The next morning, I woke up on a futon laid out on the tatami floor.
It’s morning already?
Yesterday, after finishing the meal. I went to the hot spring once again and fell asleep while my body was still warm.
When I got up, the cub-sized Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, who had been sleeping curled up on either side of me, also got up.
[Good morning, both of you.] Yuna
<<Ku~u ~ n>>
After putting away the futon and changing into my black bear, I thought about my plans for the day.
I want to buy tatami mats if I can and visit the Adventurer’s Guild. I’d also like to buy some other souvenirs for Fina and the others if there are any. Finally, I’d like to discover some unusual things.
As I was thinking about my plans for the day, there was a knock at the door.
I told Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear to hide. Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear trudged off to the next room to hide.
When I opened the door, I saw Konoha.
[Good morning. I’ve brought you breakfast.] Konoha
[Thank you.] Yuna
[Did you sleep well?] Konoha
[Yeah, the hot springs were nice too.] Yuna
[I’m glad to hear that.] Konoha
Breakfast was simple, grilled fish, miso soup, seaweed, and pickles.
Speaking of which, I’ll have to eat lunch outside, but I wonder if there’s anything good to eat out there.
=====
After breakfast, I returned Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear to the bear puppets, then left the room.
Then I see Konoha near the entrance of the inn.
[Are you going out?] Konoha
[Yeah, I have a question though, is there a place that sells tatami?] Yuna
[Tatami?] Konoha
[Yeah, I like it so much. I think I’ll buy some and set it up back in my home.] Yuna
[I’m glad you like it. You can find the store selling tatami mats by walking for a while along the road to the right after leaving the inn. But can you take it home with you?] Konoha
[I have an item bag, so it’s okay.] Yuna
I also asked for the location of the commercial guild, the adventurer’s guild, and the city’s tourist attractions, and wrote them down on a piece of paper.
[Thanks.] Yuna
I thanked her and left the inn.
=====
I’ll head to the tatami mat shop first.
As I walked along the streets, people who saw me shouted in surprise.
<Bear?> <What’s that?> <A Bear?> <Where is she from?>
The bear costume stands out wherever I go.
I pulled my bear hood to cover my face.
When a few kids came up close and started to go around me saying <It’s a bear!> and <You look weird!> I wanted to kick them, but I put up with it.
As soon as I shouted a loud <Waa>, they left.
You people are not doing a very good job of educating these kids. You should learn from the kids in the orphanage and Fina and the others.
Still, these are Japanese-style houses lined up. The roof tiles alone are enough to make a difference. If there were no roof tiles, the houses might have been ordinary wooden structures.
I wonder if they have castles in this country?
Is there a castle, like the ones in Japan?
If they have it, I’d like to see it. I’ll ask Konoha about it when I get back to the inn.
=====
I walked up to the tatami mat shop while suffering from being repeatedly pointed at as they shout <bear>.
[I think it’s somewhere around here.] Yuna
As I looked at the map on the paper and looked around, I saw a signboard with a picture of tatami mats on it.
Here it is.
[Pardon the intrusion~] Yuna
I called out as I entered the store.
[Yes~.] Clerk
A woman wearing an apron comes running towards me.
[Sorry to keep you waiting-…… bear?] Clerk
The woman froze when she saw me.
Well, it’s always the same, so I talked to her, ignoring the word <bear>.
[I want to buy tatami mats.] Yuna
[Etto, tatami?] Clerk
What else do they sell at tatami shops?
[I heard I could get it here.] Yuna
[Ah, yes. Tatami mat. You can buy it here.] Clerk
The woman seemed to be concerned about my outfit, but I immediately asked her about the tatami mats.
[Well then, Sweetie. How many tatami mats do you need? Where is your house? Are you asking for replacements? Do you need it in a rush?] Clerk
The woman asked me a lot of questions.
Well, she would normally think that I’m asking for tatami mat replacements.
I kind of imagine that no one takes tatami mats home with them.
[My house isn’t in this city, so I just need the tatami mats.] Yuna
[Is that so? Sweetie, did you come here by yourself?] Clerk
[I’m on my own.] Yuna
I don’t want her to treat me like a child, but I guess I look like a child in this outfit.
After all, it’s the first time she’s seen this kind of outfit. I always wonder if this outfit looks childish, especially for those who’s seeing it for the first time.
If so, being called strange might be better.
[Etto, Sweetie. Take a look at what I’m talking about. Tatami mats are big and heavy. So you can’t carry them home by yourself……] Clerk
The woman showed me the tatami mats in the store.
A sheet of tatami is large and heavy. If I didn’t have my bear gear, I wouldn’t be able to lift it.
[Did you come in a carriage, by any chance?] Clerk
The woman glanced outside.
[I have an item bag. So I’ll be fine.] Yuna
[Item bag? Would that work? So how many do you need?] Clerk
The woman seemed convinced and proceeded with the transaction.
She asked me again how many tatami mats I wanted to buy.
Four and a half tatami mats? Six Tatami? Eight Tatami?
Is six tatami mats enough?
I can change the bear house in the royal capital, the top room of the bear building in Mereera town, or one of the bear houses for travel.
And I can imagine the children in the orphanage lounging around on the floor. Maybe tatami mats would be better than carpets.
I did a simple calculation and answered the woman.
[About sixty, I think.] Yuna
When I look around at the room in the store, I see tatami mats piled up. That’s about right, isn’t it?
[…Etto, Sweetie. Tatami is not cheap. And isn’t that a lot? You might want to get confirmation from your parents first.] Clerk
The woman says gently, confirming.
Well, if a girl like me asked for 60 tatami mats, of course, she would have this reaction, wouldn’t she
[You don’t have to worry about the money.] Yuna
[And no matter how many item bags you have, you can’t possibly fit that many in there, can you?] Clerk
This woman is so worrywart, she’s worried about a lot of things, whether for herself or me.
Well, I suppose it’s both.
I checked the price of the tatami mats and paid for 60 of them.
The woman was surprised when she saw the money, but she seemed convinced.
[So, what kind of tatami do you want?] Clerk
Unfortunately, I don’t possess the knowledge of what makes a good and bad tatami in my head.
So, I’ll buy a good quality tatami for my room, and the rest are regular tatami.
She gave me a small discount.
When I put the tatami in the bear box, the woman looked at me with surprise.
[Ah, thank you very much.] Clerk
The woman bows her head to me as I leave the store.
I’m really glad I could use the currency that I have. It’s not always easy to spend money in different countries.
But with this, I can now make a Japanese-style room when I get home.
Having successfully purchased tatami mats, I went on to purchase Japanese-style chests and furniture.
It is a bad habit of mine to buy things when I want them, regardless of whether I will use them or not.
If Fina finds out about this, she’ll be very upset.
I’ll buy a wooden frog sculpture and a hand mirror to put Fina in a good mood. I thought it would be counterproductive, but I couldn’t think of any other way to make her happy, so I had no choice.
Would she have preferred food?
I thought about such things as I ate some dumplings for lunch.
=====
Then, after wandering around, shopping here and there, I came to the Adventurer’s Guild.
The guild has a tiled roof too.
When I took a peek, I saw ordinary adventurers as well as samurai-like adventurers.
When I entered, as usual, I attracted a lot of attention.
<Kuma?> <Kuma?> <Kuma?> <Bloody Bear!>
What was that last one?
Did I hear it wrong?
I looked around the room and saw one frightened adventurer looking at me.
Do you know me by any chance?
But why are you freaking out?
At any rate, they didn’t talk to me, so I went through them.
There are several adventurers in the room, watching me, but no one calls out to me. I don’t seem to get tangled up in anything this time.
I looked around the room and then at the receptionist.
At the reception desk, a woman of about 20 years old was sitting there, dressed in a Japanese kimono. The woman’s hair is done up with an ornamental hairpin. It’s Japanese-style.
The receptionist is looking at me intently.
[Anou, there’s something I’d like to ask.] Yuna
[Y, yes, what is it?] Receptionist
Receptionist-san looks at me as if she is observing me.
I know you’re curious, but I’m going to ask you about the guild.
[Does the Adventurer’s Guild accept guild cards from other countries?] Yuna
[Yes, you can use it.] Receptionist
According to the receptionist, the Adventurer’s Guild was spread by someone who came from another country. That’s why you can use any adventurer’s card from anywhere.
It seems that the guild that started in country A spread to neighboring country B, then to neighboring country C, then to neighboring country D, and E, then to neighboring country G, then finally to the Land of Harmony.
So, since the system is the same, they can read the contents of the guild card.
[Etto, are you an adventurer?] Receptionist
[That’s right.] Yuna
When I told them I was an adventurer, the room became noisy.
When I looked at the adventurers, the receptionist stood up and opened her mouth to the crowd of adventurers.
[Everyone, if you don’t want to work, please go home. This is not the place to kill time.] Receptionist
[We’re just exchanging info.] Adventurer 1
[Yeah, that’s right.] Adventurer 2
[Because exchanging information is important.] Adventurer 3
[You say that every day. Do your work once in a while.] Receptionist
The receptionist was dismayed.
Perhaps because they came too late, other than the adventurer I mentioned earlier, the one who said Bloody Bear, there were only a few others.
After hearing what I need from the receptionist, I was about to move away from her to check the request board when a man dressed in kimono walked in and went to the receptionist.
[I made a request yesterday, has anyone accepted yet?] Man
[Itsuki-san, was it? The request has not been accepted yet.] Receptionist
[That’s not good. Our livestock, cattle, and birds are being attacked. If no one took it out, it’s a matter of life and death.] Itsuki
[It is up to the adventurer to decide whether or not to accept the request. In a manner of speaking, you can ask an adventurer directly, but when it comes to Kamaitachi, they need to be good adventurers to defeat it.] Receptionist
The receptionist glanced at the remaining adventurers.
The adventurers looked away.
[It has to be a pretty good adventurer to do that.] Receptionist
The receptionist said it for the second time and looked at the man.
Apparently, the remaining adventurers here are of low rank.
[Please do something about it. The village is in danger.] Itsuki
The man bows his head and places it on the receptionist’s table.
[Please raise your head.] Receptionist
Kamaitachi is a kind of monster that cuts with the blade of the wind, I think?
Is that a kind of monster here?
[Please…] Itsuki
The Man didn’t lift his head.
[Do you want me to take care of it?] Yuna
I was curious about that monster too, so I called out to the man.
=====
Author’s Note:
She bought tatami mats and came over to the adventurer’s guild.
There aren’t many Japanese monsters that are close to demons.
Anyway, here comes the Kamaitachi.
I beg your pardon. I’m in the final stages of revising my SS, so my next post may be delayed a day or two. Thank you for your understanding.
