“Please, please…! Please find my child… my child…! I have nowhere else to turn to…! I went to the Knights to ask for help but… I don’t think they’ll take any serious action…!”
“I-, I understand… I will accept your request.”
“R-Really!?”
“Y-yes…… However, I really can’t guarantee that the adventurers will accept your request or that you’ll be able to find your child safely…… Of course, we will do our best to meet your expectations……”
“Oh, p-please do…. I really beg you……!”
Ilia sighed deeply as she watched the client leave in tears.
“That sounds like a lot of work, Ilia.”
“……Lot-san. And Lana-sana, too.”
The people who called out to her were C-rank adventurers, Lot and Lana. They’re in their mid-twenties and have a fair amount of experience so it’s a rare party of two, one male and a female. They were highly valued members of the guild as they often took on the job of being an examiner for adventurer exams, a job that few other adventurers were willing to do.
“Actually, about the female client from earlier…… I heard that her child who had just turned one year old was taken away by a suspicious man right in front of her….…”
“.….So that is why she made a request in the Adventurer’s Guild huh.”
“Yes. However, I’ve been getting this kind of request from time to time…… but there are very few examples that have been found…….”
Presumably, after being taken away, they will be sold to slave markets through dark channels.
“There are a lot of clients who are not very wealthy, so I think the remuneration may not match the effort……”
“I see……”
Thinking of the client, emotionally, it is a task that they would like to do something about. However, in reality, it would be difficult, and while Ilia was distressed, another receptionist called out to her.
“Another case like that huh.”
“Another?”
“Yeah. Something similar happened just the other day, and I took care of it. I think the child was only about six months old.”
“Hey, wait a minute.”
Suddenly, she had a bad premonition, and Ilia began to examine the materials at hand. Looking at the list of requests that have been made to the guild in recently, she mutters,
“…… In the last six months or so, we have received five or six similar requests. And it’s all babies who haven’t developed their senses yet.”
“That many?…… That’s a bit too much. If that’s just the number of requests made to the guild, then there should actually be more happening, right?”
This type of abduction and kidnapping of children is more common in rural areas. In crowded cities, there are strict inspections when entering and exiting, so it is not easy to sell products to faraway places. However, all of them, including the case of the woman mentioned earlier, occurred in this city.
“It’s a little worrisome.”
Lot muttered with a complicated look on his face.
“If you don’t mind, we’ll take on that request.”
“Eh? Really? I’m very grateful for that but I think it’s a request that someone who’s just starting out would normally receive……”
“Looking at the modus operandi, it seems that it is the work of the same criminal, and if left unchecked, there is still a possibility that there will be more victims…… Somehow, I feel like the culprit is still in the city.”
According to the victims’ testimonies, all of the crimes were committed during the day and in broad daylight. The perpetrator, who was probably a man with a mask covering his face, seemed to have snatched away babies and children in no time.
“But–, Lot, how are you going to find the culprit? Even if that guy is in the city, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack, right?”
Asked by his partner, Lana, Lot scratched his head.
“That’s right…… As expected, we need to do a decoy operation……”
“You mean, borrowing a baby from someone to act as a decoy? But who would lend their child to do such a dangerous thing?”
“Uh-…… That’s certainly true.”
“There are a few adventurers who have recently had children, so let’s talk to them.”
Ilia also proposed, but she didn’t think that it would be easy. Being an adventurer, doesn’t mean they would voluntarily lend their child to do such operation.
“If only there is a suitable baby somewhere……”
“There’s no way there’s one like that.”
“That’s ri—”
“““Ah!”””
The three of them came up with something at exactly the same time.
“““There’s one……the perfect baby for the job..…”””
⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆
“So…… You mean, you want me to be the chosen one and be a decoy?”
“Well, you see… you’re a baby who can survive any danger, right?”
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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