We came to the apothecary with the guidance of Lydia-san.
"This is the store." (Lydia)
Marne-san saw the sign and went inside the store.
"Welcome. What medicine do you need?" (Clerk)
A male store clerk called out to us as we entered the store.
"It's been a while, isn't it" (Marne)
"Ma, Marne-sensei!" (Clerk)
When the store clerk saw Marne-san, he was startled and stepped back, bumping into a shelf behind him.
"Why, Marne-sensei?" (Clerk)
It's Marne-sensei here too.
"Oh, I wonder if it's not okay for teachers to come and see their students? Maybe they have something to feel guilty about." (Marne)
Even though she was a girl, her pressure was strong.
"It is……" (Clerk)
"It is?" (Marne)
"...Nothing" (Clerk)
The man said this while looking away. That meant there's definitely something he felt guilty about.
"Then there's no problem with me coming to see you, right?" (Marne)
"……yes" (Clerk)
It's the kind of face you definitely don't want to meet.
"So why are you at the store?" (Clerk)
"There are two reasons why I came to your store. First, you know a man named Corbeau, right?" (Marne)
"……yes" (Clerk)
Oh, he honestly admitted it. It seemed like he couldn't lie to Marne-san.
"Are you a friend of this man?" (Marne)
The man's eyes wandered. It seemed he had something to feel guilty about after all.
"You're friends, right." (Marne)
"No. I can't resist. If I resisted, I wouldn't be able to get my hands on the medicinal herbs. Plus, bad rumors would spread about me and I wouldn't be able to make a living as an apothecary." (Clerk)
The man replied, trying to make an excuse.
"Then choose: follow me or follow him." (Marne)
"…………" (Clerk)
The man kept his mouth shut and said nothing.
"Silence, that means, you're my enemy, right?" (Marne)
To Marne-san, there was no option to choose neither. It seemed that if you don't choose, you're the enemy. People who are indecisive will quickly betray others if they find themselves in a disadvantageous position. Therefore, Marne-san's judgment was correct.
"N-no. I will follow Marne-sensei." (Clerk)
The man answered with his head hanging.
"That's a wise decision. But you know what will happen if you betray us, right?" (Marne)
She looked like a girl but she was scary. The man replied in a small voice, "Yes."
"Umm, so, the two in the back are..." (Clerk)
The man looked at me and Lydia-san.
"The girl dressed as a bear is my bodyguard. If you try anything to me, you will be eaten." (Marne)
"I won't eat." (Yuna)
"Your bear will eat, right?" (Marne)
I wouldn't want Kumayuru and Kumakyu to eat someone like this. After my introduction, Marne-san looked at Lydia-san.
"Don't you remember me? I asked you for medicine for my sister, but you refused." (Lydia)
"...that time." (Clerk)
It seemed like he remembered.
"Corbeau ordered me not to make any medicine for you, as you are my client." (Clerk)
"…………" (Lydia)
Lydia-san looked as if she was trying to endure it.
"As I said before, if I defy Corbeau-sama, I won't be able to get any medicinal herbs in this town." (Clerk)
"Does this Corbeau guy really have that much power?" (Yuna)
"He's the son of the lord of this town." (Clerk)
The man replied to my words.
"In other words, a noble. A noble is a pharmacist?" (Yuna)
"It's not that unusual. The eldest son inherits the family business, the second son is the reserve, and the third and fourth sons don't inherit the family business, so they end up with a trade. They become knights or help with the family business. That's why there are nobles who become pharmacists. Of course, there are also cases where they marry the daughter of a noble." (Marne)
It's true that only one person could inherit a family business. Even in royalty, only one person could become king. On the other hand, if a family only had daughters, like Noa's case, they would have to take a husband.
"He had the lord behind him. I couldn't go against him." (Clerk)
It was difficult for an ordinary person to defy a noble. So that's why he was struggling with whether to join Marne-san or the pharmacist Corbeau.
"I know, but you chose me. There's no doubt about that, right?" (Marne)
"……yes" (Clerk)
"Well then, there's another reason why I came to the store. I want to make a medicine, so please lend me a room." (Marne)
"Making medicine?" (Clerk)
"Don't ask again. The only answer is 'yes.'" (Marne)
"Y-Yes. This way." (Clerk)
Unable to argue with Marne-san's words, the man obediently led me to a room in the back of the shop.
"What a messy room. Have you tidied it up?" (Marne)
The room that seemed to be used for compounding medicinal herbs was littered with things. It reminds me of someone's room.
"I'm busy." (Clerk)
"No excuses needed" (Marne)
"……yes" (Clerk)
I wondered if I should point this out.
"Marne-san's room was also messy, right?" (Yuna)
"Yuna, that's not it. I've been busy, you know" (Marne)
That's the same excuse this guy has.
"Well, that's fine. Clean up quickly. And prepare the herbs I mentioned." (Marne)
The man did as he was told and started cleaning up the room.
"Well, I'll help too." (Lydia)
Lydia-san offered to help, so I also decided to help clean up. Lydia-san and I started cleaning up the room. But I couldn't tell the difference between weeds and medicinal herbs. Even if I thought it's trash—
"Oh, that's a precious Milmil leaf." (Marne)
Or something like that. Those just looked like weeds to me. Because of this, I didn't touch anything that looked like a medicinal herb, and just put away the books, tools, etc. Once Marne-san had secured enough space to concoct the potion, she took out some herbs from her item bag and had the man brought them over.
Marne-san simultaneously pulled out a vial.
"Is that vial the medicine that Est was taking?"
"Yes, there's something I just wanted to check." (Marne)
Marne-san told the man the names of the medicines and had him prepare them.
"That is valuable and expensive..." (Clerk)
"Stop making noise. If it's money, I'll pay you." (Marne)
The man felt relieved by those words.
"But it's a fair price." (Marne)
Still, he felt relieved that the cost of the medicine would be refunded. From then on, Marne-san mixed various herbs together as if she was cooking.
"As expected, Marne-sensei is amazing." (Clerk)
The man looked at the Marne-san concoction with shining eyes.
"It's just stirring it up, isn't it?" (Yuna)
"No. It's difficult to stir evenly, add the right amount of mana, and do it within the time limit. If you can't stir evenly, even if you add the correct amount, it won't be effective. The same goes for mana. Too little is no good. Too much is no good. You have to make decisions while stirring. If you don't add the correct amount within the time limit, it will affect the quality of the potion. Making potions is difficult." (Clerk)
After hearing my words, the man explained to me how difficult it was to compound medicine.
"It looks like you've properly memorized the basics of being a pharmacist." (Marne)
"Of course." (Clerk)
Marne-san's mouth was moving, but her hands didn't stop.
"Making medicine is hard work. It's not just about taking the herbs you collect." (Clerk)
"Still, it's not without its effects. However, by combining various herbs, the effect increases. Even food tastes better with many herbs rather than just one ingredient. Of course, adding too much isn't good, though." (Marne)
Even when cooking, the heat and cooking time are set. Too short or too long is no good.
"Lydia, bring out the thing we made together yesterday." (Marne)
"Okay" (Lydia)
Lydia-san brought out the liquid that the three of them made yesterday. Marne-san took the bottle of blue liquid and poured three tablespoons into it. And then stirred it up.
"This is good." (Marne)
A blue pill was produced.
"Is this my sister's medicine?" (Lydia)
"Yes." (Marne)
"Well then, if she takes this—" (Lydia)
"She'll get better." (Marne)
It looked like my healing magic was unnecessary. If Marne-san medicine could cure it, there's no need for it.
"Marne-san, thank you." (Lydia)
"Don't thank me too soon. I need to make another medicine." (Marne)
"One more?" (Lydia)
"Lydia promise me. You won't get angry when you hear me." (Marne)
Marne-san said with a serious expression.
"What do you mean?" (Lydia)
"I promise I'll crush them." (Marne)
Marne-san rose from her chair and took Lydia-san's hand.
"I don't know, but I'll keep my promise." (Lydia)
"Good girl." (Marne)
Marne-san let go of Lydia-san's hand and sits back in his chair.
"That child was poisoned." (Marne)
"Poison!?" (Lydia)
Come to think of it, at first, she put the medicine that Est was taking into some kind of liquid and examined it.
"I checked to see what ingredients were in it. It was poisonous, something that could have an adverse effect on the body." (Marne)
Lydia-san moved.
"Yuna, stop her." (Marne)
I grabbed Lydia-san's arm.
"Let me go." (Lydia)
"Lydia, you promised, right?" (Marne)
"But" (Lydia)
"Listen to the end." (Marne)
Lydia-san relaxed.
"Even though it's poisonous, it's not fatal. Those red bumps are caused by the medicine." (Marne)
"Medicine?" (Lydia)
"Lydia, think carefully. Wasn't it just a fever at first?" (Marne)
Lydia-san began to think for a moment.
"Maybe that was it." (Lydia)
"The illness is real, but the red spots are not. They were engineered. They were mixed into the fever-reducing medicine." (Marne)
"Why would they do that?" (Lydia)
"To get medical expenses paid for over the long term." (Marne)
"For something like that—" (Lydia)
"From what I've heard from Lydia and Zect, I think they were greedy for money." (Marne)
Indeed, it seemed that they were buying the medicinal herbs that Lydia-san and her siblings had collected at bargain prices.
"Lydia was being lied to." (Marne)
Lydia-san's hands tightened.
"It's something a pharmacist shouldn't do. I know it might be frustrating, but Lydia don't do anything." (Marne)
"But it was his fault that my sister was suffering." (Lydia)
"I'll crush them. I promise." (Marne)
"...Marne-san" (Lydia)
Lydia-san's arms relaxed.
"Just to confirm, did you know?" (Marne)
Marne-san looked at the man.
"I don't know. I just heard it would be a good way to make money. So, if she or her family come to the store, I tell them to turn them away." (Clerk)
I'd been feeling pissed for the first time in a while.
"Hey, Marne-san. Can I hit him?" (Yuna)
"No. If you hit him, he'll die, you know" (Marne)
"Is it okay to break an arm or a leg?" (Yuna)
"Anyway, no. This is my role." (Marne)
And Marne-san also created a medicine to treat the red bumps.
"Thank you for letting me use your room. I've made some medicine." (Marne)
"I'm honored to be used by Marne-sensei." (Clerk)
"Clean up your room." (Marne)
That's why Marne-san's_ room was dirty too. You can't say that about other people, right?
"Oh, and if you tell someone about today..." (Marne)
"I won't." (Clerk)
"You don't have to say anything. When that happens, I'll make you regret it so much that you'll wish you were dead." (Marne)
"I absolutely won't tell anyone! If there's anything I can do, please let me know." (Clerk)
"I'm glad that you're a sensible student." (Marne)
"Thank you" (Clerk)
The man bowed his head. Guild Master from the Commercial Guild was also at the mercy of Marne-san. Could it be that Marne-san was a scary teacher?
Author's Note
Sorry. I'm a day late. (I might be late next time too. I can't get it all together.)
Anyway, the medicine is finished.
Side story volume 3 is scheduled for release on December 20th
*Posting will occur every 4 days.
*If I take a break, I will post a comment, and if I am suddenly unable to post, I will notify you via activity reports or X (formerly Twitter). (I'm sorry if I can't do this.)
*"Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear" comic chapter 128 (11/13) is currently available on PASH UP (Niconico Manga chapter 123 is currently available)
*Episode 20 of the "Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear" spin-off is currently available on PASH UP (episode 17 is currently available on NicoNico Manga)
If you have time, please check out the comic version.
[Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear to be released]
Book volume 20.5 was released on May 2, 2024. (The next volume, volume 21, is planned and in the works.)
The 12th volume of the comic was released on August 3, 2024. (The release date for the next volume, 13, has not yet been decided.)
Comicalized spin-off volume 2 was released on March 5, 2024. (The next volume, volume 3, is scheduled for release on December 20th.)
The 11th volume of the paperback edition was released on October 4, 2024. (The deadline for the campaign to win a big acrylic stand featuring Yuna and Shuri on the cover is January 20, 2025. 20 lucky winners will receive a prize.) (The release date for the next volume, 12th volume, has not yet been decided.)
*Thank you to everyone who reports typos.
Some of the kanji have been corrected to match the book, so please understand that there are some parts that have not been corrected.