Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (2)
Thwack!
“Ow… What was that for?”
“Seriously! How could you glare at a child with such a scary look? You know full well how intimidating your eyes can be, Team Leader.”
“Hah… Suddenly resorting to personal attacks? That’s a bit much. And when exactly did I glare at her? Do you think I’d choose to live with a face like this if I had a choice?”
She lightly smacked the top of his head with a stack of documents from the table. Of course, with his high defense stats, he felt nothing physically, but that didn’t mean it didn’t sting his pride. Still, the man didn’t get angry at his subordinate’s action. It wasn’t because he was particularly kind. He had known the woman in front of him for quite some time, so he tended to let most things slide. Anyone else pulling that stunt wouldn’t have gotten off so easily.
The man shot her a resentful glare before rising from his seat. Thinking it over, she had a point. Even he had to admit his face wasn’t exactly the kind that put children at ease. On top of that, the girl had likely witnessed countless deaths throughout the day and spent hours alone inside a dungeon that even seasoned hunters feared. It would have been stranger if she weren’t on high alert.
Honestly, after rescuing her, he had expected her to be mentally broken for a while. She looked so young, and the trauma she’d endured would have shattered most adults. Yet his assumption had been completely wrong. The girl had maintained her composure ever since escaping the dungeon. Whether it was due to heightened wariness or her naturally shy nature, she spoke very little, but a single glance into her eyes was enough to confirm it.
The moment he noticed, he had been dying to ask her a hundred questions, but he held back. He figured it would be better to give her time to settle first, at least on the surface. ‘Besides, if I pushed too hard… I’d just get another earful of nagging.’
He glanced sideways at the woman standing next to him. Her face, which had been completely focused on the child and ignoring him entirely, was the complete opposite of what it had been moments ago. The frosty chill had melted away, replaced by a warm, almost dripping expression. Her lips were curved so high they looked ready to touch her eyes. He had always known she liked children, but this time it was especially intense. She was probably exhausted from being buried in work lately.
“Anyway… yeah, good work on the investigation. We’ve finished recovering the bodies and the internal probe, so all that’s left is a full dungeon clear. It’s getting late, so let’s handle that first thing tomorrow morning. After that, we can take the kid back to headquarters for a proper, unhurried questioning.”
The man slowly stood and spoke to her. He was in a hurry for a reason. Dungeons had a nasty habit of triggering a “break” if left alone too long after forming. Normally, monsters couldn’t escape the gate. But once a dungeon break occurred, the boundary would naturally vanish, allowing monsters to spill out.
That was exactly why the “Great Calamity” had caused such catastrophic damage. Humanity, completely ignorant about dungeons at the time, had left them unchecked for too long, and the price had been paid in countless lives. For a B-rank dungeon, the time until a break was at least a week. They still had some time, but it was always better to deal with these things quickly.
The woman nodded in agreement and casually sidled closer to him. He raised an eyebrow at her sudden proximity, but before he could say anything, she spoke in a low voice.
“…So, what are you planning to do with the mana stones inside? You’re not just going to leave them there, are you?”
She kept her voice down so it wouldn’t carry. Indeed, leaving the mana stones slumbering inside was a tricky situation. After a moment of thought, he scratched his head with a small sigh and gave his answer.
“Round up anyone who can still work decently by tomorrow. We’ll mine in the morning and enter in the afternoon.”
“Then what happens to the ownership of those mana stones?”
“…According to the rules, all byproducts obtained inside a dungeon belong to the party leader who purchased the clearing rights. If that leader dies in an accident, the rights pass to the remaining party members. But in this case, every single party member is dead, so… naturally, the sole survivor—the girl—will inherit ownership.”
He spoke while recalling the basic rules of dungeon clearing. Of course, just because the rules said so didn’t mean he was obligated to grant her the mana stones. Legally speaking, the girl wasn’t even listed on the party roster, so there was a clear loophole. But the man had no intention of using such a cheap trick to claim the stones for himself. He wasn’t particularly interested in wealth to begin with, and more importantly, the girl’s circumstances weighed on him.
A young girl not even registered on the party list. There was no way they would have hired her as a porter. That left only one possibility: her parents had sold her to a dungeon-clearing party for a hefty sum. It was something that could never be ethically or morally justified, but the world was so broken that such incidents happened from time to time.
Monsters inside dungeons fundamentally saw humans as nothing more than prey. Age made little difference. Though not commonly reported, he had heard that some low-level parties used children as bait to reduce casualties during hunts. He didn’t know the exact details, but given the circumstances, the girl had most likely entered the dungeon through that route. In other words, while further investigation was needed, the chances of her family being normal were extremely low.
So, for the child who had miraculously survived the tragedy, he wanted to offer at least a small act of atonement. What sin could children who had merely been born into this world possibly have committed? The fault lay with adults like him who had created this wretched society. Even if he wasn’t the one who committed the atrocity, as a member of that society, he felt a sense of responsibility.
Of course, his guess was far from the hidden truth, but he would never know that.
“If there’s nothing else to report, let’s wrap it up here. I and a few others will stay the night, so you should head home.”
“Huh? Why go through all that trouble…”
The woman stared at him with a puzzled expression. Instead of answering right away, he suddenly turned his gaze elsewhere. In the distance, paramedics were finishing up and leaving one by one. He glanced in their direction, covered his eyes and mouth with his hand, then raised his index finger to his lips in a shushing gesture.
Any third party would have had no idea what it meant. But after working together for so long, she could roughly guess his intention from that alone.
“Ah… Yeah, that does seem necessary. The ‘hyenas’ wouldn’t leave a feast like this untouched, after all. Then the real problem is where the girl will stay tonight.”
“Can’t you just take her for today? I heard you live alone, so it should be fine, right?”
“I’d love to, really… but after everything she’s been through, do you think she’d willingly follow a complete stranger home?”
At the man’s suggestion, the woman lowered her voice while glancing at the girl. Objectively speaking, she was right. He frowned and scratched his head before letting out a small sigh.
“…Try convincing her. If it really doesn’t work, we’ll have to use one of the temporary shelters. It’s a bit worrying, but we don’t have much choice.”
With that, he stood up. Leaving her behind, he stepped out of the temporary headquarters and walked through the gradually weakening rain toward the gate at the center of the empty lot. There was an eerie atmosphere and a strangely heavy air around it. It felt like the calm before a storm.
-----
“Then I’ll be heading out now… You absolutely must not leave this place. Got it? There are plenty of strong uncles nearby, so you don’t have to be too scared!”
After hesitating for a long time at the tent entrance, the woman finally said her goodbyes. Even after confirming my nod, she squeezed her eyes shut with an anxious expression before finally stepping completely outside.
Only then, finally free, did I let out a deep sigh as the tension drained from me. It had been no joke—I really thought I was going to die. Trying to act like a little girl at my age, something I’d never done in my life, was already hard enough to keep my sanity intact. On top of that, my completely different, higher-pitched voice felt so awkward that I startled myself sometimes.
Someone once said that a person’s unique way of speaking doesn’t change easily. They were absolutely right. Whenever my speech slipped and didn’t match my appearance, my heart would race so fast I thought I might faint. Since I’d never been good at acting to begin with, the pressure was doubled. Maybe that was why I’d spoken so little and couldn’t hold a normal conversation.
The one saving grace was that they seemed to chalk it up to severe shyness or the trauma of the event. Without those factors, I would’ve definitely looked suspicious.
Gradually calming down, I looked around. The tent wasn’t very large, but it was cozy and fully equipped with everything needed for daily life. Even a quick glance showed how much care had been put into it. Given my appearance, they’d installed lights meticulously so I wouldn’t be scared alone, making the inside bright even at night.
I slowly walked over and threw my exhausted body onto the simple cot. Contrary to my expectations, the bed was incredibly soft and fluffy. It wasn’t because the cot itself was high quality. More likely, it was due to the change in my body. My new form was noticeably smaller and lighter than before. In a way, it made sense—this body belonged to a young girl.
“……”
After lying still for a while, I suddenly raised one arm. A small, adorable hand came into view—soft to the touch, as if it had never done a single day of hard work, with snow-white skin. But that wasn’t what caught my attention.
It was a near-perfect human body with a clear shape and no transparency. The slime-like body I’d seen when I first transformed was nowhere to be found. Except for my hair having turned ash-gray, my current appearance was nothing more or less than that of an ordinary girl.
[Hehe, looking at that face, it seems you’ve finally noticed that this body is better than the last. That woman earlier was practically dripping honey from her eyes when she looked at you, you know.]
A voice came from beside me. I turned my head slightly to see “him” sitting there. The entrance was still quiet, and I hadn’t sensed any presence at all. The elusive abilities of this being were still a complete mystery to me.
“…Cut the crap. Do you even know how much trouble I went through because of your ridiculous demands? I seriously thought I was going to lose it.”
I spoke to him in a low voice. But even though I tried to sound as threatening as possible, he only smiled. Thinking about it, my threat coming from this changed voice probably just sounded cute, so of course it had no effect. Suddenly feeling pathetic about my situation, I let out a deep, exasperated sigh and began recalling what had happened a few hours ago.