41 – Monster Protection Society

――――On the road leading to the capital.

Riding on horseback, I was leading the way at a slow pace.

“What do you all think?”

I asked Omonell and the others, who were riding beside me.

“How could you say that!? These are the spoils of war achieved by none other than Prince  Brad.”

“Exactly! Why would you give them up?”

“With this victory, the Medal of the Golden Lion with Laurel Wreath is all but guaranteed, and to throw that away…boff…”

I expected them to disagree.

“Don’t worry. Siegfried will ensure your contributions are recognized.”

“Our contributions don’t matter.”

“Having Prince  Brad’s name echoed across not only our kingdom but throughout neighboring nations—that’s our greatest happiness!”

“Exactly! We would give up our own wealth for Prince Brad if needed—”

“You ignorant fools!!!”

“!!!”

As I felt a surge of emotion from their unwavering loyalty, Brad’s sharp voice rang out, startling even the soldiers behind us, causing them to stumble.

“These accomplishments are nothing but trash to me. I’ll generously hand them over to my pitiful brother. I have subordinates as excellent as you. It’s obvious that I can achieve military glory whenever I want!”

“Your words… are true, Prince Brad.”

“I am deeply… moved!”

“Boff… boff… Prince Brad…”

“Enough of this! Wipe those tears and stop sniveling like women!”

Brad scolded the three who were overcome with emotion, their faces a mess of tears, but I found the scene rather endearing.

As the soldiers rested and set up camp…

While walking along the riverbank, thinking I might try fishing, I came across a standoff between a wild boar and a bloody bear. Both creatures were over a ton in weight. It seemed the bloody bear was with her cubs and quite agitated.

Although this had nothing to do with me directly, if I left them alone, they could cause serious damage to the surrounding villages, so I decided to hunt them.

Wild boars are notorious for their reckless charges. They suddenly appear from the underbrush, charging without warning, so caution is necessary. Just recently, one of the soldiers was attacked by a smaller wild boar, suffering injuries.

That time, he was gored in the side, but luckily, the healer managed to save him. Still, it shows how dangerous these creatures are.

To draw the attention of the wild boar, I threw a stone about the size of a baseball as a warning. It would be great if this made it charge toward me…

The stone hit the wild boar squarely.

But the wild boar didn’t even flinch.

It seemed the stone I threw had punched a hole through its skull, and the boar collapsed on the spot…

So much for a “warning.”

Grrraaaaargh!!!

Witnessing the fall of the wild boar, the bloody bear rose up, lifting both its front paws in a threatening posture. Those paws were equipped with razor-sharp claws, a single swipe from which could be lethal.

“I have no intention of killing a mother with cubs. Leave this place, you fool!”

I glared at the bloody bear and tried talking to it, but… its massive five-meter body charged straight toward me.

“Beast or not, I suppose human words don’t reach you…”

I let the bloody bear’s charge come as close as possible, like a matador teasing a bull. Just as our noses nearly touched, I headbutted the bloody bear. I had always wanted to try wrestling a bear at least once in my life.

But then…

My body was covered in blood. Maybe I got careless and took a hit from the bloody bear after all.

If the healers find me quickly… wait, I don’t feel any pain.

Curious, I looked ahead to see the bloody bear lying on the ground, its forehead drenched in blood, sprawled out in a large “X” shape. Glancing at the cubs, I saw the two little ones scatter like spiders, retreating into the forest.

It seems I can’t even compare to Kintaro, the legendary bear-wrestler…

“Did Prince Brad really take it down!?”

“No, it was more of a mutual takedown. Both fell together.”

“What an incredible stroke of luck, bofooo!”

“Our lord is surely favored by the gods!”

I could have carried the bear myself, but that seemed like a lot of trouble, so I gave the trio a half-baked excuse and let them handle it.

While dozens of soldiers were working on draining the blood from the two monsters in preparation for a stew, a group carrying a suspicious-looking flag appeared.

“We are the Monster Protection Society, ‘The Order of the Bear Guardians!’ What you’re doing here is completely ignoring peaceful dialogue with the bears! This is an affront to the gods!!!”

“That’s right! That’s right!” came the chorus of voices.

I suddenly felt the urge to escape reality like a certain honey-loving bear. Really, could we at least keep such nonsense out of this fantasy world?

Now that I think about it, in the original story, Freesia and her companions went on a monster-hunting mission, but their efforts were constantly hindered by the Monster Protection Society. They couldn’t carry out their hunt effectively because of the group’s interference.

Freesia and the others had no choice but to hunt the monsters under the pressure of their responsibilities. Despite the interference of “The Order of the Bear Guardians,” they managed to succeed in their hunt, only to face harsh criticism from the society afterward.

“Omonel, Sontak, Kobiurl! Give these people a warm welcome!”

“At your command!!!”