Chapter 15 – Afterwards, It’s a Mess…

Afterwards, It’s a Mess…

—–

After Ariel left for the Adventurer’s Guild, Saya and Puel were left alone.
The house that was always full of energy when Ariel was there now had a slight sense of loneliness with her gone.

“Puel. Where do you think Ariel went…?”
“I wonder…”
Saya asked Puel about Ariel’s whereabouts in a somewhat dejected voice.
Her voice contained undisguisable loneliness and longing.

The reason Saya felt such emotions even though they had only been apart for a few hours was proof of how significant Ariel was to her.
But the same was true for Puel.
Puel sat quietly next to Saya, deep in thought about something.
‘Big sister…. She said she had no money..’

Puel had secretly overheard Ariel quietly complaining yesterday.
The anxiety that the reason for the lack of money might be because she came to this house started to creep into Puel’s mind.
Anxiety is like dissolving ink in water, it tends to fill the heart in an instant.
Tap tap tap.

“Sha-ah…? Puel, where are you going?”
Overwhelmed by anxiety, Puel immediately ran into Ariel’s room.

Puel rushed to Ariel’s room urgently.
Her gaze was directed at the shelf where Ariel’s belongings were placed.
Puel checked if Ariel’s things were still there out of worry that she might have left them behind.
She remembered that before her own mother left her, she had packed all her belongings.
“Thank goodness….”

Of course, all of Ariel’s things were in their place.
Puel let out a sigh of relief after confirming that all of Ariel’s belongings were in their place.
“Puel. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.. It’s nothing..”

Even though Puel’s mental state had stabilized since coming to this house, a week is ridiculously short to heal Puel’s wounds.
Even though she knew that Ariel hadn’t left them behind, the anxiety that once overtook Puel didn’t easily disappear and continued to trouble her.
‘There’s no way Big Sister Ariel would do that….. Wait a minute.’

Then Puel remembered that her birth mother, who had abandoned her, also worried about money like Ariel usually did.
After overlapping her birth mother, who always complained about not having money, with Ariel in her mind, she eventually reached a conclusion.
‘C-could it be… Big Sister Ariel… went to sell her beauty?’

Puel had no way of knowing that “selling beauty” was a euphemism for the work of women in the pleasure industry.
‘Big Sister Ariel is pretty, so….’
She simply misunderstood that selling beauty literally meant selling beauty like an object.

“Saya… What should we do..? Big Sister Ariel might become ugly…”
“…Sha-ah?”
A misunderstanding that only an innocent child could make.
But Puel was quite serious in her own way.

She couldn’t bear the thought that her beloved Big Sister Ariel would become ugly by selling her beauty because she was living in this house.

‘I don’t want that….!’
If she had thought about it carefully, she would have realized how absurd her thoughts were, but Puel, already gripped by anxiety, began to fall into serious worry.
“Puel.. Are you sick somewhere?”
“Saya… What should we do…..”

Just as Saya, worried about Puel’s state, was asking about her wellbeing…
Knock knock.
“Is Ariel inside? I came because I have something to tell her.”
…The sound of someone knocking on the front door was heard.

“P-Puel.. What should we do..? Ariel told us not to open the door for strangers…”
Saya asked Puel in confusion after hearing the sound.
“…Wait a moment.”
Holding Saya’s hand tightly so they could run away at any time, Puel slowly approached the window and started to check who had knocked on the front door.

After a brief tense moment, Puel, having confirmed who was at the front door, said to Saya with relief:

“It’s okay. It seems to be Big Sister Marian.”
“Sha-ah…? Big Sister Marian?”
The person standing in front of the front door was a woman with a height at least two heads taller than herself, with peculiar green hair – Marian, a figure from Puel’s memory.
“Hmm… Is no one there?”
“J-just a moment!”

Thinking it would be impolite to keep a guest waiting for long, Puel hurriedly ran to the front door.
Creak.
“Hello… Big Sister Marian.”
“…Hello. Your name was… Puel, right? Puel. Is Ariel not inside?”
“No… She said she was going out somewhere.”

Hearing that Ariel was absent, Marian made a disappointed expression.
“I see.. And you don’t know when she’ll be back.
…Well then, could you tell Ariel that Marian came by when she returns later?”

“Yes… Bi-Big Sister! W-wait a moment!”

After asking Puel to tell Ariel that she had come by, Marian was turning to leave when Puel stopped her.
“…Hm? What is it?”
“Um… Big Sister Marian.”

Over the past week, Marian had visited Ariel’s house a few times and become familiar with Puel, so Puel inwardly recognized Marian as a trustworthy person.
That’s why Puel confided her worries to Marian.
“Big Sister Marian… What should we do…? I think Big Sister Ariel… is selling her beauty because of me.”
“Wh-what…?”

…Marian, who knew that “selling beauty” was a euphemism for selling one’s body.
Her shocked voice echoed in the air.

—–

“So that’s how that came about….You really surprised me…”
After hearing how Marian came to say such things, I couldn’t hide my bewilderment.
“…I-I thought there was no way, but… just in case..”
Marian, still blushing, bowed her head as if ashamed and made excuses to me.

Marian has never been good with that kind of topic since long ago, so she still seems embarrassed.
‘It was shocking…’

“Perhaps… I’m just saying perhaps… The work you say you found… It’s not that kind of work, is it…?”
“I mean! You know… Like selling beauty… or something…”
Marian’s words were still ringing in my head to that extent.

Although both Marian and Puel said it out of concern for me… it’s true that I was quite shocked.
To think they would take “selling beauty” literally. Should I say it’s just like Puel?
Of course, even after correcting the misunderstanding, I didn’t tell Puel the real meaning of “selling beauty”. It’s too early for a young child.
‘Please remain such an innocent Puel forever…!’
I inwardly wished for the innocent Puel to remain forever.

“Although it was a misunderstanding.. I sincerely apologize for saying such things. I’m sorry, Ariel.”

Marian apologized to me repeatedly.
“….”
Puel peeked out from beside her.
With a tearful face, Puel slowly approached me and began to apologize.
“I-I’m sorry.. Big Sister.. I misunderstood….”

“It’s okay. I’m rather grateful that both Marian and Puel did it out of concern for me.”
It was just a cute happening. A very cute one at that.
Although I was a bit surprised, I don’t feel bad about it at all. Rather, I even feel grateful.
“Big Sister…!”

Puel rushed into my arms, seemingly moved by my words.
“Me too! Hug me too!”
Hug. Not to be outdone, Saya also rushed into my arms.
‘My-my heart….’
Is this heaven? I can die happy now.

“….”
Marian looking at me enviously.
“Marian. Do you want to join too?”
I playfully invited her, feeling mischievous. I meant it as a joke to cheer her up since she looked dejected, but..
She didn’t answer my words and immediately stood up from her seat.

Step step.
Then Marian slowly approached me.
It’s scarier that she’s just approaching without saying anything.

“U-um… Marian…?”
What’s with your eyes…..? Why is your breathing getting rough….?

……Afterwards, I was messily hugged along with Saya and Puel.

—–

“Ahem.”
“…I’m sorry. I lost my reason.”
Marian apologizing while sitting formally in front of me. But there was an undisguisable faint smile on her face.
‘Marian really likes cute things too much…’
Well, Saya and Puel are moderately cute.
It’s understandable that Marian lost her reason.

Deciding to stop reprimanding Marian here, I spoke to her intending to ask why she came here.
…Because I still hadn’t been able to ask due to various happenings.
“Marian. Get up. By the way, why did you come here?”

After making Marian get up from her formal sitting position, I asked about the reason she came to our house.
Although Marian and I had met a few times since reuniting after half a year, that was because Marian happened to have business nearby.
Basically, as she holds the position of captain of the Green Guard, she’s quite busy.

“Well. I came because I had something to tell you.”
“…Something to tell me? What is it?”
“It’s a bit difficult to say here….”
Saying that, Marian gently looked at Puel.

‘Is it about the kidnapping case?’
I could roughly guess what Marian was going to say seeing her like that.
It’s probably related to the kidnapping case.
…Indeed, it would be difficult to bring up such a topic in front of Puel, who is a victim of the kidnapping case.

“Saya. Puel. I have something to talk about with Marian for a moment, could you go to my room?”
“…Something to talk about? Okay!”
“Yes.”
Fortunately, the children listened to my words.

After Saya and Puel went up to my room, I started talking with Marian.
“Marian. Is what you want to talk about… the kidnapping case?”
“…Yes.”
Marian nodded at my words.

As I had guessed, she had indeed come to talk about the progress of the kidnapping case.
“First, I thought I should tell you about the progress of the case as the informant, so I came somewhat suddenly. Although there was some commotion.”
“I see…. How is the work progressing?”

When I asked about the progress of the case, Marian answered with her sharp eyes furrowed even more.
“First, we were able to rescue most of the people who were sold as slaves with information obtained by tortu… interrogating the guy named Louis that you caught. Fortunately, the work was smooth because the guy had a ledger. But….”
“But?”

Marian continued speaking, unable to hide her frustrated expression.
“…There are a few victims who have disappeared without a trace. We’re still searching, but we can’t find their whereabouts at all.”
“What about Louis? Does he not know either?”
“They were clearly written in the ledger, but… the people written in that ledger were imposters, and we couldn’t find the whereabouts of the disappeared victims. It seems Louis didn’t properly verify identities as long as he received money.”

He’s unhelpful till the end. I should have killed him then.
“Wouldn’t he at least remember their appearances?”
“That’s the question. Louis seemed as if his memories had been carved out, he couldn’t remember their faces. Since we used confession magic and high-intensity tortu… interrogation, he probably isn’t lying.”

“…Are you saying they used memory erasure magic..?”
That’s nonsense. Memory erasure magic is a magic that accompanies extreme danger. It’s similar to cutting a well-connected bridge in the middle and roughly reconnecting it with glue.
But the last time I saw Louis, although he was a disgusting guy, I didn’t notice anything strange.

‘Are you saying it’s the work of someone skilled in memory erasure magic..?’
That means they’re above me, a great magician, at least in that field.
“It does seem like memory erasure magic was used as you said. That’s why I came to find you. I’m not good with magic at all.”

“…If what you said is correct, it’s probably memory erasure magic. Confession magic is a magic that works on human subconsciousness after all.”
If it was accompanied by high-intensity interrogation, there’s no way to deceive it.
That means a quite high-level magician seems to be involved… The matter has become more complicated than I thought.

“For now, we plan to continue searching for the victims, but… honestly, it’s not easy to give an optimistic outlook.”
“I see. How about the investigation into the mastermind?”
The thought that there’s a mastermind behind Louis is a point that Marian and I agree on.
Marian answered my question.

“For now, according to the information we squeezed out of Louis, it seems the mastermind is someone the Empire considers a nuisance. The name is Shadow. Have you heard of it?”
“…The name.”
I only knew that Shadow was a person who caused trouble in the Green Guard and was expelled, and after being expelled, he flowed into the Empire’s underworld and carved out his own power.

“According to Louis, it seems Shadow has started to get involved in human trafficking.”
“So there was a mastermind after all.”
“That Shadow guy… I thought he’d been quiet lately, to think he was doing such things. Maybe I should have killed him then..”

…It was Marian who directly chased out Shadow. After half-killing him at that.
The reason Marian let Shadow, who had killed a comrade, go with just half-killing him was because of hesitation to kill a subordinate with her own hands.
She’s probably regretting that action now.

I offered words of comfort to her.
“Marian. Don’t blame yourself too much. It’s not your fault.”
“…Thank you, Ariel.”

Marian, who thanked me, stood up from her seat, perhaps it was time for her to leave.
“Shall I [Transfer] you to Lonzville?”
I asked Marian, intending to take her there with transfer magic.

“…I’d appreciate it if you could. Just to the front of the warp gate please.”
She accepted my offer after pondering for a moment.
“Marian… Take care! Ariel, come back safely too!”
“Big Sister Marian… Take care..! You too, Big Sister Ariel!”
Having come out at some point, Saya and Puel came to the front door to see us off.

“….”
Seeing that sight, Marian’s lips trembled and then she spoke to me.
“Ariel.”
“Yes?”
“…Would it be okay to take just one?”
Would it be okay, she asks.

.
.
.

“Um, Ariel….”
Before entering the warp gate, Marian stopped her steps and spoke to me.
“…As I said, you can’t take both.”
“Pff…. That’s not what I meant.”
“Then?”

I thought she was going to ask if she could take either Saya or Puel, but apparently not.

“…Even if nothing’s wrong, would it be okay if I drop by your house occasionally?”
“Why so formal? Come anytime. You want to see Saya and Puel, right?”
Hearing my answer, Marian smiled lightly and said,

“…Who knows.”
‘It’s such a waste to cover that smile with a helmet..’
Then, as Marian moved towards the warp gate, I bid her farewell.
“See you again, Marian.”