Deteriorating Public Safety
The mysterious incident in which the self-defense force of Gracela suddenly vanished.
It didn’t feel like a simple case of abandoning their post, and it seemed worth investigating further. And if word got out that the self-defense force had disappeared, public order would deteriorate in no time.
I rushed over to Gracela as fast as I could, but at first glance, the town didn’t seem to have changed much.
I felt a moment of relief—until, all of a sudden, the sound of shattering glass and a scream rang out nearby.
When I hurried to the scene, several armed men were in the middle of raiding a magic tool shop.
Magic tools often fetch a high price.
If they were going to target anything, this would be the place.
“Alright, alright! Grab everything that looks valuable!”
“No self-defense force to stop us now!”
“If we sell the loot in another town, no one’ll trace it back to us!”
“Man, what a lucky day to be alive!”
Apparently, these guys already knew the self-defense force was gone.
But—too bad for them.
They got caught in the act.
“Hey.”
“Huh? — Gwah!”
“What the hell? — Blugh!”
“What’s going on? — Gah!”
“Is it the knights? — Urgh!”
The four men committing the robbery were swiftly and mercilessly subdued.
The shopkeeper and his wife thanked me tearfully, but before long, screams could be heard from somewhere else.
… It didn’t look like I’d have time to relax.
“What the hell is going on…?”
Violent incidents breaking out all across town.
After the incident with the Eigenberg Company, the self-defense force had been reinforced, and it had become impossible for anyone to commit crimes—so why this sudden surge?
The reason behind the disappearance of the self-defense force was still unclear, but what was even more suspicious was how these criminals had somehow known the exact moment to strike, as if they’d been waiting for this.
The clue to solving the mystery came—during the fifth incident I resolved that day—from a man who had been trying to drag a woman into a carriage. He shouted these words:
“What the hell!? I thought the self-defense force was gone! Nobody told me there was a knight this strong here!”
After I defeated the ten henchmen he’d brought along for protection and beat up the coachman who seemed to be the ringleader, the man suddenly blurted that out.
So there *was* someone feeding them information.
“That’s a very interesting thing you just said. Who’s the one giving you information about this place?”
“Wha!? N-No, uh, I mean—”
“You’re going to tell me.”
“Eep!?”
Apparently, he hadn’t been trained for combat, because just a little intimidation was enough to get him talking.
And according to him…
The root of all this evil was lurking in an unexpected place.
What do you think about this chapter?
