Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Vol. 1 Page 5

  “Just some underwear and clothes.”

  “The underwear is over there in the back. Actually, we don’t have clothes similar to the ones you’re wearing…”

  “That’s fine.” Like I’d want multiples of this outfit!

  I left the employee where she was and went with Fina to the back. Underwear came first—I needed to graduate from the bear panties. After that, with Fina’s help, I bought a shirt-like thing I could wear under the onesie, and some unremarkable, ordinary clothes to wear the rest of the time.

  “Thanks, Fina.”

  “Not at all. I’m glad you found something to buy. What would you like to do next?”

  “Maybe go to the bookshop or a library? Are there any in this town?”

  “We have a bookshop, but no library. I feel like I’ve heard an adventurer saying that they have one in the capital, though.”

  “Then I guess we’ll go to the bookshop. But before that, let’s eat lunch. Do you have a place you recommend?”

  “Umm, is anywhere fine?”

  “Yeah.”

  “In that case, I’d like to eat where you’re staying. I’ve heard it’s really good.”

  “At the inn?”

  “Yes, guests from outside the guild come in around this time of day, since the adventurers who stay there are usually out for work.”

  “I had no idea. In that case, let’s go.”

  Fina was clearly delighted by the prospect of lunch at the inn as we headed back. When we got to the inn, it was bustling with customers. A delicious aroma wafted through the air. Elena, who was carrying a load of dishes, noticed us enter.

  “Welcome,” she said. “Oh, Ms. Yuna! Are you back already?”

  “For lunch,” I told her.

  “There’s an extra fee for lunch.”

  “That’s fine. Also, do you have two open seats?”

  “We’re actually completely full right now. I think seats will open in a bit.”

  “Can you make the meals immediately?”

  “Yes, that we can do. It’s mostly all ready to go.”

  “In that case, could we eat in my room?”

  “Yes, that’s no problem.”

  “We’ll figure out our orders. Fina, you can get whatever you want.”

  “Are you sure?” Fina said, seeming very hesitant.

  “It’s fine. Once we’re done eating, I’m going to ask you to take me to the bookshop as compensation.”

  “Thank you so much. In that case…”

  After waiting in my room for a while, Elena brought our lunch up and I took the tray from her. The contents of the plates were still steaming. They looked delectable.

  “Once you finish, it’d be such a help if you could bring the plates downstairs.”

  “Got it. I’ll bring them once we’re done.”

  “Sorry for asking, but I’d be much obliged.”

  We set our meals side by side on the tabletop. There was fluffy bread, meat, and even a salad. I wonder if there’s rice in this world, I thought. It’s only my second day, so I’ll manage…but I am Japanese, so I’m going to miss rice, soy sauce, and miso.

  “Fina, how about we eat while it’s warm?”

  “Yes!” Fina happily grabbed the bread. “The bread is so soft. The meat is delicious, too.”

  “Yeah, it’s good.”

  Fina’s hand paused as she was eating.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Um.”

  “What is it?”

  “Could I take half of this meal home?”

  “Why?”

  “I have a younger sister at home,” she said, staring at her half-touched food. “I’d like to share it with her and Mom.”

  Aww.

  “That’s fine, but eat this. I’ll order two—no, three more later, so you can take that home.”

  “Really?”

  “Today is special. I won’t do it tomorrow, though, so don’t worry about it.”

  “Okay. Thank you, Yuna.”

  After we finished our meal, I brought the empty plates to Elena and ordered three portions to go for dinner. Our bellies full, we headed to the bookshop, which seemed to be in the opposite direction of the weapons shop. As usual, I tried not to mind the stares from the passersby as we went. I thought about wearing the clothes I’d bought, but I remembered what happened at the guild. Until I knew I was safe, I wasn’t taking off the bear gear.

  When we came to the bookshop, the inside was half-buried in heaps of merchandise. The books that couldn’t fit on the shelves were stacked across the floor like a mountain range. It would be quite the undertaking to browse all of these.

  “Welcome,” a little old lady called out to us.

  “Ma’am, aren’t you going to organize these?”

  “Oh, I know where things are. It’s fine. If there’s a book you’d like, just let me know.”

  “Really? In that case, I’d like a bestiary and something on magic, and it’d be helpful if you had maps.”

  “Please give me a moment.” The little old lady headed into the cramped back of the shop. After a while, she reemerged with books.

  “These are bestiaries.” She handed me two books. “This one talks about common monsters. This one is about legendary-class monsters. I don’t suppose you need this one?”

  “I’d like both.”

  “I see. And, this is the one grimoire we have in stock. It’s for beginners, I’m afraid.”

  “I’d like that one, too.”

  “I only have maps for this town’s immediate surroundings. You won’t be able to get better ones without heading to the capital.”

  She handed me a single sheet of paper.

  “This works fine.”

  I paid and left. I’d expected it to take a lot longer, but we’d wrapped that up in a couple of minutes thanks to the little old lady and her surprisingly good memory. And with the purchase of the books, I’d completed all my basic goals.

  “Yuna, what would you like to do next?”

  I hesitated before answering. “Right. Thanks to you, I got all the stuff I wanted, so I’m going to read the books in the inn. Plus, you’re probably tired after walking all over the place, aren’t you?”

  I wasn’t tired because of the bear shoes, but without them I probably would have tapped out at the weapons shop and collapsed, based on my limited shut-in’s stamina.

  “I’m completely fine.” Fina was right as rain. She was the very opposite of a sedentary shut-in like me, of course.

  “So, what are you going to do, Fina?”

  “It’s early, but I’ll go home after getting the meals from Ms. Elena.”

  “Alright, then here’s your payment for today.” I handed her a silver coin.

  “Are you sure? But you even ordered me dinner.”

  “Like I said, it’s just for today.”

  “Thanks, Yuna!”

  Once I got to my inn, I parted ways with Fina, and because I had time until dinner, I went back to my room alone. I pulled the books and map from my bear storage.

  I took a look at the map first. So, these are the woods where I started, I thought. There were some woods a bit away from the town. If you followed the path through them to the other side, it seemed like that was where the capital was. I couldn’t really tell how far it was without knowing the map’s scale, but it was probably a decent bit of travel.

  Maybe it’d be good if I headed over to the capital next? I thought. It looked like there were a few villages around. I memorized the important locations, thinking wistfully about how it’d be great if I had a more detailed map. WFO’s auto-mapping would have been useful.

  I pulled out the grimoire next. It was titled Beginner-Class Magic. I wondered if there were intermediate and advanced books, and if so, whether I could pick up copies in the capital. I flipped from page to page. Uh-huh; right, right; I see.

  “Guess I’ll give it a shot. First, I collect mana.”

  I tried doing it with the same motions I used in WFO.
In the game, I would gather mana in my hands, and when I recited a spell, it would activate. If I collected mana in my right hand, I could invoke magic there, or I could collect and invoke it in my left hand. An ambidextrous friend of a friend got some notoriety in the community for using magic with both hands well. As for me? I was right-handed, so I collected my mana in my right hand and chanted the spell.

  “Light.”

  I couldn’t help but pay more attention to the shape of the ball of light that floated up from my open hand than the sensation of using magic. It was unmistakably a ball of light, but it wasn’t a sphere. It came in the shape of a bear’s head.

  I got a bad feeling about it and opened up my status menu.

  Name: Yuna

  Age: 15 years old

  Level: 8

  Skills: Fantasy World Language, Fantasy World Literacy, Bear Extradimensional Storage, Bear Identification

  Magic: Bear Light

  Gear

  Right Hand: Black Bear Glove (Nontransferable)

  Left Hand: White Bear Glove (Nontransferable)

  Right Foot: Black Bear Shoe (Nontransferable)

  Left Foot: White Bear Shoe (Nontransferable)

  Clothing: Black and White Bear Clothes (Nontransferable)

  Underwear: Bear Underwear (Nontransferable)

  I now had an additional tab for magic that was separate from my skills.

  Bear Light

  Mana collected in the bear glove creates a light in the shape of a bear.

  I had to wonder: if it mentioned the bear glove, did that mean I couldn’t use this magic without it? In order to test it out, I took off the glove and tried to invoke the Light magic like earlier. Just as I thought, no light appeared.

  I was one with the bear.

  I put the bear gloves with their round eyes back on my hand. I wanted to practice attack magic, but I couldn’t do that in the inn, of course. I decided I would just read the magic book and learn what I could for today.

  When dinner came around, I went back to the ground floor and ate a great meal. I got in the bath, changed the onesie to the white bear side, and crawled into bed to clear away the exhaustion from that day.

  “Goodnight.”

  Chapter 9:

  Fina and the Bear

  Part One

  MOM’S MEDICINE RAN OUT, and I don’t have enough money to buy any more.

  I live with my mom and sister, who is three years younger than me. I don’t have a dad. Apparently, he died while my sister was still in my mom’s belly. I don’t really remember him much.

  Mom can’t move, since she’s sick. I try to work in her place and do the best job I can, but there isn’t a lot I can do, since I’m only ten. Sometimes Mr. Gentz lets me help with harvesting work at the guild. Apparently, my mom is friends with Mr. Gentz.

  He’s always nice to us. He gave us medicine that really helped my mom earlier.

  And before that, too…

  I can’t make him take care of us more than he already has. The only thing I could do was go out of the town to pick herbs that would be medicine for my sick mom. I’ve seen the herbs all the time at the guild. I know what kinds there are.

  I went out of the town and straight to the woods, where the herbs are. There are monsters deep in the woods, so I decided to search near the outskirts. I couldn’t really find any, so I decided to go in a little further, and I found some!

  But I was so busy picking herbs that I didn’t notice the wolves surrounding me. I couldn’t beat them. I ran until my legs started shaking, and I couldn’t go any further.

  “Someone, help…”

  The wolves came closer. Right when I thought I was done for, the three wolves screamed and fell over. It all happened in a second.

  How?

  A person in dark clothes came out of the woods. For some reason, they were dressed like a bear.

  “Are you okay?” they asked me.

  “Th-thank you?”

  “Why was that a question?”

  The person who saved me was a girl in a cute bear outfit.

  “Are you going to eat me?”

  “I’m not.”

  “Are you a bear?”

  The girl in the cute bear outfit responded to my even weirder question by taking off the hood on her head. Her long, pretty hair fell out of her hood and I found myself smiling. I think it was because I was relieved.

  The girl in the bear outfit was named Yuna and she was a pretty girl with long black hair. I’d never seen someone so pretty before. Apparently, she came from another country and was lost in the woods. I was so thankful we ran into each other. To thank her for saving me, I led her to the town.

  She started walking, but I told her to please wait—we could sell the wolf meat and pelts, and the meat was soooooooo good. When I explained that, Yuna told me she didn’t know how to butcher them. Maybe she came from a noble family somewhere. I could understand that after seeing how beautiful she was under the bear hood. So, with her permission, I butchered the wolves. Yuna said she’d give me half the money from selling it, and that would pay for food for days.

  It seems like there’s a lot Yuna doesn’t know. She asks me a lot of questions. She really must be the daughter of some aristocrat.

  We went into the town and I got in trouble with Mr. Gentz for worrying him. We sold the pelts and the meat after I took a little bit that wouldn’t go bad. Of course, I got permission from Yuna to take the meat home. It’s been a long time since I’ve had meat.

  I’m grateful to Yuna.

  I tried giving Yuna her half of the money, but she didn’t take it. She asked me to take her to an inn, and I thanked her, then did like she asked. The inn’s between the guild and my house. It always smells good when it’s time for food, and it has a good reputation.

  We got a lot of attention on the way to the inn. Yuna’s clothes were weird, right? I would definitely look at someone wearing weird clothes like that if they were walking around town. I was a little embarrassed, but Yuna had saved my life and she asked me for help. This was nothing.

  I took her to the inn, said thank you, and went home. I made medicine from the herbs. I’m not a specialist, so I can’t make high-quality medicine, but it can keep my mom’s sickness away a little. We had a hearty meal with meat for the first time in a long time, and I still had money. I think I’ll be able to buy something nutritious tomorrow.

  I’m really thankful for Yuna.

  I woke up really early the next day and, as usual, went to the guild and asked if they had butchering work. The inn I took Yuna to was on the way. I wanted to thank her again, but I thought I might be a nuisance if I went inside. Then a black bear came out. It was Yuna.

  Yuna was apparently going to the guild to make an ID. I was going too, so we went together. I wanted to hold her hand, but I kept myself from doing it. The bear gloves look so soft. I want to touch them sometime.

  When we got to the guild, I left Yuna to go see Mr. Gentz, but there wasn’t any work for me. I was thinking of giving up and going home, but there was a commotion in the guild. Based on the voices I heard, Yuna and the adventurers were going to fight.

  How did that happen? I ran to the training area in a hurry, but Yuna came over to me, smiling. She asked to borrow my knife, so I lent it to her. I didn’t have a reason to say no.

  The battle started. Yuna won. Her bear punch was awesome. She didn’t even need the knife. When the match ended, she gave it back.

  I was worried, so I waited outside while she got her guild card. This time, she came out without any trouble. I was glad. When I told Yuna that there wasn’t any work today, she asked me to show her around the town, and she said she would give me a reward.

  First, we went to the weapons shop. Yuna bought a sword and a hundred knives. She’s rich, apparently, and it looks like one of her bear gloves is a bottomless bag. I was shocked.

  Then we went to the clothes store. I wonder if Yuna doesn’t have any sense of fashion. She asked me to choose clo
thes for her. I think those bear clothes are sooo cute, but maybe she’s going to stop wearing them. After that, it was lunchtime. She told me I could choose where we ate, so I told her I wanted to eat at the inn I took her to. It was really good. She even ordered dinner for my mom and sister.

  Finally, we went to the bookshop. She picked some books, and then, I was done leading her around for the day. It was over a lot faster than I expected.

  Yuna went back to the inn to read her news books. I didn’t have anything else to do for the evening, so I picked up the dinner from the inn and decided to go home early. My mom and sister were really happy.

  I hope tomorrow is this fun, too.

  Chapter 10:

  The Bear Practices Magic

  I WOKE UP EARLY and headed out of town after breakfast. I was going to practice magic I couldn’t try at the inn.

  The gate guard stepped away from his post to greet me. I was pretty sure he was the guy who helped me out a few days ago when I first came to town.

  “Oh, miss in the weird clothes from earlier,” he said, “are you going outside?”

  “Yeah. Here’s my guild card.”

  I showed him my guild card and held it over the crystal panel, like I’d have to even when I was leaving from now on. This one gate was the only way in or out I knew about; nobody came or went without getting their criminal record checked.

  “Looks like you’ve become an adventurer,” he said, looking over my card. “What’s with this ‘Class: Bear’ thing?”

  “Just ignore that.”

  “Well, it’s not wrong.” Saying that, he gave me a pat on my hooded head. “Whoa, it feels real nice to touch.”

  “Could you stop it?” I pushed his hand away.

  “Yeah, sorry about that. It’s dangerous out there, so be careful.”

  “I’m just going to practice magic a little outside.”

  “I see. Well, as long as you don’t get close to the woods, you won’t get attacked by monsters, excepting if a pack roams out a ways, and that’s not usual.”

  “Okay, I got it.”

  I took my guild card back, left the town, and walked until I was sure I’d found a nice, empty spot. I would try out the physical enhancement magic that was written in the book first. It wasn’t that difficult. I just needed to let mana course through my whole body.