Bear Killer Vs. Bear

On the way back home with Mark, I saw several figures entering through my gate.

Their silhouettes were large, so they didn’t look like Monaka and the others.

To be safe, I jumped down from Mark’s shoulder.

“Wait here for a bit. I’ll go check things out.”

I told Mark, then quietly approached the house.

Peeking out from behind the gate, I saw four men loitering in front of the house.

“Oy! You trash bastard, get out here!”

“You’ve really got some nerve after what you did to us last time!”

“Today, we’re gonna make you pay in full!”

Three of them had colorful mohawks, so I immediately knew who they were.

“Oh, it’s the punk triplets.”

When I called out, all three turned around at once.

“““Huhhh!?”””

They were wearing something like neck braces—probably aftereffects from falling out of a tree last time.

Despite looking painfully battered, their swagger was as loud as ever as they swaggered out past the gate, laughing crudely.

“Gyahaha! You won’t be acting so big for long!”

“After all, we brought our big bro with us today!”

“Big Bro Boodle, do him in!”

“Boodle?”

A huge man with a dog-like face stepped forward from behind them.

He was at least twice my height and easily rivaled Monsoon, my former classmate.

He wore a bandit-style outfit, but unlike the triplets’ boar pelts, he was draped head-to-toe in bear fur.

In his hands were claw weapons shaped like a bear’s paws.

The triplets whooped excitedly.

“Hyahha! Look at him—he’s totally scared of our big bro!”

“No wonder! Big Bro Boodle is feared as ‘Boo the Bear Killer’!”

“He’s torn countless bears apart with those claws!”

“Even the lord of this forest runs away when he sees big bro!”

At that point, Boo finally opened his mouth, as if taking center stage.

“See, I’m wantin’ a new pelt, y’know… I figured I’d rough up the forest lord a bit… But that bastard runs off the moment he hears these claws…”

With a menacing voice, Boo snapped his bear claws together with a metallic clang.

“So how ’bout I skin you instead, huh…?”

I asked casually,

“But those bear claws aren’t starting gear, right? Which means you bought them at the school store? For someone trying to act like an outlaw, buying weapons there is kinda…”

Imagining the scene made me laugh despite myself.

Veins immediately bulged on their foreheads.

“Don’t screw with us! Dieee!” they shouted, charging in like always.

Yet I didn’t do a thing— and they suddenly screamed and flipped backward, collapsing.

“Ugyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!?!!”

Pale-faced, they scrambled away and quickly climbed up trees.

Wondering what was going on, I noticed Mark standing behind me without a sound.

The punks screamed with twisted, half-crying expressions.

“Hyah! L-L-Look at that trash’s face!”

“He’s totally frozen in front of the forest lord bear!”

“H-Hey, big bro, that bear’s nothing for you, right!?”

“C-Course it is! But wouldn’t it be boring to finish it off quick? L-Let’s watch that trash get wrecked from up here!”

With my hands still in my coat pockets, I spoke to Mark.

“Hey, Mark. They say they want to take you down. Since they’re asking, why not give them what they want?”

Mark let out a thunderous roar—

“WOOOOOOOOON!!”

—and stomped toward the punk triplets plus one.

Mark was over three meters tall, so he could easily reach them in the trees.

Just lightly tapping the branches with his claws sent them into a full panic.

“Hii!? HIGYAAAAAAAAAAAAH!?”

“D-Don’t come closer! Don’t come! Don’t comeeeeee!”

“S-Save me! Save me! Please save meeeeee!”

“I-I don’t wanna die! I don’t wanna dieeeee!”

They finally broke down crying without a shred of dignity left.

Figuring that was enough to teach them a lesson, I ordered, “Drop them, Mark.”

Clinging to the trees, Mark shook them hard, knocking the punks down like chestnuts.

Squash! Thud! Smash! Crack!

They slammed into the ground with sounds like bones breaking.

They still tried to run, but their legs wouldn’t support them.

“W-What the hell…!? What is that thing!?”

“He’s got the forest lord bear totally tamed…!?”

“T-This guy’s seriously a monster after all!?”

“A-Amazing… My dream bear… B-But right now…!”

“““R-Run! Run for your lives!!”””

With their legs bent at unnatural angles, the punks crawled away like wounded insects.

I sighed in exasperation.

“At this rate, more people are going to try attacking this place… Mark, can you guard the house while I’m gone?”

Mark replied energetically, “Kwon!”

“Alright then, let’s build you a home. You’re too big to fit in the current house. Bears dig holes in the ground for their dens, right?”

I pulled out the Forest Stone Shovel I had made before.

I aimed for the open space in front of the gate and thrust the shovel into the ground.

But since I didn’t have any digging-type skills yet, it didn’t go very well.

Instead, Mark used his claws to dig away, tearing up the ground with ease.

“Oh, bears really are good at digging. Alright, my turn now.”

Once the hole was done, I used Gisu Lumber to build a roof over the entrance.

“This keeps the hole from collapsing.”

As if saying “I see,” Mark replied with a “Kwon!”

“Now I’ll cover the roof with dirt… While I’m at it, I should put a name on it.”

I shaved down a leftover piece of wood and made a nameplate reading “Mark’s House.”

Mark raised both paws, cheering happily.

“Kwon kwon! Kwon kwooohn!”

He immediately went inside to test it out.

When I peeked in, he was rolling around happily, scent-marking the place.

Suddenly, a voice called out from behind me.

“Hello, Leo-kun.”

“Oh, Monaka.”

The moment I turned around—

…DOOOOOOOOM!!

For some reason, Monaka froze stiff, looking as if her heart had been pierced.

“What’s wrong?”

I asked.

“I-I’m so sorry…! P-P-Please excuse me for a moment…!”

She staggered back a few steps, then—leaving behind only a floral scent— whoosh! She darted into the nearby trees.

Through her robe, I could see her hips trembling.

…What was that about?

Her reaction was unlike anything before, and it left me uneasy.

She was muttering something under her breath, and though I knew I shouldn’t, I activated Dexterous Body.

I boosted my Five Senses stat and focused my hearing.

“…W-Why is this happening!? Leo-kun looks even cooler than before…! Leo-kun is always so cool, but today he’s on another level…! The girls in class said that a cool boy like that is called ‘a handsome guy’…! He’s handsome…! Too handsome, Leo-kun…! I can’t even look at Leo-kun’s face properly anymore…! Ahh, what should I do, what should I do…!? At this rate, I feel like I’m going to lose my mind…!”

Being called handsome was a first in my life.

A thought crossed my mind.

“…Could this be because my Charisma stat went up?”