Chapter 112 - Bear-san Goes To The Ryokan-style Bear House (1/2)
Bear-san Goes To The Ryokan-style Bear House
Author’s note:
There’s an important announcement in the afternote.
The two children were eating Deiga-san’s food happily.
I also became happy, seeing them like this.
While I was eating my meal and looking at the two, Anzu spoke to me.
「So, Yuna-san, what ingredient did you want? Should I prepare it for you?」
Anzu asked.
「I don’t think it’s something that’s being sold, so you might not be able to find it.」
「It isn’t being sold?」
「I have never seen it being sold anywhere, after all.」
「Still, you can find it near this city, right?」
「Yes, I saw some on the mountain.」
「What sort of ingredient is it?」
Deiga-san, who was interested about the ingredient, entered the conversation.
「Bamboo shoots.」
「Bamboo shoots? What are those?」
「Do you know about the bamboos that grow on the mountain? It’s like a green pipe.」
「Well, I know about bamboos at least. How would you be able to eat something that hard?」
When I heard those words, I finally understood.
They didn’t know what bamboos were like before they grew from the earth.
No one had ever thought about digging up the bamboos before they grew.
Likewise, if I didn’t know about it, I wouldn’t think that eating it was possible just by looking at a bamboo.
「That’s not it. I’m talking about the bamboo shoots. The bamboos before they grow.」
「You can eat such a thing?」
「It’s tasty, you know. You can cook it with rice, or just boil it as it is, or even cook it with other ingredients. There are a lot of different ways of eating it.」
My main aim was the Bamboo Shoot Rice.
「Is it difficult to harvest bamboo shoots?」
「It’s difficult, but even children can harvest them if they do their best.」
「Okay, I get it. I will come too!」
Deiga-san said.
「Father!?」
「There’s an ingredient near here that I, a chef, don’t know about. If we knew about it during the time the Kraken was here, it could have become food, you know!」
「You have a point, but what will do you about the inn?」
「It will be okay even if I’m not here for a day.」
「That’s impossible! Big Bro will go to the sea, and it will be impossible to manage all the customers with just mom and me.」
「We will go to harvest it when the sun rises, so it won’t take the whole day.」
「That early?」
「Bamboo shoots taste better if you harvest them in the early hours, after all.」
I told them what I vaguely remembered seeing on a TV program about bamboo shoots.
It had said that it was better to harvest bamboo shoots early in the morning.
It had said that both taste and fragrance were better that way. They turned bitter when the sun shone upon them, so you had to harvest them before the sun rose too high.
「Anzu, I will help you with the morning preparations, and you will take care of breakfast on your own.」
「That’s impossible…」
「You will open a restaurant at Missy’s place, right?」
「That’s true, but…」
「Anything’s an experience.」
「Ugh, will it really be okay with just mom and me? I also want to go and harvest those bamboo shoots. What if I go with Yuna-san and Father prepares breakfast?」
「That’s no good. I will go. As a chef, I won’t permit such a delicious ingredient near me without my knowledge.」
「It’s the same for me…」
「I will go this time. I won’t back down even for the sake of my own daughter. Is that okay with you, Missy?」
「I’m okay, so please don’t fight.」
「Ugh. I understand. I will bear with it this time. Still, Yuna-san, please take me with you next time.」
It was decided that we would meet up with Deiga-san at the entrance of the city when the sun comes up.
「Do I need to take anything with me?」
「We will be digging them up from the ground, so it would be best if you had a hoe, I think? Though, if you come just for the sake of seeing it, I will dig them up using magic.」
「No, as I already told Anzu, I want to experience it myself, so I will dig them up on my own.」
We finished our meals, and since it was almost time for the workers to return to the in after work, we decided to go to the Ryokan-style Bear House.
「Big Sis Yuna, it’s big.」
That was the first thing Fina said when she saw the Ryokan style Bear House.
「I also thought so when I finished making it.」
「Why did you make it this big?」
「I want to bring the orphans here some day, so the number of bedrooms increased a lot…」
「I knew it, Big Sis Yuna, you are really kind. Actually, I was feeling a little guilty that you brought only the two of us while the children at the orphanage are still working. But you are thinking about everyone properly, aren’t you?」
「I don’t have such n.o.ble intentions, you know. Everyone is working hard, so… Well, I don’t run a company, but this would still be something like an employee trip.」
「Employee trip?」
「Yep, it’s something to show the people working for me that I’m grateful.」
「Big Sis Yuna, why are you grateful?」
「You are working at my shop, right?」
「That’s wrong. Thanks to you, Big Sis Yuna, we have a place to work, we can eat until we are full, and we have a warm place to sleep, you know. If we weren’t working at your place, we wouldn’t have those things. Mother, everyone at the orphanage, and I are all grateful to you.」
Hmm, it was difficult to explain.
It seemed that Fina thought that giving them a job that made them money, gave them something to eat, and gave them a place to sleep was more than enough already; and that giving them more wasn’t necessary.
So that was the difference in thinking between me, who had grown up in j.a.pan, and Fina, who had grown up in an other world, huh.
「Thanks, but I want to show that I am grateful too.」
I patted Fina’s head.
「You should be tired since we were moving around all day today, right? Hurry up and go in. It seems that Shuri is also tired.」
Behind Fina, Shuri seemed to be nodding off.
「Okay.」
When we entered the Bear House, I showed them the rooms on the first floor.
Shuri woke up. Was she interested in the Bear House?
「If you want to use the toilet or drink water, they’re on this floor, so use them, okay?」
We ignored the second floor, and I brought them to the bedrooms for guests.
「You two, use this room, okay?」
「It’s big.」
「We’ll sleep here?」