Chapter 66: The Bear Tries Her Best for Noa

Chapter 66:
The Bear Tries Her Best for Noa

 

A FEW DAYS HAD FLOWN BY since we came to the royal capital. I received word that the bandit group had been exterminated, and the surviving the captives rescued. I was asked if they could give the bounty that I was supposed to receive to the victims and their families. Since the bandits’ bottomless bags were the only things I might have use for, I asked for those, and gave them permission to distribute the rest of the spoils.

 

Today I was taking Fina, Noa, and Misa out to enjoy some sightseeing around the capital. I drew the usual stares, but the girls were there, and we weren’t going anywhere dangerous. Still, when we passed the adventurers’ guild, I tried to give it a wider berth.

“Yuna, it looks like there’s something happening up ahead.”

Noa was watching a commotion at the guild’s doors. When I looked over, there were a ton of flustered-looking adventurers headed inside. Had something happened?

“I’m kind of curious, so I’m going to have a peek in the guild. What would you three like to do?”

“I’ll go too,” said Fina.

“Me too,” Noa and Misa said, talking over each other.

It wasn’t like I was going to accept a quest, so it was probably fine. If something happened, we could just count on Sanya. Inside, I was met with rambunctious, worried, and hesitant faces. There were all kinds of adventurers in there. In the middle of them, I could hear one yelling.

“What the heck is happening?”

“At present, the guild master is checking the results of the investigation. There will soon be an announcement from the guild, so please be patient.”

A guild employee was trying their hardest to deal with the crowd pressing in.

“Yuna, do you think something happened?” Fina asked.

“It looks like it.”

For the time being, I looked around, trying to find someone to explain what was happening. It wasn’t like Sanya would be around, and there weren’t any free staff members either.

“Yuna?”

I hunted for the familiar voice’s source and found Marina and her party.

“Marina, everything’s in a commotion. Did something happen?”

“You don’t know? Everyone’s saying a horde of monsters turned up near the capital and killed a few adventurers. The guild’s opened up an investigation, but it seems the news isn’t good.”

“What do we know about it right now?”

“It’s an army of goblins, wolves, and orcs, and there’s word of wyverns in the sky.”

“Are there usually any wyverns near here?”

“Of course not. It’s unheard of.”

As I caught up with Marina, Sanya came out from the back. The guild went into even more of a frenzy.

“I’m going to explain now, so quiet down,” Sanya said, and there was total silence in the guild hall.

“According to our reconnaissance, there are more than ten thousand goblins, wolves, and orcs in total. In addition, though we don’t have a definite count, we have confirmed the presence of wyverns.”

Another commotion ensued.

“We are conveying this information to the castle as we speak. The soldiers of the royal capital will do battle alongside us.”

“But why didn’t we notice this until now?” someone cried out.

“A report surfaced of orcs on the main road. There have also been increased reports of goblins and wolves.”

Maybe the orcs that attacked Gran and the others were part of this?

“Prepare for battle. Put your accepted quests on hold. I am making this a priority one quest.”

I wondered if that meant I had to participate, too. I couldn’t not participate.

“Marina,” I asked, “where are these monsters located?”

“In a forest we passed on our way here. Those orcs back then might have been among their number.”

It was pretty likely. I looked over at Noa, who had gone a bit pale. “Are you okay Noa?”

“My father…” she said.

“You don’t mean that Cliff is on his way to the capital now?” said Misa.

“He probably has an escort,” I said, “so unless they’re attacked, they should be fine.”

“Yeah…”

Noa still didn’t look good. It would probably be better to get away from this place.

“We’re heading out, you three.”

I led the nervous-looking Noa out of the adventurers’ guild. It had been a mistake to bring the girls along; I’d never imagined something like this would happen.

“Yuna, do you think my father will be okay?”

It was easy to say she didn’t need to worry, but it was pretty likely the road that Cliff was taking would have a group of ten thousand monsters on it. Repeating that he had an escort wouldn’t offer her much comfort. When I saw Noa’s anxious face, I made up my mind. I plopped my bear puppet down on her head with a pomf.

“I’m going to get Cliff.”

“Yuna?”

“So don’t worry, and wait at the house.”

“Yuna!” Fina said.

“Fina, please wait at Noa’s house until I get back. Misa, you take care of the two of them.”

“I will,” Misa declared.

“Yuna, you won’t die, right?” Fina asked.

“No way.”

I gave Fina’s head a gentle pat as I left.

I ran in my bear onesie through the middle of the royal capital, bearing down on the gate. I still had to stop and show my guild card. There were a lot of people going into the capital, but not a lot going out. When the gate guard saw what I looked like, he was surprised, but didn’t stop me. It looked like word of the advancing monsters hadn’t come down yet.

Once I was past the city limits, I summoned and mounted Kumayuru, then headed toward Crimonia to intercept Cliff. I couldn’t live with myself if I did nothing and he died, and I didn’t want to see Noa cry.

Kumayuru’s top speed easily outpaced the outbound horses on the road. Maybe when I got stronger, my bears did, too? They were definitely faster than they’d been when I first summoned them.