Chapter 90

It felt like an unnecessary addition...

I pushed through the crowd and witnessed the gruesome scene inside.

“Gulus...”

Early in the morning, there was a commotion, and Lamina and I rushed out of our inn.

By then, we had already realized that Gulus had fled, and with a bad feeling, we arrived at this place.

As expected, the corpse there was his.

I had heard about the serial killer from Lamina during our journey, and I understood why he ended up like this.

“He was just a nobody to us... but after spending some time with him, it’s a complicated feeling.”

“...Yeah. But... I think he didn’t have to die.”

It was a terrible way to die.

His body was so mutilated that it was unrecognizable.

If he had just behaved himself... he could have lived a normal life.

“Hey? Isn’t that Zyon over there?”

In the direction Lamina pointed, Zyon was looking at the other two corpses at the scene. He was sitting next to them, not moving.

“Where have you been, Zyon?”

“I was drinking at a bar until morning. Don’t worry, I didn’t get drunk.”

“Hey, did you know these guys?”

Zyon didn’t answer immediately.

“...Well, I don’t know if we were really acquaintances. We drank together last night. They were good, nice guys... If I had been with them, maybe...”

His tone was gentle.

His voice carried a sense of guilt.

He must have had his own thoughts.

“Hey, Setsu.”

“What?”

“...I’m gonna go look for the culprit. I can’t let this sit well with me... So can you wait for me to get back?”

“Sure, but... I can’t really help much right now.”

I don’t have any magic or anything, so I can’t even do a proper search.

If I could find them just by walking around, they would have been caught already.

“You’re fine. You’ve got something to do, I think. Lamina, can you help me?”

“...Sure. I’m worried about what kind of reckless things you might do on your own.”

“Thanks, partner.”

“Who’s your partner, I’ll kill you.”

Zyon, with a nihilistic smile, led Lamina out of the crowd.

As a comrade, I should have followed them, but...

“Just get your mission done quickly. Whatever you do, it always changes something. We’re counting on it.”

I was about to follow them but stopped in my tracks.

They were already gone.

“Huh... What are you counting on?”

If you say that, I have to respond, don’t I?

◆◆◆

“So... the shopping list is one onion and... potatoes.”

“...”

Why am I shopping here...?

I remember Mira dragged me out because I looked idle, and before I knew it, we were at the market.

“Here! Mr. Setsu, hold this properly!”

“Okay, okay...”

I followed Mira, carrying bags full of ingredients in both hands.

The market in this town is quite large.

I later found out that this town is located near the center of the human continent, so a lot of goods are traded here.

That means there are quite a lot of people.

A murder in such a town... I would think they would be caught quickly.

“Sigh... It’s always so busy. When Mr. Setsu isn’t around, I have to go back and forth every week.”

“That’s tough. This alone could take up a whole day, right?”

“Yeah! But helping the ladies is fun...”

Landladies with such good kids are lucky.

If I ever have kids, I’d want one like this.

...But looking at the women around me, I get worried.

“It’s the last shop, let’s go back quickly!”

“Okay, okay...”

I was pulled by the hand and we ran back to the inn.

◆◆◆

“We’re back!”

“Welcome back. I’m sorry to have troubled you, Mr. Setsu... As a thank you, we’ll have a grand dinner tonight.”

“No problem. It was fun.”

I handed over the bags and let the landlady take them.

“Oh, they’re heavy...”

“Yeah, they are.”

“To carry them so easily... Are you a famous adventurer, Mr. Setsu?”

“No, I’m an adventurer, but not famous. Don’t worry about it.”

I took the bags back from the landlady and carried them to the kitchen.

“Where should I put them?”

“Thank you so much... If you could put them over there, that would be great.”

I placed the ingredients where she indicated and stretched my arms.

Looking around the kitchen, I could see that many of the items were well-used and well-cared for.

I chose a good inn.

“Thank you for helping us, sir.”

“No problem. I was really idle.”

The innkeeper, wearing an apron, appeared and started sorting the ingredients.

This guy is a good cook and has a good personality.

This family is really great.

The fact that they can run an inn of this size with just three people shows how efficient they are.

Mira, despite her age, didn’t have any trouble with the shopping.

“You guys are really amazing. I made the right choice staying here.”

“It’s very nice to hear that.”

“If anything comes up, I’ll help. I won’t stay long, but I can handle some heavy work for a while.”

“Thank you, we would really appreciate that.”

With the innkeeper’s happy smile, I returned to my room.

Inside, there was a stupid god lying on his back, his belly exposed...

“Learn from the people in this inn!”

“Ouch! What’s going on!?”

I slapped his belly and woke him up.

I didn’t really need to wake him, but I was just annoyed, so it felt good.

“Don’t sleep so sloppily. At least cover your belly.”

“What? Are you lusting after my belly?”

“Who would lust after a kid’s belly? Stop saying stupid things and cover up and go to sleep.”

“Mmm... You’re like a mother...”

By the way, do gods catch colds?

Whatever, he needs to be less sloppy.

I got into the other bed and let my consciousness drift as night approached.

◆◆◆

The next day passed without incident.

Another body was found, but I wonder what Zyon and the others are doing.

If they can’t solve it in a day, it seems there’s a serious enemy involved.

When I asked Straw about the possibility of the Holy Swords, he said it’s quite likely.

However, there’s no sign of them, so there’s no concrete evidence.

“I don’t need to sleep that much... I might as well do some investigating during the day...”

“Well, the one doing the detecting is me, right...”

Straw and I were in front of the inn.

I involved him because the theory that the Holy Swords are the culprits is the most plausible.

There are no witnesses, and the method of killing is unique.

If it were a human, they would have used magic, and Zyon and the others would have noticed.

So, the only possibility left is that the Holy Swords are the culprits.

Since only Straw can sense their presence, he has to help, no matter how sleepy he is.

“Fine. I can’t stand the Holy Swords doing as they please. Let’s find them and put a stop to it.”

“Alright, you’re motivated. Good, let’s start with the area around the crime scenes.”

We first went to where Gulus was killed.

It’s been cleaned up, but the indentations in the ground remain.

“What a powerful blow... It must have hit with enough force to crush a person precisely.”

From the way the ground is indented, it seems it happened in one hit.

If I were hit by that now, I’d be out of commission, for sure.

“Do you know anyone who can do this?”

“I have some ideas, but I can’t pinpoint which one. Unfortunately, there are quite a few of them. This kind of thing is easy for them.”

“Yeah...”

I’ve fought the Holy Swords before, and even Feribus was incredibly strong.

But in this case, it feels like they were crushed by something huge... not just brute strength.

There are a few that could fit this description.

Honestly, it wouldn’t be surprising if there was a hammer-like Holy Sword.

After all, Winter’s Excalibur turned into a cannon.

“The other bodies... were they all cut up, right? It would be hard to find them, given that they’re swords.”

We checked other locations, but the situation was the same at every scene.

We even went to the latest location, but there was no residual magic.

This makes it increasingly likely that the Holy Swords are responsible.