Chapter 39 – Bear-san Finishes The Snake Extermination And Returns To Town
The next morning, I woke up early.
The ceiling was different.
I remembered that I had stayed at the village chief’s house.
As I got up, I heard a sound coming from the room next door.
The elder had apparently already woken up.
「That wasn’t the case.」
「In that case, I’m making breakfast, though it will be a simple affair, so please wait a moment.」
I spaced out while waiting, until breakfast was served.
There was bread, vegetables, and...sunny-side up eggs?
「Please have some, it would be great if it suits your tastes.」
I pointed to the fried eggs.
「These are clucker eggs. Kai’s father went into the forest first thing this morning, saying that he wanted to let Yuna-san eat it.」
「Umm, thank you very much for that.」
After I thanked him, I used a knife to slice the loaf of bread, sandwiched the vegetables and eggs in between, and ate it.
「I’m happy that you think so. Kai’s father will also be happy to hear that.」
Since I was nearly done with breakfast, I decided that I might as well follow up and try asking about the eggs.
「Can clucker eggs be obtained in this village?」
「That’s right. There are cluckers in the forest, so if you go first thing in the morning, you can obtain some freshly laid ones.」
「What kind of birds are they?」
「Normal birds make their nests high up in the trees, but since they aren’t able to fly very high, they make their nests in thickets of grass on the ground instead. Other than that, cluckers can run away very quickly.」
「Since they were caught just this morning, I think I still have some cluckers and eggs left. Do you want to bring them home?」
「Of course! You are our village’s benefactor. It’s not something that we aren’t able to afford, so we don’t mind at all.」
Eggs and pseudo-chicken get!
After I finished having breakfast, I started preparing to head back.
「Are you returning today?」
「Yes, because it’s also necessary to report to the guild.」
When I left the village chief’s house, Kai came over to me.
「Big sis, are you going back?」
「It’s because the Guild Master and the group of adventurers are both heading here, not to mention that if I don’t submit a report, it’ll become troublesome.」
Before I started to return to town, I received about ten eggs and three cluckers from Kai’s father.
This subjugation might be the one that I’m the happiest about.
It’s a bit far, but let’s come again.
As the villagers all expressed their gratitude, I departed from the village.
I summoned Swaying Bear and we started running in the direction of the town.
Around noon, while we were running towards town, a person appeared in front of me, coming closer.
By any chance, was it the Guild Master?
Swaying Bear slowed down its speed.
The Guild Master noticed me and pulled up his horse.
「What are you doing here? Don’t tell me, the village was annihilated?」
「If it’s about the Black Viper, I already defeated it.」
「......haa, my bad, could you say that again?」
「I already defeated the Black Viper.」
「That’s a joke, right?」
It was a pain, so I took the Black Viper out from the Bear Box.
The Black Viper, which exceeded 10 meters in length, appeared in front of the Guild Master.
「Did you really defeat this alone? There’s no wounds on the body though.」
「I drove fire magic into its mouth and burned it to death, to avoid damaging its body.」
「From inside its mouth, to do that so easily...」
He gazed at the Black Viper.
Was he going to check inside of its mouth?
「Certainly, you did well to attack it from inside. Normally, you’d be crushed by its jaws, so you wouldn’t be able to reach all the way inside.」
I didn’t want to tell him that the mini-flame bears were the ones who walked deep inside of its body.
「For now, I understand. If there’s no point in going to the village, I’ll return to town.」
Swaying Bear and the horse began running.
「Sorry but, compared to your summoned beast, my horse can’t run that fast. Can you keep pace with me? I want to hear what happened.」
I explained what occurred at the village to the Guild Master.
「You, don’t do such an absurd thing!」
After taking frequent breaks, we finally returned to town.
Along the way, we ran into a guild staff member who was on his way out.
「What about Guild Master, why are you here? What about the Black Viper you went to defeat?」
「If it’s the Black Viper, this girl defeated it by herself.」
「Defeated it alone, you say...」
The guild staff member gave me a once over.
「So then, why are you over here?」
「Yes, One-Eyed Rush, who we were supposed to ask to take on the Black Viper subjugation request, was injured and just came back. As a result, I was searching for other adventurers, but there aren’t any others who can defeat the Black Viper. For the time being, I left the search to Helen and was on my way to let you know that the adventurers would be behind schedule, but...」
The guild staff member looked in my direction again.
Hey, why are you looking at me?
「I understand. For now, let’s go back to town, you as well.」
Our party that was now composed of three people moved towards the town.
From leaving the village to returning to town took us around two days.
There was no reason to rush, so to relieve the burden on the horses, we slowed down our pace.
We had just entered the guild like that when we were discovered by Helen.
At that moment, she burst into tears.
「Yuna-san, Guild Master...why are you here...could it be...」
「Helen, it’s all right.」
「The Black Viper was defeated.」
「Really? Thank goodness. I couldn’t get a hold of any adventurers higher than rank C, so I was in quite a bind. As expected of the Guild Master.」
「It wasn’t me who defeated it. Yuna did it by herself.」
「I felt the same way, but it’s the truth.」
「Yuna-san, you’re really amazing.」
「So then, Yuna, it’s already late today. Sorry, but could you come by tomorrow? The report for this incident has to be written down, and there’s also the matter about the Black Viper’s materials.」
「The earlier the better, but you must also be tired, right? I’ll let you decide the time.」
I postponed the visit to the adventurer’s guild until later.