kscans

Chapter 129 - It All Adds Up ★

After finishing my business with the witch, I returned to the branch manager's office and was smoking a cigarette at my desk. A knock echoed through the room.

"Enter!"

When I gave permission, Kiryu entered the room.

"Well, I’m at a loss here."

Kiryu sat down on one of the sofas in the room.

"What happened?"

"She knew I was listening in."

"What!?"

"She gave me a warning while you were out handling the payment. She said, ‘I dislike being secretly photographed, but I dislike being eavesdropped on even more.’"

She knew. No, now that I think about it, her answers today were strange. On TV, she gave vague answers, but today she avoided making any definitive statements.

"Does she know about your unique skill?"

"There’s no other explanation. It was a complete miss. The only things I learned were that the witch really does think of Healing Potions as nothing more than tap water, that she has some connection with Yoshino-san, that she has no intention of leaving Ikebukuro, and that her goal is money."

In other words, no new information.

"How would she know about your unique skill? You haven’t had any contact with the witch, have you?"

"I have not. It must be her magic or a skill. Either way, she’s a more troublesome opponent than I thought."

An unknown monster.

"Is her objective really money?"

"Yes. Her answer to your question about whether she would continue to sell items was true, and her words about being happy to have made a profit were also true."

So her goal is to make money. Is she planning some kind of economic domination?

"Good grief... what an incomprehensible monster."

"She had a gun, apparently?"

He would know, since he was listening in.

"It probably wasn’t fake. I bet the Americans gave it to her."

Harry and Claire are that witch’s bodyguards, and it’s clear they have other connections. They probably gave it to her for self-defense.

"If she’s an opponent who relies on guns or magic, I feel like we could manage somehow."

"Don’t. The information that the witch is a sword user is apparently true. She was completely at ease, provoking me to my face."

I’m a former A-rank adventurer myself. I don’t know if the witch knew that, but it was written all over her face that she didn't consider me a threat.

"That makes me doubt even more that she’s human."

"The Frontier person theory might be correct. It’s strange for someone of that caliber to suddenly appear. Especially without a family register."

"Could she be American? An operative like Harry and Claire."

"I wonder. The Americans seemed to be at her mercy too, and her words and face are Japanese. Also, I haven’t told you this, but she was originally a brunette. She dyed her hair at a salon."

Our investigation has uncovered information that a woman with waist-length black hair in a tracksuit came to a salon to have her hair dyed.

"A disguise?"

"Would you dye that much hair for a disguise? You’d cut it first, wouldn’t you?"

It’s the length, not the color, that stands out. You rarely see hair that long, even in a crowded city like Tokyo.

"I can’t quite figure out her actions. What is she thinking?"

"Or maybe she’s not thinking at all."

She might have just wanted a fresh start to become an adventurer. Thinking about it won’t get us anywhere. And besides, there’s no way to know what a woman is thinking.

"What should we do? She’s in Mireille Road, right? Should I make contact?"

"Hmm..."

What to do?

As I was contemplating, I heard a knock from the door.

"Enter!"

"Excuse me."

When I gave permission, the receptionist who had escorted the witch came in.

"Has she left?"

"Yes... but there was a small problem."

Problem?

"What happened?"

"Eleanor-sama was attacked at the back entrance."

Huh?

"Attacked!? What do you mean!?"

"Please calm down. The culprit was Uno-kun. You know, the one..."

Uno. The high school boy who insulted the witch and enraged the Head of Headquarters. His license was supposed to have been revoked.

"A misplaced grudge?"

"It seems so. He made all sorts of accusations against Eleanor-sama, then pulled out a knife and attacked her."

What an idiot. Even for a minor, that’s way over the line.

"Why was he here? He’s supposed to be banned."

"He probably saw someone’s post on social media."

Tch! So that’s how he came. And since he was banned, he avoided the front entrance security and went around to the back.

"So what happened?"

"Eleanor-sama disarmed him with a beautiful spinning back kick, and the security guards apprehended him. He’s currently in the back warehouse. Should I call the police?"

A spinning back kick, huh. That witch really is aggressive and a martial artist.

"I’ll contact the Head of Headquarters. This isn’t a problem we can handle on our own."

I’m going to get an earful of sarcasm from that old man. Dammit!

"Understood. We’ll keep him confined in the warehouse. But his parents are a factor, so please do it quickly."

Just when I thought one problem with a minor was solved, another one pops up. It makes me sick of having minors as adventurers. But if we don’t, we’ll lose promising prospects to other guilds.

"What did the witch do?"

"After threatening Uno-kun, she got into a taxi. I believe it was Harry and Claire."

They’re supposed to be her bodyguards. Though they didn’t do anything.

"What kind of threat?"

"She said she would repeatedly break his arm and then heal it with a Healing Potion."

That’s torture!

"As expected of a witch. Her ideas are terrifying."

"Also, she has a message for the gorilla branch manager and the annoying A-ranker."

That would be me and Kiryu, huh?

"What’s that?"

"That’s what Eleanor-sama said."

Well, I already knew, but it seems she’s completely figured out Kiryu.

"...What was the message?"

"She said she won’t forgive a second time."

Scary!

"Kiryu, cease contact with Eleanor."

I gave the order to Kiryu, who was sitting on the sofa.

"...I will."

Oh? It’s rare for the womanizer to be so obedient.

"Did you get scared?"

"I’d rather not be stuck in a loop of having my arm broken and healed with a Healing Potion."

I wouldn’t either.

"Go after Yoshino. Dig for information from that angle."

I don’t know how much we can find, but it’s better to avoid going after the witch directly. There’s no need to step on a monster’s tail. We managed to acquire a large number of Healing Potions today alone. As the government officials and the Head of Headquarters say, it’s best to leave her be and let her lay golden eggs.

"Understood."

Still, I wonder how that vixen from the Ikebukuro branch managed to tame that witch.

"Shiraishi, did you notice anything?"

I asked the receptionist who had seen her off.

"About Eleanor-sama, I believe she is someone who does not favor men."

Huh?

"What do you mean?"

"To be direct, she is a woman who likes women."

A lesbian? Homosexual?

"Why do you think so?"

"She was unusually harsh toward you two, and I felt desire in the way she looked at me."

What...

"Really?"

"Yes. She was glancing at my chest and legs. That was more of a man’s gaze."

Seriously? That witch is into that? Really?

No, wait a minute.

"If that’s the case, a lot of things make sense. Using a Healing Potion on a high school girl she doesn't know, refusing to move from the Ikebukuro branch with its vixen manager, making contact with that vixen’s large-chested cousin, and having that strange short girl with her..."

Ah, that witch is really into that.

"No wonder she called me annoying."

Kiryu nodded, as if he understood completely.

"Shiraishi, can I ask you a favor?"

There just so happens to be some beautiful bait right here.

"No."

I figured as much.

"...Are there any female adventurers in our guild..."

Nope. Even if there are, they’re just rookies.

"Come to think of it, she did ask me, ‘Are there any female adventurers here?’"

That settles it.

"What did you tell her?"

"I answered honestly."

So that’s what she meant by there being no merit in transferring here.

"Don’t either of you leak this information. We can’t do anything about it, but I’m worried about the Shinjuku Guild."

That place is all women.

"...I won’t tell anyone, but is it that big of a deal?"

"We don’t know what that witch is thinking. Don’t assume our common sense applies to her."

She’s either an idiot or a monster.