Seeing Mardel approaching and my Opportunity Sense tingling, I could think of two options in front of me.
The first was simple and direct—grab him, drag him into the alley, and beat the answers out of him. The risk, of course, was noise. In the dead quiet of night, even a muffled shout could draw unwanted attention.
To avoid that, I could cover his mouth or even Warp him somewhere isolated for interrogation. But doing so meant revealing my Warp skill, which would force me to silence him permanently afterward.
It wasn't a bad option, honestly. The real issue was me. I wasn't confident in torturing someone. I had never been in a proper fistfight, never brutalized anyone face to face. Killing, yes—I had already done that. With my blade, cutting through a man felt no different than slicing air. But torture? That was different.
What if he lied to me? I had no lie-detection skills, no way to separate truth from falsehood. Sure, I could always punish him later if I found out, but in the moment I would have to gamble on his words.
Maybe I was just overthinking things and he would fold immediately under my Intimidating Glare. Or maybe I would have to resort to cutting off fingers and ears—things I had only seen in movies, not something I wanted to do, especially in front of the girls.
Still, if it came down to it, I would do it without hesitation. Bloody, messy, whatever it took.
But there was another, cleaner option. Him leaving the trading house at this hour presented me with a chance. A risk, yes, but one that might save us from an ugly scene.
He walked silently with his lantern, wearing a similar dark cloak like us, blending into the night. Instead of heading straight toward us, he had angled along the opposite side of the building.
'Master, should we grab him now?' Roxanne asked through the party link.
In the dim light, I could see their silhouettes tensing, ready to strike—especially Setsuna, her sharp blue eyes locked on him like a predator sizing up prey.
'No… I have a better idea,' I said after thinking it through, watching Mardel quietly walking away.
The girls looked at me, puzzled—especially Setsuna, whose eyes silently asked for an explanation.
"Setsuna, does Mardel sound like this?" I asked, lowering my voice into a gravelly tone.
"Yes… Setsuna thinks so?" she replied, still unsure.
'Good. You girls follow Mardel from a distance and keep reporting to me through the party link. Stay hidden and don't let anyone discover you,' I ordered through the link.
'Why, Master? Where are you going?' Roxanne asked, clearly baffled.
'I'm going to get us some answers,' I said, opening my Item Box and pulling out a blank mask.
I pressed it to my face, shaping my thoughts into Mardel's features, then looked back at the girls. Yes it was the Mask of Obscurity.
'Ah—I remember Master used this to become Roxanne before,' Roxanne said, touching my face curiously.
'Master looks just like him,' Setsuna said in surprise.
'I never imagined such a magical object could exist… this is perfect for any thief,' Remu added, pleasantly impressed.
'Can Master turn into fish too?' Miria asked, drooling slightly as her eyes lit up.
Ignoring the fish-crazed girl, I turned serious. 'Yes. I plan to enter the trading house disguised as Mardel and get our answers. If this doesn't work, we'll go with the other plan—getting information out of him directly. That's why I want you to shadow him from afar.'
'As expected of Master… such an ingenious plan,' Roxanne said with a smile and a thumbs-up. The others nodded firmly in agreement.
'Now go,' I told them, taking a lantern from Roxanne's bag and heading toward the trading house.
Remembering the tips I got from the Thief's level-up system for disguises, I hunched my back slightly to match Mardel's height. The black cloak helped conceal my build and clothes, which was another relief.
This was my first time using the Mask of Obscurity for a real mission—and honestly, I had never even really acted before either. Strangely though, I didn't feel anxious at all.
I quickly reviewed the key points I needed to uncover:
First, was Mardel telling the truth about the villagers—were they really alive, and was he actually planning to buy and sell them as slaves?
Second, it had already been nearly half a day since the auction ended. Had he brought any villagers here already? If so, I would need to rescue them.
And lastly, any other information about Nayuta Village and the villagers' current situation.
With my heart surprisingly calm, I approached and knocked on the door I had seen Mardel leave from earlier.
I waited patiently. Behind me, the girls were nowhere to be seen in the darkness, but I trusted they were tailing him without issue.
When I knocked a second time, the door creaked open. A young boy stood there holding a lantern.
"Master, you're back? Did you forget something?" he asked, puzzled.
It was Kel—the same person Appraisal had picked up on earlier. The slave collar on his neck confirmed that he was a Slave. Still, hearing a guy call me Master felt weird.
"Ugh… I had this pounding headache, so I came back," I muttered in a gruff voice, holding my head as I passed him the lantern and walked inside.
This was the simple excuse I had thought of.
"Oh, I told you, Master, don't worry so much about the lack of funds," Kel said as he set the lantern down and closed the door behind me. "You'll be able to convince them to sell you a couple of good-looking Ice Wolfkin, then make more money and buy them all." His voice was soft, reassuring.
"Uggh… yeah," I groaned, still clutching my forehead.
Looks like my disguise worked—he had completely bought my act as Mardel.
And more importantly, his words confirmed a few things:
One, the villagers were still alive.
Two, Mardel hadn't been lying about wanting to buy them as slaves.
Now, I just needed to squeeze out more information… then my job here would be done.
"Master, do you want me to massage your head?" Kel asked, his tone full of worry.
"Take me to the room first. I want to count the money again, just to be sure," I said, still rubbing my forehead.
"Yes, Master," he replied obediently, picking up the other lantern and walking ahead.
I didn't know the layout of this trading center, so I had to trick him into guiding me through.
The place itself had a crude, worn-down wooden design—honestly, even Alan's trading house back in Vale looked more polished than this. While walking I kept spamming Appraisal, though it wasn't giving me much useful information.
We passed several rooms before Kel finally opened one. Inside, my sharp eyes caught what looked like a study: a desk cluttered with papyrus and a few barrels shoved against the walls. Nothing fancy.
I stepped in naturally and sat behind the desk, glancing at the papers. They looked like dull tax records, nothing that would help me.
Kel lit the candles one by one, making the room glow brighter.
"Master, do you want me to take off your cloak?" he asked, stepping forward.
"No. I want to count the money first… ugh. Bring it here," I groaned, keeping a hand pressed to my forehead.
"Master, but you have the key to the safe on your person," he said, his eyes flicking toward the corner of the room.
"Ughh… yes, this headache is killing me." I let out a weary sigh, then changed the topic, "Do you remember what I told you about the village? What my plan was?"
"Master, you look to be in real pain—let me do it," Kel said softly. He stepped behind me and began massaging my temples.
I tensed for a moment, but… damn, he was surprisingly good at it.
"The plan," I pressed, narrowing my eyes. "Repeat it to me. I can't even think with this headache."
"Oh, yes, Master," Kel said cheerfully, fingers pressing harder into my temples. "You planned to go to the village tomorrow and explain that the auction wasn't very successful. So instead of buying all the remaining villagers, you would just purchase the best ones—the ones who could fetch the highest price."
He chuckled lightly, as if he truly admired the idea. "And I think that's the smart approach, Master. We don't have food and money to keep providing for so many anyway. In my eyes, even if the others are… disposed of, as long as you can just buy the good ones, that would be the best solution." He ended with a satisfied smile, as though he had said something clever.
I stayed quiet, simply nodding along.
However I was quite stunned inside. This boy, who looked so obedient and innocent, had just spoken about murdering villagers with a casual smile—like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"But Master… I still think you should've gone there today straight after the Auction. Tomorrow they might be a lot more anxious and not listen to your demands," he said in worry.
"Hmm, yeah you're right. In fact, I should go there right now and reassure them," I said, nodding at his advice.
"Really? Great Master," he said with an elated smile. "Still, it's already so late… how about I relieve all your stress first?" He said, placing his hands on my shoulders.
WHAT THE FUCK!
My eyes went wide, and it instantly clicked why this young man was always so damn touchy-touchy with me. Looks like Mardel was way more into men than I thought! Is that why he kept this young guy as a slave helper? Instead of, keeping you know, an actual merchant as a helper like Alan did?
Anyway, just knowing that—and feeling his hand on my shoulder—made me super fucking uncomfortable.
"No, it's better I go straight there," I said, sitting up and slipping out of his hands.
"Ah, as you wish, Master. I'll wake up Old Man Al so he can take you to the village," he said, bowing in front of me. "Do you want to take that hot bath after coming back then?" he asked curiously.
"Yes," I just nodded, looking down. "Also, do you remember the number of Ice Wolfkin villagers there?" I asked, rubbing my forehead.
"Hmm, no Master. You never mentioned it," he said, touching his chin.
"Alright, it'll come back to me. Go now," I said, closing my eyes.
"Got it, Master," he said before leaving the room.
I let out a heavy sigh, feeling a bit violated. So yeah—turns out there are gay people even in this other world. Honestly, I should have guessed. With a job like Sex Maniac floating around here, these bastards have probably tried every hole there is.
It was a bit of a shame that I couldn't figure out how many villagers there actually were. And this young man didn't seem to have gone to the village himself, so if I had asked how many bandits there were, it would only make him suspicious.
Also from his words, I could guess that either this "Al" was an Adventurer who could use Field Walk to reach the village, or a carriage driver who could bring me there. Either way, both options solved the problem of how I would get to the village, which was good enough for me.
Still… I couldn't help but think that maybe if I had jumped Mardel back then, I might have gotten more complete information.
'Master, we followed Mardel. He went inside what looks like a brothel—it's in the well-lit alley we passed earlier,' Roxanne's sudden update through the party link caught me by surprise.
'Good. Just maintain distance and don't go inside the alley yourself. Keep watch from afar,' I replied quickly, a bit worried. I then explained what I had learned so far and how we may soon be heading to the village.
'Thank you, Master. Setsuna's heart has finally calmed down, knowing that they are alive… at least,' Setsuna said, her voice emotional.
'We haven't rescued them yet, so don't thank me too soon,' I said with a small smile. 'Also, you girls stay ready and keep out of sight. I'll update you once something happens.'
'Understood, Master,' Roxanne answered firmly.
I couldn't help but grin. Only when Roxanne and the girls called me Master did it feel truly right.
Finishing the conversation, I looked toward the corner where Kel's eyes had drifted earlier when I had brought up money.
Time to get my money back!
***
[Franz Corral has redeemed an Extra Chapter this week]
***
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