Chapter 26 Magic Word

The three men, who were forced to wake up by the recovery magic, guide us to the hideout of the Midnights boss, Requiem. Since hes a backstreet trader, hes cautious and changes the location of his hiding place within the slum each time. Therefore, its troublesome to find him without a subordinate who can show the way. The day is going to get dark if we search for each place one by one. After all, we have an important time limit called dinner, so we cant spend extra time here.

H-here is the place, Danna.

The place pointed by the knife-man was a shabby cheap inn that doesnt look very clean. The old door is half opened and makes a creaking sound.

Are you sure?

Y-yes! Boss is currently based in the basement of this inn. D-Danna, I just want to confirm, are you really the bosss acquaintance?

Well, I wonder about that?

N-no way!

I was meant to bully them a bit, but it has developed into a situation where the three of them are crying as they cling to my legs. However, it doesnt make me happy to have rowdy me do that to me. Its just annoying.

Shish, you shouldnt lie like that, you know? Weve given them enough punishment before, right?

Sorry, Im getting carried away.

Even though it was a punishment, Haru just knocked them out in an instant. There would be some damage, but could it really count as a punishment?

A-Anego is so kind! Normally, we dont get treated kindly by a cute girl like this, so it penetrates our heart even more!

Hehehe, s-she is an angel

(T/N: Anego its usually used by delinquents or the likes to call their female superior. Google it for more details.)

Is this that a candy and a whip thing? It seems that Haru has already been recognized completely as a superior person to them, they are calling her anego. Also, Im worried whether the hehehe-man has awakened some kind of pleasure or not.

Well then, can anyone go ahead and talk to him? Im sure you can get through if you mention my name, Deris.

Ill do it. I just need to mention Deris-dannas name, right? Understood, please wait a bit.

I watched the knife-man dashed into the shabby inn and waited to see if he will obediently let us through. During this time, the two remaining men are treated like hostages, but they dont seem to think so in the slightest. As if they preferred strong girls, they are trying their best to explain the highlights of the slum to Haru.

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After a while, a large man, dressed very well thats unsuited for a slum, came out of the inn. When I look closely, I find his face somewhat familiar. Hes probably an executive-class guy, but Im not very good at remembering peoples faces, so I cant remember clearly. After silencing the newcomers with a glare, the man invited me and Haru to the inn.

When we enter the shabby inn, we can see that most of the contents are as shabby as expected. It the room that seems to be a bar, theres only a dirty round plate on top of a large barrel. Theres no waitress girl, only an old man at the counter. The air is dusty as well, perhaps due to poor ventilation.

This way.

The man goes his way to the back without paying attention to the old man. The destination was a room marked with Unauthorized Entry Prohibited. The old man did not seem to pay any attention to this. Maybe he is pretending that he did not see it, or maybe the old man is one of the people involved. If so, theres no need to restraint ourselves, even though we werent going to do so in the first place. We followed the man to the other side of this city, the deepest part of it.

After went through a hidden door that was under the carpet, he made us continue to walk around a similar path in an underground passage with a faint light. I guess hes trying to hide the underground structure by not going the shortest distance, but by taking a detour that makes it difficult to understand. As I recall, it was similar before.

It seems that Haru is not good with an artificial maze like this. Black smoke is coming out of her head as she desperately trying to remember the path. Shes fine with forest or mountain road which has a similar path, though. Thats Haru for you.

Please come in.

Kay.

Thank you very much.

We walked for about five minutes until we arrived at the last door. Haru going out of her way to bow and gives her thanks to the man that has a cold attitude. It might be her disposition as a Japanese person or might be just her habit. Anyway, I almost have no such thing since I was dyed by the color of this world.

Yo, Requiem. How are you?

I sure was fine until you came, Deris.

Even though its underground, the room is spacious and clearly well-maintained. The skinhead, who sat on the desk in the back center of the room and gave a stinging reply, was Requiem, the one we were looking for. Hes a nice guy who puts tattoos not only on his back, but also on his shining head to give off a sense of intimidation. By the way, I always think of wanting to be his friend since our ages are similar and hes somewhat convenient, but he seems to hate it. He sure is a shy guy.

Whats with that kid? You are not here to sell her, arent you?

?

Ah, no, I see. So its like that. I was thinking why you didnt go out with that knight leader, but to think that you have that kind of preference

Requiem, who made a thinking gesture while looking at Haru, convinced on his own.

Screw with that. Im sorry, but Ive done that exchange many times, so Im just going to ignore that. Shes my disciple, okay? My disciple.

Hmph, Ill leave it as that. Either way, Im not interested. Meeting face-to-face with you like this is just a whim, a minimum of adult manners. I wont go along with you more than this, Im busy even if

If I dont finish my business, Nell will come next time, you know?

!?

Requiems uninterested face stiffened. He gradually returned his gaze to me while his bodys joints creaking like a machine that had run out of oil.

W-well, my friend. Lets hear what your business is.

For people in the slum, the word Nell is a useful magic word that can make you befriend even with this boss with a frightening look. This was triggered by an incident that Nell once had in the slum, but thats another story. Well, as long as you see this reaction, you can almost imagine it. Yeah, I think youre pretty much got that right.

Did a group of young men came to this slum quarters in the last few days? Their ages are about the same as this girl.

A group of five, huh Tuds, do you know anything about it?

Requiem asked the large man who guided us. The large man, Tuds, crossed his arms, groaned for a bit, and then spoke out.

Three days ago, a girl came. I dont have any definite information yet, but it seems that the newcomer who joined the Ash Rope brought her as a souvenir. As I recall, there were several of them.

You heard him. Is that enough?

Thats not good enough. Where is that girl now?

Shes unconscious and we are keeping her safe for now. There were probably more girls being kidnapped. Well, we have a rough estimation of their number

Uh-oh, Tuds-san is surprisingly talented. He gave me the information I wanted right away.

Do you mind if I take care of that girl you are keeping safe? Also, give me that estimation of yours.

Hmph Originally, I was going to ask her and then send her home when she wakes up. Abducting normal people is completely crossing the line after all. Do whatever you want. But, dont do something that makes things worse for us, okay?

I know. I wont do something that will harm my friend.

Good Well, the behavior of those Ash Rope guys have been too far these days. If they continue to play with fire more than this, they may need to be punished severely.

Right. We cant say anything if such a hero appears conveniently.

Yeah, I think I can overlook some rough stuff. Damn it.

If we keep the Ash Rope in check on behalf of Requiem, its not a problem if some problems occur in the slum, huh Well, now that weve got Midnights permission, lets get going as soon as possible.