“It will take some time, however...”
“Oh, are they not available right now? Since they’re battle ravers, after all.”
“Huh? Oh, yes, that’s right!”
Haruno raised an eyebrow at the receptionist’s reaction. She was flustered and had used Haruno’s words as a cover-up.
“...Don’t tell me you’re treating innocent demi-humans the same way you do criminals?”
“O-of course not, we would never!”
“I see. In that case, we’ll visit again tomorrow.”
Sandra leaned forward as if she was about to say something, but Haruno held her back. She was suspicious too, of course. But they were still unprepared, so she decided to hold off for now.
The receptionist saw Haruno’s party off, looking relieved. That was a naive reaction, though. Haruno’s party quickly made their way back to Nartha’s mansion. They planned to take a group of pilgrims and return to the market within the day instead of waiting until tomorrow. Their strategy was a little brute, but the staff might try to hide evidence if they had more time, so they decided to use the authority of the pilgrims of the Goddess of Light.
“U-um, Lady Haruno. Will this be alright?”
“Don’t worry. We have reason to believe they’re doing something unethical in the raver market.” Haruno gave a firm reply to the doubt in the pilgrims’ eyes.
They arrived at the raver market again after sundown. Many carriages were parked outside for the auction, which had seemingly started already, and they heard voices and saw light spilling from the windows.
Any destruction of evidence would take place after the market closed. If the auction was still going on, then they should still have time.
After hearing about the auction that night, Haruno purposely said that they’d come back tomorrow, making the staff believe that any evidence-concealing could be done overnight.
“Okay, let’s start investigating.” The manager would be notified of their presence, so it was now a battle against time.
The pilgrims used their authority to ask a guide where the criminal ravers were kept, and he answered honestly. They were shut inside a building in the back. Haruno’s party quickly made their way there. The pilgrims were still hesitating, but Sandra and Lumis were the first to make their way inside, and the others soon followed.
Once they entered, they were met with five people who looked like staff members. They must have been startled and confused by the sudden intrusion. All of them stood still, looking agape. Haruno asked where the battle ravers were, and the man closest to them pointed a trembling hand at a staircase farther inside. So they were kept underground.
“There are jail cells underground, right? Where are the keys? Also, please give us the documents on the ravers being kept here.”
“Th-that...” The man stammered, averting his eyes. Haruno concluded something from that.
“Rin.”
“Got it. I’ll need a few extra hands for this~”
Rin had been biding her time from the sidelines, but as soon as Haruno said her name, she called for a few other pilgrims and started the investigation. She wasn’t very self-motivated, but could use her head when the need arose. She would get the job done fast.
They found the documents, which Haruno and Sera checked. There was one file for each raver, making for a total of five. A surprisingly low number. They were probably in high demand since people could push all the rigorous, tiring work on them. The five here had just been captured recently.
“...Siiigh,” Haruno breathed a deep sigh after she confirmed something.
What kind of information was vital in a criminal raver’s records? Several fit the bill, but the most important by far was their crime. If you had to choose between a robber and a murderer, for example, the former would pose much less of a risk.
The documents indeed mentioned each raver’s crime. However, every single one had “bandit” written on them.
“All five of these criminal ravers have ‘bandit’ recorded for their crime—does that mean they were all captured as part of one gang?”
“Huh? No idea. The garrison brought them here, so I don’t know the details...”
“How long ago was that?”
“Uhhh, I believe four... no, five days ago!” The man wore a confused expression, responding with his head tilted.
The pilgrims looked at each other and whispered among themselves. The workers became uneasy again, glancing at one another in response.
“We’ve found evidence... Sera, please explain.”
“Y-yes... We are currently cooperating with the garrison to subjugate the monsters around Athenapolis. Thus, we have access to information on any incidents like that... but we have never seen reports on demi-human bandits appearing near the city. Of course, we have not heard of any being captured either.”
Crimes and incidents were under the pilgrims’ jurisdiction as well, so they immediately knew that something was wrong. Most of the travelers in this world armed themselves. There were barely any demi-humans in this city, so if someone saw a demi-human, they would automatically assume they were a traveler.
“So they were carrying weapons and got charged with banditry just because of that?”
“That would work as an excuse for the false accusation...”
Lumis and Sandra conversed. That was most likely the trick used to label the innocent demi-humans as criminal ravers.
“Rin, how many people do you need to gather the documents and get the innocent ravers to safety?”
“Ten... no, just five if we can tie these guys up.”
“Oh, let me stay behind. I’m used to talking to demi-humans.”
“Then five of you stay here, including Rin and Lumis. Everyone else, come with me!” Haruno exclaimed, then turned around and ran out not a moment later. Sera and Sandra followed behind in a fluster, bringing the rest of the pilgrims along with them.
Haruno laid out the situation in her mind as she ran. They probably had enough evidence to release the five innocent ravers already. But that didn’t mean they could save all the demi-humans who had been falsely convicted up until now, nor the ones who might be wrongly labeled as criminal ravers in the future.
She had delved into this demi-human raver situation as Haruno the Hero. They had already lit the fuse. They would have to find the perpetrator that same night.
Haruno ran past the raver market and stopped before the door to the manager’s room. He was the prime suspect, considering his contempt for demi-humans.
“M-Miss Hero!”
She was about to break in the door after finding that it was locked, but the manager showed up right then. He had likely rushed over as soon as he could step away from the auction. He was gasping for air.
Haruno smiled at his demeanor. Looks like we were right in time, she thought.
“Good timing. We found that innocents had been falsely convicted as criminal ravers and came to speak to you about that.”
“I-is that so! I would expect no less, Miss Hero! I’m impressed!” The manager sang his praises, but he sounded deliberate and disconcerted.
“Let us talk inside for now.”
“N-no need, we can do that right here!”
“That won’t do. This isn’t something we can talk about in the open.”
“...I understand.” Having grasped the situation, the manager unlocked his door. But Haruno suspected that he hadn’t given in quite yet. There was probably some more evidence hidden in his room. The manager had rushed here to conceal or dispose of it. He should have gone to the scene of the disturbance, the building out back, as soon as he’d been informed. But he came here instead, which meant some vital evidence must have been left in this room. And the fact that he stopped resisting and unlocked his door likely meant that he was hoping they wouldn’t be able to find that evidence.
Sera, Sandra, and several other pilgrims entered the manager’s room. It was extravagantly furnished. There was a bookshelf and a large
painting along the farthest wall, and dark-colored desk in front of it. A table stood in the center of the room, with two long sofas on either side. The sofas seemed to be made of an expensive leather. There was a chalk-colored pedestal on the right wall, with flowers in a vase set on top of it. Three small paintings were lined up along the left wall.
“What a nice room.”
“Thank you.”
Haruno examined each of the three paintings on the left wall, then stood before the large painting on the farthest wall.
“Do you enjoy art?”
“Y-yes...” The manager replied as he took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his sweat, fidgeting all the while. He didn’t want to be asked anything right now.
Then Haruno moved over to one item, turned around, and spoke to him nonchalantly, “It’s hidden here, isn’t it?”
“What?! How did you know?!” The manager put his hands over his mouth, realizing what he just blurted out, but it was too late. Haruno was standing before one of the paintings on the left wall, the one deepest into the room. She had guessed that this was where he was hiding something.
“Will you give me the key without trying to resist?”
“......” The manager bit his lip in frustration, but didn’t move or say a word.
Haruno responded by placing her hand on the hilt of her sword, which prompted the manager to fumble a key out of his pocket and then drop it on the ground. Sandra picked the key up from off the ground, keeping an eye on the manager. She inspected the frame Haruno had picked out and realized that it was formed like a cover with a keyhole underneath. She unlocked the frame and it opened up like a door. There was a safe hidden inside the wall. The frame had acted as a hidden door that concealed the safe.
“What’s all this...?”
Inside was a bundle of documents along with several letters. They couldn’t tell what was inside without reading them all, but it was mostly likely concealed evidence and information regarding the manager’s self-protection.
Sandra opened her eyes wide at the discovery, and Sera tried to stay calm as she asked Haruno, “U-um, Lady Haruno?”
“What is it?”
“How did you know that the evidence was hidden here?”
“Good question... this is the only painting that looked cheap,” Haruno pointed at the still-life painting inside the frame-door, “You’d need to touch and move this every time you opened the safe, so it’d be easy to ruin the painting. I don’t think he wanted to place an expensive piece here.”
The manager dropped to the ground like a marionette whose string had snapped. Haruno had hit the bull’s-eye.
“...Honestly, it’s the same no matter where I go.” She stared at the manager, now tied up, and softly sighed. You even used the same hiding spot, she thought, and her father’s face that she wanted to forget came to mind. She had been able to risk the guess thanks to her ability to analyze works of art.
Haruno, Sera, and Sandra watched as the manager was dragged away, then sat themselves down on the sofa and started looking over the documents. They noticed that the letters had mostly been sent by the same person. They didn’t recognize the name, but the letters spelled out plans to protect the manager’s well-being and schemes against anyone who tried to pry into their illegal activities. The sender was likely someone with a lot of political power—a member of the senate, for example.
This was most definitely proof of illegal activity, as well as a form of blackmail on the senator. As long as he had these letters, the manager would have been protected even if he got arrested. In fact, he might have been keeping the letters for exactly that purpose.
“......” As they studied the rest of the letters, Sera started focusing immensely on a particular one, and her hands began shaking.
“Sera, did you find something?”
“R-read this...” Haruno scanned the letter she was handed, then let out a deep sigh. This letter was proof that the pastor in this city was involved in illegal dealings as well. Not just any cleric, but the pastor. One of the leaders of the temple.
The criminal ravers had a clerical spell called Oath Seal placed on them so that they wouldn’t disobey their owners. It was one thing for the spell to be cast on the innocent ravers who had been wrongly labeled as criminals, but the pastor who cast the spells not only knew the truth, but had also accepted bribes. A comrade of the temple of light had committed fraud. Of course Sera was angry.
“...Sandra, contact the temple. Have them seize this pastor and bring someone here to release the five victims from the Oath Seal.”
“U-understood.” Her voice was calm, but it had a tint of anger in it. This case wasn’t something she could just overlook like Athena’s takeover hundreds of years ago. Haruno was also silently seething in anger.
“Also, as a Hero of the Goddess, I demand the release of all victims of this case up until now.”
“Up until now...?”
“Everyone who has been falsely convicted as a criminal raver. Find every last one of them, release them of the Oath Seal, and free them. We can’t just leave them be, you realize?”
“...Yes, of course.”
“Bring them over here. There might have been more than one pastor involved.”
“Understood! I’ll take care of it!” Detecting Haruno’s anger and realizing that this was something that had to be done, Sandra stood up, took the matter into her own hands, and headed to the temple with several pilgrims in tow.
Haruno gave orders to Sera next.
“Sera, get in contact with the rest of the pilgrims. Make sure to secure the area where the ravers are staying, the documents, and the safe. Even if the capitol guards come, don’t hand anything over.”
The capitol guards were soldiers who maintained public order, investigated crimes, and arrested criminals. They were essentially the same as the police of modern Japan.
“Not even the capitol guards?”
“A member of the senate is involved in this. If you can confirm that none of the capitol guards are under their support, then I don’t mind. But the members of the senate are their superiors, aren’t they?”
“Yes, the capitol guards are under the command of the senate...” Sera looked troubled. She was bewildered that even the guards might be involved in this.
She was a little off, though. Haruno decided to give her a brief explanation.
“I don’t believe there are that many people under the senate member’s direct support. But once they find out that there’s been trouble at the raver marketplace, all of them will come rushing over here. We have to be on guard so that they don’t try to destroy any evidence.”
“I-I see...”
Not all of the capitol guards were involved, but the few who were would come running over. Sera understood the explanation.
Now that Sandra’s group had left, they placed two pilgrims outside the manager’s room to keep guard, and the rest in front of the building entrances until the capitol guards arrived.
Haruno and Sera continued looking over the documents inside the manager’s room. They would give the information they gathered and all the evidence of illegal activity to the pilgrims, the senate, and the temple of light all at once. After that, they would leave rescuing all of the victims to the senate and the temple. The pilgrims had to be careful to not tread too deeply into a country’s problems. They were right on the borderline right now.
Athenapolis had been taken over several hundred years ago. It was no longer a relevant story. In that case, Haruno wondered, how will the current citizens of Athena react? How will they treat the demi-humans who had fallen victim?
The capitol guards arrived less than an hour later. They were angry that the pilgrims had secured all the entrances to the building. However, the tables turned less than another hour later when a pilgrim seized one of the guards and found a fire-lighting device in his pocket. After that, the guards followed all of the pilgrims’ orders with embarrassed expressions on their faces.
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br /> Later, Sandra returned to the marketplace after successfully tracking down the guilty pastor. The temple told her they would look into the incident themselves, but she asked them to send a cleric who could release the Oath Seal just as Haruno instructed.
However, that cleric did not arrive until the next morning. One unmotivated-looking cleric arrived in front of them, dragging his feet.
“Please leave,” Haruno told him with a smile as soon as he arrived.
“Huh?” The cleric looked bewildered.
“I said, please leave.”
“Wha... that’s no attitude to throw at a follower of the Goddess of Light! I’m not ignoring what you just said, even if you’re a hero!”
“I called for a follower of the Goddess of Light to rescue victims from harm’s way! And what are you doing, showing up now?! If you don’t care, then please leave! I’ll be raising an objection with the temple about this!!” Haruno raised her voice back at the cleric. He realized he was in an inferior position, hung his head dejectedly, and hurried away.
The pilgrims who had been watching from behind started seeing Haruno in a slightly frightened light. Haruno felt the fear from behind her and sighed softly.
Her party had invaded the raver market and captured the manager before the end of the day last night. Since the pastor had been involved in the crime, Haruno had given the temple an opportunity to redeem themselves by requesting that they send out a cleric. But this was the result. They had given such low priority to helping victims of injustice, which went completely against the teachings of the Goddess of Light. She at least wanted them to come running over like the capitol guards had.
The cleric was so late that Sera had actually managed to undo the Oath Seal herself long ago. They had no need for a cleric anymore. The spell was undone in the middle of the night, so they let the victims sleep after that.
In addition, the capitol guards were now completely under the control of the pilgrims. They had no means to oppose, now that everyone knew about the lackey’s attempt to destroy evidence. They had taken the opportunity to redeem themselves by capturing another staff member who had likely been involved in the crime as well.
The Chaotic Stone Sauna Page 8
