Chapter 12: The Bear Gets Involved at the Guild Again

Chapter 12:
The Bear Gets Involved
at the Guild Again

 

THE NEXT DAY, I headed to the guild early in the morning to pick up some quests, hoping for first pick of the good gigs. I was hoping something that involved slaying things, so I could get in some magic practice… preferably not slaying wolves, though.

While I was taking in the sights of the town on my stroll to the guild, I heard a voice from behind me.

“Yuna, good morning.”

“Good morning, Fina. Are you going to the guild today?”

“Yes, I am. Are you?”

“Well, I was thinking I’d get a little work in.”

“You were? Please be careful not to get hurt.”

“I hope you have work to do too, Fina.”

“Me too.”

Fina smiled as she reached out to take my hand (or rather my bear). I didn’t brush her off but gripped her hand back. The smile on her face grew even bigger.

I’d never had siblings, but I might have always wanted a little sister like this.

I talked to Fina as we walked, until we caught sight of the guild. “Well then,” she said, “I’m going to go ask.”

“Hope it goes well.”

I sent Fina off and hit up the guild. There was a crowd of people in front of the board. Maybe I was a little late. One of the assembled people noticed me, then two, then even more, but none of them said anything to me. But just as I thought that—

“Was it you? You the girl who beat up Deboranay?”

He was probably three or four years older than me.

“Deboranay? Who’s that?” I tilted my head. I didn’t recall the name.

“It had to be you. You’re wearing bear clothes, and you’ve got bear gloves on, and bear shoes on your feet. He said it was a girl in ridiculous clothes.”

It was true that if you searched the whole world, I was probably the only one you’d find wearing clothes like these. If there were others, I would have wanted to witness it myself.

“I don’t know who this Deboranay person is, but I think that girl in the bear outfit is probably me.”

“Thanks to you, Mr. Deboranay got hurt and can’t work.”

“Is he the guy who picked a fight with me?” That was the best guess I could manage.

“That’s right.”

Oh, I thought. I remember now.

Maybe it was the time to call on the guild master. He promised to handle it if anyone else tried giving me trouble.

“That goblin picked a fight with me; I just accepted. Then he got hurt. That’s all there is to it. I’m not to blame.”

“You calling Mr. Deboranay a goblin?!”

“He hasn’t got any manners, he bluffs that others are weaker than him, and you can’t get through to him with words. He can’t do anything without a bunch of lackies around him. He’s a goblin, no matter how you look at it.”

“Don’t screw with me!” This guy was noisy.

“As far as that incident goes,” I told him, “it all ended with him in the wrong, if I’m not mistaken.”

“There’s no way Mr. Deboranay would lose to a weird girl like you.”

A woman pushed her way between the guy and me. She was slender, blonde, and looked to be in her mid-twenties—a beauty. A giant man with muscles on par with the guild master trailed behind her.

“Lanz, please stop,” she said. “The guild master already explained. He said it wasn’t her fault.”

“But he can’t do quests because of her!”

“You know that doesn’t make it her fault.”

“Gil,” said Lanz to the giant man, “don’t you have anything to say?”

“Deboranay’s at fault,” said the giant.

“What? Even you’re siding with this weird girl?”

“If you listen to the story,” Gil went on, “Deboranay was in the wrong.”

“But she didn’t have to beat him up like that.”

I wondered if he was actually in that bad a condition. I did mess up his face.

“Can’t do anything about it when Deboranay’s the one at fault,” said Gil.

“That’s right,” said the woman. “He was really close to being stripped of his guild card.”

“That’s her fault too, isn’t it?”

“Uhh,” I chimed in, “if you three are going to talk amongst yourselves, can I go?”

“Oh, sorry,” said the woman. “Lanz is mad because we can’t do quests either, since Deboranay got injured.”

“It’s not like that’s my fault.”

“I know that,” said the woman.

“Can’t you just do the quests you can until Deboranay heals?”

“We already accepted it,” said Lanz.

“If we refuse to do it, then it’ll get logged as a failure.”

The failure would be recorded on their guild cards. I could see why they didn’t want that, but I still didn’t need them taking it out on me. “What if you give up the quest?”

“Then we won’t be able rank up as fast,” said Gil.

“It would figure that the first time I hear Yuna’s catching flak from her guildmates, it has to involve you three.” The block of muscles known as the guild master had arrived. Someone from the front desk must have called him.

“Guild master!” the three cried out at once.

“I told you that Yuna wasn’t in the wrong with that whole thing with Deboranay, didn’t I? You reap what you sow. Deboranay picked a fight with her and lost. You should have kept an eye on Deboranay and not left him on his own. You all knew he’s quick to a fight.”

“That’s true,” said Lanz, “but…”

“In that case, I know just how to fix this.”

“What? Will you give us a pass even if we surrender the quest?”

“I can’t do that. I can’t pretend a quest didn’t exist after you already accepted it.”

“Well what’s your great solution, then?”

“Just take Yuna here with you. We know for sure she’s stronger than Deboranay.”

The meathead was proposing something ridiculous. “No way,” I said. “Why would I take on a nonsensical quest like that?”

“Because that’d be the easiest way to get everything squared away.”

“Uh, Yuna, was it? Would you just hear us out?” the woman said. I noticed now that she was kitted out like a sorceress.

What was I supposed to do? As someone who didn’t have much experience with being in a party even in WFO, I wasn’t enthused by the prospect. I wasn’t a total loner, but the amount of time I’d spent in a party was pretty meagre. Still, I couldn’t think of any way to turn down the sorceress when she was looking at me like that.

Deboranay’s party and I reconvened in a separate room. The guild master, incidentally, had run off. Wasn’t that goon supposed to protect me from nuisances like this?

“Well then, we’ll introduce ourselves first. I’m Rulina. The one who was yelling at you is Lanz, and the silent one is Gil.”

“I’m Yuna.”

“Let’s start talking. The quest we accepted was goblin slaying.”

Goblin slaying? I thought. Goblins were humanoids with the brainpower of your average gnat. Isn’t that for scrubs? How weak are these people if they need a party?

“These aren’t just normal goblins. We need to slay a horde of at least fifty. That’s difficult without our front-liner.”

Fifty goblins. Slaying the wolf pack had been easy, and WFO’s goblins and wolves had been about the same level, so they probably were in this world, too.

“Between a group of wolves and a group of goblins, which is easier?”

“When it comes to quest rank, they’re the same. Which is easier in actual practice depends on the composition of your party. I think goblins would be easier for us.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because wolves move faster. They’re a tough enemy with a support sorceress like me. With goblins, you can just plow through them in close combat.”

Goblins, huh, I thought. I’d have to fight humanoids someday anyway. In WFO, that hadn’t been an issue, but in real life, it was uncomfortable to think about.

“It’s all your fault. Help us!”

“Lanz, keep quiet!”

I didn’t mind helping them, but I didn’t want to do it in Deboranay’s place. This Lanz guy had a bad attitude, and Gil was just looking at me silently. The only decent one was Rulina.

My honest hermit’s opinion was that working with them would be a pain. I didn’t want to help. Still, I really had injured Deboranay—but then again, it wasn’t my fault.

This was a dilemma.

“Uhhh. Can I set some conditions?”

“If it’s something we can do, then sure.”

“So, you want a share of the retainer, you slimy girl,” said Lanz.

I ignored him.

“Leave the quest entirely to me. You can take credit for its success. I’ll also give you all the money. In return, I want you to make sure that Deboranay never involves himself with me again.”

“Yuna,” said Rulina, “you’re saying we’re supposed to leave it all to you…?”

“Are you telling us to stand around silently and watch?” said Lanz.

“What?” I said. “Why not? The achievement will be yours, and you’ll get the reward for success, too. There aren’t any downsides for you.”

“If you fail, it’ll end up being treated as our failure. It’s not like we’d accept that condition.”

“We can’t have somebody else do the quest and take credit for it. That would be shameful!”

“In that case, how about I just get help from Rulina?”

“Why only Rulina?”

“That’s obvious. She’s the one with the most decency and common sense among you, she’s the easiest to talk to, and she’s the only woman. But the number one reason is because I don’t want to work with you.”

“Why, you!!”

“Lanz, please stop.” Rulina quieted him. “Yuna, can you really beat the whole goblin horde alone?”

“I probably can. The wolf pack was easy to beat. If I had someone helping, it’d probably get in the way of my magic.”

“You can use magic? I heard you beat Deboranay with your bare hands.”

“I didn’t use magic then.” Because I hadn’t learned any at the time. “You shouldn’t need magic with a weak opponent. You wouldn’t use magic to kill a small bug, would you, Rulina?”

“…”

Lanz and Rulina’s mouths gaped in an unsightly way.

“Can you really do it?”

“It’s just fifty Deboranays, right?”

“They’re goblins!” said Lanz. Next to him, Rulina, who had been deep in thought, spoke up.

“Okay. I’ll go with you.”

“Rulina?”

“Are you fine with that, Gil?”

“Fine by me.”

“In that case, Yuna, we’re counting on you.”

“So, when are we heading out?”

“If you’re okay with it, Yuna, we can go right now.”

“Sure, but I haven’t prepared or anything.”

“That’s fine. Actually, we were planning on going first thing this morning, so we’ve finished preparing four people’s worth of day rations and the things we need for the quest.”

I ignored Lanz’s silent glare. Gil didn’t even open his mouth.