Ch.398Chapter 398 – To Catch a Bear (1)

A few days after Kay’s group met Noah.

In the territory of the Bear Tribe situated before the snowy plains, specifically in the most populated and developed area that could be called the capital of the Bear Tribe, a female bear beastman was clutching her head in distress.

“What should I do, what am I going to do…!”

Jusha, the daughter of the Bear Tribe’s chief, muttered with a face that looked like she might cry at any moment.

Not yet an adult, she had an appearance closer to cute than beautiful, with bear ears near the top of her head and a mostly human-like appearance typical of beastmen.

The girl, who held a position equivalent to a princess of the Bear Tribe, was now overwhelmed with the urge to cry after seeing the report that had just arrived.

Though the handwriting was messy, the report was still legible, and it contained a very simple message.

“Humans coming to the capital.”

‘They must be coming here angry…!’

Normally, she wouldn’t have thought this way.

Bear beastmen were among the physically strongest of all beastmen in Bestia, and anyone who came to pick a fight in this place where so many of them gathered would essentially be asking for death.

This place was where the greatest warriors of the Bear Tribe congregated, not to mention her father, the tribe chief, who had once held the position of Great Warrior.

But the humans who were coming now weren’t just any humans.

‘These are the humans that even that monster Lizanis couldn’t handle…!’

Jusha recalled the female lizardman who had instantly taken the Great Warrior position that her father had once held.

She was a female warrior of monstrous strength who wielded a large halberd with magnificent power.

And Jusha had already received news that this powerful female warrior couldn’t even land a single effective hit before being defeated.

Because it was such an extraordinary matter, a report had immediately been sent via magical device, and after discussing it with her father, they had decided to recruit these humans right away.

Normally, given her age, Jusha’s opinions would have been dismissed as childish, but she was an unusual beastman who loved studying despite being physically weaker than most bear beastmen. Because of this, her knowledge was respected almost as much as the tribe elders’, making her input valuable.

In fact, she was widely regarded as the Bear Tribe’s greatest hope, a reputation that had spread both openly and quietly.

It was because of her position that she had been able to immediately suggest bringing these humans into an alliance.

Her determination to bring them in as allies was also related to the recent political situation.

‘I need to bring them in as allies, to recover our territory and drive out Lizanis…’

Recently, the lizardmen had been expanding their territory by waging war against tribes near the snowy plains, and as a result, the Bear Tribe had lost some of their territory.

Seeing how aggressively the lizardmen were attacking other territories, Jusha predicted that they would eventually wage all-out war against the Bear Tribe.

The only reason the lizardmen hadn’t formally declared war against the Bear Tribe yet was that if the Bear Tribe fought with all their might, they could inflict significant damage on the lizardmen even if they lost, and because Lizanis was currently attacking elsewhere.

Jusha wanted to settle things before a full-scale war broke out.

She had planned to quickly bring in Kay’s group to recover their territory and, if possible, defeat Lizanis again to curb the lizardmen’s ambitions.

For this purpose, she had desperately managed to stop her father from interfering with strange ideas like showing off the greatness of their warriors or displaying their power to attract attention.

‘In exchange, my suggestion to personally go escort them was rejected…’

Still, she was satisfied that she had prevented her father’s bizarre ideas and had carefully selected warriors for the mission, repeatedly instructing them to respectfully escort the humans.

The young girl, who had accomplished so much, held onto hope because she had managed to block her father’s absurd ideas and because the other tribes hadn’t yet made a move.

All that remained was to pray for the success of the operation.

And the operation had failed.

‘How on earth does “respectfully show the warrior’s strength and bring them as honored guests” get reinterpreted as that…!!’

Jusha wanted to summon the bear beastmen involved in the operation and lecture them.

Honestly, she wanted to hit each of them on the head, but since she was physically weak and young, she couldn’t physically discipline the bear beastmen, which was why she would have to settle for a lecture.

Anyway, she couldn’t immediately summon them due to the physical distance.

So she had ordered the failed operatives to immediately follow Kay’s group, instructing them to just follow without revealing themselves and not to escalate the situation further.

This was at least to keep tracking their whereabouts.

‘…What should I do?’

Jusha racked her brain.

‘At least it was fortunate that I sent the innocent slaves out of the capital.’

This was because Jusha had earnestly persuaded everyone that the incoming humans would not look favorably upon seeing human slaves walking around.

‘Thanks to that, we won’t have to forcibly involve those people in the Bear Tribe’s problems.’

The slaves were following her orders and control for now.

Despite the practical issues, Jusha had always treated the slaves well, partly because she secretly wished to end the slave system, which was already abolished in countries outside Bestia.

‘At least we won’t make a worse impression because of that issue.’

Calming herself by thinking of this one fortunate aspect, Jusha continued to think.

She was considering whether to set up a defense system or to quietly welcome them and kneel if necessary, explaining that their intentions had been miscommunicated.

‘…A defense system won’t work. It would be a bad move. They’re probably already angry because we attacked them, and if we show more hostility, they might get even angrier.’

To begin with, it was uncertain whether the Bear Tribe could withstand these humans without casualties, given that even Lizanis couldn’t handle them.

There might be a chance if they overwhelmed them with numbers and accepted losses, but Jusha couldn’t judge how severe those losses might be.

If the losses exceeded a certain level and weakened the tribe’s overall fighting power, they would inevitably face invasion from the lizardmen, especially Lizanis herself.

Since they had already angered the humans they were trying to recruit, they couldn’t expect any support, and facing Lizanis with only the Bear Tribe’s strength would result in even greater sacrifices.

Jusha particularly wanted to avoid this situation.

‘…Because if we make a mistake, Dad might die.’

The only bear beastman who could hold off the Great Warrior Lizanis was her father.

And given that he had already been defeated once, his chances of winning against Lizanis were low.

He survived last time, but this time he might die.

‘Fighting is absolutely out of the question.’

Therefore, Jusha abandoned the idea of organizing a defense force.

That left only one option.

‘Kneeling and begging for forgiveness… huh.’

It would hurt their pride, but it wouldn’t cause conflict.

With luck, if they could appease the humans, they might avoid making them enemies.

However, this approach also had problems.

‘…If we go that far, members of the Bear Tribe might become discontented.’

It was good to sacrifice pride to avoid making immediate enemies while thinking of the future.

However, that act could affect the morale and loyalty of other Bear Tribe members.

For high-ranking representatives of the tribe to humble themselves was not something to be taken lightly.

If her father were to kneel, it might lead to people looking down on him or becoming discontented with his submission to others, potentially causing rebellion.

Showing sincerity was good, but it could destabilize the tribe.

‘But to have that much effect, it would have to be Dad who does it.’

Jusha was quietly making a decision.

‘…I’ll end it at my level.’

It would hurt her pride, but if she, not the chief, did it, any discontent could somehow be managed.

After all, the responsibility lay with her for choosing the wrong people while trying to bring in these humans.

She was willing to kneel as much as needed.

Having thought this far, Jusha suddenly felt sad about her young age.

‘…If I were an adult, I might have had other options…’

She lamented that if she were older, she might have found other ways to resolve the situation.

‘…I wanted to be with someone handsome, kind, and who would protect me by holding me tight in dangerous times, just like Dad… but of course, as the chief’s daughter, such desires are a luxury…’

After briefly indulging in girlish thoughts, Jusha quickly shook her head and returned to her original train of thought.

Thinking she had indulged in improper thoughts, she cleared her throat and quickly decided on her next action.

‘First, let’s create an opportunity to apologize.’

Having made this decision, Jusha rose to her feet.

She was going to speak with her father to share her opinion.

And at that moment.

Her father entered the room.

“My daughter Jusha!!! Daddy’s here to see you!!!”

“Your voice is too loud, Dad!!”

Jusha shouted at the massive bear beastman who had entered her room.

Unlike Jusha, who had a pretty human face with bear ears protruding from the top, her father had the head of a bear.

Looking at them, one might wonder how these two could be father and daughter, given their vastly different appearances.

It wasn’t that Jusha was adopted; she simply took after her mother.

“Anyway, why did you come in, Dad?”

“I’ve received news about those adventurers!”

Baren, the chief of the Bear Tribe, said with a smile.

“They’re coming straight here from the border! It seems our invitation was successful!”

“…What?”

She hadn’t reported about that yet.

Moreover, if someone had reported through a different route, they wouldn’t have said it was successful.

Jusha immediately asked.

“Who… who reported such a thing…?”

“I didn’t receive a report! I just happened to hear that they were coming this way and guessed!”

It seemed the information she had obtained was also circulating outside.

Jusha felt dizzy.

‘I need to tell the truth now and advise setting up an opportunity to apologize.’

It would be too late if she delayed any further.

Jusha’s intuition was telling her so.

And her intuition was already too late.

“So! I just came from ordering all troops to arm themselves!”

“What?”

“As warriors, we must show our swords, spears, and claws to demonstrate our strength to each other! I was preparing to directly showcase our Bear Tribe’s powerful army!”

“Wait, that’s—!”

“There have also been reports of suspicious movements from the lizardmen lately! It’s time to show the world that we are superior warriors to those creatures!”

He wasn’t listening at all.

Jusha felt her head going blank.

“So! I was thinking, while I wear the armor I used to wear in my prime, you should wear matching armor that I had made for you, to show our harmonious father-daughter relationship…”

“Dad, please don’t escalate things!!”

Once again, Jusha felt like crying.

+

“It looks like the bears are preparing for an all-out battle.”

From a hill overlooking the Bear Tribe’s capital, Beatrice spoke.

We had stopped the carriage to take a short break before entering the capital and had lit a fire.

Of course, Sera was using a tube-like device to prevent smoke from escaping, and the smoke from the campfire was being sucked directly into the tube.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I saw it with magic. They’re suddenly bustling about, putting on armor and taking up weapons.”

Beatrice said quietly.

“They’re quite impressive to know we’re coming and prepare like this, aren’t they?”

“Well, it’s understandable.”

Eve said with a smile.

“Since we deliberately left the bear beastmen who were following us alone, they must certainly know we’re coming here, right?”

As Eve said.

We had deliberately left the bear beastmen who were following us alone.

Normally we wouldn’t have done that, but this time it was intentional to let the bears know our location.

“I wanted to see how they would act when we got close, but to think they’d arm their entire force.”

“This suggests they have hostile intentions toward us.”

Sera quietly responded to my words.

Soon, Chris asked hesitantly.

“So, will this turn into a fight after all?”

“If they’re not just playing around, it might.”

Sia answered Chris’s question.

Then Sia looked at Noah and asked.

“So what do you think?”

“I don’t understand why Jusha would make such a choice.”

Noah put his hand to his chin, deep in thought.

“She would know that fighting could potentially cost her father’s life. I don’t think that clever but kind child would make such a choice…”

“…Aren’t you praising that bear beastman too much, Noah?”

“That’s because you haven’t seen her yet, Sonya.”

Noah smiled at the seemingly jealous Sonya.

“Some people describe Jusha as a mutant born in the Bear Tribe, the future of the Bear Tribe. I also thought she was remarkable when I saw her.”

“If she’s that kind of person, should we assume she’s made these preparations because she thinks she has some advantage?”

Noah nodded at my words.

He was saying they wouldn’t act this way without a plan.

“Kay, what are you going to do?”

“We’ll do as we discussed earlier.”

I smiled at Eve’s question.

“Let’s get closer, ask them to call their leader, and have a sincere conversation.”

“I was hoping this would go smoothly, but it seems that won’t be the case.”

Eve didn’t say anything more, as if she had anticipated this.

Then Chris quietly asked me.

“But if we just approach, won’t they shoot arrows at us?”

“We’re lucky to have a friend who will block the arrows for us, so it’s fine.”

I grinned as I looked at the captured bear beastman prisoner.

Beatrice also grinned as she looked at the bear beastman.

I was wearing a helmet so my expression wasn’t visible, but the bear beastman could see Beatrice grinning, which made him tremble slightly as he spoke to me.

“W-what are you planning to do?!”

“It’s time for you to earn your keep for all the meals you’ve eaten as our prisoner, bear.”

Leaving the frightened bear beastman, I looked at the Bear Tribe members ahead.

Watching them still bustling about and arming themselves, I quietly said.

“Focus on subduing them as we discussed earlier.”

“Yes.”

After Sera’s response, I turned my gaze forward again.

Changing our weapons to staffs, we slowly walked toward the bear beastmen.