Kuma – Chapter 68

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Bear-san Negotiates

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Author’s note: Happy New Year!
I hope for your support this year too.

When I woke up, it was a few hours after sunrise.
I had overslept a little, but I didn’t have to rush back.
I took my time with breakfast, and when I went out, I saw a familiar face…

「Cliff?」

「I knew it. This Bear House is Yuna’s.」

「Why are you here?」

「That’s my line. I’m going to the capital, of course.」

When I looked around, there were six of Cliff’s guards.
They were the guards I had seen at his place.
They were all on horses, not using a carriage.
This sort of forced march journey was impossible for Noa, I thought. That was probably why he entrusted her to me.

「I came to pick you up, Cliff. But, now that it’s no longer necessary, I’m going back to the capital.」

「Pick me up?」

「There was a horde of monsters around here, and it made Noa worried.」

「But, if it’s no longer necessary, that means you killed them all, right?」

「……」

I couldn’t really obediently nod here.
If this sort of thing got out, there was no doubt that it would become a real pain.
There was a possibility that my peaceful life would crumble.
After all, I killed more than 10,000 monsters, and I even killed a Worm.
Yeah, what to do?

「Well, for you, who killed a Black Viper, a monster horde is no problem, right? In reality, you already subjugated a horde of goblins, and you even got the Goblin King’s sword.」

It seemed that to Cliff, the one who killed all the monsters was me.
If I told him how many monsters there were, what kind of face would he make?
However, if I didn’t deny it now, it would become problematic when we arrived at the capital.
Maybe it would have been better if I had left earlier.
I wanted to say that to the past me.
Though saying that now was just useless.

「Cliff, can I use the debt you owe me now?」

「What’s with that serious expression? It’s a fact that I owe you a debt, but I can’t agree to your demand before hearing what you want. First let’s talk about it, after that I will see.」

「Then is it okay to talk inside the house?」

I said after looking at the guards.

「Understood. You all, you can take a break here.」

Cliff gave an order to his guards and entered the Bear House.
After entering the Bear House, I had Cliff seated and started explaining.
The fact that in this forest there were 10,000 goblins and wolves, 500 orcs, and 50 wyverns, and the fact that the capital was preparing to deal with it.
That Noa was on the brink of tears because Cliff was travelling towards the capital.
Which made me come here to escort him.
But before I could find him, I discovered the horde.
And that I exterminated them all.
Finally, the fact that I killed a giant Worm, which wasn’t in the Guild’s report.

「Right now, I really am regretting the fact that I heard all that, but I’m also really thankful. You have my gratitude.」

Cliff lowered his head slightly.
In novels or manga, a noble lowering his head to a commoner was a rare thing.

「It was for Noa’s sake, so don’t worry about it. If you weren’t her father, I would have abandoned you after all.」

「I see, I will have to thank Noa, too. Your request is for me to keep silent about you subjugating them, right?」

「I don’t want to stand out after all.」

「Why? You could become a hero. You could have wealth and honor.」

「Not interested, and it would be too much of a bother if I was summoned. I just want to live happily and peacefully. That’s why I want to end this case peacefully.」

「But 10,000 monsters, 500 Orcs, Wyverns and a giant Worm, huh? I can’t believe it.」

「Then do you want to see them?」

「Yes, for now I will have my soldiers investigate the forest. I only have your words, after all.」

Cliff exited the house and ordered his soldiers to investigate the forest. The soldiers, tilting their heads in confusion, obeyed Cliff’s orders and left to search the forest.

「With that, nobody will see, right?」

Taking my feelings into consideration, he had all his soldiers go away.
The moment I could no longer see his subordinates, I took out all of the wyverns.
I took out the corpse of the Worm, too.
Now that I looked at it again, it was grotesque.
I hate every type of creepy-crawly.
I, the hikikomori, hadn’t touched a bug since kindergarden.
For someone like me, it was impossible to like them.
Cliff also looked at the Worm like he couldn’t believe its size.

「Should I take out the orcs as well?」

「No, it’s okay. Put them away.」

Cliff held his head again and thought.

「I wish it was a joke.」

「It would be preferable if you didn’t talk about what happened.」

「From your story, the adventurers and soldiers from the capital are coming here, right? It will surely be a problem if they don’t know who killed them, you know!」

「Nobody saw the worm, and if you don’t talk, they won’t know it was me.」

「You…」

He had a stunned expression.

「For now, you have to at least report this to the guild master, or it won’t be settled. After that, the guild master will handle the situation and stop the march of the Adventurers and Soldiers.」

The result was that we would have to discuss it with the guild master.
After that, the die was cast.
Cliff and I decided to go to the capital while we waited for the inspection of the forest to finish.
I had to adjust my speed to that of a horse, so my speed was slower than when I came.
Two days later, we could see the party of adventurers.
Thanks to good timing, they were taking a break.
So that I would not surprise the adventurers, I recalled Swaying Bear, hopped on Cliff’s horse and joined the adventurers.

「Ara, isn’t it the runaway Yuna-chan?」

When we found the guild master, she said this.
It seemed that I was labeled as a runaway.
Well, I was in the guild with my Bear costume.
Lots of people had to have seen me, and just after that, I had left the capital, so it was normal to think I had run away.

「And this person is…?」

「It’s been a while Sanya, about a year?」

「…Cliff, long time no see. I’ve been in the care of your wife.」

「I see, she is doing well too, huh.」

「So, why are you here with Yuna-chan?」

「Ah, it was my daughter’s request, she asked her to be my escort.」

「Still, that doesn’t change the fact that she ran away from the mission this time. All other quests are on hold after all.」

「However, that only applies once the guards at the gate have been informed. She left before that.」

「That’s…」

「Your messenger was too slow. That’s why Yuna doesn’t have to be punished.」

「Understood, but from here on out, I will have Yuna-chan participate in this monster hunt. We cannot afford to let the girl that can defeat Tiger Wolves and Black Vipers alone go back to the capital like this.」

「About that, can we talk a little?」

「What is this, so suddenly?」

Cliff confirmed that there was nobody around him.

「It’s about the case. Something troublesome happened, that’s why we need your power as the guild master.」

「What?」

「Including the wyverns, Yuna defeated the 10,000 monsters alone.」

「……Huh?」

「And there’s more, there was a giant Worm.」

「…A giant Worm?」

「Yeah, she showed me the corpses. I didn’t personally go into the forest to see the proof, but I think it’s okay to believe her. She doesn’t have any reason to lie, after all.」

「Fame, wealth.」

「Yuna said that she doesn’t want it. On the contrary, she wants us to stay quiet about her defeating the monsters. She has the peculiarity of wearing this sort of clothing, and she herself said she wants to live peacefully.」

「Hum, is this a joke?」

「What is? The fact that she exterminated the monsters, or the fact that she wants to live peacefully with this sort of clothing?」

「Both.」

「Both are true it seems.」

It seems that these two were saying anything they wanted while I was calmly listening!

「That’s why we came to speak with you.」

「…Yuna-chan, explain it all in detail.」

Sanya-san turned in my direction.
I explained what happened in the forest.

「In other words, in the forest there are 5000 goblin corpses and 500 orc heads, right?」

「I didn’t count them all, though. I just assumed the number was the same as the amount stated in the report you gave in the guild.」

「I don’t know the number, but my soldiers confirmed a great amount of goblin corpses in the forest.」

Sanya held her head.

「Is it okay to be glad? Or should I be troubled? I can’t decide.」

「You should be glad.」

「Yuna-chan, is it really okay? You could be a hero, obtain fame, honor, and wealth, you know.」

「Don’t need it.」

See, if I were to lose my freedom in exchange, I didn’t want it.

「Understood. Let’s think optimistically. The extermination was completed without anyone dying. The problem is, who did it, right? Let’s prepare a script, so that we’re all on the same page.」

「What do we do?」

「An A-rank adventurer party came and hunted them down. After that, they took all the materials with the exception of the goblins before departing.」

「And who will you choose from the A-ranks?」

「Anybody is fine. It just has to be an unknown A-rank.」

「What do we do with the Worm?」

「You just have to not talk about it.」

The story was made.
Sanya-san assembled all of the adventurers and explained the situation.

「All of you, listen! All of the 10,000 monsters and the wyverns have been killed by an A-rank adventurer!」

「An A-rank adventurer?」

「That’s right. All that remains are the corpses of the goblins with their magic stones and the heads of the orcs. That’s why, I will have you separate into two groups. One group will return to the capital and the other will clean up the goblins.」

「Are there really no more monsters?」

「None, why would I lie? The remunerations are the goblins’ magic stones. However, after you finish extracting the stone, get rid of the corpse. Those who go back won’t be remunerated. Feel free to decide what you will do. 」

After Sanya’s explanation, almost all the adventurers with a level higher than D decided to go back.
The lower ranks, coveting the 5000 goblin stones, decided to continue forward.
The guild master Sanya decided to go with the dismantling force to see the actual site.

「Cliff, thank you.」

「Don’t worry about it. It should be me thanking you.」

「Then I will go back first.」

「You don’t want to go back together?」

「With my bear, I can arrive in a few hours after all.」

「I see, that’s amazing.」

I summoned Swaying Bear and headed to the capital.

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