The Druid Guardian

Chapter 18: A Dark History

"What's gotten into you, Kuma? You've been acting weird ever since you talked to Ninja Girl."

"Oh, have I? I haven't noticed." Kuma nervously chuckled.

I'm worried.

"So, what's wrong?" I asked with a concerned face.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing's wrong. I'm just a little tired, that's all."

I knew that he was lying. I could tell by the way he was acting.

He always pays attention and very organized. He has the personality of a gentleman with proper manners.

He never wavers nor gets distracted by anything, even when he's tired. In the past few months I've known him, I can tell when somethings up with him.

The fact that he's lying to me means that he's trying to hide it. I don't know what's with him and Ninja Girl, but there's no way I was going to let this go.

"Kuma, why did you want Ninja Girl and me to work together?" I quickly asked him

This was my plan. I'll ask him questions about Ninja Girl and see what he says.

If he makes any reaction to the question, I'll know I'm on to something.

Kuma stared at me after hearing my question. It wasn't as if he was angry, but more like he was trying to read me.

"Why is it that you hate Miss Grimm?"

Oh, so you're going to pull the "Answering a question with a question" routine, huh? Fine, I'll play ball.

"It's not that I hate her, but I sure as hell don't like her." I began. "She's reckless, stubborn, arrogant, ignorant, and more. I can make a list for you if that helps."

"I see. It's true that she does act rashly and rushes into trouble, but that's how she is. She takes more after her mother than I originally thought."

. . . Huh?

Wait, did he just say "She takes after her mother"?

So, she knows who Ninja Girl is? And also her mother?

What the hell is going on?

I wanted to ask Kuma, but for some reason, I couldn't muster any strength to speak. It's like my vocal cords just closed and no words were able to come out.

I didn't need to speak though, because Kuma kept talking.

"Heh, I'm surprised by how big she got. Not only that, but her appearance resembles her mother almost perfectly." It looked like Kuma was reminiscing about his past.

He had this smile on his face as if he was remembering his favorite moment in his past. Maybe whatever his relationship with Ninja Girl's mom was his memorable moment.

"Kuma, how do you know about Ninja Girl or her mother?" I asked.

". . . I know them because of Miss Grimm's grandmother. Her name was Agnes Grimm."

So Kuma knew Ninja Girl's grandmother, huh? I wonder what his relationship with her was.

Since it was the grandmother, it had to have been three to four decades ago since then. I'm curious about their history.

"So, how did you meet her?"

"Ah, I met Agnes when she was exploring the grand forest. She was an adventurer at the time and was doing a quest."

"What was the quest?"

"The quest was killing the Beast Of The Forest, which was me."

Wait, so Ninja Girl's grandmother was trying to kill Kuma? Sheesh, talk about a bad first impression.