Chapter 71: Company retreat, part 2
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Translator: Denryuu; Editor: Ryunakama
With tears and snot running down his face, the man told me everything.
「I was simply told to entice gullible women and make them take that drug thing, whatever it’s called.」
He gently nursed his pinky while sobbing. By the way, knowing that humans tend to be easily misled, I had only pretended to break it to get my message across. Despite the jarring sound and excruciating pain, his pinky was perfectly fine.
According to the man, he had roped in women — more or less against their will — and made them work at the brothel. In fact, some women were straight up purchased from slave merchants. Most of the others were good-looking ones plucked from the street.
He had already treated Milia more nicely than many others.
What Dee had told me was that this man made his prostitutes sell the drug named ‘Second’ to their customers.
「…Is this true?」
Yes, the man said while nodding.
「T-There are others doing the same. Three of them. Just like me, they receive the goods from the master and hand them over to those girls.」
I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck without warning.
「W-Wha –」
Annoyed by his guiltless expression, I told him about what the drug had done to a certain region of the Heavenly Kingdom of Reubens.
「The drug you pass to the girls is like a slow-acting poison that degrades the user both physically and mentally. In exchange for a brief period of ecstasy, they begin to lose their self-awareness through repeated use and eventually end up not even knowing who they are anymore. The victims who take it without the knowledge of what it does to them will only continue to increase. They will no longer lead ‘normal’ lives. Perhaps one day your acquaintances, your spouse and your family will be reduced to shells of their former selves, unable to live without ‘Second’, for that is all they have left in their lives.」
The man mumbled a few words in response.
「It works… like that…? B-But the master… he said that the profits would make the streets a better place…」
Maybe he’s even more gullible than those girls he’d tricked. He clearly doesn’t even know where the money goes — there’s just no way any rational person would sell such a harmful drug while blindly believing that the revenue would ‘make the streets a better place’.
「Is this person who you call ‘the master’ your superior? Where is he?」
「H-He shows up at the crib once in a while, but I don’t really know who he is. His hair is red… and his eyes are sharp.」
「Thank goodness you actually know something about him. Tell me everything you know.」
Making him get on his feet, we walked over to the brothel.
Born and raised in this town, the lowly racketeer had only gotten to know the master recently. He had apparently also been drawn in by the allure of ‘easy money’.
「We see him about twice a week, and that’s when he brings the goods. No fuckin’ idea where he gets them from. But there’s a whole bunch of warehouses in Côte de Carre without proper owners, so you can probably find his stash in one of them.」
He was now fully willing to talk. He might really have believed that he was working for a good cause. Now that this idyllic worldview had been shattered, he decided to cooperate with me. Or maybe I just intimidated him enough, who knows.
「And those drugs are made by ‘the master’ personally?」
「Beats me.」
Within the limits of his knowledge, the brothel simply served as a distribution centre. Just like any other brothel, the existence of many private rooms is central to the nature of the services being provided.
A perfect place to sneak in a little extra something, I thought.
Not only was this brothel right in the middle of the red-light district, but the girls were also of a different ‘level’ compared to the others. Some appeared submissive and the others, on the contrary, appeared full of life.
「…You offer good prices, don’t you?」
「Ah, yeah… cheap and good, best in the hood. That’s how we do business.」
The prices were perfect for tourists who didn’t mind spending a little more while on vacation.
「Our girls say that it feels real good to do it after taking that drug… so they love it as much as our customers do.」
As the man guided me to the back of the brothel, I noticed a vein of leftover magic glimmering in the shadows.
「What’s this…?」
On closer inspection, I realised that it was a ‘Gate’.
The red hair mentioned by the man is a defining trait of a demon. Setting first-order to be the pinnacle of complexity, ‘Gate’ is a fifth-order spell.
I remembered Rodje saying that she was unable to learn the fourth-order ‘Shadow’. Thus, I postulated that ‘the master’ was of equal standing in the nobility as her, or perhaps higher.
「I don’t think the master is in today…」
「It’s fine. I’ve learnt enough. Look — if you really want to make this town a better place, then destroy your entire stash of drugs. Deal?」
「You’re kidding…!」
Confirming that the man had left through the back door, I went to verify that what I saw was actually a ‘Gate’. As expected, I detected a connection to the other side.
「Well, I wonder where we’re going today?」
Not wanting to lose my only lead on ‘the master’, I blinked to the other side of the ‘Gate’ and landed on top of a knoll. I found myself outside a mansion with my way barred by a large gate. Turning around, I saw a gradually descending slope that led back to the town I was in a moment ago.
Seeing that I had popped out of nowhere, the guards brandished their spears at me.
「Halt! Who goes there?」
「This is Baron Marti Kuusela’s private mansion! You have no business being here!」
A baron…
Exactly the kind of person who can trick others with the notion of making the city a better place.
「Could a baron be behind all this?」
As I approached the gate, the guards thrust their spears at me without holding back. I grabbed both spears and threw them over to the other side of the gate.
「Huh!?」
「Hey!」
Taking advantage of their confusion, I quickly scaled the gate.
Looking closer at the mansion, I made a rough guess of where the baron was. I knew from experience that owners of mansions tend to choose top-floor rooms in order to have a good view of the surroundings.
「…Around there?」
Sprinting towards the garden, I did a triple jump. Using an entrance-like area on the second floor for leverage, I landed cleanly inside the mansion. The guards were so stunned that they forgot their role for a moment.
「Huh…? Did he just…」
「He reached the second floor in an instant…!?」
It’s not that hard, honestly. You just have to recognise your own abilities.
Various possible routes ran through my head one after another until I decided on one of them. After testing the sturdiness of the rain gutter, I used it to scramble to the top. I reached the veranda of my target room, from which I saw a middle-aged man behind the glass windows.
「…!?」
Struck speechless when our eyes met, his cigar fell out of his mouth. Once I stood still on the veranda, he panicked and called for help.
「W-Who on earth are you!? T-This is the third floor!」
「A suspicious person.」
「Don’t mess with me! Someone, anyone, come quickly!」
I was that someone. Shattering the glass with a kick, I entered his room.
「Nuoooooh!? Who are you!? Do I, Marti Kuusela, have any beef with you!?」
「I don’t care who you are. I am a public safety officer from the Kingdom of Ferland on a special assignment.」
「What even is that…? I’ve never heard of it!」
Me neither.
「It’s not an organisation they would tell you about. You can think of me as a member of King Randolph’s secret service.」
「The secret service…!? Under King Randolph himself…!?」
No such thing exists, of course.
「We began investigations after hearing that a strange drug had recently become popular in this area. Similar rumours have surfaced in the Heavenly Kingdom of Reubens. We are working closely with his Majesty on this matter.」
「Okay, hold up just a minute! I’m a baron and I own this area. It’s nobody’s business what I do on my own land!」
「The area you govern does not belong to you, and neither do the citizens. Instead, they all belong to the state. Aristocrats like you are simply installed to govern their respective areas on behalf of the king. Listen… you won’t get off lightly for poisoning the region with ‘Second’.」
「Gununununu…!」
Turning as red as a tomato, Kuusela gnashed his teeth and went on the offensive.
「My citizens are nothing more than mere pawns to me! I am the law. I am the King –!」
He drew a sword he had hanging on the wall.
「So you truly believe that your citizens only exist to fatten you up? As expected of a pig like you.」
Releasing an incomprehensible barrage of profanity which sounded like a war cry, Lord Kuusela swung his blade at me.
I parried his swing with the tip of my nose.
My turn. Just before his backswing started, I sunk my fist into his extremely punchable face.
「Fu-goahh!?」
The baron was thrown into the air. Landing on the ground, he rolled backwards again and again until he finally collided with the wall.
「It will do you good to become a citizen yourself. You’ll learn what it’s like to lead a ‘normal’ life, and just how precious it is.」
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