Ch.397Chapter 397 – Information Gathering (4)

“Wait, stop! My shoulder’s breaking! My shoulder’s breaking! Stop, ah, okay, I’ll talk! I’ll talk! Please spare me!”

Noah, whose shoulder was grabbed by Sarah, screamed those words.

‘The technique is certainly effective.’

The guy who had seemed suspicious and inscrutable until just now had turned into a docile lamb.

As expected, etiquette instruction was Sarah’s specialty.

While I was thinking this, Sarah glanced at me, silently asking with her eyes if she should let him go, so I nodded.

Soon Sarah released Noah and naturally sat down beside me, while Noah, his composed expression now distorted, was clutching his shoulder.

I directed a question at Noah.

“Let me ask you this. Why is there a connection between what the lizardmen know and what you know?”

“Actually, I don’t know everything perfectly either… it’s just my prediction. If that’s good enough, I’ll tell you. Sigh…”

Noah massaged his shoulder, apparently in pain.

If he didn’t really know, he should have just said so instead of acting smart and getting punished for it.

He seemed to think the same thing, as he quietly muttered to himself that he should be more careful about being cocky.

“The reason is quite simple. In one way or another, the goal is to bring you to the Warrior’s Sanctuary.”

“In one way or another?”

“Let’s consider a hypothetical scenario.”

Noah raised a finger as he spoke.

It was the opposite hand from the one Sarah had grabbed.

“Let’s say someone damaged the inscription at the Warrior’s Sanctuary, or somehow concealed it. Would the message I just conveyed to you have been properly delivered?”

“That would be difficult.”

I couldn’t be certain exactly when it was left, but the Star-Gazing Priestess was active during the Demon War era.

A considerable amount of time had passed, so it wouldn’t be strange if it had been damaged for some reason.

“But seeing as it was delivered to you, it seems it wasn’t damaged after all.”

“There aren’t many beastkin who can go there, and honestly, most beastkin capable of reaching that place are more interested in fighting or training than in inscriptions or ruins.”

“They might have arranged for some level of restoration.”

Beatrice quietly added.

Then she narrowed her eyes and continued.

“But if they weren’t confident in that alone, they might have prepared one or two backup plans. That’s what you’re trying to say, isn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

Noah said with a smile.

“Perhaps the complete message left by that person exists separately, and that message has been divided and passed down in different places.”

“So one part is the inscription at the Warrior’s Sanctuary, and another is that prophecy the lizardmen mentioned?”

“It’s just speculation, but it’s not impossible.”

Noah said with a smile.

“Perhaps the prophecy passed down among the lizardmen is a slightly modified version of the Sword Saint’s message, left by someone who knew the original words.”

“Hmm.”

Sia’s face became thoughtful.

“So you’re saying we should investigate the lizardmen’s prophecy if possible.”

“You don’t know anything about the lizardmen’s prophecy either, do you?”

“No, I don’t. Actually, I first heard about it from all of you. This is the truth, so please spare my shoulder.”

Noah clutched his shoulder slightly as he responded to Chris.

His expression was normal when answering Chris, but judging by how his head was slightly turned toward Sarah, he seemed quite intimidated.

“You’re… really exaggerating the pain.”

Sarah said as if making an excuse.

I decided to just nod in agreement, not wanting to contradict Sarah and risk getting in trouble later.

“So, we’re back to where we started. Will you trust me now?”

“Kay?”

Eve looked at me as she asked.

I nodded, and Eve nodded back as she released Noah’s hand, while Sia untied Sonya’s arm.

Soon Noah smiled and rubbed his hands.

“Finally free at last. The air tastes sweet.”

“You make it sound like we locked you in a dungeon for three days.”

“It wasn’t a dungeon, but I did get a taste of hell, so it’s pretty similar.”

Noah joked with a smile in response to Beatrice’s sarcasm.

Then he looked at Sarah with an “oops” expression, and Sarah was smiling brightly at Noah.

“…That was a slip of the tongue. Please forgive me.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Seeing how he couldn’t move an inch against Sarah, it seemed he was traumatized.

As Noah was trying his best to smooth things over, a coughing sound came from behind.

“Ahem, cough!”

“The bear is awake.”

After Beatrice’s comment, we saw the bear beastkin we had tied up getting to his feet.

Unlike Noah or Sonya, who only had animal ears or horns on their heads, he had a complete bear head, making it difficult to read his expression. He was staring at us blankly, perhaps still disoriented.

But soon he seemed to grasp the situation and began twisting his body, straining against his bonds. When the ropes wouldn’t loosen, he started shouting at me.

“What kind of rope is this tough…! Untie me right now!”

“Was the beating not enough?”

When Sia muttered quietly, the bear beastkin trembled.

But surprisingly courageous, he shouted loudly.

“How dare you beat the messengers of Lord Baren like dogs on a hot summer day! Are you prepared for the consequences?!”

“Who is Baren?”

I turned to our newly disciplined informant and asked, and Noah nodded as he replied.

“He’s the current chief of the bear tribe. He’s a bear beastkin well-known in Bestia for successfully uniting the previously divided bear tribes.”

Noah raised a finger and continued.

“He was also a famous warrior who was highly regarded for his martial prowess, having held the position of Great Warrior a few years ago. That’s why almost all bear beastkin respect him.”

Noah spoke without hesitation, as if he knew this information well.

So, a few years ago he was a Great Warrior, which means he’s not one now.

“Did he lose his position as Great Warrior by being defeated by someone?”

“He was defeated by Lizanis, I’m told.”

That lizardman woman again.

Well, if there are only three Great Warrior positions, someone has to step down for another to rise.

While I was thinking this, the bear beastkin shouted loudly.

“Grr, the chief didn’t lose! That woman was just lucky!”

“As you can see, bear beastkin really hate Lizanis. Their chief, who was practically their pride, was defeated one-sidedly.”

Based on Noah’s explanation and that reaction, this Baren seemed to be quite respected.

Then Noah suddenly looked at our group as if remembering something, and smiled as he spoke.

“By the way, Baren has a daughter named Jusha. Unlike her father, she’s a cute beastkin with bear ears on her head, a promising little one with a bright future.”

“I don’t need that information.”

But the way he spoke as if he had seen her made me think he probably had.

Still, I didn’t understand why he was telling me this.

“That’s surprising. I thought given the beautiful ladies around you, surely…”

“Enough.”

Feeling I needed to shut him up, I raised my hand and subtly pointed at Sarah, and Noah nodded and stopped talking.

I turned back to the bear beastkin and asked.

“So why did you attack us, bear?”

“Attack?”

“Don’t play dumb. We already know you came in a group and attacked our carriage.”

I took a strong approach to intimidate him, and the bear beastkin began to growl.

“We didn’t attack! We were just trying to escort you respectfully!”

“Do people who want to ‘escort respectfully’ come pointing weapons?”

Sia asked incredulously.

The bear beastkin shouted loudly.

“The chief told us to escort you respectfully, and we followed that order! In a warrior’s way!”

“Translate that.”

I asked Noah, who nodded again.

“So, it seems the chief told them to escort you respectfully, and these guys thought they would do it in a warrior’s way.”

“…And the warrior’s way is?”

“Well, you know.”

Noah looked at me with a somewhat resigned expression.

“They thought they would defeat you all like warriors and respectfully take you as prisoners.”

“Are all beastkin like this?”

More importantly, how does one interpret instructions that way?

Between the lizardmen interpreting that problematic prophecy strangely and these guys, I was beginning to wonder if their thinking gets impaired when they get excited, or if they’re just naturally like this.

Noah smiled and said.

“Not all of them are like that. There are plenty of beastkin who think quite well… though I can’t deny there are many who aren’t so bright…”

Noah spoke as if apologetic.

“As a beastkin myself, I think it’s reasonable to view this situation as an accident caused by the bear tribe’s messengers misunderstanding their orders.”

“It’s hard to just let it go as an accident.”

After all, we were attacked.

I didn’t want to unnecessarily increase our enemies, but it also didn’t feel right to act as if the attack never happened.

If we appeared too docile, such incidents might happen again.

We should at least leave a message that this won’t be tolerated again.

As I was pondering this, Eve, who had been quietly listening, looked at me and spoke.

“While it’s problematic to overlook the bear tribe’s discourtesy, I’m more concerned about why the bear tribe chief ordered them to bring us in the first place.”

“If we don’t know the reason, and if that issue isn’t resolved, the bear beastkin might target us again.”

Eve and Sarah each said a word.

Normally, I would have to consider that aspect and determine a careful response.

But now I had a pretty good idea.

“Noah.”

“Yes.”

“The fact that I defeated Lizanis has spread quite a bit, hasn’t it?”

“It might be too much to say it’s spread throughout all of Bestia, but it’s likely already reached the border areas and the ears of powerful tribes. Hard as it may be to believe, some beastkin use magical tools to transmit news to their tribes.”

Noah said the news would have spread like wildfire, day and night.

‘The bear tribe chief was defeated by Lizanis a few years ago and stepped down from the Great Warrior position.’

And judging by the bear beastkin’s intense reaction, the bear beastkin probably consider this very humiliating.

The purpose was obvious.

“Kay, have you figured something out?”

“I have a general idea of what’s going on.”

After answering Chris, I approached the bear beastkin we had captured.

I asked with a slightly forceful tone.

“Your chief told you to escort us respectfully. Is that true?”

“Yes!”

They probably wanted to use us somehow to get back at Lizanis.

As Noah suggested, this incident was likely an accident caused by subordinates going overboard contrary to the chief’s intentions.

“Noah. Is it difficult to reach the snow fields by going through bear tribe territory?”

“No. They’re almost right next to the snow fields. The path to the Warrior’s Sanctuary will be a bit longer, but it’s fine.”

Noah added that bear beastkin often enter the snow fields for training.

This is enough to make use of their discourtesy.

“Kay, are you thinking…?”

“Since they called for us, we should respond.”

I spoke to my companions.

Then, with a bit of a smile, I said.

“Since it seems to be on our way anyway, let’s make sure we get a good deal out of this.”

+

At a location some distance from Kay’s group.

Several bear beastkin covered in wounds were huddled together.

“We… we nearly died.”

“What was that woman…”

The bear beastkin were treating their wounded bodies, licking their wounds, applying medicine, and bandaging to stop bleeding, all with dejected expressions.

“She’s a monster, a monster. How can she swing a greatsword like it’s a twig?”

“And her strength. I don’t think there’s a stronger woman out there.”

“I agree. If there is, I’ll cook my own intestines.”

“That’s such an old saying…”

The bear beastkin were venting their complaints about Sia, who had single-handedly left them in shambles.

However, none of them truly wanted to be hostile toward her.

“Tsk, there’s probably no place with more fights than here. Where did such a monster come from?”

“And asking if we were provoking her because we outnumbered her… she was confident in her skills.”

“Honestly, I don’t want to fight her again.”

The bear beastkin had already lost their will to fight after facing Sia.

They had learned with their bodies that they couldn’t win even if they fought again.

“Even while angry, she controlled her strikes so our wounds would heal with just first aid.”

“It reminds me of when our chief lost the Great Warrior position to Lizanis. The world is wide, and there are many strong ones.”

“Don’t ever mention that. Got it? Never mention that.”

The bear beastkin quickly silenced the slip of the tongue, though they somewhat agreed.

They were known as excellent warriors in Bestia.

But there were always those who were stronger.

Proud beastkin might be reluctant to admit it, but having experienced their chief’s defeat, the bear beastkin were quick to accept the fact that there were always stronger beings.

But that was that.

The bear beastkin’s faces darkened.

“…How do we report this?”

One bear beastkin muttered.

“We have the magical tool. The communication tool that human slave had.”

“No, not that. How do we report that we failed the mission?”

“You should do it, vice-captain. You’re the acting captain since the captain was taken by them for information.”

“No, that’s not the issue… sigh.”

The one who was the vice-captain among them muttered.

“The chief and Lady Jusha emphasized bringing them respectfully, but we failed.”

“Yes.”

“The chief was really looking forward to bringing them… but if we report that we failed…”

“The chief is usually a good person, but scary when angry.”

The bear beastkin sighed.

“…Let’s report to Lady Jusha first.”

One bear beastkin quietly suggested.

Another bear beastkin frowned slightly and said.

“She’s still young. You want us to report to her?”

“Do you look down on Lady Jusha? Everyone says she’s the smartest in our tribe. Other beastkin have actually acknowledged her intelligence.”

“And she’s kind. I heard she takes care of the slaves herself, saying they should be treated well, and the slaves really appreciate her.”

“Some call her the future of the bear tribe. Are you disrespecting her, vice-captain?”

The vice-captain bear beastkin sighed and said.

“I just don’t want to burden someone so young… but fine. Let’s report to her first.”

The vice-captain bear beastkin said dejectedly.

“We failed because of our inadequacy, so it’s shameful to face her, but let’s report to her and seek her advice.”

“Good. Do it, vice-captain.”

Grumbling that anyone watching would think the vice-captain had the lowest rank, the vice-captain quickly activated the magical tool.

And shortly after.

A voice came from the magical tool.

“Hello?”

“Lady Jusha. It’s us. The ones who went after those who defeated Lizanis…”

“Oh, it’s you all?”

The vice-captain bear beastkin felt his heart sink at the cute, small voice that hadn’t even gone through puberty yet.

Still, he steeled himself.

“How did it go? Did the invitation go well? Are they with you now? If so…”

“Um, about that…”

The bear beastkin quietly explained the situation.

And shortly after.

A small voice came from the magical tool.

“…Excuse me, did I hear that correctly?”

“Yes.”

The vice-captain bear beastkin quietly said.

“All ten of us were defeated. We failed to escort them respectfully.”

“I was asking about something before that.”

The girl’s voice, slowly, as if checking something frightening in a box, asked with a slightly trembling voice.

“You tried to fight them in a warrior’s way to escort them… what is this about?”

“As you said. Since the chief told us to escort them respectfully, in a warrior’s way…”

“No, why did you do such a thing?!”

A scream-like sound erupted from the magical tool.

“I told you! Since they’re not beastkin, they would definitely misunderstand if you approached them in a warrior’s way, so absolutely don’t think about drawing weapons! I wanted to tell you to leave them behind, but I reluctantly allowed it because you might be attacked by other beastkin if you did!”

“Um.”

“I barely stopped Dad when he initially wanted to proceed strangely, saying ‘such warriors must surely enjoy fighting’! We could end up making enemies with a man even stronger than Lizanis, following the lizardmen!”

The scream had an almost crying voice mixed in.

Soon, as if unable to hold back, the young voice shouted loudly.

“You all, are you stupid?! You are stupid!! You stupid bears have ruined our tribe!! I can’t live like this!!!!”

The bear beastkin bowed their heads solemnly.

The young bear beastkin’s crying-like voice continued to echo through the magical tool for a while, but no one could calm her down.