The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 2 - Chapter 99

Chapter 99:

To Corner the Organization SIDE: CAPTAIN BARXBY

AS WE APPROACHED the town gate, the guards on duty emerged. They were astonished we’d returned in under an hour. They’d had pretty much the same expression when they saw the size of our party on the way out. I couldn’t blame them. You only saw a fifty-five-man-strong expedition like that once every decade or so.

“Captain, is something wrong? And, um, what’ve you got behind you there…?”

Marse, the most senior member of the watchmen at the gate, frowned at the group trailing behind us. The line of turncoat guards had their hands bound and were joined at the hips by strong ropes. The other guards here were similarly shaken to see their comrades bound. They looked between us, trying to figure out what was going on.

I raised my voice to ensure everyone could hear me. “These men have betrayed our comrades and conspired with the kidnapping organization terrorizing this town. They have been apprehended. Throw them in prison and keep a good eye on them, please.”

“Um—understood, sir. It’s a rather…large…group, so we’ll need to put three to a cell even if we use both the jail in the guard building and the cells at the station. Will that do?” Marse was stunned by my order for a moment, but he was a seasoned professional. He quickly got his mind straight.

“Actually, put them five to a cell, please,” I said. Marse looked over the group of captives, counting them. I could see him doing the math in his head as he looked at me questioningly. “There are more traitors back at the base of operations we set up yesterday,” I explained.

Marse stood stock-still for a moment. A mix of sorrow and fury roiled on his face. Yet that too only lasted a moment before he recovered his composure.

“Right. Will there be enough space if we put five to a cell?”

Will there? I don’t know how many people are assaulting the base right now. And there’s the gang of murderers to account for, too.

“No. Two jails won’t be enough. We’ll have to requisition the adventurers’ and merchant guild’s jails, so let them know for me, please. I just hope that’ll be enough…”

“God, that many? I’ll take care of it now, sir.” Marse’s eyes went wide the moment I mentioned using both guilds’ jails.

I grinned wryly. Seeing my expression, he smiled helplessly back. He’d been on the job for a long time now, but this work was truly painful. With a slight bow, he turned back to his subordinates, who were still staring aghast at the traitors.

“How long do you plan to stand there looking, boys?!” Marse roared. “Do your job! Throw that scum into the guard post’s prison. Don’t listen to a word they say. They’re not your comrades anymore; they turned their back on us. Focus!”

“Y-yes, sir!”

“Five prisoners to a cell. The rest will go to the station. We don’t have enough personnel to watch them, so call back in as many off-duty guards as you can.”

“Yes, sir!”

Seeing him rouse his men was a relieving sight. They may have been their former friends, but indecision would kill us. If their hearts faltered, they might let them escape out of sympathy. I had planned to choose people from the hunting party to prevent such a problem, but I could trust Marse to handle that. His vigor alone had changed their minds, and they stepped forward to take their former allies into custody without hesitation.

“Agrop, let Marse handle the watchmen. Let’s leave enough people to keep the prisoners in line and take the rest to the base.”

“Understood.” Agrop picked five people for jail guard duty and gave them their orders.

“Captain, are you sure we can’t spare a few more people for the base?” Marcreek asked while handing over the captured adventurers to the watchmen.

I cocked my head. The organization members attacking the base should be in dreamland by now—why would we need so many people?

“Anticipating trouble? We have more personnel to spare, but…” I hesitated.

Agrop returned just then and broke in, “If we mobilize the entire guard force, we can muster greater numbers. Why do you ask?”

He saved me there—Agrop was more familiar with our personnel than I was.

“Huh? The plan is to flush out all the conspirators hiding near the base. No one told you?”

“We’re doing what?!” we cried. Whoooa. That’s the second time today we said the same thing at the same time! Wait, that’s not important right now.

“How are you gonna do that?” I asked. “Sounds tough, right?”

“Hm?” Marcreek looked confused. “They’re just…judging everyone there with Bolorda’s magical item?”

I grimaced. If they could capture everyone in one fell swoop, then that would be the best way. But everyone around the base? How many people were they planning to inspect, exactly?

“Did that boy come up with this whole plan?”

“Yep. He thinks of the craziest things, right? Checking every single person…” Really, what kind of child was that Ivy boy?

“Pfft, heh heh,” Agrop chuckled. “I’d love a long chat with that kid once this is all over.”

“The GM and clean adventurers should already be on it, but I don’t think they’ll be enough.”

“Hm? They’ve already inspected the adventurers?”

“Not all of them. I hear they’ll get the rest once they’ve finished at the base. That’s why they’re hard up for help right now.”

Because they can only use the confirmed-safe ones. Right.

“Hmm. Is it wise to arrest all of them at once, though?” It felt like rushing things to me. Was there a reason it was necessary?

“Hm? I think…they said that if the organization’s people in the guards and adventurers and their watchers around the mansion were all captured at once, the organization would doubt its information control…or something. And that would slow them down? Sifar had the whole thing figured out.”

“The organization would suspect a leak?”

“Uhh, I was just sort of listening while Sifar was talking to Ivy. If you want more details, ask them.”

“Ha ha, okay. And we’re sure this is the best option we have?”

“All I know is that it means dealing a blow to the organization. And that’s fine with me!”

Simple, yet effective…still, I’m surprised they came up with it. It makes sense they’d suspect an info leak if all their people are caught at once. We’re using a magical item to inspect them, but that only came into play yesterday. Even if that information has made it back to them, they won’t have had time to verify it. Not to mention, only a few of us know of its existence. It’s likely that they’re completely in the dark.

“So that’s why we have to strike now?”

Once they found out about the magical item, then the specter of a leak would vanish. Was now the moment to strike, since they didn’t know how we were identifying them? If everything went to plan, the kidnappers would assume their own people gave them up. And that’s not all. Every mole they had among the guard had been identified, so they might even think that they had double agents in their midst.

Up to this point, they’d been able to watch our every move. But now that their insider eyes were all in custody, the organization was flying blind. They would once again have to tread with great caution while tracking our movements. Not knowing the severity of the leak would slow them down even further. And as long as they were paralyzed, we could take the time we needed to confirm the veracity of the documents and build up our case. If that was our aim, we should use extreme measures to arrest as many as we could now.

And a nine-year-old boy thought of all this? I’m not Agrop, but I would love to chat with him once this is all over, too.

“If that’s the plan, I’ll gather everybody who can help. We’ll mobilize the entire force. How far out from the mansion should we start our sweep for watchers? We’ll herd them to the base.”

I wouldn’t use the word “herd.” Still, Agrop’s thinking what I’m thinking; he’s just way more excited about it. We were always the ones getting outmaneuvered, but suddenly, we had a chance to come out on top. It was exhilarating.

“Agrop, don’t get carried away and blow it,” I warned him.

“Of course. That boy arranged all of this for us—we can hardly fail now.”

He was right. If we messed up now, how could I ever face Ivy?