Chapter 68

Chapter 68 – Bear-san Negotiates

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 .