Mushoku Tensei (WN) - Volume 3 - Chapter 29

Mushoku Tensei:Web Chapter 29 - Baka-Tsuki 
Well, it's time for the interrogation to begin. 
Who should I interrogate first, the man or the woman? 
The bug-eyes woman looks quite frightened and she is desperately making muffled cries, wanting to escape from us. Looking at that frightened expression is truly stimulating...... but I will leave that aside. 
If I remove her gag, she will start screaming and every word that comes out from her is going to be incoherent. 
If she is to be interrogated, it is best to calm her down a little before doing so. 
The lizard-face man over there has a face that is difficult to analyze, and I am unclear to what his expression means when his face changes. 
I only feel that he is somehow turning pale. 
He meticulously observes his surroundings and our various expressions in turn. I am certain he is contemplating deeply on how to survive from here. 
Ruijerd is repenting on how things had transpired and ended up killing someone. It's easy to speak to a simplistic person. 
Preferably, it should be better if I question both the man and woman after removing their gags right? 
I'll move one of them to another room and separately cross-examine them, and then compile the information later on. 
Alright, I'll do this. 
[Eris, please watch over that woman.] 
[I got it.] 
Eris gives a strong nod. 
I bring the man to the corridor, and I get Ruijerd to assist me since I am unable to hold him up by myself. I bring him to a place in the corridor where sound will not be able to transmit over, and I carefully remove the gag in order not to get bitten by him. 
[Please answer my questions.] 
[I, I'll talk, I'll tell you everything, please don't kill me.] 
[Very good, I'll let you off if you tell me.] 
[E, eek--!] 
I smile in order to assure him but he becomes frightened. I thought that he is a calm person but it seems that it is not the case. 
[Where did the animals in this house come from?] 
[W, we picked them up.] 
[Wo~~ah, that's amazing! Then...... where did you pick them up from?] 
[No, that's........] 
His eyes wander everywhere, looking at me first, then at Ruijerd. Is he still trying to lie? 
[I, it's around here.....] 
His lying skills are terrible. I thought that he looked clever from his expression but it seems that he is not. 
[I see! The animals are raining down everywhere in the city! .......... You bastard, are you treating me like an idiot because I look like a child?] 
I threaten him a little. 
[N, not at all.] 
It is still not working. Using this body to threaten someone feels really foolish. I am only ten years old after all. Oh well, I will threaten him a little more. 
[Explosion.] 
A snapping sound emits from my finger, and at the same time a mini explosion happens in front of the man's eyes. 
[Argh!] 
The tip of the man's nose burns. 
[Wh, what are you doing!?] 
I ignore his complaints. 
[Hey, think about your answers a little more thoroughly, you don't want to die, right?] 
The man trembles all over, perhaps he has recalled the person that just died. I suddenly remembered the exchange between Ruijerd and me was done in the Magic God language. They were able to clearly hear about the Supard race and what not. 
Well, that's fine. Since they already know about it, I'll use it as much as possible. 
[I must say, you already know this right? That man, even though his hair is dyed blue, he's the real <Dead End>. As for me, my age doesn't match my appearance.] 
[The real <Dead End>......?] 
[I'm the same type like you, just quickly me tell the truth, and perhaps I will help you out.] 
The dialogue progresses into this direction. 
[But..... Eek!] 
The man casts a glance at Ruijerd but immediately moves his eyes away, he probably had been glared at. 
[Please tell us. What are you, doing, here?] 
[W, we kidnap the animals.....] 
[Oh, kidnap the animals?] 
[We then pretend to search for the animals if the request to search for the pet is up.] 
[I see.] 
This is probably true although I am unable to verify it. The things that have happened so far seem to fit the circumstances and it is believable. Though this particular request we received belongs to an innocent girl, there is also another request [The search for a rich madam's Christine-chan] that was up. 
Even though there is a minimum and maximum reward limit for each request's rank, but it might be possible there is an additional reward from the person who made the request. 
If there is enough luck, just searching for pets alone will be able to make someone strike it rich. 
[Then, what do you do with the pets if there isn't any request to search for them?] 
[We will release it after a while......] 
[Hoh, isn't it worth much more to sell it to a pet shop?] 
[Hah! If we did that it will be traced back to us.] 
Just as the man wanted to scorn me, Ruijerd smashes the butt of his spear onto the ground, making him shake. 
As expected of Ruijerd, your timing to threaten him to make him remember his position when he is about to get conceited is completely perfect! 
[You've certainly paid a lot of attentions to the details.] 
[O, of course.] 
[If it's me, I'd sell the animals that have been caught. I'd chop it up into pieces and sell to a butcher. That way things won't get divulged right?] 
In this world that deems the Magical creatures' meat as a delicacy, even if it's not reared it can be sold. Ah, the lizard man is showing me an expression of "i can't believe this". 
Why is he doing this? 
Is the great king land tortoise meat different from the pet tortoise meat?! 
[Rudeus, are you planning to sell these guys to a butcher?] 
As I turn my head around, Ruijerd states this dangerous notion out. I see, so this lizard man is also thinking in this direction. 
[That might possibly be a great idea......] 
I decide to threaten him, and the lizard man's face spasms. 
Ahh, I know of this expression. 
How nostalgic. 
I have seen this expression very clear before in my past life. 
[Rudeus.....] 
Ruijerd-san, please don't glare at my back that way. Your glare is strong enough to burn a hole in me. I am just kidding, I will not do that again. 
[Well, we're just looking for a cat and we're not the champions of justice, so we can pretend not to have seen anything and leave.] 
[R, really?] 
[But since you know Ruijerd is a real Supard, what should we do with you?] 
[W, we won't tell anyone! Besides who will believe us if we say that <Dead End> is in this city?] 
[No, they will believe it. Because as you know, bad news travel fast.] 
Particularly the bad news that are unfavorable to us. If we maintain that mentality to avoid this there can be no harm done. 
[To me, killing everyone here and burying you is the most convenient method.] 
[P, please let me off..... I'll do anything, please let me off......!] 
Since I received such a plea, I can stop the threats. But what should I do? They are the culprits behind the pet kidnappings and are bad people. Even though that's the case, they are just small villains who will not become a big threat. If we leave them alone, there should not be any trouble as well. 
But they saw Ruijerd killing someone, and thus may possibly become an obstacle for Ruijerd to become a popular person. I really want to remove them to prevent any impediments in the future. 
But killing them is not acceptable, as I just told Ruijerd that we cannot kill them. 
Then how about sending them to the city guards? No, no matter how it is, they are simply just kidnapping pets. If we hand them off to the police, they will not receive harsh punishments. If they are just given a fine, they might remember this incident with hatred. 
Even though if their attitude now is laudable, they might forget everything once the danger has passed. 
If it's possible, I want to observe them from somewhere and threaten them from time to time, but at least they will feel that they are safe. Still, doing something like this has a certain risk to it. They might accumulate resentment to us if we continuously threaten them, and end up as a pure grudge against us. 
After all, we were the ones who killed a person on their side. 
It can be used as a material for threatening them right now, but sooner or later it will become fodder for resentment. 
If they cannot be killed and cannot be handed to the police, then should we win them over? Perhaps we can have them by our side to earn money and raise our levels. We can gather information in the city and assign them to miscellaneous stuff. 
If it's necessary we can take over the business of pet abduction. 
But if I do this Ruijerd's attitude will probably turn for the worse. In his eyes, the people here are considered as evil, and it will be fine even if they are killed. He will most likely not work with them. 
Hmmm----- I'll rearrange these various solutions' risks and return. 
1. Kill them. 
Risk: Ruijerd becomes confused + we will adopt a bad habit of killing everyone if there are any problems. 
Return: There is no need to worry about the future + we are able to steal their money. 
2. Sending them to the guards. 
Risk: They might bear hatred for us. 
Return: We might receive some fame. 
3. Leave them alone. 
Risk: They might bear hatred for us 
Return: None at all. 
4. Win them over. 
Risk: My companion will be upset and be seen as a handler for doing bad deeds. 
Return: Close surveillance of them + we will be able to receive help from them as henchmen. 
I feel that "1" is not a good solution to our future plans. Even though I am not a champion of justice, to kill someone will mean that any other considerations have been cut off. I believe that sooner or later there will be retribution to this. 
With "2" and "3", there are low risks and low returns. Even if we're hated by them, it's a simple thing for Ruijerd to catch them, but it will ultimately end with their deaths. This will end up as double effort. 
Then I can only pick 4? Ruijerd's impression of me might turn for the worse, but we have the realistic issue of desperately requiring money. That's right, it is money. We need money now. 
With these henchmen we can earn money and even have them kidnap pets. If they join our party, we can distribute the burden for Rank F jobs. It's important to raise our ranks, and we will only be stable if we can do jobs that are Rank C and above. 
............ Hm? 
[Earlier, you said that you returned the pets back, are you adventurers?] 
[Y, yes.] 
They are actually adventurers. 
[Your ranks?] 
[I, it's D rank.] 
And their ranks are higher than ours. 
[Why would a D rank receive a E rank job.] 
[Ahh, we can go to C rank, but we can stabilize our income if we search for pets at E rank.] 
If they reach C rank, they will not be able to receive E rank jobs, and so they keep staying at D rank. There are people like this who would do E rank jobs without any worries? Their actions are the definition of fraud. 
If it is us, we will quickly raise our ranks to do C and B rank jobs. 
But there are adventurers out there who are not good at fighting, right? 
Hmm, perhaps we can just get them to receive C jobs and we will help finish it and share the rewards equally. 
Wait, if that's the case we will not raise our ranks. 
[Wait......] 
Suddenly a flash of lightning streaks across my mind. 
Ah, I thought of a good idea. 
[Hey...... Are you still able to do this job without that guy?] 
[N, no, we won't do something like this anymore, we will do legitimate---] 
[Just tell us the truth.] 
[We can do it! That guy has been overseeing our work, threatening us to get his share!] 
Are you serious? That is pretty good luck...... That means we can get the 1 out of 3 share. 
That's the Human God's intention. 
[Alright, let's party up.] 
Ruijerd roars behind me as I finish speaking. 
[Party up!? What are you talking about!] 
[Ruijerd-san, can you be silent just for a little while?] 
[What!?] 
[I won't do anything bad.] 
[......] 
Looking back at him, Ruijerd's expression is indeed a terrible one. Even though I think this is a good idea, should I stop this plan? But this plan is perfect, we can earn money, raise our ranks and Ruijerd's reputation will improve. A plan that completely covers everything...... Supposedly. 
I turn myself back to the lizard man. 
[You just said earlier that you will do anything right?] 
[I, if you spare my life, I, I'll give you money.] 
[I don't want it. In replacement, get a higher rank.] 
[Huh?] 
I start to explain. 
[Listen, we're all fighters, and even though we're not bad at finding pets, our efficiency will go up if we do jobs to suppress magical creatures.] 
[I, I see..... but why do you want to do this job?] 
[Because of certain events we became adventurers.] 
[O, oh......] 
[Well, leaving this aside.] 
The topic seems to be digressing, I should move it back to the original intention. 
[We can accept job requests for fighting, but our levels are too low and we can't receive it. In reverse you can receive fighting requests but you won't accept them. Do you understand what I'm talking about so far?] 
[Y, yes.] 
[So we will exchange our jobs.] 
The lizard's head tilts a little upon hearing these words. 
[W, what do you mean?] 
[You will receive the C or B rank jobs, and we need to raise our ranks by searching for missing pets. We will do the job requests that you receive, while you do the job requests we receive.] 
[P, please wait a moment. If other party report on the jobs we receive.......] 
[Fool! When we report we will switch and report on our own jobs!] 
[Ah.] 

Man B finally gets it. 
We will: Receive E rank jobs, do B rank jobs. Then report E rank jobs to receive the rewards. 
They will: Receive B rank jobs, and do E rank jobs. Then report B rank jobs to receive the rewards. 
With this process, we will exchange our rewards at the end. This might present a problem in the rules, but I heard that higher ranks can help complete a lower rank request. We only reversed this rule a little, and we did not do anything illegal. 
[We want the money and the rank, while you want a stable life. This is a win-win situation. How about this, we can take a portion out of the reward from B rank and give it to you.] 
[A p-portion from the B rank......] 
The lizard man swallows. The reward from the B rank is very high. The carrot and the stick. If only the stick is used we will get betrayed, so it's necessary to give them the carrot. We must get them join us on their own volition. 
[But there's a condition.] 
[C, condition?] 
[Yes, spread the name of <Dead End>.] 
[Spread..... but everyone knows the name already right?] 
Indeed. 
[Spread the name <Dead End> to be good. Spread the good deeds that we do even if you have to lie.] 
[Why do you need to do that......?] 
Why, hmm. If I tell him Ruijerd's long history, will they believe it? No, that's impossible. This person had just watched his party member killed by Ruijerd. Even if they are not on good terms, but it is likely the fact of the Supard race being a terrifying race has taken root in this person's heart . 
[It's good to not know certain things, you understand that right?] 
[..... I, I got it.] 
I find a random excuse, but he seems to have understood. 
[It's enough to spread your name?] 
[Yes, but don't spread any bad stuff about us alright? We have someone here that will pursue things until the end.] 
The man looks at Ruijerd once and nods. 
[Then help us raise our ranks as much as possible, let's have a nice partnership.] 
[A, ahh.] 
[We will meet at the adventurer's guild tomorrow morning, don't be absent, okay?] 
I pat his back. 
In any case, I questioned the female as well to gain additional information. 
They are experts at finding pets. It seems that they have been doing something like this from the beginning. Sometimes they will protect pets that have obviously lost their way. 
They thought they might save a lot of effort if they caught it. As they rose in rank they went in the direction of kidnapping them. 
At first they did it carefully, but Man A found out when they were catching the pets one day. Man A forcefully entered their party and stated himself as a bodyguard. He became the leader and expanded the operations. By claiming that he's getting bodyguard fees and to entertain himself with women, he took a larger share of the money when it comes to splitting up the reward. 
At least this woman doesn't mind if we killed him. Our luck is really too good. 
Just to add on, the lizard man's name is Jalil, and the woman's name is Veskel. 
After a short chat with them, I remove their handcuffs. 
During the time when we bring the cat out of the house, Ruijerd glares at me. 
[Hey, what was that supposed to mean!] 
[Hmm, what do you mean by that?] 
Ruijerd grabs me by the front of my shirt, and my legs are left dangling in the air. 
[Don't feign ignorance! They are bad people! You actually partnered with them!?] 
Ruijerd is really angry. Looking at that terrifying expression makes me recall the fact that he just killed someone. 
[T, they are indeed bad people, but they are just a little bad. They didn't do something terrible.] 
[There are no differences when they do bad things, bad people are bad people!] 
I already knew things will end up this way, but why are my legs and voice trembling, and the corners of my eyes tearing up? 
[I, I just want to say, this plan, kills two birds with one stone......] 
[...... So I'm asking you what do you mean by that!] 
Ruijerd seems that he is unable to accept it. 
Trouble. I'm so frightened that my thoughts are shut down. My mind is rattled and controlled by my chattering teeth. 
[Bad people will not keep their words!] 
Ruijerd glares and roars at me. 
Betrayal. 
I have already considered that possibility. But this incident is considered a good thing for them too, and they have been threatened after all, so things should be fine temporarily. 
[What are you thinking, to actually party up with them!] 
I hesitate upon hearing that. 
Indeed, there is no real need to cooperate with them or anything like that. Just spend a bit of time to do jobs, and if there's no money we can simply hunt Magical creatures, accept requests one at a time and raise our ranks bit by bit. That will work just as well. 
Even if we don't make use of them we can still accomplish things, so the road is just only a little further. 
Should we give up on this? Should we go back and kill them all right now? Let us swim in the sea of blood? 
I am hesitating. 
Am I right or wrong? 
[Ruijerd!] 
A loud voice cuts my hesitation off. 
That ear shattering voice and Ruijerd's shaking body. 
[Take your hands off Rudeus!] 
Eris kicks on Ruijerd's butt, kick after kick. 
[What are you unsatisfied with!] 
Eris's loud voice is numbing my eardrums, and the surrounding people look over at us wondering if something has happened. 
[I don't like to work with bad people.] 
[Because you don't like it you're grumbling!? He's doing it because of you and me!] 
Ruijerd eyes open wide, and my feet touches the ground with a thump. Eris stops kicking, but her loud voice isn't stopping. 
[In the first place it's just catching animals!] 
[No, that fellow also kicked a child.] 
[So what if he did, I have also kicked before!] 
[..... But, a bad person is a bad person.] 
[Didn't you do something bad in the past too?] 
Eris-san. 
I'm grateful that you helped me out, but cutting deeply into the heart of the matter is not too good, you know that right? 
[Rudeus is amazing! If you let him do it, everything can be accomplished! So just be silent and do it!] 
[.....] 
[Don't complain because you're a little unhappy over something!] 
[I don't mean that.] 
[If you want to complain then go back! Rudeus and I can finish things on our own!] 
Ruijerd is clearly faltering before Eris's frantic expression. 
[...... I got it. I'm sorry.] 
In the end Ruijerd apologizes to me. It feels that he is forced by Eris's spirit and absolutely not because he has come to an understanding about this. 
[N, no, don't do this.....] 
Even though things ended like this, it feels like the difficulty has gone up by a lot, and this atmosphere makes me hesitate. 
It might have been too rash to cooperate with them, but since things have turned out this way, I am unable to change this outcome already. I feel like there are butterflies in my stomach but I can only proceed. 
I can only trust in this plan that I considered a good one from the beginning. 
Even if it is not because I don't trust myself..... 
After sending the cat back, the owner of the request is ravished with delight. The moment she sees the cat she dashes over and hugs it tightly in tears. Looks like it is greatly cherished. 
The cat is certainly docile. 
Even though it's really a black panther. 
[Thank you! Oh right! Here, have this!] 
A card that I'm not sure if it's made of metal, is passed into Ruijerd's hands. 
=========== 
D040023 
Completed 
=========== 
Words are written on it. 
[What is this?] 
[Adventurers actually don't know about this!?] 
The young girl's face is full of disbelief. 
I will not object you if you are willing to teach me. 
[If it's possible, please tell me.] 
[Well, if you bring this to the adventurer's guild, you can exchange it for money.] 
Ah. I see. D040023 is the request's number, even though I don't know what rule is used to create this number. 
In translation, [Putting a finger onto it and say a word of "Completed", the request's status will change to "Completed".] 
Is this a measure for theft prevention? 
No, if I do something like this wouldn't it be completed? Stealing this card and exchanging it for money...... No, it will definitely get revealed quickly. There should be some form of prevention. 
[But isn't this card written as completed from the start?] 
Isn't it normal to finish the card's completion only when the request is done? 
[Yup! I believe Ruijerd will be able to find it, so I completed it first!] 
Oh my, this child is really so adorable. A little girl that trusts someone else is really beautiful! 
Ruijerd strokes the girl's head. 
[Is that so...... Thanks for trusting me.] 
[Yeah! I believe that Evil Devil-san can be a good person too!] 
Ruijerd's expression seems to freeze upon listening the words Evil Devil. I understand your feelings, but this is the reality amongst people's opinions. 
[Then Ojou-san, please do not forget about <Dead End> Ruijerd.] 
[Yup! If I lose my pet again, please help me!] 
This young girl's words slightly hurt my chest. 
When we return to the adventurer's guild the sky has already turned dark. We spent quite a bit of time, and we will go broke very soon if this happens every time. 
[Woah, they have returned.] 
[Oi, oi, did they find the missing pet!?] 
Once we entered the guild, the fellow with a horse head starts stirring things up. He's like a minotaur but his head is a horse. I can remember him because his features are distinct. Come to think of it, does this person stay in the guild all the time? 
[Oh? You're the person with a horse face from this morning...... You don't need to work today?] 
I find this type hard to handle. He's similar to the people that bullied me in the past. How should I say this, if I bully him now, everyone will say no. 
[W, what's with you? You're suddenly so courteous, it feels kind of strange......] 
Oops, damn it, I forgot about my acting skills. I'll manipulate him instead. 
[Isn't it Senpai who requested me to be respectful?] 
[O, oh, is that right?] 
The horse-faced man turns embarrassed. 
This person is really simple. 
[Thanks to you, the request has been completed.] 
[What?] 
I wave the completed card in front of him, and he shows sincere admiration. 
[Amazing. It's not easy to find a lost pet in this city you know?] 
Isn't that right. The reason for missing pets is due to people. 
[Well, to <Dead End>'s Ruijerd it isn't a problem.] 
[Are you serious..... The fake is actually pretty amazing.] 
[I already said it's the real deal!] 
In the end after acting it out, I go over to the counter and pass the completed card and our adventurers' identity cards over. After a while, along with our adventurers' identity cards, a coin that is alike to an old 100 yen coin is passed over to us. 
Hm, that's certainly cheap looking. 
[Hey--- How did you find the pet? Let me use it as reference too.] 
[I merely used some hunting techniques.] 
[Hunting! What's your tribe?] 
[....... Supard race.] 
[What, come on, I will know the truth if I look at this necklace.] 
The horse-faced man eyes are concentrated onto Ruijerd's chest where Roxy's necklace is hanging from. 
[I'm Nokopara, Rank C.] 
[I'm Ruijerd, Rank F.] 
[I know you're Rank F. Well, if there's anything you don't know go ahead and ask, I'll teach you everything as a Senpai, gahahaha!] 
Ruijerd is happily talking to the horse-faced man (Nokopara). It's a good thing for the feared Ruijerd to be talking to someone. But I'm a little worried, if someone says something that he shouldn't say, will Ruijerd suddenly attack him? I hope this doesn't concern things about children. 
I'm also worried about Eris who is sitting beside me. I sneak a few glances at her, and at times there seem to be people coming up to talk to her, but since she is unable to understand them she ignores them. 
[Hey, your sword is pretty good, where did you get it from?] 
[............] 
[Hey, say something will you!] 
I can see a female warrior looking a little agitated after being ignored by her. 
[What is it?] 
I immediately rush over to stop the fight, but the female warrior throws a [Tch, nothing at all] and leaves. In exchange Nokopara comes along to chat. 
[Have you gotten the money?] 
[Yes, a single scrap iron coin. It's our first work.] 
[Haha, that's really cheap.] 
[It's normal that a little girl won't have the money, you shouldn't say that.] 
[Cheap is cheap.] 
[Only on the money side.] 
The young girl breaking her piggy bank to search for her cat. If this image appears in my mind, I can understand that this scrap iron coin is not a cheap thing. 
[You won't understand the value of it. Please go away, shoo, shoo.] 
[What, you're so cold. Well, work hard!] 
Noropara starts shaking his arms and loiters around in the guild. What does this guy really do here....... 

In any case we ended our first job here.