Editor’s note: As per request of our k.u.ma translator (and thanks to our dear readers Pa.s.singbear and Spookie for letting us realize), we are changing Terumi-san to Tirumina-san from here on out to match the manga and j.a.panese RAW better. I hope it won’t confuse you too much.
Past chapters will also be changed to reflect this.
「What did you want to discuss?」
Tirumina-san looked at me and asked what I wanted to talk about as we walked.
I would prefer if she didn’t look at me as if I was going to do something that would bring her trouble everytime I sought her out.
Well, I couldn’t deny that what I was doing this time was indeed quite a bit of trouble…
「I was thinking of taking everybody working for us to the sea, so I wanted to discuss it with you.」
Tirumina-san looked at me with a I-knew-she-was-going-to-say-something-strange expression.
「Let me confirm something first. When you say everyone, exactly how many people are you thinking of?」
「When I say everyone, I mean everyone: Anzu, Morin-san, the workers at the shop, and of course, you and your family.」
Maybe I should take Noa as well?
Tirumina-san looked at me with her mouth hanging open, clearly dumbfounded.
「Yuna-chan, how many people do you think that is? What will happen to the shop in the meantime?」
Tirumina-san immediately pointed out the problem.
「The shop will be closed while we are away, of course.」
「What about the eggs? We have a contract to deliver fresh ones to the Commerce Guild every day.」
「About that, actually. A while ago, Mylene-san said that they were going to increase the production of eggs elsewhere, didn’t she?」
「Yes, she did.」
「And, based on my knowledge, she arranged for many people to come to the orphanage so you could teach them how to care for the cluckers, no?」
「Yes, but they aren’t here right now.」
That wasn’t really an issue, though.
「During that time, we will ask a few of them to help us. If there won’t be enough willing people, Mylene-san can also lend us some of her staff from the Commerce Guild. Well, that’s my current plan, at least.」
Tirumina-san kept silent for a while to give it some thought.
It should be a pretty good idea, no?
「The employees from Commerce Guild will be able to take all the eggs back directly, which will make things even easier.」
The value of the eggs might drop for the duration, but that was better than wasting them.
「That all makes sense, but do you perchance want me to arrange all that?」
「Please do, Tirumina-san.」
「Yuna-chan…」
It was best to leave the complicated stuff to Tirumina-san.
Yet, she looked at me in disbelief as she often liked to do.
「Okay, then when do you plan to have this trip? I can’t prepare everything immediately.」
「I want to go when it gets a bit hotter. I know there are a lot of things we need to prepare, so I decided to ask you now that we still have plenty of time. Would you be willing to discuss it with Mylene-san?」
If we failed to secure the required personnel, we would have to come up with another way to take care of things while we were gone. We could always have some people stay behind, but if we were going to take a group vacation to play, then we should all go together and not leave anyone behind, especially since we might break up some groups of friends if we did so.
If we split them up, everybody would only have half as much fun. People usually enjoyed themselves the most while being around their friends, after all.
I also had to prepare the swimsuits, since we couldn’t have people swimming naked or in their regular clothing.
Still, the biggest reason to delay this trip was that it just wasn’t hot enough yet. There was no point in going to the sea before the summer heat reached a certain degree, after all.
「Okay, but how will we travel there? There will be a lot of us, so it might be difficult to go as a group.」
I had completely forgotten about that issue. Maybe we could get carriages for everyone?
Well, I could easily create carriages with earth magic and have Bear Golems drag them, as I had done when I captured those bandits, but were such carriages comfortable to ride?
I had made them without thinking about comfort, so they most likely failed in that regard. If I put some more effort into it, though, could I make them more comfortable?
Hmm, what should I do?
「We still have time, so I will think of what to do about it later, but before that, can you check if there are people willing to take care of the birds for us?」
「Sigh… Okay, let me know when you decide on the date and time. I will go and take care of this in the meantime.」
Fina and Shuri looked quite happy seeing their mother agree to the trip.
Since Tirumina-san had now somewhat agreed to help me, I thanked her in advance and parted ways with them.
My next stop was the tailor shop where Sherry worked, so that I could ask her about making swimsuits for me.
As I entered the shop, Noll-san, who was working at the counter, quickly noticed me and spoke up.
「Welcome, Yuna-chan. I see you’re wearing your cute outfit today as well. Maybe I should try making it sometime.」
「Please don’t. If you do, I will have to destroy this shop.」
「Considering you’re the one saying that, you’re being serious, aren’t you?」
I most definitely was.
It would be traumatic to see a bunch of people walking around dressed as me.
「So, why are you here today? Did you come to pick up more plushies?」
I had asked Sherry to make more plushies when she had time as they became quite popular, and many people wanted them.
「I came to ask Sherry for something else. Is it okay if I borrow her for a bit?」
「Hmm, today isn’t really a good day. We just got a few sudden orders today, so she’s busy working on them with my husband in the back. Things should calm down by tomorrow, though. Is it urgent?」
I shook my head.
It wasn’t urgent at all, although it would be better if I got it done sooner rather than later.
「Tomorrow is fine, so can I borrow her then?」
「Give me a moment. I will go ask her.」
Noll-san went to the back and came out soon after.
「She said it’s fine.」
「Okay, can you tell Sherry to come to my house when she’s ready?」
「Sure, I will let her know. At what time should she be there?」
「Anytime is fine, but the earlier the better.」
Before I left, I didn’t forget to pick up some Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear plushies.
The next day, I called Fina and Noa to come over, and we waited together for Sherry to arrive. Shuri couldn’t come because she had to do some ch.o.r.es with Tirumina-san.
「Yuna-san, is this a swimsuit?」
Noa asked as she took a peek at the drawings of the swimsuits that were laid out on the table.
I had drawn them up by using Fina and Noa as models; I had decided to do so as there were a lot of children at the orphanage, so the size comparisons should fit. The drawings were a bit comic-like, but that couldn’t be helped.
I had drawn them for Sherry to use as a reference, but if I was being honest, I didn’t really know much about swimsuits myself; I had never bought a swimsuit before, after all. I had no need for one as I had never gone to the beach or a pool.
Instead, I had simply based the drawings on what I had seen in manga, anime, and games. Even so, they shouldn’t be too different from the real ones, right?
Quite a few designs had been drawn using Noa as the model and the girls checked them out first.
They were all bikini designs, or rather, what I thought of as bikini designs since I didn’t know what bikinis were actually like. It had been a huge pain to draw the back sides especially. I kind of hoped Sherry would be able to make the adult ones based on these, so I wouldn’t have to bother with those as well.
On a side note, I had made sure to draw swimsuits that were safe to look at. None of them were skimpy or erotic. I designed them with the children in mind, and I didn’t draw anything I wouldn’t want to wear myself. The only person that would want to and enjoy wearing a skimpy swimsuit would most likely be Atora-san.
「Um, these are kind of embarra.s.sing. Like, isn’t this fluttering skirt too short?」
「Well, these are swimsuits, so it’s fine.」
Noa seemed to be embarra.s.sed by the prospect of wearing this kind of swimsuit. Maybe it would have been better if I only drew the swimsuit by itself? She herself had been used as the model in the drawings, after all.
Now that I looked at it, I had only used Noa for the bikinis. Maybe I should use Fina this time, and draw some school and other one-piece swimsuits with her in mind? I was sure they would look great on her.
Well, Shuri would probably be the best model for the school swimsuits.
「You’re supposed to swim wearing this?」
「Isn’t that still embarra.s.sing?」
「Well, it would be embarra.s.sing to walk down the streets while wearing it, but it’s way easier to swim in these swimsuits. It’s difficult to swim if you wear regular clothing, and the clothes might even cause you to drown instead.」
Well, based on what Anzu told me, they wrapped themselves in bleached cotton cloth here, so maybe that wasn’t that much different to swimsuits.
「Yuna-san, are there no bear versions of this?」
「Bear versions…?」
For a moment, I didn’t understand what Noa meant by that. I had never heard of a Bear version of swimsuits even in my former world.
「Yes, bear. I was sure you would have a bear-shaped swimsuit.」
「Sorry, I don’t.」
I wouldn’t make it even if I knew how.
「Okay, but you just have to add a tail, no?」
No, you didn’t make something into a Bear just by adding a tail.
Feet, hands, and ears all had to be bear-shaped in order to accomplish that. I tried to show it to her by using an ill.u.s.tration using Fina as a model, adding Bear Hands, Feet, and lastly a Bear Swimming Cap on her head. It looked like a regular swimsuit coupled with Bear Hands, Feet and Head. Actually, now that I thought about it, did some swimsuits with included gloves and shoes maybe exist?
No, those would get in the way of swimming for sure, especially the Bear variant of it.
I crumpled up the paper and threw it into the trash can.
「Ah! Why did you throw it away?!」
「Because that’s not a swimsuit.」
「But, it’s such a waste to throw it away.」
To begin with, I had no intentions of making a Bear swimsuit, so I ignored Noa’s complaints, and drew more designs based on what I remembered from my former world. Including the ones I had drawn yesterday, I now had around ten designs, which I judged to be enough. They were only rough drafts, but it was rather tiring to draw so much at once. The hardest ones were the swimsuits for boys. I had almost given up on trunks. Couldn’t I just draw them with bikini bottoms?
Anyway, I had drawn what I thought was appropriate, so it was most likely fine. Just as I put down my pen, Sherry had finally arrived.
「Welcome, Sherry. Come in.」
Sherry entered the Bear House, looking a bit nervous. She was quite surprised when she saw that Noa and Fina were here as well.
「Fina-chan, and Noire-sama?!」
「I asked them to take a look at the clothing I want you to make.」
I proceeded to explain to Sherry all about our trip to the sea, ending with the subject of swimsuits, which I hoped she could make for me.
「Everyone at the orphanage is going to the sea?!」
「Yeah. You are included as well, of course.」
「But, my job…」
「I will ask Noll-san for permission before we go, so don’t worry.」
I would feel bad leaving her out of the group, and I was pretty sure Noll-san would agree to her coming along.
With that all cleared up, I showed Sherry the swimsuit designs I had drawn.
「Are these undergarments?」
「No, they’re clothing used for swimming.」
「Really?」
It made sense for her to be confused as even if there were swimsuits in this world, the orphanage couldn’t have purchased them for everyone, so n.o.body would have had the chance to wear them.
「I wanted you to use those designs to make swimsuits for everyone at the orphanage and the shop.」
「Everyone?」
She asked while looking at the designs.
「Mhm. We’re going to the sea, so even if they won’t go for a swim, they can at least play around in the water.」
「Is this going to be considered work?」
Sherry really had the mindset of a working adult, huh.
「Yup, it’ll be work. I’ll be asking Noll-san for permission as well. Will you be able to make them?」
「Yes, I should have the time. There isn’t any urgent work, so I can take this up as my next contract.」
There were quite a number of swimsuits to be made, so I was really happy that she didn’t refuse the job. Otherwise, I would have had to think of something else.
「As for the fabric, could you please use something that won’t be see through when wet, won’t get torn easily, can dry easily, and is a bit elastic if possible?」
「I wonder if such fabric exists…」
Sherry mumbled and fell into deep thought for a while.
Well, we really couldn’t use anything that would turn see through or would tear easily. It would also be nice if it could dry easily. If it was elastic as well, then it would be of help if the sizing was a bit off.
「I guess I will have to ask Temoka-san first. If there is fabric like that, it will probably be expensive, though.」
Cost was of no problem to me.
Still, speaking of fabric, I had some, didn’t I?
「Do you think you can use this?」
I asked Sherry as I took out some thread and fabric from my Bear Box.
「This is…?」
Sherry asked and took a closer look at the fabric I offered her.
「W-w-what is this high quality fabric?!」
Sherry stuttered when she touched it.
I had received this from the village chief for defeating the Black Tiger when I was escorting Shia and her fellow students.
Those giant silkworms were monsters that haunted my nightmares, but unlike their distasteful appearance, their silk was supposedly a high quality product. At least, that was what Shia had told me.
「The texture is better than any fabric we have at the store.」
「I received this from a previous job of mine. Do you think it will work?」
「Can I try getting it wet?」
I agreed, and Fina brought over a cup of water.
Sherry thanked her before dripping some water directly onto the fabric.
She then proceeded to check check the thinness and durability of the fabric. The diligence of her actions made me think she might like to study different types of fabric as a part of her learning process. If she continued like this, she would surely become a professional tailor one day.
「So, will it be okay or not?」
「I think it should be just fine.」
Since she confirmed it, I gave her all the thread and fabric I had on me.
With this, the materials were covered, so the whole set should be a lot cheaper.
「Okay, which one should I make?」
Sherry asked while looking at the designs scattered on the table.
「I was thinking of asking you girls to pick a design for yourselves for now. I don’t want everybody to have the same swimsuits, though, so try to pick something different from each other, okay?」
It would be boring if everybody wore the same thing even though there were so many options. If they really wanted the same thing, then we could just go with the school swimsuit and be done with it.
「We can pick whichever one we like?」
Noa asked more to herself before starting to choose a swimsuit. The three of them soon fell into a discussion over which one they should pick, and I realized we would remain here for quite a while longer.
Author’s Note:
The main reason I made it so that other places would start producing eggs was so I could write about everybody at the orphanage going to the beach.
Since they taught other people how to take care of the chickens, those people should return the favor, no?
Many bookstores will soon start taking reservations for volume four of the light novel version.
They asked me to write in-store purchase bonuses, but I haven’t decided which stories to distribute to which stores.
Once I decide, I will write a notice about it.
For now, I just wrote about Deiga-san for the e-book version. lol