“By the way, Kuntz-san, what are your plans from here on?”
“...I still have a few connections from my previous workplace. I am hoping that one of them would be open to hiring me.”
“If it is all right with you, what do you think about working together with us?”
“I am very honored by the offer, but I did not come here with that intention. In the first place, we were business enemies mere hours ago. I don’t think I can accept.”
“The fact that you’re in the same industry only makes us see you as precious talent that we do not want to see falling into anyone else’s hands. It would be extremely reassuring for us if you would join us.”
Kuntz frowned while contemplating in silence.
He had already fulfilled his obligation toward Marquis Goldas for picking him up. He had no obligation toward Jirahal in the first place. He had already done his duty toward Elunheine.
At the moment, he was not beholden to anyone, yet the responsibility of providing for his wife and children weighed heavy on his shoulders.
“...Very well then. I will give everything I have, with the attitude of relearning everything from scratch.”
And this was how Shouzou ended up successfully obtaining immediately usable manpower that he hadn’t even wished for—
With that, Jirahal became truly isolated.
The danger of him resorting to tough measures still stood, but if Jirahal’s target was truly Shouzou, then the latter only saw it as an opportunity toward a timely resolution.
The claim that Shouzou had made at the start about making Elunheine Adventurer’s Guild the very top guild in the city seemed much closer now than it ever was.
(But the smoother things go, the more wary I must be. At the very least, I cannot cause my family any trouble or worry.) But that said, now that someone who knows the enemy so well has joined as an ally, Shouzou merely waited patiently, fully ready to handle whatever came his way.
★
Several days passed.
Having finished his work, Shouzou quietly closed his eyes at his seat. Sharpening his senses, he probed the outside of the building.
Recently, he had been constantly followed by someone, but the other side had yet to actually do anything.
He had considered catching his stalkers and questioning them, but if they played innocent till the end, then he would have nothing on them. There was also the possibility that it was the other guild staff that they were after, so he remained wary.
“Onigawara-san, are you going home late today as well?” Sofie went over to his desk while pushing her round glasses back up.
“No, no, I was just about to head home.”
“Is that so. Th-That’s a coincidence. I was also... thinking of heading off......” Sofie seemed nervous, shooting glances toward Shouzou repeatedly.
“It seems Adora and the others have already left. The roads at night are dangerous for a girl by herself. I’ll escort you home.”
“Th-Thank you!” Sofie’s eyes sparkled brightly, but then a voice cut in.
“Oh? Sofie, you’re going home now too? I’ll give you a ride in my carriage then. You live on the opposite direction from Shouzou, right?” Elizabeth’s carriage was escorted by guards. That should be safe enough. He himself was Jirahal’s target. And surely ruffians wouldn’t be able to do anything to the girls with all those guards around.
“That sounds like a good idea. Sofie, you go home with President then.” Shouzou stood up, picked up his attaché case, then walked off.
“Eliza-saaann......”
“Eh, what? Why are you tearing up?” Sofie’s reproachful gaze left Elizabeth in flustered bewilderment.
While feeling behind his back this exchange between the two of them, Shouzou stepped outside—
After walking down the main avenue for a while.
(That’s quite a lot today......) His stalkers had doubled from the usual two to four today.
Expecting them to take some action, Shouzou purposely went into an alleyway and proceeded deeper inside to where there were no more passersby.
However, no matter how long he waited, nobody assaulted him.
He was definitely being tailed, but his tails were merely maintaining a certain distance, and did not even circle around to cut him off.
He did not intend on wasting anymore time with them. But with that said, neither could he attack them preemptively.
Feeling quite vexed, Shouzou circled back to the main avenue.
As he was making his way toward the gate that led out of the city at a slightly hastened pace, a loud clattering noise closed in from behind.
It was the sound of a horse carriage charging at top speed.
Turning around, Shouzou found himself surprised by what he saw.
The carriage that was bearing down on him with incredible momentum was one that he recognized.
“Found you! Shouzou!” The person who leaned out from the window was none other than Elizabeth.
The box carriage came to an abrupt stop beside Shouzou.
“You were going above the speed limit.” Shouzou admonished Elizabeth with a serious face as she was leaping down.
“This is no time for that!” Elizabeth looked up with tears welling up from the corner of eyes filled with a mix of anger and fretfulness while spitting out shocking news.
—Sofie had been kidnapped! Even now, Sofie was staying in the same place as before, the office residential complex of the old Elunheine Adventurer’s Guild.
It was a tucked-away spot removed from the main avenue.
But the public order there was not so bad, and a carriage could pass through if driven very skillfully.
Elizabeth wanted to see Sofie off at the front door, but Sofie respectfully declined with “It’s just over there” and trotted off.
A vague apprehension kept Elizabeth standing still and watching Sofie’s back for a while.
It was just when she was about to get back onto her carriage that she heard the scream.
She immediately rushed over together with her guards, but there was only a weird smell in the air, with Sofie herself nowhere to be found. Moko immediately rushed out from the house too, but the smell messed with her nose and made it impossible for her to follow in pursuit.
It was clearly a premeditated crime. This was not an assault by a random ruffian who just happened to be around.
“In which case, the criminal is undoubtedly—” Shouzou flew sideways so fast as to leave behind an afterimage. He grabbed the two men peeking from the shadows of a building by their necks, and dragged them out.
“You two are Jirahal’s men, yes? Where was Sofie-san taken to?”
“We, we don’t know. We were only told to keep an eye on you—gugah!” He only tightened his hands a little bit, but one man had already fainted while spewing bubbles from his mouth, while the other groaned in agony with cold sweat spurting from every pore on his body.
“I-I don’t know where they took her. But I can give you the locations of our bases—” The man revealed the locations of several abandoned houses outside the city, as well as several stores with relation to Goldas.
Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief.
“If Jirahal is the criminal, then Sofie will be safe for a while. That guy has a weird gentlemanly streak toward women. When all’s said and done, he’s actually kind of a klutz with women. It’ll be a pain, but let’s go through all their bases and eliminate them one by one.”
“......President, I’ll leave it to you to do that together with your guards.”
“What are you going to do then?”
“I have someone in mind who has a knack for finding people. I’ll be working that angle.” Leaving those words behind, Shouzou dashed off fast enough to cut through wind.