The bee tree had a beehive around the base of the trunk. I removed my Bear Hand and stuck a finger inside, which caused the honey to flow. I ate the honey on my finger, and it was sweet and delicious. When I looked up, I saw countless beehives within the tree branch and was a bit terrified, but the bees continued to just fly around, seemingly uninterested in attacking.
Cubs… If you do that, your parents will feel sad! They were really adorable when they were eating honey, though.
After I had collected plenty of honey in my pot, I placed it inside the Bear Box and said goodbye to the bears.
「Thanks a lot. Still, you have those children, so you shouldn’t do such dangerous things.」
They wouldn't understand my words, but I still wanted to convey my feelings. The parent bears responded with a [Ku~n].
The cubs stopped eating. Were they full? When their parents saw that, they let out a small cry and started to move. It seemed that they were planning on returning to forest. Their cubs followed them.
After I said goodbye to the bears, I collected the orc corpses. I also didn't forget to clean out the goblins that had fled before I left the forest.
I didn't kill the Bear Family in this request. The request was just to kill the orcs and goblins. The bears weren't included in the request. Still, I should report the bears, just in case.
I would be troubled if they posted a request to kill them when I reported it.
I left the forest while thinking of a solution, but sadly, I arrived at the town without finding an answer. The sun was already setting when I arrived.
I entered the town, and as I walked towards the Adventurer's Guild, I saw Helen-san waving and coming towards me.
「Yuna-san, welcome back. Have you already finished the request?」
「I finished it, but… What are you doing, Helen-san?」
「I finished my job as well, so I'm going home now. So, you're looking really depressed. Did something happen?」
「I killed the orcs and goblins, but there's indeed one troublesome thing that had happened.」
「So, something did happen? If you have any troubles, I will hear you out. I don't know how much I can help, but do tell in case I can do something. I have been in your care after all, Yuna-san.」
I didn't know if telling Helen-san, an employee of the guild, was a good thing, but I didn't find a solution, so I decided to tell her everything.
「Bears, you say?」
「I don't want to kill them, you see. They didn't do anything bad either.」
「There's no helping that. To Yuna-san, killing bears must be like killing yourself, right?」
It wasn't something so exaggerated.
「Still, bears in the forest, you say? If I remember correctly, Rem-san, who gathers the honey, spoke of bears some days ago, as well. Do you think they are the same bears?」
「Rem-san?」
「The man who takes care of the bee tree. Yuna-san, didn't you see the blooming flowers?」
「Yes, they were beautiful.」
「Rem-san also takes care of those flowers. He takes care of the flowers around the bee tree and gathers honey.」
People took care of those flowers, huh. Was that the reason that those flowers were blooming so beautifully?
So that was how they collected honey in this world, huh.
「Still, don't other people just steal the honey? They could simply take all the honey they ever wanted.」
「That's not a problem. Nobody goes there to gather it personally. It's not certain that the bees won't attack you when you take the honey, so nobody wants to take that risk. The few people who actually go there don't do much harm.」
She was right. The amount of honey I had taken was insignificant.
「Also, the bee tree is under the protection of Cliff-sama. You need his permission to sell the honey, so even if you stole it, you wouldn't be able to sell it.」
「The bee tree belongs to Cliff?」
「It's the same in every other town. Normally, since the bee tree is considered a precious object, it falls upon the town's feudal lord to take care of it. It is no different in our town. Rem-san has been put in charge of the bee tree.」
「So, this Rem-san knows about the bears?」
「I overheard him talking about bears once.」
「Do you remember the details?」
「I'm sorry. I wasn't the one he was talking to, so… If it bothers you, do you want to go and see him?」
「Helen-san, you're already done for the day, right?」
「I don't mind. It would be best to talk about the request with Rem-san as fast as possible, right?」
I accepted Helen-san's goodwill, and we went to see Rem-san, the man who was taking care of the bee tree.
It seemed that the shop was closed, though.
「Rem-san!」
Helen-san knocked on the door.
「Are you home!?」
A man in his 40s opened the door.
「Who is it? If it's about honey, I won't be able to sell it cheaply, you know!」
「Good evening, Rem-san.」
「You… If I remember correctly, you're the one from Adventurer's Guild…」
「Helen. I came to talk about the honey issue.」
「I already heard about it. Apparently, it wasn't goblins, but orcs that appeared, right? Even though I saw goblins…」
「The request was already completed by the adventurer Yuna-san today.」
Rem-san looked my way.
「The miss from the Bear's Rest killed them?」
「You know about me?」
「Yeah, Terumi-san told me about you. You are the owner of the Bear-san's Relaxing Shop, right?」
It wasn't strange if he knew me, since Terumi-san bought honey from his shop.
「Also, there isn't anyone in this town who doesn't know about you, miss.」
What was he saying?
Helen-san was nodding by my side.
Why are you nodding?
「So, I wanted to talk about some things, but is it okay?」
「Yeah, of course. Come inside.」
He opened the door and let us in. When we entered, there was no merchandise lined up on the shelves. Was it because he couldn't obtain honey?
We went further in, into a room with a table and chairs, which seemed to be the employee resting area.
「Please take a seat. So, is it true, that you killed those monsters?」
「I did, but there's one problem.」
「What, did more monsters appear?」
Rem-san stopped smiling in an instant, and he became sad.
「No, there aren't any monsters. You know about the bears near the bee tree, right?」
「Bears? Ah, that bear, huh.」
「You know about them?」
「Of course. For the people who gather honey, that bear is a lifesabear, after all.」
(TL note: Bear because lifesaver 命の恩人 in japanese is normally written with the Kanji Person 人, but is written with "bear" here.)
「A lifesaving bear?」
「He saved me when I was attacked by goblins. Not just once or twice. He also saved some of our employees. Is it possible that you saw him!?」
He rose from his chair and leaned towards me across the table.
It was an unexpected reaction.
「Yes.」
「I see. So he was alive. You said there were goblins and orcs, right? I was worried that he was killed. I see. He's alive, huh. What a relief.」
This uncle really seems glad.
「He fought the goblins and orcs to protect the bee tree, you know.」
「Really!? Is he alright?」
He asked, worried.
「Including the cubs, all four of them are okay.」
「Cubs! They were born!? I have to tell this to the others.」
He was talking about the bears really happily. I also become happy when I saw his expression.
It seemed that my fear for the bears was unnecessary.
「Is it possible that you came here because you were worried about the bears?」
「The request was about killing the goblins and the orcs, and I came back without killing the bears, so…」
「I see. I'm sorry you had come just for that. Those bears pose no problems or danger. On the contrary, their presence is of great help to us.」
「Then there's no problem if those bears stay in the forest, right?」
「Yeah, of course. Since those bears kill the monsters, we can gather honey without fear. In return, when the bears are eating honey, we won't bother them.」
To sum everything up, Rem-san was taking care of the flowers for the bees, and the bees gave him honey.
The bears killed the monsters, and in return, they got some honey.
「Rem-san, does Cliff-sama know about this?」
Helen-san, who was listening to our conversation, asked something she was wondering about.
「No, I didn't tell him. I thought he would request someone to kill them if I did.」
「You should tell him about them.」
「But…」
Rem-san hesitated. Bears were normally violent, and nobody would want to keep them alive.
If he was told that the adventurers would exterminate them, the bear's help would disappear.
「You can use my name. Cliff still owes me, so I think he will hear you out.」
「Yuna-san. Saying that Cliff-sama owes you, or even just talking about him without honorifics is just… Are you aware of what an unbelievable thing you just said?」
Helen-san said, looking upset.
She was right. It was common sense that it wasn't okay to talk about nobles without honorifics. However, ever since the issue with the orphanage, he had already become Cliff in my mind. Changing it now would be strange. Also, the person himself didn't say anything about it.
「Is it really okay?」
「No problem. If he still says that he wants to get rid them, just tell me. I will do something about the bears.」
I couldn't think of something now, but if the worst case scenario came, and Cliff gave the order to kill them, I would have to move them out of that forest.
「I will gratefully use Miss's name then.」
「Still, if you care dearly for those bears, properly talk about them with Cliff. I won't care if they were killed because you were sloppy.」
Helen-san gave a warning, and she was right. If I knew about it beforehand, I wouldn't have worried so much.
「You're right. I'm sorry about that. Also, Miss, thank you again for protecting the bee tree and the bears.」
「It's my job, so don't worry about it. If this bear family can live in peace, I have nothing to worry about.」
「Yeah, we will watch over them with care.」
「If something happens to them, please tell me. I will rush over.」
「I will count on you then.」
Rem-san happily bowed.