"So, you attacked us on Corbeau's orders, correct?" (Marne)
"Kyuu~n"
Kumayuru opened his mouth to respond to Marné-san's words.
"That's right!"
"It's Corbeau-sama's orders!"
"We were told to threaten a child and a girl dressed up as a bear, and collect the drugs!"
"Plus, there's money, so that's extra reward!"
"We have no intention of taking a life!"
The men speak frankly about whether they wanted to be saved. Apparently, yesterday, at Corbeau's order, they planned to attack us as we were heading to the royal capital. However, it seemed that the men who received the deposit got drunk, overslept, and in a panic rode their horses and chased after us. It seemed the bandits that attacked us first really had nothing to do with it.
"Well then, let's confirm it. Do you want to die here in silence? Or tell me about Corbeau's bad deeds? You can choose whichever you like. By the way, if you tell me about Corbeau's bad deeds, there may be some room for leniency." (Marne)
She said the same thing to the men as she said to the thief behind.
"What are you, young lady?"
"I don't think you would understand, but I'm from the Ministry of Magic in the Royal Capital, you know." (Marne)
"What is the Ministry of Magic in the Royal Capital?"
"I don't know the details either, but does that mean national power?"
"Who is more important, nobles or that?"
"I don't know."
"But a child like this..."
The men's attention was focused on Marné-san.
"And there's a funny looking bear with her."
This time they looked at me. Well, since we were a child and a girl dressed as a bear, they couldn't trust our words. But Marné-san didn't back down.
"Just think about it for a moment. I'm a half-elf, older than you two." (Marne)
She showed her ears. But even half-elves would grow up.
"...older."
"Above all, do you think a kid like me has the money to buy medicine from a store? How do you think I can hire a C-rank adventurer?" (Marne)
"C-rank?"
I silently showed them my Adventurer's Guild's card. The men stared intently at my guild card.
"...Jobs: Bear."
So, you're looking at different part, aren't you? Why would the inhabitants of this world look at it?
"I happened to be in town recently, and there seemed to be something wrong with the ingredients in the medicines made by the pharmacist Corbeau, so I decided to collect and examine them. And even though I say I collected them, I paid for them, so I don't think you have any right to complain."
"If this is true, will we be sentenced to death?"
"But, Corbeau-sama will protect us."
"Shall I tell His Majesty?" (Marne)
"Is His Majesty, that His Majesty?"
"Between His Majesty and nobles..."
"His Majesty the King is obviously the greater man."
Is it just me, or does it look like a comedy sketch?
"Will you really forgive me if I obey you?"
"Yes, I'll forgive you this time." (Marne)
The men looked relieved at Marné-san's words.
"Marné-san, is it okay?" (Yuna)
"I said 'this time.' I'll look into it and if they've done anything wrong in the past, I don't know." (Marne)
Marné-san replied in a low voice. This was the kind of guy who would take on a job like this. There was a good chance they had done something similar in the past.
"But will the men's testimony be considered evidence? He'll likely cut off his tails." (Yuna)
If the man named Corbeau said he didn't give orders, it was all over. They said he was the son of a nobleman, so I thought he had that much power. If it was between the testimony of the rough men and the nobleman's son, I thought the testimony of the nobleman's son would take precedence. If that happened, these men would just be treated as thieves who attacked us.
"Hehe, then it'll be fine." (Marne)
Marné-san made a bad face.
"So, what should we do?" (One of the bandits)
"What I want you to do is..." (Marne)
Marné-san explained what would happen next.
Ah, that will become evidence then, right?
It seemed like from the very beginning she had been thinking carefully about what would happen after we were attacked. I was certain that she was planning to turn these men in somewhere and provide evidence.
"Well then, we're heading back to town." (Marne)
"Marné-san, what about these ones?" (Yuna)
She turned her attention to the bandits that had attacked us first.
"It'd better if we handed them over to the vigilantes." (Marne)
The ordinary thieves were not needed by us. What we needed were bandits who would attack at the Corbeau's command.
"Please wait."
"What?" (Marne)
"You've been talking about medicine for a while now."
"And that?" (Marne)
"Maybe you're talking about the big pharmacy on the main street?"
"That's right, though." (Marne)
Marné-san replied matter-of-factly. These men looked at each other.
"We wanted money to buy it from the pharmacist."
"..." (Marne)
Marné-san and I looked at each other. According to the thieves, just like Lydia-san, their wife and children had become ill and they had been buying medicine for them, but they could no longer afford it because the medicine was so expensive. It seemed that our thieves were the victim of the pharmacist named Corbeau.
"But, aren't you guys never heard of the name Corbeau?" (Marne)
"I didn't know his name because we called him Sensei."
It depends on the person, but at school they'd be called the PE teacher or the music teacher, and you wouldn't even know their name. Even at the hospital, I called them doctors and nurses, but I didn't remember their names. It was like I didn't call the guild master by his name, but I just said GM. What was the name of Guild Master from Crimonia's Adventurer's Guild?
"Haa." (Marne)
Marné-san listened and let out a big sigh.
"It's a hassle, but you're on board now. I'll take care of everything." (Marne)
Marné-san puffed out her chest. She might be small, but she was a reliable adult. We headed back the way we came to get back into town. The earth magic that had been binding the men was released, and each man got into the carriage and onto his horse. As we rode Kumayuru and Kumakyu next to them, we asked the men about the symptoms.
"The symptoms are the same."
Listening to the story of the man in the carriage, it seemed it was the same symptoms as Est's.
"Apparently, they make money in the same way, don't they?" (Marne)
"But wouldn't that cause a fuss?" (Yuna)
"Once you take the money, all you've to do is heal them. Just stop giving them the medicine that causes the red bumps." (Marne)
That was certainly true. They just need to change the ingredients.
"If they make a full recovery, there will be no bad word around you, and instead, there will be good word around you. They will be grateful, and they will not resent you." (Mare)
I would certainly be grateful if they cured the illness I had been suffering from for months.
"And it seems like it's cleverly causing multiple diseases." (Marne)
One of them seemed to have a headache. Taking medicine gave temporary relief, but after some time the headache returned.
"I didn't know that was possible." (Yuna)
"It can be arranged. First, the medicine to suppress the headache, then the medicine to make it worse." (Marne)
When I thought about it that way, I thought he might actually be a surprisingly skilled pharmacist. Then we returned to the city while exchanging information. The gatekeeper was surprised to see me back in town, but I didn't mind. By the way, Kumayuru and Kumakyu had been sent back, and we were now riding in the carriage.
Once we entered the town, we headed straight for the Adventurer's Guild. We were looking for somewhere where we could talk, so we chose the Adventurer's Guild.
"I'll go inside and call him. Yuna, keep an eye on them so they don't run away." (Marne)
I still couldn't completely trust these guys.
"Roger that" (Yuna)
Marné-san stepped out of the carriage and entered the Adventurer's Guild.
"If you run away, I think you know what will happen." (Yuna)
"I know!"
"I won't run away!"
The men who were instructed by Corbeau said obediently. On the way back to town, the men asked me what I would do if I ran away, so I gave them a go at bungee jumping. They had the experience of flying high into the sky and then falling to the ground.
"If you run away, I'll send you flying, and of course I won't catch you this time." (Yuna)
In my experience, I was able to properly catch them with wind magic before they hit the ground. Needless to say, the men who experienced bungee jumping became more honest.
Marné-san entered the Adventurer's Guild and returned with the receptionist. The receptionist was the woman who had attended to us. The receptionist peered into the carriage and told me to go around to the back. The carriage moved to the back of the Adventurer's Guild and we entered the Adventurer's Guild through the back door.
"Please use this room." (Receptionist)
The receptionist gave us a room.
"Thank you. Please deal with that matter as soon as possible, okay?"
"I will arrange it right away. And please use the back door when coming in and out." (Receptionist)
The receptionist gave a few warnings and went back to work.
"Yuna, collect the cards from these men." (Marne)
As instructed, I collected the men's guild cards and citizen cards. To prevent them from escaping, these men were told that they would be kept in custody once they enter the city, so they readily handed it over. It was one way to prevent betrayal.
"Next, give me the medicine." (Marne)
I did as I was told and handed the men the drugs we had bought at Corbeau's store. There was quite a lot, but we put it in the item bags they were carrying. Did they borrow it from a guy named Corbeau? Then, Marné-san handed over something.
"Please." (Marne)
"You too, keep your promise."
It was a give and take. After discussing the details, the men hired by Corbeau left the room.
"Well then, you guys are the next." (Marne)
These men attacked us because their families were sick and they had no money to buy medicine.
"Will you really heal them?"
"I can't guarantee it will cure the disease. But if Corbeau was willing to cure them, then it's not a problem." (Marne)
Incurable diseases. There were some diseases in this world that could not be cured. We couldn't make that promise. But if Marné-san couldn't cure it, maybe it was my turn. We went to each person's house to treat their illness.
"Here it is."
Marné-san would examine the patient and collect the medicine they had been taking. If the medicine she had would cure the patient, she would give it to them. If she did not have the medicine, she would rush to the shop of the pharmacist who had made Est's medicine and forcibly borrow his herbs and equipment to make the medicine.
"Hehe, now we have more evidence." (Marne)
Let's not tell anyone that Marné-san had a bad look on her face.
Author's Note
Sorry for the late post.
Also, an announcement: the release date for book volume 21 has been decided.
It will be February 7th.
Please wait a little while for information on the cover and new stories. We haven't yet decided where each story will be distributed.
And I'm sorry.
This month I will be posting once a week.
The reason is that I need to prepare my tax return, and with the release of volume 21 decided, I need to submit the initial manuscript for volume 22. I'm about 70-80% done with the work, so I'd like to finish it by the end of this month, so I'll be posting once a week.
*If we are unable to post as scheduled, we will contact you via activity reports or X (formerly Twitter). (We apologize if we are unable to do so.)
*"Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear" comic chapter 130 (12/27) is currently available on PASH UP (125th chapter of NicoNico Manga is currently available)
*Episode 22 of the "Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear" spin-off (12/27) is currently available on PASH UP (Episode 20 is currently available on NicoNico Manga)
If you have time, please check out the comic version.
[Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear to be released]
Book 21 is scheduled for release on February 7, 2025. (The next book, volume 22, is currently in the works.)
The 12th volume of the comic was released on August 3, 2024. (The release date for the next volume, 13, has not yet been decided.)
Comicalized spin-off volume 2 was released on March 5, 2024. (The next volume, volume 3, is scheduled for release on December 20th.)
The 11th volume of the paperback edition was released on October 4, 2024. (The deadline for the campaign to win a big acrylic stand featuring Yuna and Shuri on the cover is January 20, 2025. 20 lucky winners will receive a prize.) (The release date for the next volume, 12th volume, has not yet been decided.)
*Thank you to everyone who reports typos.
Some of the kanji have been corrected to match the book, so please understand that there are some parts that have not been corrected.
Extra Credit
Thanks to TV.Station for the valuable inputs.