Volume 2 Chapter 9 Chris's Battle
When Cain and Alice rode back to the manor by carriage, they saw a big crowd blocking the entrance.
"Hmm, did something happen? Or maybe we have guests?"
The carriage stopped short, dodging the crowd. The driver opened the door, and Cain and Alice got out, heading toward the entrance. The crowd was packed with maids, butlers, and soldiers──some of the soldiers were bleeding and hurt. One maid spotted Alice and called out, "Welcome home!" That made everyone turn toward them, bowing and moving aside to let them through.
"Yes, we're back. What happened? Is everyth──Eek, Elder Brother Chris!"
Alice started to answer, but stopped when she spotted Chris covered in blood. Cain looked over her shoulder and saw Chris too, sitting hunched by the front door, soaked with blood. Alice and Cain broke into a run, heading straight for him.
"Elder Brother Chris, I'm going to use healing magic, so please hold still."
"W-Wait, Cain, I already used a potion, so the bleeding's stopped. Could you use magic on the other injured soldiers instead?"
Cain looked where Chris pointed. About 6 soldiers were lying on the ground, bloody and battered, with maids rushing around, patching them up.
Cain hurried to the soldiers and hit them with a heavy dose of Area Heal. A gentle light wrapped around the 6, closing their wounds. The soldiers, who'd been groaning in pain, blinked in surprise as the aches faded away.
"Phew, made it in time. Is anyone still hurting?"
Cain checked to see if anyone still needed healing.
"""Sir Cain, thank you so much!"""
The soldiers realized Cain had healed them, and all thanked him at once.
"With Cain around, we barely even need potions. Thanks, man."
Benjamin grinned, holding up an empty potion vial.
"Elder Brother Ben, what happened here?"
"Today, you know Chris and the others went hunting in the Great Deep Forest, right? They went pretty deep in, and they ran into a 'Blue Gray Bear.' They managed to take it down, but they got pretty hurt."
"A 'Blue Gray Bear'! Elder Brother Chris, how far did you go in?!"
"But they say they only went as far as the mid-region. They just had bad luck, I guess. Chris is stronger than he looks. It's surprising, really," Benjamin explained with a laugh.
* * *
After the commotion at the entrance, they went to the training ground where the 'Blue Gray Bear' that Chris and the others had hunted was being butchered. It was about 3 meters long, with sharp claws and teeth, and its thick fur made it one of the top monsters in the Great Deep Forest. Normally, you're taught to run away as soon as you see one.
Also, there were Wileyboarx2, Greydeersx4, and Horned Rabbitsx8 being drained and butchered in the training ground. Wondering how they managed to bring all that back, Benjamin mentioned that there were about 4 other teams who also hunted the 'Blue Gray Bear' and joined up to return after taking it down.
"No matter what, isn't Elder Brother Chris pushing himself too hard?"
"I think so too, but he wanted to give everyone a lot of delicious meat to eat,"
Benjamin sighed and muttered that he understood Chris' kindness, but that losing his life was unacceptable.
"Oh right, Cain. Did you learn [Hot Water]? I heard it's in the bathhouse. I'm interested too, can't we make it together?"
"I'd be grateful if you would. It seems tricky to draw Mana from the magic stone, so I'd really appreciate it."
Cain and Benjamin talked about how to make the magic items for the bathhouse as they went inside the mansion.
* * *
"Man, I thought I was gonna die this time. I never thought I'd run into that 'Blue Gray Bear' out there."
At dinner, Chris, now healed from his injuries, told his family about today's hunt. It was clear from his story that it had been a close fight.
"My squad took down a Graydeer first. Looking back, I think our hunting method was flawed. The archer shot it in the back leg, but the Graydeer didn't stop. It kept running, bleeding, deeper into the forest. We managed to catch up and surround it. By then, it had lost a lot of blood. I bet that's what attracted the Blue Gray Bear from deeper in the woods."
"Didn't you consider retreating, Chris?"
Arthur asked, his voice low as he fixed his gaze on Chris.
"Of course, we thought about it. We all ran once, but it caught up to us. That's when one of our squad got his leg attacked and couldn't move anymore," Chris explained.
Arthur's eyes turned to Chris, thinking, "Why didn't you leave him behind then?"
"But the Blue Gray Bear is crafty. It didn't even look at the one who couldn't move and went straight for the soldier who had stopped. So we had to stop running and fight. Otherwise, we'd have been wiped out because the bear is faster."
"Is the Blue Gray Bear really that cunning?"
Luke muttered, his expression pained.
"After that, the one with the shield and I took turns as shield bearers, whittling it down bit by bit until we finally took it down. Wow, when my shield broke, I really thought I was done for. But at that moment, everything seemed to slow down, including the bear's attacks. After I dodged one of its attacks, I moved in full force and managed to cut off its back leg and take it down. Weird, right?"
Chris tilted his head, repeating, "Weird, weird."
'Could Chris have activated some kind of [skill]? But I can't see it, so who knows?'
Luke praised Chris for not being reckless but making the right decisions, adding as a father, "Don't push yourself." Chris replied seriously, "Yes, sir."
'I'm really glad Chris is safe. But what's happening in the Great Deep Forest?'
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