Seeker 317

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Chapter 317. Town Constables

A special mission, "Infiltrate Echigoya and gather information." was assigned.

As a guideline for future actions, this will be an important consideration.

Using the [Stealth] skill with me and Kazane to infiltrate the merchant's house and gather information should not be difficult to anticipate.

Although we stand out now, it should not be too difficult to clear if we procure appropriate attire. The sneak mission itself shouldn't have a high failure rate.

However, blindly obeying the content of the special mission is also a problem.

Entering Echigoya's merchant houses—essentially intruding into people's residences without permission—is, in normal circumstances, a criminal act.

I don't know the laws of this country well, but even if I confirm it with Kushinosuke, it's still the same.

That should be a last resort.

First, we should approach it straightforwardly.

If Echigoya is involved in the criminal act of kidnapping, it's proper to talk to the town's public safety officers first.

In this Yamatai country, those in positions equivalent to public safety officers seem to be called "Town Constables" or simply "Doushin".

There also seems to be someone like a police chief called "Yoriki", but let's leave the details aside.

"Excuse me!"

We approached the station where the on-duty town constables were stationed. Kushinosuke called out and knocked on the door.

Beside Kushinosuke stood Kazune.

As for me, I'm hiding in the shadow near the station's entrance, using the [Stealth] skill.

Yuzuki is currently escorting the unconscious town girl back to her home.

Griff is with Yuzuki.

Since the effect of [Stealth] doesn't extend to familiars, it's getting to the point where I can't tell who the master is anymore.

If we take Kushinosuke's words at face value, we should be wary of the town constables too.

I don't disbelieve what Kushinosuke says, but I think it's not wise to unconditionally trust her statement based solely on the intuition that she doesn't seem like a bad girl.

We want to confirm the atmosphere ourselves as well.

The station of the town constables is a small wooden one-story building located slightly off the prime location of the town.

The door at the station's entrance opened sideways, and two men came out.

As expected, they were men dressed in kimono with swords at their waists.

"What business do you have at this hour... Oh, it's you again, kid."

"What now? Another story about missing persons?"

The two men showed an annoyed expression upon seeing Kushinosuke.

But they seemed slightly concerned about the presence of another person beside Kushinosuke—Kazane.

"It's not about missing persons, it's about kidnappers! And this time, I witnessed the kidnappers in action with my own eyes!"

"Oh? Fine, let's hear it. Tell us in detail."

The town constables responded to Kushinosuke's words with a condescending attitude.

At least, it didn't seem like they welcomed information from well-meaning citizens.

Still, Kushinosuke explained the situation.

She witnessed the moment of the kidnapping.

When she tried to stop them, they assaulted her with two against one.

She was rescued by Kazune and others passing by,

and when Kazune chased after the kidnappers, she witnessed them entering Echigoya.

The town girl who was almost kidnapped is being escorted back to her home by her companions.

After hearing Kushinosuke's story, the two town constables frowned, wondering what to do.

Especially when the name "Echigoya" came up, their expressions seemed to change.

The two town constables said, "Wait a moment.", and retreated into the back of the station once.

After whispering to each other secretly, they returned and one of them conveyed this.

"All right, we've heard your story. Let's report it as such. We will proceed with the investigation, so you two should not involve yourselves in this matter any further. You may leave now."

With that, the two town constables tried to push Kushinosuke and Kazune away as if they were driving away unwanted guests.

Kushinosuke persisted.

"Wait! When exactly are you going to take action? It's been already two days since I first reported! Isn't it too leisurely? Right now, those kidnapped girls could be suffering who knows what!"

"Shut up. That's for the authorities to decide. We, the town constables, will follow their intentions. It's not for you to intervene, kid."

"Just leave already. If you keep being persistent, you might end up with a death sentence. Do you want to eat stinking meals in a prison cell?"

"Grr...!"

Kushinosuke and Kazane reluctantly retreated.

As they watched their backs disappearing around the corner, the two town constables returned to the station with a relieved expression.

As the door closed, I approached it to catch any further conversation without missing a word.

From inside the station, I could hear such voices.

"Good grief, that kid is annoying as ever... But still, Etigoya again."

"Stop it. We've been ordered not to delve too deeply involved Echigoya and to report everything to the higher-ups. I heard it's a direct order from the magistrate himself."

"Yeah, I know. It's not fun to be transferred to some remote place for going against the authorities."

"That's how it is. If you go with the flow, everything will be fine."

With that, the two laughed and started another topic.

I figured there was no further gain here and left the scene.