Kamisama Shop de Cheat no Kaori

Chapter 197. The Bumpy Family And A Reunion With Moonlight

The person introduced to us as a guide was a man in a full-length robe, and as soon as I saw him, I remembered. He was one of Digion’s underlings that I saw when I visited the East Slums with Yaralai. I see, so he must be on very good terms with the so-called human resources agency.

The man started walking without a word, so I followed along with Hagg, Yaralai, and Faf who had joined us. The slow jog of the man was irritating.

As expected, the robed man headed towards the East Slums. We passed through a maze-like back alley among the shacks and old buildings and were led to another old building. The robed man indicated this place with his eyes.

“Let me in.”

We retreated a little and hid. The robed man sighed softly, then knocked on the crumbling door with a strange rhythm. After a while, the door opened slightly, and only an eye peered through the gap.

“Yaralai.”

“Yeah.”

As soon as I asked, Yaralai kicked the door open at a speed that seemed like he had teleported. We rushed in after him. Who cares about Sandel’s dignity!

We subdued everyone inside in an instant. Yaralai and Hagg were incredibly quick, but sadly, I was pretty good too.

There were five men inside, and I stepped on one of them and pointed the tip of my spiral dragon spear, Gungnir, at him.

“Hey, Lalaila… Where’s the elf girl?”

“You bastards…!”

“We’ve got our information. I don’t want to hear any more.”

That’s a lie.

“I don’t know!”

“So don’t lie. Unfortunately, I’m pretty pissed right now. I’m going to take one or two of your arms?”

“Heh! That kind of threat won’t… gyaaaaaaaaa!”

I plunged the drill, which was imbued with waves, into the man’s arm without spinning it. His bones were definitely shattered. I have no intention of taking his life, but he’s a villain. This is his own fault. I kicked the man against the wall to knock him unconscious, then approached another man who Yaralai was holding down.

“Where’s the elf girl?”

“…Damn you! So you’re the elf’s friends!”

Yes. Confirmed. Now there’s no reason to hold back. Not that I was anyway.

“Spit it out. Worst case scenario, I don’t need a single source of information, you know?”

“Oh! We’re just legitimate human resources agents… gyaaaaaaaaa!”

I plunged the drill into his left leg with all my might. It’s a compound fracture. White, shattered bones were protruding through the skin. While being careful not to let my emotions turn completely dark, I had no sympathy. I turned the drill toward the man that Hagg was holding down.

“Are you going to talk soon?”

“W-we… we just buy and sell legally acquired goods… introduce them.”

“Our goods are different.”

Yaralai’s killing intent filled the room. Go ahead and hit him. But before that.

“Then tell me where you got your supply?”

“…”

“If you stay silent, that elf over there is going to go berserk, you know?”

“T… the elf is already… after we acquired her…”

A shiver. Yaralai’s killing intent swells. Hold on a little. This guy seems like he’s about to talk.

“After you acquired her, huh? So, what did you do with the elf? Did you sell her to Sandel already?”

“…No. The customer this time…”

The man hesitated there. But when the tip of the drill touched his forehead, he spat out hatefully.

“The customer is the …”

◆

We were speeding through the night wilderness in our camper van. Our destination was the pitch-black forest, said to be located upstream of the River Riveri. You might find it strange to hear of a forest in such a wilderness, but east of Sevites, the vegetation changes dramatically, apparently. There’s a vast forest that stretches along the River Riveri. It’s called the Pitch-Black Forest because the vegetation is so dense that it’s dark even during the day, and it’s said to be feared. Apparently, a large number of troublesome creatures called Forest Wolves inhabit it, and few people normally set foot there.

A deal in such a place. What a pain.

The forest truly lived up to its name, the Pitch-Black Forest. The sudden transition from wilderness to a collection of enormous trees was both awe-inspiring and terrifying. We stopped the car at the border between the forest and the wilderness, and Yaralai jumped out.

“…There are traces of many people passing through here recently.”

“You can tell?”

“I have a tracking technique that doesn’t rely on spirits.”

Yaralai is amazing. He looks more reliable than usual. I stowed the camper van in the container and followed Yaralai who had already started walking.

The forest was deep and pitch-black because it was night. Even though I enveloped myself in the wave that enhanced my night vision, which I learned during the Goblin Hazard, it was barely enough. It was clearly useless with so many obstacles.

“…I can’t walk through this darkness. I’m sorry, but turn on the light.”

“If an enemy approaches, I’ll tell you.”

“Thanks.”

I use a Spatial Law card to illuminate the drill part. The light intensity is just enough to distinguish the ground beneath my feet. The Spatial Law card is an improved Spatial Law tool made by Hagg. As long as there is even a little light, I can supplement it with enhanced night vision.

We continued to walk through the dark forest. I was impressed with how well he could navigate without getting lost.

After about an hour, Yaralai told me to turn off the light.

“…Something’s wrong.”

“It’s strange.”

Hagg and Yaralai frowned (I sensed it).

“What is it?”

“I don’t sense any human presence.”

“What do you mean?”

“Wait, a moment.”

Yaralai disappeared into the darkness. Even though his ability to sense presence should be highly trained, I lost sight of Yaralai instantly. He’s really something else.

I heard Yaralai call out from the depths.

“Akira, turn on the light.”

“Okay.”

As I was told, I lit the drill again with a Spatial Law card. This time, I made it really bright. It was a clearing. Only that corner had trees cut down, creating a small open space.

In the moonlight and the light of the lamp, corpses were scattered around. Not just one or two. There were nearly twenty corpses.

“What happened? A turf war?”

“…No, these are traces of being attacked by goblins.”

“What? No, more importantly, where’s Lalaila!?”

“…I can’t sense her presence.”

“Damn!”

“Good or bad, the girl isn’t among the dead.”

“Did she escape?”

“I don’t know, but if she did, there should be traces of her magic.”

“That’s true…”

“Kukuku. She’s an elf, isn’t she? If the goblins found her, it’s obvious what they would do.”

“…A sacrifice!?”

“Kukuku…”

That’s right. Elves and dwarves are especially likely to become sacrifices!

“Damn it! So that means Lalaila was captured by those goblin bastards!?”

“…That’s a high possibility.”

“Ugh!”

Yaralai searched the area with a grim expression, but he didn’t seem to find anything.

“Calm down! Find the path the goblins took!”

“I know!”

I understand how he feels, but calm down! That’s when it happened. The moonlight was blocked.

I thought a cloud might have passed by, but I quickly realized that clouds rarely occur in this area. We all looked up at the sky at the same time.

What was blocking the moonlight was a creature with giant wings.

“A griffin?”

Hagg murmured. It was then I realized. I had indeed seen it flying in the Sevites sky several times. But why is it here? Is it a wild griffin?

No. Someone is riding on its back. A griffin mount?

I couldn’t see the rider clearly because of the backlight. Long hair danced in the wind.

It shone red, even reflecting the moonlight.

“What are you doing!?”

It was a clear, bell-like sound.

“Really! Can’t you go a while without getting into trouble!?”

It was a woman with a beautiful figure that could be mistaken for a goddess.

“I heard the details from Digion Sandel. Have you found Yaralai’s daughter!?”

It was red, etched into my heart.

It was the red-haired beauty, Cherina Veriero, a shrewd merchant from the largest trading company in the westernmost seaport.

“…Cherina”

The woman in the moonlight was both dignified and beautiful.