Bear-san working together with Swaying Bear.
The first Tiger Wolf kill took a little bit of time, so I had to get to the second Tiger Wolf quickly.
I used my detection skills to locate the other Tiger Wolves.
âYeah?â
There was a Tiger Wolf and Swaying Bear in the same spot.
Maybe they were fighting?
When I checked the Hugging Bearâs response, she seemed to be fighting the Wolves, and the Wolvesâ signals near Hugging Bear were fading away.
I concluded that Hugging Bear was OK, so I headed for Swaying Bear.
When I ran to the Swaying Bear, I found the Swaying Bear and the Tiger Wolf fighting.
Tiger Wolf attacked Swaying Bear. But Swaying Bear kept the Tiger Wolf away from him by cleaving the front paw.
âKuh~n.â
Just as Tiger Wolf moved away, Swaying Bear gathered magic power in his claws and swung his arm; it transformed into a blade of wind from Swaying Bearâs claws and attacked Tiger Wolf; the Tiger Wolf evaded by crouching and distanced itself further away.
The Swaying Bearâs attack felt strange, even though he could have easily taken down a Tiger Wolf. It was as if Swaying Bear was holding back and stalling for time.
Swaying Bear looked at me.
Could it be�
âSwaying Bear!â
âKuh~n!â
I shout, and Swaying Bear sprints towards the Tiger Wolf, and the Tiger Wolf also charged at him. The distance between them closed, and they collided, Tiger Wolfâs claws and Swaying Bearâs claws striking each other.
The attacks seemed synchronised, but Swaying Bearâs arm was swept out too quickly, and Tiger Wolf was blown away.
Swaying Bear then runs straight at it and places his leg on the body of the Tiger Wolf, which fell after being blown away, to stop it from moving.
âKuh~n!â
Swaying Bear cries to me.
I understand Swaying Bearâs thoughts and create water magic, shooting water at Tiger Wolfâs face.
Tiger Wolf flailed about, but Swaying Bear held it down and prevented it from moving, causing it to drown.
The Swaying Bear could have defeated the Tiger Wolf, but he didnât. It was probably to accomplish my goals (to capture/kill those wolves as intact as possible).
On the way to the village, I told Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear that Sanya-san wanted me to defeat Tiger Wolves and ensure the carcasses were as pristine as possible.
So it seems that Swaying Bear was waiting for me to defeat Tiger Wolf without damaging it.
âSwaying Bear, thank you.â
âKuun.â
Looking at his happy face, it seemed I wasnât wrong.
âBut Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear are more important than keeping my promise to Sanya-san, so you donât have to do anything dangerous.â
Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear were much more important than keeping my promise to Sanya-san.
If they didnât knock them down when they could, if they made the slightest mistake and got hurt, or even the other way around, I wouldnât be able to stop worrying about them.
âKuun!â
Swaying Bear cried sadly.
It wasnât that I was angry.
âThank you, though.â
âKuun.â
I thanked him and patted his head; this time, he looked happy.
âWell then, letâs take down the rest of the wolves in the village.â
âKuun.â
Hugging Bear did a good job, and the number of Wolves had reduced considerably.
Perhaps the two of them had discussed and divided their roles.
When Swaying Bear and I joined in the wolf hunt, we quickly finished eliminating the wolves in the village.
âSwaying Bear, Hugging Bear, thank you.â
I pat them both on the head.
âKuun.â
After collecting the wolves and the Tiger Wolvesâ carcasses after the hunt, I headed to the house of the first man I met.
âItâs all right now. Iâve defeated all the monsters in the village.â
I said to the house, and the door slowly opened.
âAre you sure?â
They asked through the doorway.
âYes, Iâm sure. Iâd like you to confirm it and sign the certificate of subjugation.
The man opened the door uneasily and stepped out of the house.
âAre you sure you killed that many wolves?â
âYou can see for yourself, canât you?â
No matter how much I told him I had defeated them, it would be meaningless if he didnât believe me. If that were the case, it would be quicker for them to see the monsters I had defeated.
When the man left the house and saw the mound of vanquished monsters, the man went to the village chiefâs home and other houses and told them it was safe.
The village chief and other villagers then confirmed that the monsters were defeated.
âThank you so much.â
The village chief thanked me.
At first, he looked doubtful when he saw my outfit, but many people in the village had seen the fight between me, Swaying Bear, and Hugging Bear.
They heard a noise and looked out their windows. Because of their words, even those who seemed sceptical about me believed me.
Many of them seemed to think that it was the work of Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, rather than me.
They were right since Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear defeated most monsters.
âThere are no other monsters in the area, right?â
âYes, all weâve seen are two Tiger Wolves and a pack of Wolves.â
Then, the request was completed.
I was glad we could defeat them before they caused too much permanent damage to the village.
And, as promised, the Tiger Wolves and Wolves that were killed were given to me.
Thanks to Swaying Bear, I beat the Tiger Wolves cleanly, meaning I had to take them back home (so that they could be used for the competition).
âWell then, Iâm going back.â
âAre you leaving already? I havenât even thanked you enough yet.â
The village chief tried to keep me from leaving, but further hospitality was unnecessary.
The children in the village looked disappointed at my words.
While I was talking to the village chief, they were admiring Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.
I would like to say something. Fathers and mothers, you should not let your children near bears. They may be dangerous.
âItâs my job, so donât worry about thanking me.â
I asked the kids to step away from the Swaying Bear and the Hugging Bear and was about to get on the Swaying Bear when someone came running toward us from outside the village and came right in front of us.
They had been running for a long time, sweaty and out of breath.
âUwah, a Bear!â
The sweaty man was surprised to see Swaying Bear and me.
No, he probably noticed us before he got too close.
But he was out of breath and wobbly, so maybe he wasnât looking ahead properly.
âYou are, Jimmy from the nearby village. Whatâs up? Why are you in such a hurry?â
âAh, village chiefâ¦â
The man called Jimmy looked at Swaying Bear, Hugging Bear, and me.
âIâm sure these bears are safe.â
Does that include me?
âAre you sure they are safe?â
âYes, they were the benefactors of the village. Whatâs the matter? Whatâs going on?â
âThe village was attacked by monsters.â
More monsters?
How many were there?
The man said he was from a nearby village.
The village was attacked by a monster called Giant Spider.
The name sounds horrifying.
A spider, huh?
I was born and raised in the city, and I disliked insects.
I was especially bad with insects that have lots of legs.
Spiders, next to cockroaches, rank high on my list of insects that I disliked.
The man was telling us about his village.
He said that while working in the village, Giant Spiders appeared. At first, he said, everyone in the village tried to defeat them, but not just one, but several appeared, and the villagers became confused when more Giant Spiders appeared.
Amidst all this, he said, the village chief asked him to go to the next village to ask for help, and he ran to this village.
The man later added, claiming that giant spiders attacked him on his way to this village, but two adventurers saved him.
âIf those two people hadnât saved me, I would have been killed by the spiders.â
âWho were the adventurers?â
âI donât know. They were just passing through. I explained to him what was happening in the village, but he told me to go to the village to ask for help.â
The adventurer parted ways with him and said they would go to his village.
I hoped the adventurers were strong enough to go and take down the spiders.
Well, what do I do now?
Just imagine. Giant Spiders have many legs, and that hideous mouth, and those creepy movements. No amount of bear equipment would protect my spirit.
ââ¦Yuna-san.â
The village chief looked at me with a troubled expression.
If it were a pack of ânormalâ monsters, I would feel free to go and subjugate the horde, but it was a group of oversized spiders. I want to pretend I didnât hear that and go home instead.
A spider. I would rather not fight if I could.
If I could leave it to someone else, I would.
But I could not just leave it to others, could I?
I let out a small sigh.
âThe village is over that way, right?â
âYuna-san!?â
âIâll go there. But Iâll ask other adventurers to go instead if it seems impossible.â
It would leave a bad aftertaste if I abandoned him and later heard that a spider had eaten that poor soul.
âVillage chief, are you sure you want to ask this young lady? Itâs dangerous.â n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âYuna-san may look like this, but she was the strong one who saved our village from a pack of Tiger Wolves and Wolves.â
âButâ¦â
But, as if to encourage the village chiefâs words, the villagers also raised their voices.
âThat little girl is strong, sheâll be fine.â
âI saw her fight the Tiger Wolf.â
âBear-san, strong.â
âIf you donât believe me, thatâs fine. If you donât trust me, thatâs okay, Iâll just ask another adventurer.â
âIâm sorry. There are girls as big as you in the village. I donât think they could fight a monster like that. If you were to get eaten by a spiderâ¦â
Apparently, he was worried about me.
âI can use magic, and I have these two with me, so Iâll be fine.â
I turned to Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.
The man looked at Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear and bowed his head.
âPlease, help our village.â
I decided to head for the village, thinking that I would be lucky if the adventurers who helped the man had killed the spiders.
For now, I should check out the current situation.
I mounted Swaying Bear.
âSwaying Bear, Hugging Bear, letâs go.â
âKuun.â
I moved with Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear towards the village that the man had told me about.
Given the location of each village to each other, perhaps Tiger Wolves and Wolves were fleeing from the Spiders.
What a nuisance this could end up being.
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