Konjiki no Wordmaster Chapter 22: The Bear People of Doggam

“Now then, let’s hurry.”

Hiiro slowly gets up and begins walking. Arnold glares at him with his eyes half closed.

“… If you’ve already healed, then I guess it’s alright. Wait, we were supposed to be waiting for you!”
“Fufufu, let’s go!”

With Muir’s urgings, the group presses onwards.
After walking a while, they found what seemed to be the forest’s exit.

“Oh, Finally!”

Arnold suddenly gets faster. After leaving the forest, the three found themselves in a large field of flowers.

“Uwa~”

Muir stares in silence, as if she had lost the ability to speak. A gentle wind causes the petals to sway back and forth. It’s a magnificent sight.

“This is the 【Doggam Garden】.”
“So these were planted by the 『Bearnts』?”
“Yeah. It’s pretty, ain’t it? The scent is also divine.”

A scent sweet enough to cause one to drool lingers in the air. The mixed varieties of flowers here probably carried a wide a.s.sortment of delicious nectars.

“And right after this, we should reach the 『Bearnt』 village, 【Doggam】!”

Past the field, they could see a village. The village was quite small, as if it were trying to hide itself from the world.

When they entered the village, Hiiro and co. see the Bearnt people gathered in a wide, open s.p.a.ce. They try to see what’s going on.

“What’s up?”
“Eh? O-oh! It’s been a while, Arnold!”
“Yo, Max! You’re just as fat as usual!”

They grasp each other’s shoulders as they give greetings.

“Hm? Arnold… Your ears…”
“Ah? Haha, well yeah.”

Arnold’s face looks pained. But he quickly recovers, and takes on his cheerful persona.

“Let me introduce you. This is the 『Bearnt』 Max. We shared a drink the last time I came through this village.”

Arnold turns to Hiiro and Muir, and introduces the man. Max’s smile flashes a hint of sadness.

“Max, let me introduce these two.”

He turns again to Max.

“This child is my lovely angel, my cutie flower, Muir Castrea!”

Though he says this with a determined tone, everyone stares at him with a blank expression. Muir’s face slowly turns red.

“P-please treat me well!”

She quickly lower her head. The sight of her doing so causes those watching the scene to smile.

“Yeah~ and the other one is just as he looks. He’s a brat called Hiiro.”

His treatment is clearly different, but Hiiro doesn’t particularily care.

“The two of you are welcome here! My name is Max!”

His body is quite stalky. No,it’s more like he just has a lot of excess fat.

(He looks more like a pig than a bear)
(TL: So he’s like some sort of… Half Pig, Half Bear-Man?)

Hiiro thinks something incredible rude, as Arnold questions Max on the reason everyone was gathered there.

And then Max’s face turns serious.

“Ah, the truth is that someone saw a Unique Monster in the forest. We’re here thinking up countermeasures.”

Arnold looks like he wants to say something.

“Even if we try to do something, our opponent is Rank S. This village has not the power to do anything about it.”
“R-rank S? U-um, Max…?”
“What?”
“W-was that Unique Monster possibly… a Red Boar?”
“Yeah, I’m surprised you know. You’re correct!”

‘More than simply knowing, we head on encountered it, and this brat killed it, you know.’ Arnold screams in his heart.

“Oh yeah, where did you guys come from, anyways? Did you go through the forest? Then luck must be on your side. If you encountered it, you would have died.”
“Well, something did die…”
“What do you mean?”

Arnold sighs, and then begins telling the truth.

“HHWWWAAATT!? You KEEEELED the Unique Monster!?” (TL: His p.r.o.nunciation is off here)

It’s not just Max. Everyone in the surrounding area has surprise written on their faces.

“Y-yeah. The one who did it was this brat. Here’s the evidence.”

And he brings out the salvaged monster parts as evidence. The crowd gets even more excited.

“WhaWhaWhaWhat’s going on, Arnold!? What is he!? Is he an SSS Rank?”
“N-no… He’s a D Rank Adventurer…”
“WHAAAAAAAAAA!?”

Max’s mouth hangs open as he stares at Hiiro.

“D-dit this guy really kill it? This short, evil-eyed brat!?”

Max thrusts his finger at Hiiro. Hiiro grabs it.

Twist…

“Stooooop!”
“I hate it when people point at me.”

The area becomes silent. Time seems to have stopped for the villagers. Arnold lets out a deep sigh.

“I’m serious, people. I can’t go that far in depth, but the Unique Monster is already gone, this guy is the one that killed it, and the village is now safe. Please just leave it at that.”

Hiiro seems to be slightly impressed. If Arnold had tried to explain his special magic, then he would have smacked him. But it seems that Arnold respects his privacy. Hiiro’s impression of Arnold has improved a bit.

And so the village’s crisis was averted. The Monster never reached the village, and no casualties arose. Hiiro’s slaying of the Red Boar earned him quite a bit of attention.

The feeling of being stared at was quite uncomfortable, but as the villagers made his food extra tasty, Hiiro decided to put up with it.

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“But I’m surprised that you’re alright, Arnold.”

Max stares at his sake as he speaks.

“What is this about?”
“I heard a rumor that a beast man that looked like you had been enslaved by humans. I thought that was definitely you… Your ears, did they do something to you?”
“…Pretty much.”

Arnold’s ears which were firmly printed in Max’s memory were nowhere to be seen. And he remembered the rumor of the beast man turned slave.

“It seems that you’ve been through a lot. The Humas race really does terrible things.”

Max did not get visibly angry, but his words seemed to carry a menacing tone. Arnold feels a little happy that his friend is getting angry for his sake.

“Yeah, I definitely don’t want to return to that time. But right now, I am living quite happily, Max.”
“Arnold…”
“I’ve even started doing the things I wanted to. I became a chef, and I even have a daughter.”
“Oh yeah, when did you get that girl, anyways?”

Arnold squints as he looks at the smiling Max.

“Don’t get me wrong. Though she’s my daughter, we’re not related by blood.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. A good friend entrusted her to me.”

Arnold stares into the distance, and Max downs his sake in one swig. He sighs.

“It seems that you really have been through a lot.”
“Yep… Many things happened.”

The two are surrounded by silence for a while.

“Then what is that kid? He seems to be a Beast Man, of the same race as the girl.”

Arnold winces. Currently, Hiiro is using his magic to disguise himself. As a result, he has the same silver hair as Muir.

“Um… It’s that! He’s Muir’s brother!”
“So that’s it? No wonder they looked so much alike!”

(I think Hiiro is going to punch me later…)

Thinking about his dismal situation, Arnold starts to feel the air getting colder.

“But that kid really is crazy. I’ve never heard of someone taking out a Red Boar alone before.”
“Y-yeah. That guy is a bit strange.”
‘In many ways’ said Arnold in his heart
“I won’t press it any further. You guys are this villages saviors, so just take it easy for a bit.”
“Thanks, Max.”

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“Oy, shorty. Don’t be so picky.”

Hiiro is holding up a green peas-like food that Muir seems to be avoiding.

“Eh… but…”
“If you hate it so much, then…”

He wraps the peas in some meat, and wraps that in more vegetables.

“Here, eat this.”
“… Okay”

Even as he hands it over, Muir’s eyes seem to show some resistance. Her upturned eyes seem to say, ‘Do I really have to eat it?’ And in response, Hiiro’s eyes seem to say, ‘If you don’t eat it, I’ll force it on you.’ And Hiiro shoves the food in her mouth.

Muir closes her eyes as she chews.  And then opens them with a confused look.

(That terrible feeling is gone?)

As if he could read Muir’s mind, Hiiro begins speaking.

“The reason you hated it was probably the texture, or the smell. All you have to do is get rid of that. This meat has quite a strong smell, and these vegetables have a firm texture. They’ll help you get over your hatred of those beans.”

“A-amazing. You’re almost like my uncle.”

Hiiro lightly hits Muir’s head.

“Nyu!?”
“Who’s like that old man?”

Hiiro frowns as he continues to stuff food in his mouth. Muir tilts her head, wondering where exactly he puts all of that food in his slender body.

(If I had a brother… would it feel like this?)

She gets a slight warm feeling inside of her chest. She had never thought of it before, but Hiiro’s current hair color might be giving her such ideas.

Arnold watches the two, and stares at Hiiro as if he were going to shoot him to death.

But the Bear People around them simply misunderstood the situation and thought, ‘Yep, those two are definitely siblings.’ Arnold’s concern was unnecessary.

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After the group continued eating for a while, a group of women in dancer like clothes that had high exposure rates came out. It seems that they will perform a folk dance.

A person comes out carrying a drum. He rhythmically beats it, and the dancers move to match the rhythm.

“Wow~! Those people are really pretty~ and the dancing is skillfull~.”

Muir holds her hands together, and admires them. But Hiiro seems to be more focused on the food in front of him. After filling his mouth, he glances at the dancers.

(I see. So the Bear Race has slender people as well.)

And once again, he thinks something rude before s.h.i.+fting his eyes back to the food. But Muir seems to be captivated, and Arnold seems to be enamored.

“Oh~ How indecent”

Muir feels as if his father had made lecherous eyes at some random girl. She’s quite embarra.s.sed.

“Please contain yourself!”

And she heads towards Arnold. Hiiro continues pressing food to his lips, as he stares at the night sky. He sees a shooting star, and thinks, ‘How peaceful.’

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Status

Arnold Ocean

Lv 35

HP 355/355
MP 189/189

EXP 50089
NEXT 6210

ATX 358 (402)
DEF 323 (339)
AGL 298 (303)
HIT 222 (224)
INT 102 ()

《Magical Attribute》Wind
《Magic》Fangs of Wind | Explosive Wind Claw |  Blast Inversion

《t.i.tle》Friend of the Wind | Former Slave | Chef | Doting Father | Man of Burning Soul | The Man Referred to as a Pervert

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Guild Card

Name Arnold Ocean

s.e.x Male

Age 37

From Snyoll

Rank C

Quest

Equipment

Rigin 1393000

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Muir Castrea

Lv 13

HP 111/111
MP 82/82

EXP 12655
Next 2210

ATX 102 (105)
DEF 100 (108)
AGL 99 (102)
HIT 77 (78)
INT 54 ()

《Magical Attribute》
《Magic》

《t.i.tle》Kidnapped | My Angel | Cutie Flower | Girl of Tolerance

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Name Muir Castrea

s.e.x Female

Age 12

From Rince

Quest

Equipment

Rigin 56000