Chapter 16

I will follow the intruders who are moving away from my house.

The place I arrived at is the nearest town from the village.

It's the town where my mother worked when my father was sick and couldn't move.

The town is surrounded by a wall for monster defense, and there are soldiers at the gates.

I've heard from my mother that, in principle, entry and exit are not allowed at night.

However, she also said that in emergencies or for those who have night work, entry and exit are possible, even though the security is not that strict...

But, how will these suspicious people enter the town?

While feeling curious, I keep an eye on the movements of the intruders.

To my surprise, the intruders tried to enter the town through the main gate without any precautions, even though there were gate guards.

They will surely be caught.

Or they will be taken to a separate room to be questioned.

But—

"Let's go in."

"Yes."

—They were completely ignored.

These suspicious people were completely ignored.

The intruders boldly entered the town through the main gate.

Of course, the gate guards couldn't see me, so if I followed the intruders, I could easily enter the town.

The intruders, having removed the cloths covering their mouths, walked down the main street without any caution. They passed a few people, but didn't seem to care.

They stopped on a side street off the main street.

The main street was lined with many buildings, but this side street was even more crowded.

It was hard to see in the dark, but I doubt the lighting was good here.

The intruders entered one of these buildings.

A three-story wooden building. Among many similar buildings, the distinctive feature was the sign above the door.

"Slanita Finance"

The sign read.

"Sure enough, they are debt collectors."

Seeing those words, I connected them to the intruders being debt collectors.

"Slanita" is the name of this town, and "Finance" means moneylender, so it's very straightforward.

When we needed living expenses and money for my father's treatment, my mother borrowed money here.

Even though it's just one street off the main street, it's a clean-looking building. I don't think my mother could have imagined this would happen.

Still—

"That's strange."

Without hiding their suspicious nature, they entered the town through the main gate.

And they returned directly to their hideout (as the leader-like man said), which seems incredibly careless.

Or, it seems like the town allows such behavior.

"Maybe they have connections with the higher-ups..."

The leader-like man's statement about "strengthening relations with the higher-ups" is also concerning.

Considering everything, it seems too elaborate to have been set up just to sell my beautiful mother... but she is as beautiful as a goddess.

Anyway, what I need to do now is—

"Jump!"

I kicked the ground with all my might and used [Flight].

My body floated up without feeling the weight, and I quickly ascended to the roof of the three-story wooden building.

"Land, good."

I firmly planted both feet on the roof.

I know there are at least six debt collectors in this building, but there might be more.

I could boldly enter through the front door and take them down one by one, but with so many of them, there's a chance they could escape.

Since they are unaware of my presence and are being careless, I want to take them all out at once.

I could blow up the entire building, but I have some questions to ask.

So, I want to take care of the people inside without being noticed from the outside.

The plan I came up with is—

"Cat's Claw!"

As I said the words, I waved my hand toward the roof.

Then, [Cat's Claw] activated, and five lines ran across the roof.

And—

Rumble, Crash

The roof of the three-story wooden building lost its support and fell.

Furthermore, the power of [Cat's Claw] didn't diminish after bringing down the roof; it reached all the way to the ground floor.

So, my plan was—

"Reform."

What a surprise. The starlight is now shining through to the ground floor, which had poor lighting and no natural light.

Thanks to the craftsmanship of the strongest three-year-old, the ground floor is now an open space where the night sky can be seen beautifully!