A Rough Man's Port
Port City Luan.
The ground was coated in slick mud and filth, and the damp sea wind clung stickily to the skin. Layered over that was the briny, fishy stench unique to harbors, sharp enough to sting the nostrils.
Crowds packed the docks like a swarm of ants. Gravelly sailors' voices and a constant din rose from every direction — a place far better described as rough than lively.
"Out of the way! Can't you see I'm carrying cargo?"
A man barked as he shoved past us.
Come to think of it, this is the first time I've actually seen people.
This was the first time I'd laid eyes on ordinary civilians of this world while out on a mission. After nothing but fighting in lifeless, staged-looking places, seeing people who were actually alive and breathing felt strangely new.
So I really am traveling through another dimension...
Anyway.
We had to find a place with the insane name of Shag Inn.
Do I have to grab a passerby and ask...?
A name so asinine I didn't even want it in my mouth. Just asking someone where it was felt like it would contaminate my soul.
"Oppa! The smell here is awful. Let's get to the meeting point already!"
"Kyaah!"
"Aria, what's wrong?"
"S-someone just grabbed my butt..."
"What? Which bastard?"
I wanted to catch the guy who'd groped Aria and beat him into the mud on the spot. But there were too many people to tell who it had been.
"I really don't like this place."
"It looks like a high-crime area just from a glance~!"
Every passerby's eyes looked rotten. Like hyenas sizing up prey.
"Let's just ask and get moving."
I called over a passing sailor and asked where the Shag Inn was.
"Heh heh heh. You're something else, pal, first thing in the morning. Two women with you, even. Go to the end of that alley over there, hang a left, and you'll see it."
"...Thanks."
The man leered at Aria and Rin behind me, snickered, and disappeared.
After more trouble than it was worth, the inn we arrived at was a dilapidated wooden building. The sign bore a crude drawing of a lipstick kiss, with the name scrawled across it in a sloppy hand.
SHAG INN
"Oppa... we really have to go in here, right...?"
We entered the inn, climbed the creaking stairs, and stopped in front of room 301.
Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.
The promised six knocks.
A moment later the door cracked open, and a pair of wary eyes looked us over.
"Participants?"
"That's right."
"Come in."
Four men were waiting inside. Dressed in light clothes rather than combat gear, they looked like they could pass for residents of Luan.
Then Rin, who'd been standing behind me, widened her eyes and stepped forward.
"Huh? Uncle Hans?"
The middle-aged man who'd opened the door stared at Rin in shock.
"Rin? Is that you, Rin? What are you doing here?"
"Hehe. I'm on a mission with this oppa this time."
Rin hugged my arm and beamed.
"I see... So people are starting to open their hearts to you. I'm truly glad."
He looked at her with genuine relief. Then he turned and greeted me.
"Sorry for the late introduction. A pleasure. I'm Hans, leader of the investigation party."
"Hello. I'm Choi Minwoo."
An ordinary-looking middle-aged man. He seemed around Garon's age, but far more gaunt.
"We're short on time, so I'll get straight to the point. The situation is not good."
Hans sat down and launched into it immediately.
"That bastard Karvan has built himself a fortress at his headquarters and holed up inside."
According to his explanation, the Red Chain's headquarters sat not far from here.
"He's not simply in hiding. From what we've determined, at least thirty skilled fighters are entrenched there."
Hans clicked his tongue and added,
"On top of that, detection magic is laid at the entrance, and they've even hired mages and curse-casters inside."
"Curse-casters?"
"Yes. The moment an intruder appears, they slap a weakening curse on them. A frontal assault would be suicide."
A fully fortified headquarters. The highly efficient approach of treating a kill as an assassination so long as there were no witnesses wasn't going to work here.
"Is there any other way to get close to him?"
"Almost none. But there is one exception."
Hans lowered his voice.
"When a special product comes in, Karvan personally inspects the merchandise."
"By product, you mean slaves?"
"Not just any slaves. Rare slaves that can fetch a high price."
Rare slaves?
Pretty ones?
Virgins?
"Nobles looking to buy slaves prefer rare demihumans with mana. Scarce goods always command their worth. Karvan only personally inspects and conducts the deal when that kind of special merchandise comes in."
Hans's gaze drifted naturally to Kiki, standing behind us.
"Like... that kobold gentleman over there..."
"Keruk?"
Kiki tilted his head.
"A kobold who can communicate, and when I checked with my Detection skill, I could even sense mana. That's bait that would drive nobles wild."
Bait, huh...
Kiki had gained mana when his Guardian skill grew. Using him as bait to get inside their headquarters would definitely be a sure way in.
But wouldn't that put Kiki in danger?
"Wouldn't that be dangerous? If they try to kill him or rough him up on the spot..."
"I don't think so. Nobles don't want dead or injured slaves. Until the deal goes through, they'll treat him like a treasure without laying a finger on him."
I thought for a moment, then looked at Kiki.
"Kiki, what do you think?"
"Keruk! Keruk!!"
Kiki stared straight into my eyes and thumped his chest. There wasn't a trace of fear in his gaze.
"Alright. Then we'll use Kiki as bait to enter their headquarters."
But Hans looked slightly uncomfortable.
"There's one more problem, though."
"What's that?"
"Your appearances..."
"Our appearances?"
"The Red Chain members and the people who deal with them are all the worst kind of criminals. But you all... you're too clean-cut."
Hans looked us over.
"That young lady in particular looks like a noble's daughter, and you, Minwoo, just look like a decent young man. Rin looks like nothing more than a sweet, lively girl."
He went on.
"People like you showing up out of nowhere to sell a rare kobold? The odds of raising suspicion are far too high."
He had a point. We were far too normal to blend into this district's atmosphere.
"You need something more vicious, more savage, more filthy. The kind of image that makes people think at a glance they absolutely should not mess with you."
A savage image...
I thought of Karante, who I'd fought not long ago. That horned bastard was plenty filthy-looking, at least.
Wait.
That's right. I had that, didn't I?
I told them to wait a moment, went to a corner, and rummaged through my Subspace Bag. I found what I was looking for and pulled it on.
The spandex clung tight to my thick arms.
Then I walked back to Hans.
"Hhk!!"
Hans sucked in a sharp breath.
"W-what happened? What on earth is that...?"
"No way! Tattoos, all of a sudden?!"
The investigation party members' eyes went wide. Fair enough. I'd seen a few tattooed guys on the way here, but they were mostly crude little pictures or patterns. The irezumi arm sleeves Yuna had given me as a gift had a design so vicious it was beyond anything they could imagine in this place.
"M-Minwoo, why are your arms like that..."
Aria took a step back, startled by the sight of my arms.
Rin's reaction was different.
"Ahahahaha! Oppa! You look exactly like a yakuza! That's so cool!!"
Rin's eyes sparkled as she stroked my arm.
"It looks so real! Wow! So this is the kind of thing you like wearing around?"
"I've never seen a tattoo like that in my life! Are you a Demonkin, by any chance?"
I wet my hair with water from the inn room and slicked it all the way back. Then I looked at Hans.
"How's this?"
"...Perfect. That's a face that wouldn't look out of place on a wanted poster."
Hans gave a thumbs-up.
The problem was solved, but I felt weirdly annoyed.
"Then let's divide up the roles. First, our faces are already known, so we can't go with you. Still, we'll take responsibility for setting up the trade meeting."
Rin spoke up.
"Hmm... I won't go inside the building either."
"Huh? Why not?"
"From the sound of it, the interior's going to be super cramped and complicated. That means it won't be good for shooting a bow, and my field-of-view expansion won't help much either."
Now that she mentioned it...
"I'd rather set up outside and snipe to secure an escape route. Plus fire support!"
"Good. That works. Rin, you take external support."
"Okey-dokey!"
The problem was Aria.
"What should I do...?"
I tried to dress her up like a thug and pass her off as my underling, but it was a lost cause. That innate air of nobility and those innocent, gentle eyes wouldn't look villainous no matter what we did. On top of that, her acting was genuinely terrible.
"Does she have to be an underling, though?"
Rin asked, puzzled.
"What lunatic would believe Aria is the boss?"
"No, I mean, couldn't she just be your trophy?"
"Trophy?"
"Yeah! In comics and stuff, vicious criminals always parade around pretty women to show off. They treat them like slaves, too!"
Come to think of it, I had seen that kind of thing.
"That makes sense. Types like Karvan love flaunting their power that way. A savage man walking around with a noble as a sex slave? That's the perfect picture to avoid suspicion."
"S-sex slave?!"
Aria's face turned red enough to burst.
A thug with irezumi sleeves and his hair slicked all the way back. And the pretty sex slave he kept at his side, dressed in a tank top and dolphin shorts.
It was a perfect picture.
"Aria, can you do it? I think you'd just have to stand next to me, not say a word, and keep your head down."
"Nnh..."
Aria kept her head down for a long while, then nodded as if she'd made up her mind.
"I-I'll do it... If it's for you, Minwoo... I'll even be a sex slave..."