Chapter 95: Kapers Story (1)

Toric had every reason to be flustered.

Because this was, indeed, where the Tiaria branch of the Kapers used to be.

Of course, since they were a secret society (though famous enough for everyone in the world to have heard of them at least once), they didn't put up a sign that said ‘Kapers’, and as Miki said, they would often disguise themselves.

“We’re not open yet.”

But at least this place was a seafood restaurant busy with preparations for opening.

“……It’s been a long time since I last came here.”

In the end, Toric said, carefully closing the door he had opened just in case.

“So, what, did they go bankrupt? The Kapers?”

“Th-That’s…!”

Miki, who had been so excited at the thought of finally meeting proper… or rather, active Kapers, let his shoulders droop.

“…No. They probably got exposed or something and changed their location.”

But upon hearing Toric's words, his eyes regained their sparkling light, and he began to look at him again.

“Th-Then! Do you have any other place in mind…?!”

Seeing this, Toric let out a short snort through his nose, and then crossed his arms as if lost in thought.

“…There is one place.”

“Ah, where is it this time? A pub? A Tiarian-style meat restaurant?”

“A pub.”

“For real?”

Under Toric's guidance, this time we headed to a certain pub.

“We're closed now.”

We were greeted by an employee who was engrossed in wiping the bar with a cloth, not even glancing at us who had opened the closed door.

But Toric, not caring about the employee's attitude at all, strode towards the bar, and soon—on a slightly lower side, made for Halflings and Dwarves—he took a seat.

“A glass of beer, please.”

At that, the employee, who had stopped wiping, let out a small sigh and put both hands on his hips.

“Excuse me, I said we're not open yet…”

Then, with a slightly annoyed expression, when he finally looked at Toric.

“We crouch to sow justice.”

Toric calmly recited the Kapers' code.

At that moment, the startled employee's two eyes widened.

“Uh… c-could you wait just a moment?”

He answered in a tone mixed with a polite attitude and a flustered expression, and immediately opened the trapdoor on the floor and went down.

Then, before long, a person rushed up.

He was a middle-aged human male with a dignified impression.

“…!”

He looked at Toric, who was sitting at the bar, with eyes of disbelief.

“Mr. Silverhand…?”

“…It’s been a while, Logan.”

The employee, who had followed him up again, asked in a somewhat tense voice.

“Do you know him…?”

“This person is…”

At the employee's question, Logan answered after a moment of hesitation.

“…A Kaper.”

“A former, Kaper.”

Toric immediately corrected him firmly.

Then, Logan's gaze turned to us.

“These people are…”

He was asking if it was okay to talk in front of these people.

“They are young people I happened to be traveling with.”

Toric answered without hesitation this time as well.

“They wanted to meet you all.”

As if we had come here to meet them from the beginning.

“By the way, I’d like to order a glass of beer.”

Then he gestured with his chin as if to tell us to sit down as well.

As we sat at the bar one by one, Logan, who was watching this, let out a long breath through his nose and said to the employee who was still watching.

“Miss Clara? Could you… go inside and rest for a moment?”

Clara, who had been asked to leave, bowed her head and went down to the basement as before, and Logan went to the keg himself and handed a full glass of beer to Toric.

“Thank you.”

Logan, who answered with a light nod, then looked back at us who were sitting in a row at the bar.

“What would you all like to have?”

I, whose hangover from last night had not yet completely subsided, asked if I could have some water instead of alcohol, and the other companions followed my lead and received water.

Only Ibi said, “Ah, got anything strong? I'll have that,” and took a shot of whiskey.

A hair of the dog, she said.

“I've never seen that young friend before.”

“I see you don't recognize her. She is Mr. Russell's daughter.”

“What? …That baby?”

“Time has passed. Even I, who was a rookie, have now become a middle-aged man.”

“That guy allowed his daughter to become a Kaper?”

“Ah, Miss Clara is just a collaborator. It would be dangerous for her if she got too involved, so we keep a suitable distance from each other.”

“I see.”

As if it were an understandable decision, Toric, who had nodded his head in agreement, took a sip of his beer.

“The place where the branch was… has become a restaurant.”

“Ah, you must have gone there.”

Logan let out a bitter smile, as if he had imagined Toric staring blankly at the shrimp on the sign after a wasted trip.

“It's been a few years. We were almost exposed once before.”

“Then, have you set up a new branch?”

“No, we haven't set one up separately. I guess the number has decreased a lot since then, and…”

Logan continued in a somewhat bitter tone.

“When something happens, we gather in the basement here for now, but these days everyone is busy… so it's just me right now. Ah, but there are still many of us left in this city. If you'd like to say hello, I can send a carrier pigeon right away.”

“No need. It seems everyone is busy. And I didn't come here to say hello.”

Toric, who had waved his hand once, looked slightly relieved that they weren't here.

Logan, who seemed to have read his expression, let out a long breath through his nose again.

“……Where, and what have you been doing all this time?”

Then he asked cautiously, in a voice that was both pitiful and somewhat reproachful.

“Can’t you tell by looking?”

At this, Toric patted his protruding belly.

Seeing this, Logan let out a bitter smile and shook his head.

“How much have you been drinking?”

“It was a quiet mountain village, so there was nothing to do but drink.”

“…Your wife's hometown, you mean.”

Instead of answering, Toric looked back at us.

“Oh, I'm late with the introductions.”

And he deliberately changed the subject.

“This friend is Logan. He was my subordinate. Now he's probably… the branch chief?”

“I am playing a similar role.”

Logan, who had answered thus, then formally greeted us again.

At that moment.

“I-It is an honor to meet you!”

Miki, who had been fidgeting, wanting to talk to him somehow, was the first to greet him cheerfully.

Unlike the somewhat… broken Toric, Logan was a Kaper with the impression of a hero from a heroic tale, so it was only natural that he would be anxious.

“I-I am Michael!”

“Ah… I see. It is an honor for me as well, Michael-gun.”

Although he didn't say it, his expression showed that he had realized that Miki, who was looking at him with admiration, was a member of the Irons family.

There was no way that he, who gathered all sorts of information in Tiaria, wouldn't recognize the third son of the Irons family.

Then, after greeting me and the other companions one by one, Logan, as if the time had come, immediately got to the main point.

“…As it happens, I was also planning to visit Mr. Silverhand.”

Hearing this, Toric paused for a moment, and then said calmly.

“I heard that Stras, has returned.”

“……!”

At that, a look of horror spread across Logan's face, who seemed to have been wondering how to bring it up.

“H-How…”

“It seems this bard friend next to me, met one of my comrades.”

I immediately waved my hand slightly.

Actually, I haven't.

“……You’ve already, heard.”

“That's also the reason I'm accompanying these friends who are heading beyond the Wall.”

This time, for sure, he would definitely take his head, he said.

Hearing those words, Logan was making a slightly sad expression.

But in the end, he didn't add any other words.

“…I see.”

As if to say that if he had already made up his mind, he had no right to say anything.

“By the way, it seems this friend has something to say.”

Toric immediately pointed at me, as if to say that his story was over.

“Yes. I have, news to deliver to the Kapers.”

At that, when I immediately spoke, Logan turned his head in puzzlement.

“What news, do you mean…?”

I first asked Miki for permission to talk about yesterday's events, and Miki, after a short thought, nodded his head.

“Have you perhaps heard the news that the Irons family mansion burned down last night?”

So, I brought it up.

“Ah, yes. I have. It was a unfortunate accident, but fortunately, there were almost no injuries…”

“That, was the work of a Demon King's army executive.”

“…Yes?”

“It was the work of the 5th Corps Commander, Etian.”

“……!?”

Moreover.

I immediately added.

“The 7th Corps Commander, Luce, has been following us like a stalker for some time now.”

Once again, Logan was horrified.

But, that was also for a moment.

As befitting a veteran Kaper, he soon hid the emotion that had appeared on his face and stroked his short beard.

Then, as if he were concerned about a possible spy, he looked around, and.

“…This is not a story that can be told here.”

He said, slowly getting up from his seat.

“Follow me.”

***

Logan guided us to the basement of the pub.

Clara, who had come down earlier, flinched and showed a wary expression, but we, reassured by Logan's guarantee that it was okay, went up again as if to take her place.

The basement we went down to was, well… a basement.

Like what you would imagine a pub's warehouse to be.

Of course, it was spacious for a warehouse, and it wasn't just kegs, but was equipped with various ‘office’-like items, but it looked too shabby for a secret society's hideout.

In fact, that might have made it more like a secret society's hideout.

But in a place that looked like nothing, there were all sorts of dangerous traps and measures to prevent spies── in short, a lot of magic spells.

To the extent that Rine, who had noticed the aura of [Magic], kept looking around, and Ibi, who had [Intuited] the traps, immediately muttered with a slight grimace, “What, this place…?”.

“Rest assured. As long as I am here, there is nothing that can harm you.”

Logan, who saw the two's reaction, immediately said to reassure us, but from his expression, it seemed that he was the one who should be worried.

But well, it would be unreasonable to ask someone to be reassured in this situation.

“The story of yesterday's fire, that it was the work of the corps commander Etian… is it really true?”

“It is true. Moreover, the head of the family, Lord Johannes, who fought against him, is currently missing.”

“Lord Johannes…!”

“And as for Luce, I’ve already given up counting how many times that bastard has shown his face to us.”

“It’s as this friend says. I also encountered that fellow named Luce.”

“Such…”

In a situation where it was certain that the corps commanders of the Demon King's army were actively operating inside the Wall, how could one be reassured.

“Stras, Etian, and even Luce……”

And it wasn't the first time he had heard such a story from us.

“…Then the information that has been collected on our side recently, is also likely to be true.”

Rather, it must have felt like a confirmation.

“Have you heard other stories as well?”

“Yes. Recently, from Kapers who are collecting information in various parts of the 12 cities… especially, from the north, similar information has been continuously coming in.”

About the unbelievable information that executives of the Demon King's army── and even corps commanders── were being sighted.

“It wasn't just the movements beyond the Wall that were suspicious. …Even inside here, something seems to be continuously happening.”

Therefore, Logan, who could no longer deny this fact, continued with some difficulty.

“…It seems, our world is facing an unprecedentedly great threat.”

I know.

That's why we're here.

To stop that threat, together.