The Red Ratman's Secret
“What business do you have with me?”
I had left the village to set a trap for the red ratman. “He definitely came through here,” Syucali said the next day, holding up a tuft of red fur caught in the snare.
“This confirms this is his territory.”
“Yes. Just like you said, Master, if we wait, he’ll get caught on his own.”
The red fur we’d found near the trap gave us confidence that simply waiting would eventually lead to his capture.
“Master.”
“What is it?”
“I will use the magic stone to create a stronger obsession.”
“Is that possible?”
“Yes. As long as we have something that belonged to that monster, it can be done.”
Demons were beings who inherently possessed the power to control monsters. Of course, with her mana sealed, Eos would struggle to achieve full domination, but guiding its movements should be more than enough.
“Good. A ratman won’t be able to resist that.”
Eos’s mana rose, and the magic stone and red fur began to glow softly as they fused together. I took the resulting stone-fur and tucked it deep inside my backpack.
“We’ll keep watching like this.”
Another period of waiting began. Just as we were about to return to camp, Vera spoke up.
“While we’re waiting, should we stop by the village smithy for a bit?”
“Let’s go together. It’ll still take some time before he gets caught anyway.”
While waiting, we decided to maintain our equipment, eat proper meals, and rest comfortably. It also had the added effect of deliberately leaving the campsite empty, making the backpack an even more tempting target.
And so, on the third day—
“Master! We got him!”
When we checked the trap, the red ratman was stuck fast in the sticky snare Syucali had made.
“Kwee… kweeeek…!”
—Squelch…
It must have struggled all night; the area was covered in torn-out red fur. And it was on the verge of escaping the trap.
“Eos, freeze it.”
“Yes.”
Ice magic bound the ratman’s flailing arms and legs.
“Hunt successful.”
“Hell yeah!”
The ratman twitched in resistance, but it seemed its stamina was completely drained. It could barely move, its face pale. With its limbs frozen, its entire body coated in sticky fluid, and a mousetrap clamped on its nose, the sight was almost comical.
—Shing.
“Should I kill it?” Vera asked, drawing her sword.
“Hold on. There’s something I want to check first.”
Even before catching the red ratman, a question had been nagging at me.
“Why was it so obsessed with my backpack?”
“Um… because it’s big?”
“Right. Ratmen usually just raid grain stores. There’s no reason for them to fixate on a backpack…”
Before killing it, I began taking items out of the backpack one by one to see what it would react to.
“Not the clothes… not the cooking tools…”
Even after emptying everything, the ratman’s gaze remained fixed on the backpack.
“Maybe it just likes big bags?”
“If that were the case, all ratmen would be carrying around big bags. This one’s the same.”
“Hmm…”
It was when the bottom of the backpack was finally revealed.
“…No way.”
I picked up the single item that had been lying at the very bottom and held it out to the red ratman.
“Were you looking for this?”
“Kwee… kweek…”
It reacted immediately. Its gaze locked on without moving an inch.
“This is unexpected.”
In my palm lay the flower-shaped pendant we had obtained from the dungeon where the frog mother had been.
“That’s…”
Eos had personally found it and given it to me, so she knew it better than anyone. But why would this ratman react to a pendant that had belonged to a human?
The thought naturally drifted toward an unpleasant conclusion.
“Eos.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Can you tame monsters?”
“It is impossible. That is precisely why they are classified as monsters.”
“…I figured.”
“However, there are ways. Witches… or among humans, alchemists or shamans could conduct experiments to turn humans into monsters…”
“W-wait! What are you talking about right now?”
Vera cut in, flustered by Eos’s words. I, too, had not expected such an answer from her. Turning people into monsters? This wasn’t something we could just brush off.
Come to think of it, when I first fought this red ratman, it had felt less like facing a monster and more like fighting a person who was unusually good at dodging. And now…
“This red ratman is obsessed with a pendant that belonged to a human.”
“The fact that it reacts on instinct means that item is extremely important to this ratman.”
“Then… does that mean the pendant originally belonged to this ratman?”
“I cannot say for certain… but the possibility exists.”
Seeing the way the red ratman stared at the pendant, we all reached a similar conclusion.
This was no ordinary ratman. And that was likely why The Ear had secretly ordered its elimination.
Had they truly turned a person into a monster?
“Master, I… I think I know something.”
The usually quiet Syucali raised her hand.
“Two or three years ago… there was an incident in Kron Village where a large number of named monsters appeared.”
“Named monsters?”
“Yes. They’re also called variant monsters. They’re faster than normal specimens or possess unusual abilities, like this red ratman.”
It seemed “named” referred to monsters of a rank below boss level.
“A large number of variants appeared in the village…”
“I suspect the one that survived from back then is this red ratman.”
The sudden appearance of multiple variant monsters in a peaceful farming village…
“Adventurers flocked there like crazy at the time.”
“Were you there too?”
“Yes. They offered over fifty gold for just one, so the whole place was practically a festival.”
Of course adventurers would swarm in if they were paying good money for strong monsters.
‘Village promotion, huh…’
Named monsters would have been the best possible advertisement for running a farming village. And after that incident, the number of adventurers visiting this village must have exploded.
‘Let’s organize this.’
Two to three years ago, the sudden appearance of named monsters. The surviving remnant: this red ratman. The Ear, which runs the farming village, has been trying to eliminate the red ratman but keeps failing. Upon capture, it turns out to be a named monster that reacts to a human’s pendant. And there exists a being capable of turning people into monsters.
Who could that be?
“Ah… this place has a hero who runs a wheat beer brewery.”
“Huh?”
“What a coincidence.”
I had only looked into heroes to unseal Eos’s mana, but it turned out this village had a shaman with the power to transform people into monsters.
“She retired from adventuring ten years ago and settled here. It’s hard to believe she has no connection to The Ear.”
“Black-hair, are you… are you suspecting Hero Beista?!”
Vera asked with an anxious expression.
“That hero shaman is the most likely culprit. The fact that she visits once a month… it feels like she’s hiding something.”
“Then the named monster hunting festival Syucali mentioned—was that also arranged by the shaman?! That can’t be! She was so famous in the demon beast subjugation corps!”
“Being famous and a hero doesn’t mean she’s a perfect human being.”
“W-well, that’s true, but…!”
Vera bit her lower lip hard, clearly shocked.
People can become crueler than anyone when money and happiness are dangled before their eyes.
‘So that’s it…’
The reason The Ear had tailed me finally made sense. The hero shaman who helped run this village was a potential weakness for their organization. And when they saw me digging into information about such a person, they must have judged me dangerous. That’s why they had approached me a few days ago—to bring me under their control and keep me under surveillance.
“Turning people… into monsters? This… this isn’t something a person should do.”
Vera finally acknowledged it. She stared at the ugly result of human greed and gripped her sword tightly.
“Let’s end the questions here. We’ll kill the red ratman and turn it over to the monster guild.”
“W-what?!” Vera exclaimed in shock.
“There’s nothing we can do.”
“But…!”
“Throwing a tantrum won’t change anything. If we stick our necks out recklessly, we could end up dead.”
What had happened in this village was hideous. But realistically, they had used the power they possessed to create wealth and happiness. In this other world, clinging to morals often led to loss. Those who claimed to be righteous were usually just putting on a show to win the favor of those with power and money.
Of course, there were occasionally pure souls like Vera who held onto justice, but even they would eventually have to accept the cold reality.
“I… I can’t stand this. I can’t forgive the person who did this…”
The red ratman, staring at the flower-patterned pendant, began to shed tears.
Seeing that, Vera reacted.
“Help me, Black-hair. You… you have a way to save the ratman, don’t you?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to save it.”
“Right?!”
Even people have lines they must not cross. This world was no different. Because this was a world where people lived.
Even by my standards, turning humans into monsters and using them for promotion was an act that completely abandoned one’s humanity.
“But with our current strength, it would be a pointless death. And even if we step forward, we gain nothing from it.”
“Ah…”
“For beginner adventurers, it’s actually better if this village stays exactly as it is.”
“…”
“Of course, if there’s sufficient compensation, I might be willing to move.”
“Compensation…”
I held my hand out to Vera.
“If I ask for your help later, you must help me without fail.”
“M-me?”
“Yes. If you trust me and move when I call, we can bring this village down.”
“Really… that’s all it takes?”
“If you don’t trust me, we can even write up a contract.”
“N-no! Even if you call five times—no, ten times—I’ll come running!”
Vera grabbed my hand with both of hers.
Now there would be no problem raising my noble swordsmanship level.
The real issue was how to clean up this village shrouded in such a massive conspiracy.
‘To face a hero shaman…’
I looked at Vera.
“Vera.”
“Yeah?”
“Just how strong is your sister?”