Side Story: Elk Bear Subjugation

Elk Bear. A bear with elk-like antlers growing from its head. A monster.

Having come from Japan, Wataru thought they were probably similar to horned rabbits. He wondered if they shed and regrew their antlers every year like actual elk, but decided it didn't really matter as he headed toward the forest.

His companions this time were Shikina Kukkoro and Niku Kuroinu.

Shikina had strength equivalent to a B-Rank adventurer, but she was extremely weak against humanoid monsters. Add in her secondhand knowledge of lewd matters, and she was a disappointing elf in many ways.

Niku appeared to be just a young girl, but she had the flexibility and agility characteristic of a beastkin, as well as strength that belied her small frame. She was perfect in every way except for her name, Niku, which was commonly given to disposable slaves.

"Now then, we're hunting the Elk Bear, but how should we search for it? I think whoever finds it first can just go ahead and take it down."

"No, no, Wataru-sensei. We couldn't possibly take down an Elk Bear alone, right, Kuroinu-dono?"

"? First come, first served is fine?"

"Ah, Kuroinu-dono, you're also confident about fighting it alone? I'd like to stick with Wataru-sensei."

Seeing Niku tilt her head, Shikina sighed.

"Well then, let's just move as a group of three."

"Kuroinu-dono, can you track it by smell?"

"I don't know its scent, so no."

"Ah, but you could if you knew the scent…? Then shall we go in whichever direction you smell something beastly, Kuro-san?"

Niku nodded and began leading the other two into the forest.

Occasionally sniffing the air, she would go straight or change direction. Eventually she found something, but it wasn't the Elk Bear. It was an orc.

Wataru quickly beheaded it, and Niku cut off its tail for the subjugation proof.

"Could we lure it out with the smell of blood?"

"Oh, that's a good idea. Elk Bears are omnivores, and this one has probably tasted human before."

"What, it's a man-eater? Were there casualties?"

"Someone survived, but apparently had their arm torn off. Without good connections to a temple, that adventurer would have had to retire… Oh, since Kehma-san is also a Beddhism priest, couldn't he use recovery magic?"

Hearing that, Niku recalled that her Goshujin-sama had once made a prosthetic arm with [Create Golem]. But that wasn't something she could talk about, so she let it be.

"Come to think of it, Master has used [Healing] on me before!"

"… I don't know how much Goshujin-sama can heal."

"Maybe I'll ask Kehma-san about it sometime～ Though I doubt he'll give me a straight answer."

They ended their chat there.

Near where they killed the orc, they found large claw marks on a tree. Bear markings.

Combining that with their prior information, this was likely the Elk Bear's territory. They decided to wait in ambush some distance from the orc's corpse.

After a while, apparently drawn by the smell of blood, a Great Boar about two meters long showed up.

"Oops, we hooked the wrong catch. Let's deal with this quickly."

"I shall do it! Hah!"

Shikina stood directly in front of the Great Boar and drew Magic Sword Sion from her waist, taking a stance.

Both Niku and Wataru thought it would have been better to ambush it, but she must be confident. They decided to watch.

Meanwhile, the Great Boar felt provoked and charged at Shikina — and she swung her sword down in time with it, slicing it cleanly in two.

"Hah… blergh!"

… However, she'd cut it so cleanly that she couldn't kill its momentum. The bisected Great Boar slammed into her. Shikina crashed into a tree, and the Great Boar fell to the ground in two halves in front of her.

The effect of Shikina's Magic Sword Sion activated, transferring the damage to her clothing. The fabric around her abdomen burst open, exposing her navel. Wataru quietly averted his gaze.

"Alright! My training with Master and everyone has really paid off!"

"Shikina-chan, are you okay? Your clothes are torn. Here, use this, it's just regular cloth."

"I'm fine! As Wataru-sensei knows, my clothes were torn by Sion's effect. I'm completely uninjured～"

Setting aside Shikina, who was happily showing off her exposed belly, Niku collected the nose from the bisected boar as proof of subjugation. It was cut in two, but it should probably still count.

"So much meat… it looks very filling."

"Yeah, let's bring it back. Even if we don't eat it all, we can sell it."

Wataru stuffed the Great Boar into his [Storage]. His [Storage] only had about the capacity of a closet, so it was packed full. He wondered if he'd be able to bring back the orc and the Elk Bear they still needed to subjugate. Since he'd confirmed that both Shikina and Niku had [Storage], if they hunted one more thing, they could always head back first to deliver the meat.

"Mm, something smelly is coming…"

"Oh, good. That's probably the Elk Bear."

What appeared this time was a bear with elk antlers growing from its head. Standing on its hind legs, it was about three meters tall.

Considering that normal Elk Bears are only one and a half to two meters, this one was almost a different species entirely.

"This one is huge."

"Shikina-san, want to try? … Oh, but does a bear count as humanoid? Are you okay?"

"Alright, leave it to m—"

Before Shikina could draw her sword, Niku dashed out.

Using the tree and the Elk Bear's body as footholds, she ran up, drew the Golem Knife from her waist, and smoothly plunged it into its neck. The super-vibrating Golem Knife easily parted the tough fur and throat muscles, slipping in and destroying its windpipe. Then, without stopping, she ran the knife around and severed its head.

It happened so fast that the Elk Bear, despite recognizing all three of them as prey, couldn't react at all. Unable to even let out a blood-soaked roar, it collapsed onto the forest floor with a ground-shaking thud.

"—Kuroinu-donoooo!?"

"It was first come, first served, right?"

Standing atop the fallen Elk Bear's body, splattered with its blood, Niku tilted her head as if to ask "Is there a problem?"

"Ahahahaha, that was brilliant! A surprise attack from the front, you might call it?"

"I hadn't gotten a turn yet, so the timing was perfect."

While receiving [Purify] from Wataru, Niku casually put the Elk Bear's body into her [Storage] as if nothing had happened — and indeed, the Elk Bear hadn't been able to do anything… The head didn't fit, though.

"Let's bring that back separately. Shikina-chan, can you take the orc?"

"Yes sir! Heave-ho!"

Shikina tossed the orc's corpse into her [Storage]. And so, the Elk Bear subjugation quest was completed without a hitch.

"… It was surprisingly weak. Bear meat."

"Kuroinu-dono, truly befitting one who has faced a dragon～"

"Man, Kuro-chan, you're practically an assassin-type at this point. Even with a proper blade on it, I didn't expect you to one-shot a bear with a knife."

They delivered the Elk Bear in pristine condition, and when Wataru pointed at Niku and said "This girl did it. In one strike, no less," someone exclaimed "As expected of the girl who's stronger than the man who's stronger than the Hero!" … But that's a story for another time.