Chapter 42
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 042
Chapter Title: Night Has Fallen. The Mafia... #2
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“Instructor! Platoon Leader Yor reporting. I have business with you!”
I headed to the instructor's private office.
Because I had something to say.
One-two, one-two-.
The instructor, who had been bending her arm with a single finger, asked me without stopping her exercise.
“What's your business?”
“Well...”
I looked around.
And after confirming no one was there, I spoke quietly but clearly.
“It seems like one of my fellow recruits is colluding with the devil's kin.”
“......”
The instructor's training came to an abrupt halt.
Then she touched her side.
Probably feeling the scroll of the “secret document” tied to her belt.
Naturally, the item was right there, as if it had never left.
Swoosh-.
Instructor Rose stood up from her seat.
Her expression as she looked at me was deadly serious.
“Someone colluding with devils─why do you think that?”
“There's something I overheard when I encountered those devils in Arkham Citadel.”
It was when I pulled my hood low and brushed past the Erdarri.
─Ballara's really here?
─That's what that guy said.
─Ah, that disgusting Rendoh.
The Erdarri had definitely said that back then.
At the time, I had no spare moment to care what they were talking about.
But thinking about it calmly─.
Some human had “tipped off” the Erdarri about Ballara's location.
And the Erdarri had crossed into Arkham Citadel following that “tip”?
“Pretty one, if what you're saying about a colluder is true, you know you're the most suspicious, right?”
“Me?”
“Everyone else was evacuating, but you insisted on staying in Arkham Citadel alone.”
“Yes, because I wanted to farm Ether!”
“And you came back unscathed after meeting the Erdarri?”
“That's right.”
“You're the most likely to have become their cuckoo bird back then.”
Gasp, shit...!?
Hearing it laid out like that, it does sound that way!
['Circumstantially, I'm the colluder.']
['For real?']
It was making even me suspicious of myself!
“Instructor, my rage toward the devils is genuine!”
I gazed at Instructor Rose with eyes full of sincerity.
Her response was straightforward.
“Yeah, I believe you!”
“Really?”
“Since Lieutenant General Raiden, who spent his life exterminating devils, believed in you!”
Aaaah─! Lieutenant General Raiden.
Even after your disappearance, your noble grace protects me!
“Exterminate the Erdarri!”
I clenched my fist and shouted.
At that, Instructor Rose's eyes grew misty, as if deeply moved.
“Pretty one, find out who the colluder is among your platoon mates.”
A traitor among the platoon mates.
That was my conclusion.
Starting with the most suspicious ones.
The most suspicious one.
Thief Yor.
Me.
I proved my innocence.
Pass.
Then the second most suspicious one.
Naturally, the weasel.
I subtly asked the weasel, who was hand-washing pants at the laundry area.
“Weasel, what do you think of the Erdarri?”
“I want to kill them.”
“Why?”
“Do you know why our rice prices keep dropping lately?”
“Why?”
“They say the Erdarri are tempting nobles to join their kin.”
What─!?
Luring them to become devils.
Knight Gotvald came to mind.
The trash traitor who betrayed humanity to become an Erdarri.
It seemed the Erdarri had recruited several others besides Gotvald.
Filthy, vile bastards!
“The Erdarri don't need Ether to level up, right? If the nobles become those Erdarri, who the hell is going to buy rice from thieves like us!”
The weasel's resentment toward the Erdarri ran deep.
This guy wasn't a traitor.
Just an ordinary thief.
Then the next most suspicious was Barturi.
Why?
Because Barturi was too nice to people.
“Yor, if laundry's tough, want me to do it for you?”
Even now, he was offering to handle the annoying chores himself.
Who does that?
['He's trying to build trust and goodwill with us.']
['So we don't suspect he's the traitor.']
“Yor, want to go to church with me this weekend?”
He kept inviting me to church.
What was he planning to make me do there?
It was getting more and more suspicious.
“Mouse, you come to church too.”
“Me? Nah, I'm good. Master Juperi doesn't... like churches much.”
The mouse was suspicious too.
Was he really talking to his idol “Juperi”?
['What if Juperi's an Erdarri?']
But─.
The one I truly found most suspicious was someone else.
That guy right there.
“Why?”
The patrolman tilted his head, sensing my gaze.
That's right.
The patrolman.
['Patrolman is a worse job than thief.']
['If I were a patrolman, I'd hate the world.']
['Maybe I'd join hands with the Erdarri to flip everything upside down.']
Perhaps through this betrayal and collusion, he was trying to job-change to “thief.”
Reaching that thought felt like arriving at the answer.
[Inspect Possessions]
[Success Chance: 10%]
[Consumes 10,000 Ether]
Ten thousand Ether.
My hard-earned blood money.
But let's invest.
[Inspect Possessions: Success!]
[Bow of Extermination]
[Dried Meat x10]
[Sealed Documents x2]
A meager inventory list.
But one item suddenly caught my eye.
[Sealed Documents x2].
What was this?
The name alone was incredibly suspicious.
At that moment, the patrolman's body shivered.
“Suddenly feels chilly.”
The patrolman stepped away.
This guy had good instincts; maybe he somehow sensed my possession check.
I might need to use possession checks carefully on some people.
Anyway.
My suspicions about the patrolman only grew.
['If I can just peek at what those documents are and put them back.']
But every time I approached, the patrolman kept his distance.
“Sorry, platoon leader. I don't like thieves sneaking up behind me.”
“Scared because you've got a guilty conscience?”
“Keekeke, says the thief.”
What an infuriating bastard.
For now, keep watching for an opportunity.
“Alright, physical training starts today too!”
“Exercise 8, 30 reps! Execute! Skip the final chant!”
....
...
..
.
“““Twenty-nine!!!!”””
“Thirty.”
“Argh! Why do you always do that!”
“He's doing it on purpose, you idiot!”
“First three to the cafeteria pillar, go!”
“Aaaah!”
“Damn iiiit!”
A night of double the usual physical training.
The darkened barracks.
As the lights went out, bits of chatter spread here and there.
“Why does he always make us say the final chant.”
“Ugh, my whole body aches.”
“Stuck in training camp for days more... gonna lose it.”
“Shit, I miss women's boobs.”
“Gillingham, what about Instructor Rose?”
“Her big ass means she'd pop out babies easy.”
Everyone chuckled kekeke-.
That's when Barturi shouted.
“Everyone quiet. Let's sleep.”
“Yessir.”
“Lights out.”
“Whoa, scary.”
One by one, they started snoring, and eventually, conversation vanished from the barracks.
It didn't even take 30 minutes for everyone to fall asleep.
This was the moment I was waiting for.
Sss-.
I manipulated the shadow to approach the patrolman's bed.
Worn out from today's especially grueling training?
Snore, snore-.
The patrolman was snoring away in deep sleep.
['Heh heh heh, all those final chants were worth it.']
['Out cold like a light.']
The patrolman had sharp senses.
But he couldn't sense my utterly silent shadow.
Slither-.
I extended a shadowy hand and rummaged through his locker.
And in the securely locked locker, I found his bundled-up belongings.
Thump thump-.
My heart pounded as I rifled through his stuff.
“Reveille!”
“Reveille!”
Ding ding ding ding ding-.
That's when someone rang a bell and ran down the hall.
“The Erdarri are invading!”
“The devils killed the guards and infiltrated HQ!”
“Kniiiights!”
Shit, those devils?
We all jolted awake, grabbed our clothes and gear.
['Shit, what the hell's happening.']
['At least I got the goods.']
[Sealed Documents x2]
I retrieved the shadow and the items.
I only meant to take one of the patrolman's items.
But the sudden bell made me grab both.
“What the... why's my locker...”
That's when the patrolman checked his wide-open locker.
The bell had rung so suddenly, no time to close it.
“......”
The patrolman checked his bundle and wore a bewildered expression.
Thief-.
Was he about to shout it?
No, he didn't.
He acted like nothing happened, grabbed his weapon, and yelled.
“What the hell's going on?”
What?
No matter how I thought about it, it was unnatural.
Only one conclusion here.
[Sealed Documents].
['These must be items he can't reveal were stolen, even if they were.']
['Something shady he can't be open about.']
Maybe evidence.
I bolted straight to Instructor Rose's quarters.
There, Instructor Rose stood half-naked, changing clothes.
“Whoa!”
My face flushed red.
But right now, more important things.
“Instructor, I obtained these items...!”
“Black scrolls?”
The instructor unrolled the scroll.
It bore a pentagram.
“...Where'd you get this?”
The instructor turned gravely serious.
I answered honestly.
“Picked the patrolman's pocket.”
“We'll judge the rights and wrongs of that later.”
The instructor clicked his tongue at the scroll.
“This is a magic scroll written in special script. Ancient Erdarri technique. And a particularly evil, sinister one!”
“Then this is proof of collusion!”
My hunch was right!
I thought there was no high or low in professions.
But “patrolman” was suspicious from the job itself, and my instincts nailed it.
─Aaaargh! Erdarri!
─Guards! Guards!
─Gaaargh!
Screams echoed then.
Instructor Rose shot off like an arrow.
“The barracks!”
“Instructor! I'm coming too!”
The barracks where our platoon stayed reeked of blood.
Opening the door, everything was drenched in red.
“What in the world happened!”
An Erdarri bitch gripping a bone knife stood amid the platoon mates.
A familiar face.
The Erdarri bitch with a scar over one eye.
The one who told me her name was “Narwen”!
In front of her, the patrolman lay collapsed, gasping blood.
“Why, why...”
“Why? That's what I want to ask. We agreed you'd use the “Sealed Document” we gave you at midnight.”
“Ugh...”
“Because you didn't hold up your end, the whole plan's ruined. And you even lost the document we gave you? You useless Rendoh!”
The Erdarri reversed her grip on the knife and stabbed the patrolman.
Stab-.
“Grahk!”
From the looks of it, there had been some deal between the patrolman and the Erdarri.
They agreed to use the “document” at midnight?
But the patrolman passed out from exhaustion and failed!
“Guess we can only use one now.”
Having dealt with the patrolman, the Erdarri pulled a scroll from her waist.
Identical to the ones I'd stolen.
Rip-.
Tearing the scroll triggered a bang- small explosion.
“Well, one should be enough anyway.”
As the explosion's smoke cleared, her hand clutched something like a “Black Satchel.”
What was inside that “Black Satchel”?
Whatever it was, my nape prickled─not an ordinary thing.
“Everyone, run awaaaay!!!”
Instructor Rose bellowed and charged the Erdarri.
“Crushing Blow!”
A hammer strike raised overhead!
Clang-!
The Erdarri raised her knife to block, but the impact made her drop the “Black Satchel.”
The satchel flew through the air─and landed perfectly in my palm.
“Eh─?”
“You dog Rendoh bastard! Hand that over!”
The scarred Erdarri bitch snarled viciously.
Instructor Rose shouted loudly too.
“Pretty one, do not let them take that!”