Chapter 42

Kuma-san Raises Chickens

The next day, I headed to the village first thing in the morning, using the gate I installed yesterday .

A villager who noticed me came over when I entered the village .

「What’s the matter?」

「Is it okay for me to meet the village chief?」

「I think it’ll be okay . 」

He kindly guided me to the village chief’s house .

「Oh, Yuna-san, what’s the matter?」

「Good morning . I have a small favor to ask . 」

「If it’s Yuna-san’s request, then I have to hear you out . 」

「Is it possible to catch the Cluckers from the other day alive ?」

「They can be caught relatively easily if we set traps . 」

「Then can you catch some for me? If possible, a hen please . 」

「Of course, it’s the request from Yuna-san who saved the village after all . So then, how many do you want?」

「The more the better, but too many might decrease the quantity of food for the village . Just enough that it won’t affect the village, please . 」

「I understand . Let’s have people who are not busy go catch them . 」

「Thank you very much . 」

「So, what do you plan to do, Yuna-san?」

「I have something to do in the mountains, so I’ll come back when I’m finished with that . 」

「I think it will be possible to catch several birds before noon . 」

「In that case, please do so . I’ll be counting on you . 」

I returned to the cave with the transfer gate .

I erased the transfer gate after entering the cave .

I expanded the cave some more and used earth magic to create a house .

The first floor had the shape of a small bear cub .

The rooms were assigned to be the kitchen, restroom, bathroom, and my room .

I installed a light magic stone in each room .

Finally, I installed a transfer gate next to the bear cub’s front door .

With this, base number one was completed .

Approximately 20 Cluckers were tied together with rope when I returned to the village .

They’re chickens, no matter how I look at it .

Though, they are larger than I thought .

「Is this many okay?」

「The chicks will be born soon and grow up quickly, so it’s okay . There aren’t any monsters around here, so it’s an easy environment for raising the birds . Please rest easy and take them . 」

「Thank you very much . 」

I had the villagers tie the Cluckers to Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear so they wouldn’t fall off . It would have been nice to be able to place them in the Bear Box alive, but it is impossible so it cannot be helped .

「Are you really planning to go back now?」

「Yes, the sooner the better . 」

「Is that so…we had hoped to show you some hospitality . 」

I forced money for the Cluckers onto the elder, who seemed like he wasn’t going to accept, and headed to the cave where the transfer gate was located .

I moved to the Bear House using the transfer gate after blocking the entrance of the cave with earth magic .

I left the Cluckers tied to Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear as we went through .

They won’t die, right?

The bears began to move out after it became dark outside .

They ran in the dark, through the empty streets

Eh, would it be better to use the transfer gate?

I just wanted to run through the middle of town with the bears .

After passing by the orphanage, I arrived at the land I bought through the Commerce Guild .

I dismounted Swaying Bear and checked the land .

I wonder if around here is okay .

I made a chicken coop using earth magic .

Furthermore, I surrounded the chicken coop with three-or-so meter tall walls .

They probably wouldn’t run away if it was this tall, right?

I entered the chicken coop with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear .

I roughly loosened the ropes that tied the Cluckers .

The Cluckers, released from their rope bindings, moved around inside the henhouse .

I feel relieved after checking and finding that they were all alive .

Let’s end things here today and return to the Bear House .

The next morning, after finishing breakfast, I headed to the orphanage .

The children were gathered in front of the wall where the chicken coop was located when I arrived at the orphanage .

「Big Sis Bear!」

The children noticed me and came over .

「Big Sis Bear, a wall suddenly appeared when I woke up this morning!」

「That’s because I made it . 」

「Big Sis did?」

The orphanage children stared at me .

「Let’s go to the orphanage for now . I have something to talk to Miss Director about . 」

I brought the children along toward the orphanage and met with Miss Director .

Miss Director and a woman who looked slightly older than 20-years-old were there when I arrived at the orphanage .

Was this Liz, the person who supposedly worked at the orphanage with Miss Director?

「This is Yuna-san . Thank you very much for yesterday . This is the person we talked about yesterday, Liz . 」

「I’m Liz . Thank you very much for the food yesterday . 」

Liz bowed her head .

「Don’t mind it, it was just a whim of mine . 」

「What kind of business do you have today?」

「I want to give the children some work, is that okay? I’ll pay them wages, of course . 」

「Work for the children?」

「You don’t need to worry, it’s not dangerous work . 」

「In that case, what kind of work is it?」

「Have you seen the wall outside?」

「Yes, I woke up this morning, and the wall had appeared . The children were raising a clamor . 」

「I made the wall last night . I wanted the children to look after the birds within the walls . 」

「Erm, you made the wall in one night?」

「To look after birds?」

Miss Director and Liz were surprised for different reasons .

「I made the wall with magic . 」

「What kind of work is it?」

「Simply gathering the eggs in the morning, cleaning the coop, and looking after the birds . The birds are not food, so please don’t eat them, okay?」

「Do you plan on starting an egg-selling business?」

「The value of eggs in this town seems to be high enough . 」

「Can you really make enough money with just that?」

「Though there are other things I want to request, it’s just this for now . What’s the matter?」

Miss Director looked towards the children .

「What do you all want to do? Yuna-san seems like she wants to give you work . If you work, you’ll be able to eat . If not, it will become like the situation a few days ago . There isn’t any more of the food that Yuna-san brought . 」

She asked a question to the children .

「I’ll do it!」

「Please let me do it!」

「I’ll also do it!」

「Me too!」

「Me as well!」

The children responded in a rambunctious manner .

「Is everyone okay with it? In that case, Yuna-san, you look after these children?」

「Yes, and is it okay if I borrow Liz as well?」

「Me?」

「Yes . I want to ask you to look after these children . 」

「If that’s all, I don’t mind . Liz, please be mindful to reliably follow Yuna-san’s directions . 」

「Yes, Director . 」

I opened the door, passed the walls, and then entered the henhouse .

The Cluckers were asleep when we entered the henhouse .

「The work for you guys is;

#1, let the birds go outside if it is sunny in the mornings .

#2, gather the eggs laid in the chicken coop .

#3, clean the chicken coop .

#4, give the birds food and water .

#5, return the birds back to the chicken coop .

Can you do this?」

I asked the children .

The children answered without any hesitation .

「In that case, please let the birds out . The eggs laid by the birds will be sold for money to allow you guys to buy food, so be gentle with them . 」

The children gave affirmative responses .

「Put the eggs in this container . 」

I made an egg case from earth magic .

The case had ten egg-shaped holes in it .

I made about a hundred, including spares .

The children brought the eggs back .

Ten holes were filled up .

Exactly one pack .

Was that a good enough performance for twenty of them?

There might be environmental changes to consider, too .

「Liz-san, are there any vegetable scraps that you were able to get yesterday?」

「Yes, there is . 」

「Is it alright if we use it to feed the birds?」

「About that…」

Even though they were vegetable scraps, it was still food that Liz acquired after bowing her head .

There was probably a sense of perplexity at feeding that to the birds .

「It’s all right, the birds will lay eggs . Everything will be okay if we can sell those . 」

「I understand . I’ll bring the scraps . 」

「I need to go back first . Once the cleaning is over, please tell the children to return the birds back to the chicken coop after a short time . 」

I headed to a certain place while carrying the eggs .