Under the City (1)
"You're heading out sooner than I expected. I thought it would take you some time to get ready."
"Well, we've got a pretty big bone to pick here."
Before leaving Junk Town, Yohan and Falco visited the sheriff's office once more.
"Well, do as you please. Just recover the goods they stole, or if that's not possible, bring them back here."
"What if we just bring back their corpses?"
Yohan double-checked the terms of the request one last time. He wanted to know if they could simply eliminate the bastards and bring back their bodies as proof, or if they absolutely had to capture them alive.
"I wouldn't recommend that. The townsfolk won't be satisfied with just that."
The easiest way, of course, would be to kill them and bring back their roughly embalmed corpses. Unfortunately, Wilhelm shook his head at the idea.
"Fair enough."
The residents of Junk Town wanted their stolen belongings back, or they wanted the grave robbers dragged back alive. Simply killing them and bringing back their heads wouldn't be enough to appease the angry mob.
In fact, having their stolen goods or an equivalent amount of cash stripped away would be a mercy for those thieves. If they were captured alive and dragged back to this town...
"Honestly, you're hoping we drag at least a few of them back in one piece, aren't you?"
Yohan asked as the realization dawned on him. Wilhelm nodded with a satisfied look on his face.
"Indeed. And doing so will be better for the two of you as well."
"True."
Since he couldn't openly reveal the Goddess's existence, Yohan hadn't told Wilhelm that they had been stabbed in the back. He had slightly altered the story, claiming they had fallen into a deep pit but somehow managed to crawl out on their own, swearing revenge.
Of course, he hadn't technically lied. He had merely omitted a few details of the truth.
"Then let me ask one last thing."
"Go ahead. What is it?"
"Old man. What if we just take off and never come back?"
He hadn't brought it up until now, but in a way, it was the most crucial question. Even if they claimed innocence, they had no physical proof. Wilhelm had only suspended his suspicion of Yohan and Falco in exchange for them solving the town's annoying problem.
"Well, you don't need to worry about that."
"Oh, so you actually trust us?"
Yohan spoke in a light, joking tone.
"Because if I find out you've abandoned the job, I'll just track you down and beat you to a pulp myself. Whether it's those grave robbers or you two."
But at Wilhelm's follow-up answer, Yohan's easygoing expression instantly stiffened.
"Anyway, where are you headed first?"
"W-well, isn't it obvious?"
"Balifield, then."
At Wilhelm's question, Yohan nodded in agreement.
Balifield. It was the nearest city governed by a lord, and the most likely destination for the bastards who had made off with the townsfolk's belongings.
On this continent, there were countless regions that belonged to a specific nation only on paper, with absolutely no actual administrative oversight. Balifield was a gray zone—a place with a proper administrative system, yet situated right on the edge of the wilderness.
The grave-robbing syndicate Yohan and Falco had belonged to was also a subordinate branch of a criminal organization based in Balifield.
"This buys us at least a month," Falco said to Yohan right after they stepped out of the office.
Yohan gave a light nod.
In truth, a month was a conservative estimate. Wilhelm hadn't actually set a strict deadline in the first place.
—So, do you intend to leave Junk Town forever like this?
The Goddess's voice echoed in his mind. This time, Yohan shook his head.
"No, that's not the plan."
—Good. I, too, do not look kindly upon accepting a task only to run away from it.
She talks as if I'm some kind of professional con man who only knows how to backstab people. Yohan, who prided himself on being a relatively decent guy, felt a sudden urge to give the Goddess a good flick on the forehead.
To an outsider, Yohan talking to the Goddess would easily look like a crazy person muttering to himself. Fortunately, in a place like Junk Town, talking to an imaginary friend wasn't the kind of thing that drew much attention.
"Alright, let's get moving."
"I think we should buy a carriage while we're at it."
"I was already planning on it."
Since the terms of the request involved recovering stolen goods or capturing the grave robbers alive, they needed a carriage to transport cargo and prisoners.
"Hehehe..."
Yes, a carriage ride is a staple of any fantasy journey. Yohan let out a sly chuckle at the thought. Falco tilted her head, not understanding his amusement, but she didn't pry further.
"Crazy bastard."
A passing resident merely spat on the ground with a look of disgust and muttered under his breath.
Yohan headed straight for the market, the most bustling area in Junk Town.
—Oh! They truly buy and sell all manner of things here.
"Most of it is stolen goods."
Yohan replied with a smirk as the Goddess marveled. Just as he said, most of the items circulating in the Junk Town market were stolen goods or looted from the dead.
That was also why Wilhelm hadn't expected much when he asked Yohan to bring back the runaway grave robbers. The residents of Junk Town were by no means innocent, law-abiding citizens. Even the items stolen by the grave robbers had likely been stolen or plundered from someone else in the past. In other words, none of the townsfolk had clean hands.
—Does it take long to reach this place called Balifield?
"It's quite a distance."
—From the name alone, it sounds like a peaceful, leisurely farming village.
"They say it actually used to be one, a long time ago."
The Goddess peppered Yohan with questions all the way to the market. To her, even Junk Town was an eye-opening place, so hearing that they were going to a much larger, proper city clearly filled her with anticipation.
—In any case, if the journey to Balifield is so long, it seems only right that we employ my power once more.
"No, we're fine this time."
—And why is that?
"Honestly, your power is still running pretty low. Teleporting two people, a carriage, and horses all at once would be pushing it, wouldn't it?"
—W-well, that is...
The Goddess trailed off, her silence proving Yohan had hit the nail on the head. Perhaps because he was gradually growing accustomed to her divine authority, Yohan could now faintly sense the remaining amount of power available to him.
To use a hunger metaphor, the Goddess's current state was like a starving beggar who had just eaten half a bowl of plain rice porridge. The immediate crisis had been averted, but she still needed to find more sustenance to avoid fading away. Yes, they needed to find sacred relics, gather believers...
"And besides, I kind of want to enjoy a leisurely carriage ride for once. Don't you?"
Yohan said, turning his head slightly to look at Falco. Falco gave a gentle nod in response.
"More importantly, if we pull off a large-scale teleportation right in the middle of a crowded city, we might catch the attention of those guys."
—Those guys? Of whom do you speak?
"The Heresy Inquisitors of the Holy Kingdom."
—To think they would deem divine authority as witchcraft... How utterly deplorable.
The Goddess spoke in a voice filled with genuine sorrow. But it couldn't be helped. The consequences of being spotted teleporting near Junk Town were entirely different from being caught doing so in Balifield.
"We're here."
As they conversed, they soon arrived at their destination.
—I-is this...
"Yeah. It's a market that sells everything under the sun."
—Rather than a market... it looks more like a mountain of trash.
In truth, the Goddess's assessment was closer to reality. Yohan couldn't bring himself to deny it. After all, this was the 'Junk' Town market, where people brought and sold all kinds of scrap.
—Very well. Let us search for what we need. Is there a shop nearby that sells horses or carriages?
Yohan didn't answer the Goddess this time.
"Ahem."
Instead, standing right in the middle of the market, he cleared his throat and squared his shoulders.
"CARRIAGE! A BIG ONE! HOW MUCH!"
He bellowed at the top of his lungs.
—Eek! You startled me!
The Goddess, startled by his sudden shout, scolded him, but Yohan didn't care in the slightest. He simply grinned from ear to ear.
"I've got one for sale here!"
"I have a bigger one than that guy!"
It didn't take long to get a bite. Voices began calling out from various corners of the scrap heaps, answering Yohan's shout.
At the moment, while Yohan was severely lacking in the Goddess's divine power, he wasn't short on cash. In fact, it was safe to say he was practically swimming in money. He had swept up every last bit of gold and valuables left behind when they raided the grave robbers' hideout.
"You're really going to track down those bastards and bring them back to town?"
"Yeah. What, have you been lied to your whole life? If you don't believe me, go ask the sheriff."
As it turned out, quite a few residents had been burned by the grave robbers' final heist. The merchant selling used carriages was one of them.
"Alright. I was wondering what to do since the sheriff's reaction was so lukewarm, but I see you've worked out a deal."
"That's how it is. So give me the sturdiest, biggest carriage you've got."
"What are you going to do with just a carriage? To drag those sons of... I mean, those thieves back here, you'll need to bind their limbs tight, won't you?"
The merchant said, pulling out a heavy bundle of chains and tossing them in front of Yohan.
"Wait, hold on. This is..."
"How about it? Impressive, right?"
Yohan couldn't hide his shock once he realized what the chains were. Meanwhile, the merchant wore a triumphant grin.
This wasn't some shoddy, makeshift chain hammered together from impure, low-grade iron. It was a heavy-duty steel chain manufactured in the Empire—the superpower that shared dominance of the continent alongside the Holy Kingdom. In other words, this was... military-grade equipment.
If bound by these chains, even Wilhelm, whose brain was practically made of muscle, wouldn't easily break free. At this point, Yohan was starting to feel a strange sort of dread toward the grave robbers who had managed to rob the Junk Town residents—people who possessed such absurd items.
Yohan shook his head.
"Fine. Let's do this right. Give me the chains too. And... I'll need horses. At least four of them."
"Of course, of course."
Yohan purchased the largest and sturdiest carriage available, along with all the extra supplies they needed. Aside from the carriage's exterior being unusually flashy and ostentatious, it was in excellent condition. It looked like it had been custom-built for a filthy rich noble's travels... though there was no telling how such an item had ended up in a place like this.
By the time they finished loading up all their purchases, a crowd of Junk Town residents had gathered around, looking for Yohan.
"He's the one going to hunt down those thieves."
"But wasn't that bastard Yohan a grave robber too? Can we really trust him?"
"The sheriff vouched for him. Besides, he just bought a ton of our stuff, so what do we have to lose?"
A few of the voices in the murmuring crowd grated on his nerves, but Yohan ignored them, climbing up onto the driver's seat.
—They are merely sending you off to catch some thieves, yet the atmosphere makes it seem as though they are bidding farewell to a hero embarking on a quest to slay the Demon King.
The Goddess spoke in a sarcastic tone. However, Yohan could instinctively tell that she was secretly enjoying the moment.
Just as she said, this task was merely about capturing some thieves who had made off with a big haul. But considering that the one executing this task was Yohan, the Apostle of the Goddess, and that the virtue she championed was justice, the actual weight of their journey was far greater.
The carriage carrying Yohan and Falco immediately rolled out of Junk Town.
"Whew! That was chaotic."
"The townsfolk were staring at us like we were some kind of traveling circus," Falco remarked, sitting right next to him.
She chimed in response to Yohan's muttering.
"You don't have to sit up here with me. Wouldn't it be better to rest inside?"
"I'm fine. Besides, just in case, it's better to have two pairs of eyes watching the road."
"True enough." Yohan agreed with Falco's reasoning.
They continued along the unpaved dirt road for some time.
"Wow, seriously. They just can't leave us alone for even a second."
Just as Junk Town was about to fade from view, a sudden gust of wind whipped up a cloud of dust from the side, accompanied by a faint noise.
—What is that? It does not appear to be a natural dust storm.
"Bandits. A flashy carriage rolling through the middle of nowhere is practically begging to be targeted, don't you think?"
—Hmm. So in their eyes, we look like easy marks ripe for the plundering.
"Pretty much."
Of course, they were anything but easy marks. Yohan watched the approaching dust cloud and let out a broad grin.