And Then The Bear Ran Away

“Hey, it’s the bear!! The owner is looking for him!”

“He probably left before the match ended to avoid the crowds.”

“He disappeared somewhere while holding hands with a beautiful woman!”

Thud-thud-thud-thud!!

Through the door, I could hear the hurried footsteps of arena staff and security guards, along with voices calling out as they searched for me.

After reflecting the Hero’s attack and unexpectedly receiving all that praise, I sensed danger and left the stands with Yuri before the match had even ended.

Then I opened a door in a corner of the lobby, slipped into a storage room, immediately took off the bear costume, pulled my usual clothes out of my Storage Ball, and changed into them.

Seeing that, Yuri removed her wig and started taking off the outfit she had been wearing as well.

Whoa!?

I just saw Yuri in her underwear!!

I hurriedly turned my back to her.

Once she finished changing, we stored our costumes in our Storage Balls and casually walked out of the room as though nothing had happened.

When we stepped into the lobby, it was packed with departing spectators and staff members searching for us.

Looking closely, I could even see Nick and what appeared to be his companions glancing around.

When I strained my ears, I heard them talking.

“He reflected the Hero’s attack! That bear is definitely no ordinary guy!! I’m absolutely, positively recruiting Mr. Bear into our party!!”

“But Nick, there’s no sign of the bear anywhere.”

N-Nick was looking for me too.

A girl who looked like a mage, wearing a hood, shaded her eyes with one gauntleted hand as she searched the area.

A young priest and a dwarf girl also seemed to be looking around for us.

Nick asked a young beastman.

“Can’t you track where Mr. Bear went by smell? I think that costume was probably made from Killer Grizzly fur.”

“Hmm, processed monster fur doesn’t have much of a scent. If I’d met him in person, I could’ve recognized the smell of the human inside, though.”

Thank goodness I hadn’t met that beastman… No matter how well I disguised myself, if he’d memorized my scent, I would’ve been exposed instantly.

Nick thought for a moment before speaking to his companions.

“Maybe he took off the costume and went back to his normal appearance. Look for the red-haired woman too.”

“We can try, but if the red hair was a wig too, we’re out of luck.”

The mage girl said that while raising both hands in surrender.

Of course, Yuri had already removed her wig, so there was virtually no chance they’d find us.

We boldly slipped right past Nick and the others.

Just then, a furious roar loud enough to echo across the lobby ceiling rang out.

“THAT DAMN BEAAAAAAR!! I’LL KILL HIM WHEN I FIND HIM!!!”

“Give it up. He probably ran because he knew what would happen if he crossed you.”

…There was one more person looking for me.

Rosa patted the furious Hero-sama on the shoulder.

The Hero-sama’s exploded hairstyle still hadn’t gone back to normal, and people passing by were giggling at him.

There was also a mage girl and a woman who looked like a priest, but while sipping drinks and occasionally shading their eyes with their hands, they were clearly only pretending to search.

There was no real danger of us being found anymore, but those people might still recognize Yuri.

I grabbed Yuri’s hand and hurried out of the arena.

We crossed a main avenue, ducked into an alley, emerged onto another main road, and kept running until we reached a park some distance from the arena.

We should’ve been safe this far away.

In contrast to the lively arena, the park had a relaxed atmosphere.

There was a fountain in the center of the plaza, and people were spending their time however they pleased around it.

“You okay? Not tired?”

For an S-rank adventurer like Yuri, we probably hadn’t run very far, but I asked just to be safe.

Yuri was crouched down on the spot, clutching her stomach.

Had she gotten a stitch…? Maybe making her suddenly run like that had been a bad idea? Just as I started worrying, her shoulders began trembling and she started quietly laughing.

“Hehe… ahahahaha… Roy, you’re just too funny!!”

“What? Why’d you suddenly start laughing?”

“Because you reflected the Hero’s attack… and Van’s hair afterward… pfft… it was just too perfect…!”

Ah, I see.

Yeah, seeing that smug pretty boy with an exploded mess of hair had been pretty hilarious.

Just remembering it made me think, Serves you right.

“I only managed to reflect the Hero’s attack because of those paw pads.”

“But their durability changes depending on how much mana you put into them, right?”

“…Uh, was that how it worked?”

Come to think of it, maybe the lady at the armor shop had explained something like that… or maybe she hadn’t.

“Anyone else could’ve reflected it too if they had those paw pads.”

“No way. That attack was powerful enough to break through two layers of defensive magic.”

“…”

Apparently, I’d gone and done something outrageous again.

So that was why Gorius, the arena owner, and Nick had been searching so desperately for me.

…Living inconspicuously was harder than it sounded.

Yuri wiped away tears of laughter with one finger as she spoke.

“Ah… Being with you is so much fun, Roy.”

“Seriously? I could say the exact same thing about you.”

“But I haven’t done anything that funny.”

“I don’t mean funny like that… Well, whatever.”

For some reason, I started finding the whole thing hilarious too and burst out laughing while clutching my stomach.

Passersby tilted their heads at the sight of the two of us inexplicably laughing ourselves silly in the park.

A few days later, a newspaper being sold at a shop where I was buying supplies had a huge portrait of a bear printed on it. I had a bad feeling about it, but I bought the paper anyway and read the article.

The front page featured the showdown between the Hero Vanrost and the great hero Nick, but alongside it—

‘The Strongest Bear Appears! A New Rival for the Hero and the Great Hero!?’

…There was an awful lot written about me.

According to the article, the most highly praised figure at this year’s Belgion Combat Tournament hadn’t been the Hero burdened with the mission of defeating the Demon King, nor the leader of the strongest adventuring party in history, but a mysterious bear.

They had even written some baseless nonsense about how I might participate in the next Combat Tournament!?

Ah, what the hell was this?

Then I looked at the advertisement section and my face twitched.

【Five Million Xenos Reward from Gorius Teslard to Whoever Finds the Bear♡】

…What the hell!? I’m not even a criminal, and now there’s a bounty on me!

Seriously, what is wrong with all of these people!?

I am absolutely never stepping onto some flashy stage like that to fight!