Chapter 52 – k.u.ma-san Finds An Attacked Carriage.

The next morning, I got out of bed before the sun had risen.

It was still dark outside.

By all rights, it should probably be quite chilly, but I didn’t feel cold, thanks to the Bear Clothes.

When I went downstairs, I found Fina already up and about.

「Good morning, Big Sis Yuna.」

「Good morning. Where’s Noa?」

「She is still sleeping. I didn’t want to wake her up.」

「Then, I’ll be preparing breakfast, so please go wake her up.」

I asked Fina to take care of Noa and began preparing the soup and bread that we had eaten for breakfast yesterday.

A drowsy Noa appeared in the dining room.

「Good morning.」

「Sleepy.」

「That’s because you’re usually still sleeping at this time.」

「After we eat breakfast, we’re heading out, okay?」

Today, I mounted Swaying Bear before we continued towards the Royal Capital.

There was a village along the way to the Royal Capital.

We left after I purchased some fresh vegetables in the village.

On the third day after we left the town:

「Stop for a moment.」

I made Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear halt.

「What’s wrong?」

「There are people battling against monsters in front of us.」

「Really?」

I couldn’t see them from here.

The only reason I was sure was due to the Bear’s Skill.

When I defeated the Black Viper, I went up a level. The power of the detection skill also went up, so I could now detect normal people, in addition to dangerous elements like monsters and thieves.

Furthermore, I also became able to differentiate the type and rank of monster.

「How does Noa want to handle this?」

「Me?」

「My job is to be Noa’s bodyguard, which is why I don’t want to go towards dangerous places. Leaving you behind and going ahead is also out of the question. If something dangerous appears while I’m not around, I won’t be able to protect you.」

「What if you leave the bears to guard us?」

「It’s impossible for them to fight with you two riding on top.」

「Then, what if we go to a place near the monster attack together with you?」

「If the attacking monsters end up attacking you, it will be problematic for me, as your bodyguard.」

「Do the people being attacked seem like they can win?」

「Well, even I cannot be sure from here, you know. Although, I can tell when a person or monster dies from the reaction.」

In other words, do we go out after people have died, or rush in while knowing that it’s dangerous?

「……」

The 10-year-old Noa was seriously troubled.

「That was a joke. Let’s go save them. I’ll scout from afar. If it looks okay, we’ll leave them be, and if it looks dangerous, we’ll save them. However, if they are dangerous monsters, you must run away. Is this okay?」

「Un.」

I made the bears run.

A carriage came into view.

Some adventurers were around it, fighting orcs.

「One, two, three, four, five, six.」

There were six orcs.

There were four adventurers.

A magician adventurer had been knocked down by one of the orcs.

A sword-wielding adventurer was fending off another orc next to the carriage.

The remaining two people were surrounded by four orcs a short distance away.

「Swaying Bear, Hugging Bear! Guard these two!」

I asked the bears to guard the two girls.

I lept off of Swaying Bear and started running towards the orcs.

I kicked off the ground and accelerated even more.

A club was swung towards the woman who was knocked down.

This is bad.

Using the magic power gathered in my hand, I released blades of wind towards the orc that was swinging the club at the magician woman.

The orc’s eyes were entirely focused on the woman in front of it. My blades of wind easily sliced through its fat neck and the orc died without noticing me at all.

When I leveled up, did my power increase too?

I ran past the magician and headed toward the adventurer fighting close to the carriage.

If I used wind magic from this position, I would cut the adventurer together with the orc.

I stopped the movement of the orc’s lower body by using earth magic instead.

「What?!」

The swordsman was surprised.

「I’ve sealed his movements, so deal with the rest by yourself somehow!」

After raising my voice, I headed towards the slightly distant location where the four orcs were battling the adventurers.

Wind magic could not be used, just like earlier, since they were fighting while surrounded.

Even if I used earth magic, it was possible that they would still receive an attack from the orcs’ upper halves.

I gathered magic power in my hand.

「Shotgun.」

I fired a ball of air towards the orcs.

Four shots at the same time.

When they came into contact with the orcs’ bodies, the orcs were blown backwards.

As for the adventurers, who got caught up with the orcs that were being blown away, it could not be helped.

The orcs, which fell down, stood up again.

The adventurers were also going to stand up.

「It’s dangerous, so stay down!」

I shouted out towards the adventurers.

I shot a giant horizontal blade of wind towards the orcs, which had stood up again.

Their bodies were neatly sliced in half, and the orcs fell down.

It’s not my fault that the adventurers who dropped to the ground have been showered in blood!

I approached the adventurers, who had become all b.l.o.o.d.y from orc blood.

「Are you alright?」

「You are?」

The two who had been surrounded by orcs were also female.

In that case, maybe they were a little pitiful after becoming all b.l.o.o.d.y from the orc blood.

「Marina!」

The adventurer who had been fighting near the carriage rushed over.

「Are you all right?」

「Eh, I’m alright, since this weird-looking girl helped us. What about you?」

「I, as well as Elle, were also saved by that girl, so we’re okay.」

「So Elle is safe as well. Let’s talk about a reward another time. Thank you for helping us.」

「You’re welcome. We only happened to pa.s.s by, so you don’t need to worry about it.」

「I’m the leader of this party, Marina. The guy with the big sword over there is Masurika, and that one is-」

「Euri.」

The magician I had helped first seemed to be called Elle.

We left the orcs as they were and returned to the carriage.

Along the way, I called out for the bears.

I don’t know if it’s telepathic communication, but I can issue instructions to the bears even if we are separated.

「Elle, are you okay?」

「Eh, I’m okay, though just a little longer and I would have been killed.」

Maybe it was because she had been caught, but her clothes were torn, and her fair skin could be seen.

Although she was covering them, her large b.r.e.a.s.t.s spilled out past her hands.

An enemy!

「Thanks to your a.s.sistance, I was able to avoid being killed. Thank you.」

「You don’t need to worry about it, since it was just a coincidence that I pa.s.sed by.」

While we were having such a conversation,

「What is that?!」

The adventurers saw Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, who had arrived, and readied their swords.

「It’s alright, they are my summoned beasts.」

「A summoned beast?」

Noa and Fina, who were riding on top of Hugging Bear, rushed over.

「Yuna-san! Are you okay?」

「I’m perfectly fine, you know.」

「Thank goodness.」

The two of them dropped down from Hugging Bear and embraced me anxiously.

Both of them were just 10-year-old girls, so it could not be helped.