds.
“I’m not going to ask you to put your faith in me yet, but the vegetables you got are going to nourish the birds so they’ll produce eggs.”
“I see…”
I wasn’t sure if she believed me, but she gave me her permission.
“Alright, Liz, can I leave the rest up to you?”
“Are you going somewhere?”
“Well, we’ve finally gotten eggs, so we’ve got to go sell them.”
I took the full carton and set off for the next stop on my list.
Chapter 45:
The Bear Becomes an F-rank Merchant
THE MERCHANT GUILD was just as jam-packed as it was yesterday. I didn’t want to think that all this was because of me.
Wading into the crowd, I noticed Tiermina was there too. Our eyes met.
“Yuna?”
“Hello, Tiermina. What’s going on? What’re you doing here?”
“I came by to see whether they had jobs at the merchant guild.”
“You’re looking for a job?”
“Yeah, I was actually hoping to be reinstated as an adventurer, but the family vetoed that. Since I can read and write and do math, I thought maybe I could find a job that skews more towards that, so I came to check out the merchant guild.”
More mumbles in the crowd: “She could read and write…”
“And do math…”
“Tiermina, would you actually be interested in working for me?”
“For you, Yuna?”
“I kinda started a new business. You’d be a lifesaver if you could help me out.”
I needed someone to manage the eggs and be an intermediary with the merchant guild.
“So, what kind of work is it?”
“I’m not sure about explaining it here…”
There were a lot of merchants around. It was a pain going out of our way to do it, but I had us go back to the bear house so no one would overhear about my egg scheme.
“So what’s your business?”
I got Tiermina something to drink, and then got to explaining what the work would be. I told her how the orphanage was keeping the kokekkos and how they’d lay the eggs. I told her I wanted to sell the eggs to the merchant guild.
“When you say you want me managing things, do you mean you want me to manage the kokekkos? I haven’t really raised birds before.”
“The orphans will manage the birds. I was thinking you’d manage the sales at the merchant guild.”
“And by sales you mean?”
“I was just about to go to the merchant guild to line up a sales contract for the eggs with them. I was thinking you could do the management, finances, inventory, and cost checks. I’d want you to make sure our books are straight and stuff.”
Even talking about it was such a pain. If Tiermina didn’t accept my offer, I’d have to do everything myself.
“I understand what you’re saying, but this seems like a big deal. Are you sure you want to leave all that up to me?”
“I don’t know that many people in this town anyway, and I at least know what kind of person you are.” When I explained my reasoning, Tiermina smiled.
“Okay, I get it. I’ll accept the job. You’ve been looking out for my daughters and I as it is, and I was already thinking of working, so I’m grateful for the opportunity.”
Business manager acquired! My job was getting smaller and smaller.
Since I was done talking with Tiermina, I headed back to the merchant guild to get the egg business going. It was still overflowing with people. Waiting at the entrance of the merchant guild like I had the other day, it was the same old story. I caught them muttering about “the bear,” and they made a hole at the sight of me.
“Yuna, you’re amazing.”
Tiermina seemed stunned at the sight of it. Maybe she didn’t know what happened with the black viper?
I went into the guild and took a look over at the reception desk. There were several people there. I tried looking for Milaine, but it looked like she wasn’t around. Maybe it was her day off? I was actually hoping to get somebody I knew. When I reluctantly lined up at the desks, someone called out to me from behind.
“Oh, Yuna. What brings you here today? And who is this?”
I wheeled around; Milaine was behind me.
“Why did you sneak up on me?”
“I was outside on my break. What did you come by to the merchant guild for?”
“I had something I wanted to sell, so I wanted to talk to you about it.”
“And that something is?”
Milaine’s eyes glinted. Excuse you, I thought, that’s terrifying.
“In that case, let’s talk in another room.”
Milaine latched onto me and dragged me away. Tiermina followed behind us.
“So what was it you
