CH 70

“…You seem to be in a good mood.”

“Oh well.”

I went home and told Ariamel and the others to rely on the innkeeper father if they needed anything, while I played the perfect B-level adventurer. On the way there, Iska and Ares had indescribable expressions on their faces. …… Did they want to do it, too? If they had told me properly, I would have put them both on my shoulders and played Extreme B Adventurer.

Three little kids, three heroes… I can even compete with the Demon King’s army. All the traces of the extreme B class adventurers will be cleared away..

If Ariamel or Fio were to join them, we would be blindsided. Even if there is an evil god or something behind the Demon Lord, I can run him over. If they don’t die, I’ll run them over with my daddy chariot until they’re dead. I can afford it.

“This is what Gray looks like when he has a child…”

Emilia muttered to herself next to me.

Well, I’m surprised at that myself. I wanted a family, sure, but I never thought I’d have one.

…… This could possibly just be floating around.

I take a deep breath and flip the switch.

“So what are we going to do? You’ve got it all figured out, don’t you?”

Honestly, I don’t have the time to do some slow research. True, it would be best if Harsalia were here, but I’m not without my hands full either.

As long as I know the approximate location, I can find it with magic tools and magic.

“Hmm, oh”

Emilia was staring blankly at me, but as soon as I called out to her, she immediately returned to her usual tone.

“Here it is.”

Saying that, Emilia takes out a simple hair ornament from her pocket. It seems that the parent of the missing child brought it when he came to the guild for a request. When she was searching for her missing child, she found something in the nearby woods, and she left it in the hope that it might give her some clue.

“Is that enough to locate the missing children?”

“No, this is not enough. But it’s about time they got in touch with us.”

“…What do you mean?”

I never heard anything about that. Was she meeting up with someone?

As I was thinking this, I saw a familiar man with threadbare eyes at the edge of my vision.

“An Informant?”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

Emilia then turned her back and started walking after the informant. ……I see…you asked an informant to do it for you. But when did this happen?

“I had heard about this case when I stopped by the guild yesterday…. I’m talking about the informant, I thought he would have already gathered information about this case without a request.”

…… Well, it is possible for him

He is a man of mystery, whose real name and age are unknown, and who gathers whatever information he is paid for. No, in fact, we don’t even know what he really looks like, so even his gender is questionable.

It seems that he chooses the people to whom he sells his information, and this guy contacts them. He tells you how to meet him.

In my case, it is to receive the note in that way, but it seems that the method is somehow different for everyone, and if anyone other than the person who was taught the procedure goes there, they will never see this guy.

And if you intentionally tell it to others, it means that you are no longer a “customer” of the informant.

And, of course, if you are no longer a ‘customer’, you will never be able to contact the informant again.

In other words, both Emilia and I are ‘customers’.

This guy, who is talked about like an urban legend in many places, has been rumored since we were still partying together.

…… Now that I think about it, I wonder if it’s even human in the first place.

Well, sure, there’s a lot of mystery, but I’m not interested in this guy myself. I pay him for information, that’s all.

“Normally, I would ask you to refrain from having third parties in places where I give out information, but …… well, Gray-san is an important customer to me, and this is a special occasion, okay?”

I follow the informant into a bar that doubles as a diner for lunch. Looking around the restaurant, he found the informant sitting at an inconspicuous table by the wall, and he and Emilia sat down at the table next to him. The informant sits down with Emilia at the table next to him, and as soon as the waiter leaves to take their order, the informant says to them, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll take it”.

“I’m sorry. I’ll be careful next time. So, without further ado…..”

Emilia said so, but her attitude seems to be saying, “Forget about that, just talk quickly.”

“Yes, about that…”

The informant started talking without paying any attention to Emilia’s attitude.

The approximate date, time, and location of the children’s disappearance make it likely that the abduction was carried out by human hands…and a good number of people. And that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to organize the information by looking at the map I have.

It is hard to imagine them moving from place to place with a large number of children. Then there must be a base somewhere.

“… it’s probably around here.”

He points to a spot on the map.

The location is in a small forest, a day’s ride by horseback from the town of Bastok. It is a good place to hide and not far from the affected towns and villages.

However…….

“You actually have information about the killer, don’t you?”

It would be unnatural for him to know so much and not know the culprit.

In response to my words, the informant shrugged his shoulders instead of using words.

……You don’t intend to answer, do you?

“Well, now that I’ve eaten, I’ll be off.”

After saying that, the informant left his seat. And then.

“… oh yeah”

As if he deliberately remembered something.

“Although I feel like an old man, I have one piece of advice for both of you. Please be careful with “the goddess cult”…..especially Gray-san.”.

He said.