In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 17

by Patora Fuyuhara

  We parted ways with Silhouette in front of the restaurant. She was certainly a busy woman... But she was basically the owner of a massive information network and manager of several brothels, so it wasn’t too surprising.

  “Hmm... Since we’re already in the area, let’s go visit Nia.”

  The Red Cats had based themselves in that old fortress hideout, which happened to be in the Strain Kingdom. It was a little bit of a walk away, close to the border of the Allent Theocracy, but that was pretty irrelevant, since I could just use [Gate].

  “Nia? You mean that thief woman? It’ll be my first time meeting her.”

  “She’d prefer to be called a chivalrous thief, Sue. Don’t call her a regular thief or you’ll make her feel bad.” I smirked at Sue.

  That reminded me, though. The Red Cats had only met with Yumina, Lu, and Leen. This was a good chance to introduce Sue and Sakura to them... But I had no doubts Nia was gonna make another snide comment.

  I resigned myself to my fate as a verbal punching bag before opening up a [Gate] to the hideout.

  “What the...?!”

  After passing through the portal, I was absolutely shocked and horrified by what I saw.

  The walls were crumbling, scorch marks were etched into the ground. The tables and chairs used by the Red Cats were upturned or in splinters, and Est’s communicator was smashed to bits in the corner of the courtyard.

  I looked over and saw their ladder by the wall had been smashed in the middle as if obliterated by cannon fire.

  Something horrible had happened here, and I had no idea if Nia and the others were safe.

  I frantically reached into my pocket for my smartphone, shakily navigated to the address book, and started calling Nia.

  ◇　◇　◇

  “I’m just glad you guys are okay. You didn’t lose anyone, right?”

  “As if we’d go down so easy. We did lose the fort, though...”

  The Red Cats all laughed together in unison after Nia spoke.

  When I called Nia, she responded right away. I immediately used [Teleport] to reach her location. I found the whole group, including Est, Euni, Euri, Nia herself, and a few other thieves. I was a little surprised, but I was just glad they were all okay.

  We were in the forest, a fair bit north of where the old fort was. There were dense trees all around, which made it a perfect place to hide.

  According to Nia, their hideout was attacked out of nowhere by a group of giants. They were apparently under the control of an unknown party, who had been hiding in the shadows and firing cannons their way.

  “Giants?”

  “Trolls, to be more specific. They’re hideous creatures with beastly strength and potent regenerative abilities. They’re about as smart as a monkey, though. It’s likely that whoever attacked us had monster tamers amongst them...” Est succinctly answered my small question.

  Trolls? I’ve never seen one before... I wonder if they’re different from ogres. There’s an ogre in our knight order, but he’s a pretty nice guy. I must have muttered something as I was thinking that, because Sakura suddenly spoke up with a frown.

  “...Trolls and ogres are different... Trolls are much larger, and they’re also monsters... Ogres are intelligent demonkin. Don’t be so rude to ogres, Grand Duke...”

  I was sorry, but I also wondered if there were any ogres in the Reverse World, too.

  That being said, I should’ve kept my thoughts to myself. Sakura was a demonkin princess, so obviously me equating her kin to monsters would come off as insensitive.

  “Somebody was controlling them, then?”

  “We’re pretty certain on that front, yeah. The Trolls had tattoos all over their bodies, so they were likely under the Geela clan’s control.”

  “The what now?”

  “It’s a small tribal community that lives in Zadonia, the land of ice. They employ techniques that let them take control of monsters, and some of them work as mercenaries with that skill. Trolls are usually found in cold regions, so I’m willing to assume that’s the place.”

  It seemed like even in a technological world like this one, there were still unusual magic techniques. They sounded similar to some of the tribes from the Sea of Trees.

  “But why would that clan attack you guys? Did you piss them off, or something?”

  “Well, we upset a lot of people with our actions. They’re probably being commanded by a noble from Strain or something. They’re probably after all the goods we’ve apprehended. If they took us out with a private force then they wouldn’t need to report to the government, so they could keep the treasure for themselves.”

  Nia and the Red Cats were chivalrous thieves. That meant their main targets were corrupt merchants or nobles. They usually stole from them and gave most of the proceeds back to the poor. They didn’t usually keep much loot for themselves, so they only had a small stockpile of treasure.

  You’d think that would be common sense, but apparently they were attacked every now and then by greedy people.

  “You did good escaping, though!”

  “Est headed the falling back, while I held them off with Rouge. I managed to beat a few Trolls, and then escaped as well... But I did have to pay for it a bit with my blood...” Nia replied to Sue as she glanced down at the Red Gollem by her side.

  Nia’s Gollem was Blood Rouge, the red crown. It grew in power based on how much blood its master offered up to it. The more she sacrificed, the more monstrous and destructive the little Gollem could become. It probably didn’t take too much blood to get strong enough to beat some Trolls up, though.

  I was honestly pretty surprised the enemies had attacked them, even knowing there was a crown wielder there.

  “Nah, there were a lot of them. Definitely more than Rouge could have handled all alone. Plus we were in the middle of the forest, so I couldn’t go all-out with the fire.”

  There were six Trolls in total, so it must’ve been a tough battle. Plus, to keep Rouge functional in an enhanced state, Nia needed to constantly expend her own blood.

  “Yeah, I didn’t wanna collapse from blood-loss, so I did what I could and dipped out. They were probably after our treasures or whatever, so they didn’t bother pursuing us. Heheheh... Little did they know all our treasure is right in my hands, so they didn’t get anything out of it.”

  Nia grinned as she waved her smartphone from left to right. It had a [Storage] app that allowed the holder to store and pull things out of the smartphone screen. Even though their treasure stockpile was small, it was still worth keeping hidden.

  The attackers were probably pretty pissed off. The fortress might’ve been trashed so badly after the fight because they wanted to vent out their frustrations.

  “I’m glad you’re all well, anyways... What’s next? Gonna go back to Allent’s capital?”

  “Nah, the knight order already discovered that place so we can’t go back there. In the meantime, we’ve all split up into smaller groups and spread out. The only people here are Nia’s most trusted allies.”

  “I don’t exactly like it, but we have to be in hiding for now. We’ll get payback... eventually.”

  According to Est, they had around a hundred active members. It would be difficult moving around in a group so large.

  The other members separated into a few groups of a dozen or so, and the group I was with was about ten strong. Groups of that size made it much easier to blend in or hide.

  “Everyone’s gone off on their own for now... I wanna find a good spot to settle.”

  “That’s just how we are... Roving wanderers...”

  Euni and Euri laughed bitterly alongside each other.

  “You guys could just come to Brunhild. We have a lot of land, and jobs going spare. Don’t we?” Sue suddenly spoke up with an insane proposition. Everyone went quiet, and then Nia glanced over at me with stars in her eyes.

  Why... Why did you say that, Sue?

  “That’s right! That’s perfect! If we go to the o
ther world, they won’t be able to hunt us down! Plus, the two worlds are gonna merge together eventually anyway, right?! So it’s no problem if we just happen to go there a little bit early, right?! Right?!”

  “I... I mean...”

  “C’mon, it’s fine. Isn’t it?! The black crown’s already over there, isn’t she? We’ll be good!”

  “...Isn’t it a little weird for a world leader to invite a band of thieves into his territory...?”

  I knew Nia’s group didn’t indiscriminately steal, but I also needed to consider my own position. It was a little stressful.

  As I began to fret, Yumina tugged at my sleeve.

  “Touya. Nia wields the red crown, does she not? We could perhaps use her as a test pilot for the Over Gear, like Norn.”

  “Oh... That’s... a good idea? Probably?”

  Elluka and Doctor Babylon would be happy to have another test subject. The more data the better, after all.

  “I don’t know what an ogre beer is, but I’ll help with it if you want! I won’t steal from Brunhild, either! Promise!”

  “...You promise?”

  “I’m a chivalrous thief! I swear on my honor! We can’t continue to operate under the banner of chivalry if we don’t have trust. You’ve helped us so many times, so let us pay you back.”

  I could see the honesty in Nia’s eyes. I guess Elluka and Norn are there already, so this’ll be fine...

  “Fine, then... It’ll be difficult for me to bring so many people over at once, so lemme split you up into groups and make several jumps.”

  “I don’t quite understand what you mean, but alright.”

  I really hope this doesn’t backfire on me... Est, I’m putting their behavior in your trustworthy hands...

  It would be easier to just use the Dimensional Disruptor on Drakliff island, rather than using my world-jumping ability, but the portal there led to Babylon’s garden, and I didn’t want anyone knowing about it...

  I made a mental note to ask Doctor Babylon to set up another portal that linked somewhere else at some point.

  After several bouts of hopping between worlds, I finally delivered all the Red Cats in Nia’s group to Brunhild.

  I brought them a short distance away from the castle town, to allow them to look over the place by themselves.

  The first thing I did was cast my translation magic on them, so they could speak with the people who lived here. I decided they’d have to figure out reading and writing on their own, though.

  We walked toward the castle town and started moving through the streets, and they ended up being surprised at the differences between this place and the world they knew.

  “Hi, Mister Duke!”

  “Hey there! Don’t run too far, okay?”

  “Okaaay!”

  A group of children waved at us and then headed off. They were wearing baseball gloves and carrying bats.

  “...You really are a world leader, huh?”

  “Yeah, I am. It’s mostly my subordinates that do all the tough stuff, though.”

  I shrugged a bit in response to Nia. I was blessed to have a government with so many capable people in it. The Takeda Elite Four, as well as my knight order, were full of wonderfully capable people.

  “The townspeople all seem so... happy?”

  “There’s so many different things on sale, too...”

  “This country is a small one. It’s on a large trade route between the nations of Belfast and Regulus. A lot of people pass through as a result, and they tend to bring their unique native wares with them.”

  I explained some things to Euni and Euri as we walked to the Silver Moon inn. I thought about letting them stay in the castle, but... they were still thieves, so I didn’t want to push it.

  “Ooh, what a nice inn.”

  Nia seemed impressed by what she saw. I was glad she liked it, honestly.

  We entered the inn and approached the counter. Micah was standing behind it.

  “Oh, hey there. Got some guests for me?”

  “Sure do. There’s around twelve of them. They good to stay here long-term?”

  “That’ll be fine if we do two to a room. You’re in luck. We just had a busy trading caravan leave. Now then, guests, please sign right here.”

  The Red Cats all signed their names in the check-in book Micah brought out.

  I looked to the side and saw a certain person coming down the stairs. The moment she saw us, she let out a disgruntled sigh.

  “...Why are the Red Cats here...? I guess this is Touya’s doing...”

  “Hypothesis: Agreed.”

  “Mistress... They can hear you...” Norn stood staring at us with a sour expression on her face. The black crown, Noir, stood by her side. They also had the humanoid Gollem maid, Elfrau, with them.

  Nia suddenly noticed Norn, and glanced up at her.

  “Oh damn, if it isn’t the little black crownie. Tiny as usual, I see. You staying in this inn, too?”

  “Why would I be here if I wasn’t staying here? I see your brain’s just as tiny as usual.”

  “You sure have a scathing mouth on you, short stuff.”

  “At least I’m capable of sharp words, pea brain.”

  ...This is pretty tense. I didn’t really know they were this hostile with each other, but Euni did say something about them being rivals, if I remember right...

  I turned to Norn in an attempt to diffuse the harsh atmosphere.

  “You headed out?”

  “To the dungeon islands, yeah. A Bicorn appeared in the Amaterasu dungeon, so I’m going to try and kill it. They’re worth a pretty penny.”

  Oh dang, a Bicorn... If I remember right, they’re two-horned black horses or something. Those horns definitely sell for a lot, so long as they’re intact. I heard daggers made out of those horns have Dark magic in them.

  Norn earned a living by dungeon diving every so often. She only went in weekly, so she had a good deal of free time.

  “What’s your guild rank right now?”

  “Still blue. I’m making money just fine even at this rank.”

  The dungeons didn’t really provide much opportunity to rank up. The whole dungeon experience was pretty divorced from the guild anyway. Adventurers who went out there just headed over, killed monsters, and sold any rare materials they found to the guild.

  If an adventurer wanted to rank up, then they needed to focus on taking the actual quests that the guild put out. Brunhild was also a pretty peaceful nation, so there weren’t very many high-tier quests available.

  Whenever an especially powerful magical beast appeared around the dungeon area, the guild would put up a quest for it. But even then it could only be turned in by whoever got to it first. It wasn’t like they showed up very often, either.

  There were some quests that required people to gather certain materials, but they didn’t give many points toward ranking up.

  That was why, for the most part, Brunhild’s guild was a great place to earn money, but not prestige. It was also a good place for those who wanted to practice or polish their skills.

  But honestly, the fact that Norn was blue rank without having to take the test was impressive in itself.

  Nia and the others asked me to explain the whole dungeon and guild thing, so I did.

  As I did that, Norn and her posse left the building. Clearly she didn’t want to be around us any longer than necessary.

  “So... this dungeon labyrinth has monsters and stuff in it... and you can kill them and sell their body parts?”

  “That certainly sounds good! Let’s make money by challenging the dungeons!”

  “Hold it! I’ve told Norn this before, so I’ll have to tell you. Don’t use the crown abilities in the dungeon.”

  I didn’t want the whole place caving in. Just in case of a crisis like that, I handed over several emergency escape pendants to Est.

  We ate a small meal at the Silver Moon’s canteen, and then I took the Red Cats to register at the guild. Frankly, I was w
orried about it, but I decided to put my trust in Est’s ability to keep them sane... Hopefully everything would be okay.

  ◇　◇　◇

  Doctor Babylon finally finished constructing a new Dimensional Disruptor in the castle courtyard. That allowed me to directly bridge the space between Drakliff island and Brunhild castle.

  The island had a lot of Dragons on it, so I didn’t expect anyone to come poking around the portal in the Reverse World. Not that misuse was a major concern, I was the only person who could activate the portals.

  We had an upcoming conference between the world leaders of the two worlds to worry about. I planned on inviting the Reverse World leaders over to Drakliff island before bringing them to Brunhild to meet the other world leaders here.

  Even though I was calling it a conference or summit, it was more like an introduction or briefing. Building a good relationship between the leaders was the first step toward solid political relations, after all.

  Guess I’ll prepare some local delicacies, too...

  That was the thought that ran through my head as I watched the trio in front of me tucking into some food. There was also a fourth individual there, but he was lying on the grass a short distance away.

  “...I’m starting to notice a pattern of you guys always eating whenever I show up.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “This stew is delicious. It has a variety of flavors inside.”

  “Huff... Huff... The tofu’s really yummy, but you have to blow on it...”

  They were sitting beneath a shaded roof in the garden eating a traditional Japanese hot pot. The pot itself was sat atop a magical stove that Doctor Babylon had created. As for who was eating it... It was the three Dominant Constructs, Ney, Lycee, and Melle.

  ... You guys are just eating machines, huh...

  “Cesca brings us different food every day, so I’ve been quite happy.”

  “So much cully... Chicken cully, beef cully, pork cully, seafood cully, cully udon, and so on.”

  “I didn’t know that the dish had so much variety to it. We’ve been eating it for seven days straight...”

  But you just said you had a different meal every day... That’s all variants of the same thing! You guys are basically being tricked, right?!