When we returned to the village, Hugging Bear came running up to me.
Huh? Mumuroot-san wasn’t on its back anymore? Was he no longer paralyzed? Or, was he simply resting somewhere?
Once Hugging Bear reached me, it happily began rubbing itself against me. I got off Swaying Bear and began to pet Hugging Bear’s head.
「Thanks for carrying Mumuroot-san back to the village for me.」
Hugging Bear happily cried 「kuun」, closing its eyes while enjoying the pats.
「Sanya-san, where is Mumuroot-san now?」
「He couldn’t move, so we carried him back into his house. Also, Yuna-chan, did you really not do anything to Grandpa?」
When she had asked me earlier, I had been able to divert the topic using the Cockatrices, but I was unable to do so now.
「Well, he seemed like he planned on staying even in his worn out state, so I used a tiny bit of magic on him.」
「What do you mean a tiny bit…?」
Sanya-san looked at me with inquiring expression but did not pry any further when I didn’t answer.
Next to us, Labriatt explained to the villagers that the Cockatrices had been defeated then gave out orders to retrieve the bodies of the subjugated wolves and Tiger Wolves.
I wasn’t sure how many the elves took down, but he was right: the bodies shouldn’t be left alone as they might attract other monsters towards the barrier. Not to mention that the wolves were a good resource of food and money, so it was quite important for the village to collect them. I just hoped I could get some of the Tiger Wolf pelts for myself.
「Labriatt, Yuna-chan. We should head back to Grandpa and report the situation.」
I kind of wanted to say, “Me too?” but I knew there was no way I could avold going.
I unsummoned Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear and headed towards Mumuroot-san’s house together with Sanya-san and Labriatt.
「Grandpa, we’re coming in.」
As always, we entered the house without even knocking or waiting for a reply.
I sure hoped Mumuroot-san was okay. I had paralyzed him using lightning magic, so he might still be stuck in bed.
We headed to the usual room and found Mumuroot-san lying down. The instant he noticed us, however, he sat up.
Was he still feeling numb?
「Young lady! Thank god, you’re okay.」
Mumuroot-san immediately began fretting over me.
「Sorry for making you worry.」
It wasn’t really my fault he worried, but I still though it was right for me to apologize for making an elderly man like him worry about me.
「I know you are quite capable, young lady, but please don’t ever do something like this again. If you had died, I would have blamed myself until I stepped into a grave myself.」
It seemed like he really was genuinely concerned about me. Good thing he hadn’t passed away from the stress he was under; people could actually die from worrying too much.
「Sanya, Labriatt, what happened to the Cockatrice? Is it gone?」
「Both Cockatrices are dead, Grandpa.」
「I see, that’s good to hear.」
Mumuroot-san looked relieved after hearing that.
「Good work, you two.」
Mumuroot-san must have thought that Sanya-san and Labriatt were the ones who had subjugated the Cockatrice. That was perfectly fine with me. Also, if he had assumed I had done it, then he would have come out looking like a straightforward idiot.
「When we got there, Yuna-chan had already beaten them. We didn’t really do anything.」
Labriatt explained without even blinking an eye.
While I hadn’t specifically told them to keep quiet about my victory over the Cockatrice, I would have prefered him to be able to read the atmosphere a little bit better.
「Young lady defeated it … Is that true?」
Mumuroot-san’s voice was filled with doubt, and he couldn’t help but ask Sanya-san and Labriatt again.
「I know it sounds unbelievable, but it’s true. Yuna-chan may look like this, but she is an exceptional adventurer.」
I got the urge to comment on what she said about my looks or me being exceptional but held back. It was especially hard to do for the looks part.
「Chief, it’s the truth. All of us that were there can confirm that she indeed took down the Cockatrice herself.」
「Young lady, is this really true?」
I nodded since I had no other choice. People already knew I that defeated the Cockatrice, so I couldn’t really deny it at this point.
「I see, so young lady is such an excellent adventurer. I realized you were quite strong when we fought together, but I had no idea you were strong enough to take down a Cockatrice all by yourself.」
I wasn’t sure how strong exactly he considered me now, but at the very least he believed that I was strong enough to subjugate a Cockatrice myself.
「I was only able to take down the second Cockatrice thanks to you taking down the first one, Mumuroot-san.」
「All I did was cut off one of its wings, though.」
「Yes, but because of that, I was able to finish it off quickly and easily.」
「Still, seeing how much trouble we had with the first one, how exactly did you defeat the second one?」
As expected, he was curious about the method I had used against to defeat it on my own.