第４１１堀：お守りを付ける (Part1)
Chapter 411: Attaching an Amulet
Side: Labyris
"And so, from now on, I'm going to be a secret agent to protect Weed!!"
"That's amazing!"
"It is amazing!"
Dressa's declaration was met with cheers and applause from Aslin and Firia.
Apparently, last week, while on a usual errand quest, she had joined up with Yuki and the others who were investigating the rumors, and ended up going to the police station with them.
"It's like you've returned to your old self."
"That's right."
After her time in the Kingdom of Ex, Dressa had been rather listless for a while.
I suspect she felt empty.
Then, as if struck by an idea, she began to act separately from us and started taking on various errand quests.
As a result, her former haughty tsundere personality had been slowly returning, and it seemed this latest event had brought her back to her original state.
"...Dressa. While your bragging is all well and good, is it alright to talk about this secret agent business? Aren't you under orders not to speak of it?"
"Ah."
...This is no good.
She's returned to her old self too much, she's become foolish.
"Sigh, is this really going to be alright?"
"Well, Yuki-san wouldn't be doing this if he hadn't anticipated something like this..."
"That's true."
"Hmph. Just you wait. I'm going to catch all the bad guys!"
"No, you're just supposed to report them."
"You absolutely must not lay a hand on them, alright? It could cause all sorts of problems."
"I-I know that!"
...This is hopeless. I'm starting to feel like we should go with her.
But we're too well-known, and that would be problematic.
Hmm, what should we do?
"So, this is a secret, okay? You can't tell Vilia or Hiiro either!"
" "Yes!" "
Dressa is telling them to keep it a secret, but shouldn't that be the first step?
Vilia and Hiiro, huh...
"Labyris. About those two..."
"I was thinking the same thing. Dressa alone is too dangerous, but with those two, she probably won't do anything too reckless."
"Yes. For now, let's talk to Yuki-san."
"Agreed."
Leaving the three of them to their excited chatter, we headed towards Yuki.
"Labyris and Shera? What's up?"
"It's about Dressa."
"Dressa? Ah, she's already talked? She's always been loose-lipped, and this just happened yesterday."
"So, you expected her to talk."
"Of course. Well, it's not a problem even if it gets out."
"It's not a problem?"
"She's not a child spy or anything. It's just a job to help out around town and gather rumors. Officially, the police and the adventurer's guild are planning to cooperate and issue quests for children, like town cleanup activities. That way, she can openly move around town."
"I see. So, it's to make it look like you're arranging jobs for children?"
"That's right."
I see, so that's how they'll make it seem acceptable for children to be wandering around.
With the police and adventurer's guild backing her, there probably won't be many who dare to interfere, and if they do, she can openly subdue them.
It also serves to gather information and spread bait.
"But won't that prevent you from investigating deeply?"
"In the first place, children are unsuitable for deep investigations. Having a child in a facility full of adults would be problematic."
"True."
"So, for those kinds of in-depth investigations, adult investigators will be infiltrating. Or rather, that's our job, and the rumor-gathering department's job is simply to gather them. They'll then pass that information to other departments to maintain public order and prevent crime."
"I see. So, my idea of recommending Vilia and Hiiro as Dressa's caretakers might have been unnecessary?"
"Ah, I don't know. I understand your concern that Dressa might go off the rails. The adventurer's guild was quite troubled by her, weren't they?"
"Yes. She often dealt with adventurers who teased the children."
"In that case, if she finds a crime herself, she'll likely put off reporting it and try to handle it herself."
"I think so."
"Then, it would be better to have Vilia and Hiiro there. We need to gather other child collaborators besides Dressa anyway. If Vilia and Hiiro don't object, let's have them cooperate."
"Yes. But if that's the case, why didn't you approach Vilia and Hiiro from the beginning? You were worried about Dressa being alone, weren't you?"
"Come to think of it, I didn't know the details of how this came about. The one who suggested using these children to gather information wasn't me."
"Eh?"
"Is that so? I thought it was Yuki-san's idea."
"That's not it. The one who appointed Dressa as a collaborator was Poni, the current representative of the police. The chief."
Wow, that's amazing.
Tori has chosen an amazing successor.
It's not Riel or Deryu, I know that.
Those two always push their paperwork onto Tori.
They want to work in the field rather than raise a successor.
"So that's how it was. You hesitated to recommend yourself, Yuki-san, before that?"
"Something like that. If no one else would do it, I would have stepped in, but there are children trying their best, and my stepping in would be a last resort. Well, we'll be investigating various things on our end too."
"Naturally. Well, I understand the general situation. We should go and recommend Vilia and Hiiro, right? To Chief Poni."
"Yeah, please do. But didn't the two of them attend the inauguration ceremony for the new representatives? There's a nuance like it's their first time, but..."
"It was just a greeting. While it's fine for me, Seraria, and Milly to be as we are, the other new representatives didn't have the leisure to deepen their relationships. It's like a new system for everyone."
"Ah, that's right."
Everyone is busy with their new systems, and they don't have time to spare for each other.
I hope this matter will be a good opportunity.
"We've accepted your recommendation of Vilia and Hiiro. How should we approach them? Should we tell them everything honestly?"
"No, for now, since the police are taking the lead, it might not be a good idea for Shera or Labyris to say too much. Even though it's a recommendation, the chief might refuse based on his final judgment. Also, this kind of experience would be good for Vilia and Hiiro, so how about bringing them along with a light offer to help out?"
"...I see. That might be the best approach."
"It would be cruel to ask them to trust someone they've just been brought to meet. Understood. I'll talk to them in that manner."
"I'm counting on you."
After talking with Yuki and confirming the general content and direction, we decided to go and talk to the two of them.
Let's see, at this hour, they should be at the dormitory.
"Before I knew it, it's almost evening."
As we stepped outside, the sun had begun to set.
"That's right. For today, we'll just explain to them, and tomorrow we'll take them to the chief. Otherwise, we'll be late for dinner."
"Yes. We should avoid being late for dinner."