Bang!
In Orario's Night Street, Adventurers' Guild employees were moving various boxes out of a hidden warehouse.
Inside these boxes were stolen magic stones, snatched equipment, and even strictly prohibited addictive drugs.
Facing these contraband items and stolen goods, the Adventurers' Guild began to register them one by one.
What they had to do next was investigate the source of these items and find the masterminds behind the crimes.
And the Istar Familia, responsible for operating and managing this street, was very cooperative.
"I've brought the recent transaction list; there should be useful information inside." Ishtar handed over a scroll, which recorded transaction times and specific goods.
After receiving it, Astrea took a look.
Some of the goods were clearly suspicious.
For example, items that should have been refrigerated were directly stored in an ordinary warehouse, indicating that there was definitely a problem with the goods.
"Did you investigate them at the beginning?"
"The merchant who rented our warehouse said that once his goods were opened, they would be difficult to reseal and would spoil easily, so we didn't investigate thoroughly."
"If that's the case, you will bear some responsibility."
"Of course, any punishment is acceptable." Ishtar responded quite quickly.
This response surprised Astrea again.
She had thought that Ishtar, who was in charge here, would choose to resist or fight for the interests of her 'partners'.
But what was the result?
She was quite cooperative... After handing the scroll to the Adventurers' Guild employees, Astrea turned to the other side.
Including the Fox-girl, there were a total of seven young girls who had been transported to Orario.
Human trafficking must be prohibited.
Therefore, Astrea decided to focus on the above work, leaving the investigation of contraband goods to her Familia members and several employees.
Walking to the side of the carriage, Astrea looked at the Fox-girl sitting inside.
"How were you sent here?"
"I don't know either... Ever since I was caught by those thieves, I've been kept in a sealed cage and don't know what happened outside."
"Besides you, are there any people you know?"
She shook her head.
The Fox-girl took a sip of water from her cup and looked at the sky outside.
"My name is Sanjōno Haruhime. I was born in the Far East and came here by chance after being driven out of my home... May I ask what I need to do next?"
"Don't worry, Sanjo, you are safe here and don't need to do anything specific; if I had to say, I hope you can help us catch those thieves who abducted others."
"This... I'm not sure, but I remember seeing a tall tower when we stopped outside before coming here."
"A tall tower? The Tower of Babel in Orario?"
"No, it's not. It's a tower outside, half of its top has collapsed, it's very dilapidated, and the thieves used it as a temporary base."
Upon receiving this information, Astrea decided to investigate it later.
"W-wow! We caught him! We caught a crooked merchant hiding in the warehouse!"
"This guy specializes in buying magic stones from thieves! He actually thought he could escape this search!"
"Tie up his hands and feet! Don't let him escape!"
Hearing the commotion, Astrea walked towards it.
As she passed Ishtar, she noticed Ishtar staring at Sanjōno Haruhime.
"Do you know that child?"
Asked this, Ishtar came back to her senses.
She shook the pipe in her hand.
"If it were before, I would have needed to know her, but after last night, there's no need."
"Huh..."
Astrea looked puzzled.
Only Ishtar herself knew the true situation.
After spending time with Chen Hai last night and understanding his power, Ishtar decided to change her plans.
She chose to sever her ties with Sanjōno Haruhime, as she hadn't yet finalized the deal with the bandits who abducted Haruhime.
After this, Ishtar intended to lead her Familia to build a good relationship with the Dungeon Lord who now controlled Orario.
With Chen Hai's help, she believed she could easily crush Freya and Loki's Familias!
However, the biggest problem at the moment was... Ishtar's seductive attempts had no effect on Chen Hai.
On the contrary, Ishtar was severely 'taught a lesson'.
If it weren't for a 'god's body', she would probably still be in pain all over.
From this, Ishtar concluded — Orario's 'Night Emperor' was indeed very powerful!
— — — —
— — — —
Half an hour after Astrea began her operation... Chen Hai's office now had three visitors.
One was Eina, who had led them, and she quickly left;
The other two were Astrea, who had come along, and... Sanjōno Haruhime.
Recognizing the third person, Chen Hai gestured for the two to sit down.
"I came here to explain the results of this operation to Sir Chen Hai, and also..." Astrea spoke first, raising her hand to introduce the Fox-girl beside her.
"She is Sanjōno Haruhime. She came along for two reasons: first, to thank Sir Chen Hai on behalf of the rescued people, and second, to explain her experiences so that Sir Chen Hai can determine future plans."
In this regard, Astrea's efficiency was very high.
Chen Hai was very satisfied with this.
When he was out, the management of Orario could be completely entrusted to Astrea.
After all, the Goddess of Justice and Order was a reasonable and fair deity.
"N-nice to meet you... Mr. Chen Hai." A somewhat nervous Sanjōno Haruhime greeted him.
The Fox-girl, with her head bowed, finished speaking and occasionally stole glances at Chen Hai, as if observing some rare animal... Feeling a subtle sensation, Chen Hai told the girl to look up.
"Don't be nervous, Miss Sanjo, I'm not a man-eating demon."
"I, I didn't think that."
"That's good."
"I came on behalf of everyone to thank you for your decision; if Mr. Chen Hai hadn't ordered the clean-up of the Night Street, we would probably have been sold to even more terrifying organizations..."
"It's good that you're safe now. Let's move on to the next topic. Do you know where the thieves who abducted you are?"
"I can't be completely sure. I just have some impression of the 'Broken Tower' they used as a temporary base."
"Then let's take this opportunity to deal with the criminals in Orario as well."
??
Chen Hai's sudden answer left both Sanjōno Haruhime and Astrea bewildered, unsure what 'deal with the criminals now' meant.
The literal meaning?
Kill all the criminals directly now?
Astrea couldn't help but ask curiously, "Could it be that Sir Chen Hai already had a plan?"
"No, I only have one now."
After saying this, Chen Hai led the goddess and the Fox-girl to the balcony.
He looked at Orario's sunny streets and said with a cold expression, "The weather is very good today, suitable for sweeping away 'darkness'."