Chapter 68
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Idiot, Snail, Rin
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"I'm home!"
The evening hour when the sun was slowly beginning to set.
Mika, who had gone out, returned home with a triumphant look on her face.
Mika's face was always downcast when she came back from her "search for magic books."
Seeing Mika return with an unusually bright expression, everyone wore puzzled looks.
"What? Did you buy a magic book or something?"
"Hee hee..."
When Rin asked casually, Mika grinned mischievously.
...No way, did she actually find one?
Seeing Mika's face, Rin thought she must have accomplished something big and shot up from her seat.
Lia, who knew nothing of romance, threw in a sullen remark.
"Magic books aren't sold at the market. They just disappear from magic shops."
"That's what makes something hidden in a place like that truly valuable!"
Either way, her confident demeanor suggested she had indeed acquired something.
Everyone thought the same and gathered around to see what Mika had brought back.
"What'd you buy, Mika?"
"Captain. Don't be too shocked."
When Ian asked Mika, she carefully pulled out a worn old book she had been keeping inside her robe.
A tattered cover with traces of gold leaf embellishments that had peeled off.
It looked like a high-class tome from its better days—an ancient book.
"Oh..."
"You bought this?"
"What kind of magic book is it?"
The item Mika had pulled out so dramatically seemed like it could be some impressive magic book.
As everyone showed interest, Mika spoke confidently.
"I'll have to check the contents in detail, but it seems related to fire magic..."
Mika began explaining the book she had just bought, her face beaming with pride.
But rather than a complicated explanation, there was a quick and simple way to gauge its value.
Ian stared intently at the magic book.
[Book]
- Other Item
- No Effect
Ian, reading the magic book's description, spoke up with a puzzled expression.
"...Huh?"
"What's wrong?"
"Mika. This doesn't seem to be a magic book."
"What?"
Everyone, including Mika, turned their gaze back to the magic book.
Not long after, Mika belatedly realized that the book was just a fake magic book full of plausible nonsense.
The merchant had naturally avoided showing the contents in detail, but since the previous seller of the barrier magic book had done the same, she hadn't suspected much.
Thud.
In an atmosphere like the sky was collapsing, Mika flopped onto the sofa.
"I'm an idiot..."
"I-It'll be okay, Mika. Easy mistake to make."
"Yeah. It looks convincing on the outside."
Everyone gathered around Mika, who was mumbling while buried in the lounge sofa, offering words of comfort.
They all seemed to think she was just disheartened because the magic book was fake.
As Mika showed no signs of recovering, Tanya, who had a hunch, asked,
"How much did you buy it for?"
"......"
Mika flinched at Tanya's question, glanced around, and answered in a small voice.
"...Five gold coins."
"Gasp...!"
"I'm an idiot... A snail..."
Only then did everyone understand why Mika was so despondent.
It wasn't just that the magic book was fake—she had been scammed.
Rin shot up and shouted at Mika.
"Which shop? Let's go confront them!"
"It was just a street stall in the back alley..."
A street stall?
Hearing Mika's answer, everyone's expressions turned strange.
"...You didn't buy it from an illegal street vendor, did you?"
"I'm an idiot... A snail... Rin..."
"......"
Mika hugged a blanket and curled up into a ball on the sofa.
"Hold on. Why's my name in there too?"
"Eek, augh!"
Rin grabbed Mika's cheeks, who was hiding under the blanket, and yanked them out.
Mika flailed like a hooked fish as she was dragged out.
While the two played around, Ian opened the magic book Mika had brought.
For starters, the item description confirmed it wasn't a magic book, and the contents were full of spells Ian had never heard of.
It was blatantly a fake magic book, deliberately made to look convincing.
Ian turned to Mika and asked.
Mika, barely freed from Rin's grasp, rubbed her sore cheeks and replied.
"You thought it was that same merchant from before?"
"Yes... He wore a robe, sold weird stuff at high prices, and his attitude was suspiciously shady..."
"......"
Asking why she'd buy from someone so suspicious was pointless—the traits matched too perfectly.
They were just common features shared among scammers.
Mika let out a small sigh.
There was no one to blame but herself.
She couldn't even appraise items properly, yet she tried to imitate Ian and fell for an obvious scam—no one else to fault.
Unable to watch Mika's sullen state any longer, Ann jumped up from her seat.
"Instead of moping, let's go find that scammer!"
"How?"
"We scour the market..."
"He was wearing a robe—who would we even recognize?"
"......"
Ann eventually sat back down quietly.
If they could just go out and catch him, they would have, but the problem was they had no idea who the merchant who sold Mika the book was.
To make matters worse, he was an illegal street vendor wearing a robe, so no detailed description.
And having pulled off a scam, he'd surely fled and gone into hiding for a while.
This incident could only be chalked up to Mika's carelessness.
As everyone sighed quietly where Mika couldn't hear, Ian spoke up.
"No... We might actually be able to catch him."
"What? How?"
Everyone whipped their heads toward Ian.
Mika, who had balled up again on the sofa, also perked up her head.
Ian flinched. He had no certainty; he'd just mentioned it offhand.
But their eyes were sparkling too much to brush it off as a casual remark.
"You have a way to track him down?"
"As expected..."
"Mika! Get up! We can catch him!"
By now, it was too late for Ian to backtrack—Mika had already perked up and stood.
"Uh... No, it's not certain."
"Come on, you always say that and it works out."
"......"
Talking about it not being a sure method was impossible now.
Ian had no way to identify the robed scammer or trace his footsteps.
He had simply recalled a special event about locating and capturing a scammer's hideout in the city.
Whether that quest's scammer was the same one Mika met was unknown.
"Alright! Let's go catch him right now!"
"We'll come too!"
But hearing Ian, everyone shouted enthusiastically, eyes gleaming.
Thanks to that, Mika had fully recovered her spirits and was brimming with determination to catch the scammer.
"......"
Well, it was the same kind of scammer anyway. Probably similar enough?
If they took the money Mika lost from the scammer, it amounted to the same thing in the end.
Ian just nodded silently without a word.
The next day, the entire Ian Mercenary Corps set out from their base together.
Following Ian's lead, all the mercenaries had donned robes that deeply shrouded their faces.
They were for the plan to locate the scammer's hideout and ambush it—something overenthusiastic Rin had procured from somewhere.
"......"
Ian glanced at the nearby mercenaries.
The group in robes looked suspicious no matter who saw them.
At least in Labyrinth, there were so many like this that the guards didn't bother stopping every one—small mercy.
"Alright, let's split up. Signal if you spot anything."
"Got it."
After arriving at the prearranged meeting spot, Ian and the group dispersed toward their assigned positions.
Positions from which they could monitor the alley containing the scammer's hideout.
"We're... this way, right?"
Tanya, teamed with Ian, cautiously scanned the surroundings and muttered.
Peeking out from behind a wall, she glanced down the alley that was their surveillance spot.
In Labyrinth, where land prices were exorbitantly high, places where scammers or petty thieves could set up something as grandiose as a hideout were extremely limited.
This target's spot was one of them.
A small underground hideout secretly made in the basement of an abandoned building.
They only knew the district; Ian didn't know the exact entrance, so they had to catch someone entering to confirm.
The mercenaries in position nodded subtly to each other from afar.
"Will we really catch him like this?"
"Honestly, I don't know..."
They had reached the hideout's location, but whether the scammer would conveniently show up was uncertain.
It was a plan entirely reliant on luck, but at least it had cheered up the downcast Mika—not entirely pointless.
Tanya scanned the surrounding streets with a fairly tense expression.
Doing so in a robe made her look quite suspicious, but in Labyrinth, you ran into characters this shady three times a day on average.
Passersby and merchants would just assume she was a newbie adventurer still adjusting.
"...?"
In one direction, Ian spotted someone waving at him.
It was Ann's group, in charge of that sector.
Ann, waving at Ian and Tanya, gestured wildly with various hand signals.
Watching quietly, Ian tilted his head.
"...What signal is that?"
Hearing Ian's mutter, Tanya beside him flushed bright red.
"Ah... That's, um, the signals we used back in the village among friends."
"...Looks like I need to teach proper hand signals later."
"I-I'll teach you later."
Tanya clutched her head watching Ann use homemade village friend signals instead of official mercenary ones.
"So, what is she saying?"
"A suspicious guy in a robe went that way... Oh."
As Ian and Tanya turned, they saw a robed suspicious figure glancing around as he passed into the alley.