Chapter 27:
The Rumored Bear
THE STREET where I set up shop became infamous in a matter of days. It made sense; a bear-shaped house with a mysterious, bear-suited inhabitant springing up in the empty lot from out of nowhere would give anyone pause. Tons of people started coming by to ogle the bear house from afar. As a result, I wasn’t going outside much. I did go out for food the day after I settled in, but since then, I’d gotten in the habit of cooking at home.
“Yuna, I finished the butchering for today.”
Since Fina came by every day after I asked her to do my butchering, I decided that, as a rule, she had to rest for a day after three days of work. I also decided that I’d limit the butchering to five monsters a day. Otherwise, Fina would just keep her head down and work herself to the bone. If she kept it to five, she’d finish her work in half a day.
“Thanks. Be careful on your way home.”
“I will. Aren’t you going to work, Yuna?”
“I’ll go sometime…”
If I was in my previous world, turning into a recluse wouldn’t be an issue, but I couldn’t stay like that forever here. I decided to go to the guild first thing tomorrow. I needed to slay some monsters for Fina to butcher, anyway.
The next morning, I followed through on my decision.
“Oh, Ms. Yuna! You’ve finally come back,” Helen yelled at me as I entered the hall.
Why did the guild have to be this annoying?
“Good morning, Helen,” I greeted her, heading over to her desk.
“Really now, where have you been lately? We’ve been waiting for you.”
“Waiting for me?”
“Yes. We have a quest you’ve been nominated for.”
“Me? Nominated for a quest?”
“It came from a Lord Cliff Fochrosé.”
“Who’s that?”
No one I knew went by that name. It was my first time even hearing it.
“You don’t know who he is? Count Fochrosé presides over this town.”
“He’s the lord?”
If he was a count and a lord, that made him part of the aristocracy. Someone like that had sent me a quest? In manga and novels, aristocracy were always just as much trouble as royalty. I’d rather keep my nose clean. That was why…
“Pass.”
“Huh?”
“I refuse.”
“Huh?”
“I’m heading home.” I turned around.
“W-wait just a moment, please,” Helen leaned out from the desk and grabbed my bear suit.
“What?”
“What are you going home for?”
“I’m going home to sleep.”
“It’s still morning.”
“When I go to sleep has nothing to do with you, does it, Helen?”
“In that case, please listen to me before you go to bed. You haven’t been by much lately, and Lord Fochrosé’s envoy has stopped by several times.”
“Not my problem.”
“Please just listen to what I have to say.”
“No way!”
“Pleeease.” Helen tightened her grip.
“Once I hear you out, can I turn it down?”
“Why are you so against doing this?”
“My grandmother’s dying wish was for me not to get involved with the aristocracy or royalty.”
“What kind of last request is that?”
“Well, aristocrats and royalty will kill people right away when they don’t like someone, or they’ll imprison them. Or if they find a pretty girl, they’ll lust after her body and threaten her if she refuses them. They’ll charge people with crimes they didn’t commit, take the populace’s money, and use that money to have their way with things. That’s the kind of people they are. Plus, they’ve got arrogant, stubborn kids who expect everything to go exactly the way they want and throw their weight around to get it.”
“What kind of thinking is that?”
“Am I wrong?”
“There certainly are some aristocrats like that. But Lord Fochrosé is different. He is a kind and decent person.”
“You’ve met him before?”
“I’ve seen him. And I haven’t heard any terrible rumors about him, so he’s fine.”
“But on the other hand, if he just killed them, no one would know. Dead men tell no tales, so the saying goes.”
“Why is that what your mind goes to?”
I couldn’t tell her that I’d been influenced by manga and novels.
“Hey, what’s with all this early-morning commotion?”
As Helen and I argued, the clump of muscles (the Guildmaster) came over from the back.
“Guildmaster!”
“Helen, you know that it gets busy in the mornings. What are you doing?”
“This isn’t my fault. I want to tell Yuna about the designated quest Lord Fochrosé has nominated her for, but she has strange prejudices against the aristocracy and won’t even hear what the job is about.”
They weren’t prejudices. In manga and novels, they were facts.
“Prejudices?”
“She’s saying all these things about how the aristocracy kills people they don’t like and demands the bodies of beautiful women, and how their children are arrogant and stubborn.”
“Well, that’s for sure,” the Guildmaster said.
“Guildmaster!”
“Right, sorry. There definitely are aristocrats like that, but Cliff is different, so you can rest easy.”
Cliff? I thought. Is he really allowed to be on a first-name basis with the aristocracy like that?
“You’re completely sure?”
“Yeah. Plus, I know the guy.”
I supposed it made sense for the Guildmaster to know the lord.
“Please do it,” said Helen. “If you turn it down, you’ll put his trust in the guild in jeopardy.” She switched into a fierce two-handed grip. I got the impression she wouldn’t let go until I accepted.
“Ummm. Okay, I got it. I’ll just hear you out.”
“Thank you so very much. But actually, there’s nothing to tell you. He has just ordered you to come to his house.”
“What now?”
That was a hundred times more sketchy. If he tried to pull something while no one was around to see…
“You haven’t got anything to worry about. I think he just wants to meet the bear that everyone’s been talking about.”
“That who’s been talking about?”
“You’ve become a bit of a celebrity in this town, Ms. Yuna.”
Well, I thought, I guess a person would get famous walking around town in a bear onesie, but I don’t think that’s enough reason to summon me.
“Just give in this time around,” said the Guildmaster. “You’ve slain
