The Hero's Weakness
The shaman Baista had successfully captured the Red Ratman. But through Syucali's testimony from three years ago, I learned that this village was heading in a very dangerous direction.
"I have a strong suspicion that the village is turning people into monsters, but I still don't have solid proof."
"Wouldn't the Red Ratman count as evidence?"
"The Red Ratman has been living with the Ratmen that have been tormenting the village all this time. I doubt anyone would believe us."
I racked my brain trying to help Vera uncover the village's misdeeds, but there was no decisive clue. Even if we revealed the truth to the people, it was questionable how many would actually side with us.
"There are too many ambiguous parts to make a judgment based solely on the Red Ratman's reaction."
"I agree," Eos replied.
As expected of a demon, she gave a cool-headed assessment from a third-party perspective. She understood well that nothing would change in our current state.
"To find a weakness, we'll need far more evidence than we have now."
"What kind of weakness do you think there might be?"
"Raiding the information room of The Ear hidden in the underground passage. There should definitely be records from three years ago and details about their dealings with the hero."
People always left contracts behind because you never knew what might happen. Just like how I kept the contract I made with Vera. It could become a weapon at any time, or it could be used to silence the other party.
"Raid that place? That sounds incredibly difficult."
The fact that Syucali said this meant her thoughts weren't far from mine.
"You're right. It would be impossible. The passages are blocked on all sides and filled with organization members. The moment we approach, they'd draw their blades immediately."
Heading straight into the heart of The Ear with our current forces would be suicidal. So raiding their information hub was out of the question.
"Then... there's nothing we can do."
"There's one thing."
"There is?" Syucali tilted her head in confusion.
"We approach the hero."
"Ehhhhh?!"
"That sounds even crazier..."
Syucali was shocked, and Vera clearly thought it was a bad idea. The hero who had made a deal with The Ear. A deal implied equal standing. That meant there was a high chance they had exchanged weaknesses with each other.
"The only breakthrough is the hero."
"But... how are we supposed to deal with the hero?"
"She's the hero who hunted a giant monster. If we try anything, she'll notice immediately, won't she?"
As Vera said, an S-rank adventurer wasn't S-rank for nothing. The fact that she had survived until now was proof that her senses were sharp and she was incredibly strong.
"I'll make sure she can't think straight."
"How?"
"Ah... you don't mean..." Eos swallowed hard, as if she'd caught on.
"I'll make contact with the hero and sleep with her. She'll probably collapse from exhaustion. While she's out, you three will search her house for any records related to the deal."
"Gulp..."
"Y-you're going to use that method?!"
While I kept the hero occupied all night, the rest of the team would thoroughly search her house for transaction records from three years ago. There was a chance it could work.
"Since theft is Syucali's specialty, you three can discuss the rest of the plan."
"If the hero's not there, it'll be easy!"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"If the hero has hidden any items, I'll take care of it myself."
"Alright. Then what should we do with this Red Ratman?"
"Since we've captured it, we need to hide it well. It's the only monster that survived the festival three years ago, so it could be our strongest card."
"But where can we even hide it..."
It would be problematic if the Red Ratman disappeared while we were dealing with the hero. We needed a prison-like location.
"The village seems difficult..."
"The Waterfall Dungeon would be perfect," Eos suggested.
"Right. Eos, let's lock it up there."
"Understood."
The dungeon where the Frog Mother had been was already cleared by us, so there shouldn't be any issues.
"Then what about our rewards? We need to collect the bounty and get promoted to E-rank too."
"I'm thinking of making a fake. There are Ratmen all over the area, so if we attach red fur, we should be able to fool them."
"It feels like it'll get caught..."
"Since we have the real one, if it doesn't show up in the village, they'll assume we succeeded in hunting it."
"Ah... that makes sense. Without the real one, the fake becomes real."
Syucali nodded in admiration.
"Master, you really have a talent for thievery, don't you?"
"This isn't the time for jokes."
"I'm not joking, I'm serious. At this level, you have the talent of a master thief who could even rob the royal palace...!"
I ignored Syucali's excessive praise and began cleaning up the campsite.
The plan after that proceeded without a hitch. We locked the Red Ratman in the rocky mountain's Waterfall Dungeon.
"It's become quite docile after receiving the pendant, hasn't it?"
It was a bit pitiful watching it crouch quietly, staring only at the pendant.
"Let's block the entrance and leave."
"We'll come back later, so wait nicely~"
We sealed the entrance with stone and ice magic before heading down to the village. On the way down, we caught a Ratman, shaved its head, and attached red fur.
"It looks perfect, doesn't it?"
"Their appearances are originally similar anyway."
We wrapped the blood-dripping Ratman head in a cloth and headed to the adventurers' guild.
"This is the Red Ratman's head."
-Thud.
"Eh?" The receptionist opened the cloth.
"I-is this real?! How did you catch it?!"
"I used a trap. Thanks to the sticky trap, there should be mucus on it."
"Ah... indeed..."
The receptionist nodded after checking the mucus.
"It's not fake, right?"
"Are you doubting me?"
"There are occasionally adventurers who lie..."
"Then wait a few days. I'll come back for the reward later."
"Ah... understood."
It wasn't unreasonable for her to have trouble believing a single man had brought back the Red Ratman's head. But as long as the real Red Ratman didn't escape from the Waterfall Dungeon, it would eventually be recognized as genuine.
"If I wait, the reward should come through..."
Once they determined the Red Ratman was dead, The Ear would approach me as well. I rented a room at the inn and spent time with my party members.
-Knock knock knock.
"Who is it?"
As the night grew late, there was a knock at the door.
"It's me."
As expected, the female bodyguard from The Ear had come.
"I'll be back."
"Yes, Master..."
"Take your time."
Everyone saw me off with ecstatic expressions.
"...Looks like you spent time with women."
"Women need men, after all."
"That's true..."
Her reaction was different from the usual blunt demeanor I saw from her. It made sense after hearing the voices that had leaked from my room earlier.
"Do you like women?"
"Ah... no."
"You do like them."
"Your senses are annoyingly sharp for no reason!"
I had tested the waters just in case, and immediately figured out her preferences. I smiled inwardly as I followed the irritated woman who had turned her body away.
"I heard you caught the Red Ratman."
"The adventurers' guild doesn't seem to believe it."
"The roots of the fur on the caught Ratman were brown."
"It must turn red as the fur grows."
"Even I find it suspicious... isn't it fake?"
"Actually, I'm the one who's more suspicious."
"Of what?"
"Why are you paying so much attention to the Red Ratman? It's just one monster. The fact that you're questioning whether it's real or fake makes me think there's something more to it."
"That's..."
When I pressed her aggressively instead, the female bodyguard was at a loss for words. Indeed, the fact that she was this concerned meant there was something.
Of course, after catching the Red Ratman, I already knew what The Ear was hiding.
"There were no rumors today about discovering the Red Ratman, so let's just observe for now."
"In a few days, my words will be proven true."
Since I was confident, I kept pushing her to the end.
"When will you give me the reward?"
"Haa..."
She seemed quite worried as she clutched her head and exhaled cigarette smoke.
"I've been out of my mind lately. An annoying person is coming tomorrow."
"An annoying person..."
"That woman demands so much... Fine. Since she's coming anyway, I don't have the luxury to worry about other problems. I'll trust you, black-hair."
"Don't trust me. Trust the request form and the results."
"Ugh... Fine! I'll hire you and put you to work!"
The female bodyguard finally decided to make a deal with me.
"That information you were looking for at the information broker last time."
"The information I was looking for... so it is related to the hero."
"Yes. The hero is coming to the village tomorrow."
"Hmm..."
It was an unexpected harvest. But from her tone, it didn't seem like the hero and The Ear were on friendly terms.
"She'll especially come down to the underground passage and torment us."
"Why?"
"The reason the village developed is because of her."
"Looks like there's a debt."
"Ha... so about that."
She handed me another document.
Perform guiding duties for the visiting hero.
Accompany her throughout her stay in the village.
"We need an attendant to follow the hero around."
"And you're telling me to do it."
"Yes... If you take this request, I'll give you the Red Ratman reward right now."
"The terms of the deal aren't satisfactory. Telling me to take the next request if I want the reward."
"I have a knife to my throat right now! I have to use you as the attendant no matter what!"
"Why?"
"That auntie... she likes men. That's why she secretly comes down to this backwater village once a month."
"I see."
She seemed more promiscuous than I thought. No, it was natural for both women and heroes to seek men. Everyone had desires.
"I heard the hero is married."
"They say heroes always have men following them. It sounds like an excuse from those who have everything and want to enjoy more."
"I suppose so."
"And no matter how married she is, is there any man in the world who could handle a hero alone?"
She glanced at me slyly.
"Why are you looking at me?"
"Is it possible?"
"I don't know."
"You seemed to handle the fighter Krin with ease before, and just now you were simultaneously dealing with the Black Blade Syucali and the apprentice knight from the Kidichi territory."
"You know a lot about me. Is that why you're giving me this request?"
She nodded.
‘So the rumors about the black-haired incubus have spread this far...’
Originally, she hadn't told me what the reward for catching the Red Ratman would be. She had said she'd tell me after I passed the test by catching it. So I had been planning to ask her to recommend me for a sexual service request with the hero.
Since The Ear and the hero seemed quite close, I thought she'd accept the request easily. But that wasn't the case. The two seemed to be at odds with each other, forced to cooperate occasionally only for work.
I felt like I should thank the female bodyguard. She had said that once I passed the test, we could talk about the reward then. It was killing two birds with one stone. The Red Ratman request had been quite helpful to me. She was a woman who benefited me greatly.
"Will you accept it?"
"Sigh... I'm not good with difficult women either."
I let out a sigh and deliberately spoke as if it were burdensome. I wanted to see her reveal her true feelings as much as possible.
"...You're the only one. The hero dislikes weak men. You've hunted a Giant Hog and taken on one of Isabella's major requests."
"I'm disappointed there aren't any men like me in the organization."
"There are, but... they're demons, so the hero would hate them."
"...You'll need to prepare a lot of compensation."
"What do you want..."
"First, with this, I hope you won't suspect me as a suspicious person anymore."
"Of course..!"
The female bodyguard showed a genuinely happy expression for the first time. It seemed dealing with the hero was quite difficult even for The Ear. In that case, I could probably ask for something excessive as the Red Ratman reward.
"An artifact."
"Huh?"
"Give me an artifact that can release mana seals. If not, I won't take the request."
"Y-you're crazy!"