Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

Author’s note:

Reason that this chapter is late:

I wrote two times more than usual.

TL note:

Because of what is written just above, it also took me twice as much time to translate it… So sorry, but this one will count as two released chapters!!

I decided to leave all of the things regarding the Commerce Guild to Atora-san and began preparations for the bandit subjugation.

I said preparations, but it was just eating a meal.

「Missy, are you really going to exterminate those bandits?」

The muscled uncle said to me, looking worried.

He must have overheard my conversation with the Guild Master from earlier.

「That’s right. But before going, I will eat your delicious cuisine first, Deiga-san.」

「I am happy to hear that, but for someone like missy to do such a subjugation, it will be dangerous.」

「No problem. I am an adventurer, and you already saw my summoned beasts, didn’t you? I have those guys, so I will be done with this in no time.」

「I see. Then, when you come back, I will make you the best meal I can with the ingredients I can procure.」

「Then I have to hurry and defeat them rapidly, so I can eat it.」

When I left the city, I summoned Swaying Bear.

Now, let’s go subjugate some bandits!

I went to the place where the bandits were said to appear.

I followed the coastal road at a horse’s running speed.

The salty breeze felt really great.

If it was just a little warmer, I could go for a swim.

I was sure that Fina had never seen the sea, so it would be great if we all came here in the summer. Still, I hadn’t swam since my primary school lessons.

More importantly, did any of my acquaintances know how to swim?

Of all the people I knew in Crimonia, I didn’t think there were any.

Well, just playing on the sandy beach could be fun too. I decided to leave the future to the future, and concentrated on the bandit extermination.

I didn’t know when the bandits would appear, so I activated detection magic.

The map was not filled in around here, so I would be following a black road from here on.

Further down the road on the black map, I saw four signals.

The bandits?

An ambush?

Would they attack an opponent riding a bear, though?

Well, if they were bandits, I just had to capture them and ask them about the location of their base, and if they were not bandits, I would just ignore them.

As I followed the road while not really caring about who they were, a few human silhouettes came into my view.

I saw the forms of four people who seemed to be adventurers.

One man and three women, so looking at it from a man’s point of view, it was something to be envious of.

Was this party one of those that society called a harem party?

When they saw me, the adventurers drew their swords and raised their staves, preparing for a fight.

Was it possible that they would attack?

As I approached slowly, the man blocked the path.

「Could you get out of the way, please?」

I could pass them on the side, but I decided to ask them to move first.

The adventurers stared at us.

「Why is there a bear here?」

「It’s my bear.」

「Isn’t it dangerous?」

「As long as you don’t attack him suddenly, it is ok.」

「If you don’t have any intentions of attacking us first, we won’t attack you either.」

The man lowered his sword.

After seeing him do so, the other party members, lowered their weapons as well.

「Let me warn you first, there are bandits who come out a little further down the road, so it’s dangerous to go there.」

「I know. I am on my way to subjugate them after all.」

「Are you serious?」

From behind the man, a long haired woman who was holding a staff asked me, looking surprised.

She seemed to be a mage, looking at her clothes and weapon.

「They are not opponents who can be killed by a girl like you, you know.」

「Even though I look like this, I am an adventurer, and I have this child, so there is no problem.」

I patted Swaying Bear’s head.

「Still, you should abandon this subjugation. We searched for them for several days, but we didn’t manage to find them. It’s possible that they are already gone.」

「That would be fine by me as well. However, if they are still here, this child will find them, so I will try and search for them myself.」

I couldn’t really tell them that I had detection magic, so I didn’t talk about it.

「So, could you let me go through, please?」

「Can this bear really find the bandits?」

The female magician asked me.

「If you are right, and they are not here anymore, it won’t be possible, but if they are still around, he will be able to find them.」

After hearing those words, the woman started thinking about something.

「Could you let us tag along with you?」

「You guys?」

「Yes, if we went back without finding any clues, it won’t leave a good image of us, since we said that we would exterminate those bandits.」

「Tomeia?」

After hearing her say that so suddenly, the man called the woman’s name.

「But, am I not right? We couldn’t find the bandits by ourselves. However, if we are with this bear, it might be possible to find them. Isn’t it our time to help?」

「We don’t know if it can really find them, right? Don’t you remember how much time we spent searching for them?」

「This won’t take much time, right? It’s just to make us sure they are really gone.」

「Still…」

「What will the two of you do?」

Tomeia turned around and asked the remaining two members.

「Let’s see. We still have some food left, so I don’t really mind going along with this.」

The swordswoman answered.

「If sister Tomeia wants to go, I am okay with going as well.」

「The other two gave their approval, so what will you do, Blitz?」

「I concede. I will follow you. A man not going even if four girls are going, that’s something I can’t allow myself to do.」

He said, giving up.

「So, will you allow us to accompany you?」

「You would be a burden, so I refuse.」

「You say some harsh things. Despite how we look, we are rank C adventurers, so we won’t be a hindrance.」

「All of you are?」

「The man and I are rank C, but the two at the back are rank D. By the way, is it okay to ask for your rank?」

「It’s rank D, though.」

「Rank D, you say?」

「That means I am a higher rank than you, so I don’t think I will be a drag.」

It turned out to be a pain in the ass.

I really didn’t want other people to see me battle.

While thinking about what I should do, an idea came to my mind.

「If you deal with the aftermath, I am okay with it.」

「Deal with the aftermath?」

「I believe there should be some women who were captured, so it would be of great help if it’s not me, but adults like you who will help them.」

If there were women captured, they probably went through hell.

I had no ways to help those women, and no idea how to deal with the situation.

「Understood. We will take the responsibility for taking care of the women.」

After they gave their approval, we started to introduce ourselves.

The man was named Blitz, and he was supposedly the leader of the party, though it seemed that the one who was giving out directions was the female magician, Tomeia.

Then there was the other magician, Ran. She was younger than Tomea, and seemed to be in her early twenties.

The swordswoman, Gumoris, was around the same height as the swordsman. She had darkish skin and a somewhat large sword.

「Also, can I ask something?」

「Yes?」

「What are those clothes you’re wearing, Yuna-chan?」

I knew they would ask.

「I have the Divine Protection of the Bear.」

「Divine Protection of the Bear?」

「When I wear these clothes, I become stronger.」

That was the new excuse I had thought of.

It wasn’t like I was lying.

In fact, I really received this divine protection, even though I sometimes thought of it as a curse.

「Does such divine protection really exist?」

「The fact that this child listens to me is proof, isn’t it?」

I pointed at Swaying Bear, who I was riding on.

They were making strange faces, so I couldn’t really tell if they believed what I said.

This was my first time seeing something like the Divine Protection of the Bear as well, you know.

Manga, anime, novels, games, movies. I indulged myself in a lot of fantasy things, but I had never seen something like this before.

「Did you come to this city alone, Yuna-chan? Don’t you have any other party members?」

「It’s just me.」

「It’s great that you weren’t attacked by the bandits then.」

「That’s because I climbed the mountain range from Crimonia.」

「That mountain range?」

They looked at the mountain range that we could see from here.

We could see that there was a lot of white snow around the summit.

It gave off the same impression as Mount Fuji. I didn’t know high it was, but it was wide enough to stretch all the way towards us, since it was part of a mountain range.

(ED: Original for the last part was “because there were a lot of mountains stuck together”.)

「By the way, this one really is a calm child. What is his name?」

She asked, looking towards Swaying Bear.

「Swaying Bear.」

「Can I touch him?」

「Sure.」

After I gave her permission, she started petting Swaying Bear while walking.

「Can I do it too?」

The other magician, Ran, wanted to pet him as well, so I gave her permission too.

「So soft. What kind of fur is this? It feels like I am touching a high quality one!」

「Is it really okay?」

Blitz watched the two girls, worried.

「As long as you don’t harm me or this bear, there is no problem.」

The two female magicians were enjoying the sensation of the fur.

When we had advanced halfway towards the mountain, my detection magic found two people.

There were no other signals.

Were they guards?

It would be great if my detection magic had a wider range.

Still, it was really useful, so I shouldn’t be that greedy.

What should I do then?

It would be really troublesome if they ran away because we attacked sloppily, so I wanted to knock them out before they could do so.

It was also possible that they weren’t bandits.

Should I use magic and kill them, or catch them and then ask questions, or just take into account that they might not be bandits?

「Something happened?」

As I was having trouble with what to do, Tomeia called out to me.

「I found some people that seem to be lookouts, so I was thinking about what to do. Kill them, capture them, or take into account the fact that they might be civilians.」

「Where?」

「Don’t face that way, okay? They are on the right side, about halfway to the mountain.」

They all looked in that direction without moving their faces.

「I don’t see them.」

「Are they really there?」

「We will decide what to do after approaching a little more.」

We moved forward, pretending we didn’t notice them.

They weren’t moving, huh.

Did they notice us from the start?

We slowly reduced the distance between us.

If we entered the forest, maybe they wouldn’t see us?

「When we pass this tree, I will go and capture the hiding bandits, so could you all continue to walk past like normal?」

「Wait…」

「When you move forward for about hundred meters, you will arrive at the place I pointed out before.」

「Are you using us as decoys?」

「Not decoys. We all have our own roles. You guys don’t know the exact position of the thieves. I know it. Isn’t it enough? What would you do if I left it in your hands and you let them run away?」

「Can you capture them, Yuna-chan?」

「I have Swaying Bear, and if a human being who could outrun us exists, then I want to see that person.」

「Understood. A hundred meters is enough, right?」

「Fifty should be enough, but just in case.」

We approached the tree I had pointed out.

Just when we arrived under the tree, Swaying Bear, with me riding on him, started climbing between the trees.

Swaying Bear was ascending the mountain about as fast as he could run on a flat road.

Before the adventurers even reached the fifty meter mark, I had already arrived at where the detected people were.

「Who are you!?」

The people there started shouting.

I had no obligation to respond.

They tried to draw their swords, but they were too slow.

Swaying Bear slammed into their bodies, and both of them fell to the ground.

「The two of you are with the bandits, right?」

「What are you talking about?」

The man seemed to be playing dumb.

「Are you lying to me? Well, I just need one of you to hear what you have to say. Swaying Bear, you can eat the one who seems the most delicious.」

Swaying Bear opened his big mouth.

「Stop him! Stop him, please!」

「He could also eat the two of you bit by bit, would you prefer that?」

Swaying Bear, knowing that I was threatening them, played along.

He opened his big mouth and let his drool spill out.

「Should we start by eating your arms then? Your heads have to be the last part, after all.」

「I beg you. Please stop him!」

「 I will ask one last time then. You two are with the bandits who are attacking the residents of the city, aren’t you?」

「…Yes, we are.」

The man nodded, looking as if he had abandoned hope.

「Could you tell me where your base is then? Just pointing out the direction to go to is also okay.」

「If we talk, will you let us go?」

「You’re joking. If you talk, you just won’t be eaten by my bear. I will properly hand you over to the Adventurer’s Guild.」

The two of them thought for awhile, not saying anything.

「Okay, I will talk.」

Just after they told me where the base was, I saw Blitz and the others ascending the mountain.

They seemed to be having a hard time walking.

Especially the two sword users, who were carrying their heavy swords and equipment. They had it rough.

「Are you guys okay?」

「Yeah, no problem. So, what happened?」

「I was right, they were with the bandits. I also made them tell me where their base is, so I plan to go there now.」

「I see.」

「I feel bad about this, but can I ask for someone to stay here and keep an eye on the two of them?」

If they didn’t want to do it, I would just make a hole and imprison the bandits inside.

「I will stay.」

Gumoris said.

「Gumoris, are you sure?」

「I can’t move fast on the mountain, so I would just be a burden.」

Gumoris took a rope from her item bag and tied up the bandits.

「I will take them down the mountain. If you guys don’t come back in one day, I will take them to the city.」

「Okay, you should do so.」

Gumoris obediently abided by Tomeia’s instructions.

Who was the leader again?

When you saw this happening, you couldn’t really tell who it was.

I started moving towards the the base using the information I received from the bandits, and the other three walked behind me.

「I was kind of shocked to see that there really were lookouts.」

「I only found them thanks to this child, though.」

「I want one as well…」

Ran jealously looked at Swaying Bear.

I wouldn’t give him away though.

After walking for awhile, the detection magic sensed dozens of signals surprisingly close by.

「You are moving forward without any hesitation, but is that really okay?」

「If the bandits lied to you, it’s possible that we are going in the wrong direction, after all.」

「Don’t worry. This child already found them.」

「Really?」

「We are almost there, so do you need to take a break before moving forward?」

I was riding on Swaying Bear, so I didn’t need it.

「No need.」

「I’m okay as well.」

「I will do my best too.」

With their agreement, we decided to continue moving forward.

Swaying Bear flattened the plant life, and the three of them followed the path he created.

I looked at the automated map.

It seemed that the road we were walking on was not the official one.

We could approach the base without being seen.

「We are almost there, so don’t make any noise.」

I warned them just in case, since we were almost at the place with the dozens of signals.

The three of them nodded.

I saw a cavern that was surrounded by trees. Outside the cavern, I saw about 15 men who were drinking while being attended to by women, even though it was midday.

I was sure these women were the ones they captured.

There were some people inside the cavern as well.

「So the base was here, huh.」

「Shit, the captured girls are here as well!」

「What do we do?」

「I can handle them all.」

It was becoming troublesome, so I said that.

「What are you saying!?」

「I think it would be better to go back for now and ask for reinforcements.」

「That’s impossible.」

Were these numbers impossible for rank C adventures too?

「I’m going then, so wait here, okay?」

「Wait!」

I didn’t plan on quarrelling with them, so I charged ahead, riding on Swaying Bear.

「What is this?!」

「Bear!?」

「Kuma!?」

The men started shouting.

I jumped off Swaying Bear.

The moment I landed, I made a ten meter wide pitfall under the bandits who were far enough from the women.

If they were out of luck, they might die, but that was the last thing on my mind.

I would like them to thank me for the fact that they had a chance of not dying from it.

「Swaying Bear! If there is anyone who tries to flee, I am counting on you!」

I fired air bullets at the bandits near the women, and made them fly far away from them.

When they were far enough, I made them fall inside pitfalls as well.

「Yuna-chan! Behind you!」

As I was turning my head to look back, a fireball nearly hit me.

I protected myself with the White Bear Hand and the fireball disappeared.

I saw three magicians with staves in their hands.

I fired air bullets into their faces. Thanks to the hit correction, all of them hit their targets.

The magicians fell, unable to protect themselves.

Using pitfalls and air bullets, I defeated all of the bandits.

As I looked around, I noticed I was the only one still standing.

Not even a minute had passed since the fight broke out.

「Yuna-chan, are you hurt anywhere!?」

Tomeia rushed over to where I was.

「Not really.」

「You sure? I saw you getting hit by a magic attack though?」

「It’s nothing at only such a low level. More importantly, I am counting on you regarding the women.」

The women, not understanding what just happened, lost their strength on the spot.

When the party went to help them, more men came out of the cave.

The man standing in the middle had a completely different atmosphere compared to the others.

「What is this mess!?」

Seeing the surroundings, the man howled.

「Did you guys do this?」

The man did not look at me, but at Blitz and the others.

「You are Blitz, aren’t you?」

The man noticed Blitz and said his name.

Did they know each other?

「You, Borg…」

「So, you came all the way here for some bandit subjugation?」

「Why are you here, you bastard?」

「That’s obvious. It’s a job, just a job.」

「A job, you say?」

「Yeah, Attack all the people who travel down the road, rob the money, and take the women. A really simple job.」

I asked Tomeia, who was near me, a question.

「Who is he?」

「He’s an adventurer we met at the town we were previously at. He is strong, but he is also violent, selfish, and thinks all of the women in his party belong to him. That’s why no one wanted to party with him, and he disappeared from the town after that. I didn’t expect to see him here, and that he would become a bandit.」

「Oi, oi, I am no bandit. I am just doing my job as an adventurer. It’s an official job I received from the Commerce Guild’s Master.」

「Commerce Guild?」

I had a strange feeling that something really incredible had just been said, but…

「Is it really okay for you to say that to us?」

Blitz stood in front of the man.

「That doesn’t really matter, does it? You bastards will die, and your girls will become mine after all.」

「Bastard!」

「I wanted to fondle you for a long time now.」

The man looked at Tomeia with dirty eyes.

The moment Blitz tried to draw his sword, the man named Borg was blown away.

That was because I punched him, of course.

It wasn’t my fault he had a face that looked really easy to punch, and he was just standing there, not even defending, and more than that, I was really pissed off. That was enough of a reason for me.

Since I wanted to finish him, I chased him, got on top of him, and continued punching him.

I didn’t punch him too hard of course, to make sure that he wouldn’t lose consciousness.

「You bastard!」

Bear Punch, Bear Punch, Kuma Punch.

「Get off of me!」

He was reaching for me with his arms, but…

Kuma Punch, Kuma Punch, Kuma Punch.

「Stop it…」

There was no way I would stop.

Kuma Punch, Kuma Punch, Kuma Punch.

His face began to change.

The hand that tried to stop me lost strength and fell to the floor.

「Ah, that was really great. I feel so refreshed now.」

I got off of him.

When I looked around, Blitz, the remaining bandits who came out of the cave, and the women who were captured by the bandits were all looking at me.

「What happened?」

「Why are you even asking…」

「Did you also want to punch him? If you want to kill him, do it a bit later okay? He said something really interesting after all. I actually went easy on him, you know?」

「Went easy, you say…」

He said that the Guild Master of the Commerce Guild asked him to act as a bandit.

The adventurers who attacked me in the inn also told me that they were acting on his orders.

Was it possible that the Kraken also had something to do with this Guild Master?

「So, the bandits standing there, are you going to be captured nicely? Or do you want to be finished off like him?」

After hearing that, the bandits looked at Borg’s face. They shook their heads and threw down their weapons.

「Are any of your friends inside?」

「None. Just the captured women.」

The bandits responded obediently.

We went to save the girls who were captured inside the cave and took back the money that the bandits had stored there.

We also found horses and carriages, which we would use well.

We tied up all of the bandits, threw them on a carriage, and headed back towards the the city.

「We weren’t able to do anything, huh.」

「Yeah, and she defeated Borg so easily…」

Borg was conscious, but he was unable to move.

When he woke up, he was really noisy, so I made him do some bungee jumping without a cord.

I propelled him into the air using wind magic and let him eat dirt dozens of times.

I made an air cushion on the ground so that he wouldn’t die, of course.

Even when he lost consciousness, I would wake him up with water.

After doing it for a number of times;

「Please stop this! If you really have to do something, just kill me!」

He said something like that, but the ropeless bungee jumping continued, of course.

I wouldn’t do something like killing him just because he wanted to be freed from the pain. I would rather just crush any hope of escape.

In the end, he asked me to kill him so he could repent for his crimes, but that was not for me to decide.

That was for the women who were in the other carriage and the residents of the city to decide.

The carriages kept moving forward, and we joined up with Gumoris midway.

When we arrived at the city gate, the guards ran toward us.

「What is this, all of you?」

「We captured all of the bandits. We want to report this to the Adventurer’s Guild Master, is that okay?」

Blitz was talking as the representative.

「Is this true?」

They looked at the bandits who were on the carriage.

「I will make a report immediately!」

The guard ran off to the Adventurer’s Guild.

We helped the captured women out of the carriage.

They were all crying while hugging each other.

I could only imagine what had happened to them while they were captured by the bandits, but I didn’t find any words of comfort to share with them.

That wasn’t all. There should have been people who left the city with them.

Husbands, parents, and possibly children.

That’s why, I, who didn’t understand their pains, could only watch.

The captured girls thanked us over and over again.

It had been a long time since something made me remember that I was not in my world or the game one.

After some time passed, the Guild Master arrived.

「Yuna! You really subjugated them!?」

「These adventurers here helped me, after all.」

「You say that, but we didn’t do anything.」

「You tied up the bandits, took care of the women, and led the carriages, didn’t you?」

I couldn’t take care of the women and didn’t know how to lead a carriage.

I really had no idea what would have happened if I was there alone.

「And, the bandits you have captured, are they those bastards?」

Atora-san was looking at the bandits who were on the carriage.

「You guys are…」

「You know them?」

「Yes, they are adventurers from this city. They are the ones who went out as guards for the carriages and those who disappeared before I realized it. I thought that they fled because they feared the Kraken. I really didn’t think that they would turn out to be the bandits.」

The former adventurers couldn’t look at the Guild Master’s eyes and instead faced the ground.

「Also, we heard a really interesting story from the bandits.」

「Interesting story?」

I told her about the Commerce Guild’s Master.

「Hoo, that’s really an interesting story. I also found out a lot of things here while you were away.」

An angry smile crept onto Atora-san’s face.