Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 4 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

The Demon in the Warehouse 

The layout of the city of Zant Port was similar to that of Wind Port. There were a number of rolling hills at its edge, and a harbor that was livelier than the city itself. The Adventurers’ Guild was similarly closer to the harbor than it was to the city’s center. 

That said, there were some contrasts. There were noticeably far more wooden buildings here than there had been in Wind Port. They were also painted in riots of color, perhaps to protect the material from the salty sea air. Trees lined the road, and one could see a forest beyond the city’s edge. 

Green was everywhere. It was a sharp contrast to the Demon Continent, which had been all whites, grays and browns. An ocean was all that separated the two continents and yet they were like different worlds. 

I should have expected as much since this was the Millis Continent, but the people roaming the streets were not the outlandish mix of different demon tribes I had seen before. Instead there were beastfolk, elves, dwarves, and hobbits—races of people that all closely resembled humans. 

Before we went to find ourselves an inn, I had to check the state of our finances. In the Demon Continent’s currency, we had two green ore coins, eighteen steel iron coins, five scrap iron coins, and three stone coins. That was it. When we exchanged it, we received three Millis gold coins, seven Millis large copper coins, and two Millis copper coins. Less than I assumed we would have, but I suspected that was because of transaction fees. If we’d used an exchange business that hadn’t been licensed with the guild, they would have surely taken more. This was still within an acceptable range. 

“We should stay in an inn close to the guild, right?” 

“Yeah, we need to take on some missions,” Eris agreed. 

That depended on how things went down tonight. Assuming it went smoothly, we would be working on jobs from the guild while simultaneously spreading the good name of Dead End. So far, it seemed the name wasn’t widely known here in Millis Continent. The day that name lost all its dire associations might soon be upon us. 

With that in mind, we began searching for an inn close to the guild. Mysteriously enough, all of the conveniently priced ones had no rooms left. This was the first time I’d experienced this. Sure, we had been turned away before because an inn was full, but I never dreamed that almost all of them would be that way. 

Was there some kind of festival or something going on? When I asked, one of the inn proprietors replied, “The rainy season is almost upon us. Almost all the good inns are going to be fully booked.” 

The rainy season was a weather phenomenon peculiar to the Great Forest, a continuous rainfall that lasted three whole months. The deluge made the Great Forest, as well as the highway, impassable. There were many guests who booked long stays at the inns as a result. 

Most people would usually avoid getting stuck in a place like this during the rainy season, but apparently certain monsters only appeared during this time, thanks to the rains that washed them toward the city. The materials harvested from those monsters sold for a lot of coin, so many adventurers came to town and stayed during this season. 

When I heard that, I decided to change my plans. If we spent the next three months diligently raking in cash here, we could earn all our expenses for the rest of the journey. We could also spread good word of Ruijerd’s name at the same time. Deciding on a plan of action would make the rest of our trip on the Millis Continent smooth and relaxing. 

That said, don’t count your chickens before they something-or-other, right? We didn’t have much cash, and we couldn’t find an inn to stay at, either. The only places with open rooms were either far above our budget, or exceedingly shitty. 

You couldn’t pay with money you didn’t have, so we were left with only one option: to take residence in an unsavory lot and stay at what was, frankly, a slum lodge. One night was three large copper coins and there were no other services offered, including meals. At least it was cheap, and decent if we were only using it for sleeping. We had stayed in far worse places in the Demon Continent. Though it might be worth moving somewhere else once we managed to save up some coin. 

“Hmm, I guess it’s not too bad!” Eris was a daughter of a noble family, but she had no qualms about the dilapidated state of the building or its lack of services. 

In fact, I was the one who had complaints. “I personally would like more pleasant accommodations.” 

“You’re acting like a big baby.” 

As much as I wanted to reply with, “Oh yeah? Well you’re one to talk”, I couldn’t. With careful recollection, I remembered that this young, “noble” girl used to sleep soundly on a bale of hay in a roach-infested stable that reeked of horse dung. She wasn’t like me. I still longed for the warmth of a nice bed even after being reincarnated. 

I decided not to “act like a big baby”. All I could do was use magic to create a hot wind that would annihilate any dust mites, then quickly clean the room. I wasn’t necessarily a clean freak. Honestly, I actually liked things to be a little messy, but sometimes in inns like these the people who stayed before us forgot some of their things. There might be some coin left underneath the bed, or a small ring that had fallen off a cabinet. We could pocket any money we found, but sometimes if there was a ring or something similar left behind, there might be a request for it at the guild. It might give us a cash reward, regardless of the request’s rank. Typically this was small change, but sometimes it could fetch you a hefty sum. That was why I carefully cleaned the room. 

In the meantime, Eris borrowed a buck to do some simple laundry. Then she quickly performed routine care on her equipment. By the time we were both finished, the sun was beginning to set. 

“Eris, it’s about time for us to go pick up Ruijerd.” I immediately remembered where our inn was located. The slums were close, which meant public safety wasn’t a guarantee. 

We’d once stayed in an inn close to the slums. A burglar broke into our room while we were out on a job. Ruijerd had followed the crook’s tracks and punished them severely, but the goods they stole from us had already been passed off to someone else and we never got them back. The articles weren’t particularly important to us at the time. 

Thus, I had no plans to leave anything precious in this hotel room while we were out. Still, it seemed prudent to put in some crime prevention measures. It also gave me a good pretext not to bring Eris along with me. 

“Eris, you stay here and keep an eye on our luggage.” 

“You’re leaving me here? I can’t go with you?” 

“It’s not like that, it’s just that this isn’t really a safe area around here.” 

“That’s fine; it’s not like any of this stuff is particularly important.” 

I was shocked. Eris didn’t realize the importance of crime prevention. We would be in trouble if we had our daily commodities stolen, since we didn’t have the money to replace them. I had to use this opportunity to instill in her the importance of guarding herself against would-be thieves. 

“Don’t you understand? Someone might steal the underwear you just washed.” 

“The only person who would steal something like that is you!” 

I groaned inwardly at that burn. 

…But you know, Eris, I never tried to steal your underwear after you’d washed them. Not even once. 

*** 

I walked through the city at night, alone. Eris took quite some time to persuade. Crime prevention really was important, though. 

We were instructed to carry out our job at night, but our employer never specified the hour. Any time after the sun set was fine as long as we rescued the captives. We were free to operate on our own time. However, with the rainy season almost upon us, the smugglers would be eager to move their ship as quickly as possible, so we couldn’t dawdle. 

At presently, Ruijerd was being treated as a slave. They would do the bare minimum to keep him alive, but he might have endured harsh treatment this past week. They surely hadn’t fed him anything decent. He was probably hungry. And when people got hungry, they got angry. That was why I had to hurry. 

With Ruijerd’s spear in one hand, I made my way to the wharf, and then to the pier on the edge. There stood four large wooden warehouses. I slipped inside the one labelled “Warehouse Three”. 

Inside was a single man, quietly cleaning. He had one of the most common hairstyles at the turn of the century, a mohawk. I went up to him and asked, “Yo, Steve. How’s Jane, you know, the one that lives by the beach?” That was our password. 

Mohawk gave me a quizzical look. “Hey kid, what are you doing here?” 

Oh crap, had I gotten it wrong? No, that wasn’t it—maybe he just didn’t believe me because I was a kid. 

“I’m on an errand for my master. I’m here to pick up some cargo.” 

The man seemed to understand once I said that. He nodded quietly and said, “Follow me.” Then he headed deeper into the warehouse. 

I followed him in silence. Deep within the warehouse was a wooden box large enough to fit maybe five people inside. Mohawk drew a torch from within and the box moved. A set of stairs appeared below it, and Mohawk motioned his chin toward them as if telling me to descend. 

When I did so, I realized we were in a damp cave. Mohawk came behind me with his lit torch and proceeded ahead. I followed after him, careful of where I placed my feet so that I wouldn’t slip. 

We continued walking for almost an hour. Finally, we left the cave and found ourselves in the middle of the forest. Apparently we were outside the city now. We continued to walk until we came across a large building hidden among rows of trees. It didn’t look at all like a warehouse, but rather a rich man’s villa. 

So this was their holding area. 

“I’m sure you already know this, but you better keep this place a secret. If you don’t…” 

“Yes, I know.” I gave a firm nod. If I told anyone, they would hunt me down and kill me, right? Gallus had already told me that back in Wind Port. They would have been better off making me sign in blood rather than with a promise made of empty words. So why didn’t they? Because there were races that didn’t have fingerprints. Also, it was likely no one wanted to commit something like that to writing. It would only leave evidence of their wrongdoing. 

“…” 

Mohawk knocked on the front door. Bang, bang. Bang, bang. There must have been a rule for how to knock as well. 

After a while a white-haired man in a butler’s uniform appeared from within. He checked both of our faces before curtly saying, “Enter.” 

Enter we did. In front of us, a set of stairs led to the second floor. On either side was another set that led to the basement. There were doors both to our right and left. Frankly speaking, it looked like a mansion’s lobby area. In one corner, some shady-looking men had their elbows crooked on a round table. 

I started feeling nervous. 

That’s when the white-haired butler looked at me, suspicion in his eyes as he asked, “And who referred you?” 

“Ditz.” That was the name Gallus told us to say. 

“Him, huh? Still, I wouldn’t have expected him to use a child for this. He sure is a cautious one.” 

“Such is the nature of the goods we’re handling.” 

“Hm, indeed. Take it quickly then. It’s terrifying and beyond our power.” The butler produced a ring of keys from his breast pocket and passed one over to Mohawk. “Room 202.” 

Mohawk nodded quietly and we started walking. 

I could hear the squeak of the floor beneath his feet, as well as the sound of someone moaning somewhere within the building. The smell of an animal occasionally wafted by. That’s when I noticed there was a room adjacent to the main area with iron bars across it. I peeked inside. In the faint light that filtered in, I could see a magical circle on the floor. Contained within its bounds was a large beast that was chained down and sprawled out. It was too dark to be certain, but I had never seen that kind of creature on the Demon Continent before. It must have been something native to the Millis Continent. 

Where were these slaves who had been taken captive? We were told to free them, but we weren’t told where they were located. Perhaps Ruijerd would know. 

Mohawk descended stairs located deeper within the mansion. The butler had said Room 202, so I assumed that would be upstairs, but it seemed it was in the basement instead. 

“So it’s located underground, huh?” 

“The second floor is a dummy to fake people out.” 

So that meant the items on the second floor were of no concern should someone find them. Goods that were highly taxed or would otherwise earn a harsh sentence if smuggled were kept downstairs. 

“This is it.” Mohawk stopped in front of a door with a plate that read “202”. When I peeked inside, I saw Ruijerd with his hands cuffed behind his back, emerald sprigs of hair beginning to crop up on his head. It was no surprise that after leaving him like this for a week, he now looked like he had moss growing on the top of his head. 

“Thank you for your help.” 

Mohawk nodded and took his post outside the front door. A lookout, I assumed. “Don’t remove his shackles here. There’s nothing we can do to stop a Superd if it goes out of control here.” Mohawk looked a little pale as he said that. 

It seemed the emerald-colored hair, as little as there was on Ruijerd’s head, was effective. Mohawk would be even more terrified if I removed Ruijerd’s binds and started commanding him. Nah, there was no need to put on an act like that—pretending to be the weak evil genius who controlled the monster. 

Now where did I put that key for his shackles? I searched my breast pocket, but it was nowhere to be found. Perhaps I left it back at the inn. It was too much of a bother to worry about, so I decided to just use my magic. As I stepped closer to Ruijerd, I noticed a grim look on his face. 

Yep, I knew it. People get pissed off when they’re hungry, I thought. Just wait a little longer and we’ll get you some food to— 

“Rudeus, bring your ear close,” Ruijerd whispered. 

“What is it?” 

When I pressed my face in closer, Mohawk seemed to panic and said, “H-hey! Stop that! He’ll bite it off!” 

Nah, don’t worry. It’s Ruijerd we’re talking about, he’ll let me off with a play bite, I thought as I leaned closer. 

“They’ve kidnapped children. Seven of them.” 

Oh? More than I would have expected. 

“Beastfolk children. Taken against their will. I can hear them crying even from here.” 

“Hm, maybe they’re the ones we’re supposed to rescue?” 

“Don’t know. But there doesn’t seem to be anyone else here.” 

Children. Slaves, I assumed. Amongst whom was the person Gallus said would cause them trouble in the future. Or perhaps it was someone else, someone important. 

“We’re going to save them, of course. Right?” 

“Well, that is the job we took on, after all,” I replied. 

Either way, we could check each room to be sure. There was just one problem remaining. 

“There’s quite a few bodyguards throughout this building.” 

“I know that,” he said. 

“So what are we going to do about them?” 

Even though it was Ruijerd we were talking about, it would still be difficult for him to go undetected and release all of those slaves. 

“Kill them all.” 

Scary! 

“Kill them all, huh…?” 

“They kidnapped children.” He had a look of disbelief on his face. As if I had betrayed him. 

It wasn’t as if I’d expressed opposition. Gallus never specified what methods we could and couldn’t use. Judging by the way he talked, he probably assumed I would let Ruijerd massacre them all. But I’d originally planned to release him and leave, then stealthily infiltrate and free the captives. It seemed my plans had been too naive. Killing them all might not reflect honorably on the name of Ruijerd’s tribe, at least in my opinion, but we had no choice this time. 

“Just don’t leave a single one alive.” 

I didn’t say that to be ruthless or cruel. A smuggling organization would repay a customer who had betrayed them by sending assassins they’d reared since birth. The only thing that awaited traitors was a merciless death. 

I wasn’t sure what Gallus would do after this. He might send assassins after us to keep our mouths shut. As long as Ruijerd was with us, we had no fear of assassins, but we wouldn’t be able to sleep in peace. There was also no guarantee that Ruijerd would be with us all the time. 

“Yeah, leave it to me.” 

Woot woot, just the response I would have expected, Ruijerd! Those were comforting words. 

“I won’t leave anyone alive. Not a single one.” 

Scary. A blue vein bulged in his forehead. Lately I thought he’d mellowed out a bit, but today he was bloodthirsty. Just what had these smugglers done to piss him off this much? 

“Can I ask what they did to those kids?” 

“You’ll know when you see them.” 

That didn’t really tell me anything. 

“Don’t worry. You don’t have to get your hands dirty,” Ruijerd said, misunderstanding my demeanor. 

My body froze and I said, “No.” His words were like a thorn that pricked at my heart. “I’ll…do it too.” 

It was true that in this past year, I had avoided taking anyone’s life. I killed beasts without question, even those that were humanoid. I did not, however, commit murder. Partly because I had no need to, but there were also many reasons for me not to. I had never felt the impulse to kill anyone before, either. 

This world was unforgiving. It was a world where people fought life-or-death battles daily. Eventually, I would have to kill someone. That was a situation I would one day face. I thought I had mentally prepared myself for that, but what I had done wasn’t mental preparation. All I’d done was reduce the strength of my stone cannon to a level where it wasn’t capable of killing anyone. 

In the end, I did have qualms about taking someone’s life. I could claim otherwise if I wanted, but the truth was that I didn’t want to commit the taboo of murder. I hadn’t prepared myself, couldn’t prepare myself. Ruijerd sensed that. That’s why he specifically said what he’d said. He was looking out for me. 

“Don’t make that face. Those hands of yours are for protecting Eris.” 

Oh well. I supposed he was right. There was no point in forcing myself to kill. I decided to leave the job to Ruijerd today. If he could do it by himself, then it was better to entrust it to him. If that made me a wuss, then fine. It was better to focus on what I was capable of doing than what I wasn’t. 

“All right then. I’ll free the children. Do you know where they’re at?” 

“The next door over.” 

“All right then. Try to gather the dead bodies. Let’s burn them all afterward.” 

“Understood.” 

Without further speaking, I removed his shackles. The door creaked as Ruijerd stood up slowly. 

“Hey, you! How the heck did get your shackles off?!” Mohawk panicked. 

“Don’t worry. He’ll listen to what I say.” 

“R-really?” Mohawk seemed a bit relieved to hear me say that. 

I passed Ruijerd’s spear over to him. “Although he’ll still go berserk, anyway.” 

“Huh…?” 

Mohawk was the first victim. Ruijerd slew him without making a noise. Then, just as silently, he ran toward the stairs. I moved in the opposite direction to the room where the children were being held. 

“Gaaaaah!” 

“A S-Superd! He’s got his shackles off!” 

“Shit! He’s holding a spear!” 

“It’s a demon! Aaaah, it’s a demon, aaah!” 

The screams from downstairs started just as I reached the door.