Chapter 44 - A Thorny Path

Despite speaking in a somewhat forceful tone, he still seemed conflicted and couldn't answer easily.

Probably because he knew that if he sold them wrongly, it could cause considerable problems.

After waiting for a moment, I thought that if I left it like this, the other party might decide not to sell, so judging that it would be better to push harder, I stood up and clicked my tongue.

"Forget it. If you don't want to sell, just say so."

At those words, he urgently tried to calm me down and said, "N-no, that's not it. I just had something to think about, how many exactly do you need? We can match any number you want."

The words "as many as you want" and the sight of countless vagrants flocking outside the window.

Apparently, the supply was too excessive, so from his perspective, he wanted to get rid of those guys quickly.

So he gave in to my pressure more easily than expected and presented his requirements to me.

Then I'll use this to extract as much related information as possible.

Just as I was about to open my mouth, thinking it would be good to approach the in-depth content step by step, a scream-like cry was heard loudly from below.

"P-please give me back my brother!"

At that voice, I silently looked at him, and he smiled awkwardly and said to me, "It's nothing. Sometimes, there are worms like that who don't know their place and struggle. If it's alright with you, could you wait just a moment? I'll take care of it right away."

I nodded slightly, and he hurriedly went outside and went downstairs.

I left a message for Liana to search the branch manager's office a bit, then took out the hammer from my chest and slipped out of the office.

Following him downstairs, I saw a woman wailing and causing a commotion in a miserable state.

The moment I saw this, for some reason, I was reminded of Damian's sister, Lilia Carsaril, and felt a strange sense of complexity.

Just then, I noticed many people below glaring at her and exchanging signals with each other.

Apparently, they're making plans to handle this quietly.

Since they were operating under the pretext of a volunteer facility, they probably feel uncomfortable taking overly rough actions.

So, thinking that they would likely try to calm her down as much as possible and then kill or sell her in a quiet place, I was watching this when the branch manager, frowning, hurriedly came down and ground his teeth, saying, "You stupid bastards, you can't even handle one woman without letting the noise spread up here? Do you all want to die?"

"We're sorry..."

"If you're sorry, then drag that fucking bitch in right now!"

With his words, those closest to her approached and made gestures as if guiding her inside.

Apparently, they were trying to take her inside to deal with her, so I was about to step in when I suddenly felt a strange sense of déjà vu and frowned.

By the way, how did that woman get in here?

Surely the soldiers would be blocking the entrance, so it was somewhat strange that a woman who seemed to have no strength at all could break through.

The moment this thought crossed my mind, I realized that this situation itself was a trap and raised the corner of my mouth.

It's very much like black mages in many ways.

I thought something was strange.

The fact that the branch manager's office, where close conversations took place, was not soundproofed enough.

The fact that someone as high-ranking as the branch manager fell for the threat rather simply.

The fact that the branch manager personally came to resolve the issue when a VIP had arrived.

And I smiled realizing that for a volunteer organization that cared about external appearances, they had blatantly filled the place with gangster-like people and “deliberately made it so that they would provoke the righteous knights”.

This building itself was a trap from the beginning.

No, to be precise, it would be more correct to see it as a gateway to filter out fake clients, not a trap.

Thinking this, I pondered what to do and decided to pretend not to know for now in order to enter the “core” location.

When I returned without taking any action, Liana said quietly, as if surprised, "Huh? I thought you'd smash everything, but unexpectedly you came back without doing anything?"

"It was a trap."

Knowing that it wasn't soundproofed, I opened my mouth in the smallest voice possible.

"Yes, that's right. To be precise, it's closer to classification than a trap... You noticed well."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's not that I didn't tell you, it's more that I didn't know. I was certain that this was the entrance, but I didn't know exactly how to get in."

So she judged that it would be better to go together first?

Thinking that was understandable, I nodded, and Liana pointed to the lower floor and continued speaking, "From my investigation, it seems there's a staircase going down in the exact center of the first floor. Judging by that underground room, there's an extremely high possibility it's related to black mages."

I nodded, and Liana presented me with two options.

"So what do you want to do? Do you want to smash everything and enter proudly? Or do you want to continue pretending to be a guest and enter?"

Smashing everything and entering wouldn't be bad, but if there was an escape hole inside and the depth was quite deep, it could be a bad move.

Thinking it would be better to sneak in, I chose the latter.

"That's unexpected? Alright. Then let's proceed that way."

Liana smiled with satisfaction as I chose the normal option and said to me, "Then from now on, it would be good to start acting in earnest, so I'll take the lead."

Since I was weak in the art of speech, I thought it would be better to leave it to Liana, so I nodded and said, "Then I'll leave it to you."

"Yes."

Just as we decided to do so, the branch manager hurriedly came in from outside and apologized to us.

"I'm really sorry... Can I escort you to the VIP room again as an apology?"

It seemed we had passed their criteria, judging by their attempt to move locations.

I made an expression as if I was a bit annoyed at those words and answered firmly, "I'm getting tired of this. Proceed as quickly as possible."

"Yes."

It seemed we had passed some kind of test, as he nodded as politely as possible and guided us downstairs, opening his mouth, "Then please come this way."

As we went down, it felt like we were being watched with wary eyes from everywhere, as if they had passed the test but hadn't let their guard down.

Apparently, they were still showing suspicion as they couldn't be certain of our identity yet.

I ignored those gazes and glanced around.

The wailing woman has disappeared.

It had suddenly become quiet, and she had completely disappeared.

I could see that soldiers were properly positioned outside the door.

Still, in case I had misjudged, I asked Siren for advice.

Siren looked around blankly for a moment, then whispered quietly to me, "Judging by the fact that the mana around us isn't shaking and is calm, it seems the acting was correct."

I didn't have much knowledge about magic, so I didn't know what it meant for it not to shake, but contextually understanding, I thought it might mean there were no emotional or physical changes.

I nodded at those words and went down.

The branch manager looked around, then pushed aside the desk in the center and said to us, "You can come this way."

A somewhat narrow entrance.

Seeing this scene that gave the impression of a secret passage to anyone who saw it, I nodded, and he smiled kindly and said, "Please be careful as it's narrow inside."

Hearing those words and entering, a narrow corridor unfolded where three people standing side by side would fill it completely.

Did they make the entrance and corridor narrow and then set it up for an ambush if something goes wrong?

Thinking that was highly likely, I was pondering how to fight here when the man walking ahead calmly opened his mouth, "Could you tell us where you heard about this place from Elisia?"

At those words, Liana, who was following behind, answered in a cold voice, "Are you asking us to disclose information about the Grand Duchess now?"

"Ah, no. That's not it."

Judging by the way he spoke, it seemed the branch manager had noticed something that didn't quite add up.

As soon as I realized this, I immediately took out my hammer and struck the branch manager's head.

At that moment, Siren behind me reached out her hand and activated a noise cancellation spell to make the surroundings quiet.

I smiled awkwardly at her action, as if she knew I would do this.

Siren made a strangely proud expression and said to me, "I knew Damian would do that."

As I was feeling somewhat bitter at her confident voice, Liana crossed her arms and laughed.

"If he's probing so blatantly, it's probably safe to say he had almost figured it out. Well done."

I wiped the blood on the hammer on the other person's clothes and said, "Then let's proceed as quickly as possible."

At my words, both of them nodded and started preparing to assist me in their own ways.

I looked at the man lying down below and turned my head, vowing not to mention infiltration or anything like that next time.

***

In a dark alley.

Elisia was hiding her body, avoiding the holy knights running around, and breathing heavily.

Thanks to the artifact, she barely managed not to be discovered, but as the search was intensifying, there was an extremely high possibility of being discovered soon, so her emotions were becoming agitated.

...Ah.

The thought "How did it come to this?" crossed her mind, and all sorts of stray thoughts arose.

From thinking that if she had known it would come to this, she should have looked at the bigger picture and pretended to accept Damian's goodwill, then obtained a position similar to the family head even if she couldn't become one, to regretting not resolving things with her own power instead of promoting Dale as a hero.

These were regrets that couldn't be undone now.

The moment they arose, a great sense of frustration came over her and constricted her chest, but there was nothing she could do.

Forcibly shaking off the lingering attachments that wouldn't go away, she looked at the letter.

[If you agree to my proposal, come to the clock tower in the center.]

The letter given by the man who proposed creating an artificial sun.

Since this was all she had left now, she was heading towards the clock tower, but the path wasn't easy.

She considered giving up and letting herself be caught, but if she did that, she would be blamed for all the crimes and imprisoned, and everything would turn to bubbles.

She needed to struggle somehow and find her way there.

…”

So, thinking she should struggle forward as much as possible, she urgently moved her feet.