68-058 I met a bear in the forest

After that, we kept looking for magic mushrooms while collecting medicinal herbs, and we found two fallen trees with magic mushrooms. And in the second place, we found a big one, over 10 centimeters long, and we were very happy.

But then, there was a reaction to my "spying". Judging from the size of the reaction and the direction it was moving, it was probably a Weipu Bear!

"Enemy!　Probably a vipu bear!

"Whoa!　It's here at last!　The reaction is ...... over there.

The first to react, Toya, quickly draws his sword and stands on that side, looking for a reaction himself.

"Nao and Natsuki, please. Yuki, you cover me.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay!

Haruka moved to the nearby tree tops, and Yuki stood by her side with an iron bar.

After a few moments of waiting, the figure of a vipu bear came into view through the trees.

"Oh, big .......

The one who let out the words was Yuki.

Natsuki didn't say anything, but her mouth was tied in a knot as she stared at the vipu bear with a serious face, her spear at the ready.

It's about the same size as that time. ...... Just right. Haruka, Nao, can you wait a little while for backup?

"...... fine.

Can you do it?

I will.

I'll do it." Toya made her move just as Weipu Bear, who had been cautiously approaching on four legs, was about to stand up on two legs.

"Seiyaaaa!

A roar that seemed to echo through the forest.

A roar that echoed through the forest. The vipu bear stopped moving for a moment, and Toya rushed into it with quick movements.

And then, in one swift motion, he swings his blue iron sword down.

Crack!

"Ugh!

I didn't look away from the enemy, but I got a good look at him.

Toya's sword plunged into Weipu Bear's skull, and at that moment, his eyeballs popped out - no, let's not go into detail.

The next moment, as he was about to stand up, Vaipu Bear's body leaned forward and he fell to the ground with a heavy thud. That's it.

"You got it?

"Don't try to flag me!　There was a response. It's not a demon, it's not going to survive in this state.

No, I didn't think it was a flag. ...... I said it just for the sake of it. Toya would have killed him easily.

Is it my fault?　--I'm not sure what to make of it, but I think it's a good idea. It's a lie if you can't kill a bear with it.

I'm sure you're right, but when I think of the hardships I went through with ......

I'm not so sure about the blow.

I went up to him and poked him with my spear, but he didn't budge a bit.

"Toya, you're so strong!　I was pretty scared.

"Yes. To be honest, it was more than I expected.

That's what happens when an enemy of this size turns on you for the first time. I think Natsuki can defeat it, but he'll have to get used to its power. It's our second time.

"It was terrible the first time, the fur was torn up. We'll get a good price this time.

Haruka takes out a knife and begins to peel the skin off. She has gotten used to it. Because of its size, Toya and I will help.

"What about the meat?

"It was cheap, wasn't it? It was cheap, but the quantity made it worth the price.

But it's a shame to throw it away, isn't it?　It's almost noon. It's almost noon, and the most we can hunt for task boars is two. Considering the number of people we've got, ......

That's right, we'll be carrying more stuff.

I've only picked herbs and mushrooms today, so my backpack isn't even full enough for one person. If we work hard, we may be able to bring it back.

Then, let's break up the meat. Can we eat the heart and liver?

"Let's take it to Aella. I've made a magic bag.

That's a good idea. We can carry them fresh.

The disassembled meat was packed into Toya and I's backpacks first, but we couldn't fit it all in, so we all had to share the load.

...... I guess we'll just have to go home, huh?

Right?

There's almost no room for the boar. To tell the truth, I'm pretty full of it.

Haruka and Natsuki have more room, but that's because they put them in "light weight" bags before putting them in their backpacks. My backpack and Toya's are "slow time" bags that prioritize freshness, so the weight is the same.

No, I can handle it. I'll carry it.

I'm not too heavy, so I can carry it. ......

I'm not too heavy, but I can carry it," said Toya, who wanted to eat the boar, and Natsuki, who had more room thanks to the Light Weight, but they were carrying something bulky. You can never move fully.

"The problem is that it limits our movement. Let's just head out of the forest and see if we can find them on the way.

That's fine. Nao, good luck with that.

As long as they're within my range, okay?　I didn't get a hit coming in, so it's going to be a little difficult.

Maybe there are fewer task boars.

Or it could be that the vipu bears are having an effect.

However, just before I left the forest, a task boar-like response was caught just within my search range, and I had to hunt it down and return home.

I'm not sure what to say.

Aella, I'm sorry to bother you at such a busy time.

No, it's not even noon yet, and I've already made lunch, so don't worry.

Since then, we had been running back to the city from the forest, following Toya's advice that it would be good training.

But I guess Toya's true intention was to go back to the city and have a good meal. He suggested that they go to Aella's restaurant right away.

Well, I don't have any complaints about that, but apart from Toya, who took the initiative to take half of the boar meat, I was the biggest victim of this "training".

To put it bluntly, if we were to compare the physical strength of the five of us, Haruka would be at the bottom, followed by me or Yuki. And yet, Toya is the second strongest.

And yet, I'm second only to Toya, so it's tough. It was a little pathetic, but I should have asked Natsuki to take over. Natsuki asked me, "Shall I take over? But I was too stubborn. --Maybe we should be more equal from now on.

I brought in some meat, would you like to take a look?

Yes, of course.

I've got a problem with the task boar, but I've got a problem with the vipu bear. ......

Oh, yeah. If you don't treat it well, it can have a bad smell. ...... Go to the kitchen.

Aera urged us to go to the kitchen, where she showed us each a piece of vipe bear meat.

You can eat this kind of fresh meat if you cook it well. If you simply cook it, it will be tough and difficult to eat.

Unlike the wild boar, the price of the meat reflects the effort required to cook it.

The meat of the task boar was good enough to be salted and roasted.

The heart and liver are not usually eaten. You didn't remove the gallbladder, did you?　You can sell it for medicine.

Apparently, the gallbladder was taken from the wrong place. It was a rather painful mistake, because the price of the liver was quite high.

The heart and liver were discarded because Ms. Aera, a good cook, would not eat them.

I see. Thank you, Mr. Aera. Do you want bear meat?　I'll take about 10 kilos as a thank you. See?

Haruka and the others nodded when I asked for their agreement.

It would be a small price to pay for the advice given the quantity.

No, no, we'll pay you!　But, yes, can I have 20 kilos each of bear and boar?

"Yeah. Cut them up as you see fit.

I got two gold coins for both. That's a little more than selling them to the guild, but less than Aella's price at the butcher shop.

It could have been a little cheaper, but he said, "It's cheaper than the butcher. In return, I pushed the boar's motsu on him. The motsu was not for sale, and we had no place to cook it, so there was no loss.

Well, the motsu was served for lunch, and the lunch fee was free, so we ended up with a good profit.

I'm not sure what to say.

"Mr. Diora, can you buy it for me?

"Oh, you're early today, aren't you?

"Yes, I've already killed a vipu bear.

We've been taking it easy at Aella's place, but it's still a little after noon. It's still a little after noon, a few hours earlier than when we usually finish hunting.

Oh, if you bring back vipe bear meat, you won't be able to have anything else. But that's not the point. Did you find the magic mushrooms?

"Yes, to a point?

I don't know if we're getting too much or too little, but we did find one over ten centimeters, so I'm hoping for the best.

"Let's go to the back, shall we?

Diora stood up from the counter and urged me to go to the warehouse at the back of the guild.

Normally, Diora-san would go through the formalities at the counter and carry the items, but seeing that there were five of us and each of our backpacks were full, she seemed to have changed her mind.

In the warehouse, there is a large desk where a man is working.

We'll start with the meat, please.

"Yes.

We take the meat and place it on the table.

"And Weipu Bear and Tusk Boar? Their pelts are magnificent. Not a scratch on it.

They were beaten to death. It may have been a little cut from the blow to the head, but Toya's sword is basically a weighted smash, so it doesn't look like a crisp.

It seems that it is not Diora but another man who does the proper assessment, weighing the flesh, checking the condition of the skin, and writing down the numbers on the board at hand.

When he had finished with all of them, he showed them to Mr. Diora and explained them to him.

Diora nodded and came back to me.

"Okay, I'm done. The flesh and skin of the vipe bear, the flesh and skin of the task boar, and the tusks. Total price is 30,600 rares. That's a pretty good price for such beautiful fur.

The next item is herbs.

As Yuki pulled out the herbs from her backpack, Diora quickly checked them and wrote down the numbers.

The man is also checking after Diora has checked, but it seems that Diora's role is to price them.

"Is it more?　Let's see, that's 11,440 Reais in total. As usual, not a single wrong herb is included. I'm impressed.

"No, no. No, no, no. Even you, Diora, are able to check everything.

I'm a professional... well, you're all professionals in a way, aren't you?

Diora-san smiles and bows her head lightly.

Perhaps the medicinal herbs brought in by ordinary adventurers contain some mistakes. You can't tell them apart from similar weeds without [help].

I'm sure you'll be able to find the right one.

In the event that you're not sure what to do, you'll be able to find out by yourself.

I'm sure you'll be able to find something that will help you. I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that.

The next thing is the magic mushrooms.

There are 35 magic mushrooms on the desk. One of them was over 10 centimeters long.

One of them was over 10 centimeters long. "How could you ...... even get one this big? Haruka-san, have you gone deep into the forest?

No?　About the same as usual, but much further than the deepest dindle tree. Is there something wrong?

It's not strange, it's just that sometimes, in a good year... Even in the shallow parts of the forest, there are years when the magic mushrooms are abundant. When that happens, the rookie death rate goes up because the vipu bears inevitably come out to the shallow parts of the forest.

As in the original world, it seems that in this world too, there is a hit year.

If it was just the mushrooms, it would be a 'thank goodness' story, but when it's accompanied by vipu bears, it's a disaster for normal people.

But Diora, are there any other rookies besides us?　I don't see any.

"Yes, there are. There are a couple. Both of them come to the guild at different times than you do.

We don't often come to the guild in the morning, and we don't sell until late afternoon or early evening. It's much earlier than when most people finish work.

This is to allow time for training, but we're certainly not like normal adventurers.

I haven't met any of them in the forest, but considering the fact that there are miles and miles of road facing the city, it's probably not surprising that I haven't seen any of them.

I'm sure Haruka and the others have encountered vipu bears before. We should be more careful than just putting up flyers to warn people.

It's not often that we come across a vipu bear, but we did in a few days.

I wondered if that vipu bear had come out to prepare the kindling for the magic mushrooms.

A bear that chops down trees a year in advance to make kindling for the mushroom harvest. It sounds like a heartwarming story, but when you actually meet them, they kill each other.

And we're the ones who get to keep the profits. He's a bad guy.

I'm sorry, that was an appraisal. The price of magic mushrooms is basically determined by the size of the umbrella, as long as it's not badly damaged.

The price of magic mushrooms is determined by the size of the umbrella.

But the price goes up when the umbrella grows over 10 centimeters. Most of them are eaten before they grow to that size. I'm impressed that you haven't picked anything below the limit.

That's thanks to Toya's [appraisal].

Yes, the total is ......46,300 rares.

That's expensive!　By the way, what's this big one?

"That's 12,000 rares. The others are between 800 and 1,300 rares.

If it's over 10 centimeters, the price will go up tenfold!

There was one that was about eight centimeters long, but it was still 1,300 rares, right?　The inflation rate is amazing.

It's all cash, right?

Oh, yes, please.

All right. I'll bring the money to the counter, please.

So we went back to the counter, and got 88 gold coins at once.