Chapter 97
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Five days after Ferris and the others returned.
Since then, Ferris stormed into the “Gem Snake” office, and “Silver Orchid” sealed off the building for investigation, rescuing those who had been captured and ‘used’ for their own purposes.
Normally, Ferris would be treated as a robber for barging in, but it became clear from third-party accounts that “Gem Snake” was the one who initiated the conflict first. Thanks to Frederica’s efforts, the lord’s family recognized it as legitimate retaliation, so it wasn’t treated as a one-sided crime.
On top of that, evidence of human trafficking emerged from the testimonies of the rescued individuals and the documents found in the office, significantly reducing the chances of Ferris and “Silver Orchid” facing charges for their actions.
The only reason there’s any risk at all is because they threw around the guards who apparently had close ties with “Gem Snake” when they tried to stop Ferris and the others.
At that point, the guards’ actions were justified.
I’m curious about how far the investigation can go, but since it just started, I’ll wait for the results.
As the remnants of “Gem Snake” were being targeted for capture, including by the adventurer’s guild, I was on guard in the town, wary of them coming to rescue Ulgar, who had been captured by Ferris and the others.
At that moment, I received a message from Ms. Wendy.
It seems the interrogation of Ulgar has finished, and a messenger was sent out again following the contact person assigned to this matter 5 days ago.
Since they were trying to usurp the royal family──or rather, the country itself──if they were doing something that audacious, Ulgar must have been prepared for it.
So, I thought Ulgar would be tight-lipped, yet I found it strange that the interrogation ended so quickly… Apparently, Ferris ‘broke’ him down, and Ms. Anju used a skill called “Promote Heal,” which consumes the target’s stamina to enhance the effects of healing magic, rapidly weakening him and making him spill the beans.
Of course, there’s no guarantee he confessed everything, so it’s expected that the provisional information will be delivered to the royal family.
The message included details about my reward, and I felt uneasy about it being taken by outsiders… However, I was told by Charlotte that the document mentioning it was encrypted and that personal names were omitted, so there shouldn’t be any issues.
But it seemed that the main point of contact for me wasn’t there…
”Request to appear… is it? For Mr. Mose?”
”Yes. It’s urgent.”
”What’s the reason?”
”No, I don’t have that… just that it’s a very important matter.”
”I see… where is it?”
”At the ‘Silver Orchid’ office. Lady Wendy, who has already headed there, will handle the conversation, so please use the name at the reception.”
”Got it… I’ll let them know right away.”
”Thank you. Now, I’m heading back to ‘Hooters’.”
Ms. Moona, who came to my room as a messenger and is directly under Ms. Wendy, said that and then insisted that I relay the message to “Mose” immediately before leaving.
What do they want?
Do they need me to transport supplies to the base in the dungeon again?
There are women left over there, so it must be important, but… not extremely so.
I’ve already delivered a decent amount of supplies by the last time.
So what is it? While pondering this, I became “Mose” and headed to the “Silver Orchid” office… I was led to a conference room where only Ferris and Ms. Wendy were present.
”You made it.”
Ferris welcomed me with a very serious expression and told the woman who brought me to the room:
”Get out of this room immediately, and make sure no one approaches until I say it’s okay.”
She then gave her an order like that and sent her out.
”Ah, you come over here. Now that the room is clear, I want to confirm that you are Koji, so take off that armor.”
She continued to say this to me.
I had no particular reason to refuse, so I removed the Magic Armor and walked closer to the women in the back of the room… Ferris then gave Ms. Wendy instructions.
”Go ahead.”
”Y-yes…”
Ms. Wendy obediently complied and took a wooden box from a nearby bag, opening the lid.
That’s… the black cherry tomato I asked her to investigate.
The reason she took it out of her bag is probably because she hasn’t revealed her skills to Ferris.
Why here? I mean… how does Ferris know about this cherry tomato?
Maybe that question showed on my face, as she started explaining the situation to me.
”Ulgar’s interrogation has wrapped up for now, but honestly, I was left feeling unsatisfied. I wanted to toy with him a bit longer, you know? So, while I was feeling frustrated, Wendy asked me to see if I could test this to the dungeon monster.”
At Ferris’s words, Ms. Wendy bowed her head.
”I’m sorry. I was looking for someone reliable, someone who could handle things alone if something came up. I heard you know Mr. Koji, so…”
Ah, I must have told her that Ferris and a few others know my true identity.
As for Ulgar’s security… it seems they decided to ask Ferris for help, judging that the lord’s family had sent a watcher and that it would take time to contact the Norland family, making it difficult for them to act openly right now.
”So, you went with Ms. Ferris. Well, I think she’s suitable for the job, but… what happened next?”
Prompted for more, Ferris replied.
”We went to the 3rd District, a place away from the shortest route to the 4th District, where there aren’t many people. I threw it to a lightning-wielding wolf that happened to be nearby, and it bit into it without hesitation…”
*Glance.*
”…”
*Nod.*
Once she said that, she looked at Ms. Wendy, and after receiving a nod in return, she turned back to me and shared the results.
”The wolf didn’t scatter lightning around; it focused solely on me. On top of that, it moved faster than before while wrapped in lightning. Well, I borrowed this from you and smashed it to deal with it.”
Saying that, Ferris lightly stroked the tonfa hanging at her waist, which I had lent her.
Normally, a lightning-wielding wolf scatters lightning around indiscriminately, but… has it learned to direct it toward a specific target?
And if it’s also started using lightning to enhance its movement…
”Umm… so, to put it simply?”
I asked her to summarize the main points, and she answered while gripping my shoulder tightly.
”Based on the results of about 5 tests, it seems that this black mini tomato? It probably forces the eater’s skills to grow.”
”So, what do we do with this?”
”What do you mean, what do we do?”
While poking at the black mini tomato, Ferris asked me, and I gave her a vague response.
Considering the experimental results of this mini tomato, I told her it was a secret when she naturally asked where I got it from, and she reluctantly dropped the subject. However, it seems she couldn’t let go of how to handle the portion I currently had, even though I owed her.
Well, if it’s really what they say it is, I can see why.
It seems she first thought about the possibility of me letting the tomato go, and in that case, she wanted to know who I would give it to.
Since she recently had a close call because of skills, it makes sense that she wouldn’t want to ignore this situation.
”Some people might pay their entire fortune for it, right? If they think they can earn more with the skills they grow than what they’ve saved up until now.”
”Are you saying we should sell it? No, if it gets out, people will swarm to find out where it was harvested, right?”
”Well, we can just say that Mose found it somewhere while planning to disappear.”
”Ah… that’s fine and all, but how do we find someone to sell it to? If someone without skills, or even someone with skills that others can’t see, buys it and eats it without any effect, they might claim it’s a scam.”
As long as it just ends with a refund, that’s okay, but they might use it as leverage to get information about “Mose” from me by saying they won’t take legal action.
”Ah, it wouldn’t be surprising if someone tried to grow their skills for free. If we say it was left by Mose, then the trading partner would have to be Koji, and if we want to keep your identities hidden, we can’t make your relationship with Mose too close… so it wouldn’t be strange if they underestimated you, thinking you were just rookie adventurers.”
Ferris showed understanding of my concerns and frowned at the scene that was easy to imagine.
Then she asked me,
”So, are you going to eat it yourself or throw it away? Since it’s what it is, I’d prefer you avoid a careless disposal…”
”Eat it myself, huh… But, is it really safe for people to eat?”
Even if it’s harmless when red, it could be harmful once it turns black.
I don’t know if the red one was in an immature state, but the safety could change depending on the ripeness.
Thinking about that, Ferris nodded.
”Yeah, we definitely need to test that. I owe you a big favor, and I could try it myself, but… I still need to keep Ulgar secured at my place, and it would be a problem if I couldn’t move and prevent his retrieval.”
From her tone, it seemed she wanted to repay her debt to me as much as possible, and it looked like taking on Ms. Wendy’s request was largely due to that, despite the security around Ulgar.
Then she suggested,
”Well, maybe it would be safest to let a suitable criminal try it. There are some remnants of the ‘Gem Snake’ captured, and I could manage to get one or 2 through Frederica.”
”No, no. The remnants of ‘Gem Snake’ were just caught, and even if they’re guilty, their sentences haven’t been decided yet, right? We can’t use them for something that could kill them…”
Ferris looked at me with an exasperated expression.
”Ugh. You really are… too uptight.”
”Well, if we end up killing someone who isn’t even sentenced to death, it could bring trouble not just to Mr. Koji but also to Lady Frederica who arranged it…”
”Ah… well, that would be bad.”
Ferris seemed to agree with Ms. Wendy’s point.
Then Ms. Wendy continued,
”For now… I think we should put this on hold. As of now, only we know about this, and I’ll make sure to keep it as secure as possible.”
In response, Ferris said, “I guess we have no choice but to do that for now. But really, be careful with the management, okay?” and with that, we wrapped up the meeting.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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