Well.

　It would be inefficient to take them all back to camp again.
　I mean, it's a pain in the ass.

　I was able to get some sleep so....
　Let's just take them to town.

　But first, we need to do something.
　We need to find out more about the poachers and who they're dealing with.
　Because crushing their business partners is part of this request.

Be that as it may.

　I'd like to talk to Aug and Kreuz as well.

　Aug and Kreuz have completely lost the will to fight.
　I'm trying to keep them stuck, so I'm not worried about them but....
　As expected, I can't just leave them unguarded.

"Sora, Luna. And.........Nina. Can you keep an eye on these two?
Mmm, I suppose I should take it easy?
No, no, I didn't say that.
What, no?
You're going to make me regret my mocking of Sola and her friends.
Are we going to do something painful?

　I don't want you to sound like a villain.
　You've misunderstood Nina.

'Well, I've got a question for you.

　I stand in front of Aug and Kreuz.

　Then everyone was alerted to what was going to happen.
　Very dependable.
　Let's feel safe and let's get on with it.

'Why did you do this stupid thing?
....
'Did you feel bad about losing to us?　Or was it your pride as a senior that didn't allow it?
....
Answer me. Depending on your answer, I will consider releasing you from your restraints. But if you won't speak, I'll just turn you in to the guild with the poachers.
Neeeeee........Lane, are you mad about something?
You're unusually tense, aren't you?
Well to say I'm mad at you is an understatement.

　The double-booking of the request led to a game being played.
　And we won.
　And yet, Aug and Kreuz broke their promise and tried to take the credit for it.

　That in itself doesn't bother me so much.

　Although somewhat annoying.........
　Dismay prevails over anger, and I don't have much to say about it.
　If I had to think about it, I would say that I don't want to be on the same level as these two.

''Rain, you're an adult!
I'd roast the whole thing myself if I were you.
'But then what are you angry about?'

　The answer is simple.

　That the request might fail.
　I was very angry about that.

　Let me assure you, I don't care about the adventurer's loss of fame.
　I'm not really interested in that area.
　It's not that I'm not at all interested in gaining fame, but....
　As long as I have a group of people I can count on, I'm good with that.

　I digress.

　Anyway, all I care about is that the request will fail.
　In this case, it's about getting the poacher off the hook.

　And if it fails?
　You won't get paid.
　In some cases, you'll pay a penalty.
　That's a minor issue.

　The main problem is that I can't stop the hornwolf from overfishing, and that's not going to stop me.
　My mistake....
　And what if the request fails due to a rather worst-case scenario, such as a fight between your people, and you can't stop the hornwolf from overfishing?
　I can't even look at it.

'I see.......Rain was worried about the Hornwolf.
'Normally, I'd be concerned about the success or failure of a request... but in a way, it's probably typical of Rain.
Lane, that's very sweet...
Totally. The goody-two-shoes approach. Well I'm not afraid of that.

　I may be naive, but...
　But people are smiling.
　As long as everyone understands, that's fine.

'Beautiful....'
It's all very pretty, isn't it? In fact, it will save the Hornwolf.
I'm such a sweetheart and I'm going to...

　Aug spat out a grudge.
　Although Kreutz didn't say anything, but seeing the way he was glaring at us, his heart must be the same as Aug's.

''So... why did you do this?''
...there's no way they'll recognize us. It's just a one-month-old rookie. There's no way we're going to lose to him.
'It's not a fair request for you guys. It's a no-brainer for us to take over.
You know....

　Whoever catches the poachers first wins.
　I thought we had a deal with them.
　When he loses, he complains and tries to take sides.
　He seems to have no pride in being an adventurer.

　Even now, it's as if he has no remorse for what he's done...
　I can't just let him go scot-free like this.
　If we don't get this sort of thing right, it might have repercussions in the future.

I'll let the guild know what happened.

　Guilds sometimes intercede in disputes between adventurers.
　Double bookings like this one are rare, but...
　It is not so uncommon, apparently, for other factors to cause disputes between adventurers.

　If adventurers fight with each other, not only will their requests become unattainable, but also their trust in the people around them will fall.
　The guild's authority would also fall as it was unable to manage adventurers properly.
　As a result, the guild will not receive any more requests, and adventurers will lose their jobs, and so on.

　To prevent this from happening, the guild prohibits quarrels between adventurers.
　Even if a dispute does break out, killing each other is taboo.
　The situation must be reported to the guild.
　The guild will then make a fair decision.

　By doing so, the guild manages and guides the adventurers.
　It is hard to imagine that the guild would make an unfair decision here.
　Aug and Kreuz will be punished appropriately.

''d*mn you ... remember that.
I will never forget this humiliation.
I'm over it.

　These people are not even worth remembering.
　My attitude made them both angry more and more, but they didn't deal with it.
　That seemed to hurt their self-esteem badly, and their faces contorted.
　This much would be good medicine.

'So, Sola and Luna. Nina, you take care of the rest. You do the rest. We'll go talk to the poachers.
Mm, let him do it!

　I left Aug and Kreuz to the three of them and went to the poachers, who were blocked from moving a short distance away.

'You've kept me waiting,'
....
'I've decided to take you guys straight to the guild. Then you'll be handed over to the Knights.
....
But before you do, I need to ask you something. It's about the people you're dealing with.
....
'Where were you taking your catch?　Who were you dealing with?
....

　The poachers are silent.
　They won't even make eye contact.
　It's quite a painful experience.

Neeeeee...........
''Kanade's shot is too powerful...''
Do you want me to do it for you?
Tania's pretty intense too...

　Now, what's going on?
　I'm not very good at interrogation or anything like that.
　I mean, I've never done it.
　I could scare the hell out of them, but how do I break the hearts of these poachers...

Guh!
Yeah?

　A thump, a powerful tap on my shoulder.
　That and a thick, wild cry.

　I turned around and saw a bear.

'Whoa!'
Meow!
What? Enemy!
'Oh no, wait!　It's not, it's fine.

　This is the bear I was taming.
　You know, I left him tamed and didn't release him from his temporary contract.
　I guess they came after us for new orders.

　However, there are no new orders.
　We're going back to town now, so we don't need you to take our stuff.
　I'm going to terminate my temporary contract here and... wait?

...that could be useful.

　I chuckle and look at the poachers.

"By the way, I'm a beast tamer, which is a quick change of subject. And ... this bear I'm taming right now.

　The poachers' faces change.
　I think they understand my point.

'You know what?　Bears are incredibly powerful, you know?　People's bones are so easy to break. If you were hit or bitten, it would hurt a lot.
What...?
'What happens if I cancel my provisional contract here?　They'll probably be the first to come at you guys who can't move...well, that's just as well. If you won't tell me anything, we can just leave it here, right? No problem, right?
Well, no, I mean...
Well what do you think?

　I smiled at the poachers again.

'Rain, you're an ogre but I wouldn't have done that to you.
The devil's tamer.

　Hey there.
　Stop adding weird titles.