Chapter 242: The Bear Assists with Monster Slaying

Chapter 242:
The Bear Assists with Monster Slaying

 

AFTER BEING WOKEN UP by my bears’ paw-pat attack, I got up and headed out to the village. I came across three volkrows on the way, and handled things quickly—I didn’t want them to attack the kids or something.

If these monsters were getting inside the barrier, then I guess it really wasn’t doing its job. But what exactly did it mean that the barrier was weakening?

In games and manga, stuff like this went down in a few different ways: if the barrier was like fabric, the barrier getting weaker meant the stitches were coming loose and small monsters were slipping through the seams.

Another scenario was that a section of the barrier was weakening, letting monsters through. Not that knowing would help me one way or the other, but what can I say? I was a curious earthling who wanted to know how this fantasy-ish world worked!

When I got to the village, lost in thought, I found that something was going on—but what? I tried listening in on conversations. What I gathered from eavesdropping was that monsters had gotten in and were near the village. I’d slain some volkrows as I was coming into town, but this seemed like something else.

This wasn’t going to affect me, was it? That was another kinda fantasy trope—one where somebody arrives from out of town and all sorts of strange things start happening. Then, the blame for things gets pinned on them. I’d have a problem on my hands if they started thinking the monsters only started coming in when the bears arrived or that the barrier started weakening because there were bears in town.

As I tortured myself with those thoughts, the kids and adults greeted me like usual. Guess I’d been worried for nothing. While I walked around pondering over manga and novel tropes, I spotted Sanya and Labilata.

“Good morning, Sanya,” I said.

“Yuna, good morning!” she replied.

“Where are you headed?”

“Monsters have gotten in and they’re approaching the village. Those who can fight have been called to my grandfather’s house.”

“Is it okay if I come too?” I could help out with monster slaying. The people here would like that, and that’d be pretty handy

“I’m not sure we can ask a guest to assist us…” said Sanya.

Labilata shook his head. “I don’t mind.”

They seemed split.

“We should take Yuna’s help,” Labilata insisted.

“Really, Labilata?” Sanya looked surprised. “But what about the others?”

“I know you don’t want to ask a guest for help, but now is not the time to worry about that. If the head or anyone else says something about it, I’ll be the one to answer for it.”

“It seems you think quite highly of Yuna…”

“I do. We fought together yesterday. Oh, and we should make use of Yuna’s bears too! They can detect monsters.”

Sanya didn’t seem fully convinced. She looked between Labilata and me, contemplating things. “Well, Yuna,” Sanya said at last, “we’d appreciate the help.”

Of course, I had my response ready from the start. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Thank you, Yuna,” Sanya said.

After Sanya and Labilata accepted my assistance, we went together to Mumulute’s house. I had no problem helping out with slaying monsters like volkrows. It’d be a disaster if Lucca or any of the kids got attacked, after all.

We arrived at Mumulute’s house then headed to a room inside. There were several other elves visiting the head.

When Mumulute saw me, he turned to Sanya. “Why is our guest here?”

“I invited her,” said Labilata.

“Labilata?”

“I believe we should borrow Yuna’s talents. With her bears’ abilities, we’ll know when monsters are approaching the village.”

The surrounding elves were appalled at that. I could hear them murmuring: “That’s quite unnecessary…” and “Are forcing even a guest to help us out…?”

“This is a problem for the elves,” said Mumulute, “and the elves alone shall deal with it.”

“A fine sentiment, but could you live with those words once children fall victim to these beasts? This isn’t some childhood game. We aren’t talking about playground bruises or skinned knees. If the worst were to happen, those children would die.”

At that, Mumulute and the other elves fell silent.

“I understand what you are saying,” said Mumulute after a moment. “But…is she satisfied with this? We can’t offer you a large reward.”

“I don’t need a reward,” I told him. “Sanya’s done so much for me already. If I can help with anything at all, I’d like to.”

To be honest, I wanted tons of stuff—a tour of the sacred tree, a permanent bear house, and the secret to making those generational Elvish bracelets, just for starters. But for now, I had to tough it out. Also, it’d be better to ask after things were settled and I’d proven myself useful.

Look, there’s nothing unfair about it: it’s a negotiation tactic. If they said no, I wouldn’t press any further.

“I see,” said the head. “That will be of great help. After Labilata reported back to me yesterday, I had pondered over what aid your bears could be.” Wait? So they just wanted to borrow my bears and their detection ability and not me? Mumulute was their head, so the other elves followed his lead.

“With all of you now gathered, we shall now speak of these grim events in our village,” said Mumulute, and began to explain the situation. “A parasitic plant has infected the sacred tree, weakening the barrier. Therefore, monsters are entering through the barrier.”

“But there have never been so many monsters before,” one of the elves responded. “Not even outside the barrier!”

“We believe they are being drawn to the sacred tree. If the parasite fully overwhelms our tree, still more monsters will gather. Should this come to pass, the village will be in even greater danger.”

There was quite a commotion after Mumulute finished his explanation.

“Everyone will assist with slaying the parasite!” he shouted over the clamor, “as that is the source of our problems. To do so, we will first dismantle the barrier around the sacred tree. Prior to that, we shall eliminate the monsters that have entered the barrier around the forest.”

There were no dissenting opinions. While Mumulute spoke, I could hear the sound of running footsteps.

A young elf burst into the room. “W-we’re in trouble! A swarm of monsters are gathering near the forest barrier!!!” The crowd broke out into roars of shock and confusion.

“Sanya!” Mumulute shouted over the din. “Go check!”

Sanya nodded, rushed over to a window, and stretched out her left hand. A hawk-like bird appeared beside her bracelet and perched on her arm.

“I’m counting on you,” Sanya told the bird, and it flew off.

Whoa, what? Had she just summoned that bird from her bracelet?! Maybe it was a secret Elvish art I didn’t know about. “Sanya, what was that?”

“I suppose you could call it my summon, much like your bear summons.”

So, Sanya had a summon too—hers was a bird. That meant she’d kept it from me until now. I wanted to quiz her about it, but I resisted. This wasn’t the right time anyway. “Sanya, what’s the situation?”

“There are a considerable number of volkrows flying from Mt. Orval. There’s also a group of wolves prowling outside the barrier,” Sanya reported, all the while keeping her eyes closed. Wait—I knew this one from games and manga! I bet she was seeing through the eyes of her summon animal! Good thing she was a woman, I guess. Any dude with that power would’ve probably been accused of spying on the baths or something like that.

“Hm…so, they haven’t entered the barrier yet,” Mumulute observed.

“Correct. They are currently skulking around outside the perimeter,” said Sanya, still gazing through her bird’s eyes. That bird sure was convenient. It would’ve been nice to see the world through my bears’ eyes.

“Wait, hold on,” said Sanya. “There are tigerwolves around the wolves as well.”

“Are they? Wolves are already enough of a problem as it is.”

“What will we do, then?” Sanya asked.

“We’ll slay them, of course,” said Mumulute. “That was why we gathered. We’ll split into the usual groups. Sanya, map their locations.”

Someone spread open a map of the village and Sanya pointed out where the monsters were located. As Mumulute watched her, he gave out instructions.

“Sir!” One of the elves spoke up. “Are you sure we shouldn’t leave more people in the village?”

“Sanya and I will remain here along with two messengers, but there are more monsters than I anticipated. We must send more people to slay them quickly.”

“And Yuna is here, so we’ll be okay.”

“You really want to leave the village in the hands of one peculiar girl?” Another one of the elves seemed uneasy with that.

“It’s fine. Yuna can defeat volkrows. And if you’re so worried,” said Labilata, “then maybe you better not let a single one get near the village.”

None of the other elves had anything to say. Even though I’d only slain a couple of volkrows, Labilata seemed to have a lot of faith in me. Or maybe there was something else I’d done without realizing it that had inspired his confidence?

“Inform us if anything happens. Until then, you have your orders.”

The elves headed out to slay the monsters according to Mumulute’s orders. Mumulute and Sanya both stayed back along with two other elves—the messengers, probably. But what was I supposed to do? I hadn’t received any orders. Maybe I’d be patrolling the village?

“What about me?”

“Your bears are able to sense when monsters approach, is that right?” Mumulute asked.

“Yeah, but not as far as Sanya’s can.”

“In that case, Sanya will monitor the barrier line. Please let us know if monsters approach the village.”

I summoned Kumayuru and Kumakyu. “Guys, tell us if any monsters approach the village.”

“Cwoom!!!”

That seemed like enough reassurance.

 

Sanya kept her eyes closed, monitoring the surroundings. She updated Mumulute from time to time, and Mumulute then gave instructions to the elves remaining in the room.

“Seems to be going well,” Sanya observed.

“Once we finish slaying all the monsters, we will deal with the matter of the sacred tree,” said Mumulute. “Sanya, I am going to patrol the village. Inform me if you learn anything.”

“Understood.”

“I apologize, Miss, but would you accompany me? Let me know of any monsters that approach the village.”

“I can’t keep track of everything,” Sanya added, “so it would be a big help if you can check nearby the village Yuna.”

Well, it’d be difficult to monitor the entire barrier. Some monsters would probably get through without Sanya and Mumulute noticing, and if they did? It was my job to slay them.