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.
Extra Story:
Chronicles of Tiermina’s
Encounters with the Bear
THANKS TO A MYSTERIOUS GIRL who dressed as a bear, I recovered from my illness. I never thought that I would be released from my suffering. I’d always thought that would happen when I passed on. I never thought I’d return to the days when I lived happily with my daughters. I’d never be able to thank the girl dressed as a bear—Yuna—enough.
When I told her I wanted to compensate her, she smiled and said something entirely ridiculous.
“I want you two to live together for Fina and her sister’s sakes.”
Gentz really had been helping us since my husband had passed away. He prepared medicine for me when I got sick and recommended my daughter for work. I worked with him during my adventurer days, so it wasn’t like I didn’t know him. We had come to rely on him these last few years. He was good to my daughter and took care of her. If anyone asked whether I loved him, I wouldn’t know what to say. If anyone asked whether I disliked him, I could say I didn’t. Regardless of that, I was happy when Gentz genuinely told me he loved me. In that moment I felt like I loved him back.
My daughters blessed our marriage. I was taken aback by how happy Gentz seemed when that happened. We looked for a place all four of us could live and moved to a new house.
The move went by quickly thanks to Yuna. She really was doing nothing but taking care of us. Even if I wanted to pay her back, I didn’t know how I could. Of course, I didn’t consider getting married to Gentz a form of paying her back. She wanted us to get married because she was thinking of us. She saved my daughter from monsters and shared her food with us. My daughters and I were indebted to her to an extent we would never be able to pay back except bit by bit.
Anyway, since I was better, I needed to start working. We only had so much money. Gentz was working at the adventurers’ guild, but buying the house had eaten into his savings. We also couldn’t bet on none of us getting sick in the future. We needed something in reserve
