Chapter 23 (1/2)

Translator: larvyde    Editor: DCThanatos    Proofreader(s): Merp-Merp

Note: Sorry for the late upload, and chapter 24 will most likely be uploaded between a few hours and tomorrow. Also there will only be one chapter per week as the regular until decided otherwise, many apologies.

Now Enjoy~

After finis.h.i.+ng his report to Richelieu, s.h.i.+zuru obtained permission for the third squad to take a break from their activities.

Having done all he had needed to do, he walked back with cakes he bought in the Merchant's Ward as a souvenir.

“Sigh …”

He suddenly looked up at the sky with a big sigh. There was not a single cloud, clear skies that made his eyes narrow.

But in contrast to the weather, one feeling filled s.h.i.+zuru’s heart.

“*Look for the killer* … Richelieu sure makes it sound like it’s easy”

It had already been several days since the chopper’s crimes had been confirmed.

But despite that, far from being captured, there was not even a single clue to the killer’s ident.i.ty.

Because s.h.i.+zuru’s information network had some pull with the garrison, he knew the details of the situation.

n.o.body ever saw them even though they killed every night, or they might have killed any and all witnesses.

It's possible, they may even have value worth setting Richelieu’s eyes on.

However…

“So I’m looking for someone I don’t know the name, the face, or even the gender of.  I have to get on my feet for this one …”

Walking around town to look for chopper while the garrison and Guard Knights go on patrol

He became neurotic just thinking about it. s.h.i.+zuru slumped his back and sighed.

“And even if I got Lady and Ludmila to help …”

The capital was ridiculously huge. Even just the East Ward was larger in scale than the typical city.

Regarding manpower, Casca wasn’t suited for this kind of work. She wasn't even unsuited, she had zero capability for it.

And Elizabeth can’t leave her house in the West Ward the whole day, and to begin with, there’s a high risk that someone would see a student loitering around the high-crime East Ward, so that’s not a good plan.

So naturally, the job fell to Lady who had high mobility and detection ability, and Ludmila who had magic eyes that can see even at night.

And with s.h.i.+zuru, that makes two people and one animal. That might be a good number, considering that bringing in more people would increase the risk of them getting found instead, but that said, they still had a long road ahead of them.

He would rather have the garrison capture them and make an excuse to Richelieu somehow.

But now that the order had come down, s.h.i.+zuru had to go out. He breathed yet another sigh.

“Haah … ah, well, no use worrying about it alone. I should first tell the girls about the situation. A break’s going to bottle up Casca’s stress again …”

At any rate, this was going to be worrying for a while

Foreseeing the bleak future, s.h.i.+zuru was about to breathe another sigh, but stopped himself

s.h.i.+zuru got his stopped feet moving again

Having complete knowledge of the capital’s geography down to the back alleys, combined with the use of a stagecoach, travelling between wards did not take much time.

Boasting of a range that went beyond city limits, the capital’s transport system was extensive.

It was slightly costly, but they even had taxis using pegasi, monsters that easily got attached to people.

Though since the scent of Lady was strongly percolated onto him, they got scared and he didn’t use them.

Thus, s.h.i.+zuru arrived back at the entrance of the East Ward, the slums, while the sun was still high.

Though he called it the entrance, there was no clear designation, he just thought of it that way.

And that was when he heard the uproar.

“Finally caught up to ya, y’s.h.i.+tty brat!!”

The voices of violent men.

The slight slurring of their speech was probably drunkenness, even though it was still light out

“Ya got the nerve to steal my lunch dontcha …!”

“Yer barking the wrong tree if ya think we’ll go easy on ya just ‘cuz yer a kid! Imma kill ya dead!”

There was the sound of wooden boxes and bottles breaking.

With yells that bordered on roaring, the mood turned murderous

s.h.i.+zuru tried going towards the voice and saw the backs of several men

And beyond them, the small figure of a child.

— Judging by the conversation he overheard, they seem to be ganging up on a child who stole something.

Well, it’s nothing strange to see in the slums.

If he had to handle each and every one, the sun would have gone down when he finally made it to the hideout from here … that was probably an exaggeration though.

This would happen somewhere once every several days.

“Whatcha got to say for yersef, eh!?”