An Eventful Day (5)
Today was one of those days where everyone in our party had their own stuff going on. Claire was out doing the service work the church had ordered, and both Theo and Faye said they had plans too. I already knew what those plans were. A date, obviously. They could whisper all they wanted, but these rabbit ears of mine perk up and catch everything. Oh, and before you ask—no, I wasn't deliberately eavesdropping. They were talking without me there, so I just... tuned in a little. Wait, does that technically count as eavesdropping? Eh, who cares.
Anyway, that was why the whole party had the day off. It was rare for all of us to be free at once. Someone might sit out now and then, but everyone resting on the same day? Almost never happened. Everyone's way too diligent for that.
With this sudden holiday in front of me, I had to figure out what to do. I could train like usual, or pick up a same-day quest like I did before joining the academy. Or, honestly, just laze around in bed all day. That didn't sound half bad for once.
Out of all those options, I chose to clear a sub-event. And the one I had my eye on today was the hidden event at the colosseum.
The colosseum in this city is a peaceful, safe arena that anyone—men, women, young, old—can enjoy. Rumor says couples even use it as a date spot, though I'm pretty sure that's just nonsense. Still, there's no way the only colosseum around is that soft and cuddly. No matter the era or region, there are always people craving stronger thrills, and this fantasy world is no exception.
Hidden beneath the colosseum is an underground colosseum that regular folks don't know about. A brutal arena where gladiator slaves kill each other, fight giant monsters, and sometimes get literally eaten alive. Not that I've seen it in person. Even when this was just a game, it never showed anything that gruesome. Since it was an adult game, the underground colosseum events were mostly erotic, never gory. But according to the setting, that kind of stuff definitely happened there.
So far, no problem. When you think about it, colosseums are supposed to be brutal, right? The surface one, where people laugh and swing practice swords regardless of who wins, is the weird one.
The real issue with this underground colosseum is that the corpses of those who die there are used as offerings for black mages. The main story never mentioned it even if you skipped the event entirely, so it probably isn't a fatal problem. Back when it was a game, I'd just move on if the schedule didn't line up. But now that this is reality, I can't do that. It means real people are dying for those bastards.
I'd been waiting for the right moment to handle it when Claire contacted me. She said the number of people in the slums was dropping and something felt off. The second I heard that, it clicked. These guys were kidnapping people. They were replenishing the gladiators who kept dying.
Since I knew the culprit and the method, tracking them was easy. I skipped all the minor investigation steps, rushed through everything, and finally caught the mid-boss of the event—the serial kidnapper. Normally if you'd followed the event properly, the annoying bastard would escape right in front of you multiple times. But thanks to my perfect surprise attack, I nailed him in one go. Lucky!
...Except.
“Huh? Theo? Faye? What are you two doing here?”
Why were these two, who were supposed to be on a date, standing right here?
......
First, I made sure the captured black mages couldn't move. Unlike when we caught the dungeon thieves last time, I didn't have any rope handy, so I used a slightly rougher method. Only after that did we swap stories about how we'd all ended up here.
“You went on a date at the colosseum? Are you out of your mind?”
“Why? Faye enjoyed it. And what's with your tone?”
“Never mind my tone. Wait, really? If she had fun, then it's fine?”
Medieval fantasy worlds don't exactly have a ton of entertainment options, so maybe the colosseum counted as a normal date. If you compare it to modern times, it's like taking someone to an action movie full of blood and sweat on your first date. ...No, that's still weird. But they both said it was fun, so a dating newbie like me has no right to judge.
More importantly—black mages.
“Claire told me people are disappearing in the slums. I think this guy might be responsible. Can you squeeze some information out of him?”
“Leave it to me. I was planning to ask what he was doing here anyway.”
Theo dragged the serial kidnapper into a corner. The guy wore a determined expression that said he'd never talk, but he'd spill soon enough. Whether by physical or mental means. Theo never hesitated when it came to black mages.
Looked like we'd have an answer shortly. Time to focus on this side.
“Faye. Why the long face?”
“Hmph.”
It was pretty rare to see Faye pout at me like that. Not that I didn't know why.
“Sorry. I ended up ruining your date. I didn't mean to. You know that, right?”
“...I know. If you'd done it on purpose, even you would've seen me get seriously mad.”
Faye genuinely getting angry. They say it's scarier when someone who always smiles gets mad. Kind of curious, honestly. Not that I'd ever make her angry just to satisfy my curiosity. Ideally, it would never happen at all.
“Still, we'll get to fight soon. Can you forgive me for that? Please? I'll dip right after the battle's over.”
“Mmm... If it's done by dinner, I'll forgive you.”
“It won't take that long. Why dinner, though? Did you book a nice restaurant?”
“Something like that. The details are a secret!”
By the end of our chat, Faye's mood had mostly recovered. Guess the promise of a fight was worth a lot of points. Thank goodness.
“I'm done.”
Theo, who'd stepped away for a bit, returned dragging the serial kidnapper. The guy's face now displayed a far more avant-garde artistic style than when he'd been taken away. Physical persuasion had definitely been applied.
Faye quickly ran over and wiped the blood splatter off Theo's face. She glanced at me and flashed a bright smile. Well, she looked happy, so that was a relief.
With his face cleaned up, Theo thanked Faye and shared the information he'd gained.
“The slums are the work of black mages too. But he claims he didn't kidnap that many people, so it looks like there are other black mages involved, or maybe a completely different cause.”
“Really? Got it. I'll let Claire know. What about the colosseum side?”
“I got some important intel. Gather around.”
Theo shared the information he'd obtained using Hypnosis. Filtering out what we already knew and summarizing, it came down to this.
“So this guy knew about a back route into the underground colosseum? The path the black mages use to smuggle out the corpses.”
“That's right. He said people die there so often that no one cares if a few bodies go missing. Sounds like the underground colosseum is pretty big. I didn't even know a place like that existed.”
“Me neither...”
Well, it was normal not to know. I wouldn't have known either without my game knowledge.
I clapped my hands to get their attention.
“Alright. So what's the plan? I'm thinking we head in and flip the whole place upside down.”
“I'm in!”
Faye immediately shot her hand up in approval. Theo asked for a few more details.
“Flip it upside down? How exactly?”
“Hmm. Beat up every black mage we see, set the place on fire—after that, the city guards or whoever can come clean up the mess, right?”
“So you have zero actual plan. Still, it's not a bad idea. Just from what we've heard, it doesn't sound like a legitimate establishment anyway.”
“Right? Hard stuff should be left to the people who handle hard stuff.”
Theo nodded, convinced by my logic. Given how much he hated black mages, I hadn't expected him to refuse anyway.
“Oh, right. Luna. What about these guys?”
Faye pointed at the captured black mages. The only real black mage who could use black magic was the serial kidnapper I'd caught. The rest seemed to be just underlings.
“Ah, yeah. Hang on. I've got something from Claire.”
I pulled out the item Claire had given me when she asked for help investigating the kidnappings and snapped it in half. She'd said it would send a signal, whatever it was.
“Wait, how do you have one of those, Luna?”
“Claire gave it to me. Theo, do you know what it is?”
“It's a signal device used by the church. Only holy knights or inquisitors usually carry them. Then again, Claire used to be a holy knight, so that makes sense.”
After waiting a bit, Claire arrived. The priest she'd been doing service work with came along too.
“Lady Luna. I came as soon as I received the signal. What is—ah, I see.”
The moment Claire saw the bound black mages, her expression turned ice-cold.
“Father, can I leave their handling to you? These people over here appear to be victims, but please check just in case.”
“Hehe, leave it to me. This takes me back. I hope you and your friends have a wonderful time, Saintess.”
The priest smiled as he dragged the bound black mages away. His movements looked far too practiced. The hidden past of a priest running a branch alone in the dangerous slums... Yeah, better not dig into that.
“Sir Theo and Lady Faye are here as well. Weren't the two of you supposed to have other plans today?”
“We did, but... things just kind of overlapped.”
“I see. Perhaps this is also the Goddess's guidance.”
“Claire. We're about to go beat up some black mages. Want to come with us?”
“Of course, Sir Theo. Just give me any order you wish.”
“Order? Theo. What does Claire mean by that?”
“Ah, no. Wait. Faye. It's not like that. Don't read anything weird into it, okay? You know Claire used to be part of the holy knight division, right? It's just a verbal habit from back then...”
“Hmm...”
Huh? What was this? The scent of a love comedy. The familiar taste of a cliché brought the same comfort as a fast-food chain.
Still, things had gotten strangely complicated. The event I'd planned to handle alone had somehow gathered the entire party. Could this really be nothing more than coincidence?