Chapter 571:
The Bear Talks with Others
“SO, SELEIYU, ABOUT ALL THIS. I’d like you to keep quiet about me.”
“About what, specifically?”
“About this house and the fact that I defeated the monsters.”
“I can keep quiet about this place, but the monsters too? If you told the guild, you would likely receive a monetary reward. They might not believe it of course, but I can put in a good word for you. I would like to tell Father you saved the town. He will want to thank you too.”
“I don’t need a reward or a thank-you from your dad,” I said.
“Wait, but then I wouldn’t be able to thank you either.”
“Like I said, I don’t need you to thank me. You and Keith were safe and that’s enough for me.”
I hadn’t saved them for money or gratitude. I just didn’t want someone I knew to die because I stood idly by. If I hadn’t known Seleiyu, I probably wouldn’t have cared after seeing her go by on her horse like she had. I wouldn’t have followed her, first of all. I probably wouldn’t have cared much if I had heard she died.
But then I talked to Seleiyu and got to know her as a person. I wanted to help her, but it wasn’t her job to thank me. I did this for myself.
“Yuna...if you were a boy, I think I could fall in love.”
Okay, I may be flat chested, but I was still a girl.
“Actually, Keith is the heir, so even if you are a girl...”
I thought I heard her say something in a whisper. It was just my imagination, right?
“But if we don’t tell anybody, then no one will know what you’ve done, Yuna.”
“I don’t want people making a big deal out of me. Plus, even if I told people I defeated those monsters, they wouldn’t believe me. If you hadn’t seen it yourself, would you believe it?”
“Well...”
“Exactly. We don’t need to tell anyone about it. Other people would start looking at you funny too.”
“But you saved me and Keith! You saved the town! How can we keep that a secret? Plus, there are the monsters outside. That’ll serve as proof to anyone who doesn’t believe us.”
People would still look at me funny and rumors would start, though. Most importantly, it sounded like a pain.
“I must report back about the monsters you killed. You’ll lose the right to the spoils.”
“No need to worry about that. I’ll put the things I need in my item bag and clean up the other monsters. If the monsters aren’t here, you can say you saved Keith from the man all on your own.”
That was the best way to clean up this mess. Seleiyu thought it over.
“All right. If that’s what you want, then I won’t force you. However, can we please just tell people that we saved Keith from the man together? I can’t budge on that.”
“All right,” I said.
I compromised on that one bit too. Honestly, it’d make things a lot easier to explain if I was present there too.
After we found a compromise that we both agreed on, we finished recapping what had happened. The only thing left was to clean up the monsters outside. Maybe I’d take off my bear onesie first? My skirt was all flipped up inside the onesie and it felt weird. It was kind of hot wearing my uniform under the onesie too. But maybe it would be better to take care of the monsters outside first? There was a chance the other monsters might come back.
I wanted to change, but I decided to stay in my bear onesie for a little longer.
“What are you going to do now, Seleiyu?”
“What about you?”
“Like I said before, I’ll clean up the monsters and then go home. It’ll be a whole thing if I leave them here.”
I felt bad for the goblins and orcs, but I didn’t need their mana gems, so I’d just bury them.
“In that case, I’ll help too.”
“Are you sure? Won’t your family worry about you?”
“Well...”
Seleiyu looked at Keith, who was asleep still.
“It’s okay,” I said.
“No, I think Father might scold me, but you saved me and now I’m even making you clean up. I don’t know how I’ll ever face you after all you’ve done for me.”
Seleiyu shook her head.
“You really don’t need to worry about it.”
She was being really stubborn about it. Having an argument here wouldn’t help anyone, so I decided to clean up fast and get back to town quickly. That would be faster. Arguments sure were a pain.
“In that case, can you take care of the goblins and orcs? I don’t need the mana gems, so it’ll help if you dispose of them.”
If you didn’t dispose of the monster bodies, then they could attract other monsters or become vectors for disease. We had to burn them or bury them.
“Yes, I can do that.”
Seleiyu and I went outside.
“What about the wyrm? You’re not going to harvest its parts here?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll just put it away in my item bag for now.”
As I spoke, I did just that.
“Oh, yes. You also pulled this house from there, I take it? You always continue to shock and amaze, Yuna.”
Next, I put away the big wyverns and soon there were only wolves left. My bear storage sure was useful.
As I was trying to store the wolves, Kumayuru and Kumakyu came over to me.
“What is it?”
They both crooned. They were looking in a certain direction. I wonder... Had more monsters come?
I used my detection skill, and it alerted me that several people were on their way here.
“Did something happen with Kumayuru and Kumakyu?” Seleiyu asked, as she took care of a nearby goblin.
“It looks like someone’s on their way. This is bad. We need to do something.”
The wyverns and wyrm were gone, but the wolves, goblins, and orcs were still all over the place. And the bear house. Oh, and I hadn’t changed yet. Well, I normally dressed as a bear, so I guess that part wasn’t a big deal.
“Seleiyu, you take Keith.”
If Keith was still in the bear house, I couldn’t put it away into my storage.
“Keith?”
The people were approaching fast. They must have been on horses.
“No, you won’t make it in time.”
I saw the people were almost here. We were too late.
“Right, Seleiyu, let’s make up a story.”
“What?!”
“Please just follow my lead?”
“All right. I’ll try.”
If they were adventurers, we could just lie. Like, we could say that an adventurer we didn’t recognize had slain them. The biggest issue would be how to explain the bear house.
While I was thinking over what to do, Seleiyu said something I hadn’t expected.
“That’s Father.”
We finally got a good look at the people coming in. It was true. Seleiyu’s father was riding over. So were the people with him guards? As he looked at all the slain monsters, he made his way directly to us.
“What do we do, Yuna?!”
“Don’t ask me!”
Seleiyu was flustered.
“You were going to report to your father anyway, weren’t you?”
“Yes, but I’m not mentally prepared yet.”
Well, I wasn’t either. But Seleiyu’s dad didn’t seem to care about any of that.
“Seleiyu!”
He dismounted his horse.
“Father, what are you doing here?”
“I saw your letter. And once I learned you had left town, I followed you here.”
Seleiyu looked at me, at a complete loss. I didn’t know what to do ether. What DO we do?
Seleiyu’s dad looked around, then looked at her again.
“You’re not hurt?”
“No, I’m all right,” she said.
“I have many questions. First, is Keith safe?”
“Yes, he’s unscathed. He’s inside the house resting.”
Seleiyu’s dad looked at the bear house with suspicion. Well, his son had just been kidnapped. If you told someone their son was safe in a bear-shaped house after that, of course they’d react like that.
“I see. So he’s safe. What is going on with these monsters?”
Seleiyu’s father looked around. Wolves and goblin corpses dotted the landscape. We had to explain, but at least the wyrm and wyverns were already in my storage.
“We shouldn’t talk here, so shall we go into the house?”
I thought it’d probably take a while to explain everything. I wanted to go back to town first, but it didn’t seem like the right time to suggest something like that. Either way, we needed to check on Keith, so we went inside.
Hearing my proposal, Seleiyu’s dad gave another dubious look at my bear house.
“Excuse me, but who are you?”
It seemed he didn’t recognize me in my bear clothes.
“Father, this is Yuna, she came to our manor with Noa.”
“I see... Noa’s friend... But why are you dressed as a bear?”
“Father, is now the best time?”
Before I could answer him, Seleiyu came to my rescue.
“You’re right. For now, just tell me what happened.”
The guards stayed outside with my bears to keep watch. The guards looked dubious when I told them my bears weren’t dangerous, but they nodded. Then we headed inside.
Seleiyu’s dad gawped in wonder at the interior. Then, as soon as he saw Keith on the sofa, he ran over like Seleiyu had.
“Father, he’s fine. He’s only sleeping.”
She told him the same thing I had told her.
I brewed some tea for everybody and set it on the table.
“Please have some tea while you talk. I’ll leave you to it.”
“No, please stay, Yuna.”
My escape had been cut off, so Seleiyu and I sat down across from Seleiyu’s dad. He looked at her, but Seleiyu averted her eyes.
“Well, I’m waiting.”
Seleiyu slowly began.