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028 Devising
Various Plans
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Translator : PolterGlast
I kept questioning the
mass murderer, and then he stopped moving. I still wanted to ask more, but he
died before I could finish.
I intended to keep my
promise and give him the antidote, but I had too many questions, and he died
before I could ask them all. He died by his own poison, so he brought it upon
himself.
The bandit who had
jumped at me and was still alive had crawled about 5 meters before dying. He
had been bleeding, so his HP must have steadily decreased to zero.
I thought he should've
at least had a potion, but it seems the potion bottle broke from my attack.
When you do bad things, even luck abandons you, I guess.
Record cards emerged
from their chests, so I collected five of them. In the dungeon, the dungeon
disposes of bodies, but not here, so I collected the bodies in my Item Box too.
They took up five
slots, which was a nuisance.
"But I threw up
when I killed the bandits who attacked Golteo-san's caravan, and this time I
didn't... It's been a while since I killed a person, but did I get used to it
from fighting monsters? Am I getting used to this other world?"
I don't want to get
used to killing, but it's better than hesitating during a fight. In a world
where hesitation means you get killed, I won't hesitate.
I set my job to
Assassin and sensed my surroundings, but there was no one else. I had
intentionally lured them to a deserted spot, but it seemed they had no other
companions.
Perhaps they're
dispersed throughout the town, looking for me.
Next, I headed to the
government office. My job was still Assassin.
I entered the
government office not from the front, but from the back, using the Wall Pass
skill. It's fine to go through the front, but it's a matter of preference.
According to the mass
murderer—his name was Upas, by the way—there were bandit accomplices among the
officials. It's a common story, so I wasn't surprised, but I was disheartened.
When I brought the
record cards of the bandits who attacked Golteo-san's caravan to the government
office, my record card was checked. That's how my name and job were leaked to
the bandits.
I proceeded through
the government office with Stealth activated and found the bandit accomplices.
However, since there were other officials cooperating with the bandits, I made
a note of all their names.
Next, I needed to find
evidence. If I checked their record cards, their crimes would be obvious. But
since they're in somewhat influential positions, getting their record cards
checked would be troublesome. So, I gathered evidence.
I thought I might have
to break into their houses, but thanks to Wall Pass, I found several ledgers.
They weren't just
colluding with bandits. They were involved in various other misdeeds, so I
found several ledgers detailing embezzlement. With these, their crimes would be
confirmed by their record cards. If that happened, their connection to the
bandits would also become clear. I collected the evidence in my Item Box and
left the government office.
Next was the lord's
castle.
I searched for the
lord's room in the castle. It was a spacious room. It had luxurious and
magnificent furniture. There was even a canopy bed, impressive.
A middle-aged man was
drinking alone. This calm-looking person must be the lord of this castle.
Duke Arcaine-Gardland.
To my surprise, this person's job was Duke.
Even nobles are
apparently born with the Villager job, but they can change to noble jobs based
on how they live after birth. And they can supposedly evolve from Noble to
Duke, but changing to Duke is extremely rare. Detailed Appraisal told me that
this person, who changed to the Duke job, was a ruler skilled in both literary
and military arts.
Being skilled in both
literary and military arts doesn't necessarily mean being incorruptible. Still,
I think this Duke is a decent noble. He'll probably dispose of the officials
connected to the bandits.
I think so, but how
should I go about it? Should I just flaunt the evidence? No, I'm bad at
planning that kind of precise execution.
When I tried to get
closer, the Duke's eyebrow twitched, and his gaze slowly shifted. His gaze was
sharp, as if he knew I was there and was searching for me.
I broke into a
terrible sweat down my spine and took a step back. This person is incredibly
scary.
"Is it my
imagination...?"
His voice was deep and
mellow. The way he brought the wine to his lips was also refined. I think he's
aging gracefully.
I stepped out of the
room, took a deep breath, and prepared myself.
Then, I entered the
Duke's room again. I made sure not to enter from that close distance and placed
the evidence ledgers and a memo on the bed in the corner of the room. Despite
it being such a simple task, I was drenched in sweat from the tension.
The Duke finished his
wine and looked towards the bed. On the bed were ledgers and a memo he knew
nothing about. Normally, he would be quite flustered, but the Duke picked up
the ledgers without making a sound.
He quickly skimmed
through the ledgers, then picked up the memo I had written.
For some reason, I can
write the characters of this world. It's surprising enough that I can speak and
read, but I can write too.
The Duke pulled a rope
hanging from the wall beside the bed. It seemed he had summoned a servant.
I sensed people moving
in the vicinity, and the presence from the next room moved and came to the
Duke. It was a person with the appearance of an old butler.
"Call Zaigen and
Barukan. And prepare my change of clothes."
"Understood."
The old butler left.
"You're still
here, aren't you?"
"!"
He didn't seem to see
me, but he seemed to sense my presence. Duke Lv35 is no joke.
"I won't tell you
to show yourself. But you should come here at this time tomorrow as well."
"..."
What is his purpose in
saying something like this? Is he trying to set a trap to capture me? I don't
know, but I couldn't bring myself to ignore it. It might be dangerous, but I
decided to come tomorrow too.
*
After the Duke's
castle, I headed to the Shardina Bandit Gang's mansion.
It was late at night,
but I infiltrated the mansion. I've been breaking into other people's homes a
lot today.
Bandits were still
standing guard in front of Shardina's room, and there were guards inside too.
Sensing their presence, I entered the room next to Shardina's. Wall Pass is
truly convenient.
It was a room lined
with shelves, and several leather pouches were placed there.
There was no door, but
a wall seemed to open. It must be a secret room. Moreover, it only led to
Shardina's room and had no windows.
I was surprised to
find such a room, as I hadn't expected it.
There were also items
that seemed to be magic items. It was easy to imagine that they were illegally
hoarded goods.
Looking inside the
leather pouches... they were packed with 100,000 black gold coins. Probably
about 100 coins per bag. The other leather pouches were also filled with
100,000 black gold coins.
"10 million Grill
per bag, huh? No wonder they're kept under such strict guard."
There were 20 bags in
total. A grand total of 200 million Grill. That's equivalent to 2 billion yen.
With that much, I could probably live a life of leisure.
Of course, I wouldn't
touch it. I want money, but if I touched this, I'd be no different from a
bandit.
But I want magic
items. My hand almost reached out, but I pulled it back.
I didn't earn this
money through my own sweat and toil, and eliminating Shardina and her gang is
for my peace of mind.
What's here was stolen
by the Shardina Bandit Gang from someone else. Making it mine would be the same
act as a bandit.
If I want something,
I'll work honestly and buy it with my own money. I won't steal from bandits.
That's my pride.
Besides, in this
world, there are record cards. If you steal someone's belongings, you get a
criminal record. If you're unlucky, your job might even become Bandit. With
such risks, touching this money or these magic items is dangerous.
I thought about going
to another room, but something unnatural caught my eye.
"Documents,
huh."
I picked up the
documents and checked their contents. It was a list of the bandit gang's
members. With this, it would be clear who was a bandit at a glance.
"Oh, this
is..."
Moreover, it even had
the names of cooperating officials, merchants, and nobles. I'll take this.
This is criminal
evidence. Killing bandits is not a crime. Similarly, carrying out evidence is
not a crime. Detailed Appraisal told me this.
However, things that
aren't evidence are not allowed. They would be recorded in my criminal history,
so I need to be careful. Even if they belong to bandits.
However, there are
also loopholes that aren't crimes. That is to collect this money and these
magic items and submit them to the proper authorities. That action would have
no benefit for me. I don't want to attract the attention of the Duke's family.
So, I'll only take the
evidence.
That aside, this
ledger also contained information about other hideouts. Is it okay to make
something like this? Perhaps it's saying that if officials raided here, they'd
all be implicated. So they would try their best to protect this information.
That would lead to protecting this mansion.
It's cunning, but to
lead such a large bandit gang, that level of thoroughness must be necessary.
I searched other
rooms, gathering information about the bandit gang. Aside from the ledger,
there wasn't much good information, but I found a safe. A large safe, about my
height. I don't have the skill to open a safe, so I don't know what's inside.
I'll stop here for
today. Tomorrow, I'll give the ledger to the Duke. I don't know if the Duke
will act, but I have a feeling he will.
The problem is how
quickly the Duke will act. If he takes too long, Shardina will notice the
ledger is missing. At that point, Shardina should escape.
If that happens, I'll
have to figure out another way. A way that doesn't rely on the Duke.
The rental house
wasn't ready yet, so I returned to the inn to relax.
"Welcome home,
Master."
"Welcome back,
Master."
Despite it being late at
night, Anneliese and Rosalina were awake, waiting for me.
Seeing their faces
made me feel relieved, and my strength seemed to drain away.
Today was busy, going
from the dungeon to the government office, the Duke's castle, and the bandit
hideout.
I sweated a lot, so I
had Anneliese wipe me down. It was late at night, so I couldn't ask for hot
water. It was cold.
I had Rosalina turn
her face away.
Before, Anneliese was
an old woman, so I wiped her body and she wiped me in return. There was nothing
shameful about it.
Now, it's a lingering
habit from that time... and my desires are also involved, but I'm trying hard
to endure.
Rosalina wasn't
looking, but she was right nearby. Wiping Anneliese's body in such a situation.
The sense of immorality was immense.
Should I get two
rooms? No, we'll be moving to the rental house soon anyway, so I'll just have
to bear it for now.
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