I Said Make My Abilities Average! (LN) - Volume 15 - Chapter 108

Chapter 108:

Annihilation

“INSIDE! Go!!”

It wouldn’t look good for the shop if these girls just stood there belting out heinous accusations—whether they were slanderous or true. When it came to gossip, the truth was irrelevant. Anything that made a good enough story would spread like wildfire—while gaining plenty of colorful embellishments along the way. It was equally certain that any attempt to publicly correct or erase these accusations would not gain nearly so much traction. 

Therefore, it was critical to stop these girls from speaking another word. 

“Fine,” said Reina, “but if we never emerge from this shop again, or our corpses turn up on the riverbank tomorrow morning, I’m sure everyone here will be able to testify to the culprit and send for the guards—isn’t that right, everyone?”

The onlookers nodded. The clerk also nodded, sweat pouring from his brow.

If anyone’s going to turn up on the riverbank, it’ll be him, not us! the members of the Crimson Vow thought, demure expressions disguising barely suppressed sneers. That’s if there’s anything left after we burn them to ash…

***

The girls were guided to a room inside the shop normally reserved for VIP customers. After a short wait, a rather portly fellow entered, accompanied by five other men. Apparently, there was not going to be any tea served.

“What is this about?” the rotund man asked, without any fanfare or introduction, slumping into a seat. Naturally, he would be the highest-ranking individual in the place, though it was unclear if he was the company’s president.

One of the other men seemed to be serving as his aide, with the other four acting as bodyguards. Apparently, they felt it was sufficient to have one bodyguard to deal with each of these four little girls. This would have been a safe judgment…were it not the Crimson Vow—or rather, the Order of the Crimson Blood—that they were dealing with.

It would be one thing if this meeting were happening at night. But for an upstanding merchant to be flanked by bodyguards throughout the entire day? That was a bit suspicious, especially because this was a particularly rough and seedy-looking bunch. You would think he would choose a slightly more respectable lot to bring before polite company. All things said and done, the four girls had to assume that these particular men had been selected specifically for the purposes of intimidation.

The four remained silent, offering no response to the man’s question.

“Say something!” the man shouted.

“Well,” Reina softly replied, “until we know who you are, I’m not sure how much we should be telling you. We can’t be sharing vital information with ignorant thugs.”

“Uh…”

Unable to refute this, the portly gentleman was momentarily lost for words. Seemingly to realize that Reina had a point, he decided to offer an introduction. Given that the girls had already come directly to this location, there was no point in concealing his name or title.

“I’m Oldyne, head clerk of the Eirral Company. Now then, tell me what this is about.”

Obviously, the top dog himself was not going to show his face simply for the benefit of some nobodies from nowhere. Still, if they had gotten as far as the head clerk at this initial meeting, the company clearly had no intent of dismissing the girls entirely. 

Despite the man’s lofty title, Reina was not about to bend to his will. 

“Listen, we’re the ones who came here to ask the questions. We’ve found you out—we know what you’ve been up to. And we have a few questions for you.”

Pauline backed her up. “We don’t want anything from you, just so you know. We’re only here to track down and retrieve the little girls who were abducted as slaves. That’s our job, and all you need to do is tell us whom you sold those little beastgirls to. If you can do that, we’ll leave you alone.”

The clerk sunk deep into thought. This was something he could work with. If they’d asked for damages or hush money, demanded the return of the girls, or said they were calling in the lords or the crown—then he’d have a problem on his hands. However, simply asking after the whereabouts of the children, with no follow-up action expected on the merchants’ part…

“Please wait a moment.”

The clerk stood and left the room, probably to discuss the matter with the company president. This was far too important a decision for a head clerk to be making independently.

***

Not long after, the clerk returned. 

“Thank you for waiting. I have received my employer’s permission to provide you with the details you requested. You see, we provided aid to a group of beastfolk children who left their homes in search of apprenticeships, owing to the poverty and famine running rampant in their village. Using an intermediary, who carried the appropriate letters, we gave these children recommendations as to where they might find employment. We can’t attest to what might have happened after that, but our own commercial activities were clean. Call it a form of charity—and know that we have no further connection to the matter.

“That said, on the off chance we were deceived, and our cooperation as an innocent third-party had some problematic side effects—we have decided to provide you a portion of our client’s details, which we would normally never divulge. To protect our reputation as merchants, you must not reveal—even to those named here—that we were the ones who provided you this information. As a further precaution, we will provide this information only verbally, not on paper—and only in hints, not in explicit terms. Is this amenable?”

The sudden shift in formality in the man’s speech likely indicated that the girls had been upgraded in status from “rookie female hunters here to pick a fight” to individuals whose favor the company sought to curry.

Pauline nodded, and then the clerk began to speak.

It was a successful negotiation.

***

After the exchange of information was complete, the Crimson Vow left the Eirral Company shop and made the rounds of the Hunters’ Guild, the guard barracks, and the Merchants’ Guild. As they went, they loudly proclaimed— 

“We are the Crimson Blood, passing through town on a job! We have come to hunt down the parties who abducted a number of young beastgirls from the neighboring kingdom with the intent of illicit enslavement! We have confirmed their locations from the Eirral Company and are now heading there! Incidentally, it was the third clerk of the Eirral Company who was in charge of this. The culprit himself was a Mr. Vedel, who was previously expelled from the Hunters’ Guild. This man has already been apprehended. Now then, we shall be taking our leave!”

None of this was false. They had not asked anything of the Eirral Company, and they had done nothing to them. They were merely stopping in at all the relevant places to make their introductions before heading out, like traveling hunters typically did. As promised, they had not revealed from whom they had received their intel. And the way they intoned their fake party name was purposely close to the real one—close enough that they could simply claim they had been misheard if accused of giving a false name.

After making this loud announcement in front of a good number of guild staff and civilians, the Order of the Crimson Blood hastily made their exit. 

No matter where they went, this bombardment of such inflammatory words as “beastfolk village,” “raids,” “young girls,” “slavery,” and “kidnapping” caused quite a stir behind them, but the girls ignored this and continued on their way.

Of course, they knew this would cause a stir. These were the sorts of dangerous words that could get the Merchants’ Guild in trouble or even put the local lord’s head on the chopping block—the latter being not a metaphorical threat but a literal one.

“Well, we’ll be passing through this town again on our way home. So if for some reason those merchants haven’t been punished by that time…” Reina bared her fangs with a wicked grin.

“There’s no way they wouldn’t be!” the others chimed, sneering. 

They weren’t wrong. The associates of the Merchants’ Guild, the upper brass among the guards, and the nobility would never wish to risk their own status and lives. Obviously, the Crimson Vow were not about to let anyone involved in this incident get away scot-free. They would not rest until they had not only rescued all of the beastfolk children but also ripped out every corrupt element at the roots. They would make it so that no one would even dare to attempt such a crime ever again. They would drill it into the criminals’ minds that the risks and drawbacks associated with the abduction of young girls—particularly young beastgirls—were far too great to tolerate.

***

“Next up is the fief of Count…something or other.”

“Yeah, obviously no one would be brave—or stupid—enough to bring any beastgirl slaves into the royal capital. They would have to leave them back at their mansions on their own home estates,” said Mavis.

“In the capital, it would be impossible to cover up any unexpected incidents. If word got out, it’d reach the ears of every lord, merchant, and royal official within a ten-mile radius in an instant. Easier to control the situation on your own home turf…” Pauline agreed.

The pair were correct. Bringing an illegal slave into the capital would be as smart as wrapping yourself in dynamite and lighting the fuse. As a result, the Crimson Vow were headed to the lands and estates owned by those lords and larger merchants who had purchased the beastgirls as slaves. 

Naturally, the Crimson Vow were not doing this with the intention of negotiating or buying the beastgirls back. With the exception of a few kingdoms, nowhere on the continent was chattel slavery—in other words, slavery based solely on one’s race or ethnicity, or one’s parents’ status as slaves—legal. The only legal kind of slavery that persisted in these regions was that which was at least theoretically self-inflicted—limited-term indenture as means of punishment or repayment of debts. Furthermore, according to the treaties of old, not only were humans forbidden from meddling with demi-humans, but they were also explicitly prohibited from taking advantage of them in this way. 

Though, of course, if the beastfolk were to perpetrate any criminal act, they would be apprehended and punished…

In any event, to kidnap young girls who were living peacefully in their own village and sell them into slavery was unthinkable—absolutely unthinkable.

And so, the members of the Crimson Vow felt absolutely justified in their decision to destroy every single trace of the offenders, without reservation, hesitation, or even the vaguest semblance of goodwill. Moreover, it didn’t matter if they lied to those offenders in the process. Keeping promises and shows of sincerity were only for those who deserved them. There was no need to keep a vow extracted under duress or coercion. Likewise, there was no point in continuing to dutifully play by the rules that the other side had already broken.

“Well then, let’s go! Crimson V—er, Blood, roll out!”

“All right!!!”

And so, the fiends from hell were once more on the march.

Fiends or…devils? No, even devils were a far kinder and more considerate sort.

***

“Seriously though, those hints about the buyers’ names were way too obvious…”

“I mean, they really did just as good as tell us everything. Calling it a ‘hint’ was only a precaution so that they can insist that they didn’t actually give up the names themselves. They just want to make sure they’ll be left out of any fallout.”

“As if that’ll happen…”

“Aha ha ha!”

Mile and Pauline laughed as the four walked down the road. Mavis listened in with a conflicted expression.

“Well, I mean, our goal here is to bring back the children. I didn’t imagine that any intermediaries would be any of our concern. They aren’t the beastfolk who hired us or the perpetrators, after all. Of course, I suppose you couldn’t blame us if we chose to interpret our mandate a little more broadly…”

In point of fact, they were merely a party of hunters who had taken a job, so all they ought to be doing was the job they had been hired to do. If that job was specifically to rescue the children, then that was all they would do. If they had to fight some hired goons in the process, they would do so. But there was no sense in purposely stirring up trouble for merchants from another kingdom—particularly ones who’d positioned themselves as a cooperative, innocent third party and offered up the necessary information alongside semi-plausible excuses. That said, the perpetrators had already been caught and had sold out their employers, so the merchants’ claims of innocence weren’t worth much…

Still, this was ostensibly a job for a rogue, unlicensed party, independently hired by Mile. Because they were an unlicensed party, this was a contract executed directly between client and hunters, with no Guild involvement. Thus, the Order of the Crimson Blood were bound only by the specifications of the job as given by their client and by the laws of the land. Given that their client was Mile, and that the aim of their job was to apprehend a group of felons, everything they had planned fell well within the acceptable parameters.

“Oh, Mr. Noble, I’m so scared! There’s a big crowd coming here to kill you!”

“Here she goes talking nonsense again…”

“It’s Hiroko-chan! Her debut work! I can prove it!!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

In her usual fashion, Mile was spouting nonsense that no one else understood—though in this case, she really should have known better. Her joke had so many layers that barely anyone in modern-day Japan would have been able to get it…

“Whatever! Let’s just get going! I mean, I doubt it’d make much of a difference in this town if it got out that we were tracing the route of illegal slavers. Plus, I’m sure that those merchants would rather not have it known that they sold out the buyers to save their own hides, so they aren’t going to go proactively contacting them and letting them know that we’re coming…not that they’ll have much time to do that anyway. They’re probably already inundated with their own problems after the little show we put on. Getting in touch with the buyers at a time like this would be as good as suicide, and rumors can’t spread so fast that word of our investigations would have beat us here. At least, not given how quickly the four of us can move from point A to B at full speed.

“Rumors don’t spread in a straight line,” Reina continued. “Not unless someone goes out of their way to share intel with another party specifically. We can move much more quickly than any merchant caravan, which is the main mechanism for information getting spread from town to town. All of which is to say, we should try and move quickly, but I don’t think we have much to worry about.”

The other three nodded.

Based on what they had learned at the shop, they had been able to confirm three separate transactions involving the beastgirls. That matched up with what they had learned at the village as well, which meant the man at the shop had probably been telling the truth. After all, he had every reason not to deceive them after what they had shouted in front of all those people, about how they should look out for the Crimson Vow’s disappearance and that, should this party go missing, not only would a new party be hired, but also that new party would be able to swiftly find out when and where their predecessors had last been seen. Were that to happen, the merchants would most certainly be outed as suspects in the mass murder of a group of beautiful young girls and face swift retaliation from the Hunters’ Guild before the investigation into the kidnappings was even properly underway. Clearly, deception was a no-go for the company. Plus, if they were to offer up false intel, the girls would very quickly figure this out and protest accordingly, not to mention making sure their names came up in conversation with the guards, which would result in a hard interrogation. No, lying to the Crimson Vow simply would not do.

Typically, Pauline and Reina would have employed their patented method of asking the same questions over and over, trying to exert psychological pressure to wring out any inconsistencies in the answers they received. But knowing that the merchants would have had no other choice but to tell the truth, Pauline had not even bothered to press on the man’s every word. 

“Well, we kept our promise. We didn’t lie. We’re just going places to make our introductions. So, there’s nothing for us to worry about—that is, outside of making sure that all of the evildoers have been dealt with by the time we get back. For now, our first stop is that backwater count’s estate. Let’s mosey!”

“All right!!!”

No matter how reckless or lawless a hunter might be, they still minded their manners when it came to dealing with nobility—assuming that they did not wish to risk their own lives unnecessarily or purposely make enemies of people of influence. The Crimson Vow were no different, and even Reina, normally on the foul-mouthed side, knew when it was time to be on her best behavior. 

However, that was only the case when said noble was acting normally and sensibly. If Reina was angered, all bets were off. She could be face-to-face with a king himself and it would make no difference. It would be the Eternal Force Blizzard for him—certain death.

***

“So these are the lands of Count Greynark.”

The Order of the Crimson Blood had arrived at their first destination.

“Let’s find ourselves an inn.”

Naturally, they weren’t stupid enough to head straight to the lord’s manor first thing without conducting any investigation.

“Huh? But the manor is right there…”

At least, most of them weren’t that stupid.

“Are you kidding me?! We have to find out what this guy’s reputation is like and collect some evidence! We have to figure out what to do if the lord himself isn’t actually a bad person, and this was just the work of some idiot son or unscrupulous vassal. Imagine if we only found that out after the fact…”

“Ah.”

Mile tended to lose sight of the bigger picture when it came to little beast-eared girls, but even she had to recognize the logic in Reina’s argument. So, the Order of the Crimson Blood secured themselves a room at an inn and headed to the Hunters’ Guild to collect intel.

“What a shame the clerk isn’t a little beastgirl…” Mile sighed. 

“Not every inn has one of those!” The more Mile groused, the angrier Reina got. “We’ve only ever stayed at one inn like that!”

“I mean…”

Mile was quite persistent.

“There aren’t even that many little beastgirls to go around in the first place! They’re rare enough that they’re worth kidnapping, aren’t they?!” Reina added.

“Well, I guess th-that’s true…”

The four stopped in at the guild hall, checking the information and job boards out of habit but finding nothing of note. Since they were pretending to be on a pilgrimage or training mission, they didn’t stop to greet everyone in the building. Outside of such journeys, the only reason for a group of non-local hunters to be stopping in would be if a job brought them here or if they were relocating for some reason—all unrelated things they wouldn’t be asking questions about.

If they were clearly a fresh new party, there might be a meddler or two. Hecklers, other hunters extending party invitations, inviting them to dinner or looking for a little gossip. However, from the way they were checking the boards, their well-worn gear, and their brazen manner, it should have been clear that the Crimson Vow knew what they were doing—despite being a party formed entirely of young ladies, with some children in tow. There wasn’t a soul around who’d misread the cues. Therefore, the only hunters who would bother talking to these girls were…

“Hey there, little ladies! This your first time in town? There’s lots we can teach ya, if ya like! Lots. Ga ha ha ha!”

Brave men, idiots, or both.

***

“Soooooo, anyway!”

“Hmm…”

Mavis performed her two-cut version of her copper cutter trick, Mile used her fingers to bend another copper piece into quarters, Reina let off some explosive fireballs…and Pauline just sat there, smiling until it was all over. Though she had not shown off any magic, her mood was dark enough that her smile alone could send the men running…

The five men, now having gotten the full picture, helpfully told the Crimson Blood all they wanted to know through strained smiles—all while treating them to juice and snacks at the hall’s refreshment corner. The other hunters present and the staff on the other side of the reception counter watched with equally strained expressions.

The girls completely ignored the awkwardness. They were more than accustomed to it by now. 

What they were able to ascertain from the men unfortunate enough to be on the hook for their refreshments—or rather, fortunate enough to be blessed with the Crimson Vow’s company—was: 

“The count is a wasteful womanizer…”

“He taxes the people as much as he can within the national limits—a full sixty percent…”

“He’s arrogant and considers himself above the people…”

“And he’s quick to enact violence against his constituents…”

“So, your standard noble.”

Indeed, the count was the perfect archetype of a nobleman.

***

“Well, now we know that the lord here is a completely run-of-the-mill noble—in other words, a villain!”

“Whoa there! All we know is that he’s an archetypal noble. He may be egotistical and greedy, but we don’t know that he’s evil or criminal, or even worthy of a formal denunciation. If we go barging into his mansion now, we’ll just be breaking and entering!”

“That’s true…”

Mavis and Reina put the brakes on Mile’s shortsighted thinking.

“He’s certainly not a good person, but he’s still within the bounds of what might be considered acceptable for your typical noble. We don’t have enough information to take him down without even a trial.”

“And we can’t do any investigations like the members of those spy clans or cat-eyed sisters from Mile’s stories.”

“That would take way too long. But what to do?”

Pauline, Reina, and Mavis sank deep into thought.

“Why don’t we just go to his estate and find out about this man for ourselves?” Mile proposed.

“Mile…”

“Mile…”

“Mile, that’s…”

“A perfect idea!!!”

Anyone who believed that the Crimson Vow would not be stupid enough to go barging into a lord’s home without doing any investigation was sorely mistaken. 

***

“So, here we are at the manor!” Mile announced.

“Let’s knock!” Reina reached for the door knocker.

It was no palace, and there were rarely even guards stationed outside of a regional lord’s mansion. Of course, there were guards on the grounds, but there was no reason to keep some decorative doormen standing outside just for the sake of keeping up appearances—what a waste of budget. Instead, the guards would be on standby inside the house, with the task of attending to visitors normally left to the other manor staff.

Typically, less official visitors, such as hired workers or people who had business with the staff, would use the back door, but naturally, the Crimson Bloods walked straight up to the front. Their business was with the count himself, not with any of his attendants, so it was only to be expected that they enter through the most official channel. There was nothing odd about this…as far as the four of them were concerned, anyway.

After a few noisy raps of the doorknocker, an elderly member of the staff appeared. He was likely a butler, the highest position one could hold next to the chief steward. 

Other than those visitors who had appointments, there were a wide range of individuals who might appear at the front door unannounced: emissaries from the palace, messengers from other noble households, couriers sent by the masters of the Merchants’ or Hunters’ Guilds, and various suspicious sorts. As such, it required both insight and prudence to avoid offending important visitors, while completely shutting out the conspicuous ones without too much fuss. This was not the sort of duty that could be left to any random maid.

“Who might you all be? Do you have an appointment?”

Naturally, the man already knew that they did not. Any butler worth his salt would be able to determine that.

“We’re hunters. We were hired for a job and came to inquire about a young beastgirl slave who was purchased by the…”

Ding-da-ding-da-ding…

Mavis’s cheery greeting was interrupted by the sound of a bell—one the butler seemed to have been hiding behind his back. Apparently, this was a signal for the guards.

“I will go and check in with the master. Please wait here.”

Clearly, the butler was merely saying the right words to buy time for the guards to round the mansion from the back door and get into position, likely to capture the girls before they could even enter the house.

They’re preparing to fight! Mavis signaled silently behind her back. Of course, the others were already prepared for any surprise attack. They had knocked at the door merely so that they could say they had at least made an official inquiry and requested an audience. It was fine if they were turned away at the gate. This did not impede their plans.

Still, attacking and capturing them without warning simply because they had mentioned “a young beastgirl” was truly outrageous. Even for a noble, this was obviously criminal behavior. It was clear any ordinary visitors who faced the count’s guards would meet a tragic fate—but it was quite different when the visitors in question were the mysterious party, the Order of the Crimson Blood…

Things are moving along swiftly, thought the girls. Perfect!!!

***

“Please, follow me,” said the butler.

“Huh?” 

The four were puzzled when, after a short wait, they were ushered into the mansion. No guards appeared from within, and there was no sign of the surprise attack for which they had braced themselves. 

“What’s going on?” 

“How should I know?” 

There was little point in this whispered conversation.

“Someone is definitely going to jump us from the shadows, or they’re gonna put poison in our tea, or something like that! Maybe not a lethal poison but a paralyzing one, so they can get us to talk!” Pauline argued.

“Of course…” the other three muttered.

In this situation, it was only natural that the nobles would want to know who had hired the girls and how much information had gotten out about them and their wrongdoings. As such, there was no point in causing a big scene at the entrance to the mansion and attracting the attention of the neighbors, damaging the expensive front door and the surrounding furnishings, and letting their guards be gravely wounded for no good reason. The usual procedure here was probably to let the visitors in as requested and wait until they let their guards down. And so, the four hunters were on high alert, particularly when passing before doorways or rounding corners, not letting their attention waver for a second…all except for Mile.

Of course, Mile was on her guard, too. She would never hesitate to go all out if they were to end up in a situation where her friends were in danger. However, she had been running her search magic constantly since they first entered, so she knew that there were no attackers waiting for them, and as a result, she was not especially worried. 

The butler stopped in front of a door and knocked gently.

“Your guests have arrived.”

“Enter!”

It was impressive that they would still be introduced as guests when they were nothing but a group of commoners who had turned up without an appointment, spouting ridiculous things about enslaved beastgirls. In terms of social standing alone, they were the lowest of the low: rookie hunters. It would have been another matter if they were the owners of a wealthy mercantile firm, but they were truly in no position to be treated as respectable visitors. Thus, they expected to be met with coarse treatment and a bit of snobbery. Given the status of the person they were dealing with, some self-importance might even be justified.

They likely would not have even been let inside the mansion if the count was not plotting something. Thus, it was more than obvious to the girls that a plot was afoot…

When the door opened, the four were greeted by the sight of a heavy-set middle-aged man with thinning hair, sitting in an expensive-looking chair on the opposite side of a large table. Standing to his sides were three men who appeared to be bodyguards. That was one less than the number of members of the Crimson Blood, but they seemed to have determined that this would still allow them to exert sufficient force against a group of four ladies, two of whom were less than twenty and the other two of whom did not even appear to be of age.

Plus, even if they were one man short, the count would surely have assumed he could handle a single little girl on his own. No matter how out of shape he looked, as the eldest son of a noble household, he would have received some measure of sword training in his youth, and though he appeared unarmed, he could easily have a weapon hidden under the table or elsewhere.

“Hm. Four beautiful ladies, as I was told. You may sit now.”

It was unclear if he had agreed to meet them because it was part of some greater strategy or simply because he had heard they were all young women. At least he did seem ready to talk.

The girls sat down silently. They all wore unnatural expressions, as though purposely trying to appear calm. They were perhaps rather pleased at being called “beautiful.” Given the count’s status, there was no need for him to ply them with empty flattery, and given his tone, he certainly wasn’t trying to curry their favor. They could only assume his compliment was genuine, and no matter how foul of a person he might have been, it never felt bad to receive some genuine praise. Even if those words came with filthy strings attached…

There were four chairs, one for each of them, on the far side of the table from where the count was sitting. Moving from a seated position to a fighting stance took humans a bit of time. Furthermore, with the table in the way, they would be unable to take any direct swings at the count, and if they tried to move around the obstacle to attack, the guards who flanked him on both sides could easily block them.

In other words, asking the girls to sit was primarily a security measure, not a sign of consideration for these commoners who had come to call.

They took their seats fully aware of this. Honestly, the obstacle posed by the table didn’t mean much to the Crimson Blood, who had silent casting and spirit power on their sides. Everyone but Mavis had defensive spells in her arsenal, and Mavis was more than capable of standing and drawing her blade in the time it took the bodyguards to round the table and do the same.

“Now,” said the count languidly, “what business could you fledgling hunters possibly have with a nobleman such as myself?” Though he would certainly have been informed of what had been said at the entrance to his mansion, he did not so much as acknowledge it. 

“Well, you see, good sir,” said Pauline, “there is the matter of the enslaved beastperson that we hear you have purchased…” 

When it came to a battle of words, no one was better suited to the task than Pauline. No one else was quite as adept at using sweet words to prevent any premature belligerence from a noble. If it were left up to Mavis, she probably would have addressed the man as a fellow noble, but in this case, that would not do. It was up to Pauline to be properly obsequious.

“A beast slave, you say? I know nothing of this! It would be quite a scandal if such a person did exist. What could you possibly be thinking, barging into a nobleman’s home and leveling such dreadful accusations without a single shred of truth? Have you any idea what it is you are implying?”

Apparently, this man was prepared to feign ignorance to the last. Pauline flicked her eyes over to Mile, who subtly moved her head up and down—the sign for continue.

With her search magic, Mile could detect any signs of life in the area and determine the category of target she had found with some certainty, such as if they were a human or elf or demon…or a beastperson. In other words, her sign was an indication that she had located a beastperson somewhere in the mansion. Therefore…

“Yes, we do. And we have confirmation that there is a beastgirl on the premises,” Pauline persisted. Neither of the other three moved a muscle.

Now then, what would the count do?

This is where you raise your hand and call for the teacher, Mile thought.

“Ah, yes!” the count suddenly said, voice stilted. “Do bring Lilia to me.”

“Right away, sir.”

No matter how ill-tempered the man was, it was good to see he still showed some slight decorum towards his servants.

If you were rude to someone as high-ranking as a butler, I bet they’d spread all sorts of nasty rumors about you, or leak information to your enemies, or even get you taken out in your sleep… Mile thought. In truth, a betrayal by staff members was much less common than she imagined. This was less due to loyalty than the fact that servants’ whole families might be executed if they were caught in the act, leaving them unwilling to risk the danger.

The butler returned in less than a minute, with a boy of roughly six or seven in tow. The boy wore incredibly fine attire, which clearly distinguished him as a nobleman’s heir, and held the hand of a girl who might have been four or five years old. The girl’s dress was not quite as expensive-looking but still looked like something a fairly well-off commoner might wear—and atop her head were a pair of cat ears.

“Whaaa?” the members of the Order of the Crimson Blood exclaimed.

From the looks of her, the girl was in excellent health—her hair fluffy and cheeks plump, not a single scratch on her. She wore a bright and friendly smile on her face. There was no way the count’s servants could have changed her clothing and fixed up her hair in such a short amount of time, which had to mean that this was her normal condition.

Pauline, unsure of what to make of this, spoke a bit hesitantly. “U-um, you are…Sherry, correct? Your parents and the other villagers are worried about you. We’re here to take you back to the vil—”

“Noooooo! I don’t wanna go back there! I’m gonna live heeeeeeeere!!!” the girl shrieked.

“What the heck?!?!” Pauline, Reina, Pauline, and Mavis all screamed back.

“Wh-wh-wh-what’s going on here?!” Reina asked the count, utterly bewildered.

“What do you mean? Can you not see for yourself? This girl was brought to me by a merchant, who said there had been an issue with the employer who was supposed to take on this young beastchild as apprentice. He said that she had been left without a place to go. It would be one thing if she were human, but it could be quite risky for any less-than-savory individuals to get their hands on a beastchild. There are a lot of human supremacists and people of peculiar predilections in this world. 

“It wouldn’t do to have any trouble—regarding an issue of such dire import, no less—arise within my lands, and so, we took her in. Her parents were paid fifty years of wages in advance, on the understanding that they might keep the funds even if she were to die or have an accident, and they took the money with no regard to how their daughter might be treated. The whole thing was akin to trafficking, which is as good as slavery. We took her in as a servant-in-training after bargaining with the merchants, who wanted to charge a small fortune simply because she was a beastchild. For now, she is merely a playmate for my son.”

Presently, the girl was cowering behind the boy’s back as the boy glared at the group of hunters before them.

Mile scrutinized the girl with her extraordinary powers of sight and saw that she had not a bruise or scratch anywhere on her face or limbs. And judging by her behavior, she appeared to trust the count’s son fully.

“You’ll never take Lilia!” the boy spat valiantly. “I would give my life to protect her! Lilia makes me happy!”

“I don’t wanna go home! I hate that place! There’s never any food or anything to do in that house, and my parents love all my brothers better than me just because I’m a girl!!”

The count watched over both of them, nodding in agreement.

The members of the Order of the Crimson Blood, meanwhile, were stunned silent at the spectacle.

“Wh-what is going on here…?”

“Beastfolk are even more brazen about their chauvinism than elves. They tend to have a lot of children, so they are relatively lax in their care of them. When there are a lot of boys, it’s difficult for the girls,” Mavis, the most well read of the four, explained. The other three were flabbergasted.

“So are we…the villains here?” Pauline softly asked. 

To which Mile screamed, “We’re innocent! Objection! Overruled!!!”

Later, they examined Lilia’s back and limbs for signs of any scars. Lilia—or rather, Sherry, as she was known back in the village—seemed to be in perfect health. (Apparently, the merchants had given her a new name, which one might take as a clear sign that they had no intention of ever bringing her back.) After penning what began as a scathing message from Lilia to her family—one for which Mavis gently suggested some kinder wording—the Order of the Crimson Blood decided to take their leave. Before that, however…

“Please forgive us!!!” 

All four sincerely apologized to the count.

***

“I’m glad he forgave us…”

“Yeah, that could have gone really badly if not.” 

After a bit more discussion with the nobleman, Mile soon became aware that the count and his wife were of the same ilk as her: beastgirl lovers. Not in a sinister sense—they truly did adore them. If not, the count would never have purposely taken in a beastchild to care for at his own residence. He could just as easily have sent her off to an orphanage or to the home of some commoner.

Meanwhile, the count’s son gave the strong impression of someone with a childhood sweetheart he intended to someday wed, which the count seemed to fully approve of. Of course, a beastgirl could never be an heir’s main wife, but that would have been the same for any commoner, beastgirl or not. She could be kept on as a mistress, and though her offspring would not be in line for the peerage, they could still be raised alongside the main wife’s children and serve as the heir’s bodyguards—bodyguards of heightened physical prowess and unwavering loyalty. 

Plus, should they ever need to do business or negotiate with any beastfolk in the future, the family would have a built-in liaison. And letting a beastperson guard his heir would win the count points for open-mindedness from other races (save for the human supremacists). 

Finally, not being in the line of succession would save any future beastfolk children from facing the main wife’s suspicion or malice. If they played their cards right, they could even have a close relationship.

In other words, Lilia’s future was looking quite bright. At the very least, it was looking far better than that of the other girls still living in that chauvinistic village, or that of the lowest-ranked hunters, which already was one of the basest professions around…

“I would never have guessed what turned the count’s mood around would be getting excited about beastgirls with Mile, though…”

Pauline, Mavis, and Reina all seemed relieved, but Mile shrugged. “I mean, if we had gotten into a fight, it would have been them against the party called the Crimson Blood, right? If anything went wrong, we could have run away at top speed!”

The other three stared at her silently. Mile truly was far too naive.

“Well, it is true that there is no party named the Order of the Crimson Blood actually registered to the guild and no record of this job being either issued or accepted,” said Mavis. “We claimed that we were on a job as though we had accepted it through the guild, but Mile actually hired us independently, no guild involved. We were careful to talk around it, so nothing we said was actually a lie. But still…”

“If anything did happen, the guild would not intervene or come to our aid…” Reina continued.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with taking on an independent request, and they were not in violation of any guild regulations. It was just that, should anything happen, the guild would wash their hands of it, for better or for worse.

In such endeavors you reaped what you sowed, both in terms of risk and reward.

***

“Well, we’ve now reached the fief where the second child was sold, but…”

“Mile,” said Reina, “Why is it every time we arrive in a new town you make some announcement, like you’re explaining the story to someone? Does it have something to do with that promise you mentioned before?”

“It’s fiiiiiine! Nothing to worry about!” said Mile, evading the subject.

“I really hope that it’s an evil noble this time,” Pauline sighed.

“Well, I mean, that’s not the best situation for the beastchild or the noble’s subjects…” Mavis said with a grimace.

Pauline’s wish was not one that any noble would have approved of. 

“Anyway, let’s go and get a feel for the situation, like last time. Even if that lord was a total sleazebag, he did turn out to have a bit of a feti—er, passion?—er, generosity for beastfolk children. Doing some preliminary investigation is key,” Reina noted. 

The other three nodded in agreement. Indeed, the count they had just dealt with was by no measure a good person. He was merely keeping a little beastgirl as a glorified pet, a playmate for his son, with no concern about the possibility of her later being bound to the boy as a lover. It wasn’t hard to find people who were kind to their family and pets, even if they were otherwise trash. Even Braiking Boss, the wickedest of wicked, was still sweet on Swanee…

But surely, the same situation would not occur twice.

The Order of the Crimson Blood followed their usual pattern—checking in at an inn, before heading to the guild hall to gather intel.

***

“Another one following the tempura…” Pauline muttered.

“Template, Pauline, template! Tempura is a tasty food!” Reina corrected.

Both words were frequently used by Mile in her bedtime stories, so the other members of the party were aware of their meanings. Still, one could not blame them for mistaking the two. To them, they were both easily confused foreign terms—little more than auditory nonsense.

At any rate, their investigations had revealed that the viscount who was lord of these lands was your cookie-cutter small-time petty noble. Nothing more to be said at this point. However…

“Is it gonna be all right this time?” asked Mavis, turning to Mile. The question made sense, given this was so far following very much the same pattern as last time.

“How should I know?!” Mile shouted back with a pout.

Even Mile couldn’t answer this question based on the information at hand.