Chapter 202: The Mysterious Organization
Inside the building, it was just as I had expected—a bar-like establishment. A long counter stretched toward the back, with a few scattered patrons occupying the seats.
As I stepped inside, neither the staff nor anyone else uttered a word. It seemed to be a place where customers were expected to sit and order on their own.
All eyes turned toward me, both from the staff and the patrons, but I paid them no mind and boldly made my way deeper inside. With Nil leading the way, I noticed a few customers wearing shocked expressions, but none dared to voice any complaints.
I began to appraise the patrons one by one, and they appeared to be ordinary folk. The staff didn’t seem particularly impressive either, though I did spot a couple of thieves and a con artist among them.
“Hey!”
Just as I was about to descend the stairs at the back, a voice called out from behind the counter—a con artist, it seemed.
“What is it?”
“The lower level is off-limits.”
“Is that so?”
Nil was already racing down the stairs. Ignoring the warning, I scooped up Phonia and continued my descent.
“Hey! I told you that’s not allowed! …Tch!”
With a click of his tongue, the con artist stepped out from behind the counter and began to chase after us, but I pressed on without a care. There were two doors ahead, but the culprit was likely in the back room. Skipping the nearer door, I reached the one where Nil was waiting, and just as the con artist reached out to touch it, I kicked the door down with a resounding crash.
“What!?”
The man stood frozen, speechless at the dramatic sound of the door splintering apart. Inside, there were three men and two women. The one who had shot at Phonia was a man with the profession of “Sniper.” I appraised them all, and their statuses were all around a maximum of 1500 at best. The other professions present included an assassin, a poison user, a trap master, and a spy—none of them were particularly noteworthy. What kind of organization was this? For now, I decided to mark them all with Spatial Magic.
“W-What are you all doing here!?”
They seemed bewildered by our sudden intrusion, but I had no intention of giving them time to gather their wits.
“Just here to return a lost item, so don’t mind us.”
As I approached the sniper, I pulled the arrow that had been shot at Phonia from the Dimensional Box. He flinched slightly, but before he could react, I plunged the arrow into his thigh.
“Gyaaaaaah!”
“Wha—!?”
“What are you doing!?”
“What’s going on!?”
“Hey, hey, hey!”
“I just came to ask why you targeted Phonia… that’s all.”
“Targeted…?”
The sniper turned his gaze toward the man who had been shot, as if realizing something, and then looked back at me.
“W-What are you talking about!? Do you think you can get away with this!?”
“Come on now, Nil followed the scent from the arrow. There’s no way we’d be mistaken.”
I patted Nil’s head, and he responded with a cheerful “Wafuu!”
“And don’t underestimate the detection range of an S Rank Adventurer.”
I pulled out my Mithril Adventurer’s Certificate from my collar and held it up for everyone to see. I might as well make use of the authority that comes with being an S Rank Adventurer.
“Ah… I’ve seen that woman before by the river!”
However, Phonia then piped up, pointing at the pale-faced poison user.
“By the river?”
“Yeah. I saw her the first time I went to the inn.”
“…Oh, that.”
Now that she mentioned it, I recalled that incident. There had indeed been talk of a man and woman embracing, but was it something they shouldn’t have seen? But if she was a poison user…
“I hadn’t heard any rumors about an incident… Could it be that you poisoned a man by the river?”
As I posed the question, it was as if I had struck a nerve.
“Wha—!?”
The woman’s face turned even paler, and she took a step back. It seemed she had wanted to eliminate any witnesses, but she had picked the wrong target.
“Ugh…!”
Almost simultaneously, the con artist who had been chasing us turned on his heel and bolted for the exit.
One man just left the underground. His profession is a con artist, and his status was in the low hundreds, so I don’t think he has any combat ability.
“Understood.”
I quickly relayed the information through Telepathic Communication, receiving immediate responses from Rio and Ivan. Telepathy was indeed quite convenient. Whether he ran away or went to call for help, it didn’t change the fact that they were cornered.
“So, we have an assassin, a poison user, a trap master, a spy, and that sniper over there. Is this some kind of organization?”
“Guh… Did you come here without knowing anything!?”
“Well, that’s true, but you were the ones who made the first move.”
There was no point in trying to convey that I was being unreasonable. I was genuinely angry. How could they shoot such a cute Phonia with arrows? As I glared at them, the four who weren’t the sniper began to tremble. The sniper himself seemed to have fainted from pain and fear.
“What do you want to do, Phonia?”
Phonia tilted her head at my question.
“Phonia was attacked, but don’t you want to get back at them or something?”
“Eh?”
I explained further, but she seemed a bit lost. She tilted her head in thought, so I decided to wait a moment.
“Hmm… I’m okay now?”
She gave a surprisingly nonchalant answer. If she was fine with it, I could let it go for today.
“Oh, right.”
I thought for a moment, but I realized I needed to make sure they understood her fear. Otherwise, they might target her again when we were apart.
“What’s up, big brother?”
“Should I transform into a beast and teach them about how scary Phonia can be?”
“? Okay!”
I set Phonia down and watched as she stripped off her dress, leaving her in just her panties. Ah, well, I wanted to intimidate them so they wouldn’t bother us again, but I might need to rethink the clothing situation…
Once she removed her panties, the transformation began. In just a few seconds, she grew into a two-meter-tall fox, complete with five tails.
““Hiiiii!””
““…!?””
“…Despite her appearance, Phonia is an S Rank Tamed Monster. Nil has memorized your scents, so there won’t be a next time.”
“Wauuuuu!”
As I petted Nil, he nuzzled against me, his three tails wagging happily.
“Shall we head back?”
“Yeah!”
After Phonia, who had been unable to leave through the door, reverted back to her child form, I dressed her again. With that, I concluded my rather anticlimactic intimidation and left the hideout of the mysterious organization behind.