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Saturday morning has arrived.

The exact moment I open the front door of the house, Cheddar-san’s younger brother Gouda-san jumps off his horse and dashes toward me, fast enough that a long cloud of dust forms behind him. His entire body is covered in sweat.

Even though it’s still early in the morning, his sweat is already dripping on the gro—I mean, he’s as energetic as usual.

Gouda-san holds great semblance to Cheddar-san. He has large sharp eyes. Naturally stiff hair the color of mustard, reminiscent of the bristles of a scrubber. He’s also so tall and buff that he often hits his head against door frames.

Aside from this, Gouda-san has done many heroic deeds, not losing to Cheddar-san.

The story of his deathly struggle and victory against a two-headed wild boar, and with only his bare hands to boot, is particularly interesting. Gouda-san kept the boar’s giant tusks as spoils of war, which are on display at his house. He’s let me take a look at them before, and they’re humongous.

He’s just like the explorer Gorgond.

If I get the opportunity in the future, I want to try fighting a two-headed wild boar with my bare hands too.

Gouda-san is a man of valor, but he’s currently convulsing with sobs, snot running down his nostrils, as he runs toward the house. His eyebrows furrow in sadness, and his face is pale and wet with tears.

“Gouda-san? What happened?”

Once he reaches me, he stops, grabs my shoulders with his callused bear-like hands, and wails, “Ahh!! Al!! This is really bad!! I-I—what s-should I do?!!”

“Really, what happened? If you keep crying, I won’t know what’s going on.”

“It’s, it’s—yesterday—at the mountain…” he says in between gasps, before once again bursting into wails.

I repeat my question for the third time, trying to make my voice sound comforting.

Here, I finally get a clearer response. “It’s—it’s Mite!!” he exclaims.

“What happened to Mite?”

Another wave of tears flows down Gouda-san’s face.

I give up.

This conversation’s going nowhere.

Just as I wonder whether I should call Cheddar-san and have him talk to Gouda-san, the Cheddars exit the house.

I’m saved. And just in time too.

In their gloved hands are large brooms, dustpans, and hoes. It looks like they plan on cleaning the barn at the back of the house.

“Hey!! Who on earth’s making a racket so early in the morning… Huh? Gouda?! You brat, your voice is too loud! Don’t you know how hard it is to manage the sheep once they start panicking?! They’ll all try to run away, and I won’t be able to clean in peace!”

Upon seeing Gouda-san, Cheddar-san’s wife says, “Oh my! So it’s Brother-in-law! Why have you come so early in the morning?”

“B-brother! Sister-in-law! It’s about… Wahhhhh!”

“Argh, seriously Gouda! Men shouldn’t cry so loudly with snot on their faces! It’s too shameful!”

Gouda-san flings himself at Cheddar-san and clings onto him, crying out, “But—but— B-Brotherrr!! This is just too dreadful—ow!!”

“So noisy!” roars Cheddar-san after punching him on the head, the impact sounding like a bell was heavily struck near us.

Even Gouda-san seems unable to endure it. He crouches and bows his head, low groans leaving his lips. He also stops crying.

I mean, it makes sense. Cheddar-san’s punches have incredible power behind them. He can even defeat a large bear with just his fists.

I once had a taste of his fist. The resulting dizziness remained for the entire day.

“Calm down! This has always been your weakness. You panic the instant something happens… So what is it? What happened? Compose yourself and explain from the very beginning.”

He sniffed. “Y-yesterday, I went with Milt, Mite, and Moot to the mountain to pick some edible wild plants and bayberries.”

“You went to the mountain?”

Milt is Gouda-san’s wife, Mite is their daughter, and Moot is their large and white pet dog.

Moot is roughly as tall as the five-year-old Mite. He’s rather large but very obedient and smart. He takes care of Mite in the couple’s stead since they’re often busy.

“After that… Moot barked all of a sudden. And as I wondered what was wrong, a huge bear with red claws appeared!”

“What did you say?!”

“Huh?”

No way.

“Red claws…? No way, is it a bloodclaw bear?”

Gouda-san bobs his head several times, once again in tears. “Yeah! I haven’t heard news of any recent sightings, not even a rumor, so I thought that they’ve already left… But then two of them appeared, ready to attack us! I thought I should beat them at their own game, so Moot and I stood our ground against them, getting into a battle stance. But the moment we did that, they were startled and they… they… of all things, grabbed my cute Mite and took her away!”

“W-what?!” shout the Cheddars in unison.

“Of course, we chased after them! But Milt and I weren’t able to catch up… Meanwhile, Moot disappeared further into the mountains. Thus, we lost sight of both Mite and Moot… I remained on the mountain, while Milt returned to ask for the villagers’ support. I desperately searched everywhere for the entire night, but I didn’t manage to find any clues…”

“Oh my God…”

“After that, I thought to ask as many people as possible to search for Mite. That’s why I came to ask for all your help…”

“Are you stupid? Why didn’t you come earlier?! Of course I’ll help you!”

“That’s right!”

Gouda-san sobs. “Thank you, thank you, Brother, Sister-in-law!!! I’m going to approach the lord for help after this, so please head to the mountain before me! After all, it’s a demon that attacked us, and there are even two of them. Though the villagers are kind enough to help, they’re not good at fighting… But the lord should have some men who can fight, right? I plan to ask whether he could lend me some of those people. I’ll ask the knights stationed in the village too. That’s why I had my horse run at full speed.”

I let out a groan.

Are we right on time, or are we too late?

“Well, those are good ideas, but…” The Cheddars shoot me a regretful look.

I nod in response and turn to Gouda-san. “Gouda-san, we’re just about to investigate the mountain path today. A little while ago, the lord received a request for an investigation because there have been sightings of bloodclaw bears. Moreover, Lian has already asked the knights to help us in the investigation.”

“Hu—huuhh?! What did you just say?! T-that’s….” Gouda-san’s eyes widen, seeming ready to pop out of their sockets. Then he collapses on his knees like he’s lost his strength.

If only we scheduled the investigation a day earlier… Such a thought crosses my mind, but since the situation has already reached this point, there’s nothing we can do about that.

“Gouda-san, I’ll ask Lian to search for Mite during the investigation. I’m sure they’ll help us find her. I’m a part of the investigation team too, so I’ll inform you as soon as we discover anything.”

“A-Al!” Gouda-san cries out. “Thank you… I really appreciate it…” He wipes his tears and snot on his thick arm, still crying.

Cheddar-san pats him hard. “Okay, let’s strike while the iron’s still hot! I will go this instant!” He turns to his wife. “I’m sorry, Noche, but please stay and manage the ranch. We have the kids to take care of and the cattle and sheep to feed… Someone has to stay. We can’t just leave them on their own.”

“It’s okay. I understand. Though I want to go and search for Mite too… you can leave the ranch to me. Brother-in-law, if something happens, please inform me too, okay? I’ll do everything in my power to help.”

“I-I’m sorry, Brother, Sister-in law…” said Gouda-san. “Really, thank you…”

Looks like everyone here already has their own plans.

“Cheddar-san, Gouda-san, I’ll head to the lord’s mansion first to join Lian’s team.”

Cheddar-san says, “Oh! I’m sorry, but I’ll have to trouble you to inform Lian-sama about Mite’s situation!”

“Thank you, Al!” replies Gouda-san. “I’ll leave it in your hands then. That also means I can walk with my brother for once!”

“Yeah.” I nod toward everyone before walking to the side of the entrance, where my horse is tied. After untying him, I mount my horse and hurry to the mansion.

When I arrive, I see Lian waiting for my arrival. After I talk with him, he tells me that the search for Mite will be a top priority. The two knights assigned to help with the investigation nod and say, “Of course.”

Aside from me and Lian, initially two escorts and two knights from the royal capital are to head to the mountain path to investigate. But Lian thinks that having more people won’t hurt, so he has two more escorts join the investigation. And these two are among the most skilled of my escort seniors.

With this much combat power, I’m sure we won’t lose even to two high-class demons.

“Let’s hurry, Alfred,” says Lian as he steps on the carriage ramp. “We have to find Mite as soon as we can… ah.” All of a sudden, he stops moving, his face growing pale. He then raises his hand toward his lips.

I can see his hand, as well as the parts of his lips peeking between his fingers, trembling. “Lian?”

He turns to me, seeming to have returned to his senses… and smiles.

A slightly stiff smile, like he’s hiding something.

“No, it’s nothing. Let’s go before it’s too late,” says Lian before looking away and entering the carriage. Afterward, he calls Shurio, the coachman.

I sense a strangeness to him, but I’m unable to question him further. Helpless, I just mount my horse again.

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