Chapter 162

Chapter 162 – Bear-san Asks For Some Plushies

After leaving the castle and getting home via the Bear Gate, I had dinner and got ready for bed .

Since Swaying Bear had played with Princess Flora, and Hugging Bear had dealt with the queen, I thought of letting them recover in their Bear Gloves, but since they preferred being out, I summoned them before I went to sleep, like I always did .

Once out on my bed, they happily came up and rubbed against me .

「Thank you for today, Swaying Bear, Hugging Bear . Have a nice rest tonight . 」

I dove straight under the blankets after thanking them, and they both got on my sides and assumed their usual manju shapes .

I silently wished them goodnight and soon fell asleep .

I had no urgent matters the next day, so I spent the morning in bed . Even though I wasn’t as obsessive as the queen, I did like cuddling with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear . They kept napping next to me as I lazed around, and just like that, the morning went by .

I couldn’t really stay in bed for the entire day, so I switched back to the Black Bear and headed out to the tailor shop Sherry worked at .

I wasn’t sure if Princess Flora would want one, but just in case, I would have plushies of both Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear made . If she disliked it, I could just give it to the children at the orphanage or use it to decorate the shop . Heck, I could even put them in my room .

As I walked down the streets in my usual Bear outfit, I didn’t get any unpleasant glances like at the capital . Well, some people did still stare, but there wasn’t a lot of them, unlike at the capital, where most of the people threw all sorts of glances at me, from scornful looks to interested expressions, shocked responses, and more .

I had been to the tailor shop before, so I got there without a problem .

The shop sold stuff like clothing and handkerchiefs, so there were quite a few customers checking the wares . Most of the customers were local commoners, of course .

A lady in her thirties was running around the shop and helping the customers; it was Narl-san, Sherry’s employer .

Once she was done talking with other customers, she approached me .

「Oh, Yuna-chan, it’s been a while . Did you come here to buy some clothing?」

She knew that I didn’t wear any clothing other than my suit but beamed a business smile at me anyway .

「Want me to pick out some cute outfits for you?」

「While that would be nice, I came here for a different reason . Is Sherry here?」

「Sherry? She should be making clothing in the back, together with my husband . 」

「Are you guys busy?」

「Not really since we have no urgent jobs at the moment . I will go and fetch her for you, so please wait a moment . 」

Narl-san headed to the back of the shop and called out Sherry’s name . Soon, both of them trotted out from the back .

「Big Sis Yuna?!」

「Hi, Sherry . Sorry for bothering you during your working hours . 」

Sherry shook her head .

「No problem . So, why are you here? I heard that you were looking for me . 」

「Yeah, there’s something I want you to make for me . 」

「You want me to make something for you?」

「If you’re busy with work, don’t worry; it can wait . 」

「As I already told you earlier, we’re doing just fine, timewise . Sherry, you can take your break now, so why don’t you and Yuna-chan go to the back and talk about it there?」

Narl-san came up with a timely suggestion .

Since we got her permission, we headed to the back without arguing .

「So, what is it that you want made?」

Sherry asked while serving us both drinks and then sitting down .

「Thank you . 」

I first thanked her for the drink and took a sip .

「I want you to make a some plushies for me . 」

「Plushies?」

If I wasn’t wrong, things like dolls and plushies existed in this world .

I couldn’t say for sure, though, since I had never really looked too deeply into it . I had seen a child holding some sort of plushie from a distance while walking the streets before, but I couldn’t have really told what kind of animal that plushie had supposed to be, though . I had only seen the child hold onto it tightly .

「Yeah, I want you to make plushies of Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear . 」

「Plushies of Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear?」

「Can you?」

「Yes, I can make them, no problem . 」

I knew Sherry could make them .

「It would help if I could see what they look like before I start making their plushies, but I guess it’s too cramped to let them out here, right?」

Sherry said and looked around the room we were in .

It was by no means a big room; it had a table and a few chairs, plus some extra things all around, so there was no space to summon Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear in their regular sizes . It was a different story if I were to summon them in their cub forms .

「No, it will do . 」

I responded and summoned Swaying Bear in its cub form .

「Uwahhh!」

Sherry cried out when she saw Swaying Bear .

「Big Sis Yuna, what is this small Bear-san?!」

「It’s Swaying Bear . Since it’s a summoned beast, I can make it smaller . 」

I couldn’t make it bigger, though .

「It’s cute . 」

Sherry commented, grasping Swaying Bear with both her hands .

「I want you to make some plushies about this big, would that be okay?」

「Y-yes . It’s fine . Oh, please give me just a moment . 」

Sherry said and started to rummage through the drawer behind her . Once she found what she was looking for, she turned back to me .

「Big Sis Yuna, would it be okay if I measured it?」

Sherry said and, with a sharp movement, extended the measuring tape that was now in her hand .

「I have no problem with that . Swaying Bear, stay still okay?」

Swaying Bear cried out softly in response .

「Well then, Swaying Bear-chan, I’ll measure you now, okay?」

Sherry said and approached Swaying Bear .

「First, I’ll measure your arm . 」

She pressed the measure tape against Swaying Bear’s arm and noted it down .

「Now, I’ll measure your leg . Can I measure your sole as well?」

Swaying Bear sat down and lifted up his feet, so Sherry was able to measure it more easily .

「Ok, waist this time; make sure you don’t move . 」

Swaying Bear obediently stayed still and let her measure it .

「You okay with me checking your tail now?」

Swaying Bear turned around, its cute tail now facing Sherry, who didn’t waste time to measure it .

「And lastly, your head please?」

Swaying Bear nodded, and Sherry quicky measured its head multiple times, making sure to get all of the details she could .

I would have been scared to get measured like that . I actually feared getting all my sizes measured, or better, I feared knowing them . Well, I still had room and time for improvement, but that didn’t change the fact that measurement was a scary thing .

Heck, just the thought of it made me shiver .

「Big Sis Yuna, is something wrong?」

「N-nope, nothing . No need to worry about me . You got all the measurements?」

「Yes, I got everything I need . 」

She neatly recorded Swaying Bear’s measurements into her notebook .

If they had been mine, I would have torn it up and burned it to ashes .

「Oh right, is it okay if I make Hugging Bear-chan’s plushie using the same measurements?」

「Yep, that’s okay . 」

They should have the same measurements, right?

Well, even if there was any difference, it shouldn’t be significant .

「How long do you think it’ll take you to finish them?」

「Hmm, I do have my job I need to focus on . Maybe if I did it during the night…」

「Sherry, what are you talking about?」

A man in his early thirties suddenly barged in from the adjacent room .

「Temoka-san . 」

Temoka-san was the other owner of the tailor shop, and also took care of Shuri . He taught her how to make clothes and improve her embroidery .

「Yuna-chan, it’s been a while . 」

「Yeah, it’s been a while indeed . I’m borrowing Sherry for a bit . 」

「Oh, that’s fine . The shop isn’t that busy anyway . So, what seems to be the problem?」

He seemed to be a nice person .

「Big Sis Yuna asked me to make plushies of Swaying Bear-chan and Hugging Bear-chan for her . 」

「And by bear, you mean that?」

He said and nudged his head towards Swaying Bear, which was still sitting on top of the table .

「Yep, that’s Swaying Bear-chan . 」

Temoka-san then took some time to compare the measurements Sherry had written down in her notebook to Swaying Bear .

「Hmm, interesting . In this case, you can take a break from working here for a while . 」

「But…」

Sherry was perplexed by his sudden proposal .

Well, of course she would be surprised; she was just told to take a break from work .

「Like I said earlier, we aren’t a busy shop . Narl and I did just fine on our own before you started working here . Besides, I think this will be a good practice for you, so you should try making them . 」

「Thank you so much!」

「However, once you’re done, you have to come back here . There are still many things we have to teach you . 」

「Okay!」

Sherry replied happily .

From the looks of it, she was in good hands .

For some unknown reason, this couple didn’t have children of their own, so they doted on Sherry like she was their own daughter .

Headmistress had even talked to me about them maybe adopting her .

『Those two are both nice people . I think it’ll be fine as long as they treasure Sherry . 』

『I agree . 』

『Well, we will have to see if Sherry accepts them as her parents on her own, though . 』

That was what our conversation had been like . I wasn’t sure if my opinion had been of any help to her, though .

For now, we just waited to see how things went; if the adoption was sprung upon her suddenly, Sherry might reject it . Headmistress had probably just told them to get along with her and treat her as their daughter .

So, that was why I just watched how things unfolded while not saying anything .

After all, all I had done was argue with my parents, so the only advice I could give was based on my common sense .

「Also, feel free to use anything from the shop to make those plushies . 」

「Really?」

「Yeah, since making them will be practice for you . 」

Temoka-san said, gently patting Sherry’s head .

Wait, I couldn’t just let him lend me Sherry and also provide all the materials .

「I’ll pay for all the material costs and the labour fees, so don’t worry about making mistakes and take as much time as you need, okay?」

「Big Sis Yuna…」

I intended on paying for everything from the start, so it wasn’t a big deal anyway .

I guess the only issue was that I didn’t know how much commissioning plushies cost . Making them from scratch should be quite expensive, right?

「Just bill me all the materials used, including those of mistakes . 」

Hmm, what an admirable thing this was for me to say . Well, there was much to learn from mistakes when creating things .

Just like in the game, if one strategy against an enemy failed, then I would use a different one to ultimately win the fight .

She would be making bear plushies, which nobody had tried before, so there was no need for her to worry about the expenses that would build up from the mistakes .

「Temoka-san, please don’t get angry if Sherry makes a mistake and wastes the materials, okay?」

「I didn’t plan on scolding her to begin with, you know . 」

I felt reassured knowing I could leave Sherry in his hands .

「Then, Temoka-san, can I start working on it today?」

「If I said no while you’re making such an expression, I would probably be punished by the heavens . We have no urgent jobs, so feel free to start immediately . 」

「Thank you very much . 」

Sherry expressed her thanks for receiving permission .

In order to not get in Sherry’s way, I thanked Temoka-san and left the store .

I really looked forward to seeing the finished product .