Transition to Another World, Landmines Included

"Oh, is that the case? If that's the case, that's what's on there. It's a reward for results, so you don't need to go through the process."

What the receptionist showed to the Natsukis who visited the guild the following day was a single request form affixed to the corner of the bulletin board.

It says there the names and characteristics of the missing daughters, and where they were last witnessed.

The reward amount is 100 pieces of gold if found safely.

As a request with no rank limit, it's quite expensive.

"Results reward, is it?

"Yes, because that's not a request like 'go out there and find me,' because if some party gets monopolized, it can take too long and it's too late. Is it like a kind of bounty? Well, conversely, there are times when you don't have a party to eagerly look for... but that depends on your client"

Can you only take a degree of interest in whether you are eager to find it so that no other party can get you ahead of you, or if you can find it at the end of something?

That will depend on luck and circumstance, but this request was made a few days after it went missing.

It's been about two months already and so far, at least, it doesn't seem to be leading to any good results.

"For once, I also keep the sketches, do you see them?

"Yes, please"

"Er... here it is"

That being said, the sketches that the receptionist had put out, although technically somewhat awkward, were usually photographic objects.

Is it a charcoal painting? It is drawn in a single color and is not as shown in the photograph, but it can grasp enough features. "Fine, you're a pretty girl."

"Yep. Looks like you were a reputable billboard daughter in your neighborhood. Many of you know my face, so I thought I'd find it sooner..."

Because they often had store numbers at their parents' stores, they knew each other a lot, and although the witness testimony gathered quite a bit, they didn't have any definitive information about where they disappeared.

Most of all, even if there are adventurers who are grasping powerful information, they can't tell the receptionist about it.

I know you want your client to share information and work it out quickly, but if you do that, other adventurers might run you out.

It's only natural, in a way, to keep it a secret.

It would be different if, like the Japanese police bounty, it was also distributed by the usefulness of the information, but it would be difficult if the guild did not compartmentalize so well.

"In the meantime, shall I photograph it"

"Natsuki, can you do it?

"I don't have the skill to paint a sketch well, but I don't know how to model it. Even if you don't have the artistic skills, you can do so if you work carefully."

"Like, nuts are usually paintings, they're good, right? Didn't you get some kind of award when you were in middle school?

"When you say an award, it's not something you can be proud of. I've learned to paint, so I was just a little more skilled than the others."

Natsuki is right, the award she took was a simple competition for middle school students, so it's never like being an artist or anything, but there's no doubt that her arm is still above the average person.

Natsuki, who borrowed a sketch from the receptionist, sits at the table and lays it aside, photographing it, but the work is quite good.

Toya peeking in from behind also leaks her voice "ho" as impressed.

"You can do it if you get used to it, about this. If you draw the border and take the area, the balance won't be so bad."

"But, Natsuki, you didn't draw the border, did you?

"You're used to it there. I can't even paint it on the original picture. I hope it's also a transparent sheet..."

Sometimes it wasn't originally a painting that much, and Natsuki tells such a story, but finishes copying it in less than an hour.

It is quite an object that can be made, and although it is modeled quite accurately, subtle modifications have also been made. If you are referring to its creation as a picture, the picture drawn by Natsuki is higher.

"I've tried to fix something a little unnatural... I just want to show someone who knows who I am and ask them for their opinion"

She returned the borrowed painting to the receptionist and corrected her own painting. It was Natsuki, who had begun her painting. However, she had never seen her face before and could not determine whether it was similar.

"Once you know who you are, why don't you go check it out?

"That's not bad either -"

"Hey, you guys. Are you gonna look for him?

On Natsuki's suggestion, when Toya tried to snort, there was a man who spoke to block the words.

At the end of the gaze of the Natsukis, who looked back, was a slightly indelible man of middle-aged age.

I would not have gone that far with my actual age, but I look old because of my beard and my expression as if I was tired of life.

"Yes, yes, but what about you?

"When it stops. He's my prey."

The man does not answer Natsuki's question, he says that and laughs with his nose, but even to his reaction, Natsuki returns the words without showing how he cares in particular.

"We have received a request from our lord. Yes, well, you can't stop it."

"... Shit. It's too late to get involved now. Don't interrupt."

To Natsuki's words, the man gave the look of a scuffled bitter bug, but probably because of the word that he was being requested by his lord.

When I tongued him and left the throwaway dialogue, he left the Adventurer Guild building early enough as it was.

"He, have you been investigating? Seems like it could be solved, so you restrained it so it wouldn't get sidetracked? - How about around there? Receptionist sister."

"Uh-huh, that would be nice, but that guy said something similar about a month ago, right?

It was a bitter laugh that the receptionist returned to Yuki, who dropped off the man's back and spoke to the receptionist about it.

"So you don't have much eye for eye? As far as we're concerned, I'm not sticking to 100 gold coins, so if he can fix it, that's fine..."

"Looks like you're definitely investigating it, though."

"I think I have some clues that it's going on for so long... If you can't find anything, you must be holding back."

Two months after the request was made.

It was only at first that several groups of parties expressed interest and many confirmed the sketches, most of which, after some number of days had elapsed, appeared to no longer be seriously investigating them by taking another request.

In that regard, Natsuki's prediction that the man in question would still be interested in the request so much as advising Natsuki after two months that he would be holding back if no progress was made.

"Uh... that guy, is he alone? Aren't you throwing a party or something?

"Yes, Mr. Goods, alone. Daily work is usually the main thing in the first place, and I can only contract things that are easy to ask for."

A receptionist who talks about personal information to Yuki.

There is no hesitation there at all.

That's one of the reasons Natsuki's words show that they're moving at the Lord's request, but their rank is also relevant.

For pinning, the nuts are classified as high ranked.

I naturally remember if I am a receptionist, though I have at least fewer high-ranking adventurers to visit than that.

If it is to be congratulated on the wooden adventurer and the high rank, but also the memory of the lord, it is self-evident which, as an organization, will prevail.

"Well, I don't need a reward, so why don't you ask for help? Uh, Mr. Goods? He won't be strong enough, either."

"Oh, isn't that good? Adventurers who don't usually fight in the first place. Even if we find the kidnapper, if it's a fight, it's bad for you."

It was Toya who immediately endorsed Yuki's proposal.

It's a little unfortunate not to get paid, but it's also a trivial thing in front of the reality that the investigation has never progressed.

Because from him, hunting and selling demons in dungeons is so much easier than doing such a nasty thing.

"Are you sure? If you can just get the information out, if even the lead soldiers can bring it in, I think Mr. Goods will talk to you, too. He's not going to go against the lord either."

A receptionist who says something quite tight, but Yuki and Natsuki shook their heads when they smiled bitterly at it.

"Uh, that's just pathetic, isn't it? We're adventurers, too, and we're using our power."

"Right. Let's go in peace. Does Mr. Goods come to the Adventurer Guild often?

"Yes. You show your face almost every day, at least once every few days. Looks like he's listening or something."

"I understand. Okay, I'll see you tomorrow. I'll come and talk to you. Thank you for everything."

"No. Good luck. Because we are no longer human resources than we are living in this town."

"Yes, you'll do your best."

The Natsukis, who followed the guild, then showed a photocopied sketch of the Natsukis to the people around the house, not the family of the sketch daughter - to see if they were properly alike.

What I didn't show my family was, of course, taking that mood into account.

By the way, all the reactions of the person who showed the sketch were, 'Very similar. There is no mistake ", so the Natsukis decided that there was no problem.

It had fallen for a long time, and that was where the investigation was completed and he returned to the Lords' Hall.

◇ ◇ ◇

The man who came out of the Adventurer's Guild to escape half way from the Natsukis was walking pretty fast down the alley to a certain place.

The look floats with frustration and agitation, and I can't even feel room for walking.

"Damn it! Come by now and shake your lord's power!

From Natsuki's point of view, I just told the facts, I didn't mean to wield any power at all or anything, but the impression of the man was different.

In fact, if the Lord's orders tell you to 'tell me all the information you know', you cannot remain silent from a man's point of view.

Of course, you'll be able to lie or hide information, but if you do that, you won't be able to accomplish the request later and receive the reward.

If you're investigating a case, it won't be convenient for the lord not to know about it, and then the information the man told you and how he acted will be a problem.

"I'm not kidding. We've been spending almost two months here, haven't we? You can't afford to get paid now!

It was in an alley that he stopped.

A man who keeps his back on the wall of a building beside him and peeks out of it onto the front street.

Before he turned his gaze like that, there was a private house, a little bigger than around.

A building surrounded by walls slightly higher than the height of an adult and also with a garden.

From home, there is no doubt that it is wealthier than ordinary people, but it can be seen that its garden, visible from the gap between the gates, is somewhat poorly maintained and cannot afford to hire specialist craftsmen.

The man kept the house under surveillance, but the sun began to fall with no movement whatsoever, and the sound of the last bell echoes the town that day.

"There is only no movement today...... Fuck off!"

When he spits abominably on the ground, the man puts his hands on his mouth and moves his fingertips with frustration.

"I was going to gather some more information... do I have to"

When the man said so, he left the scene once, and when he returned after a while, he wrapped a cloth around his head and hid his face.

And wait for the area to be completely dark, making sure there are no people around.

I carefully overcame the walls of the house to avoid making any noise.

And when he used some kind of tool to open the door at the back door, he disappeared into the house.