My Reincarnation Skills Are “Playing With Dolls” and “Playing With Clay”, but What Am I Supposed to Do With These? C198

Episode 198: Continuous disappearance of prostitutes

I didn't have any particular purpose for visiting the adventurer's guild again at dawn the next day. 

However, since I visited yesterday at a time when there were fewer people, I had a casual feeling that there might be some new information if it's the time when most adventurers get quests in the morning. 

If nothing else happened, Garis wouldn't be too comfortable with a party with demi-humans, so I thought I'd give up today and head to the Lemulus Empire... 

However, the person who caused the commotion must have visited the guild first thing in the morning, so it can't be said that it was a complete coincidence that we were there. 

"That's why, I've said it many times, it's not like she disappeared! I don't know if it's an abduction or a murder, but I'm sure she's in trouble. Why aren't you taking action?"

　It's not just the words that are flying around... 

Just like yesterday, when we went up to the second floor of the guild to look at the quest bulletin board, we saw a woman holding onto middle-aged men who appeared to be guild employees with an amazing sword. 

I guess he was in his 30s. 

In this world, you wouldn't call her a young woman anymore, and her body was a little chubby, but she seemed beautiful and strong-willed. 

"Okay, Kepte, calm down. I've received requests from the tribune and posted them, so it's up to the adventurer's free will to decide what kind of quests they take, because their livelihoods are at stake. Even you know that. Right?”

When I got closer and listened, it seemed like it was about the serial disappearance of prostitutes that I had noticed yesterday. 

Now that you mention it, this woman named Kepte may also be a prostitute, although she hasn't even put on makeup since it's still early in the morning. 

There are a lot of adventurers at this time, but most of them are watching from a distance or pretending not to hear and just passing by, which means they don't want to be forced to do such troublesome work. 

If I remember correctly, the success fee was 20 gold coins, and if any other useful information was obtained, it would be negotiable, so an adventurer who had no clue would go out of his way to accept a request that might end up with no reward. There may not be many. 

"There are about ten people who disappeared, right? There are many possibilities, such as an epidemic or going to another city."

"What are you talking about? There are already over 30 people, and there's no way they'll disappear with their luggage and spare clothes left where they're sleeping."

Huh? As the staff said, it was written on the bulletin board that there were ``more than 10 people.'' It seems like the number of people is quite different... 

"You have a strange look on your face. Are you accepting a quest?"

It seems that he noticed that I was listening intently. Of the two guild employees, an older man approached me. 

"Ah, umm, I'm an adventurer belonging to Elzark, so I don't know much about you..."

"Ah, the Elzark Kingdom is a nice place, isn't it? And the level of this guild card is also high! If you're looking for a short-term job, I have a recommendation for you..."

The other young female employee started saying something disturbing. 

(Hey, I got noticed, didn't I?)

Lucien whispers to me. 

“You can do it, please!”

A prostitute named Kepte has come to bite me. Looks like I stepped on a landmine... 

We insisted that we were planning to leave here, but the guild staff asked us to work hard, even if it was only for a few days, regardless of the outcome. Well, it's better than no one taking action at all, so they agree with me with a not-so-hopeful look on their faces. 

In the end, I was told that if I couldn't find anything within three days, I would have to back out, and in that case, the guild would still pay me a minimum wage guarantee, so I ended up taking on a quest that no one else would take on. Ta···

"You're really sweet to women, aren't you?"

(That's right, and he's indecisive.)

Lucien and Lina can say whatever they want, I think so too. 

“Anyway, please tell me your story. Is it true that not ten, but thirty people are gone?”

Nolte, a talented detective secretary, asks Kepte a question on my behalf. 

We avoided the hustle and bustle and continued our conversation in a corner of the dining room on the third floor. 

An older man was present, perhaps because the guild felt some responsibility as it was a request from the civil servant to the guild. 

Apparently, the original receptionist was a female employee, and since the situation had escalated, the male superior also came out to calm down. 

``The tribune-sama listed only women whose identities were properly registered, such as a commercial guild card.However, most prostitutes don't have such things, and most of them hide their identities. It's just a matter of pretending and eating it the same day.''

Kepte seemed to have let his guard down since our party was filled with girls other than me and was likely to be discriminated against, so he started talking in detail. 

“What do you mean you left your luggage there?”

``Of course not all of them, but about ten of the women I know directly know where to sleep, so I went to see them in the slums in the west, or at most in the wooden rental inns in Dara.Then, if you want to change the river bank. Everyone in the industry can tell at a glance that everyone has gone to work and is unable to return home, with the costumes they would always bring with them.''

Nolte listens to the story step by step. Even though he's younger than me, he's really strong in this area. 

“Huh?”

Suddenly, the line I said earlier stuck to me. 

“If you don’t have an ID, what do you do when you leave this town?”

The man from the guild, Thornton, and Kepte looked at each other in shock. 

This town has very strict checks on people coming in and out, so it seems like they have to check your ID and check your status not only when you enter, but also when you leave. 

"Normally it's not possible, but..."

"Even we can't leave. Some soldiers may think we're a good way to get rid of trouble, but I don't think there's one in ten who would cheat by offering special services."

"So, you're in the city?"

“Impossible, there wasn’t even a dead body found, right?”

"There's no doubt about that. I checked with the military police and the civil servant's office, but there were zero reports. That's why the request came here."

　The topic suddenly became serious. 

The tribune and the adventurer's guild, who were first accused by the prostitutes, only investigated about 10 people with ID, so I thought to myself that they had simply left the city and gone somewhere else. It seems like it. 

However, the number of lower-class prostitutes who don't have ID cards, which means they can't enter and leave the city without permission, has disappeared several times over. They literally "disappeared from the streets."

What do you mean? 

"People can't just walk out...what if they didn't walk out?"

“Jump over the castle wall?”

"Did you fly away in a balloon?"

Carmilla and Nolte spoke of their ideas. I don't think there's a possibility that Carmilla's physical abilities could overcome even castle walls...but... 

“Does that mean that even if you can’t get out as a person, you can carry out a dead body as cargo?”

``````That's so''''''

The voices of Thornton and Kepte overlapped, but I was also thinking the same thing as Lucien. 

　

“How about checking the cargo on the wagons that leave this town?”

"If it's a wagon belonging to a merchant with a merchant guild certificate or something like that, I don't check all the cargo. This is an industrial city, after all, there's too much cargo..."

Thornton is deep in thought. 

"The commercial guild is involved, and the wagon guild as well."

It seems that in Gallipoli, in addition to the commercial guild, there is also a "wagon guild", which is a gathering of wagon operators who specialize in transporting other people's cargo. 

It's almost impossible for merchants to re-examine all of the wagons that they operate individually, but if they were to carry out dozens of bodies continuously over a certain period of time, it would be quite large. 

"Can you summarize as much as possible the dates of the disappearances of the missing people? They can't leave the bodies there for many days, so I'm guessing they take them out the day after they disappear?"

Lucien seems to think this line is very strong. I think I should look into that first as well. 

Thanks to the adventurer guild's approach to the commercial guild, we are expected to receive some rough information by the evening. 

"You've done a great job. This alone is a great accomplishment."

Thornton says with an excited look on his face. 

“A lot of strange things have been happening lately, and it’s bothering me too.”

“Is that strange?”

When asked by Nolte, Thornton began speaking. 

``Such as when a high-level party stepped into the hideout of a thief who had been given a subjugation request, it turned out to be an empty shell, or that the merchant caravan that was guarding it was almost wiped out by a strangely organized swarm of monsters, or something like that. Talk”

Is that a strangely organized monster? Nolte and everyone looked at each other. 

“You know, does Garis have a “demon” character?”

"What!? If it's a demon...what kind of joke are you kidding?"

Don't you know? 

I told them about the pack of demon wolves I fought on my way to Gallipoli and the demon who controlled them. 

At first, Thornton was half-convinced, or maybe even half-hearted, but halfway through he seemed to realize that we weren't joking. 

"I thought demons were just some kind of fairy tale from the time when there was a demon lord, but you certainly have intermediate discrimination skills."

Thornton is also a veteran adventurer, level 15, so he can see my skills. That's why he seemed to believe that I was able to confirm the monster's name, level, and skills. 

Then, I took out the damaged necklace that one of the demons was wearing from the item box, thinking it could be used as evidence. 

"this is···"

"You're lying, how did you get this!"

Suddenly, it was Kepte who screamed. 

When I snatched the necklace from the table, she stared at it with wide eyes. 

"...I'm pretty sure it's the one who was bragging about getting the bezel from a man. That's a lie! That's a lie!"

It was something that one of the prostitutes who disappeared was supposed to be wearing.