Chapter 70

Aichi and Gatsu, who received a telepathic message from Shia, were heading towards the location mentioned in the information. Since Miu was going to be auctioned, they didn't need to worry about her life, but the mental burden would be heavy, so they wanted to rescue her as soon as possible.

Upon reaching the destination, two large men in black clothes were standing guard at the entrance. Aichi, worried that Miu might be moved if they caused a disturbance, used alchemy to enter from underground in a dead-end alley.

Aichi and Gatsu moved quickly using the "Breath Concealment" skill. It was a shame they didn't have a cardboard box; if they had, they wouldn't even need the "Breath Concealment" skill... (Note: This is a Metal Gear Solid reference; the cardboard box is the strongest stealth tool in the game.)

Soon, they found countless cells deep underground, where the guard at the entrance was dozing off. They walked past the guard and found ten human children huddled together on the cold stone floor. They were likely the children to be auctioned today.

In principle, most humans were believers of the Holy Church, so selling humans as slaves or goods was prohibited. Only criminals could be sold, as they were considered traitors to God, and it was allowed to sell them as slaves or goods. The children in front of them, however, didn't seem to be convicted criminals. Human slaves would only appear in official auctions with proper procedures. At this point, it was clear that they had been illegally captured and sold.

The children were frightened by the sudden appearance of Aichi and Gatsu. Aichi bent down, looked at them through the iron bars, and asked calmly,

"Is there a mermaid girl here?"

The children, thinking it was their turn, were confused by this unexpected question. Miu was not in the cell. Aichi didn't know if there were other cells or if she had already been taken away, so he asked the children.

The children were silent for a while. Gatsu, who was next to Aichi, squatted down and looked at them with gentle eyes, whispering, "It's okay," which seemed to reassure them. A seven or eight-year-old boy, trembling, answered Aichi's question.

"That... the mermaid girl was just taken away... Who are you, big brother?"

Indeed, she had already been taken away. Aichi, inwardly sighing, answered the anxious boy briefly.

"We're here to save you."

"Really! You're here to save us!"

The boy's face showed surprise and joy, and he inadvertently spoke loudly. The sound echoed in the dark dungeon, and the boy quickly covered his mouth with both hands, but the guard was already awake, shouting, "What's the noise?" and entering the dungeon with heavy steps.

Seeing Aichi and Gatsu, the guard froze for a moment, then screamed, "Who are you guys?" and drew a short sword to attack. The children, seeing the guard's sword, imagined Aichi and Gatsu being stabbed and screamed.

However, that was impossible. Aichi easily caught the sword with his left hand and crushed the blade into pieces. When Aichi opened his hand, the blade fragments fell to the ground. The guard, momentarily unable to understand what had happened, looked dazed, his eyes fixed on the broken sword. Seeing only the hilt, he finally realized what had happened, stammered, "Wh-what...," and took a step back, his face pale.

Aichi took a step forward, grabbed the man's head without a word, and slammed it into the ground.

Crack!

With a bloody sound, the man died instantly.

"Guards should sound the alarm first, right?"

Aichi said this with a surprised look, as if he had just killed the guard in a literal sense. The children stared at him with wide eyes. Aichi, ignoring their gaze, used alchemy to break down the iron bars. To the children, it seemed as if the bars had vanished instantly, and they gaped in even greater surprise.

"Gatsu, sorry, can you take care of these kids? It looks like I have to make a scene."

"Sure... I'll take care of it."

"Probably, the security office will send people here soon. Just hand these kids over to them. The branch manager, Ilva, has taken various precautions... Leave the details to him."

Gatsu looked in the direction of the guild branch with a somewhat sympathetic gaze. That was the direction of the guild branch. Before coming here, Aichi had casually grabbed an adventurer and had him deliver a telepathic stone to Ilva, explaining the situation. The "Gold" attribute on the card was really useful in such situations. The moment the adventurer saw Aichi's color, his attitude became cautious... as if a Japanese person on the street had been approached by a Hollywood star. After hearing Aichi's request, he readily agreed and was very respectful.

Incidentally, since Ilva couldn't use the telepathic stone, Aichi's reports were one-sided. "I'm in a conflict with a large underground organization. Please handle the aftermath." When Ilva heard this, his office seemed to turn white.

Aichi used alchemy again in the dungeon to create a passage to the upper level. After handing the children over to Gatsu, he hurried to the auction site. Just then, the boy called out to Aichi.

"Big brother! Thank you for saving me! Please save that girl too! I was so scared, I couldn't do anything..."

It seemed that the boy was also worried about Miu, regardless of her being a mermaid. Despite being captured himself, the boy was very brave. Seeing the boy bow his head in shame at his own helplessness, Aichi stroked his head.

"Huh, what, what?"

"Well, if you're not satisfied, get stronger. And that's the only way. I'll handle this time. Next time, if something happens, you handle it."

After saying this, Aichi turned and walked out of the dungeon. The boy, still covering his head with both hands, suddenly had a bright look in his eyes and clenched his fists with a slightly manly expression. Gatsu gave the boy a smile and led the children to the surface.

～～～～～～

The auction site was enveloped in an unusual atmosphere.

There were about a hundred guests in the venue, all wearing strange masks, not making a sound, and quietly raising their number plates for the items they were interested in. To avoid revealing their identities, they even thought twice before speaking.

But even they, who were so careful, couldn't help but gasp in shock when the item was displayed.

A square water tank, about two meters on each side, appeared, containing the young mermaid Miu. She was stripped of her clothes and huddled in a corner of the tank, naked. Mermaids could breathe in water, and she was placed in the tank to prove she was a real mermaid. Perhaps because she had escaped once, her hands and feet were shackled with metal cuffs. The sight of her small, bound limbs was heart-wrenching.

Exposed to the many gazes, Miu looked fearfully at the bidding. The price was rising at a terrifying rate. Despite having already caused a stir once, did they really think they could hide a mermaid? Perhaps they were unaware of the chaos that had occurred earlier in the day.

In the noisy venue, Miu, who was huddled in the tank, tightly held a black cloth in her hand. It was Aichi's eye patch. When parting from Miu, Aichi had been busy comforting her and had completely forgotten about it, only remembering later that he was wearing a spare eye patch.

That eye patch was Miu's small comfort. Separated from her mother, forced to endure a long and arduous journey, and placed in a dark, damp cell, her body immersed in dirty water, she had escaped and thought it was all over when she was enveloped by something warm. She smelled a pleasant scent and opened her eyes to see a white-haired boy with one eye covered by a black cloth. She stared at him in surprise, unable to look away, and he looked back at her. Miu, a bit stubbornly, stared back, but the delicious scent tickled her nose, and she couldn't help but turn away.

After that, she directly answered the question about her name, and then a beautiful red light appeared, and she was placed in a warm bath. A rabbit-eared sister, similar to the boy but with a few strands of blue hair in her white hair, helped her wash. In the warm bath, she was gently washed, and the sensation was very comfortable. Before she knew it, she had completely relaxed and called the sister "Onee-chan."

Being held on her lap and fed delicious skewers, Miu would never forget it. While eating, the boy named Aichi returned. Her guard was slightly raised, but after he dressed her in a cute outfit and dried her hair with warm air, Miu's guard was completely lowered.

So, when she heard that she was to be entrusted to a place called the security office and had to part ways, she was very, very sad. For Miu, who had been separated from her mother and had endured loneliness and fear, parting with the gentle big brother and sister she had met in a distant place was unbearable.

So, Miu protested with all her might, pulling Aichi's hair, slapping his face, and even taking his eye patch, thinking, "I want to go back, just with Miu!" But in the end, the big brother and sister she wanted to be with left her behind.

Miu, huddled in a ball, thought, "Is it because it hurt that they left me? Is it because I took the eye patch that they're angry? Am I disliked by Onee-chan and Onii-chan?" Thinking this made her very, very sad, and tears streamed down her face. If she could see them again, she would apologize for hurting them and return the eye patch, and this time... she hoped they could stay together forever.

"Onii-chan... Onee-chan..."

While Miu was mumbling, suddenly, the tank was hit with a loud noise. "Ah!" Miu looked around in fear and saw a man in a tuxedo and mask nearby, frequently shouting and kicking the tank. It seemed he was trying to get the guests to see Miu swim to raise the price, but Miu didn't move, so he got impatient and started kicking the tank.

But Miu, becoming even more afraid, huddled even tighter. She clutched Aichi's eye patch and endured the impacts and the tank's shaking.

The man hosting the underground auction was a member of "Fleet Hof." Seeing Miu not moving, he was afraid the guests would suspect she was sick and the price would drop, so he had someone bring a stick. He thought she would move if he poked her. Seeing the guests getting restless, the masked man couldn't help but curse.

"Really, a troublesome brat, making a human adult do the work, like a half-breed!"

Saying this, the host climbed a ladder and poked the stick at Miu. Miu closed her eyes, preparing to endure the impact.

But instead of the impact, she heard a voice she wanted to hear.

"I'm returning this line to you, trash."

In the next instant, a figure fell from the ceiling, stomped on the host's head, and slammed him to the floor with the ladder. With a loud crack, blood splattered from the host's broken body. It was a perfect kill.

The shockingly impactful figure—Aichi—didn't even look at the dead man, but directly used his prosthetic arm to punch the tank. With a loud crack, the tank shattered, and the water spilled out.

"Ah!"

With the water, Miu was also flushed out. Unable to hold back a scream, Miu was immediately caught by something warm and gently opened her eyes. There, the person she wanted to see, the person she had been hoping for, was there... Aichi, hugging her. Miu blinked and stared at Aichi, just as she had when they first met.

"Hey, Miu. You're always wet when we meet, huh?"

Aichi, joking, Miu stared at him and then asked in a low voice.

"...Onii-chan?"

"Whether I'm Onii-chan or not is another matter, but if you're the one who pulled my hair, slapped my face, and took my eye patch, then yes, it's me."

Aichi answered with a wry smile. Miu's round eyes began to tear up, and then...

"Onii-chan!!"

She tightly hugged Aichi's neck and started sobbing. Aichi, looking awkward, patted Miu's back. Then, he quickly wrapped her in a towel.

At this moment, men in black clothes ran over and surrounded Aichi and Miu, dashing the reunion. The guests, thinking Aichi was cornered, were noisy but no one seemed to be trying to escape.

"Trash brat, you really have a death wish for messing with 'Fleet Hof.' If you put down that item, we might let you die painlessly."

Surrounded by about twenty strong men, Miu looked up at Aichi with a worried face. Aichi leaned close to Miu's ear and whispered, "It's going to be noisy, cover your ears and close your eyes," while placing her small, soft hand over her own ears. Miu, though puzzled, felt no anxiety or unease from Aichi's calm demeanor. She nodded and obediently covered her ears, closed her eyes, and buried her face in Aichi's chest.

The black-clad men, completely ignored, veins bulging on their foreheads, shouted, "Don't damage the item! Kill that brat!" At that moment,

Bang!

With a dry cracking sound, the head of the black-clad leader exploded. Everyone, unable to understand what had happened, stared with wide eyes at the man's brain splattered from the back of his head as he collapsed. Seizing the opportunity, Aichi fired again. While everyone was still in shock, the sound of continuous gunfire echoed, and by the time they recovered, twelve bodies with blown-out heads lay on the ground.

At this point, they finally realized the young man in front of them was an extraordinary opponent. The black-clad men retreated, and the guests screamed and rushed towards the exit.

"Who, who are you! Why... why such a thing!"

Amidst the chaos and fear, one of the black-clad men tried to put on a brave front, speaking incoherently. More black-clad men ran in, but they were scared off by the scene in the hall.

Aichi sneered at them.

"Why? Isn't it obvious? I just came to take back what was taken. After that... it's just a warning. The consequences of attacking my companions. So, let me finish this in style?"

Saying this, Aichi used "Air Force" to rise to the ceiling of the hall, jumped into a hole that had appeared there, and followed the hole to the outside of the building.

"Shizuka, Miu is safe. How about your side?"

"...Yeah, they're evacuated. After that, the guests came out in a rush."

"Got it. Let's finish this in style."

"Okay!"

Aichi continued to rise into the sky using "Air Force" while talking to Miu. Miu, obediently covering her ears and burying her face in Aichi's chest, opened her eyes when Aichi said, "Miu, it's okay now," and looked around... "Whoa!?"

Of course, it was natural. When she opened her eyes, she was in the sky, with a view of the city below. In the distance, the sun was setting, and the burning crimson was dyeing half the sky red. On the ground, artificial lights were twinkling, forming a beautiful cityscape. Seeing such a grand scene for the first time, Miu's eyes sparkled, and she grabbed Aichi's chest, exclaiming in delight.

"Onii-chan is amazing! Flying in the sky!"

"Not flying, just jumping, but... never mind. Anyway, Miu, you'll see a beautiful fireworks display soon."

"Fireworks?"

"Fireworks are... explosions."

"Explosions?"

Aichi couldn't explain properly, but what he was about to do was clear. He held Miu in one arm, used "Air Force" to stay in the air, and