Chapter 29: Looking for a breakaway mascot

I was startled and reached out towards the bear doll.

But all that was caught in my small hand was only the black-red goo.

“…Eh. Fast.”

“S, Sajjang! Where is it going?!”

I looked in the direction the bear doll was heading, following Eurydice’s urgent shout.

I could see the bear doll, which looked like a dot, quickly running straight in one direction.

The bear doll wasn’t just running away.

It was running at full speed with a clear goal.

‘Isn’t that the direction of the village?’

I blinked and looked up at Eurydice.

“Did something happen in the village?”

“What? Then, I’ll call Ria-nim, and Orpheus too. Wait here!”

But I couldn’t just wait.

As the bear doll’s creator and protector,

I had to check myself where the bear doll was going and what it was doing.

“I’m sorry, I’ll be right back!”

“Sajjang!”

I started running at full speed before Eurydice could stop me.

The black-red goo the bear doll had spilled remained on the ground.

I followed the trail, using it as a footprint.

The bear doll is a crime prevention mascot.

That means there might be a ‘bad person’ in the village right now.

But the problem—

‘The villagers don’t know about the bear doll…!’

No matter how cute and lovely the bear doll is,

‘The arm bends inward.’

What if people see a cute and lovely mascot they’ve never seen before attacking someone?

Although their wariness will be less because of the cute appearance,

Even monsters with cute appearances that can exploit that definitely exist, so I couldn’t be relieved.

All kinds of bad thoughts flashed through my mind.

For example……

The bear doll found a bad person,

And then subdued that person by hugging them with the purpose of sending them back to hell,

And the villagers see that and scream and attack.

And after receiving the attack,

If the kind-hearted bear doll gets sad, spilling the goo…

I shook my head violently.

That’s not okay.

The bear doll is the village’s mascot,

It’s too pitiful to be hated by the villagers on its first mission!

I ran with all my might.

I followed the black-red goo left by the bear doll and headed towards the village.

“…Hooaa.”

I stopped, panting,

And looked at the black-red goo left by the bear doll.

I thought it had entered the village right away, but

The bear doll’s goo only showed traces of turning back and forth at the edge of the village.

As if it was even wondering where to go.

…Where did this guy go?’

First, I decided to ask at the house near the path with the most goo.

Knock knock—.

When I knocked, a kind-looking aunt opened the door.

I bowed politely.

The aunt accepted my greeting without hiding her wariness.

“Hello.”

“…What’s the matter?”

“Um… Did you see a black bear doll pass by just now?”

“Ah…. Is that what that was?”

The aunt blinked, looking down at the firewood she was holding in her arms.

“I was clearing the firewood piled up in the backyard, and it suddenly appeared and cleaned it all up.

And then it hurriedly moved in that direction….”

“Eh? Really? Thank you!”

After expressing my gratitude, I hurried in the direction the aunt pointed.

‘The bear doll cleaned up the firewood…??’

I ran following the path that the bear doll had gone to, puzzled.

The trail of goo was gradually moving away from the village outskirts and into the forest.

Then, I found an uncle entering the village, pulling a cart.

‘Maybe he saw the bear doll?’

I quickly stopped and ran to the front of the cart.

“Hey! What are you doing dangerously!”

“I, I’m sorry… Um. Did you happen to see the bear doll?”

“Bear?”

“Yes. It’s very black, cute, and big!”

“Black, cute… and big?”

The uncle tilted his head, lost in thought.

Then he clapped his hands as if something had come to mind.

“Ah! Is that the one that lifted our cart, which fell into the ditch, just now?”

“Eh? It lifted the cart?”

I widened my eyes.

The uncle nodded and looked back at the cart.

“Yes, it’s easy to say it, but this is really heavy. The wheels fell off and I was struggling alone, and suddenly that black fellow appeared and lifted my cart.”

“…Wow.”

“I was surprised at first, but it just helped me and left without saying anything, so… I thought, well… it’s not a bad guy.”

The bear doll was really kind, just like it looked.

It helped the villagers without a fuss.

‘…But why does it keep moving?’

I asked the uncle, glancing around.

“Where did the bear doll go?”

“Um, maybe that way…. Are you that fellow’s owner?”

“Huh? Um…, no. I don’t know! Thank you!”

I finished my hasty greetings and ran again, following the bear doll’s tracks.

Seeing the direction of the goo, the bear doll kept going deeper into the forest.

I got more and more curious.

Why isn’t the bear doll stopping in the village and just kept heading into the forest?

If it’s a crime prevention mascot, it should be protecting the village, but it left the village?

‘Maybe… there is a bad person outside the village?’

If so, I had to hurry even more.

I ran quickly into the forest, following the goo left by the bear doll.

At a certain moment, I felt a presence up ahead.

I stopped reflexively and hid behind a tree.

There were—.

A man wearing a shabby cloak was moving while carrying someone.

And it looked like a few of his companions were looking around.

I widened my eyes and held my breath.

‘…Kidnapper?’

The person the man was carrying wasn’t moving.

They had either fainted, or…

Orpheus’s words came to mind.

“…The souls are disappearing. There is only suspicion and no evidence.”

If that really is that scene?

The moment I held my breath with tension, I felt killing intent from behind.

“…What. It’s a kid?”

A man wearing a hat with a long brim looked down at me and twisted the corners of his mouth.

“Lost your way, little one?”

“…Eh. Uung.”

I quickly looked around.

There were at least six people who seemed to be his companions.

The eyes of the guys were still focused on the kidnapped person.

Not one or two people had looked at me.

It’s not that difficult to run away or subdue these people.

But—.

‘Is he a bad person? Or not? But the bear doll hasn’t shown up….’

In the meantime, I heard a presence not far away.

I widened my eyes, not loosening my tension.

-Thump!

A sound of forcefully stomping the ground.

A huge shadow rushing towards here.

And a rainbow-colored light that shines beautifully even in the dark forest.

It was the bear doll.

The bear doll was running through the forest at full speed and rushing straight towards here.

The man wearing the hat with a long brim frowned.

“…What is that?”

“Certainty!”

“What?”

There was no need to ask and interrogate.

I quickly tapped the bracelet.

At that moment—.

A purple whip cut through the air and tightly wrapped around the man wearing the hat with a long brim.

“…Wh, what, you-!”

“Ria!”

“Senior♡”

“Eh hem…”

Ria, who had teleported, embraced me.

And almost simultaneously.

The bear doll stomped the ground and flew up, swinging its huge forepaws towards the man.

The bear doll’s big forepaws accurately struck the man’s face.

The man spun a few times in the air and was impaled on a tree.

And then fainted─.

It was a neat finish that left no room for criticism.

The bear doll blinked its rainbow-colored eyes, looking pleased.

‘…Is it just self-defense, right?’

I got a grip on myself and looked around.

The man’s companions were pointing their weapons at us.

Ria, seeing that, smiled viciously.

“…How dare they point weapons at Senior.”

“Ria—! Hey, they are trying to take that person away—!”

“Yes? … Ha.”

Ria sighed and flicked her finger.

At that moment, her purple whip stretched out like lightning at a rapid speed.

In an instant, it wrapped around the man’s companions and hung them on a tree.

“Ugh!”

“Wh, what. This is?!”

“My body won’t move…!”

The guys were in a panic.

But Ria’s expression was calm.

“Senior, does this situation match what Orpheus was talking about?”

“Yeah! Probably!”

The bear doll is not a bad kid who attacks or subdues innocent people.

Because it’s a kind child, who even helped people as it came here!

I glanced at the bear doll, whose leaves were sticking on everywhere since it went up on a tree while coming here.

The bear doll’s rainbow-colored eyes, looking at them, slowly turned red.

And finally, it completely turned into ‘crime prevention mode’.

“It’s certain! They must be the people from hell!”

“I agree♡”

Ria walked leisurely towards the guys who were hung up.

She had a vicious smile on her face, lightly shaking her purple whip.

“…How dare they point weapons at Senior… no, I wonder why they kidnapped the souls?”

“W, wait! We just did what we were told!”

“Please, spare us! We don’t know anything!”

Ria tilted her head, looking interested.

At that moment—.

Something flew from afar and broke the tree they were hung on.

The tree cracked from the great impact.

Ria quickly turned her body,

And she tightened the whip so the hanging guys wouldn’t be released.

“What? Sniper?”

“Um, is it a support troop?”

A presence was felt from above the cliff.

They turned around, realizing the attack had failed, and were running away.

“Ah, they’re running away!”

‘I can’t let them go.’ What should I do?

“I! For a moment…”

The moment I sensed killing intent urgently, a giant sword aura hit the bear doll directly.

At the starting point of the sword aura, there was a man with a huge greatsword.