Chapter 87 – Bear-san Gets Rid Of The Stockpiled Wolves
Atora-san told me that there were more than 20 bandits.
She didn’t know what they looked like because they concealed their faces.
They didn’t attack if you had guards.
However, if you didn’t have any, they would strike.
She didn’t know how strong the bandits were, because no one had ever tried to fight them.
The bandits stalked the coastline road from the mountain.
She only knew that their base was somewhere on the mountain. Well, I just had to use Detection magic to find them.
「Are there any captives?」
「I think there are some women who have been caught. Only corpses of men had been found, after all.」
This statement killed my peace of mind.
If they only took money, I would just beat them half dead, but they were killing men and kidnapping women.
That was enough of a reason for them to be on my anger list.
「But will you really go and try to defeat them alone? Well, after seeing your guild card, I think it should be okay.」
She said, seemingly worried.
I was a small girl wearing a Bear Suit.
With that appearance, I looked like a frail girl.
「I have returned.」
While I was talking with Atora-san, a male guild staff employee entered the guild.
「Welcome back. How was the harvest?」
Atora-san asked him.
The guild employee shook his head.
「Just one wolf.」
「That won’t be enough. And the others?」
「I think there won’t be a lot.」
「You are right.」
It seemed that they were talking about the employees who went hunting on the mountain.
As I was looking at this employee, our eyes met.
「Master, who is this girl wearing the cute suit?」
「This is the adventurer Yuna. It seems she arrived in the city yesterday.」
「An adventurer? I am Sei, employed by this Adventurer’s Guild. Nice to meet you.」
This employee, despite my odd outfit, introduced himself politely.
「You need some wolves?」
「Yes, as I said before, this city is really low on food after all.」
「If it’s just wolves, I can give them to you.」
「Really? That would save us, but don’t you need them for yourself?」
Food was scarce in this city and hard to obtain.
She was worried about that.
「No problem. I just want you to promise to not tell anyone that I was the one who gave them to you.」
「Okay, I promise not to tell anyone. Sei, you too. Don’t go and talk about it.」
「Understood.」
In exchange for their silence, I would give them wolves, getting rid of some of my stockpile at the same time.
Surprisingly, I couldn’t get rid of the five thousand wolves all at once.
I couldn’t sell them unskillfully. If I sold them in large quantities, it could crash the market prices in the city.
If I distributed them free of charge, I would cause trouble for the low rank adventurers who made a living thanks to the wolves they sold.
That was why they were just rotting in the Bear Box.
「Then I can bring out around a thousand wolves, but do you have a place to put them?」
I didn’t know the number of the people living in the city, but I thought bringing out a thousand would suffice.
「...Huh? What did you say just now?」
For some reason, the two of them had their mouths open like idiots.
「Do you have a place to put them?」
「Not that! Didn’t you say a thousand just now!?」
「I did.」
Was a thousand not enough for a city where the inhabitants were in dire need for food?
「A thousand isn’t enough? If so, I will bring out two thousand.」
「Not that! Why would you carry this many wolves with you!? More importantly, how would you store them all!?」
「I killed them, so I stored them? I have an item bag that can store a lot.」
「Ah, right, you are a hero...」
「Hero?」
Sei-san asked.
「Don’t mind it.」
Atora-san stopped the conversation with Sei-san, so that he wouldn’t pry deeper.
「Yuna, if you really have that many, just a hundred would be more than enough. If you gave us a thousand, we wouldn’t be able to dismantle them.」
She was right.
I didn’t know how many employees they had, but even dismantling a hundred would take a lot of time, I bet.
「Will this really be enough?」
「More than enough. If we run out, I will count on you then.」
I wouldn’t be able to get rid of the wolves like this, though...
「Sei, take her to the warehouse please. After that, dismantle the wolves with all the employees who have returned and start handing them out to the inhabitants. Also, don’t talk about her, okay?」
「Understood. Yuna-san, this way please.」
Sei responded and showed me the way to the warehouse.
In the warehouse, I took out a hundred wolves.
「Thank you very much. With this, we are saved.」
「If you need more, just find me and tell me.」
’I really want to get rid of these wolves’, I muttered in my heart.
【Commerce Guild Master’s point of view】
「What’s happening!?」
I shouted at my subordinates, who were in front of me in the room.
「Why do the bastards from the Adventurer’s Guild have so many wolves!?」
「Isn’t it because they killed them?」
One of the subordinates responded.
「Are you an idiot! There is no way to kill so many wolves in one day.」
「Master, it could be the adventurers who came the other day.」
This subordinate was talking about the adventurers who arrived three days ago.
A party of four.
An ideal party consisting of two swordsmen and two mages.
They were high rank adventurers. I invited them here, but they refused.
「The bastards who refused my invitation, huh. But that’s impossible. They left the city to defeat the bandits.」
「How did they get the wolves then?」
「Investigating that is your job, isn’t it? Go and find why would they have so much wolf meat!」
The subordinates almost flew out of the room.
So much hardship because of these useless subordinates.
「Shit, in just one more month I would have been able to make enough money to leave this remote city.」
I became the guild master of this city’s Commerce Guild five years ago.
Before that, I was an employee of another town’s Commerce Guild. When I heard that I could become a guild master, I accepted, but when I arrived, it was in this little, remote city.
Even so, I did my best for five years.
Up until now, I was saving money to go back to a big city.
However, all of it broke apart with the appearance of the Kraken.
The idiot mayor fled, and the residents too.
In this city, all the money belonged to me.
I couldn’t let the residents leave the town with all of their wealth.
That was why I decided to steal the money from those who fled.
I engaged rogue adventurers and ordered them to imitate bandits.
When I showed them money and said that they could do whatever they wanted to the women they captured, they happily accepted.
Those adventurers might have wanted to flee the city when the Kraken appeared. They wanted to earn some money before fleeing, I bet.
That was why they listened to my words.
With the adventurers turning into bandits, this city was now completely isolated.
A Kraken was in the sea, and all the paths connected to the outside were blocked by the bandits. The only thing remaining was the dangerous mountain range. The residents had no other choice but to stay in the city.
The residents who fled were attacked by the bandits and had their possessions taken.
The ones who didn’t flee were buying food at high prices.
I planned on leaving the city after I squeezed every last bit of money from all the residents of this city. Then at this point, the Adventurer’s Guild started handing out free wolf meat to them.
Thanks to that, there were some foolish customers who started asking us to lower the prices or even give out free food.
Just a while ago, the adventurers were barely able to procure some animals, so how were they able to get their hands on that many wolves so suddenly?
If I didn’t move fast, my earnings would disappear.
The information I was waiting for arrived on the night of the same day.
「I think the bear is suspicious.」
The subordinate who reported this looked like a fool in my eyes.
He actually was a fool, so it couldn’t be helped.
「You... Are you making fun of me?」
「No, not at all. There is a girl wearing a Bear Suit.」
「Wearing a Bear Suit?」
There was someone who wore something strange like that?
「Yes, after a thorough investigation, it seems that she arrived in the city yesterday.」
「She arrived without being attacked by the bandits?」
Was there someone else who came with this bear girl?
「The story I heard said that she crossed the mountain alone.」
「Are you an idiot? Are you saying that she crossed THIS mountain!?」
「I heard this from the gatekeeper, so I think there is no doubt. He said that she saved two residents who tried to cross the mountain. The next day, a number of people saw this bear on the beach. There were some who saw her entering the Adventurer’s Guild.」
「And just afterwards, a huge quantity of wolves appeared.」
「Yes, that’s right.」
Who the hell was this bear...
If she was able to transport so many wolves, that meant she had a huge item bag.
If we disregarded her clothes, the fact that she was able to cross the mountain range and had an item bag that could contain that many wolves meant that she was a high rank adventurer.
「How old is this Bear girl?」
「She is short, around 12 or 13 years old, it seems.」
I thought that she would be at the end of her 20s or the beginning of her 30s, but she was just a brat.
「Are you making fun of me? Are you saying that a brat like her could cross the mountain and bring that many wolves?」
A little girl who was just 12 years old? Don’t joke with me.
How could a brat like her possibly be able to cross the mountain range? Make your report after thinking a little about the contents you are babbling about. That was why I hated idiots like that.
However, as time passed, I received more information about the bear.
「According to a report from the ones who were watching the Adventurer’s Guild, a lot of wolf meat still remains. He even said that because of this, no one would go hunting tomorrow and would rather remain at the guild to dismantle the wolves.」
If they kept on bringing out more, my profits would really disappear.
No one would come to buy food from the Commerce Guild.
The only suspicious person was a girl wearing a Bear Suit.
「Did you find out where the Bear girl is?」
「Yes, she is staying at the inn.」
「This Macho’s inn?」
「Yes.」
「Then, we attack tonight. Gather four or five adventurers.」
I decided that we would attack the Bear girl’s sleeping place tonight.
If she had the wolves, I just had to steal them from her.
Even if she didn’t have any, it didn’t matter.
I just had to hand her over to the bandits to get rid of her. With how numerous they were, I was sure there were some that would like a brat like her.
In any case, if I didn’t take action, I would have no future.
Sadly, from the adventurers who were sent to the inn, none returned.