The Otherworld Conquest Method of a Reincarnated Porter Chapter 95 Part 1
Crimson Bear
It is a little cold in the tent in the early morning. Getting into October, the mornings and evenings are getting chilly, so I should have bought a quilt. Generally, we only do night camp in the labyrinth, so we only have a thin blanket. As I am checking the warmth of Mireia’s body, Mireia also leans closer to me with her eyes closed. Both of us were born into noble families and decided to run away from home. Perhaps because we have similar circumstances, we feel not only affection but also a variety of emotions.
After huddling together for a while, everyone seems to have woken up, and we can hear them talking outside the tent. Well then, I guess we should get ready to set off, too.
After finishing the breakfast provided to us, each adventurer is assigned an area of the forest to search. Perhaps because eight adventurers were killed yesterday, they don’t have the relaxed look they had yesterday. I guess they finally realize what a dangerous mission they are on.
Mireia and I set off into the forest to investigate our designated area of the forest. On the left and right, the other adventurers are entering the forest at a distance. Occasionally we encounter low-ranked monsters, but perhaps because we are going into the mountains with a large group of people, there are also some monsters that run away. The monsters we have encountered so far have never run away even when they are severely wounded, but I wonder if monsters have reasoning power as well. It would be nice if bears ran away when startled by humans, as they did in my previous life, but I doubt it will be that easy. After all, even the weakest bear has a rank of more than 40. For a bear, even the most experienced adventurers would probably be no more than prey.
We spent half a day searching the forest, but we did not see any bears. It is possible that there is no such thing as a superior species. We have lunch with the food we have taken with us and head back to the forest we have come from. Dusk has yet to descend when we make it back to the campsite.
「Hmm? The knights are nowhere to be seen. I wonder if a bear has shown up.」
「Maybe so. Mireia, ultimately, we are here to search for the bear. Let’s leave the subjugation of the bear to the knights and stay here.」
「Yes. But let’s be ready to get into action at any time.」
True enough, there is nothing better than being prepared. It is just that, we are not preparing to subjugate it, but to run away. I do not intend to fight head-on against a monster with a rank of over 50. The knight order should have been dispatched from Lambert, but I wonder if they have arrived yet.
I go around the encampment with Mireia and call out to the porters who are standing by. It seems that the knights have gone into action after receiving a notification that the bear has been spotted. We ask the direction in which the knights were headed, and then examine the situation. It is not yet four o’clock in the afternoon, and the sky is blue and cloudless. The forest is eerily quiet. If the bear were nearby, it should be engaged in a fierce battle with the knights, so although I have a somewhat bad feeling about it, the silence of the forest is not a bad thing.
Mireia stares at the forest with serious eyes next to me. Her profile is also beautiful. For the sake of her happiness, we need to get out of this town as soon as possible. We should leave the bear matter to the Knight Order of Lambert.
「Hmm, that’s …….」
Mireia notices something. When I focus my attention and watch out for the forest too, I see that a little distance away from the encampment, the bushes are rustling and swaying. As I put my hand on the hilt of my sword and keep a wary eye out, I see a knight coming toward us, wobbling on his feet. He is the leader of the knight order, the guy named Walton, who should be Mireia’s elder brother. Coming toward us with haggard eyes, as if he were about to cry, Walton is opening his mouth wide as he gasps for breath. I watch out for our surrounding area, but I see no other knights, so he seems to be the only one here.
「Elder brother!
「Ah, Mireia, Mireia, huff, huff, save me….」
Coming out of the forest, Walton is staggering toward us, but his legs are shaky, so we approach him to gather information. He seems to have no external injuries. Ugh, so stinky. Walton seems to have wet himself, and an intense smell of urine stings my nose.
「Elder brother, what in the world happened? Where are the other knights?」
「Aah, a bear, a bear was… Save me.」
It seems that upon encountering the bear, this guy escaped by himself, leaving the other knights to fight it. Even as Mireia asks him what happened and where the bear is over and over again, all he does is tremble, so we are getting nowhere. In the end, that guy ends up vomiting and soiling his own mithril alloy armor.
I ignore that guy and focus my attention on the forest. At the very least, the bear and the knights should be in the direction Walton came from.
「Sei, I’m going to take a look….」
「No! Absolutely no. We’ll stay here and wait for reinforcements from Lambert. We’re a party. Takin an independent action is absolutely forbidden.」
「… I understand.」
Mireia, who must be concerned about the knights’ condition, seems to want to go into the forest, but I will definitely prevent her from doing so. Let’s pray that the knights will subjugate the bear. Even if they failed to subjugate it, it would be nice if they could at least inflict a deep wound on it, but….
While I am examining the situation in the forest, I notice that the bushes are shaking and someone is approaching with a rustling sound. I wonder if it is the knights. The one on the other side of the bushes reveals its true identity.
It turns out to be a dark red bear. Despite the fact that it is walking on four legs, it is over two meters tall. If it were to stand on two legs, how tall would it be, I wonder? When the bear stands still and glares at us with a vicious look in its eyes, I feel as if I have had my heart seized by it and end up freezing in place. With blood drained from my head, I end up falling into a mental paralysis state. We will never be able to win against it. The embodiment of an overwhelming sense of intimidation that makes me feel that way is standing over there.
Mireia, who is standing next to me, doesn’t move an inch. Is she being seized by fear? Such a thing doesn’t really matter, let’s run away. It doesn’t matter even if Mireia despises me or calls me a coward. Even if I have to use Walton as bait and sacrifice the adventurers in the encampment, I will survive with Mireia. That is all that matters.
「Mireia! We’re getting out of here!」
「Guoooooo!」
Suddenly, the dark red bear rushes toward us with a roar. So fast! Won’t do it justice. The bear is approaching at a speed that inevitably makes me think that it is using instant step. Mireia and I quickly escape to our rear with backstep and draw our swords. Appraisal!
Crimson Bear, Rank 71
Rank 71, you say?! Even if we work together with the knights, I am not sure if we can beat such an opponent. The bear’s fur is stained dark red, which is probably in part due to the spurt of blood from the knights, but it seems to be its original color. It should have just been engaged in a battle with the knights, but it doesn’t seem to have any wounds on its body. Not good. We will never be able to win against it.
Fortunately, Walton, who is late in escaping, is unable to stand up due to fear and is crawling around at the crimson bear’s feet. We have no choice but to use him as bait and run away.
「Mireia, let’s run to the encampment! Run as fast as you can!」
「If we do that, there will be casualties among the people at the encampment, too. We’ll confront it here.」
「No! That guy’s rank is 71. We’ll never be able to win against it.」
「71….」
Damn it, now that it has come to this, I guess we have no choice but to flee in the opposite direction of the encampment, running along the highway toward Astoma. If we are lucky, perhaps we will run into the Lambert Knight Order that is heading this way.
Paying no mind to Walton, who is crawling while sprinkling pees around, the crimson bear glares at me and Mireia. Damn it, when I get glared at by the crimson bear, my whole body tenses up and I can’t move with fear. Is it using some kind of skill on us? Damn it, move, move.
Thanks for the chapter