Julie walks slowly, showing no response when I call out to her.
She is using the stairs to go up from the river to the road, and even after reaching the road, she is walking along the path properly.
Yesterday, Rei and Meilin were in a place where there was no way to get there except by climbing the walls, after all.
Otherwise, they are going along what appears to be a normal path.
This makes it look to the people in town as if someone wearing cursed ornaments is trying to go somewhere of their own volition.
“Good. It’s not like she’s running or anything, and I can stop her by force if I think it’s dangerous. Besides, in the worst-case scenario, the curse can be lifted if the brooch is removed, so let’s follow Julie for a while.”
Just to be safe, I used my paladin’s higher defense skill, and after walking for a while protecting Julie, Mami, and the others, she headed toward the outskirts of the desolate town.
Stopping in front of a small battered house in the middle of it, she opens the door on her own …… We stopped Julie here.
Tsuki quickly removes the brooch, then…
“…… Huh? Where am I?”
Just as Julie comes to her senses, a man comes out from the back.
“A new woman …… Tsk! There’s a guy in the mix, isn’t there? They come here sometimes. People who like to dress up as women.”
Apparently, they think I’ve come wearing cursed ornaments too.
But with this man’s words, the possibility of Julie accidentally entering another house is gone.
“Hmm? Hey, why are you stopping at the entrance? Get your ass down to the basement …… Wait, something’s wrong? There’s light in your eyes …… no, don’t tell me you guys came back to your senses!? How in the world did you …… Guhah!”
“Now then …… tell us what kind of place we’re in and what’s in the basement.”
“Kuh …… You. You can’t just do this to us and expect to get away with it, can you? I’m going to kill you, your family, your friends, all the women you’re with, and then …… Gefuhh!”
Unfortunately, the man who fell down doesn’t seem willing to talk, so I decided to let him sleep.
If he had talked honestly, I wouldn’t have had the intention of beating him until he passed out.
“[Closure]”
“Father. I don’t think you need to use any skill to keep him stuck, since I don’t think he’ll be able to move anymore …… No, it’s nothing.”
Tsuki was about to say something, but I looked around and found it, the stairs that led down to the basement.
It was a small house, but down the stairs was a long hallway with many doors on either side.
I opened the first door and saw three men…
“Hmm? Is it time for you to take over already? Aren’t you early …… Guhagh!”
I hit all three of them for the time being.
“Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on here? Or do you want to go back to sleep like that guy upstairs? Take your pick.”
“Keh! I don’t know who you are or where you’re from, but I got nothing to tell you …… Gah!”
“How about you? There are two of you, so I think I should make you talk first.”
I talk to the remaining two, and they start talking as if they were competing with each other, as if my persuasion had worked.
“This is one of the branches of the Dark Guild. I don’t know how you found out about this place, but it is a place where women who have sold themselves to the guild are temporarily kept.”
“T-That’s right. The women just come here on their own, we have done nothing wrong. We can’t touch the merchandise, we’re just taking care of them …… Guhe!”
“Don’t call women products! And don’t lie. You know best what this is.”
When Julie shows him the brooch she was wearing, the rest of the men clearly change color.
“Tsk …… but you’re just a fool who came rushing in with a sense of justice. You might not know this, but even the upper echelons of the vigilante group are under the control of the Dark Guild. So, no matter how much you go wild here, it won’t hurt the Dark Guild at all!”
“Perhaps the news hasn’t reached the end of the guild yet. If it’s the head of the Dark Guild, Mr. Alex has already caught you.”
“Geh …… why is the deputy head of the vigilante group in a place like this!? I mean, is it true that our boss has been captured!?”
“Yes. Perhaps it has already been conveyed to the deputy head? That kind of existence of the Dark Guild. The day after we captured him, the head of the Dark Guild died in prison. That was to keep the Dark Guild from talking, wasn’t it?”
“R-Really? I never heard anything about that ……”
The man was gaping when he heard Julie’s story, but …… I wonder why was Mami smiling reluctantly.