Kino no Tabi:Volume15 Chapter1

「Land of Beasts」 —Standing Beast—

In a forest thick with snow, a lone truck ran.

The dull grey sky continued to snow, and the sun was nowhere in sight.

Among the forest of tall conifers, the snow was piled high enough to completely cover a person's head.

The world sat still and silent, absent of wind and muffled by snow. The temperature was several degrees below zero.

And crashing through was the brown truck with its engine blaring, running over the snow like a ship on the ocean.

—

The truck had been specially modified in order to run on snow.

Really, the truck was meant to run on four tires, but instead, it had four "crawlers" (treads, tracks).

The crawlers were shaped into large triangles of wide rubber bands wrapped around several small wheels.

The truck's axles were connected to the wheels at the top of each crawler and were constantly spinning. If you've seen the kids' game where they race while inside a loop of cardboard, it's the same thing.

The truck kept from sinking into the snow at all because of its wide crawler bands, using the same principle of spreading out weight that snowshoes rely on.

And so, the truck continued on top of the snow, but if a human tried to stand in the tracks left by it, they would immediately fall through.

—

Inside the truck's cab, a slightly short but handsome man sat in the left-hand driver's seat.

He was covered from head to toe in light green clothing (with innumerable pockets) to protect him from the cold and even his feet looked warm in their heavy boots. He wore a brown knit cap on his head and leather gloves on his hands as he gripped the steering wheel.

A woman wearing black winter clothing sat to his right in the passenger's seat. She had long, sleek, black hair, but at the moment, it was collected inside a warm fur hat.

Between the seats were two persuaders (Note: a persuader is a gun), a rifle-type and a shotgun-type. They were attached to a rack by rubber strips so that they could be quickly drawn and fired.

The man spoke, "The snow here is even heavier than we heard, huh Master? I've never seen this much snow before in my life."

The woman called "Master" responded to the mixture of surprise and awe in a calm voice, "Me neither. And it's probably not done piling up yet either. We're still only halfway through the winter, after all."

"Uh huh," the man murmured, "but then, it wouldn't really be easier to come through here in the Summer, would it?"

"No, this whole area would be covered in mud. The winter snow is easier to drive through than the Summer muck. This is the only time of year that we can visit the country we're heading to."

"I wouldn't expect you to care so much about going someplace like that, Master, even buying a truck just for this," the man said, with more than a little surprise in his voice.

On that note, if you're wondering what this snow-covered truck was carrying on its bed, it was a car.

The small, yellow, and beat-up car that the two of them usually used for transportation had been dumped inside the truck, and their luggage was stacked on the car seats.

The truck also carried a heap of fuel containers that surrounded the car.

"I've heard rumors about this country for years, so I've always thought that if I had the chance, I'd like to go."

"Does that mean there's a chance for us to score a large profit?"

The woman replied to the man's instinctive question, "Do you only see me as a miser?"

He countered the icy stare coming from the passenger seat with, "Well, yeah, exactly."

"I think we'd better discuss this again later."

"Uhh... without persuaders, I hope."

"Why not? I don't see the problem."

"I'll pass! — Changing the subject, is there a reason to bring the car along? We could just use the truck from now on; that way we'd be able to carry more luggage," said the man.

The female traveler replied firmly, "The truck is only temporary. Its too fuel inefficient and wasteful, especially with two of us."

"Well, that's true," the man nodded.

Thanks to its treads, the truck could drive even in rough conditions, but the engine had to work harder to do so, meaning it needed that much more gas. That's why they needed to bring along a small mountain of gas tanks.

"Once we hit a normal road, we should sell the truck. I don't know that we'll be able to get much for it though."

"Ah, so the loss is basically a rental fee. You should have told me so when we bought it."

"You never asked."

"Master... How old are you?"

"Not even 1000 yet."

"What a coincidence. Me neither."

The conversation petered out, but the truck rumbled on and the snow continued to fall.

"So, what kind of country is it?" the man asked, rekindling the conversation.

"It's supposed to be large and wealthy, blessed by river and forest so that everyone lives without ever knowing hunger."

"And?"

"I don't know."

"'I don't know', huh... What if it's dangerous? And everyone... is, uh, everyone is like a starving beast?" the man asked, half-joking and half-serious.

"If that happens, we'll kill or be killed. There's no peace to be had with beasts," the woman replied, half-serious and half-serious.

—

And so the two of them continued through the forest.

The ground was mostly even, but occasionally a hill would swell up or a valley would appear like a great dent in the countryside. They had to move carefully and feel their way through, so naturally they couldn't drive too quickly.

"Why don't we stop here for now?" the man suggested, parking the truck.

On a normal day, they would have traveled this far before afternoon tea, but the first rule of doing anything outside is setting up camp while there's still usable daylight, and the winter sunset was particularly early.

The man scouted around the area with snowshoes and the shotgun persuader. Meanwhile, the woman stood watch on top of the truck's roof with her rifle in-hand.

The man stretched a thin wire around the surrounding trees as he walked, before returning and fastening the wire to a small box in the truck bed.

If a person or wild animal tripped the wire, the box would sound an alarm.

After setting up camp for the night, it was time for supper.

For travelers, or rather for all living things, it's important to stay somewhere near water. Luckily for them, they were surrounded by more than enough snow and ice.

That said, they couldn't just dump snow and ice into their mouths as-is. That would lower their body temperature and sap their strength, so that should be avoided as much as possible.

The man began cooking from on top of the truck's roof.

First, he put a pot over a canister stove and melted snow in it until it came to a boil.

Then he added a kind of preserved food called "pemmican". It's a mixture of vegetables, fruits, and meat that's cooked and then hardened with animal fat to be stored in bags.

"Master, what flavor would you like tonight?"

"Good question. Spicy food would be a nice change of pace."

"Curry it is then." The man produced curry roux from his stockpile and added it to the stew.

Then, he added some macaroni, which they had bought in bulk from the last country, to the curry soup. It was thoroughly frozen, but it soon started to break apart in the boiling water.

After letting everything cook together a while longer, dinner was served: macaroni and curry soup with honey tea.

The meal was high in oil and calorie content, but it's necessary to have that much in the winter mountains. It was also high in salt and water, with sugar from the honey tea.

The soup blew large plumes of steam into the cold winter air, and the two travelers took turns eating.

First the woman ate, and once she was finished, the man took his turn.

They didn't take turns eating as master and servant, like a person and their pet dog, but rather so that one of them could keep watch while the other person was eating.

They finished eating as the sun set and the world sank into darkness. There was nothing left for them to do but sleep.

The woman climbed into the truck and wrapped herself in a thick sleeping bag across both seats, as the man looked up to the sky and sighed, "Ahh, it's snowing..."

Under the drafty truck canopy, the man laid in his sleeping bag and clutched his shotgun, fully loaded with the safety on.

"I want to sleep naked under the bedsheets in a heated hotel room..." And as the man grumbled out his impossible wish, he closed his eyes.

—

The next day, around noon.

After driving through the raging snowfall all morning and crossing over two small mountains, they had finally arrived outside the walls of their destination.

The walls were the same slate gray as the overcast sky. They were also very tall.

"Whoa, that's impressive," the man thought out loud as he poked his head out the window to see. The snow whipped into his face mercilessly and he quickly decided to pull himself back into the truck.

—

Noticing the truck, a security officer walked out from the gate.

They carried relatively old-fashioned bolt-action rifles on their backs and wore garishly orange winter clothing, probably in order to stand out against the snow. They each had a coil of rope on his shoulder for pulling people out of snowbanks.

It should go without saying, but they wore a pair of snowshoes to keep from sinking into the snow, larger than the ones the travelers used.

The officers approached carefully, with their rifles held out in front of them. They frantically darted their eyes this way and that, as if terribly frightened of something, something other than the travelers.

Once the officers reached the truck, the woman told them she hoped to enter.

"Well then... Welcome to our country," was the reply. However, the officer's behavior and tone of voice were unsteady, and he was visibly conflicted.

"Did something happen in the country?" the male traveler asked, but the officers were already backing away.

"You're authorized to enter, so would you mind asking once you're inside? Please head straight to the center, everyone should be gathered there. Okay, that will be all..."

With that, the officers hurried back to the gate, almost in a full sprint.

The man tilted his head, "I wonder what that was about. Too cold for them, maybe?"

—

The gate was drawn for them as they came to it, and since the snow was piled up to half its height, it had to be opened all the way.

The snow from outside tumbled inward as the gate opened and the truck rode the small snow ramp down.

As soon as the truck had passed, the gate slammed shut again. They drove on through the thick wall, which felt like a tunnel to them, on toward the heart of the country.

Then, the two travelers saw the country.

It was hard to see very far due to all the snow, but the country was obviously flat. The land was probably cleared for farming, so the trees were few and far between.

The snow was piled up, of course, but the road had been cleared so that there was only a thin layer of compacted snow over it.

There was a muscular-looking horse drawing a snow-plow behind it at a comfortable pace.

The truck ran down the road.

The treads, being triangle-shaped, add their full height to the truck, so it looked particularly tall, almost like a four-legged animal.

As the truck continued down the snowy road, one-by-one buildings came into view. All of them were log cabins.

Because of the heavy snow, the ground floor of each house consisted only of thick support beams for the upper floors, and was used as a storage space for kindling.

There were wooden staircases used for climbing up to the entrance of each house.

The roofs were slanted at sharp angles to allow snow to slide off, so ultimately, the houses were surrounded by snowbanks on all sides.

The houses were spread far apart and the lots were large, so at first glance, they could almost be mistaken for resort villas.

The truck chugged on toward the center of the country.

Having been fitted with treads, the truck was quite an unusual sight.

Curious eyes peered out from the cabins that lined the roadside, as the country's citizens literally looked down on the strange truck.

The male traveler occasionally waved his hand in a show of goodwill.

—

When they finally reached the heart of the country, it opened into a wide area.

It seemed to be a park. There wasn't much snow piled up; instead, a mass of people and wagons were assembled.

More than one hundred people had gathered, young and old, men and women, all wearing the same felt coats. Standing apart from them was a group that wore black uniforms and carried persuaders slung over their shoulders, clearly the same as the officers from the gate.

"What's all this? Probably... not our welcoming ceremony, huh?" the male traveler said. Even from a distance, the crowd was obviously not in a welcoming sort of mood, and as the travelers drove closer, it only became more noticeable.

Everyone, the citizens and officers both, wore stern expressions on their faces.

"It almost looks like the police are getting ready for a perilous raid on a criminal safehouse. Oh, or maybe they're here to ambush us? In that case, bring it on, boys," the man quipped.

He parked the truck at the entrance, and together with the woman, they climbed out and greeted the citizens.

"Good day to you all! We're travelers that've been granted entrance to your country."

"Hello, everyone!"

The people standing closest to them returned their greetings with warm words, "I'm impressed you made the long journey here," and "Welcome, you're the first visitors in five years," and "It must have been hard getting here, please enjoy your stay."

Someone also offered to show them to a hotel if they hadn't already picked one. It was in every way a cordial welcoming. They didn't even have to fight anyone.

At the same time, in the center of the park, the conversation between the police and the citizens continued beneath the snowy sky. They didn't appear to notice the newly-arrived travelers at all.

"It might be rude of me to ask, but..." the female traveler began, "but why are the police gathered here?"

An elderly man replied, "Ahh... I'm afraid you two have come at a bit of a bad time."

"A bad time? Meaning?"

"We're currently in the midst of a disaster that will be remembered for years to come."

The travelers stood under the falling snow and listened intently.

"Oh? A disaster, you say... please tell us, if you don't mind."

"Well you see, a grizzly has been spotted near the country borders."

The male traveler was surprised by the older man's words, "Did you say 'a grizzly'?"

"..." The woman's brow furrowed for a moment, but it was slight enough that no one noticed.

The citizen continued, "Oh good, so you two know of grizzlies, it seems?"

"Yeah, I think. — Basically, they're huge bears, right?"

"That's right."

The woman asked, "And they live in the surrounding area?"

The citizen shook his head from side to side violently, "No! I've never heard such a thing in my whole life. But then a month ago, when winter was just setting in, there was a suddenly appearance in the forests outside the country."

"Any attacks?"

The woman's short question made the man's face cloud over, and she could guess at the answer even before he spoke.

"Fourteen people have already been attacked... Six were killed, and three more have gone missing, but they're probably dead by now too. The other five are still alive, but three of them were gravely injured to the point that they'll never walk again."

"That's terrible," the male traveler said.

"We go out into the forest for lumber during the winter. It's only possible when the snow has piled up, so we cut down enough for the rest of the year. The land inside the country walls needs to be kept for farming pastures, so we don't plant any trees. Without lumber from the forest, we won't be able to build anything, or light fires for cooking and staying warm. At least for now, we still have our emergency reserves, but we won't make it through the winter if this keeps up."

"Hmm, I see."

"Aside from that, there are tons of things we have to get done in the winter. We snare wild deer alive to bring back for raising, and we need sap for medicines. This country can only get by because everyone here works their hardest during every season of the year. But none of that is possible with a grizzly out there. At this rate, our country will collapse!"

Once he was done with his speech, another citizen spoke up in a tone of admiration, "I'm amazed you travelers made it here safely... It's not safe, even inside your truck. The bear didn't even hesitate to attack someone riding a large sleigh."

At that, the male traveler shivered, just slightly, "Wow, that's grim."

The woman asked, "Do you have any idea why grizzlies would suddenly appear in the area?"

The elderly man answered her again, "No clue whatsoever. In fact, grizzlies aren't even native to this region. We didn't even know they were called 'grizzlies' until we found it in an animal encyclopedia from a traveling merchant."

"I see. What are their numbers and size?"

"So far, we've only encountered one. Its fur is black, except for a patch of shining white or gray hair on the back of its neck. As for its size, one of the witnesses said, 'it was four meters tall when standing, and it was so wide that it looked like a walking mountain'... but it's probably smaller than that, and the fear of being attacked made it seem bigger than it was."

The woman responded flatly, "It's not surprising at all for a grizzly to grow that large, as long as it gets enough nutrients."

The man chimed in, "I've heard the same thing, that their size can change a lot depending on the environment and prey, but at that size, it could bring down a large cow or rip a person's head off in one swipe."

The townsfolk grimaced in unison. But then someone in the crowd said, "Hey! You two seem to know a lot about grizzlies. Or at least way more than us! Plus, you look pretty tough! — What do you think about helping us out?"

At that, the crowd erupted with, "He's right!", "Good idea!", "How wonderful!", "We can still make it!", "Please help us!", and other cries of approval.

"The police are huddled up over there, trying to come up with a way to kill it, but there's no point."

"There are usually no large animals around here, so we don't have any real hunters. A bunch of men went into the forest with rifles, but they didn't get anything done. In fact, one of them was attacked and got hurt during it."

"So now the police took over trying to deal with it."

"But everyone in the country is worried whether the police can actually handle it."

"I'm sure everyone would feel safer if you two helped out!"

"And we wouldn't ask you to do it for nothing! We'll reward you with whatever we can!"

"For now, please at least talk to them about it!"

In the face of so many pleading voices, the travelers weren't in a position to flat-out refuse.

"Fine, then we'll at least discuss it. Someone please introduce us to them," offered the woman, to the delight of the townsfolk.

Either the man had no objections or he just knew it was useless to try, but regardless, he kept silent.

—

30 police officers stood in single-file at the center of the park. They were all well-built men in their twenties and thirties.

They were all equipped for the heavy snow, with their black winter uniforms, gloves, boots, and snowshoes.

Their persuaders were the short, rapid-fire type with a long rectangular magazine jutting from the left side, capable of releasing ten hand-persuader shells a second.

At the head of the others, a policeman in his forties was puffing out his chest as he addressed the citizens, "Don't worry! This is the moment we've been training for!" This was undoubtedly their commanding officer. With his glorious mustache and chiseled physique, he radiated manliness.

His police uniform was crisply fitted, and he kept a large automatic hand-persuader holstered on his hip. It was an older model, and quite rare.

"The last hunting party failed because they were too unorganized. Tomorrow at dawn, all 31 of us will head into the forest as a unit. If we search in an evenly-spaced horizontal line, there'll be nowhere for that black devil to run."

The police captain spoke so confidently that his audience started to feel more assured as well. The policemen behind him smiled too, knowing that with so many people and weapons, it would be child's play to take down a single animal.

A voice called out, "Sir, excuse me for interrupting, but I have important news," and then the two travelers were brought forward and introduced to the captain.

"Well how about that. Welcome to our country! You're our first guests in a long time."

The elderly man explained, "These travelers seem to be familiar with grizzlies and they've offered to help. Would it be possible for them to join your hunt tomorrow?"

However, the police captain made his disapproval clear, "Look — I know how you feel, really, but it's not a good idea."

"Oh, why's that?"

The captain responded to the man's question in a calm voice, "First of all, we're the ones that were given this mission. We have an established chain of command. We train outside the country all the time, so we know the surrounding area. Our weapons are superior too. The single-shot rifles that the hunters were using can't even begin to compare with our rapid-fire persuaders. With enough bullets, it doesn't even matter what kind of monster we go up against."

"W-well, I suppose..."

"Finally, and most importantly, no matter what kind of emergency we're in, no police officer would ever let one of our visitors be exposed to danger. So please, I'm asking you to let it go."

Once the police captain had spoken his piece, the older man complied with, "Okay... I understand your reasoning now," and gave up trying to convince him. The last line about "not letting visitors be exposed to danger" had clearly struck a chord.

The female traveler said, "Well then, we'll defer to his decision."

The male traveler followed suit, "Agreed."

The police captain went right back into his bravado, "There's no need to worry! Travelers, please find a warm hotel where you can relax and put your feet up. Tomorrow night, you can come see the great beast's dead body!"

—

"Yahoo! A bed!" the male traveler shouted as he leaped onto the mattress.

They had been brought to a large log cabin hotel. The walls were made entirely of wood. There was a log burning in the fireplace in one corner that heated the whole room.

The sky outside the window was still the same dull gray, and the snow still continued to fall.

"Now all I need is a pretty girl and I'll be set. Shall I find one to have dinner with?"

He was spread out, lying on the bed in his underwear when the female traveler knocked and entered. She was lightly dressed too, but not surprisingly, she was wearing more than just underwear. She wore an elegant jacket over a pair of black pants.

"Hey, a pretty girl! Oh wait, it's you, Master. Is it time for dinner?"

"Not yet. I just have something to say."

"Oh? And what's that?"

"Your large-caliber rifle's still in the truck, right? The one you never use, since it's overkill?"

"Yup."

"Get it out of its bag and have it cleaned and maintained by tomorrow. Also, ammunition; prepare a set of soft-points and slugs."

The man tilted his head in her direction. Why did they need to get that gun ready?

On top of that, she wanted heavy anti-personnel rounds — Soft-points (expanding bullets) for the rifle and slugs (large, solid bullets) for the shotgun are not everyday conversation topics.

"Are you plotting to overthrow the country, Master?" With her, it was a real possibility.

"What if I am?" she responded.

The man thought seriously for three seconds before answering, "We'd want to take advantage of the darkness while it's still night out, and start by sniping the police at long range. Once they're all dead, the country's leader — oh, I just found this out but apparently they're elected by popular vote, so they must be pretty well-respected — so if we take the chief hostage and threaten the citizens, we should be in full control. I think the two of us could pull it off in half a day?"

"Yeah, that doesn't too hard, but let's hold off on that for now," the woman replied casually.

"Well, there's no point to owning a country like this anyway; all they've got is snow. If you think of a reason, let me know," the man said, loosening up again. The two of them were dangerous on a fundamental level.

"I hope we don't end up needing it, but have it ready in case the time does come," the woman said, and turned on her heel.

"I don't see the point, but okay, I'll make the necessary preparations," the man assented.

—

The next day, at noon.

The sky was overcast. The temperature was about the same as it was the day before.

The two travelers were having lunch in a crowded restaurant. It was said to be the best restaurant in the country, so they had come to see.

Their specialty was locally raised, grilled pork.

The table was made from half of a log, cut length-wise, and in the center, a charcoal pit had been carved out with wiring laid above it. Plenty of raw red meat was laid out on the table for the guests to grill themselves.

"This is amazing, Master! What is this? It's definitely not any kind of pork I know!"

"It certainly is delicious. It's tender, and there's a sweetness to it."

"Right? And also it's the middle of winter right now. Can we buy a few of their pigs to bring with? If it's just a couple, we have space in the truck to hang them. We could even make bacon."

"I'll consider it."

The two of them sat there, enjoying the true pleasure of traveling, that is, "eating delicacies you can only find in foreign lands", when a young man burst through the door screaming, "Bad news! The policemen were attacked!"

The restaurant patrons stirred in an instant.

Everyone knew that the police had left early in the morning on their hunting expedition. Some of them had even begun to wonder when they'd receive word that the grizzly had been slain.

"A-at the west gate, they're helping the people that managed to run away! T-ten people were killed! Even the survivors are covered in blood! The dead bodies they brought back are all mangled up! They're just a mess of blood and guts!"

The frantic young man's report left the restaurant's customers pale in the face. Then, once they looked down at the red meat in front of them, they stopped eating. Some even rushed to the bathroom.

Unfazed, the male traveler manned the grill and said, "Oh dear, so the hunters became the hunted. — Master, the meat's ready, so help yourself."

"I'm not surprised. — Don't mind if I do," came the response from the woman across the table, as she scooped up the meat.

The man grinned at her, "So you were expecting that to happen all along."

"What do you mean by 'that'?"

The man lowered his voice, "You know what I mean. With their equipment, those policemen never stood a chance against the grizzly. I mean, those .32 caliber rounds they use aren't heavy enough to kill a huge beast like that."

"That sounds about right."

"...Which means that bringing along more people doesn't help them at all. If anything, it could hurt them. If one or two people get antsy, that could spread to everyone else. Training to handle criminals isn't useful for handling wild animals. They can't even surround it without risking friendly fire. So even if the two of us went along, we'd have trouble getting out alive, let alone killing it."

"More or less, yeah."

"It's just like you not to explain that and stop them, Master," the man said, almost cheerfully, as he laid more meat onto the grill top. He was still far from done eating.

The woman lowered her voice too, "Even if I tried, they wouldn't have stopped, would they? That police captain seems — rather ambitious. I heard rumors that he's aiming for the country chief's seat."

"Ooh. Your ears are as quick as ever."

"I heard he's popular enough that it's just a matter of time. He must have gotten impatient and tried to speed things up by playing the hero, and now his subordinates have fallen prey as a result."

"I see. So he doesn't mind cannibalizing his own men. But can we talk about how good this meat is? What makes it so different from regular pork?"

In contrast with the laid-back travelers enjoying their meal, the rest of the restaurant-goers were in an uproar over the news. Some of them were probably friends and family to the policemen. Several people ran out the door wearing worried expressions.

The citizens that stayed behind in the restaurant were nervously discussing what this might mean for the country's future. How could one wild animal singlehandedly bring a country to ruin?

The restaurant employees wore the same concern on their faces as they cleared away the uneaten meat. The travelers, on the other hand, had already cleaned their plates entirely.

Then...

"I was told the travelers that arrived yesterday came here, are they still around? If so, our leader was hoping to meet with you, if you'd be so kind as to come with me," a man's voice boomed, as he entered the restaurant and the room fell silent again.

—

The two travelers were taken by a horse-drawn sled to a large building at the center of the country.

It wasn't as impressive as the towering buildings that some other countries had, but it was an astounding size for a log house. It was the official residence of the country's leader.

And waiting for them in a portrait-adorned office was a man of about 70.

He was thin, and his legs must have been frail, for he sat in a wooden wheelchair that could also function as a sled, fitting for such a snowy country.

There were several muscular men guarding him.

He was introduced as the 154th chief, and the female traveler responded with elegance and poise. Even the male traveler acted properly in greeting the chief and introducing himself.

Of course, he did not tell the chief how he had contemplated taking him hostage the night before. They sat down when they were invited to do so.

The chief personally explained once again the precarious situation that the country was facing.

It was mostly the same as as what they had heard the day before, but he also mentioned that 20 police officers had died and 8 more had been wounded. Quite a few more than there were previously.

He also went into detail on what exactly happened in the attack.

—

The police squad headed out at daybreak —

They discovered the bear's tracks in the northern part of the woods, not far from the country walls.

It wasn't snowing at all this morning, so the tracks were definitely fresh. With that, hunting down the bear would be simple, and so the men eagerly followed the footprints.

They were following the tracks up a hill, slowly struggling their way up the 10-meter incline, when it happened. The grizzly appeared at the top of the hill and came hurtling down in an instant. Down toward the policemen.

The grizzly was definitely more than four meters long, and it crashed down over them like a black boulder.

The policemen had the safety on on their guns to prevent accidents, and on top of that, many of them were over-confident, so none of them were ready to able to shoot immediately.

The few policemen in the rear that actually managed to fire weren't able to get a clear shot on the charging bear. And so it was that the grizzly tore its way through the center of the thirty officers.

The policemen panicked.

The grizzly bear sliced through the bodies of the closest policemen as if they were no more than blades of grass.

It could only be described as a massacre.

There were men whose faces were torn off, men whose innards were ripped out. Another had his bones snapped inside its massive jaws and was then tossed into the sky. Some men had their arms removed, still clutching their persuaders. When one man tried to escape up a tree, the bear stood back on its hind legs and swiped its paw, detaching both of the man's legs and sending him flying away.

The surrounding policemen did try to shoot, but they were scared of shooting each other.

A few shots did hit their mark, but the bear didn't even seem to flinch. In anything, that only seemed to fuel its rage further as it continued to rampage.

The police captain fired his prized gun at the beast as he tried to keep his men from fleeing, and he scored several hits on the bear's back — but it had no effect.

In less than a minute, the grizzly had turned 20 poor men into a bloody mess. The defiant men, the confused and the scared men, the bear killed them all the same.

When the bear's rampage was over, it calmly walked away. It shot one last parting glance at an injured man, who promptly fainted.

The police captain and the 10 others that had somehow made it out alive were in no condition to chase after it.

They did everything they could to save the others, but four had already been instantly killed. Eight more died at the scene, one after another, all sobbing that they didn't want to die yet.

The survivors barely managed to drag the rest of the injured men back to the gates.

It was physically exhausting, and they worked in constant fear that they might be attacked from behind at any moment. Thankfully, the bear did not follow them.

They entrusted the wounded with the officers at the gate and then resolutely walked back, only to find a gruesome sight waiting for them.

The grizzly had already returned to the scene of the attack, unreservedly devoured the dead bodies, and then left again.

The men that had been so neatly lined up before were now just corpses strewn about, lying on the red snow.

There were also several severed arms and legs, as well as a disembodied head that had been flung into the distance. There were corpses with gaping holes in them where only their bowels had been eaten. There were trampled corpses beginning to sink into the snow.

It was no longer even possible to identify the bodies.

Someone's neck was stuck on a tree branch, probably thrown away by the bear during its meal.

The bear must have saved a corpse to eat later, because there was a winding trail of blood leading into the woods, but none of the officers made a move to give chase.

They made no effort to confirm the number of casualties, they just counted how many of them had survived.

Compared to bringing back the wounded officers, it was much easier to carry back the minced remains of the 12 dead men.

—

Once the chief had finished his account, he asked candidly, "Can the two of you... conquer that demon?"

"I can't make any guarantees, but if you want to hire us, we will take it on. We'll begin preparing immediately and then the two of us will head into the forest tomorrow morning," the female traveler declared.

She said "if you want to hire us", that is, "we won't do it for free." She deliberately left out any specific price.

She said "the two of us", that is, "we won't bring any tagalongs."

The chief replied immediately, "Please do. Any reward I can give you, other than my citizens' lives or property, I will. Even take my life, if you wish. I don't have that many years left anyway."

The color drained from the faces of the chief's retainers.

The male traveler grinned at the chief's overwhelming chivalry. He couldn't help but think to himself, "Even if we had taken him hostage, I never would have been able to kill him."

The female traveler gave a single curt nod, "We can discuss the reward after we kill the thing, but we don't need or want your life, just something we can sell for travel expenses."

The retainers relaxed, having feared that she might ask for something like citizenship.

At that moment, the hallway grew loud with the sound of footsteps.

"Chief!"

The door swung open, and a man stormed into the room. It was none other than the police captain.

He was still in uniform, with dark splotches of blood here and there. He didn't appear to be injured anywhere, so it was undoubtedly the blood of his subordinates.

"We can still fight! Don't bow down to these outsiders," the captain shouted, standing next to the seated travelers with a desperate look on his face.

"..." The chief said nothing, he just shook his head.

"Chief! Please give me another chance! Let me have revenge for the deaths of my men! Let me do this! I'll go alone if I have to! I'll bring a bomb if I have to! I'll die if I have to! Please let me take responsibility!"

The chief looked at the screaming police captain and said, very calmly, "I'm the one who approved that plan. The responsibility lies with me."

"But?"

"Once this is resolved, I will take responsibility and resign. At that time, there must be someone to lead the country after me. In this, it would be problematic for you to die now. I take it you understand my meaning."

"... Chief..." The captain hung his head in defeat. He looked ready to cry.

"Ah yes, what a touching moment," the male traveler thought. Of course, he didn't say it out loud.

On the other hand, the female traveler said, "Mr. Police Captain. You have done as much as you can, and there's no shame in that."

He showed no reaction to the woman's impeccable consolation, so she continued, "This time, leave it to us."

The chief asked, "Do you have a plan?"

"To an extent. It may be a bit long, but please bear with me —"

—

"Y-you think we'd allow you to do that?" the police captain shouted defiantly, paying no mind to the close quarters of the office. He had been offered a seat, but he jumped back to his feet upon hearing the plan.

"Well, that's a fairly natural response," the male traveler thought. Of course, he didn't say it out loud.

As for the chief, he considered it for a long while before simply saying, "Will that plan — really kill the beast?"

—

The next day, in the early morning.

The sunlight bounced off the truck that sat under the open gate.

The weather was clear, almost as if by mistake. The sky was blue and endless, the snow was silver and radiantly beautiful.

Because of that, the temperature was colder than usual, sitting at about -10 degrees.

The two travelers sat in the truck, wearing their winter clothes, hats, gloves, and sunglasses.

Also in the cab with them were seven persuaders strapped to the rack.

They were all high-power, and one was even a fully-automatic military rifle.

All of the persuaders were fully loaded, with extra magazines prepared.

Also, the truck had undergone some strange modifications. Firstly, a sharpened metal plate was attached to the front of the truck for pushing past trees.

There were wooden boards tied upright to the left and right of the driver and passenger seats, respectively.

This way, if the bear suddenly attacked the truck, the boards would protect them. Of course, with the grizzly's power, it might still be able to break through the wood, but it would at least hold for a moment.

The canopy and metal frame had been removed, leaving the yellow truck bed was naked.

Two large structures that looked like water cannons were mounted on the sides of the truck, like a hairstyle with long side bangs. There were two tanks resting in the truck bed, with small motorized pumps used for farming attached.

It was practically a fire truck, set up so that they could spray water over long distances.

"Alright Master, it's time to go," the man in the driver's seat said.

"Whenever you're ready," the woman in the passenger's seat replied.

The man stepped on the accelerator and the engine sputtered to life. The truck gripped its tires on the snow, pushed its way up the hill, and crept into the snowy forest.

—

"What an insane plan," a single policeman murmured from atop the wall, "burning down the forest..."

The plan that the woman laid out for the chief was ruthlessly violent.

Attach water cannons to the truck, coat the forest in lighter fluid, and then burn it down.

Because of all the snow, the forest fire shouldn't spread disastrously far, but a sizable range was still bound to be destroyed.

Unlike other animals, the grizzly bear wouldn't run away at full speed upon seeing the fire, but it also wouldn't willingly go toward the fire, especially with such a sensitive nose.

While the bear is disoriented by the fire and smoke, the travelers could find it and then mercilessly gun it down.

This was no longer "hunting", it was a military-scale search and destroy operation.

The police captain's fit of rage wasn't unreasonable, but in the end, the country chief decided to approve the plan and explain it to the citizens.

And so the truck drove on.

—

"Well, since we have the chief's permission and all, here we go," the man in the driver's seat said cheerfully, as he pressed down on the gas pedal.

The footprints left by the policemen from the day before were still there, so they slowly followed the tracks onward.

Before too long, they were about halfway to the site when the woman said, "Around here should be fine," and strapped on a gas mask.

The two travelers always carried full face masks for when they needed to use tear gas.

Both of them were accustomed to the masks, so it only took a moment to secure the mask in place and remove the cap over the mouthpiece.

Once their masks were prepped, the woman flipped a switch near the driver's seat.

The pumps behind them started moving. A thick, dark brown liquid began spraying out of the hoses on either side of the truck.

The fluid was a mix of cooking oil, gasoline, rubber spray to add viscosity, and things like cooking spices and medicines to give it a terrible stench that the male traveler had concocted. Quite a dangerous mixture, all around.

The fluid clung to the trees and dyed the snow.

The man inched the truck forward. The woman had already turned off the hoses, and now, aiming a rifle out the window, she stiffened her left arm and fired once.

The tracer bullet slammed into a tree, causing it to burst into flames immediately. From there, the fluid on top of the snow ignited and carried the flame over to the next tree. The fire fanned deeper into the forest.

Smoke billowed into the air, carrying along its disgusting stink.

The truck chugged forward against the backdrop of flames and white smoke. They gushed out more fluid, fire more bullets, and watched the forest burn.

By the time they made it to the site of yesterday's attack, the fire had grown 10, maybe even 20 times as large.

—

From the top of the country walls —

The police watched as the vast forest was steadily consumed by the ever-growing fire.

One officer seethed, "Our forest... They didn't even give it a second thought..."

Another policeman countered uncertainly, "But... if if that's the only way to solve the problem..."

"..." The police captain stood silently with his arms crossed.

The flames and smoke grew closer to where the police had been attacked, and before too long, they had proceeded deeper into the forest, in the direction the grizzly had run.

—

"Found you—!" the man yelled happily, not even 500 meters from where the police force had been attacked.

To be fair though, 500 meters on foot in the heavy snow is still quite a long distance. It was only because they were driving the truck that they made the journey so easily.

There was a trespasser standing just beyond a thicket of trees. There were thin trails of smoke rising nearby, but the huge black mass was easy to make out against the white snow.

"Master, one o'clock. 50 meters out!" The man floored the gas pedal as he shouted to the woman. Because the gas masks muffled his voice, he had to shout louder than usual.

The forest-killing truck's engine roared and charged toward the bear at full speed. It slammed through the thin saplings in front of it and flattened them with no reservation.

The shape moving lazily over the snow was unquestionably the black grizzly. It was as big as the stories suggested.

The bear was casually heading upwind to escape the fire and the smoke.

"Good. Turn to the left."

"The rest is up to you," the man said, and following the woman's instructions, he adjusted the steering wheel and accelerator. Underneath his gas mask, the man's face was beaming with glee.

The woman had stowed away the rifle for lighting fires and replaced it with a much higher power, automatic rifle with a scope. She had everything set up and pointed out the window.

The gas mask over her face made it impossible to perfectly line herself up against the rifle, but it wasn't enough to be a problem.

The woman calmly disengaged the safety and aimed at the bear.

The truck's rattling made her take longer than normal just to aim. Just as she had the shot lined up, the black figure disappeared out of sight.

"It got away. There must be a hill that it descended down," the woman said, as she pulled the rifle back in.

"Roger that. In pursuit," the man said, and he took careful stock of their surroundings.

The bear's escape route gently sloped into a gorge. Judging from where the trees had grown, it looked possible to descend farther into the valley from the right.

"We're moving down in. It would've been easier for the bear to go down too. Brace yourself." The man turned the wheel and the truck swung far to the right. The truck's treads juddered as they turned.

And then the truck charged forward once again.

The truck let out an animal-like roar, louder than any bear, and rushed on through the snow.

As they approached the ravine, the woman pointed her rifle out the window once again.

The man kept the wheel steady with his left hand, and in his right hand he gripped the shotgun. If the opportunity arose, he was ready to fire out the left window.

The truck plowed through the snow and pushed away the thin foliage as it descended into a basin that was roughly 40 meters wide.

And then, "There it is."

There it was, standing in the center of the basin. It must have given up trying to climb the banks of the gorge and chosen to push through the snow to come down here instead. Just as the man predicted.

They were only 20 meters away from the grizzly now, close enough to make out the eyes on its face.

The bear's silver eyes almost looked like bullets as it stared at the truck.

The truck must have seemed like some kind of monster that was several times the bear's own size, but still, the bear stared at the truck, unflinching.

—

The man had stopped the truck, and he returned his shotgun to the gun rack and let out his voice in amazement, "Whoa, he really is huge..."

And then, checking to make sure their smoke and stink hadn't reached this far yet, he took off his gas mask. Looking at the bear, he said, "Don't scowl at us like that! It's nothing personal!"

It wasn't loud enough for the bear to hear, and even if it was, it's not like the bear would have understood it, but he still felt like saying.

"But we can't leave you alive after you've tasted human flesh. After all, humans are pretty tasty. If you find something delicious and convenient like that, of course you'll eat it again."

While the man has holding his intimate conversation, the woman had also thrown off her gas mask and was now setting up her shot in silence. She stole occasional glances to the side to make sure there wasn't anything else in the distance.

"Look, the grilled pork I ate yesterday was really good! So it's not like I don't understand how you feel, my friend," the man continued, "So yeah, sorry. — That's all."

And with that, he ended his one-sided conversation.

He glanced over to the woman in the passenger's seat and said, "Go ahead, Master. Execute it, no mercy," speaking as if he were casually offering her the last cookie.

Without saying anything, the woman rested the rifle's tip on top of the window frame, peered down the scope, and breathed in.

The bear just stood there.

It didn't give off any menacing behavior; rather, it just seemed to show off its dignified body, like a proud and mighty hero.

Staring at that figure through her sunglasses and rifle scope, the woman's eyes grew wide.

She felt her finger on the trigger and pulled.

—

From the center of the small basin, the sound of harsh gunfire screamed into the air.

Even from the high country walls, the sound was faint but distinctly audible.

The police force was a buzz of, "Did you hear that?" "Ah! They fired!" "Did they get it?" "Is it dead?"

"..." The police captain stood silently with his arms crossed, but a thin smile played on his lips.

—

"W-what happened, Master?" the man asked, with a rare expression on his face.

The bear had taken the hit to the right side of its stomach and it was waddling away to the right. It limped painfully up the slope of the basin, leaving a trail of blood behind it.

The man stared at the woman to his right as she calmly flicked the safety on the rifle and stowed it back onto the rack. "Follow after it, but keep a distance," was the order she gave, choosing not to answer his question.

"So you missed its heart on purpose, didn't you? Why didn't you kill it?"

"The situation has changed. We'll kill it, just not yet. It's bleeding enough that it'll probably die soon anyway, but for now just drive after it."

"..." The man didn't understand at all, but he complied, "Understood."

He pushed down on the accelerator and released the clutch.

—

The bear ran away in desperation.

It waded through the heavy snow, giving occasional yelps of pain as it moved deeper into the forest.

The truck chased after it from a distance.

"Where do you think it's running to?" the man asked, with the truck cruising at low speed.

He didn't really expect an answer, but the woman gave an immediate reply, "It's going home."

"What?"

"Its home. If something happened to you, wouldn't you want to die in your own home?"

"Well, I..." The man's dumbfounded expression was soon replaced with a serious one. "Master. What did you see? About that bear."

"Oh? Why are you so sure I saw something?"

"That's the only explanation I can think of. What did you see, looking through that scope?"

The woman sat in silence for a few seconds before answering. "A collar."

—

"Oh hey! You're finally back! And you're both unharmed, from the looks of it!"

By the time the travelers had made their way back to the gates, the forest fire had calmed down on its own.

That said, it was only after so many trees had already been burnt beyond use.

The sun was starting to sink, it had already been more than half a day. Before the travelers had come back, the policemen were starting to worry that the sun might set entirely without seeing the truck return.

Once they heard the gunfire, they had expected the travelers to return soon, and they grew restless the longer they waited from the country walls.

They ate lunch at 12, and then had tea in the afternoon, but there still hadn't been any sign of the travelers.

"Do you think they were eaten..?" more than one of the policemen began to wonder.

However, none of them were brave enough to volunteer to check.

"They're dragging the grizzly's body behind them! They got him! Those two travelers really did it!" A policeman spotted the truck through his binoculars and jumped up and down in joy.

—

The country's chief had been worrying all day, along with the rest of the populace.

When the news spread that the truck had slain the grizzly and was returning, the country came alive with a buzzing excitement.

The chief, who had been waiting in his office, nodded his head countless times in satisfaction and said, "Alright, let's all go out to meet the brave travelers. We should gather everyone that isn't in the middle of something urgent. Today is a day for celebration. Arrange for a banquet."

Having given out those instructions, he made his way out to the park at the country's heart.

—

The black mass that emerged from the gate after the truck was undeniably the grizzly's dead body.

The bear's hind legs were tightly bound with rope to the truck's frame, and was slowly being pulled along.

A small red line was being drawn over the snowy road behind the bear.

The citizens came out onto the roadside and threw snowballs at the demon that had been tormenting their country.

They would have loved to throw rocks instead, but snow was all they had at hand, so they compromised by compacting the snowballs as tightly as they could before throwing.

They hit the bear over and over with snowballs, but the dead giant didn't so much as twitch from its rest.

At the same time, there were cries of, "You two did great!" "Thank you so much!" "I knew you could do it!" "Our saviors!" — Words of praise and admiration for the man in the driver's seat and the woman in the passenger's seat from the hearts of the people as both sides of the road were flooded with smiling faces.

However, the male traveler wasn't smiling, "What a joke, Master."

"I'll explain it to them. You just get ready to shoot, like normal." The woman wasn't smiling either. Not that she usually smiled a lot anyway.

Behind them in the truck bed, covered by a cloth canvas —

There were the bodies of two adults and two children that had frozen to death.

The man gave a worn-out murmur, "Ahh, I'm hungry. I want to eat that pork again."

—

There were a ton of people waiting in the center of the country for the truck to arrive. Everyone wore an expression of excited joy.

The country chief, the police captain, and all of the policemen were there.

Everyone was waiting for their two heroes, the truck, and the black demon's dead body.

In order to keep the citizens from rioting too much upon seeing the dead grizzly, the policemen kept them at bay, 10 meters back from the center of the park.

The policemen were really the ones that wanted to destroy the body the most, but they had no choice but to obey their orders.

The truck's roaring engine stopped, and the air turned still. The crowd immediately became silent as they watched.

The two travelers opened their doors and stepped out with their heads low, as if ducking under a tree branch.

Once they were standing before the country chief and the police captain, the woman spoke, "We've fulfilled your request."

"I have witnessed your courage and cleverness. On behalf of the whole country, let me offer you our gratitude. Thank you very much, truly." Having said that, the country chief tried to stand on his weakened legs so that he could bow.

His retainers began to panic, but the female traveler said, "Please, there's no need for that."

Once he sat back down, she added, "I have something to discuss. Please come over to the bear with the police captain."

They moved next to the black body, which was surrounded by a single file of policemen.

The woman said, "This is the beast we killed. Please see for yourself."

The country chief's face clouded over, "How fearsome... This is the demon..."

The police captain next to him said, "There's no mistake... That's the one that attacked us..." He glared at the beast that had eaten so many of his subordinates.

The male traveler began his analysis, "This is undoubtedly a grizzly. Its over four meters long, male. It looks like it was still young, but now it's dead."

Then, he picked up one foreleg to show off its massive claws, which could have passed for knives. He let go, and the paw lifelessly drooped back down.

And then, with a serious look on his face, he surprised everyone listening, "His name was Blackie."

—

"What?" the country chief asked, blankly.

"What're you saying?" the police captain echoed the chief's question on reflex.

The other police officers and citizens also looked at the traveler in confusion.

"Blackie. That's this guy's name," the man repeated.

"Oh I see, that's the name you two gave him? I've heard it can be customary to name your trophy kills," the chief replied.

Upon hearing this, the crowd hummed in agreement.

That's right, the hunters should have the right to name it. From now on, they should also refer to it as Blackie.

"No. We weren't the ones to name it," the female traveler declared.

When the crowd grew even more confused at this, the male traveler leaped onto the truck bed and tore away the tarp.

Then, he raised up on of the dead bodies. "Officer, please give me a hand here." he called out to the policeman closest to him and handed them the body.

At first, the policeman had thought it must be a log or something. When he realized it was a dead body, frozen stiff as a pole, he dropped it immediately and let out an "ugh..."

"Please line them up next to the bear," was the male traveler's polite request.

The bodies were an adult man, an adult woman, a boy of about 15, and a girl of about 12.

None of them were from this country, and they all wore heavy clothing made from down. They were all hardened by ice.

Their torsos and limbs were all crusted with snow, but strangely enough, their faces were free of ice and snow, making it easy to see their resting faces.

As he looked at each of the bodies, the chief furrowed his brow and said, "Just who are they...?"

"..." The police captain was silent.

"These bodies?" the woman began, raising her voice, "We discovered these bodies today, outside the country. First of all, they're clearly travelers just like us."

The chief asked, "How... So without making it into our country, they fell victim to the grizzly?"

"No," came the woman's immediate response.

The male traveler came down from the truck and he glanced at the girl's dead body, and then at the bear's.

Then, he grabbed the shotgun persuader from off the truck bed.

In an uncharacteristically loud voice, the woman shouted icily, "They're the ones that named their pet Blackie. They were victims of your police captain over there."

—

In the next moment, several things all happened at once.

Starting with the country chief, the citizens opened their mouths in bewilderment, unable to comprehend what they had just heard.

The police officers turned to look at the accused captain.

The captain flung his arm down into the holster at his hip and drew out his hand-persuader, turning to aim at the female traveler.

The female traveler continued to stare at the captain, not speaking or moving.

—

A gunshot echoed through the park, sending a shudder through the backs of the people in the crowd, as if they had all been struck by a whip.

"Gah..." The police captain let out a scream and dropped his persuader onto the snow. He crouched down onto the ground and held his throbbing right hand in his left.

However, no blood flowed from the captain's hand.

The male traveler put away the persuader and said to the astonished chief, "It's a low-power rubber bullet. It won't kill him."

—

The chief, the citizens, and the policemen —

They had all seen the captain draw his persuader and try to shoot the female traveler.

A voice shouted at the crouching captain, "What are you doing? Have you lost your mind?"

"..." The chief's retainers moved in closer, and when the captain moved to pick up his persuader, they grabbed him by the arms.

"W-what are you doing? Let go of me!" the captain barked.

"No, what are you doing?!" the chief roared.

The chief turned to his bodyguards, "For now, just keep him under control."

Two of the retainers pulled the captain to his feet.

A third picked up the captain's persuader and emptied out the magazine.

"Wait! That woman slandered me! That's why I —" the flustered captain began to protest.

"You tried to shut us up. You figured that if you killed us, later on you'd talk your way out of it somehow," the woman said calmly.

"You're just going to believe her?!"

"I'm talking right now, so please sit quietly for a bit."

The captain continued to bark, "Shut up! You think you can entrap me, when I'm an officer of the law? You've got some nerve! Somebody, arrest these two now!"

The chief said, "For now, just keep silent."

"But I — mmph!" A retainer gagged the captain with a handkerchief.

The chief looked at both the apprehended police captain and the female traveler, and then he said grimly, "I intend to listen to his explanation later. Right now, let's hear your side of the story."

—

Rewind to when they were chasing the wounded grizzly.

"A collar."

Once he heard this, man blurted out, "No way!" without thinking.

But once he saw that the woman was still wearing her usual expression, "Well... Leaving aside if you were looking with just your eyes, I suppose there's no way you'd ever misjudge it with a scope."

"What do you think I am?"

"Leaving that aside, a collar...?"

"Yes. It was mostly covered by fur, but I definitely saw a collar. It was a silver-colored metal ring, probably a nametag."

"So that means... he's someone's pet?" the man asked, as he continued to drive. They had climbed the hill, and now they had a clear view of the swaying grizzly's rear end.

The woman nodded, "Yes, and that explains why a single grizzly suddenly appeared outside of its normal habitat."

"I see. Someone's been bringing it around on their travels, and..."

"It should also be hibernating right now, but I've heard stories of bears that can't get enough to eat and don't go into hibernation. At first, I thought it was one of those cases and it came this far looking for more prey, but that didn't quite fit. However, if it's someone's pet, it would have a steady supply of food even in the winter, and it wouldn't hibernate." ****

"So we're tailing it in order to find its owner, right?"

"That's right."

"Its owner might have ordered it to attack those citizens, right?"

"That's possible," the woman said, holding onto her rifle. "But —"

"But?"

"No... For now, just keep following it."

"Roger that."

—

"And so, we continued to follow the wounded bear through the forest," the woman told the country chief.

The chief broke the silence of the listening crowd, "And then?"

—

The bear eventually struggled its way down into a wide valley.

There was a black opening in the slope, a makeshift cave carved out of the snow.

The grizzly slowly dragged itself toward the entrance.

From above the valley, the man said, "Master... You were right. This must be its den."

"Bring us over to the entrance, but keep it slow and at a distance."

"Roger." The man did as he was told and slowly took the truck down the slope, bringing it to rest about 20 meters away from the opening.

And then, a furious black mass came bolting out of the cave.

The grizzly.

It leaped up and down and kicked up snow as it charged toward the truck, which was several times its own size, paying no attention to the blood now pouring from the wound in its side.

Every breath the bear took was a growl.

Mustering the last of its remaining power, the bear launched into a violent ram —

Bang. Bang.

Two hard gunshots rattled the bear's vision and stopped it in its tracks.

The giant lost all strength and it collapsed forward into the snow. After that, it didn't move again.

The woman that had effortlessly shot the bear through its heart and then its brain spoke, "Let's get out. We should investigate what's in that cave." Then she grabbed the two pairs of snowshoes lying beside their seats.

"Uhh... Me too?"

"Yes. You can lead."

The man did not look happy in the least, but he grabbed his shotgun and a flashlight.

—

The man led the way into the cave, and what they found inside...

"Was it the bodies of these four?" the country chief asked?

"Correct. Please look closer," the woman said.

One of the bodyguards pushed the wheelchair forward, until the chief was sitting right up next to the bodies.

The frozen bodies hadn't decomposed at all, but because their faces were pure white, they looked like perfectly carved dolls.

The chief gave them a moment of silence before speaking, "Who were they...? Where did they come from...?"

"We don't know, but..." The woman drew something out from her coat pocket. It was a photograph, which she handed to the chief, "Please take a look."

Upon seeing the picture, the chief said, "I see..." and looked up again at the five dead bodies.

The bodies lying frozen on the ground were the same happy father, mother, son, and daughter, all smiling in the picture.

They were all wearing distinct costumes. The father was dressed as a clown, the mother wore a dazzling leotard. The son wore flexible athletic wear. The daughter wore a cute dress.

And sitting in the middle of the picture, there was a bear.

The family was huddled around the grizzly; the son riding on its shoulder and the daughter on its neck.

"They were 'one family', is that it...? They must have been a circus troupe..."

"That's what we believe. They must have come here as part of their tour. Now please look at this." The woman pressed a matchbox-sized metal tag into the chief's hand.

The chief read aloud the engraving on the tag, "Blackie."

"Inside the cave, we found these four bodies," the woman began again.

"Mmghphph!" The restrained police captain struggled noisily, but no one paid him any attention.

"They were all laid neatly side-by-side at the cave entrance. Their limbs were covered in frost, but as you can see, their faces were completely clear."

At this point in her explanation, the chief understood, "Blackie was taking care of them, wasn't he... He must have licked their faces clean."

"There were no other bodies anywhere near the cave, including the policemen."

"He was taking care of them..." The wrinkles on the chief's face were showing clearly as he looked to the black body on the ground. "How did they die? Do you know?"

The woman answered the chief's question with a firm nod.

The male traveler crouched down next to one of the bodies and peeled off the jacket on its chest. There were scars where the frozen flesh had been carved away.

"These are the wounds he died from. We had to make those cuts in order to extract the bullets."

The woman pulled a small chunk of metal from her coat pocket. "You hand, please."

She placed the item into the chief's glove and said, "The tip has been crushed a bit, but it's definitely a bullet. This is what one looks like after it strikes its target."

The bullet had been fired at the living man, penetrated his down jacket, torn his skin, crashed into his rib, and finally, "Uahh..." it had pierced his heart.

"This type of bullet is especially old and rare. From what I've seen in this country, the only person to use this caliber of persuader is —"

"Mmmphhh!" the man she was gazing at shrieked.

"...that man."

—

"..." The country chief thought to himself for a long, long time, sitting in the silent park. Finally, his verdict was, "If we set aside his earlier action, this bullet by itself isn't conclusive evidence. Forgive my saying so, but it's possible that it was planted by you."

The woman nodded her agreement, "Of course. That's precisely why we only removed the bullets from the man. The woman and children still have bullets left in them. We left them for your doctors to examine later."

"I see..."

"A thorough autopsy should give you the information you need. That's the end of our report on the 'job' you hired us for." And with that, the woman stepped back from the chief's vicinity.

—

"I'd like to hear your story now." The country chief turned his wheelchair, and his bodyguards removed the handkerchief from the police captain's mouth.

"Gahh!" The police captain was still being held upright by two of the chief's retainers, but as soon as his gag was removed, he shouted, "This is all a misunderstanding! I didn't do that!"

"Well obviously you'd say that," the male traveler thought. Of course, he didn't say it out loud.

"That woman is just trying to ruin me! She's some kind of devil!"

"Well, he's not wrong about that..." the male traveler thought. Of course, he didn't say it out loud.

"I killed a family of travelers? With what motive? I want these false accusations thrown out!"

"Well it's true that we never figured that part out," the male traveler thought. Of course, he didn't say it out loud.

The chief said, "In that case, you won't mind waiting for the official investigation, will you? Until it's over, you'll be restricted somewhat."

"I'd like nothing more! I'll stake my life to prove my innocence!"

"Then I hope you know you'll also need to explain why you tried to shoot our guest over there."

"...O-of course," the captain nodded, meekly.

The chief motioned for the captain to be taken away.

As the citizens and policemen look on in a stupor, the captain quietly said, "Let go of me. I can walk on my own." The retainers loosened their grip, but only slightly.

The police captain turned to the chief and said, "I've always respected you." He slowly pulled his right arm free and —

...saluted.

Then he calmly let his arm fall down to his belt buckle. From there, he drew out a knife and stabbed the man on his right through the stomach. He pulled it out and across to the man on his left, stabbing him in the face.

"Until now, at least!"

—

The police captain sprinted away from the two crumpling retainers in a mad dash toward the country chief.

"Oh boy", the male traveler said.

"...", the female traveler watched.

The captain crashed into the chief, knocking him and his wheelchair both to the ground.

The captain grabbed the chief from off the snow, wrapped his left arm around the the chief's neck, and pointed his knife at the man's right eye. "Nobody move!" the captain shouted out, and the bodyguards that had come running stopped where they were.

The captain stood upright, forcing the chief onto his feeble legs. The chief moaned against the pressure on his neck, and the captain cut a long line down the chief's cheek.

The citizens cried out as blood began to trickle down the chief's cheek, and the captain said, "No sudden moves or he dies! Everyone stay back. If anybody comes within five meters, I'll carve the old geezer's eyeballs out for you!" His voice sounded almost cheerful, but his face was stern.

—

The furious citizens continued to scream, the police pushed them back, and the bodyguards grit their teeth as they surrounded the two men from a safe distance away.

"Well, Master?"

"That saves us some time."

"'Time to investigate the captain's motives' or 'time to kidnap the chief'? Wait no, don't answer that."

"Would you prefer to take over the country or take out some of their pork?"

"The pork, obviously. It's so good."

"What a coincidence, I agree."

"I want some bacon too."

"Agreed."

"It would go so well with some fresh bread and eggs, too."

As the two travelers entertained themselves with small-talk, the man took a single shotgun slug out of his pocket and loaded it into his persuader chamber. He pumped the persuader once, back and forth, so that the slug was ready to be fired.

"Okay, here you go," he said, handing it off to the woman.

"Why thank you," she said, pointing the barrel in the direction of the chief and captain.

—

"I see... So it really was you..."

"That's right, chief. You wanna know why?"

The two conjoined men traded their own small-talk. Meanwhile, the blood pouring from the chief's cut continued to flow, staining his chest a dark maroon.

"Hey Master, wait a little," the male traveler said. "Maybe if we listen to their conversation some more, it'll save us some time."

"Understood," the female traveler said, and she halted her approach.

—

"Yes, I'd love to hear your explanation for this."

"Then listen up." The captain spun around furiously, threatening to cut out an eyeball or two if anyone was even slightly too close for comfort. "I wanted to finally be free of this country."

"What? Do you really hate your motherland that much?"

"I do, I hate it. What is there for me here? This land is worthless garbage. Our ancestors that settled here must have had absolutely nowhere else to go, or maybe they were exiled criminals. I have yearned to go out into the world since the day I was born!"

"Then why didn't you just go? I don't recall forbidding anyone from leaving."

"Oh I would love to, but it wouldn't have been possible. In the summer, everything's drowned in mud, and in the winter, it's covered in snow. It's useless to even try without a truck or something."

"So you wanted to steal a vehicle...?"

"That's right. Those people rode around in a truck with a huge cage to carry that fat bear."

"And so you killed them in the forest...?"

"Yeah. I told them I had to do an inspection before they could enter the country. I lined the four of them up, and then bang bang bang bang. I only joined the police force so that I could carry a gun and go outside the walls, but it actually worked out! I finally had a chance!" As the captain spoke, he saw a retainer getting ready to pounce from behind. "Cut that out," he said, and he swung his knife down across the chief's arm. The ruthless blade tore through cloth and skin, and the chief let out a "Guah!" as blood spouted from a second place.

The two travelers stayed where they were, standing at a distance, and watched in silence.

"Were you alone? You did it yourself?" The chief resolutely continued questioning the captain, even as blood poured from his face and arm. He wanted as many people to bear witness to this confession as possible.

"Of course. It's no good to get your cute little subordinates involved. Then I would have had to kill them to keep their mouths shut, and I don't want to see that."

"Oh, how noble of you."

"Yes, and that's exactly why I wanted to kill that bear so badly for eating so many of my friends!" the captain shouted, in a rare show of emotion.

"Hah! Hahaha!" the chief burst out laughing.

The policemen were all listening to this exchange too, and their faces were a conflicted mess of emotions.

"Weren't you the one that set the grizzly free in the first place?!"

"It should have been dead!" the police captain shouted, again letting his rage get the better of him. "After I was done with those four, I fired off dozens of rounds into that thing's legs while it was stuck in the cage. Then, once it couldn't move anymore, I knocked it down out of the cage. It was supposed to eat the bodies and then die, so I'd be in the clear!"

"And just look at what's happened! We've lost more than 20 innocent civilians because of that!"

"You're right, I should have just killed it from the start! I'll remember that from now on! I'll just kill anyone and anything that gets in my way!"

"So what happened to that truck?"

"I still have it stashed away in the forest. I also stored up fuel and food. I was supposed to escape on the same day that the grizzly first showed up again! I was supposed to be free!"

—

"This is looking bad...", the male traveler murmured, and jammed both hands into his pockets.

Then he slowly clenched his fingers around a hand-persuader that was hidden through a hole in his pocket.

—

"I understand it all now. You were the culprit behind all of this. As this country's chief, I will see you punished."

"Oh do whatever you want. I'm leaving this country now, anyway." The captain wiped the blood from his knife onto the chief's clothing. "I even got my hands on a brand new truck."

He glanced over at the two travelers, and then past them at their truck. "Hey you two!" the captain shouted out.

"What?" the persuader-carrying woman asked.

"I'll be taking that truck now. You two can double as my drivers and hostages, so get that engine running. Also, I think I'd like that persuader too."

The woman replied to all of his demands with, "We refuse."

The police captain slashed the chief's left leg open. And then the right leg too. The blade sank past the clothing and formed two new rivers of blood. Then he brought the knife back up to the chief's eyes, now only a centimeter away.

The woman said, "Go ahead," and lifted her persuader.

"Huh? What'd you say?"

"I said, 'Go ahead, kill him.' I'm not a citizen of this country. I have no grudge against your chief, but I also have no duty to protect him."

"... You bitch!"

"Protecting my truck is a lot higher on my priority list," she finished, and then she stepped forward with the persuader out. The barrel was firmly squared on the chief, as well as the captain hiding behind him.

—

The crowd strummed with noise, and the chief's retainers were very noticeably anxious.

"Go ahead! Shoot!" the chief shouted, with the persuader still trained on him. With blood dripping down his face, he laughed aloud, "Shoot me along with this beast, traveler! You said yesterday that you didn't want it, but I'm offering you my life!"

The police captain stood as dumbstruck as the rest of the populace as the chief continued to shout, "Tell everyone! This traveler is not to be punished for what she is about to do! That is my final request as your chief!"

"..." The woman silently shifted her aim towards the chief's chest and took another step forward.

"Stay back..." The police captain slunk away and turned the knife to point at her.

As soon as the knife was about 10 centimeters from the chief's face, pawhoosh whoosh whoosh, three tiny percussive bursts sounded out.

The knife fell from the police captain's right hand, and three small holes appeared on his wrist, spilling drops of blood onto the fallen knife and the surrounding snow. "Eh?" The captain gave a confused look to the woman, who was still waiting to fire.

"Now!"

All of the bodyguards slammed into the captain at once, wrapping their hefty arms around him and pulling him off of the chief, onto the snowy ground. They mercilessly beat the captain, shouting, "You bastard!"

"Well alright!" The male traveler, who had drawn the silenced hand-persuader in his left hand and fired in an instant, muttered with deep emotion, "Finally, we can go eat that pork again."

Translator’s Notes

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