“I did too!” Colette said.
They each handed Mitsuha a note. Instead of writing down the full quotes, they simply wrote down the device’s numbers and time stamps where each quote was heard.
“Great work, you two. Here are the goods I promised.”
“Yaaay!”
Mitsuha accepted the spy recorders and notes in exchange for the reward tickets she made by hand.
Please don’t cause too much trouble with those… I’m begging you!
“I’m tired… I’m going home,” Sabine muttered.
“Me too…”
That’s strange. They usually never want to leave my side… Oh wait, they stayed up all night, didn’t they?! They must’ve listened to the conversations over and over again to make sure they heard everything right.
Sabine and Colette weren’t completely fluent in New World language so they struggled to keep up with full-speed native conversations. They’d spent all night playing back the audio files to make sure they didn’t miss anything. The terrible sound quality from the omnidirectional internal microphones couldn’t have helped.
I feel bad about making them do that… I really didn’t want to listen to all ten devices myself though, even if they only recorded when they detected sound…
Well, I’ll jump Colette back to my county. Sabine will have to take the carriage home. I’m trying to avoid jumping directly into the royal palace. Besides, I’ve gotta let the guards who accompanied her here do their job.
Once the girls were gone, Mitsuha got to work listening to the audio at the specified time stamps.
Sweet! This is just what I needed!
The rumors spread by the employees of Larusia Trading had done the trick. A man who sounded like the owner of Enoba Company was ranting bitterly to someone─likely a head clerk or assistant clerk. He admitted to multiple things that clearly identified himself and his employees as the culprit. There was no reason to hold back anymore.
Also on the recordings were statements that proved collusion with the authorities and under-the-table connections with other merchants. There was nothing wrong with mutually beneficial business arrangements; there weren’t any antitrust laws in this world yet, so nothing they did was illegal. But they can’t attack a rival company and get away with it! Not on my watch!
Mitsuha decided to plant the voice recorders again to get the full picture. This time, she was also going to set them up at other merchants’ stores and corrupt city guards’ offices who were in cahoots with Enoba Company. She went out and bought more voice recorders for the mission. There was no reason not to; they were only fifty bucks a piece.
The recorders functioned as advertised but the audio quality was poor; hence the cheap price. In an attempt to fix this, Mitsuha bought some small external microphones and attached them to a few of the devices. Hopefully that’ll help…
Okay, here we go again. Mitsuha, teleportation!
Yeah, yeah, the correct form should be “teleport,” not “teleportation,” but oh well. That’s how the song goes. Besides, it’s easier than devising a breath mint-shooting brooch like Mami the Psychic’s.
Mitsuha hid five spy recorders at Enoba Company─she narrowed down the locations for greater efficiency─and fixed a couple more at other companies too. Her next stop was the city guards’ headquarters.
She figured the security to be lax since a break-in at the city guards’ headquarters was just as unexpected as a robbery at a police station on Earth. Not that there weren’t any cases of police stations in Japan getting burglarized. Police officers had pistols, and some stations stored rifles, drugs, or gold ingots seized from criminal organizations. The city guards’ headquarters would have nothing of the sort, however. There was no sane reason for anyone to try to sneak in.
It was midnight. Mitsuha jumped to a spot inside the building she’d scouted out with binoculars earlier in the day. She was wearing the same outfit as last time: a leotard and head-mounted night vision goggles.
There was no need to go out and buy a leotard when I have something similar at home… Namely the school swimsuit I wore in middle and high school. Oh, shut up!
A one-piece swimsuit is not much different from a leotard, to be honest. The fitting and materials are similar, and they’re both designed for exercising in. There are some differences─swimsuits are made with extra lining, so they don’t become see-through when wet.
But no matter how similar they look, there’s no way in hell I could go out in public wearing a school swimsuit at my age! Imagine being in a newspaper article described as “a nineteen-year-old woman wearing a leotard” versus “a nineteen-year-old woman wearing a school swimsuit.” The latter would be so embarrassing! Well, this world doesn’t have newspapers yet, and no one’s going to see me, but whatever!
Durability-wise, school swimsuits would be a bit superior to leotards, but, you know… This is about public decency.
Mitsuha walked further into the building. On the off chance any guards were to be patrolling the halls, they’d be carrying a light. That meant she would notice them first.
Thank goodness there are no security cameras or infrared lasers in here… And good thing the guards are heedless about break-ins…
She set up voice recorders in reception rooms and the private offices of important staff. No one was going to discuss secrets in open spaces.
Maybe just two more somewhere… Just as she stepped out of one of the rooms─
“M-MONSTER!”
A man screamed as he drew his sword and swung at her.
Telepo-o-o-ort!
“Wh… Wh-What the hell just happened…” Mitsuha was heaving.
She’d jumped to her house in Japan. Making a successive jump straight to her county residence or general store wasn’t an option. Colette and other servants would be at her residence, and there was a chance Sabine, Chii, and Leuhen might be at the store. She couldn’t let anyone see her in that outfit.
It was sheer bad luck. There was no other way to explain it. The man was probably a guard on night shift. He could’ve been in the hallway for a patrol or simply because he needed to use the bathroom or was thirsty for some water. Mitsuha didn’t notice him as she walked out of the room because he (for some reason) wasn’t carrying a light. I should’ve checked the halls before opening the door…
But why did he attack me at first glance? Sure, I was sneaking through the building at night, but I was unarmed. And I clearly look like a harmless girl! I would’ve expected him to yell “Who goes there?!” or “Don’t move!” before swinging at me. Isn’t it common practice to capture an intruder and question them first? And yet he attacked without hesitation…
I chose the leotard outfit partially because it wouldn’t get caught on furniture or make any rustling sounds, of course, but also because I thought it would ensure anyone who saw me wouldn’t immediately attack. All I need is a few seconds to jump to safety.
Then… Why the heck…?
Welp, I’m a sweaty mess now because of that spook. I guess I’ll take a shower.
She stepped into the bathroom and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.