Chapter 15

After checking my equipment and placing the letter, I climbed from the bed to the window frame with a heave.

When I pushed one side of the double window, it creaked as the wood rubbed together before opening to the outside.

Since the bedroom is on the second floor, looking down reveals a considerable height, but with the [Hare's Boots], I should be fine.

Without any fear, I kicked off the window frame and jumped down.

"Jump!"

A moment of weightlessness.

My body, which should have fallen immediately due to gravity, slowly descended thanks to the [Flight] effect.

"Land, good."

I confirmed that the hood of the [Hermit's Robe] was still in place and started walking.

The second-floor window was left slightly open, but there was nothing to be done about it.

Father and Mother have the habit of talking leisurely at night, so they probably won't notice I'm gone for a while. Even if they do, the letter I left should be fine.

The [Bell of Perception] is still jingling, and there should be enemies nearby—

"...There they are."

By the light of the stars, I could see a few men wandering around the house.

All of them were dressed in black and had black cloths covering their mouths.

Yeah, they look very suspicious. They have an overwhelming aura of being suspicious.

"Hey... What's going on?"

"None of this makes any sense... There was supposed to be a house in this part of the village, right...?"

"What's happening...?"

The suspicious men, looking confused. There were six of them in total.

There are twice as many as the last time they came, but it seems they can't find our house.

After observing for a while, I realized that the [Avoidance Talisman (Special)] might be interfering with their minds.

• The suspicious men approach our house.

• However, they suddenly stop near where the talisman is buried.

• For some reason, they turn towards a different location.

They keep repeating this.

They seem to be searching desperately, but their appearance is... ridiculous. Our house is right in front of them, and six adults can't find any clues.

The [Avoidance Talisman (Special)] is doing a great job.

I couldn't help but giggle, and one of the suspicious men reacted, looking around.

"Hey... Did someone just pass by?"

"No... What's going on?"

"I can't see anyone else..."

The house the suspicious men are looking for is right in front of them, and I, who laughed, am standing right behind them.

However, they can't see anything—

"Damn it, there's nothing we can do here. Let's head back."

The largest of the suspicious men signaled with his hand, gathering everyone. Is this the leader? He's different from the one who came before.

The leader gave instructions to the other five, and it seems they are going to retreat for now.

Well, if they are caught wandering around like this by the villagers, the gendarmes might be called, which would be a problem.

"...Hey, I'm starting to get scared..."

One of the six gathered men muttered.

This triggered the others to start whispering.

"This is strange..."

"Yeah... Has anything like this ever happened?"

"...I heard a laugh..."

The suspicious men seemed to be suppressing their fear, but it started to leak out after one of them spoke.

From my perspective, it's just funny, but for them, it must feel like they are encountering a paranormal phenomenon.

With only the starlight and their mouths covered by black cloths, I couldn't see their expressions clearly, but they all looked pale.

"...Shouldn't we just give up?"

"Yeah... It's just one woman, right?"

"We've made enough money so far. It's fine, right?"

"...Maybe it's better not to get involved?"

"Hey, no more—"

The five suspicious men pleaded with the leader.

However, the leader, in a lowered voice, told them, "Shut up."

"This isn't just our problem. If we want to continue working in this town, we have no choice but to do this. We can't back out now."

The other five fell silent at the force of his words.

Seeing this, the leader spoke in a brighter tone.

"Besides, if this succeeds, our relationship with the higher-ups will be strengthened. We won't have to worry about money for the rest of our lives."

The leader's mouth, hidden by the cloth, was invisible to me, but I could sense a smirk from the atmosphere.

The words were also appealing to the five, who had been silent, and they exchanged glances.

Then, they nodded in agreement.

"We can come back at noon."

"Yeah. I don't know why this is happening, but we'll figure it out."

"Even if we can't find the house, the woman will eventually come out. She's definitely in this village, so we just need to catch her."

"We've seen the man multiple times. If we catch the man, the woman will have no choice but to come out."

"Even if the man is strong, if we take the villagers as hostages, we can catch him too."

The suspicious men, who had been afraid of our house, started to gather their baseless thoughts.

"Let's talk about it when we get back to the hideout. Let's go."

The leader paused and moved away from our house.

The other five stopped talking and followed him.

"Huh."

I couldn't help but sigh.

The suspicious man at the back jumped and turned around.

"Hey, didn't you hear something just now?"

"No?"

"Okay... Never mind."

The effect of the [Hermit's Robe] is excellent.

The suspicious man who turned around looked in my direction but didn't make eye contact. As long as I don't make a sound, he shouldn't sense my presence.

Kicking off the ground to follow the retreating suspicious men, my body, lightened by the [Hare's Boots], didn't seem to get tired no matter how far I walked.

I'll let them lead me to their hideout.