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[A Mysterious Group]
Having managed to resolve the misunderstandings of the villagers, we were offered to stay the night at the house of the village chief Eugene.
“I am truly sorry. We mistook Frick-dono and co as those lot of people hunter. This completely desolate area rarely has peddlers show up, and even adventurers seldom come here. At such time, a wagon came, so we thought you were the people hunter.”
“Certainly, this seems like a place where people are unlikely to come, but
 I remembered you said something about mine worker.”
The Devon Village is located at a place in the south that would normally take three days travel by horse-drawn carriage from Inbahanes at normal speed; it is a remote village of a remote region.
Due to the existence of the Rahaman Mine where beautiful crystals could be dug with few scrapes, the road was maintained, but I heard that during the Great Invasion, it was blown up along with the crowd of Abyss Walkers inside it, and then it became an abandoned mine.
“The mine that you’re talking about is the Rahaman Mine, isn’t it? I heard from the Inbahanes Adventurer’s Guild that it’s already abandoned though?”
“No, that
”
Hearing about the Rahaman mine, Eugene’s face suddenly begins to darken.
“About a dozen years ago, the Rahaman Mine which was blown up and abandoned seems to have started to be rebuilt by some people
 When we noticed it, it had already turned into something like a solid fortress.”
“Fortress? I haven’t heard such a story from the Adventurer’s Guild though
”
The information I received from the Inbahanes Guild Master Gidion states that it is an abandoned mine.
What’s going on?
Did I get a false information?
I’m confused by the new information provided by Eugene; seeing my expression, Eugene continues his words as if to supplement it.
“The information of the Adventurer’s Guild is correct. Rather, the entrance to the old mine is still collapsed, but from there, at the deeper part of the mountain, they dug a new mine and fortified it.”
“A new mine!?”
“Yes, but we were late to discover it. We found it about five years ago. But the first time we found them, we sold food to the people who resided there and got along well with them. And the young men in the surrounding villages also went to work away from home there as miners.”
“Working away from home, is it? They weren’t working as a hunted people?”
“Yes, those lot who resides in the mine have the currency of the kingdom; they have the gratitude of us remote region people who have no place to work, but——”
Eugene’s darkened face darkens even more, and he is looking this way as if he is hesitant to continue.
“A problem occurred.”
“Well, that’s right. I’m hesitant to say it because it is related to the lord, but if it’s Frick-dono, I believe you won’t leak it to anyone else if I tell you.”
“I swear to my sword, I won’t reveal this matter to anyone else.”
I raise Dayle in front of Eugene and vow not to reveal about what he would say from now on to anyone else.
“Thank you. The reason we refused to work in the mine is because the young people of the village who went to the mine to work went missing one after another. There are more than a dozen people in this village alone. Including other villages, nearly 200 people have not returned from the mine.”
Nearly 200 missing people – there was nothing about that in the information

I wonder what is actually happening at that Rahaman Mine.
“Nearly 200 people went missing?”
“Yes, of course, there are some who have returned to the village safely, but
 Many more of them disappeared. When I looked into it, all of the missing people were asked whether they want to do a job that pays more money by the lot who resides in the mine.”
“A job that pays more money? Does that mean it is not a mining job?”
“I don’t know that either, because none of the people who accepted that offer come back.”
We can take it that they employed the people of the surrounding villages who worked in the mine to do another job, huh.
“When did people who doesn’t returned increased?”
“The number of people who doesn’t returned has suddenly increased several months ago, so I’ve discussed it with the people of the surrounding villages, and forbade the villagers from going to work in the mine, but
”
Several months ago

According to Eugene, the people of the mine settled down about a dozen years ago, and they had been having exchanges for about five years.
It seems that something occurred several months ago and changed their attitude, huh.
Even so, I wonder where does their financial power to rebuild the mine and fortify it on their own came from.
Crystal is an expensive mineral in itself, but I feel that the amount of money invested just for it doesn’t match.
“Who are those people residing there?”
“Who knows, we don’t know that either. I asked the people who went to work in the mine, and those lot seemed to use a strong accent and hardly responded to small talk.”
That means a mysterious group is occupying the place, huh.
Following the lead on the trace of the Abyss Walker, I feel like I hit an unthinkable matter.
“Those people started hunting people at this time?”
“Yes, the bunch residing in the mine have hired the lot of corrupt Vigilante Corps of Inbahanes to start hunting people. Recently, they often forced their way into the village and when people didn’t come out, they would rampage and forcefully take people away, that’s why I mistook Frick-dono as those bunch of people hunter.”
“The corrupt Vigilante Corps are hunting people, is it?”
“Yes, it seems that some among the lot of the people hunter were wearing the Vigilante Corps uniform
 To hunt people while belonging to the glorious Vigilante Corps, they are a disgrace of the beatsmen!”
Eugene cursed the members of the Vigilante Corps who were hunting people.
That means the Adventurer’s Guild didn’t know of this situation, huh.
Gidion also said that he was pressured by the Magistrate to shelve the matter of the Abyss Walker if it was put on the topic of discussion at the general meeting.
It sure is a situation where anyone can sense that something is fishy.
“Frick-sama
 This, I don’t think it will be easy to collect information in this area.”
Having listened to the story, Noelia seems to be aware of the seriousness of the situation and is looking at me with a stiff expression.
But we can’t let it be as it is either.
I would like to find out about the matter of the Abyss Walker, but hearing the situation of village, I also want to help them.
It’s not bad to catch the lot who are hunting people and collect a bit of information in the middle, right?
“For now, let’s try catching those people hunters and gathering information at the same time. It won’t be too late to go to the Rahaman Mine afterward.”
“Haah!? Frick-sama will catch those people hunters?”
“Ahh, Eugene-dono should also want the noisy lot to disappear from the area around the village, right? After we catch them and pull-out information from them, we could send them to the Adventurer’s Guild of the city of Inbahanes as criminals. Noelia, I’m sorry, but I’d appreciate it if you could write a letter to Gidion.”
“Eh? Ah, yes. Underst—wait, you want to catch them!?”
“We should help people in trouble, right? Eugene-dono and the villagers are in trouble; besides, we need various information about Rahaman Mine after all.”
“W-well, that’s right, but—”
I decided to stop going to Rahaman Mine temporarily and to capture the people hunters who were attacking the villages around this area.