Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear
chapter-659

Bear-san Finished Watching the Dismantling Event

Participants’ instructions were flying around while the wyverns were being dismantled at a tremendous pace.

It was difficult to say who was going to clearly win, in my opinion.

“Who do you think will win, Fina?” (Yuna)

I asked Fina who had the best dismantling skills of all of us.

“Well, maybe that old man over there.” (Fina)

Fina replied, a little worried.

It was the old man she had been eyeing on since the Wolf round.

He was not a notable dismantler, but he steadily led the competition with his dismantling.

“Fina-chan, why do you think that?” (Ellelaura)

“Well, because the people who are being instructed by him are doing the dismantling with ease.” (Fina)

Fina answered Ellelaura-san’s question earnestly.

The other group leaders were raising their voices as they gave their instructions, but only the group with the old man was quietly dismantling.

Their group exuded a different atmosphere from the rest.

“I think the dismantling is going smoothly because that old man is guiding his helpers in the process in more detail, while the other group leaders are focusing on dealing with the difficult parts of the dismantling and while only giving rough instructions to their helpers.” (Fina)

I understood what Fina was saying. Indeed, that old man had been guiding his helpers quietly, helping them with the dismantling processes, and then returning to his own dismantling part after a short while, over and over again.

The old man seemed to be moving as if he knew exactly what kind of work he should assign to his helpers and what kind of work he should do himself as helpers would have difficulty in dealing with them.

And Fina’s judgment was correct, the old man won the fourth round and advanced to the finals.

Two contestants made it to the finals.

I could already imagine what kind of monsters would be used in the finals. I think it could be the two cockatrices I once gave away to the Adventurers Guild.

And as expected, the monsters used in the finals were cockatrices, and the winner was, unsurprisingly again, the old man.

In the end, I did not see any new monsters. But the audience roared when the wyverns were presented, and when the cockatrices appeared, there were shrieks of surprise, fear, and all sorts of emotions from the crowd.

The winning old man was presented with a winner’s award, and the audience applauded.

“Fina, how was it? Did you learn a lot?” (Ellelaura)

“Yes, I still can’t do things as good as them, but it was nice to see how they deal with the wyverns and cockatrices, which I had never seen any in Crimonia.” (Fina)

“Well, even in the royal capital, you don’t get to see wyverns and cockatrices that often as well.” (Ellelaura)

Ellelaura-san chuckled at Fina’s comment.

“Next, following the instructions of the winner, Barog-san, the four other contestants that reached up to the fourth round will dismantle a very special monster.” (Master of ceremony)

At the Master of ceremony’s words, the giant Scorpion I had defeated appeared. The audience was buzzing at the sheer size of the scorpion.

“Oh, was that the one Yuna-chan defeated?” (Ellelaura)

Ellelaura-san, who knew about the giant Scorpion, asked me. She found out about it when I reported after returning from the desert.

A part of its shell had been removed, which somehow was the identifying feature that it was undoubtedly the giant scorpion I had defeated.

“Eh, really!” (Shia)

Shia was surprised.

Today was the day that a lot of things were revealed.

“Sanya-san asked me to hand it to her.” (Yuna)

Besides, there was no point in keeping it forever, so I might as well have the carcass dismantled and let it be processed into usable materials.

“I was surprised when I heard about the Black Viper hunt, but how could you defeat such a big monster?” (Tirumina)

Tirumina-san said as she looked at the giant Scorpion.

The battle happened underground, and there was barely enough space for the giant scorpion to move around, so I filled up the room with seawater and defeated it by drowning.

I could tell Tirumina-san about it as she already knew about the Bear Transfer Gate, but since Ellelaura-san was here, I kept quiet. If Ellelaura-san knew about the Bear Transfer Gate, she would turn me into a slave, abusing the cheat ability to ferry her back and forth between Crimonia and the Royal Capital.

And then, the whole event ended with the demonstration performance of the dismantling of the giant Scorpion by the old man and his selected partners.

Finally, Sanya-san thanked those who participated in the event and the adventurers who helped defeat dangerous monsters.

“I can’t thank all of you enough for participating and all the adventurers who provided the monsters that they defeated.” (Sanya)

I think most of the monsters the participants dismantled were sourced from the pile of monster carcasses I provided. Of course, it didn’t mean I didn’t want her to say thanks to other people, especially on a public stage, so that was fine.

“I think there are people in this venue who have never been outside the city or have never seen a single monster.” (Sanya)

There were some ordinary people in the venue.

“I want you to remember that our daily peace is protected by adventurers, knights, and soldiers in places we do not know. I want you to know what the dangers are.” (Sanya)

The nation’s intercity paths and roads were regularly patrolled by adventurers to ensure people’s safety. Of course, it may not be 100% safe, but it was much safer than if the paths and roads had been left alone.

“As I recall, adventurers also do patrols around the city, don’t they?” (Yuna)

I’ve never taken such a job, but I do know that some adventurers do patrols around the city and have been doing it for a long time. Because it would be a posted request with little to minimal risk, the money paid to do it was small, and it was a request that mostly new adventurers were given.

It seemed to be a way for new adventurers to become familiar with the geography of the area around the town and learn the skills of detecting monsters from a distance and what to do when they discover the presence of monsters.

“Although Sanya also mentioned knights and soldiers, we don’t usually send them to patrol outside of the city unless we have a good reason to.” (Ellelaura)

“Why not?” (Fina)

Fina asked.

“Doing so would take away work from adventurers. If we dispatched knights and soldiers to various places, and while they were away, something happened that would endanger the royal capital, the dispatched knights and soldiers wouldn’t be able to respond in time. So the intercity path patrols and remote jobs, usually dispatched by the country’s government, are subcontracted to the local lords, who were given the authority to deal with it as they see fit.” (Ellelaura)

“I see.” (Fina)

When the time comes, if a country or city falls into danger, and the knights and soldiers can’t return in time to protect it, what would be the point of having knights and soldiers dispatched far away from the capital city? We listened to Sanya as she continued.

“Also, passenger carriages regularly go between towns and cities. Part of the money paid during an escort request for those passenger carriages is paid for by the country and the towns these convoys go to.” (Sanya)

Ah, I recall that when Morin and Karin came to Crimonia from the royal capital, they were given an escorted carriage ride.

“If the adventurers work together in maintaining public safety, the travel paths and roads would be safer, and adventurers will also get paid for their work. If they defeat monsters when they encounter them on the road, they can ensure the safety of the next person who uses that same road. Doing so, they would secure the movement of both people and goods.” (Ellelaura)

“That’s a good point.” (Yuna)

Sanya-san’s words came to an end as we listened in amazement to Ellelaura-san’s explanation, and the event ended with applause from the audience.

As we wondered what we would do next, a tired-looking Sanya-san came to our place.

“I’m so tired!” (Sanya)

She looked so disheveled that it was hard to believe she was the same person who had been talking with a dignified expression on her face earlier.

But she’s the event organizer. So she must be tired from dealing with all kinds of things in setting up the event and watching it to completion.

So, I said a few words of encouragement to her.

“Thank you for your hard work.” (Yuna)

Following me, everyone else also said the same to Sanya-san.

“Thank you. It’s finally over for now. Thanks to Yuna-chan, the event went great.” (Sanya)

“Can I ask you something?” (Yuna)

“What is it?” (Sanya)

“Why is it that all the monsters presented were the ones I defeated? I was looking forward to seeing some rare monsters.” (Yuna)

“Oh, about that. That’s because we didn’t have enough money to pay Yuna-chan.” (Sanya)

“…?” (Yuna)

“While planning the event, I calculated the amount needed to be paid for the monsters that Yuna-chan handed us. And then, lo and behold, it turned out to be a ridiculous amount. When I told the vice guild master this, he was livid. He insisted that we must dismantle those monsters as soon as possible and sell their parts to make money to pay you. So we had to change the monsters we planned the contestants to dismantle, and it was a lot of work.” (Sanya)

“Is the adventurers’ guild in the royal capital that poor? In the first place, don’t the commercial guilds buy the materials of the monsters?” (Yuna)

I have an image of commercial guilds as being rich.

“No, we are not poor. The monsters that Yuna-chan defeated were way too amazing. The selling price for that giant Scorpion alone could build a small mansion. Besides, we have a fixed budget for the event. We’re allowed a little leeway, though.” (Sanya)

“But that doesn’t mean you have that much money?”

“Yuna-chan, if assets worth millions are given away to someone, the recipient normally won’t be able to liquidate them immediately.” (Sanya)

This was true. If I had assets worth a whole 100 million yen and I gave it all to someone, those assets could not be used that easily and immediately. That person could only liquidate them slowly over time.

“Besides, if we put it up for auction in haste, there’s no telling how much we would get. So we plan to discuss what to do with the other guilds. Besides, I’d rather sell the materials in small batches rather than all at once, so the prices for the material won’t go down drastically and crash the economy. That’s why I wanted to dismantle the monsters Yuna-chan entrusted to me as soon as possible.” (Sanya)

“I’m not in a hurry, so take your time.” (Yuna)

“No, we can’t do that. It’s okay to be friendly, but if the fact that there were monsters to be processed and it was found out that we didn’t pay Yuna-chan properly, it would affect the credibility of the Adventurer’s Guild.” (Sanya)

“I’m not going to tell anyone that you didn’t pay me.” (Yuna)

“Even if Yuna-chan doesn’t talk about it, there are a few people who do know, like the Adventurers’ Guild staff, the Commercial Guild staff, and a few others. You never know where the information will leak out. Of course, there is punishment for leaking such classified information. But there have been people in the past who have had a few drinks and got drunk and talked about classified information.” (Sanya)

I had never had alcohol because I was not old enough to drink, but they say that when you drink alcohol, you lose your guard and become light-mouthed. It seemed to destroy their thought processes.

Just by listening to the stories, alcohol sounded like a dangerous drink.

Even if I was old enough to drink alcohol, I should not drink it.

I would want to avoid accidentally talking about the world I came from.

In the first place, was there an age limit for drinking alcohol in this world?

“Hmm, they do say that if you want to enjoy drinking, you should also be sure not to get yourself drunk.” (Ellelaura)

Ellelaura-san, who was listening to our conversation, chuckled.

Ellelaura-san seemed to be a person who could hold her liquor well.

A little could be similar to good medicine; drink too much, and you’ll get sick. As with anything, moderation was best.

“Well, that’s why I’m going to talk to the Commercial Guild and prepare the money, so please wait for a bit.” (Sanya)

“Understood.” (Yuna)

After she finished talking to me, Sanya-san spoke to Fina.

“Also, I think I’ve already told Fina-chan. Can you come to the Adventurers’ Guild tomorrow or later? I’ll give you the fee for this request and the money for the monsters you dismantled.” (Sanya)

Fina tried to refuse, but Tirumina-san instead replied with, “We will come back again tomorrow.”

Her participation was a job that she was asked to do, but she was entitled to the money from the monsters that she had dismantled. It would be wrong to refuse and disrespectful to Sanya-san.

So Tirumina-san said they would come tomorrow on behalf of Fina as Fina was shy.