by Kumanano
“Wait! I’ll pay her. Miss, I can’t do it right now, but I’m sure I’ll be able to. Please don’t do anything to this family!”
What kind of villain did they think I was? I healed you, so pay me! If you don’t, I’ll take your daughters! Well, if I were a villain and a lolicon, I guess it might go something like this…
“Heh heh heh, if you want to pay me back, well you’ve got two charming daughters, haven’t you?”
Obviously, I needed to clear up the misunderstanding.
“I don’t need money. I just wanted to protect Fina’s smile,” I said, and gave Fina a pat on the head. Apparently, I’d said something really moving, because Fina immediately hugged me. I felt kind of guilty…
“But…”
“Right, if there’s anything I can do for you, just tell me,” Gentz said.
“I’ll do anything once I’ve gotten my energy back.”
Anything! Their words, not mine.
“In that case, I’d like the two of you do something that only you can do.”
“…”
“…”
I looked at Fina and her sister.
“Fina, go buy something yummy with your sister. Make sure you have your mom eat something that’ll nourish her.”
I pulled money out of my bear storage and handed it over to Fina.
“But…”
“It’s fine. Your mom’s fine, so go along.”
“Okay, I got it. Shuri, let’s go.”
I watched them leave the house holding each other’s hands and once again looked to Gentz and their mother.
“What are you going to make us do?”
“I want you two to live together for Fina and her sister’s sakes.”
“…huh?”
“…what?”
Their mouths hung open and stuck there.
“I know that you like Fina’s mom, Gentz.” I’d heard it direct from Fina.
“Y-you…”
“Nuh-uh. Even Fina already knows. And you trust Gentz enough to leave your children with him, so it’s not like you don’t like him.”
“Well, that’s…” Her face reddened slightly.
“And it’s not like you’d be upsetting those kids. Besides, Gentz works at the guild, so he’s got a steady income. I’m kind of worried about you three women living on your own. I’d feel more at peace if Gentz was with you, you know?”
“But…”
“You like Fina’s mom, don’t you, Gentz?”
“That’s…” Gentz gulped. Then, he looked at Fina’s mother. “Tiermina, w-would you do the honor of marrying me? I’ve loved you for a long time. It’s an insult to Roy, but I love you!”
“Gentz…thank you.”
The two of them deserved some privacy. I left the room quietly—or at least, tried to, before Gentz called out to me.
“Where are you going?”
“Home. The rest of this is a family issue.”
“I see. So, um thanks,” he thanked me sheepishly.
“Make sure you do a proper job of looking after Fina and everyone.”
“Yeah, just leave it up to me.”
“If she’s not feeling well again, just call me.”
I left Fina’s house behind and went home.
Chapter 32:
Fina Asks the Bear for Something
WHEN I WOKE UP in the morning, Mom was in pain. She’s usually in pain, but this was different. She wasn’t conscious. No matter how many times I called her name, she didn’t answer. I tried over and over to get her to take her medicine, but even after she finally got it down, nothing changed. There was a ton of sweat running down her forehead.
My little sister Shuri was so worried. She stuck by the bed, calling Mom, Mom. I couldn’t let things stay like this.
“Shuri, take care of Mom.”
“Sis?” She gave me a worried look.
“I’m going to Mr. Gentz. It’ll be okay. Mr. Gentz will be able to do something.”
I gently patted her head and ran to Mr. Gentz’s house. He wouldn’t be at work yet. It was a good thing there weren’t many people out on the street yet. When I made it there, I banged on the door really hard.
“Mr. Gentz! Mr. Gentz!”
Mr. Gentz came out when I knocked. “What’s wrong? Why are you here so early in the morning?”
“It’s Mom.”
“What happened to Tiermina?!”
“She’s hurting. Worse than before.” I couldn’t stop crying anymore. “She isn’t getting better.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Mr. Gentz started running. I ran as fast as I could, too. By the time I got to my house, I couldn’t see Mr. Gentz anymore, since he was running ahead of me. Inside, I saw Mr. Gentz calling out to Mom. She didn’t respond.
Mr. Gentz turned to me and Shuri. “I’m going to find medicine. You watch over your mom.”
Shuri and I held mom’s hands. I thought, Please, save my mom. I’d do anything I can. Please don’t take her away from us. Please…
“Mom…”
“Fina, Shuri…”
“Mom!”
Mom was awake again. My prayers had reached someone.
“Fina, Shuri, I’m sorry.”
Why was she apologizing? She hadn’t done anything wrong. Her eyes were filled with tears.
“Mom…”
“This might be it for me. If I die, look to Gentz. I’m sure he’ll help you.”
It seemed like it hurt her to talk. She was going to die? I didn’t want to think about it.
“I’m sorry, you two. I’m so sorry that you had a mom like this.”
She held our hands with her weak grip. I wondered how long it had been since Mr. Gentz left.
He wasn’t back. It might have just been a few minutes, but it felt like hours had gone by already. Please hurry home, I wished again.
“Ugh.”
The pain must have been getting stronger. Someone, help. Shuri’s little hand squeezed mine hard. I couldn’t give up.
“Shuri.” I looked into Shuri’s eyes. She looked uneasy. “Keep holding Mom’s hand.”
I took the hand she was holding mine with and moved it to Mom’s.
“Sis?”
“Maybe Yuna can do something.”
I left Shuri to take care of her and ran over to Yuna’s house. I wasn’t allowed to be tired yet. I could see the bear house. I opened the door without knocking.
“Yuna!”
Yuna was there. “What’s wrong?”
“Y-Yuna, m-my mom…”
I couldn’t do it. My voice wouldn’t come out.
“Calm down.”
“My mom is really sick…and even giving her medicine…doesn’t help…I tried going to Mr. Gentz, but…he said he’d go out to find medicine and hasn’t come back…wh-what should I do?”
When I saw Yuna’s face, I couldn’t stop crying. I came all the way here, but Yuna wasn’t any kind of doctor. Still, I thought, because this was Yuna, she might be able to do something.
Yuna gently put her hand on my head. “Okay, I got it. Could you take me to your house?” she said with a kind smile.
And I did.
When we got there, Mr. Gentz had returned. Maybe he had gotten the medicine? “Mr. Gentz?!”
“I’m sorry I was so late.”
“Did you find medicine for my mom?”
“Sorry.” Mr. Gentz lowered his head. If it was a medicine that was easy to get, then Mr. Gentz probably would have had it already. He’d already done so much. I couldn’t be mad at him.
I let myself get closer to the bed. Mom looked like she was in so much pain that I almost couldn’t look at her.
“Gentz, if anything…happens to me…please…take care of my daughters.”
“Wh-what are you saying? What’s supposed to happen to you?!” Mr. Gentz yelled.
“Gentz…I’ve troubled you…so much. Thank you so much for the medicine and for what you did for Fina.” “It’s okay. If you rest, you�
��ll get better. Stop trying to talk. I’ll look after these two, so you just focus on healing.”
“Shuri…Fina…let me see your faces.”
“Mom!” we both cried.
I couldn’t see my mom’s face through my tears. She hugged us close with her weak arms.
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t do anything for you. And thank you, Fina, Shuri.”
She closed her eyes.
“Thank you, Gentz.”
It looked like she couldn’t open her eyes anymore. I held her hand, but she couldn’t grip it back anymore. She couldn’t open her eyes, anymore. Maybe she wouldn’t ever say my name again.
Mom, Mom, Mom.
I couldn’t stop crying.
I heard a weird sound behind me. When I turned around, Yuna was hitting her hands together.
“Yuna?”
“I don’t know if I can help, but I’m going to take a look at her, so move aside.” Yuna pulled us away from the bed. “Please just hold on for a little while,” she said to my mom.
Yuna laid her bear hands on my mom.
“Cure.”
Her body lit up. The glow of the magic was pretty, and I felt warm, as if, just for the moment, I felt the presence of a god there. My mom’s breathing calmed down. I couldn’t believe it. Until that moment, she sounded like she was suffocating, but now her breathing was growing even.
“Heal.”
This time Yuna chanted a different spell. Mom’s eyes slowly opened, and—like nothing had happened at all—she got out of bed.
“…it doesn’t hurt anymore?”
“Mom!”
“Looks like it worked.”
“Miss, what’d you do? You looked like some kind of powerful priest or cleric—no, that doesn’t matter right now. Whatever you did, thank you.” Mr. Gentz thanked Yuna. That was right—I hadn’t thanked her yet!
“Yuna, thank you!”
Mr. Gentz and my mom started asking Yuna how to pay her back. I remembered hearing from Mr. Gentz that the only way to heal my mom’s sickness was to pay a lot of money to a priest. We didn’t have that kind of money.
Yuna saved my mom. I’d risk my life to pay her back, if I had to—but Yuna said something I didn’t expect.
“I don’t need money. I just wanted to protect Fina’s smile.”
I almost started crying again. Would I ever be able to pay back my debt to Yuna while I was still alive?
“But…”
“Right, if there’s anything I can do for you, just tell me.”
“I’ll do anything once I’ve gotten my energy back.”
Right. We couldn’t just let things be, even if Yuna said she didn’t want anything in return. If I had something I could do, I would do it.
I noticed that the moment that Mom and Mr. Gentz said “anything,” the corner of Yuna’s mouth twitched up.
“In that case, I’d like the two of you to do something that only you can do.” she blurted out.
The air in the room got heavy. What was Yuna going to tell them to do? She looked around the room before settling on me and Shuri.
“Fina, go buy something yummy with your sister. Make sure you have your mom eat something that’ll nourish her.”
She handed me money. Was Yuna planning on telling my mom and Mr. Gentz to do something she didn’t want us to hear? I wanted to know what was happening, but…I also urgently wanted to get my mom something nutritious to eat, like Yuna had said, so I left with Shuri.
Chapter 33:
The Bear Eats on the Go
TIERMINA WAS HEALTHY. It might even be safe to say she’d made a complete recovery. She and Gentz ended up following through on their engagement. They were looking for a house where the four of them could live together. Tiermina’s was too small, and apparently Gentz had been living in a squalid little bachelor pad.
For whatever reason, Fina and Shuri had decided to crash at the bear house.
“Uhh, so, why’re the two of you here?”
“Mr. Gentz—I mean our dad and mom need some time alone—that’s what we think.”
Were those really the thoughts of a ten-year-old girl?
“Are we being a bother?”
“It’s fine, but it’s important for all four of you to be together.”
“We’ll live together once we find a house, so it’ll work out.”
“But why are you studying?” I asked. Shuri was practicing her alphabet in my living room.
“My mom taught me how to read, but she couldn’t teach Shuri while she was sick, and I needed to do the housework and make money.”
They called it studying, but it boiled down to looking at characters written on dirty paper. They didn’t have anything to write with, much less paper to practice on. All they were doing was memorizing the letters by sight.
“In that case, how about we go get you some proper study materials?”
“Huh?”
“If you study like that, it’ll take you a while to learn anything.”
“But…”
I knew exactly what Fina was thinking. “Don’t worry about the money. It’ll be a present to celebrate the wedding.”
“But it’s Mom who’s getting married.”
“Don’t sweat the details.”
I left with the two of them in tow. They held hands, sticking close to each other. They were good siblings.
We hit up the bookstore first. “Excuse me!” I called out to the old lady who ran the place.
“What is it? I can hear you just fine without all that shouting.”
“Excuse me, but do you have picture books for kids? We’d like to study the alphabet.”
“Let’s see now, I’ve got this, this, and that.”
She brought out three picture books and something that looked like a chart. I decided to buy it all.
Next, we popped down to the general store to pick up some basic writing implements. This left us peckish, so I decided to get something at the stands in the plaza. When we got there, delicious smells wafted to us from the various stalls. The stall nearest the entrance was selling kebabs, or something approximate. They smelled great.
“Three for me, mister.”
“Oh, if it isn’t the bear girl! Three, was it? Here you go! Thanks for everything.”
He handed me three skewers. I stuck one in my mouth and gave the other two to Fina and Shuri.
“Thank you very much.”
“Thank you.”
I scanned the stands for more succulent prey.
“Bear girl! How’d you like some vegetable soup?” I heard someone cry from a nearby stall. Steam rose from a giant pot; again, the smell woke something animal in me.
“Sure. I guess I’ll take three.”
“Come again!”
He served up warm veggie soup in wooden containers we’d have to return. I took the soup and handed it to the girls.
“Bear girl, how does bread with your soup sound?”
“That’s no fair. Bear girl, how about our barbeque?”
All around us, the stand owners leapt into their hard-sell routine.
“How about our fresh-squeezed juice?” A woman selling a baffling selection of fruit juice joined the fray.
“I feel kind of like bread today, so I’ll take three small ones.”
“Right, thank you.”
The man from the first stall handed me my order, thanking me profusely for my patronage, and I apologized to the others.
“I’ll come buy stuff from you next time.”
“It’s fine.”
“You’d better!”
I accepted the bread and went around greeting the stands around me, then sat at an empty bench nearby.
It might just have been because I’d been eating on the go there a lot lately, but I’d gotten to know the people at the stands. I’m sure the bear outfit had something to do with it, but the number of people who would call out to me while I walked around the plaza increased by the day.
As much as I appreciated al
l the attention, my plaza visits were becoming enough of a habit to make me worry about my weight. I tried pinching my belly through the bear suit. Sure would be nice if I’d had a skill that kept me from getting fat.
“Let’s chow down.”
“Thank you, Yuna.”
“Thank you.”
Shuri mimicked her sister and thanked me. They were both so cute! We took our time eating our soup and bread together.
It was hearty soup, more veggie than broth. The ingredients in this world were pretty similar to the ones in Japan. There were carrots, daikon, cabbage, cucumbers, and other veggies that I only caught glimpses of but tasted familiar enough, but the things that were important to me as a Japanese person—rice, soy sauce, and miso—were nowhere to be seen. I longed for ramen and noodles. It looked like they had flour. Maybe, I thought, they at least have udon somewhere?
At any rate, it was delicious enough. After we ate, we decided to go back to the bear house to study. Later, Tiermina and Gentz would find out that I’d taken them out to eat and I’d get in trouble for making the kids miss out on the dinner they’d prepared.
Beware overeating when dining on the go.
They still thanked me for the study supplies, though.
Chapter 34:
The Bear Helps Move
FINA’S FAMILY DECIDED on their new home—a place near the adventurers’ guild, on Gentz’s request—and paid for it with Gentz’s savings from his lonely bachelor life. I was at Fina’s house today to help with moving.
“Bring the stuff you want to take over here. Make sure to put the small stuff in a box together.” I started putting the things they’d packed away in boxes into the bear storage. “Are you taking this table, too?”
“We don’t have money to buy a new one, so yes please.”
“In that case, you’re going to take the chairs too, right?”
“If you can fit those, please.”
The family brought out other stuff while I was occupied with Tiermina’s instructions, and I kept putting more and more of it away. Fina and Shuri had worked hard to pack all of their meager belongings.
“Yuna,” said Fina, “could you take the bed, too?”
“Sure.” I went over to Fina’s room. All that remained were a few boxes left in one corner and the bed in question.