The Ear's Offer
"What business do you have with me?"
—Thud, thud, thud.
—Click, click, click.
—Thud, thud, thud.
—Click, click, click.
The sound of heels behind me never stopped. Just as I'd expected, a member of The Ear was tailing me. When I turned into an alley, the smell of tobacco drifted from the opposite street. I deliberately headed toward a route without alleys, only to feel eyes on me from the rooftops this time. As an informant, she seemed to know every path and direction in this village. No matter where I went, the scent of tobacco followed.
Can't be helped.
I changed direction at the end of the street where I knew a general store stood. She followed right behind me into the alley.
"What business do you have with me?"
"Huh?!"
She turned the corner and came face-to-face with me. This alley had only one way in and one way out, so we'd inevitably met.
"You knew."
"How could I not?"
Even after being caught, she remained composed. That spoke volumes about the power she held in this village. I'd seen her send a Giant Hog to the farm and appear alongside demons. She hadn't been acting alone—she'd been following orders from the organization. No individual would take on such dangerous work without backing from above. She must have thought it was fine to tail me because she had that support behind her.
"Didn't you have business with me too?"
"Not at all."
"Don't bother denying it. You think I wouldn't notice you following me all the way to the Giant Hog habitat?"
She knew what had happened there.
"Don't even think about hiding what's going on in Kron Village. We're watching everything."
That was why she looked so triumphant, pushing forward as if I'd started something first. From the way things were going, no matter what I said, she'd steer the conversation her way. If I claimed I'd just happened to see something, she'd insist she'd only happened to follow me.
"Understood. Let's go, then."
"Huh?"
She'd clearly come looking for a negotiation, but I had no reason to play along. Now that I'd heard her warning, quietly going about my business in the village was enough. Having lived in a law-abiding country and fulfilled my national defense duties, this level of control and pressure felt familiar.
"W-wait a second!"
The moment I turned, she called out in a flustered voice.
"Is there anything else you need to ask?"
"..."
She glared at me.
"The black-haired incubus in Cashew Village. Recently took on a request from Isabella and even helped a noble from Kidichi Territory. Before that, there was no information at all. Like you dropped out of the sky."
"Is that so."
"Haa..."
She exhaled a deep puff of smoke, then spoke as if she'd made up her mind.
"Join The Ear."
The unexpected offer caught me off guard. Suddenly asking me to join the organization. Mentioning the Giant Hog hunt and Isabella's request, it seemed I'd earned some points there.
"Looks like you think I might be useful."
"That's right. That's why I'm saying it."
"Because I'm a woman?"
"That's part of it. I thought you were F-rank, but you seem at least D-rank. In many ways, you'd do good work under me."
As a covert information network, openly recruiting must be difficult. Seeing her, who guarded the information broker's entrance, wandering outside confirmed The Ear was short on manpower to run the farm village. I understood how valuable labor was in this world. When I'd been alone, every day had been hectic, but the moment Eos and Syucali joined, I'd suddenly had free time like this. If they hired me, they'd plan to work me hard in return.
"Joining the organization would be difficult."
"Even after seeing this village, you're refusing The Ear."
She sounded disappointed.
"I'll accept requests, though."
"What?"
"If it's work The Ear has trouble handling, I'll take it on."
"...You'll accept requests? You're an adventurer to the bone, aren't you."
"I think the cleanest relationship is one where we only exchange what we need."
"..."
She stared at me.
"Haa... hahaha."
She laughed softly, then looked at me again.
"I'll test you first. See how useful you really are."
"You've been watching me this whole time, and you still want to test me..."
"The organization wants certainty. And since I'm the one hiring you, I need to check thoroughly."
She pulled a document bundle tied with string from her coat and handed it over.
"This was originally my job, but let's see what you can do."
I unfolded the papers and checked them.
— Eliminate the Red Ratman Stalker —
After confirming the request form, I nodded.
"Very well."
"So you think you can catch it?"
"You said it was a test. If I fail, then I fail."
"What, you agreed so confidently I thought it'd be no problem."
The information guild wanting the Red Ratman eliminated was unexpected. Hmm... a mission The Ear couldn't handle... They must have tried various methods to catch the Red Ratman. After all of them failed, they'd posted a bounty and promotion request to hand it off to adventurers.
"The organization couldn't catch it, then."
"No. If we put our minds to it, we'd catch it right away."
"If it's at the level where a bounty and promotion request were posted, it seems the organization considers it a problem too."
"..."
Hit where it hurt, she fell silent. That alone was answer enough.
"So the organization released the Red Ratman."
"You little... Stop asking questions."
"Understood. I'll try catching it."
"If you're going to do it anyway, don't interrogate the client!"
The Red Ratman had originally been prey I'd planned to hunt myself. With both a promotion request and a bounty posted on the adventurer board, it was perfect work for me. Two birds with one stone, as they say.
"There's still something important left."
"What."
I held out my hand.
"If I solve it, what's the reward?"
"Black Hair... you...!"
She frowned as if appalled by my attitude.
***
"From now on, we're heading out to catch the Red Ratman."
I returned to the inn room where the slaves were staying and spoke.
"You mean that bastard who screwed us over last time?!"
Syucali's eyes gleamed—she hadn't forgotten.
"We're catching it. Having something like that in the village puts people in danger."
Vera also gripped the sword she'd been maintaining, recalling the Red Ratman's movements.
"Do you have a way to catch it?"
Eos asked realistically how we'd deal with the Ratman.
"I'm going to neutralize its advantages."
"Its speed?"
"My magic and Master's sword can't reach it."
"And after we showed it our tails once, its guard will be up too..."
None of them seemed to have any idea how to catch the Red Ratman.
Catching a quick rat head-on is difficult.
I looked at my massive backpack and spoke.
"We won't be moving ourselves."
"Huh? Then how do we catch it?"
Syucali asked, puzzled.
"We'll set a trap."
"A trap... I see. You did say the Ratman was watching Master's backpack."
Eos nodded as if she'd finally understood.
"We'll leave the backpack outside the village and set traps around it. Syucali."
"Yes?"
"Do you have anything like a sticky potion that clings to the body?"
"Ah~ I actually made one while I had some free time."
Syucali pulled a green-glowing potion from her bag.
"I combined slime cores with sticky grass... I call it the 'Touch and You're Stuck Potion'!"
"..."
Everyone froze at Syucali's naming sense.
"We can build the trap around that. And Eos, prepare ice magic."
"Yes, Master."
I'd determined the Red Ratman wasn't a monster whose weakness could be straightforwardly exploited like goblins or Giant Hogs. I'd decided to catch it using the Red Ratman's own unique hunting methods. After thinking it over, I'd settled on erasing its advantages first. If I could just bind its quick body, it'd be easier than dealing with a slime.
"We'll move to the location where we encountered it."
"Great! Let's go set up the traps!"
"I'll prepare right away."
Though it wasn't dawn yet, we left the inn. Our destination was the place we'd first encountered the Red Ratman. We moved slowly, looking around. Eventually, we found a good spot to set the trap.
"This looks good."
"A place where someone might get caught just by passing through."
"Right? No one would expect traps here."
Syucali had found the perfect spot. We set the backpack down there and placed traps in all directions. At first, we set easy traps. Digging holes, placing small traps like mousetraps to lower its guard. Finally, we'd arranged it so the sticky trap would activate when it lunged for the backpack.
"It feels like a dungeon somehow. The deeper you go, the more dangerous it gets."
Typical Eos. She'd seen right through my idea.
"Exactly. I thought of the sticky trap as the dungeon's final boss."
It wasn't for nothing that she'd been betrayed. With her depth of thought and competence, she'd have been a threat to those in power. But that was just a misunderstanding. Eos was simply curious and the type to seek out the right answer.
"It's impressive that you thought of that, Master."
Instead, Eos praised me. Though she was the impressive one for grasping my intent so precisely.
"Preparations are complete."
"Then we'll set up camp nearby and rest."
"Rest...?"
We decided to enjoy our rest without worrying about the trap. Until the Red Ratman solved the trap puzzle on its own and obtained the backpack.
"It won't be able to ignore my backpack, so it'll definitely walk into the trap. All we have to do is keep waiting, like when we're fishing."
"Aha..."
Everyone nodded.