Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

Now that I was alone, I decided to go back to where the Kraken was.

The Kraken was lying on the sand.

No matter how I looked at it, it was a giant squid.

The question was, could we really eat it?

Well, this world’s ecosystem was different from Earth’s, so it should be edible.

Still, eating the worm, which was just lying near the Kraken, would be absolutely impossible.

I had no interest in eating worms or larvae. Even if you said that I didn’t know what it tasted like without trying it, I would never eat it.

While I waited by myself, three carriages arrived.

The carriages couldn’t move on the sandy beach, of course, so they stopped halfway.

Grandpa Kuro got off the carriages, together with some other men.

「Missy, you are here already.」

Grandpa Kuro approached me.

「You gathered a lot of men.」

「We want to finish dismantling it quickly, so we can go enjoy the seafood festival.」

Grandpa Kuro shouted orders to the men, so that they would start the preparations for dismantling.

The men responded loudly, and headed towards the Kraken.

When they moved past me, midway to the Kraken,

「Thank you.」

They gave their appreciation.

It was a bit embarrassing.

Since the Kraken was huge, the men separated into three different groups and started doing different tasks.

Grandpa Kuro was giving out precise orders. The men listened to the orders and dismantled the monster. It seemed that grandpa Kuro really was a respected person.

While I was watching them work, more carriages arrived.

The people who got down from them were Atora-san and the people from the Adventurer’s Guild.

「Compared to your bears, the carriages are really slow.」

Atora-san complained while approaching me.

Please don’t compare my bears to simple horses.

No matter how you looked at it, the bears were faster!

That was common sense, you know.

「Yuna, is it really okay for us to dismantle the worm?」

「You can sell it, eat it, or do whatever you want with it. But, you absolutely aren’t allowed to put it inside my food. If you do it, even as a joke, I won’t react mildly.」

「No way, I would never pull a prank that could take my life.」

「Still, is that strange thing really edible?」

「Dunno. I just heard that from other people, after all.」

「Atora-san, if someone wanted to make you eat it, you wouldn’t resist?」

「Not really. I really can’t understand the reason why Yuna-chan would hate it so much.」

So, it was food culture shock…

Thinking about it, which side did Fina stand on?

If possible, I would prefer it if she was on my side.

Atora-san and the other guild employees joined in on dismantling the worm.

Were they used to doing it? They took out their knives and started dismantling it quickly.

After I had moved a bit further away and was watching the two groups dismantle the beasts, Ranya-san arrived, bringing the women with her.

「I saw it yesterday, but looking at it up close, it really is huge.」

「Ranya-san, will you help with dismantling it as well?」

「I am not as good as an expert, but a Kraken is just a big squid, isn’t it? Anybody raised in this city should be able to do it. Still, I lack the experience to help with this one.」

She said, while looking at the worm.

Even though she said that, the other women joined the two dismantling parties.

Thanks to that, the dismantling process sped up even more.

「Miss, can I take up some of your time?」

Grampa Kuro called out to me.

「We really can’t accept this much, so take this at least.」

He gave me a beautiful blue magic stone that was taken from the Kraken.

It was several times larger than the ones from the wolves.

「I have lived for many years, but this is the first time I have seen such a big magic stone. Just the stone proves how huge this monster was.」

「Can I really take it?」

「Even if we had this big magic stone in the city, it wouldn’t help us at all. It will be of more use to an adventurer like you, missy, compared to just selling it.」

I accepted it gratefully.

「Then Yuna, I will also give this one to you.」

I received the worm’s magic stone as well.

Brown?

It was an earth magic stone.

Was it like this because it lived underground?

This one was also many times larger than the magic stones obtained from the wolves.

After I received the magic stones, the disassembling work continued.

The disassembled parts were put on a carriage, and brought to the city.

「Missy, you can leave the dismantling to us. You should go back to the city and enjoy the festival. By now, people should be preparing the fish they caught this morning. We all really want you, missy, to enjoy it the most.」

「If the main star, you, isn’t there, the festival has no meaning. I will return to the city as well, so let’s go together. The Kraken and worm’s meat has already been transported and should be cooking at the center plaza.」

When I returned to the city with Atora-san, we saw seafood being cooked everywhere.

Was that hamaguri? Shellfish were good as well. Were there any shrimp or crabs?

As we walked while checking out all sorts of seafood that was being cooked, I noticed that everyone was looking at me.

(TL note: Hamaguri is a sort of clam. Also known as Meretrix lusoria.)

「You are the Bear Missy who killed the Kraken, aren’t you? Take this. It’s delicious.」

An auntie gave me some food on a small plate.

It was a dish made of clams and shrimp.

I ate one mouthful, and it was delicious. It made me crave some white rice.

「Missy, this one is delicious as well, you know!」

He gave me a grilled fish.

He put a good amount of soy sauce on it.

If you were talking about grilled fish, it had to come with soy sauce, right?

Ponzu would be even better, but asking for it in another world would be impossible, wouldn’t it?

(TL note: Ponzu: A mix of citrus and soy sauce.)

「Thank you.」

After these two dishes, more people from the city started thanking me and bringing me food.

I couldn’t hold everything when they brought so much.

Atora-san took the dishes that I couldn’t carry.

「Everyone, if you bring too much, it will trouble Yuna.」

Atora-san stopped the residents.

Well, even if I couldn’t eat all of it, I could just put it inside the Bear Box, so it was okay.

For now, I put all of the things they brought me inside the Bear Box.

「Thanks. I will eat all of it properly, so really, thanks a lot everyone.」

I gave my thanks and left.

「You are really popular!」

「I am happy that they are giving me food, but being approached by everyone is a pain.」

「Couldn’t you just take off the bear then? If you did that, they wouldn’t recognise you, would they?」

She was totally right.

However, I was scared that there might be some trouble, so I couldn’t really take it off.

「This is a cursed item. I can’t take it off.」

「Is that so? Does Yuna smell bad then?」

「Why?」

I took baths properly.

「You can’t take a bath while wearing it, can you?」

「That was a lie, you know.」

We ate while walking to our destination, the central plaza.

The central plaza was crowded with people, and the Kraken was being cooked.

Were they cooking it in order to show it to the other residents? One of the Kraken’s tentacles was being used for decoration.

It was long.

Since they were using soy sauce, a fragrant smell drifted towards us.

A lot of people were eating it.

Every time the cook finished grilling a piece, it was served to the people waiting in line.

Children and adults were all eating mountains of food.

It was probably because it had been a long time since they were able to eat until their stomachs were full.

As we watched the central plaza, the residents noticed us.

They were only looking at me, and no one approached us.

「They were all approaching you before, so I demanded that people don’t swarm you.」

That helped me a lot, but I felt like I was a bear in a zoo when they all looked at me like that.

A little boy and girl approached me, breaking the tension.

「Bear-san, thank you very much for killing the monster!」

The boy bowed.

「Mama said that we can eat now, and it is all thanks to Bear-san!」

「Bear-san, thank you!」

I put one knee on the ground to match their gazes.

「Are you eating a lot?」

「Yes!」

They answered with big smiles, and I stroked their heads.

「You have to eat a lot and help your mum as well, okay?」

The two children nodded and left.

「You are really kind to kids, huh.」

「That’s because they didn’t have any bad intentions towards me. But, if there is a child who does have bad intentions towards me, I won’t show mercy.」

If they hated me, I hated them as well. I didn’t even want to think about liking someone who hated me.

「Master!」

Sei, an employee from the Adventurer’s Guild, came up to us.

「I was waiting for you, with food.」

There was a plate with lots of food in his hands.

「Is that from the Kraken?」

「Yes, it is.」

「There is no worm meat inside, right?」

「None. I wouldn’t do something that could destroy this city.」

He brought us some grilled and fried squid.

The three of us found an improvised table and ate many different kinds of squid dishes.

During our meal, the two of them also ate some worm dishes.

「Delicious.」

「We normally can’t eat things like this after all.」

The worm was well cooked and prepared, so it would look really tasty, then distributed to the residents.

Still, when I remembered how it looked before, I wouldn’t even consider putting it inside my mouth.

The people of this world were really brave.

The banquet continued late into the night, and in the middle of it, Grandpa Kuro joined us.

Then I had to listen to stories about the sea’s beauty from the drunk grandpa for a really long time.

Atora-san was drinking as well, so it was really noisy.

Did the fact that I didn’t drink make me a loser?

When sunset came, I returned to the inn, in order to escape from them.

There was a drinking party at the inn as well, and the interior reeked of alcohol.

「Yuna-san, welcome back.」

Anzu, the daughter of the macho, greeted me.

She was a healthy looking girl with a light tan.

She was the exact opposite of the ex-hikikomori me, who had a pale complexion.

「This got really big, huh.」

「Well, it’s proof that everyone was really happy that they could go out to sea again. My big bro was really happy about it as well.」

「Where’s Deiga-san?」

「Dad’s dead drunk, so he’s asleep in the back.」

「So that’s why Anzu is here.」

「Yes. So, do you want to eat something, Yuna-san?」

「I ate a lot outside, so it’s okay.」

「Oh, right. There are a lot of different places with food today.」

「Anyways, what are you doing, Anzu?」

「I am tending to the store while preparing my own meal.」

「You haven’t eaten yet?」

「Dad got dead drunk really early, so I had to make the food for everyone.」

「What are you making then?」

「Sashimi. A meal where you cut the raw fish into fine slices. It originates from the country of Harmony and Peace. It’s very delicious when you eat it with soy sauce.」

「You have sashimi?」

「You want to eat some?」

「Can you cook some rice as well?」

「Honestly, I already cooked your rice, Yuna-chan. I absolutely wanted to eat the sashimi with rice. I’m really sorry.」

「No problem. I can understand that feeling, after all. Though, if there is none left for me, I will be angry.」

「Of course there’s some left for you.」

After getting my consent, Anzu prepared the fish beautifully. There was some squid and octopus mixed in as well.

「You are really good at making it.」

「Dad taught me well. I want to open my own shop in the future after all.」

Oh! I just got some really interesting information!

I had wanted to stockpile fish in Crimonia, but there was a possibility that I wouldn’t be able to find someone who could handle it well. It would be great to have someone as talented as Anzu.

「If I asked if you would be interested in working at my shop in Crimonia, would you come?」

「Yuna-san, you have a shop?」

「Yeah. I don’t work there, though. I just wanted to eat some fresh seafood in Crimonia as well, so I would be really happy if Anzu came.」

「If I could, I would love to go. Crimonia is really far though, and that means that I wouldn’t be able to see my family for a really long time, so I think I would be lonely.」

That meant that if it was closer, it would be okay, right?

A smile crept onto my face.

Anzu continued to eat her Kaisen-donburi, not understanding the reason for my smile.

(TL note: Kaisen-donburi: Rice in a bowl, with seafood on top.)