Escaped From Bear-san.
I ran in the lead, and Swaying Bear followed.
The hideout was hidden in a troublesome place. The footing was poor, and trees and grass were in the way, making it difficult to advance stealthily. That was why they hid in such a place. It would have been quite a hassle if it weren’t for my detection skills.
I proceed in the direction the watchman pointed me, and immediately my detection skills respond to people.
It seems he wasn’t lying. But there was only one response.
I hurried to the place where the reaction was coming from. And when I arrived at the place where the reaction occurred, I found an old hut. Inside the old hut, there was one response.
Then, as I moved towards the hut, there were momentary multiple human responses just inside the detection range, but as soon as I stopped in front of the hut, the responses disappeared outside the detection range.
They totally got away.
I can’t ignore the response inside the hut and chase after them, so I’ll ignore the ones outside my detection skills.
But why is there only one person left in the hut?
Could it be that a person was taken hostage and left behind?
Or that one of them sacrificed himself to stay behind to let his friends escape? Like, “I’ll buy you time, so get away from here”, or something?
It’s impossible in my former world, but it’s possible enough in this world.
Mumroot-san said something similar to me. That being the case, it was conceivable that they could attack us the moment we entered the hut.
So, what do we do now?
Should I call out to them? Or slowly walk in and capture them?
After thinking about it for a while, I decided to call out to them.
If they come out, I’ll just catch them. And if they don’t, I’ll just carefully go inside.
“I am an adventurer, you can’t escape now, so come on out.” (Yuna)
I waited for a response.
But no response came out of the hut.
Time was running out. There was a possibility that the hostages might not be able to move because their mouths were sealed shut.
I slowly approached the hut and cautiously opened the door. But there was no response. No sudden attack.
I looked through the door gap and saw a man tied up.
A hostage!?
I asked Swaying Bear to watch outside, enter the hut, and approach the bound man.
This is…
There was a piece of paper on the body of the bound man. The paper said, “At the direction of this man and a merchant named Redent, who have taken the goods. The cotton we took the other day was left behind. The rest, I gave to Redent. I’ll have you know we don’t have anything even if you chase us”.
In other words, his fellow bandits tied up the main suspect, and they escaped.
I took off the cloth covering the man’s mouth.
“……A bear?” (Man)
I thrust the paper at the man’s mouth.
“Is this true?” (Yuna)
“Th, that’s a lie. They turned me into a culprit and ran away. Catch the escapees.” (Man)
Even though I was told to catch him, they had already escaped. I might be able to catch one, though. It’ll be too far of a detour. In the first place, I couldn’t believe what this man said.
“What about you, then? Are you not involved?” (Yuna)
“That’s, yeah. That’s right. I’ve been held captive by those guys. So please untie the rope quickly.” (Man)
How dare he make excuses as if he just came up with them?
I don’t entirely trust what is written on paper, but I can’t believe this man’s words either. In the first place, I’ve never heard of any captive.
“Swaying Bear!” (Yuna)
When in doubt, just use threat.
When I called Swaying Bear, he came inside the hut.
“Bear!” (Man)
The man was surprised when Swaying Bear entered the hut.
“If you lie to me, I’ll feed you to my bear.” (Yuna)
`Ji ~yuruuu’
For the second time today, Swaying Bear’s performance was more polished. He approached the man ready to eat.
“Stop it!” (Man)
“So, is this true? If it turns out that you’re lying, I’ll feed you to my bear later.” (Yuna)
The man looked at the paper and Swaying Bear alternately.
And even though he’s conflicted, he opens his heavy mouth.
“…It’s all true. So, don’t let that bear come any closer.” (Man)
The man quickly confessed. I would never have been able to do such a thing after handing him over to the Adventurer’s Guild, but the man easily confessed.
At any rate, We have caught the boss of the bandits. I think.
Now I just need to confirm what was stolen.
If what was written on the paper was true, then the large bag on the floor contained cotton.
I left the man alone and checked the large bag on the floor.
The bag was filled with cotton, just as it said on the paper. When I touched it, it was very soft.
This must be the cotton I asked for.
Apparently, they weren’t making stuffed animals here. I am glad that I did not have to remove the contents from those stuffed animals. Now we can make the life-sized Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear plushies.
I then checked the other cloth bags, but they all contained cotton and no other stolen items. Just as I was about to check the other places, I heard a voice calling me from outside the hut.
“Yuna, are you there?” (Jade)
“Yeah, I’m here” (Yuna)
When I replied, Jade-san and the others entered the hut.
“What’s the situation?” (Yuna)
I explained that the bandit group had escaped and also pointed out the paper was on the bound man.
“What are you going to do? Do you want to chase them? I might be able to catch at least one of them.” (Yuna)
I know the direction, so I think I can catch at least one of them.
“No. While it’s a pity that we couldn’t catch the other bandits, we caught the main culprit, so it’s good enough for now.” (Jade)
“I’m sorry. It was entirely my fault.” (Yuna)
For once, I made a mistake in judgment.
I didn’t think anyone would run away when they saw my outfit.
“I heard about it from Senia, but don’t worry about it.” (Jade)
“Yes, that’s right. We took the “strolling girls” idea, too. Yuna also caught a lookout. That guy didn’t know Yuna, only the other one recognized her.” (Blitz)
Jade-san and Blitz defend me.
“I guess so. Next time, why don’t you just dress normally?” (Mel)
“Nobody would think you’re the girl dressed as a bear.” (Senia)
Mel-san and Senia-san said that.
“But Yuna-chan looks best in that bear’s outfit.” (Rosa)
“Yuna, looking like a bear, is the best.” (Ran)
Rosa-san and Ran praised my bear outfit. By the way, to me, looking best dressed up as bear is definitely not a compliment.
“But then again, it sounds like someone was smart enough to know what they were doing. I guess they decided that by abandoning the stolen goods like this, we wouldn’t chase after them. They even broke the item bag to prove they didn’t take anything.” (Jade)
A bag of items that can hold a lot is valuable. It was unlikely that a lot of bandits would have plenty of those.
“Also, they also left behind the main culprit. He’s adding more reasons not to chase them.” (Blitz)
“Normally, when someone steals a package, they’ll kill the transporter because they saw their faces, but they didn’t even kill them. They probably think there was no problem with letting them go.” (Jade)
“Maybe that’s why they didn’t kill the transporter.” (Blitz)
“If they’re that thorough, you can’t catch them even if you caught someone in their group.” (Jade)
Jade-san and Blitz shared their thoughts.
“Besides, the bigger question is, if what’s written in the paper is true, can we arrest the merchant who is the main culprit?” (Jade)
Jade-san made the man stand.
“In that case, it wouldn’t be a good idea to bring this man to Crimonia like this.” (Blitz)
Jade-san’s words were answered by Blitz looking at the bound man.
“If we take him to Crimonia, word will spread that he has been captured. And if that happens, that merchant, Redent, would probably hear about it.” (Blitz)
“Hey, you. That merchant named Redent, which city he was in?” (Mel)
Most likely in Crimonia or Sheleen. But a smart merchant might’ve considered the risk and let the bandits gather in a remote location.
It’s like stealing in country A and selling in country B, which is harder to trace.
“……”
The man did not open his mouth to Mel-san’s question.
“If you keep quiet, I’ll gouge your eyes out.”
Senia-san flicked the knife in front of the man.
“…In the city of Sheleen.” (Man)
Misa’s father rules Sheleen. Grandpa Gran used to be the lord, but he passed the lordship to his son.
“So, what do we do now?” (Blitz)
“If this guy’s master is in the city of Sheleen, we can take him to Crimonia. So, that’s what we’ll do.” (Toya)
Toya answered Blitz’s question.
“Toya. I thought you were an idiot. Sorry, I guess I was wrong.” (Senia)
Senia-san opened her mouth and let out a sigh.
“I know, right? I’m smart, right?” (Toya)
“Toya, you are a totally huge idiot.” (Senia)
“But why!” (Toya)
“Merchants have connections. I don’t know how wide that merchant Redent network is, but it wouldn’t be strange to have an acquaintance in the neighboring city of Crimonia.” (Jade)
Jade-san explained to Toya, who had no clue.
“If possible, I’d like to ask the Guildmaster to decide without taking him to town.” (Jade)
“In that case, I’ll go. With Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, we can come back quickly.” (Yuna)
Let me make up for the mistake I made in letting the bandits go.
In my words, everyone looked at Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear.
“I agree. Yuna is the right person for the job. Then, please do me a favor. Lurina and Gil should be at the foot of the mountain guarding the lookout. Please explain to them what just happened.” (Jade)
Lurina-san and Gil seem to have taken the role of guarding the arrested bandit guard.
“What about Jade-san and the others?” (Yuna)
“We’ll check inside and around the hut, then join Lurina and Gil.” (Jade)
They decided what they were going to do and acted accordingly, but Jade-san called me back.
“Yuna, wait. Put the stuff here in your item bag. With your item bag, these will easily fit in there. And since you’re going to Guildmaster, please report about it as well.” (Jade)
Jade-san, who knows that my item bag has a huge capacity, asked me.
“Can’t it fit in your item bag, Jade-san?” (Yuna)
“It can, but I can’t say for sure that they didn’t steal anything else. I’d better leave my item bag empty just in case I found something here. Besides, this cotton is probably what you asked for, right, Yuna?” (Jade)
In order to recover the cotton, I participated in this bandit subjugation.
I put the bags of cotton into the bear box, and once again, Swaying Bear, Hugging Bear, and I walked down the mountain.
=====
