Chapter 68: The Bear Bargains

Chapter 68:
The Bear Bargains

 

I WOKE UP A FEW HOURS past sunrise. I slept in a bit, but I didn’t need to rush back. I leisurely ate my breakfast and then went outside, where I saw a familiar face.

“Cliff?”

“I knew it. So this bear house is yours.”

“Why are you here?”

“That’s my line. I’m obviously headed to the royal capital.”

There were five people guarding Cliff. I remembered seeing them before at Cliff’s residence. They were all riding horses instead of using a carriage. Having Noa march over on a trip like that would have been difficult for her. Maybe that was why he left guarding her to me and sent her ahead.

“I came to get you,” I said, “but now I don’t need to, so I was about to head back to the capital.”

“You were coming to get me?”

“A horde of monsters appeared in this area. Since Noa was worried about you, I came to get you.”

“So when you say you no longer need to do that…what do you mean by that?”

“…”

If I answered that question, I felt like it’d end up becoming a pain, so I chose to remain silent.

“Yuna, answer my question,” Cliff asked for a response.

If it spread that I defeated ten thousand monsters on my own, it would undoubtably become a huge deal. If that happened, it was likely that my calm and peaceful life would crumble away. What was I supposed to do?

“Well, you defeated the black viper, so you probably could defeat a horde of monsters.”

It looked like Cliff already decided I was the slayer of the monster horde in his mind. I wondered what his face would have looked like if he knew how many monsters it was. If I didn’t deny that now, I’d be in trouble once he got to the capital. He’d find out how many it was once we got there.

I should’ve headed home instead of staying the night. I wished I could’ve told that to myself yesterday. But it wasn’t like I could return to the past, so I had to do something.

“Cliff, you’re pretty high up as an aristocrat, right? Even if you did something terrible, you would be able to cover up a thing or two, right?”

“What do you even think of me? It’s not like I’d be capable of doing something like that.”

“So you can’t?! But you’re an aristocrat, aren’t you?”

“I have no idea what you think aristocrats are like in that head of yours, but I do not do things like that.”

“…”

Well that was no use, then. I thought that an aristocrat would be able to hush up a crime or two.

“In other words, there’s something you want me to cover up?” he asked as if he didn’t want to know.

I gave a little nod to his question.

Cliff let out a small sigh.

“Lay it on me.”

I glanced over at Cliff’s guards. Cliff noticed and once again let out a small sigh.

“You guys take a break here. Yuna, may we go inside?”

It looked like he’d hear me out. I approved and led Cliff inside.

“I was surprised by the exterior, but the interior is also outrageous,” he let slip. “I want to ask more about this house, but let’s hear what you have to say right now.”

I took out some cold juice for Cliff and started talking about the monsters. I told him about how the horde appeared. I told him the adventurers and knights of the royal capital were on the move to defeat those monsters. I told him about how Noa looked like she was about to cry because she was worried about him heading to the capital, so I came to get him. I told him about how, on the way, I discovered the horde, so I defeated them by myself. I told him about the ten thousand monsters, the wyverns, and the wyrm. I told him I wanted all of it to go away.

All the while Cliff was listening to my story, he held his head and drummed his fingers on the table.

“Your story causes me great regret. However, I am also grateful. Thank you.” Cliff lowered his head. Whoa. Nobles lowering their heads to commoners was supposed to be rare, according to the novels and manga I’d read.

“I did it for Noa, so don’t worry about it.”

“I see. In that case, I must thank Noa. On that note, I suppose you want me to be discreet about you slaying the monsters.”

“I don’t want to draw attention.”

“Why is that? You’d be a hero. You’d have money and fame.”

“I’m not interested in that. I want to live an enjoyable, peaceful life. That’s why I want it to be like none of this ever happened.”

“So you say, but to slay ten thousand monsters, wyverns, and a giant wyrm… It’s unbelievable.”

“Wanna see them?”

“Let my subordinates investigate the forest first. Right now, I only have your words to go on.”

Cliff headed outside and ordered his subordinates to investigate the forest, returning only when they’d confirmed the existence of goblin corpses everywhere. I told them which general direction to go, and the guards headed out.

“Well then, show me these monsters you slayed.”

When Cliff’s subordinates disappeared from view, I took out all of the wyverns. Cliff’s face was transformed with shock. Then I took out the wyrm’s corpse, and his shock turned to outright terror.

And I wasn’t done yet. I moved on to producing orc corpses.

“That’s enough. You don’t need to take out any more.”

“But there are still wolves.”

“No, that’s more than enough. Put them away, please.”

Fair enough. I started stowing the monsters away once more. Now that I’d seen the wyrm again, it really was pretty gross. I didn’t like bugs. I hadn’t touched a bug since kindergarten, and I wasn’t happy to be starting again now!

 

I finished putting all of the monsters into bear storage and looked over at Cliff, who was holding his forehead.

“I wish I could believe this was a joke,” he said.

“So if we keep mum about this…” I prompted.

“Based on what you said, adventurers and knights of the royal capital are on their way here. There will absolutely be an uproar once they find all the monsters slain.”

“Hey, look, no one saw anything. If we zip our lips, no one will know it was me.”

“You know what, you…” Cliff looked exasperated.

Had I said something that weird? It wasn’t like concealing what I’d done would hurt anyone. The monsters were gone, and the threat had vanished with them.

“This at least needs to be reported to the guild master.” He sighed. “Let’s figure out the rest once we hear from the people I sent to check the woods.”

A short time later the guards returned from the forest. When Cliff listened to their report, he held his forehead for the umpteenth time that day. That wasn’t my fault though, all right?

 

After giving it a lot of thought, he seemed to decide to talk one on one with the guild master, whom he thought would be heading this way. I wondered if Sanya would keep things quiet for me, and what would happen afterward if she didn’t.

I ended up going to the royal capital with Cliff. Since I had to match the pace of the horses, it was slow going.

 

It took us half a day to intercept the guild master and her party, right when they were taking a break. I recalled Kumayuru to avoid surprising them, and rode behind Cliff when we approached. Of course, I still drew attention, thanks to my clothes.

“Oh, if it isn’t Yuna the runaway,” said Sanya.

Did they think I’d turned tail and run? Well, I was a memorable sight, so they had to have heard I’d left the city.

“Sanya. Has it truly been a year?”

“Cliff. Long time no see. Your wife has been very helpful.”

“Has she been doing well, then?”

“Why are you and Yuna traveling together?”

“Yuna is here at my daughter’s request. She asked Yuna to escort me.” That was the cover story we’d decided on.

“Even if that’s true, that doesn’t change the fact that she ran from the guild’s collective mission.”

“Don’t say that. Yuna came here for my sake. Surely protecting a noble takes the same importance as slaying monsters?”

“Very well, but she must participate in the monster slaying from here. We can’t afford to let an adventurer who can defeat tigerwolves and black vipers go back to the capital.”

“About that,” Cliff said hesitantly. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

We took Sanya and moved off to a different location. Cliff confirmed there were no people around before resuming his tale.

“About that situation—something troubling has occurred. Because of that, I wanted to seek your assistance as guild master.”

“What is it?” Sanya’s tone matched Cliff’s expression.

“Yuna slayed the ten thousand monsters, including the wyverns, by herself.”

“…What?” Sanya’s eyes were filled with surprise.

“Apparently, there was also a gigantic wyrm.”

“A…gigantic…wyrm?” she repeated.

“If you want proof, she has the corpse. I’ve seen it. It would cause an uproar if she took it out here, though, so I don’t suggest you ask her to.”

“Why? Why not just produce it?”

“We wanted to keep the fact that Yuna defeated them a secret. Despite how she dresses, she says she wants to live a quiet life.”

“Um, you’re joking, right?”

“About what? About killing the monsters? Or about how she wants a quiet life dressed like this?”

“Both, of course.”

“At any rate, we came to consult with you before going any further.”

“Yuna, please tell me everything you know.” Sanya looked at me with serious eyes.

I did exactly that.

“In other words, the forest is filled with masses of goblin corpses and orc heads?”

“I’m not sure how many there are, but I didn’t need them, so I left them there.”

“I had my subordinate check on the goblin corpses, so they are undoubtedly there.”

Sanya held her head just like Cliff had earlier. “I’m not sure whether to be delighted or annoyed. This really is troubling.”

“Why not be delighted?”

“Yuna, you’re sure about this? You’d be a hero—you’d get fame, glory, money, everything.”

“Don’t need it.” It wasn’t worth losing my freedom for.

“But that’s what any adventurer would want…” Sanya breathed out a sigh. “All right. Let’s think of this as a good thing. We defeated the monsters without anyone dying. The problem is who defeated them.”

“What are you going to do?”

“We’ll say an A-rank adventurer came and killed them. We’ll also say that they took all the raw materials except the goblins.”

“Who were you thinking would be that A-rank adventurer?”

“It can be anyone. It’ll be an unknown A-rank.”

“What about the wyrm?”

“We can just keep quiet about that.”

It was settled.

Sanya gathered all of the adventurers and began her explanation, “Everyone listen. I’ve gotten a report that the ten thousand monsters and wyverns have been slayed by an A-rank adventurer.”

“An A-rank adventurer?”

“Adventurers like that exist?”

“Guild master, who was that A-rank adventurer?”

“That is confidential. As you know, a large number of A-rank adventurers are free spirits.”

The entire crowd accepted that readily. Were A-rank adventurers really like that?

“According to the report, all that was left behind were the goblin corpses with their mana stones and the orcs’ heads. Because of that, we’ll split into two groups from here: one that will head back to the capital and another that will deal with the aftermath of the goblins.”

“Are the monsters really gone?”

“They are not. Why would I lie about that? Your reward will be the goblin mana stones. However, once the butchering is over, you’ll need to deal with the corpses. Those who choose to return to the capital will receive no rewards. You’re free to pick.”

Once Sanya was done explaining, most of the high-ranking adventurers ended up heading back, which checked out, since it was primarily the lower-ranking adventurers who could use the mana stones. Since Sanya needed to inform the king of events, she headed back too, instructing some guild staff members to oversee the goblin butchery on her behalf.

The plan to shift the credit to some nameless A-rank Samaritan had gone off without a hitch.

“Cliff, thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m the one who should be thanking you.”

“Well then, I’m going back ahead of you.”

“You’re not coming with us?”

“I can make it back in a few hours on my bears.”

“I see. That’s impressive.”

And so, I summoned Kumayuru and returned to the royal capital, leaving the carpet of monster corpses I’d made behind.