23 What is a Sleuth?

Soon, it became midday once again, it was time for lunch. They were currently a bit after the half of the road between Iliasburg and Happiness Village, and that was surprising if you counted that the distance between the two locations is bigger than the distance from Iliasville to Iliasburg…

So, how could they cover such a long path in something like 2 hours and half? You see, the answer is very simple…

Victor had enough of this bullshit.

As soon as the clock ticked to 11, he didn't buy a new wheelchair---absolutely no. They were getting too slow for his tastes, so he immediately stopped everyone and brought out a cross-country vehicle. More precisely, he used 9'302 Gold Coins to buy a 2020 Nissan Frontier PRO-4X, leaving him with 4'579 Gold Coins.

Luka complained that a real Hero should go to travel the world with his own feet, and Victor rebuked that a real Hero shouldn't give a fuck about how they go around, as long as they get on destination as soon as possible.

Alice complained about the small space within the car, which is why he simply pointed at the box behind the car and told her to stay above the roof of the car.

Granberia said that the sound of the engine would be too loud and attract many monsters, and Victor replied that they would have a mostly minor chance of encountering monsters through driving for 2 hours in the wild rather than walking on the same road for two days.

Eva asked if it was safe for him to drive, and Victor replied with, and I quote: "There is no one who can stop me from doing that, and I will never believe that any one of you can get themselves killed by a car crash. I don't have nearly enough patience to wait like a vegetable on an electric wheelchair for 2 days until we get there; you all forcefully brought me here, and now you are going to deal with my crap."

After that, no one else stepped forward. And meanwhile, as that quarrel was happening, Penny was already inside the car, observing the insides with an amazed expression.

At the moment, Victor was the driver, using 1'023 Gold Coins to buy the intermediate driving skills from the system. Even with a broken left leg, he can still use the right for both the accelerator and the brake.

At his side, sitting on the front sea, there is Eva, one of the greater half of the group that he could bear with. She is a veteran Hero, so her gaze is able to see more than what Victor could.

On the backseats, there are Luka and Granberia sitting in opposite directions, with Penny taking the middle spot due to her petite figure. As for Alice, her long tail was piled on the box behind the car, while the rest of her body was lying on the roof of the car, over a comfortable blanket.

Only a bit more than one hour had passed, and they had covered more than 9 hours worth of walking.

Soon, Victor had found a nice empty spot close to the road and he began to decelerate. When he was slow enough, Victor knocked on the roof of the car. "Hey, Alice, tell me if I am not going straight."

He didn't wait for an answer and started to go backwards, using the mirror at the car's sides to orientate himself. Alice's tail was blocking the view in the middle, so he can only be more careful as he retreated.

Once he reached the best camping spot again, Victor twisted the wheel of the car and left the road, moving inside the empty spot, and braked there. After pulling the emergency brake, he shouted. "Time to eat, guys."

"Yay!" Penny did her cute thing by pumping her fists up and hopped down the car with Luka and Granberia. Meanwhile, Eva opened the door and walked out of the car, before reaching Victor's side and pulling him off the driver seat.

Alice had an easier time getting out of her place since she was literally sprawled over the roof of the car, and together with the rest, they all grouped near the car.

"Alright…" Luka put down his traveling bag and looked through it. Because he didn't have much money, he also couldn't make a lot of food for the moment. Thinking about it, it was fortunate that Victor convinced him to go in the car, because with Alice's stomach, they wouldn't have enough food for everyone in these two days… "I've got fish, meat, eggs, and fruit. Do you all have any preference?"

"I want fish!" Penny replied as she swayed her body left and right, like the child that she was.

"Roasted meat is fine for me." Alice said with a thin smile on her face. Eating was one of the few moments through the journey that she was happy about, so no one was surprised about her sudden rare smile.

As for Eva, she brought her own traveling bag and replied. "I have my own ingredients to use."

"Same." Victor followed right after her as he delicately sat down and used a tiny fraction of his 13'847 Gold Coins to buy a warm plate of crab omelet and a glass of ice tea on a silver tray.

"I'll simply hunt something." Meanwhile, Granberia walked deeper in the woods, soon vanishing from the lunch area. Victor raised an eyebrow at her decision and shrugged, if she wanted to eat wild animals cooked by herself, who is he to stop her?

Luka and Eva set up a fire together and began to cook with their own ingredients. That was another thing that made Victor curious, and it was why they didn't ask him for making up already prepared food. He understood Alice, which was most likely because she still has something against him for yesterday, as for Penny… Well, she might simply be going along with the mood.

"Does your arm still hurt?" Victor asked Luka, referring to the latter's right shoulder that got almost dislocated some hours ago.

Luka shook his head and replied. "Not anymore, it's fine. By the way, that carriage of yours is really amazing! I didn't know your hometown developed so much to create a horseless carriage. It is even harder than a normal carriage and still weighs the same."

"I'm more surprised that you didn't reach anywhere close to this point yet even after a thousand years. You guys got clean toilets but don't even know what an engine is..." Victor commented with a casual tone.

"Yet your hometown didn't develop anything useful for people like you?" Alice pointed out before she scoffed. "Don't judge other places using your own point of view."

"Actually, yes, they did develop a solution for people with an irreparable limb. Unfortunately, I am not a mechanic and a doctor, and my solution is better than a fake leg I have to take care of every day. I prefer staying on the wheelchair for a while longer; besides, it is doing wonders for my arm muscles." Victor replied as he pulled his sleeves and flexed his arms.

They were like that of a normal person at first: thin, but not weak. However, after 8 days of going around with a wheelchair for the entire day, there were solid muscles gradually forming up.

"Congratulations, now you are just as strong as Luka was right after the supposed time of baptism." Alice sarcastically congratulated Victor, but he simply ignored her sarcasm and kept eating.

They were still on bad terms, but now that they had some time by themselves, Alice and Victor knew when to hold back and when to throw insults. It is more akin to a Cold War between the two of them for the moment.

"...Now that I think about it…" Eva muttered before she glanced at Victor. "Hey Victor, where do you come from? You seem to know about a lot of weird stuff that I didn't see in either Sentora or here."

Victor shrugged her off. "It's an island far away from here. Don't bother finding it, you won't be able to even if you can fly. It is quite hidden…"

"Is that so?" Eva asked with a raised eyebrow. "How did you come here, then?"

"Well…" Victor took a deep breath. "...It all started when this kid fell in a Gorilla's habitat zone back in the Zoo, the gorilla's name is Harambe…"

…

"...And after I came out from my room, I encountered Alice waiting in Luka's living hall. Soon, Luka also arrived, and after some talk, we set up a party where I was obligated by Alice to get in. Luka wanted to achieve coexistence between humans and monsters, Alice wanted to see Luka giving up his dreams, and I wanted to go to the Treasure Cave at north to gather enough money to do my stuff."

"..." Everyone who was present, including Granberia who already turned back with a carbonized and skinless boar, were all silent as they stared at Victor.

"...That…" Eva hesitated for a moment after Victor didn't say anything more than that. "...I really appreciate the backstory of your life on your island, but did you have to take it back like four or five years ago?"

"That was the prologue." Victor put down his empty dish on the silver tray before he sold everything for 82 Gold back in the store. "Now, any other question?"

No one answered and simply began to prepare themselves. They had eaten their food, they had taken their fair share of relaxation, and now they will have to get in the car once again…

"Victor, Luka." All of a sudden, Eva's expression turned serious as she looked at the two people that she had called.

Luka was pulling up his traveling bag while Victor just used around 499 Gold Coins to buy a crutch. He would be going in the car, so there is no need to buy a new wheelchair for now. However, just as he was getting on his feet, he was interrupted by Eva calling his and Luka's name.

"What?" Victor asked, and immediately after, Alice and Granberia disappeared from their location in a very familiar manner.

Eva sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I cannot help you fight monsters. I have to keep watch on Alice and Granberia to make sure nothing weird goes on… I'm sure you can pull it off, though." After saying that, Eva also disappeared, leaving Victor, Luka, and Penny alone.

"Eh? Where did she go?" Penny blinked in surprise as Eva vanished faster than her eyes could follow, while Victor and Luka sighed in exasperation.

"Not her too…" Luka muttered as he unsheathed Angel Halo from the makeshift sheath Alice had passed to him to exclusively hold Angel Halo. Meanwhile, Victor groaned.

"Goddammit, Eva. I had pulled you along so that you could help us a bit!" Victor shouted back at his surroundings. Although Eva wasn't there from the original game, and neither in Paradox when he thought about it, he thought that her presence would make the journey much easier later.

Even though there is the Monster Lord and one of her Heavenly Knights in the party, Victor was sure that neither of them would really cause a mess on purpose. This was like Alice's case all over again; although he understands why Eva couldn't trust either of them, it still pissed him off seeing her abandon them on the ambushing monsters' fangs.

Before the monster showed herself, Victor quickly approached his car and placed it back in his inventory, leaving only 6 other empty spaces since the other spots were occupied by his second set of clothes, his blanket, and now his car.

Tightly gripping on his crutch, Victor looked at his surroundings to see which monster came over.

"It's there!" Penny unexpectedly pointed to the sky, making Victor and Luka twist their heads upwards to see the incoming monster. A frown appeared on Victor's face as he found an exaggerated number of shadows flying over his head.

"...Oh fuck me…" He swore as he counted out around 10 Monster Girls flying with insect wings above his head. A buzzing sound continuously reached for his ears, annoying him already within the first seconds it appeared. While these Monster Girls were heading in their general direction, they left drops of honey falling down on the path they were following.

There were precisely 10 Bee Girls who currently set their attention on them. Each one of them were colored in dark brown and yellow, and only their upper body from their chest to their heads closely resembled humans, while the rest was covered in an exoskeleton. There were also tufts around their collarbones and wrists, including the wrists of their extra pair of insect arms. And ultimately, they were carrying large honeycombs behind their back, from where honey was dripping from.

"Oh dear Goddess…" Seeing the large numbers, Luka fell in despair.

"There are so many!" Penny commented loudly enough to be heard, and one of the Bee Girls turned their attention to the three of them.

And yet, instead of stopping all at once, only one actually descended, showing a surprisingly panicked expression on her face. The Bee Girl with yellow hair landed in front of the half-group and looked at them with a worried expression.

"Travelers, you have to leave immediately from here!"

"...Huh?" Victor blinked in surprise. He had genuinely thought that these 10 Bee Girls would try to rape him and Luka before carrying them away to their nest, but it didn't seem the case. Just like Victor, Luka also looked surprised.

"Hold up, what is going on?" Luka curiously asked, and the Bee Girl quickly replied. "A sleuth of bears are quickly coming for our honey! If they see you, you will have no chance to escape!"

After saying that, the Bee Girl flew back with the rest of the group and disappeared in the distance.

Victor was still left in a stupor before Penny pulled on his sleeves, breaking him apart from his surprised state. He looked down on Penny, who curiously asked. "What is a sleuth?"

"Oh, a sleuth another name to call bears grouped together, they usually are in-"

"ROOOAR!!" A distant roar passed through them, heavily shaking their eardrums and leaving the three of them in a stunned state.

"Aahhhh!" Some distance away, a group of feminine screams resounded back, which should probably be the Bee Girls that tried to escape from the 'bears' and got caught by that loud roar.

Penny, Victor, and Luka all fell on the ground with their butt due to the unbalance they felt when their eardrums were heavily shaked by that powerful roar. Following that, three Brown Bear Girls and a Grizzly Bear Girl jumped out from the woods and entered the open area.

"...*Sniff* W-Waaaaaaah!!" Penny got frightened and began to cry, immediately bringing the attention of the Bear Girls on the trio.

"There are two men!" One of the Brown Bear Girls shouted in surprise.

"There is also a little girl…?" With a dubious expression, the second Brown Bear Girl commented, staring at the crying Penny. "...Oh, it's a dog!"

"What about the honey?" The third Brown Bear Girl asked the Grizzly Bear Girl, who simply smirked and told them.

"Go get the honey, I will capture these unbaptized travelers and bring them back to our home. With all the Harpies taking the other men, it's time we finally get our share."

""Yes, boss!"" The three Brown Bear Girls went on all four and ran past the group, chasing after the Bee Girls. Meanwhile, the Grizzly Bear Girl stared right at the disoriented people in front of her. She licked her lips with her red tongue before she stepped closer to them.

Victor, Luka, and Penny were still recovering from the powerful shockwave that was the Grizzly Bear Girl's roar, which was the reason why no one of them was reacting to the approaching monster, unless you counted Penny's crying moment.

"I'm kind of hungry… Well, let's do this quickly! Hmmm… honey..." The Grizzly Bear Girl picked both Victor and Luka over her shoulders and left a glance on the crying dog girl. Should she take her together and see how to solve the situation? She feels kind of bad for leaving a child by herself…

...Why not? Such a young child should have her parents nearby, right? It will be easy to find her mother. Besides, she and the two unbaptized men over her shoulders looked friendly; staying with friends helps one's mood get better.

"Let… Let me go…" Luka groaned, barely recovering from the stun attack he had recently received, but still too weak to struggle.

"Nope, you will be giving us a lot of cute babies! It's time for you to be a 'Papa'!" The Grizzly Bear Girl teased him out as she approached Penny.

"...?" The Grizzly Bear Girl felt an itchy sensation on her back, so she put Victor down since he has a broken leg and used her free hand to scratch the right spot. Her triangular bear ears twitched a bit as she caught that one spot with her claws and scratched it. Although it wasn't as pleasurable as sex, the scratch-induced pleasure was still very well appreciated for a beast like her.

After that, she crouched down and picked up Victor once again. The Grizzly Bear Girl approached Penny once again and picked her from the back of her cute dress using her teeth.

A yawn threatened to escape from her mouth, but she used all of her willpower to hold it back and not let Penny slip out of her fangs. The monster turned in the opposite direction from where she and the others came from and began to walk.

However, just as she made less than five meters, her vision began to blur out a bit. And before she realized it, the Grizzly Bear Girl collapsed on the ground and started to sleep, letting the three people she was carrying with ease slip away from her grasp.

"Ugh!" Victor groaned in pain as the Grizzly Bear Girl landed on his broken leg. He held back a painful scream to avoid waking up the monster, before he took a deep breath and looked around.

Penny was still sobbing, but much more quietly than her initial scream. Meanwhile, the pain woke up Luka's senses as he gradually stood up on his feet. Upon seeing the sleepy Grizzly Bear Girl, he shifted his gaze on Victor and asked with a whisper. "What did you do, Victor?"

"Tranquilizer." That was Victor's only response as he slowly dragged himself out from the Grizzly Bear Girl's heavy body. "Just stab her with Angel Halo before she wakes up again."

Luka nodded and grasped Angel Halo that was still on the ground where he was picked up from by the monster girl. As he approached his sword, he felt something weird impacting his left boot, and he looked down to see an empty syringe on the ground.

Making 2+2, he guessed that this syringe contained the tranquilizer Victor talked about, and it made him inhale as a certain thought came up within his mind.

Luka knew that he was getting stronger for each fight he went through and each training session he passed in with Alice, and after his first victory against a monster girl, the Earthworm Girl, he began to feel prideful for himself and his capabilities.

However, now he realized something… It would have been Game Over for him in his very first real fight if Victor wasn't there with him, right?

If he didn't tell him to take easier swings with his sword, in his first fight against a Slime Girl with a very tricky body to deal with, he would naively tired himself out throwing powerful swings while the cute Slime Girl would simply recombine her body and ultimately rape him.

If he didn't suggest to him the idea of using salt against the group of Slug Girls, and didn't use his possibly-infinite storage of salt, he would be assaulted by all those Slug Girls in a very sticky situation.

Then there is the Mandragora, but that was actually his own fault for not paying more attention to Victor's words and pulled out the plant girl from the ground. Even though Victor didn't help, that was a lesson he deserved to go through…

There was also the marathon through the forest with a group of imps behind their back, but that was still ultimately his fault for provoking the Mandragora that attracted their attention.

Then… Granberia… Damn, even someone like Victor contributed more than him, while he was knocked out in a single strike by a drugged dragonkin.

If Victor didn't distract the second Earthworm Girl, he would have most likely lost against both the Earthworm Girls collaborating to take him down. And now, how many threats did they avoid by using his car instead of walking? He even took down the Grizzly Bear with his own tranquilizer…

"..." As he came up with the many moments where Victor had contributed for something that would have decided whether he would win or lose, Luka felt a bit at loss about himself. He is so weak… He can't even win a fight alone…

His grip on Angel Halo visibly tightened before he turned towards the Grizzly Bear Girl and viciously stabbed the sword through her back. Because it was a magic sword, the sword didn't cause any pain to the monster as she was being sealed off to a bear cub without even noticing. During all of this, Victor was comforting Penny by giving her a small hug and pat her tiny golden head. "Shhh… It's alright, the bad monster is gone now. See?"

"Uuu…" Penny slowly nodded with tears in her eyes. Even though she grows faster than what her age truly is, her mental age is still way lower than her body's age. Even when she grows up to be as tall as Victor, she will have the mentality of a human child of 11 years old, probably.

"Well… It's time to leave, before the other Bear Girls come back." Victor wasn't saying those words because he didn't believe that the Bee Girls will fail to escape with their honey, but simply because he didn't like dealing with chances. He already had encountered so many unfortunate events.

If it was only a fight against the 10 Bee Girls, he might be able to manage it out with a bluff and a makeshift flamethrower. As for the Grizzly Bear Girl… If her roar alone almost made his eardrums explode, her strength would be no joke at all.

"...! The Bee Girls!" All of a sudden, Luka started to get worried about the well-being of the Bee Girls that tried to warn them and rushed off to the direction where they left.

"Hey, Luka! Where are you going?!" Victor shouted at Luka, but the latter didn't even stop and answered with his back turned at his direction.

"The Bee Girls might be in danger!"

"...That fucking idiot." Victor released an exasperated sigh. How is Luka supposed to save the Bee Girls from three Brown Bear Girls? Not to talk about that, is he even sure that the Bee Girls won't straddle him in their beehive when the situation has calmed down?

Footsteps came from his back. Victor turned his head around and saw Eva, Alice, and Granberia appearing once again. Victor simply stared at them with an unamused expression and sighed in exasperation.

It would be nice if any one of them at least stood here during a fight with a monster, even giving off some tips would be more useful than what they usually do.

"Nevermind…" He muttered as he shook his head. Then he glanced back at the direction where Luka ran off, and asked. "So… Who's going to rescue his ass?"

"..." Silence was the only thing that answered him back. Victor turned around and looked up to the girls while Penny was still sitting on his lap over the ground, and seeing him looking in their direction, each one got different answers.

"...Wait, you're talking to me?" Alice asked with a raised eyebrow and shook her head. "No way, that's his fault for throwing up his safety for a group of monsters he only met just now."

Eva awkwardly scratched the back of her head. "I don't really want to keep these two away from any one of my five senses, I hope you can forgive me. Although, I am willing to act in case it gets really life-threatening."

"I won't act without orders. If my lord doesn't want to act, then neither will I." Granberia spoke with a neutral voice, but both Victor and Alice stared at her with a deadpan look in response to her knightly attitude.

Victor took a deep breath and rubbed the middle spot between his eyebrows in exasperation. "...Listen, I know that you don't want to deal with this at all. I mean, it's Luka we're talking about; that guy won't hesitate giving a limb for the safety of an entire population. But… really? Orders?

You're basically giving me a dart and putting a target on yourself with that excuse. I didn't see you acting under orders when you were invading Iliasburg, and there is a very clear reason I had given you the opportunity to join our group, while also giving you the freedom to refuse my offer."

"..." Granberia was forced to remain silent and twist her gaze away once she realized the blunder she made with her words.

"God, please give me patience…" Victor whispered a small prayer to himself through his mutters before he patted Penny on her shoulder. She looked up to him with much clearer eyes and then moved away from Victor's lap.

"Can you pass me the thing over there?" Victor asked Penny while pointing to the crutch, and Penny quietly nodded before she effortlessly picked up the supporting stick and handed it to Victor, who started to use it to get back up on his feet.

"Fine, whatever, I'm going to look out for him… God knows if he is getting mauled by bears or harvested by bees…" Victor replied to the girls' inactivity by heading to where Luka had gone to with Penny walking behind him.

…

Victor Luis' (future) Trivia Book: Bear Girls

Bear Girls are a common type of beast monster carrying clear characteristics of a large bear, which include strong and powerful arms armed with sharp claws, and thick furry legs with dangerous talons. That is not to talk about their mouths that could snap thick trees apart with a single bite.

Their bodies are very strong, way beyond that of any normal human, as shown from the six packs they seem to be genetically born with. If you are caught by one, it's very certain that you will never escape again under their watch.

Although they have a violent temper and one of the top predators of the Ilias Continent, she is quite docile when she isn't hungry. If she is already married to a man, you can even pass through her territory and, as long as you are not hostile, she will simply welcome you to her place and have a small chat at most.

As for the man who has to deal with her intimate side… My condolences.

During her mating period, in the case she is lonely, she will attack the first man she finds and push him down to forcibly violate him. Her wild mating could be quite dangerous for fragile men, so you better go to a gym if you feel like fucking a bear. Also, the man being raped by her will not be released, and will be made responsible for rearing the newborn child.

No, when they shout 'Bear', they aren't mentally handicapped, they are simply greeting you as their culture dictates, and you won't sound weird if you reply back to her with the same kind of greeting… And with that, I don't mean shouting out 'Human', just say 'Bear' back, just like it goes for the other beast animals.

Also, just like other beast monsters, even though they eat meat, they prefer not to eat humans. That is not for problems regarding their tastes, but because their ancestors had passed down the law of not eating humans. They also realize the reason why they shouldn't be murdered for food, so it's safe for everyone. If you want to give them an alternative to meat, however, I suggest giving them honey; they are particularly fond of it.

Along with that, they can be generally very open to their friends once you go past their shy barriers, and they can also show very possessive traits over things that belong to them. Next time, check out for any territorial mark before taking a piss in the middle of a forest.