She tiptoed further inside. Her vision was clear thanks to the night vision goggles. She decided against military camouflage clothing because she wasn’t going to be in a battlefield or a forest. Her outfit of choice was a skin-tight leotard. It was practical attire for sneaking around a building since it wouldn’t get caught on any furniture or display object.
Thanks to the flatness of my body, I can fit through tight spaces… Oh, keep your comments to yourself! I like to dress for the job, okay?! I’m not cosplaying a certain feline-themed trio of art thieves.
Mitsuha chose a khaki-colored leotard, which would actually stand out less than a black one. The tight fit of the suit also made it clear at a glance that she was a small, unarmed girl; hopefully her appearance would stop any guards from attacking her on sight.
They’d probably want to capture me for questioning, anyway. So as long as they don’t catch me off guard, I’ll be able to escape.
To tell you the truth, one of the reasons I decided to wear this is because I’m pretty sure no one will see me. It’d be embarrassing if anyone found me in this get-up. I wouldn’t wear it in front of people on Earth, let alone in this world where I’d be assumed to be some kind of nympho.
Mitsuha continued to scout the building and walked past a small meeting room. No reasonable person would discuss criminal activity there.
Next was the reception room used to accommodate VIP clients. She snuck in and mounted a voice recorder to the bottom of a table.
The internal microphone picked up sound from all sides, which seemed like a good thing, but in reality, it meant that the mic wasn’t selective of what it picked up.
Mitsuha adjusted the setting to start recording when it detected sound. Leaving the recorders on the whole time wasn’t an issue thanks to the long battery life, but listening to the recording would’ve taken forever. She had ten of them, after all. Intermittent recordings were less viable as evidence in a courtroom, but that didn’t matter in this world.
Pilfering the contents of the safe with her world-jumping ability would’ve been easy. But while there may have been proof of wrongdoing─like secret ledgers and forged documents─there wouldn’t be anything describing an attack on another store, so there was no point in ransacking the safe. She decided to pass on it this time. This time, she thought.
The culprit vandalized Larusia Trading’s products instead of stealing them, so there was no reason to check the storehouse. Unlike in Vanel, only one store in the entire country of Voftress sold Yamano County’s specialty goods. That meant that if anyone tried to resell the stolen goods, they’d immediately be giving themselves away.
Trying to sell them abroad wouldn’t work either; there was a monopoly on them in the surrounding countries, all operated by one of Mitsuha’s network of young female business owners. Anyone would instantly realize the goods had been imported. They wouldn’t be able to get through customs. Not even the wealthiest merchant would be able to bribe every government official and tax officer in another country. The fact that the culprit destroyed the goods instead of stealing them was proof they understood that.
What’s more, they attacked Larusia and her employees as a warning. Their plan was likely to intimidate the employees into quitting, which would force Larusia to shut down her business. Whether the older guard’s death was meant as a threat to the other employees or simply due to the killer losing his temper after being blocked from the young female employee, Mitsuha didn’t know. Nor did she care. It was all the same to her.
That’s just like stabbing someone over and over again, and then crying, “I didn’t mean to kill!” Did they think the victim was a planarian?
Anyway, I’m just here to gather intel this time. I haven’t confirmed that this company is behind the attack yet.
I’m only about, say, ninety-eight percent sure it was them.
Mitsuha set up a recorder in another reception room.
Once all ten spy recorders were locked in place, she jumped away.
That was easy.
“…And so, I want you all to spread the word. Casually.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The next day, Mitsuha asked the employees and guards at Larusia Trading to go out and bring up in conversation, in the most natural way possible, about what she did for them. Enough time had passed since the attack that the criminals didn’t have much reason to bring up the topic. She was trying to lure them into talking about the incident. They might discuss it if rumors stirred that Larusia Trading was planning to do something that could put a wrench in their scheme.
Yeah, they’re definitely gonna talk about this.
Three days later, Mitsuha retrieved the voice recorders. All she did was stand in front of the store and say the magic words: “Recorders, follow me!” as she world-jumped. Removing the devices meant she’d miss any further conversations they might have, but that didn’t matter. She could plant them again depending on what they revealed this time.
“On that note…” Mitsuha said suggestively.
“You want us to listen to three days’ worth of recordings?” Sabine leered.
Mitsuha appointed Colette and Sabine for the little side job. She had no desire to listen to three days’ worth of recorded audio on ten different devices by herself. The recorders only turned on when they picked up noise and automatically turned off after enough silence. There wouldn’t be seventy-two hours on each one, which would total seven hundred and twenty hours across all ten, but still, it was an arduous process.
“I said I would reward you! Please help me!”
“Oh, fine… You really are hopeless, Nobita-kun…” Sabine looked exasperated.
“Why are you quoting Doraemon?! And don’t call me that!”
“Can we call you ‘Mitsuemon’ instead?” Colette joked.
“No! I’m not Japan’s beloved former shogun disguised as a retired crepe merchant!”
These two sure love their classic Japanese media… And I sure am kind to react to their every wisecrack.
Colette and Sabine were the only ones Mitsuha trusted and who also understood the language of the New World. Their reward wasn’t going to be in the form of money, though. They’d never accept that.
Colette receives a fixed wage, but that’s different. That’s for her to save for her future and to send back to her parents. Anyway, these girls would never accept cash for something like this.
Not that I’m getting out of it unscathed… Colette managed to pry an “anything you want” golden ticket from me, and Sabine got a “one convenience-item of your choosing from my home country” ticket. All I can do is pray those tickets won’t be the death of me…
You’re not allowed to ask for an RV or an MBT, Sabine!
“I found one!” Sabine exclaimed.
“Me too!” Colette followed.
It was the very next day after Mitsuha gave the girls three voice recorders each. The remaining four recorders she combed through were duds, but it looked like the girls had better luck.
“Here, I wrote down all the parts that sounded useful,” said Sabine.