The Tragedy of the Forest King

The night was deep, and the Lost Forest was pitch-black.

When Erza and Natsu, who had followed the scent all the way here, reached the forest entrance, they were immediately stunned by the sight before them.

At the entrance stood a giant Kuma as large as a small house, covered in coarse brown-black fur. It lay trembling on the ground in an utterly humiliating posture. Its limbs were spread wide, its Kuma face pressed tightly against the earth, and its enormous body shook like a sieve. It did not even dare raise its head.

In front of it, Zoro sat cross-legged, propping up his chin with one hand while impatiently tapping the ground with the other. His face plainly said, "How can you be this stupid?"

"I'll ask you one last time." Zoro's voice rang especially clearly through the silent forest. "Which way is the blacksmith's shop west of the city? Is it really that hard to point in a direction?"

The A-rank monster known as the "Forest King"—the Savage Giant Bear—trembled even harder at his question. A pitiful, puppy-like whimper came from its throat as its massive paws scratched helplessly at the ground. It seemed to be trying to express something, but its terror was so overwhelming that it could not form any coherent "language."

"Zoro!" Erza called out, both annoyed and amused.

Zoro turned at the sound. When he saw Erza and Natsu, his face darkened with displeasure. "What are you doing here? I'm asking for directions."

"Asking for directions?!" Natsu pointed at the giant Kuma, which looked like it was about to be traumatized for life, and shouted, "You call this asking for directions?! You're about to scare it to death!"

Erza pressed a hand to her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. She walked up to Zoro, forcibly holding back the urge to criticize him. "Why are you here? Magnolia City is already dozens of kilometers away."

Zoro's answer was perfectly righteous, logically consistent, and full of irrefutable "reason."

"Wasn't I delivering a letter?" He pulled out the letter from his clothes, already wrinkled from being soaked in sweat. "I followed that blonde woman's map and kept walking forward, then somehow ended up here. Then I asked that signpost, but it wouldn't talk. So I decided to go into the forest and find someone to ask. Right after I came in, I ran into this guy."

He pointed at the Savage Giant Bear on the ground and continued, "It's huge, so it should be the boss around here. It definitely knows the way. But when I asked where the blacksmith's shop west of the city was, it just kept glaring at me. Its eyes were really arrogant. So I gave it a proper lesson in reason."

Erza and Natsu followed his gaze. The poor "Forest King" no longer had any of the ferocity of an A-rank monster in its eyes. There were only two clear, innocent tears trembling in its eye sockets.

Obviously, Zoro's so-called "lesson in reason" had consisted of unleashing the Conqueror's Haki that could make even Sea Kings submit, subjecting the poor Kuma to an entire day of inhumane mental torment.

The truth was finally revealed.

Erza felt like this man, who never did anything normally, was about to make her faint from anger. She snatched the letter from Zoro's hand, then grabbed the back of his collar as if he were a chick.

"Come back to the guild with me!"

"Hey! Let go! I can walk by myself!"

"Shut up! You've forfeited the right to walk by yourself!"

And so, amid Natsu's gloating laughter and the Forest King's relieved whimpers, Erza escorted the two "problem children" back toward the guild, one on each side.

As for the bizarre tale of "Fairy Tail's new member Roronoa Zoro accepting a C-rank letter-delivery mission, getting lost dozens of kilometers away, and casually taming an A-rank monster," it quickly spread through the guild as though it had grown wings.