Chapter 25: Slum Quarters

「Shishō, is this really a hunt?」

Haru asked me so as we arrived at our destination. I brought her here under the misapprehension that we were hunting for birds or beasts after all. Haru must have thought we were going into the mountains or forest. But what we visited was the slum quarters of the castle town Diana.

Compared to the townscape so far, the houses lined up are in a quite deteriorated condition, and the whole area was lined with unsanitary and dimly lit alleyways. This is the place where they are structured as if they were branched. Even in the castle town, which is the capital of the country, these residential areas still exist. Poverty and crime are rampant in the slums and many of the inhabitants have special circumstances, and of course, there are people from ‘that side’ too. Those guys are weirdos who don’t belong to anyone, but most of them have ties to some kind of organization.

The slum is controlled by 『Midnight』, an illegal organization that has a different name in public. That said, it’s not that they do whatever as they please. They have their own rules, and if they play with fire too much, the scary magic knight(‘s leader) will come to them. If she wants to, she alone can destroy the slum. How scary… Well, they do things moderately and not do something that might catch the government’s attention. Besides, if the interests are in line with it, there are times when these people will be useful. Just like how they will be this time.

「It’s a hunt, that’s for sure. You see, in a manhunt kind of sense.」

「We are going to hunt people? Well, I’ve never cooked human flesh before, and that’s a bit…」

No, I don’t need that kind of joke. In her case, I feel like she’s being serious. Even I don’t want to be a cannibal either.

「The number of missing girls seems to be increasing lately. The guild’s request this time is something like investigating that.」

「I see, we are looking for someone!」

Yeah, that’s the gist of it. However, there may be a bit of fightning scene in the process.

「If that’s the case, let’s buy meat at the market on the way home. After work, it should be meat after all!」

「You eat properly even after any kind of training after all. That’s why I’m looking forward to it. I’ll allow you to show your ability (in cooking) without reservation.」

「Please leave it to me!」

We were traversing the slum while talking about what to cook for the main course of dinner. Then, three men suddenly appeared from behind the shade of the house, blocking our paths as if they were waiting for us.

「Hehehe.」

「Yo, Ossan. To think that you are talking about a gorgeous dinner at a place like this, I’m sure your business is doing well, huh? How envious.」

「Are you bringing that cute girl to have fun? Let us join too.」

All of them have boorish faces and are unnaturally badly dressed. Some people lean against the wall while evaluating us, while the other holds a knife in one hand to show off and lick the back part of the blade without meaning. Well, we’ve gotten tangled up with some typical guys.

「Shishō, there are people who look like they could come out in an old delinquent comic. Is that a cosplay? Moreover, their role seems to be mob characters!」

「「「Ugh…!」」」

Haru, sometimes your honesty can be a sharper knife than anything else, so even if you think those things, keep them to yourself. Otherwise, some people will get hurt.

「Whisper (By the way, Haru. You are surprisingly calm with seeing such fierce looks, aren’t you?)」

「Whisper (I fought with kobold that looked scarier after all. Compared to Boss-san, they are just chihuahuas.)」

Well, right. If I were asked which is scarier between a large fierce beast and a delinquent, I would choose the fierce beast.

「You bastard… don’t think you can say whatever you want just because you are a bit cute!」

「Hehehe, it’s too late to apologize, you know? After all, we’ve already lost our temper!」

「Don’t you forget the words you just said.」

Yeah, I want you guys to stop it at that. You’ll only be piling up shame if keep saying those stereotype speeches.

I can’t cover for them if they affirmed it themselves. Forget it, let’s just get to the business.

「Right, are you guys from the Midnight?」

「Hmm? Why the hell do we need to answer your question?」

「Hehehe, isn’t that fine? We are from the Midnight that’s controlling this place. Ossan, you understand what it means, right?」n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

「It’s the Midnight that’s being led by Requiem, you know?」

Oh, I got lucky from the beginning. Although, it makes me wonder if it’s the real one or not since they are this stupid.

「Well, thank you for that. Then, take me to his place.」

「「「…… Hah?」」」

The three rowdy men froze with their eyes wide open.

「Ossan, do you really understand your position? Or perhaps, are you insane?」

「I’m the one who’s wondering whether you guys are insane or not. Are you perhaps newcomers who just joined Midnight recently? Hmm?」

「Eh, how…!?」

They are completely flustered to my words. It seems they are really newcomers.

「O-oi. Is this Ossan by any chance Boss’s acquaintance…?」

「Don’t ask me. But if it’s not, it’ll be us taking strangers to Boss’s place, you know…?」

「Hehehe, damn, my head hurts…」

The three rowdy men suddenly having a strategy meeting. It seems they are not sure whether to take us to Requiem’s place or not.

「… Shishō, it seems that it will take some time.」

「Right…」

They could just bring one person who knows about me to confirm it. Ahh, this is bothersome.

「Oi, you guys. I have a suggestion.」

「Suggestion?」

「If you fight this girl and win, I’ll give up on going to Requiem’s place. You can do whatever you like to her. Also, it’s 3 vs 1 and you can use weapons.」

「「「W-what!?」」」

They awfully took the bait. Well, if you look at her appearance, Haru is petite and cute. Those who are attracted to her will be attracted. (T/n : People die if they are killed. Okay, don’t mind me)

「Instead, if you lose, take me to Requiem’s place obediently. It’s a simple condition that’s easy to understand, isn’t it? You guys have plenty of merits, so why don’t we decide on this one?」

「Err… Shishō, are you sure it’s fine?」

Haru looks up at me with a worried look on her face. Is she asking whether it’s fine to kill them? We’ll lose guide if they die, so that’s a no. At least, keep them half-dead so I can recover them.

When I whispered so to her…

「No, I don’t enjoy bullying the weak…」

Oh, it was that?

「Okay, we are fine with that condition.」

「Hehehe, is this what easy prey means?」

「Ossan, you can go home now, you know? We are going to enjoy ourselves after all.」

Immediately, the men began to give Haru a vulgar look. It’s not necessary to find out what they’re thinking, it’s not good for the mood. However, since Haru is a girl, it’s necessary for her to experience this kind of thing.

When dealing with humans, it has a different fear than dealing with monsters. Yes, human nature――

「Shishō, I’m done~」

―― How many seconds did this take? The three of them were lying on the ground while I was thinking about fear and the like. Ah, right. They are just chihuahuas…

「… Good work.」

While doing a simple recovery for the three, who were blowing bubbles, I pondered about how much is appropriate for her.