第６２５堀：獣人美人刑事純情派 学生誘拐事件 推理 (Part2)
“Alright, alright. Both of you, calm down. Especially you, Kagura. I don’t think that’s any way to talk to your friend Mikos, do you?”
“Eh? Ah?! I-I’m sorry, Mikos.”
“Hmph.”
Kagura seemed to realize she’d overstepped once Riel pointed it out and apologized in a panic, but Mikos wasn’t about to let her anger subside quite that easily after what had been said.
“But Mikos, you did do something suspicious, so that’s on you too. And Kagura, you were worried about her from the start, right? That reaction came from a place of concern. You know that, don’t you, Mikos?”
“...Yes. Sorry, Kagura. I’m sorry I worried you.”
“...Yeah. I’m sorry too. I lost my cool.”
“And now you’ve made up.”
“O-Oh, thank goodness.”
With that, Riel took both of their hands and had them shake. Both of them looked a bit embarrassed. Beside them, Solo was practically moved to tears.
While this was happening, Sarche arrived with their orders.
“Oh? Did something happen?”
“No, nothing. We were just reaffirming our friendship.”
“I see. Oh, Miss Mikos.”
“Hey, Sarche. Yahoo. I’ll take a black tea, please.”
“Certainly. And for the other guests...?”
Sarche took the orders for Mikos, Riel, and Dressa, but she was caught by other customers before she could make it back to the kitchen. Being the star waitress is hard work. I certainly couldn’t do it.
“...So, how are things on your end, Riel?”
“Everything is going smoothly, thanks to Mikos. We managed to get in touch with the head of the underworld on the very first day.”
“Wow. Mikos-senpai, you’re amazing.”
“Hehe. Aren’t I, though?”
“But please, don’t do anything like that again. After hearing that story earlier, even I started to doubt you.”
“Right. I’m Kagura’s assistant from now on, so I won’t overdo it. Oh, but make sure you adjust the workload so I *don't* have to overdo it, okay?”
“I can’t guarantee that. After all, this is Weed we’re talking about.”
“““Ahaha...”””
Everyone shared a laugh. There was no such thing as "not overdoing it" when dealing with Weed.
Well, the pleasant laughter had to end eventually. From here on...
“Shall we exchange information? Let’s get this business over with so we can wrap up the rest of our tasks quickly.”
“Riel’s right. I still have to look over some documents on my end.”
“...And we have plans to eat dinner together tonight.”
That was right. Tonight, everyone was scheduled to gather for a meal. Everyone had been so busy lately that they’d been eating separately. That was exactly why they were making time to enjoy a nice meal together. Then, they would flirt with Yuki to recharge their energy for tomorrow.
Now, if we can narrow down where their base is from this conversation, there’s a chance we can finish work early...
“...Well, things never go quite that conveniently, do they?”
“True. But information is steadily coming together, so it’s fine.”
“...Steady work is important.”
It was decided that the investigation would continue. Riel had made a deal with Gudo from the underworld to search suspicious vacant houses, but they hadn't found anything yet. On my end, handling the official side of things, there was nothing to report either. Tori’s check of the entry and exit records hadn't turned up anything suspicious so far.
As we discussed this, Solo suddenly spoke up.
“But if they kidnapped someone and brought them into town like they did with me, wouldn't the guards notice?”
“You’re right. It would be suspicious to carry a person in. Especially an academy student, right?”
“Solo, Kagura, what are you saying? They wouldn't just carry someone in out in the open. They’d obviously stuff them in a bag and hide them among the cargo.”
“Ah, that makes sense.”
“Muu. But what about the inspection...?”
“The word is they’re acting like nobles. If they pass through the noble gate, they aren't searched that thoroughly. Or if they’re merchants, they have so much luggage that the checks are usually half-hearted.”
Indeed. Unlike Weed, where the 'Call' monitoring system makes everything clear at a glance, everything here is done by hand. A town of this level in this country isn't going to go through the trouble of checking every single piece of a merchant's inventory. And noble luggage is even more off-limits. One wrong move and a guard could lose his head. No guard is going to take that risk.
“Actually, Mikos-chan, since the people who attacked Solo were caught as bandits, wouldn't the enemy be on guard? Maybe they’ve already cleared out their base?”
“That’s a possibility. It’s been about six days since Solo’s attempted kidnapping, but we haven't seen any movement that looks like people fleeing.”
“...Steve and his crew have been monitoring since the moment Solo was attacked.”
“Oh, so that’s why you think there’s still something in this town?”
“That’s right~.”
Exactly. We still haven't seen anyone suspicious entering or leaving the town.
“Actually, well, we’ve had our eye on the most likely candidate from the start,” Tori said, making Kagura look surprised.
“Eh? You know where it is?”
“I wouldn't say we *know* for sure. We don't have proof. But when you gather and organize all the information we have, you eventually arrive at one place that fits.”
“W-Where is it? Where in this town could such a place be...?”
Solo and Mikos waited breathlessly for Tori’s next words.
“It’s... the Haile Church.”
Yes. The fact that the Gathering of Wisdom is connected to the Haile Church was discovered when we raided the Haiden capital. And when you combine that with Sota’s story, the most suspicious place is clearly the Haile Church.
No matter where else we look in this town, we find no suspicious information. In other words, it’s a place that exists openly, where anyone can visit without raising eyebrows.
...There is nothing that fits that description other than the Haile Church.
If nothing else looks suspicious, then the place that looks *too* innocent is the culprit! Or rather, it’s a place we’ve been keeping an eye on for a while now.
Well then, the day of the showdown with the Haile Church is drawing near.