Chapter 2
MIRA, AMPLY REWARDED, was led out of the church by officials from the Church of the Trinity. She began walking toward her next destination.
“It should be around here…”
Having scouted her target while surveying the city to encircle Fuzzy Dice, Mira looked for landmarks as she made her way down the main street. She was looking for the guardhouse. She was curious about how things had ended in the underground waterway and wanted to ask them about it.
At the moment, she only knew what Christina had reported to her: Those inside the human trafficking base and the owner of the mansion above had been arrested. But how were the children who’d been rescued doing? Their well-being was what concerned Mira the most.
“Ah, there is it.”
It was a rather imposing building that was constructed of iron and stone. The flag of Grimdart and the national flag of Linkslott flew above it. Despite being along the vibrant and colorful main street, it had a strikingly austere appearance. It was certainly easy to tell that it served a martial purpose. Being a base for the guards, it had barracks, offices, and even an assistance counter.
Stepping inside, she found a large lobby sprawled before her—complete with several reception counters. She saw several people who’d come in to make inquiries. Eavesdropping, Mira learned that they were asking the guards to do something about a group of drunks who’d fallen asleep in front of their shops. They must’ve used the Fuzzy Dice-related excitement as an excuse to go out drinking and singing. Truth be told, Mira had seen those drunks on the way to the guardhouse. She laughed to herself about how they couldn’t catch a break that morning while she waited for a counter to open up.
After about five minutes, Mira’s turn came.
“Is Captain Desmond here?” Mira asked, getting straight to the point. She figured the quickest way to figure out what’d happened afterward was to ask the person who’d been there himself.
“Um, what is it that you’re here about?”
Perhaps she’d gotten to the point a little too quickly. A troubled look now floated across the receptionist’s face. Realizing that she might’ve jumped the gun, Mira began thinking about how she might explain herself.
Then a guard poked his head out from behind the reception desk and said, “Ah, I was wondering if it might be you, Spirit Queen. Thanks for all your help yesterday!”
“Hrmm…? Oh, you were with us, weren’t you?”
It was the rakish guard who’d been among Desmond’s affable companions. Remembering his personality, she figured it was the perfect opportunity to ask where the captain was.
“I believe he was in conference room number three. Take a left over there and then the stairs up to the third floor,” he politely instructed her.
The woman at the reception desk turned, asking, “Um, are you sure that’s okay?”
When Mira thought about it, it’d be like someone going into a police station and just wandering around. The receptionist’s reaction was quite understandable. But with everything she’d done the day before, she’d succeeded in earning quite a bit of trust from the guards.
“Yeah, no worries. She’s the Spirit Queen, and she worked with us the other day.”
And with that, Mira was given permission to go inside.
“Well, it should be conference room number three on the third… Ah, there it is.”
On the third floor of the guardhouse, Mira soon came upon a door with Conference Room No. 3 written across it, just like she’d been told.
From what she’d heard, Desmond was writing up a report related to what’d happened with the phantom thief. And since he might need Mira’s testimony when it came to certain things, she’d been asked to go and speak with him.
Standing in front of the door and knocking three times, Mira soon heard a voice reply, “Yes, come on in!”
“Will do, thanks.” Opening the door, she saw Desmond beneath the light, surrounded by papers. He stretched briefly, then looked at her.
“What do you nee—huh? Mira?!” he said in surprise upon seeing Mira in the doorway. It seemed her visit was unexpected. “Um… Huh? Ah, well, why don’t you take a seat?”
While still confused, he was nevertheless a good host.
“Where’d I put the tea…? No, she’d probably prefer hot cocoa…” he muttered to himself as he headed toward the conference room’s kitchenette.
“No need to worry about me. I just came to ask you about the children who were recovered,” Mira said, explaining the reason for her visit. She wanted to know what’d happened after they parted in the underground waterway.
“Ah, so that’s why you’re here. I understand. I’m sure Christina kept you posted, but how about I tell you the rest of the story?!”
Having gotten things ready in the kitchenette, Desmond laid out what he’d prepared on the table in front of the sofa Mira sat on. He grabbed the papers he’d just been working on and sat down on the other side, but before recounting what’d happened after they’d split up, he said, “Though it can wait till later, I’d also like to hear what happened with you.”
After following the trail Fuzzy Dice had left in the underground waterway for about ten minutes, they came to a door. But not just a door. In front of it lay someone, passed out. Upon getting a good look at the man, they realized that he’d been put to sleep by Fuzzy Dice.
Assuming that he must know something, they stealthily arrested and questioned him. They learned that on the other side of the door lay a base for a human trafficking syndicate. Upon asking him how many of his associates were inside, they discovered that the children who were to be sold were imprisoned there as well.
Those inside the base were fairly experienced veterans. But so were Desmond and his men. With the help of the mercenaries, they flew into action, ready to rescue the children. They broke down the door and immediately rushed into the base.
Inside, they found six brutes and ten children. The moment they stepped inside, they beheld a girl crying because one of the thugs had snatched away her doll.
“And that’s when it happened. It was like a gust of wind. Christina, who’d been standing right next to us, managed to get deep in the base in the blink of an eye.”
Desmond recounted that—immediately after Christina stepped in between the man and the girl—the man had collapsed. “At the time, I honestly had no idea what’d happened. At least it threw the rest of the enemies into confusion and helped distract them.”
They panicked after seeing the man collapse. Not allowing such an opportunity to slip through their fingers, Desmond and the others all stormed the base. Just as the man they’d questioned had said, the men inside were all very skilled. But outnumbering them, Desmond and the others managed to secure the site.
Once things had calmed down, they took a look at the man who’d first collapsed and noted that he looked extremely peaceful. But after checking him thoroughly, they discovered that both his hands and feet had been cleanly broken.
“I’m sure Christina could’ve easily cut them all down. But after seeing that man, it became clear she was showing restraint to avoid the children witnessing such a thing.” He paused to consider what a good heart she had before smiling dryly and adding, “We weren’t quite so considerate.”
The enemy put up stiff resistance, and it ended up being a pretty bloody raid.
“We really put on a gory display…but even so, they still called us heroes,” Desmond said, smiling happily. There had been no fatalities, but most of the smugglers had sustained serious injuries.
It didn’t matter if they were covered in grime or blood by the end—Desmond and the others had taken down the bad guys, and so, in the eyes of the children, they were heroes.
“That’s because kids are honest. If they said that, it’s because you are undeniably heroes.”
All men aspire to be heroes once in their lives. Seeing his smile, Mira couldn’t help but smile herself.
But jeez, that’s what ended up happening? It’s just like I expected. But if I hadn’t asked him for the details, I never would’ve known.
Christina hadn’t included the fact that she’d tried to prevent the children from seeing anything traumatizing in her report. All she’d said was that they’d managed to neutralize the kidnappers.
She has an unexpectedly humble side…
She seemed to speak boastfully about whatever she did and how hard she worked, but perhaps there was more to her than that. Mira thought to herself that she should let Alfina know about what a spectacular job Christina had done—then resolved, instead, to take a page out of Christina’s book and be considerate of such things herself.
“So how are the children faring?” Mira asked, after taking a sip of hot cocoa.
For the most part, she now understood what’d gone on in the underground waterway. What she wanted to know about was the children.
“You needn’t worry about them. They’re being properly cared for at a state facility. We plan on taking charge of finding their parents and getting them home.”
That was surely what Fuzzy Dice had hoped would happen. Having found them, the state would then ensure they were safely taken care of.
“None of them were ill or injured.”
With a deeply relieved look on his face, Desmond began to elaborate on their current situation. After getting some rest, the children calmed down a bit. They had been quite frightened when they were first taken into custody, but their caretaker reported they seemed to be in good spirits in the morning.
They might not have had any physical injuries, but they certainly had psychological ones. Some of the kids occasionally had bouts of anxiety. There was no doubt that the stress they’d endured had taken a toll.
But Desmond assured her that the children would be fine. “Hurts like these just need time to slowly heal. Meanwhile, we’ll need to find their parents as soon as possible.”
But from the moment they were rescued until the moment she was recalled, Christina had been by their side, trying to cheer them up. It seemed the children were all talking about how they wanted to become cool warriors like her.
“Wow, I had no idea she did that.”
Moved by Christina’s kindness, she wished she hadn’t recalled Christina quite so quickly. Christina’s stock was quickly rising with Mira.
“For now, I’m having guards that aren’t busy teach them the basics of how to use a sword.”
Since it was to help the children, several had stepped up to volunteer. Desmond chuckled that it’d be nice if they could at least teach them the basics while they sought out their parents.
For about thirty minutes, Mira assisted Desmond in writing his report, which was primarily about Fuzzy Dice’s role in the whole thing. Then she learned the details about the men who’d held the children captive and the mansion staff who were near the waterway’s entrance. The former seemed to be washed-up mercenaries who’d been contracted to do behind-the-scenes work. They were still being questioned, but it didn’t seem like they knew very much about the human trafficking syndicate.
“You know, I just happened to overhear something…” Mira said, before filling in Desmond about the events the day before. She said she’d heard a rumor that an adventurers’ guild known as Gillian Rock had been pulling the strings, then let him know that the Adventurers’ Guild Union had already taken action against the guild.
“Wow, they did that already…?” Despite sounding rather surprised, Desmond seemed to think it all checked out.
There was also the owner of the mansion, Viscount Denveroll, who had spoken about his involvement with the human trafficking syndicate. He confessed that he’d been taking orders from higher-ups in the organization directing the criminal enterprise, but it would take time to get any more information out of him. There was a lot of annoying red tape because he was a member of the nobility.
Desmond complained about the holdups—this person was obviously guilty.
“Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to see me.” Having gotten all the answers that she’d sought, Mira polished off her hot cocoa with a final sip before standing up.
“Not at all. I should be thanking you for helping me finish my report.”
Thanks to the additional details from Mira and the information she’d provided about Gillian Rock, all the missing pieces had been filled in. Desmond smiled as he compiled his now-complete report.
Relieved that she could count on them to take care of the children, Mira left the guardhouse after bidding farewell to Desmond and his men. She had been asked to keep everything regarding the incident confidential because a member of the nobility was involved with a human trafficking syndicate. If word got out that a nobleman was implicated, it would reflect very poorly on the entire nation.
“A syndicate, huh? It’s unforgivable to prey on children…”
Organized criminals had been involved with the events in the underground waterway. They were who Lastrada was after. Mira felt shaken after hearing about the children from Desmond.
The day before, she’d been made to dress up as a queen to help. But she now resolved that if there was ever anything else she could do to assist, she’d do so without hesitation.
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