Rescue Operation

The Croton family lived in the fishing village of Santanka, near our house.

Marie, the family's daughter, and Anemone had become friends, and we had been enjoying peaceful days playing together, but...

Apparently, Croton, the head of the family, had been captured by a gang of villains.

He had once teamed up with those ruffians to do evil deeds, then tried to skim money from them and flee to another city, but had failed.

Croton's wife and a beastman had come to me asking for help.

Normally, I could have ignored them, but I wanted to do something for Marie, who had become friends with Anemone.

Anemone had asked me too...

But staying here wouldn't solve anything.

So we decided to take a boat to the village of Santanka.

"What should we do with Anemone? We can't leave her here alone... Should we have the village look after her?"

"I'm coming too!"

"Hey, we're going to the lair of villains like Shaga—the same sort of people who captured you, you know?"

"Yeah! I know."

I agonized over it for a while, but there was no helping it. Maybe we could have her hide somewhere far away during the attack...

"Myaree, if things get dangerous, take Anemone and run."

"I know, nya."

Could six people, including Anemone, fit in the boat?

"It'll be fine with this many. There are two children, after all."

With the beastman vouching for it, I climbed nervously into the boat.

It was a wooden boat like the ones in ponds at parks in my original world, but it was long and narrow. Still, it could probably hold five people or so.

Santanka was roughly three kilometers away in a straight line. We crossed the mirror-like water and arrived after about twenty minutes.

But when we arrived, it looked like the village chief was arguing with a crowd of villagers.

Apparently, some people were saying that the Croton family, who had brought this trouble upon them, should be expelled from the village.

The village chief was an old white-haired man with a short beard on his chin. He wore dark green clothes over a black shirt and a hat.

"Village chief! I'm terribly sorry for causing everyone so much trouble. Once my husband returns, we'll leave the village."

"Ma'am, you'll need a wagon to carry your belongings. Use this money to buy one. Surely the village chief or someone has one, right?"

"That money is your reward..."

"Are you planning to walk to another city with nothing but the clothes on your backs and no money, the three of you? Every city is at least sixty leagues—about a hundred kilometers—away!"

"I understand..."

It was clearly impossible, even just thinking about it. I glanced at the village chief and saw that he seemed to own a wagon, so I took two gold coins from my Item Box and added them to the Croton family's money.

"With these gold coins added, this should be enough to buy the wagon, right?"

Actually, it was probably far more than the going rate. Shown the golden coins, the village chief reluctantly agreed.

"There's no way I can repay you if I borrow money from you."

"Perhaps I could offer my services..."

"No, don't talk about things like that in front of the children. It'll make me look like a villain. Don't worry about it."

When we stormed the villains' hideout, we could steal something valuable from it. That way, we'd quickly recover the money.

Besides, without a wagon, they would have no way to move when they relocated.

It was nearly evening. If we didn't hurry, the city gates would close.

Once we received the shabby wagon from the village chief, we had them begin preparing for the move. Still, paying over a million yen for a wagon this beat-up was a terrible deal.

But Croton's wife and Marie said they were coming with us.

Even when I told them to wait behind because it was dangerous for a woman and a child, they wouldn't listen. If Croton died, the family would truly be left with nowhere to go.

The only way this woman would have to earn money would be by selling her body.

They must have been unable to sit still and do nothing—I understood how they felt, but...

Besides, when we broke in, it might be better for Anemone to have companions rather than being left alone.

With no other choice, we put everyone in the shabby wagon and set out for Astrantia.

The beastman was holding the reins. His name was Nyanyas.

"Nyanyas, do you know where their hideout is?"

"Yeah. It's in the bad quarter beyond the north gate. That's where they arranged to receive the money."

The east and west gates connected to the main roads. The north and south gates were rarely used.

"They won't expect us to come today. They'll think it would be difficult to gather the money so quickly."

A bad quarter was a sort of dumping ground—a place where people who couldn't walk openly through respectable parts of the city gathered.

Normally, simply setting foot there would lead to serious trouble. But, conversely, it meant that even if we caused a little commotion, the authorities wouldn't come running.

It was a district where the lowest of the low dragged one another down—a dumping ground where all the baseness of humanity had piled up in heaps.

According to him, the enemy was a group of about ten people.

The wagon traveled at roughly ten kilometers per hour. The village was probably nine or ten kilometers from the city, so we would arrive in about an hour.

We should make it just before the gates closed.

As the wagon jolted along, I decided to ask Nyanyas about his past.

"How long have you known Croton?"

"A long time. He helped me find work, acted as my guarantor when I rented a room, kept track of my money, and all sorts of things. I've always been in his debt."

"A government official would make an excellent guarantor."

"Most officials don't have anything to do with beastfolk, but he helped me in all sorts of ways. I'd like to repay him properly while I have the chance."

"That's true. But once you save Croton, his family will be leaving for another land. What will you do?"

"I'm going with them."

"I see. Protect the three of them on the journey, then."

"Leave it to me."

In contrast to Nyanyas, Croton's wife sat with her shoulders slumped.

The family was facing the threat of being torn apart. In my original world, it would be grounds for divorce, but in this world, there were few things a woman could do on her own, so divorce was rare.

Besides, she didn't seem to have any intention of abandoning Croton...

We left the side road leading to the village, joined the main road, and arrived in Astrantia. We made it before the gates closed.

"So, what should we do? I'm thinking of attacking once the ruffians have been drinking at their hideout and are good and drunk, but we still have some time."

"I see, so that's the plan. I thought we were going to attack them in their sleep."

Nyanyas seemed to understand our plan.

"It worked well the last time. Right, Myaree?"

"That's right, nya. If they're drunk out of their minds, they won't be able to fight properly, nya~"

"What the heck? You turned out to be a surprisingly dangerous man. Good thing I didn't pick a fight with you."

"You probably would've been killed instantly, nya."

"Seriously...?"

Nyanyas said he knew a way to kill time.

"I know someone who was acquainted with Croton when he was a government official. Let's go there. He should do us a favor, but he's an official, so it'll cost us a little money."

"Use this."

I gave Nyanyas one silver coin—50,000 yen. It was what people casually called a bribe.

As the area grew dark, we reached the place, a little beyond the city's central district. In other words, it was an upscale residential neighborhood.

The houses were somewhat finer, with glass windows, and both the streets and the people walking them seemed a little more refined.

Nyanyas visited one of the houses. It was a beautiful, elegant home surrounded by a wooden fence, with prominent white plaster walls and trees and flowers planted in the garden.

"Master Ranan! I'm here on Croton's behalf. Open up!"

Nyanyas pounded on the door, but light soon spilled through it.

"Oh, it's you? What happened to Croton? Why are you coming at this hour?"

"Croton couldn't come because of some trouble. He's moving to another land tomorrow, and he sent me to tell you."

"What? That's awfully sudden. He came by this afternoon and said he would be moving soon, so I gave him a parting gift, but..."

So he had visited this place.

A beautiful woman appeared behind the man who had come out of the entrance. She had golden, wavy hair and wore a light jacket, looking every inch a member of the upper class.

Her eyes were filled with sorrow, and her lips were alluring and glossy.

The moment I saw the woman, it clicked.

Aha, so this woman was what Croton couldn't leave behind... Falling in love with his friend's wife, huh? He probably came to see her one last time before leaving.

And then he got himself captured. What a fool.

"Master Ranan, sorry to ask, but I'm with some friends, and we'd like to borrow your garden for about two hours. Would that be all right?"

Nyanyas held out the silver coin I had given him.

"Sure, I don't mind for that long, but I don't want any trouble, all right?"

"Understood, sir."

"Fine. Two hours only."

"Heh heh, thank you kindly."

Once the owner gave us permission, we opened the gate and brought the wagon into the garden. If we left in two hours and reached the bad quarter, it should be just the right time.

Nyanyas returned to where we were resting in the garden and whispered into my ear.

"That beautiful woman is what Croton can't leave behind?"

"Yeah, that's what it looks like."

"Not that it matters, but I'm not saving Croton. Marie is Anemone's friend, and she's a good kid. Her family would be left with nowhere to go without her father, so I'm saving him for Marie's sake."

"Sir, when Croton comes back, don't be too hard on him."

"I'm not planning to blame him. I might make a few sarcastic remarks, though."

According to what Nyanyas had heard from the owner of the house, Croton had apparently gone around to all his old acquaintances, collecting farewell gifts.

And the grand finale was stealing spices from the warehouse belonging to the 8○3...

I understood that he was desperate because he had no money, but hadn't he completely lost sight of where to put his effort?

It reminded me of the familiar story of a low-level thug trying to run away with the woman he loved, then dipping into his organization's money to do it.

Getting beaten up after the plan failed was practically straight out of a template.

Then the time came. We set off in the wagon toward the bad quarter in the north of the city.

It was already pitch-black, but Nyanyas was holding the reins, so the darkness wasn't a problem.

I left the reins to him and prepared for battle atop the wagon. I took three round shields—bucklers—out of my Item Box.

I also bought three more cutlasses. I had given the ones I'd bought before to the beastfolk.

I took Myaree's compound bow and a crossbow out of storage as well.

I briefly considered tear gas and the like, but the beastfolk with me had excellent noses. The spray would probably backfire.

"An Item Box?!"

Croton's wife exclaimed in surprise.

"That's right. Keep it to yourself."

It was an emergency, so I had no choice. Besides, I could trust them.

"Here, I'll lend you this crossbow. But, as I said before, I'm only lending it to you."

"S-Such an incredible weapon..."

"That's why nobles are after me."

"Since you and the others looked so sure you'd win from the start, I was wondering what kind of people you were. But you're something else entirely."

Nyanyas glanced sideways at the crossbow while holding the reins.

"I'll fire one shot to bring down the building. Attack while they're confused. They've been drinking too, so they shouldn't be able to fight properly."

"When you say fire a shot, do you mean magic?"

"Something like that. Once the lights go out and it gets dark, it'll be the beastfolk's turn, right?"

"Hahaha, leave it to us!"

Now, I needed to prepare something to hide my face. I had the black plague mask I'd bought before, but...

Wait—the balaclava! That was a staple of robbers in my original world. I searched for "balaclava" on Shangri-La.

There were all sorts of them, but I found something interesting: a black balaclava with a skeleton printed on it. Would it look like a skeleton in the darkness?

It cost 1,000 yen.

"Click."

I put on the skeleton balaclava that dropped into my hands.

"Aaaah!"

Anemone, startled, leaped onto Myaree, while Marie clung to her mother.

"Nya-nya-nya!"

Myaree's fur was standing on end too. This wouldn't do—the thing was far too conspicuous. It would cause a huge commotion in the city.

There had to be something better... Ah, here we go.

It was an unusual balaclava with a picture of a dog printed on it. If I wore this, could I pretend to be a beastman and fool them?

It cost 600 yen.

"Click."

I put on the balaclava with the picture of a dog that dropped into my hands.

"Nya-nya! That's the one!"

Anemone seemed fine with it, but Myaree was extremely wary.

"It's a cloth you wear over your head, with a picture printed on it. Could I imitate a beastman with this?"

Myaree desperately sniffed it, but apparently it was extremely unnatural that it smelled of nothing despite looking like a beast.

"Nya! Are you going to wear that and pin the crime on those dogfolk mutts?!"

"You're thinking up some pretty nasty schemes, sir. Hahaha!"

Nyanyas burst out laughing, but of course that wasn't what I intended.

"Then should we drop the idea?"

"Let's go with that, nya." "Let's go with that, then."

Myaree and Nyanyas chimed in together.

Once we had decided on the plan, I put on the black plague mask, while everyone else wore the balaclavas with dog pictures printed on them.

A cat person wearing a dog mask was incredibly surreal. It made for an indescribable sight.

We entered the bad quarter in the wagon just like that.

The streets were dark, with no streetlamps and only a small amount of light spilling from windows. There were prostitutes standing outside and soliciting customers, but they didn't notice us at all.

From a short distance away in the darkness, we didn't seem too strange.

We passed through the bad quarter and came out into a somewhat open area. Even though it was inside the city walls, some grass remained, making it look as though development had lagged behind here.

The sort of people who couldn't be controlled were loitering here, so ordinary citizens probably couldn't do anything about it.

It was similar to how nobody in my original world could interfere with land controlled by the 8○3.

There was a lone house standing there. It was too dark to tell clearly, but it seemed to be a two-story building with a stone first floor and a wooden second floor.

There was no glass in the windows. Instead, wooden shutters swung open, and light spilled through the gaps.

We left the wagon some distance away and sent Myaree ahead as a scout.

"Anemone, stay here."

"Okay..."

"You and Marie too, ma'am."

"Yes... I understand."

We covered the three of them with blankets and had them hide in the wagon bed. It was pitch-black around us, so they shouldn't be noticed.

The wife's slender shoulders were trembling. She must have been terrified, but she had come this far because she wanted to do something.

After a while, Myaree returned.

"Those guys are drinking and already good and drunk, nya! I don't see any men on the first floor, nya."

"Then they must be on the second floor."

"Probably."

Nyanyas strapped a buckler to his arm, put a cutlass at his waist, and readied the crossbow.

"I've never seen such an incredible crossbow. And this buckler is awfully light—is it really all right?"

"It's fine. The beastfolk used them before, and there were no problems."

"Really?"

"Really, nya."

"All right! The time has come. Let's go."

I strapped an LED headlamp to my head, left Anemone and the others in the wagon, and headed toward the ruffians' hideout.

The laughter of the men drifted from the building with light spilling out of it. They had no idea they were about to descend into hell...

"What are you going to do, sir?"

"I'll throw my magic through the windows and confuse everyone inside. Then I'll use my summoned beast to destroy the entrance, and you can charge in."

Nyanyas was startled when he heard that.

"A summoned beast? Seriously?"

"Seriously, nya."

"Nyanyas, don't tell anyone about this."

"..."

There were two open windows in the building. I lit firecrackers with the turbo lighter and threw them inside.

A deafening explosion rang out immediately, and then I threw more through the other window.

The room instantly descended into chaos.

"All right! Y○bo, summon!"

A green partner appeared in front of me. Here we go again. This machine wasn't really meant to be used like this, though.

I felt terribly sorry for the manufacturer who had designed and built it, but that was another rule of this other world.

I sat in the slightly torn black seat, started the engine, and opened the throttle all the way.

I worked the levers and raised the arm high overhead.

"Y○bo attack!"

The sound of steel claws tearing through wood and the thunderous crash of stonework collapsing echoed through the night.

Then I swept the iron arm horizontally, causing the stone wall to collapse with a great clatter. Half the roof came down with it.

The stones weren't cemented together; they had simply been piled on top of one another, so attacks from the side brought them down easily.

The lights inside went out, and arrows were fired one after another from the crossbows into the darkness of the huge opening.

"Ugh!" "Gyaaah!"

I could hear the ruffians screaming, but the beastfolk weren't firing blindly. They could see the enemies clearly.

Then Myaree and Nyanyas drew their cutlasses and leaped inside.

"Gyaaah!" "What the—?! Damn it! What happened?! Guh!"

There was no way the ruffians could stand against beastfolk in the darkness. Once the villains' dying screams faded away, Nyanyas poked his head out.

"Sir! Croton's on the second floor! I can smell him upstairs!"

"All right. Leave the ground floor to me."

When Nyanyas went upstairs, I heard a commotion above. There must have been several enemies up there too.

I could hear a woman's screams as well...

"Hey, Nyanyas! Are you all right?"

"Yeah!"

Well, the ruffians wouldn't stand a chance against beastfolk in close combat...

"Myaree, did any of them get away?"

"Maybe one or two escaped, nya."

"That should be fine. Our goal was to rescue Croton, not wipe them out."

"Nya."

"Now, I'll search for anything valuable. If I don't take at least something, we'll be operating at a loss."

I switched on the LED headlamp attached to my head.

"Whoa... This is a long way from a slow life..."

A horrific scene spread out before me: a severed arm lying in a pool of blood, with entrails spilling from countless corpses and scattered around.

I felt as though the wide-open eyes of the dead were meeting mine. Namu Amida Butsu. I recited a prayer silently.

Even thugs and villains become Buddhas once they're dead. Though I suspected every one of them was headed for hell.

The raw, sour stench clung to my nose, but I could never get used to that smell...

Why did things always end up like this...?

I found a bag of coins beneath an overturned table. What looked like gold coins were scattered across the floor too.

Had they been in the middle of counting out their shares? That worked out well.

I busily gathered the gold coins from the floor, then stripped the ruffians of their equipment and took it all. The dead wouldn't need it anymore.

They were headed to the Sanzu River empty-handed. They had no fare—and without clothes, they wouldn't be able to cross it either.

As I picked up the money, I collected the arrows stuck in the bodies and walls too. There was probably more upstairs, but there was no reason to linger.

Once I had finished collecting most of it, I stored the power shovel in my Item Box.

Croton came down from upstairs, slung over Nyanyas's shoulder.

He had clearly been badly beaten and was covered in bruises, but at least he was alive.

"Y-You came to save me?"

"Anemone and Marie asked me to, so I had no choice."

"I'm sorry..."

"Croton, is the leader of these people among the dead?"

"Yeah. The bearded man over there."

When I illuminated the bearded man with the LED light, he glared at me resentfully, but he was blaming the wrong person.

At least, if we had killed the leader, there shouldn't be any pursuit...

According to Nyanyas, who came down with him, the ruffians upstairs had been having sex with a woman.

"Did you kill the woman too?"

"No. She was just cowering in the corner of the room, so I left her alone."

"I see."

She might have been a prostitute, or she might have been one of the women abducted from somewhere, like the ones at Shaga's place.

But we didn't have time to check every detail this time.

We had to leave immediately.

"Sir! What's that thing?"

Nyanyas, who was carrying Croton, asked me about the Y○bo.

"You mean the metal monster?"

"That's the one."

"That's my summoned beast, and it obeys my commands. You understand, but don't tell anyone, all right?"

"No one would believe me if I told them about that thing."

When we brought Croton to the wagon, his wife and Marie, who had removed their dog masks, poked their heads out.

"You two came all the way here?"

"Dear!" "Dad!"

It was a moving reunion for the three members of the family, but we had no time for that. We had to leave immediately.

Once everyone was in the wagon, I collected the weapons from Nyanyas, and we set off through the darkness.

According to Croton, there was an abandoned house near the east gate, which led toward the village. We decided to head there.

"Marie, aren't you glad your father was saved?"

"Yeah..."

Marie clung to Anemone and cried. The two of them could have become such good friends...

"Dear, I'm sorry. I used all our savings to ask this gentleman for help."

Croton's wife explained to him why she had come here.

"I'm truly sorry for involving you in this. I never expected anyone to come rescue me..."

"How could I refuse when your adorable Marie and beautiful wife asked me? Anemone asked me too."

"This is humiliating..."

"The hard part starts now. You have to pack up everything and leave the village by tomorrow."

"What?"

Croton couldn't hide his surprise at what I said, so his wife explained the situation to him.

"I'm sorry, Sainelia. This is all my fault."

"We'll find a new land for the whole family."

The husband and wife embraced, but Croton's expression remained gloomy.

"Yes... But..."

Croton was probably worried about money. Well, we'd figure that out somehow too.

The wagon raced through the dark city. Apart from the pleasure district, hardly anyone was out in the city at night.

We passed through the nearly deserted city and arrived at the abandoned house near the east gate.