Chapter 147: Suspicious Movement 2


    TL/Editor: Raei


    Schedule: 5/Week Wed-Sun


    Illustrations: Posted in discord.


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    It was an old but neatly maintained spacious single room.


    Though traces of lingering footsteps revealed the passage of time, there were no protruding splinters or creaky wooden boards.


    The floor was smoothly polished, and the walls and ceiling were immactely kept, making for afortable stay.


    Oh! The 3-person room is a bit far away, so its fine, right? Unless you, like, call out Rnd''s name at night, the other mercenaries-


    Lo, lower your voice!


    Hey, even if Rnd is superhuman, he won''t hear us whispering like this, right? Surely, he wouldnt enhance his body with mana while resting in the inn?


    If there was a problem, it might be that the soundproofing was woefully inadequatepared to a superhuman''s physical senses.


    Even just lyingfortably in bed without strengthening my body with mana, I could hear Han Se-ah and Graces voices clearly.


    It seems like the design has the bed of the single room on the right and the bed of the double room on the left, with only a single wall separating them closely.


    So, if there were no wall, Han Se-ah and Graces heads would be right beside mine.


    Measuring the distance, it was approximately... less than 1m.


    No matter how much they tried to suppress their voices, with a wooden wall between us, their voices were too easy to hear with my superhuman body.


    But, Hanna.


    Yes?


    Han Se-ah, perhaps eager to push Grace into my room and peek inside, has a yful cheeky edge to her voice.


    However, her voice quickly falters at Graces question.


    Dont you have any thoughts?


    ...Thoughts about what?


    About doing it with Rnd.


    I guess she thinks I''m not listening since she instantlyunches a counterattack.


    Even though Grace bes a shy girl in front of me, normally she is like a sassy older sister character.


    I also realized that she can be very brazen.


    From what I see, you seem to like him more than I do. Its a bit suspicious? Maybe you want to join in?


    No! Thats, umm...


    Hey, dont shout. If you do that, Rnd might wake up.


    This girls talk, which ought to be private, flows from beside my head like a radio, providing an entertaining listen.


    The two, once whispering, now seem to have entirely forgotten Im in the next room, as their voices raise to a normal level.


    They talk like sisters, even consulting each other about their love lives, appearing very open.


    Han Se-ah, ying the older sister, continuously nudges and probes - only to be counterattacked with an offensive full of crude jokes.


    The only problem might be that the crude jokes Grace knows are based on her experiences with me.


    Hmm? Hanna, are you asleep? ...Hehe, pretending to be asleep, huh.


    She seems to have saved and logged out.


    ---


    Raei Trantions


    ---


    The night passed quietly without Grace visiting my room.


    In the morning, after Han Se-ah logged in and we gathered on the first floor of the inn, we agreed that while the lodging was decent, the food was somewhatcking.


    "Let''s go to the Merchant''s Guild as we discussed yesterday."


    "Sure, Ive taken on a few requests here so I know where it is."


    We headed out to the street together, having barely satisfied our hunger with a soup that felt rather mediocrepared to Irene''s cooking.


    Even though the meal was subpar, everyone seemed to be in a good mood, fresh from using a magic shower tool.


    The moment our party stepped onto the street, ting-


    Han Se-ahs stream turned on.


    "Hello, everyone! Today''s stream will start with us visiting the Merchant''s Guild to gather some information. If youre not sure whats going on, the chatterboxes in the chat might kindly tell you about the linked quest, or not."


    -Damn, only 10 seconds in


    -Thats true


    -Why aren''t you showing us your pajama outfits?


    "Why am I not showing it? I want to keep the good stuff to myself. Anyway, let''s make some progress on the linked quest."


    The streets, filled with merchants and mercenaries, were busy even in the early morning.


    Carts lined up, blocking the narrow roads, and rough curses flew from the mouths of mercenaries upon seeing this, creating a scene reminiscent of a hellishmute.


    I, armored, took the lead, forging through the densely packed crowd, with the rest of our group closely huddled behind me.


    Feeling like a salmon swimming upstream, I nudged people aside to make our way forward.


    "Hey, damn!"


    "Dont push, you son of a-!"


    "Who the hell is that?"


    It was no surprise that a variety of harsh responses erupted when I, being bothrge and broad-shouldered, pushed people aside with my heavily armored body.


    Of course, in the chaotic flow of the human river, no actual quarrels broke out.


    Mercenaries shoved aside by the shoulder would merely swing a fist in the air, swiftly disappearing into the distance.


    Since not everyone was stupid enough to verbally abuse a person armored head to toe, no particr incidents urred.


    "I wish I had inventory magic. Usually, pickpockets are a problem in ces like this."


    "Pickpockets?"


    "Yeah. If youre not storing your belongings with magic like Hanna, little guys slip hands into your pockets in a crowd like this. Like now."


    "Uh, ah!"


    Lily, almost as if she was pulling a carrot, swiftly lifted a young pickpocket, who appeared to be no older than 10, by the wrist from the crowd.


    It mustve taken some courage to target a group that included a fully-armored warrior, a woman with a spear, and another woman in a nuns robe.


    Lily, who had reimed her wallet from the inexperienced-looking youngster, nonchntly set him back down into the crowd.


    "Catching them and handing them over to the guards only results in seeing them get roughed up, without anything actually happening. If we don''t catch them, they pick our pockets, and if we show mercy, at most, people will talk about it. Truly troublesome little pests."


    "Oh dear..."


    Irene felt sympathy for the pickpocket rolling on the dirt floor.


    However, she froze upon seeing the pickpocket, who quickly stood up avoiding people''s feet and put his hand in a passing merchant''s pocket while he was at it.


    Street kids growing up in a much harsher environment than the city of adventurers have a vitalityparable to weeds.


    -You can catch pickpockets as a senior adventure, but I gotpletely robbed.


    -? There''s an inventory, how''d you get robbed?


    -There are quite a few kids who role-y


    -Since the game has high freedom, all kinds of perverts pop out.


    -I wall-climbed the outside of the tower on the first day. Being restricted to no inventory is nothing, lol.


    Finally, the pickpocket kid, having swiped a clinking coin purse, disappeared into the crowd, with shouts of "Thief-!" echoing through the bustling people.


    Only after the party silently handed over their belongings, such as waist pouches andnterns, to Han Se-ah did we arrive at the Merchant''s Guild.


    Piercing through the crowd, we arrived at a wide open space.


    Numerous carriages were neatly arranged here.


    People in uniforms, people in silk clothes, and shabby-looking peddlers were mixed together haphazardly.


    "Over there, thatrge building at the end of the square."


    "You can tell just by the sign."


    A tall andrge building made of dark gray stone and a spacious sign outlined with metal.


    The picture of a purse full of gold coins carved into the signmunicates that the building is rted to merchants.


    As dozens of people busily entered through therge main gate, what met their eyes was a brightly decorated lobby, like a noble''s mansion.


    From thergendscape paintings hanging on the walls, magical tools emitting light from within finely crafted ss crystals, to the sparkling armors and vibrant porcin hung on the walls like a museum-


    The party naturally shrinks back, just as the Guild intended.


    "There are so many people. They must be incredibly busy, right?"


    "Don''t worry, these folks are merchants after all. Irene, could you stand at the front? Beside me."


    "Sure, I understand."


    Merchants are as sensitive to money as mercenaries.


    We arent dressed shabbily and they wouldn''t get greedy just at the sight of gold coins.


    In the first ce, merchants, who live off trust, wouldnt dare to hassle a group with a nun.


    As sensitive as they are to money, they are to superstitions, too.


    As if to confirm my thoughts, a woman wees us with a poised posture.


    A beautiful woman, dressed in attire resembling a ck suit and wearing round sses, bows gently toward us.


    Sneaking a peek at Han Se-ah''s stream window, it seems like this character must have some stars attached to her.


    "Wee to the Ertta Merchant''s Guild. How may I assist you today?"


    "We need information about merchants who started out from the western port city."


    "Information, you say?"


    After turning off the stream window of Han Se-ah, which has gotten noisy upon the beautiful officedys appearance, I gazed into the sparkling eyes behind those round sses.


    When our eyes met so straightforwardly, I felt like I couldnt look away.


    The eyes of a merchant, fearlessly meeting mine, scrutinizing and calcting, are familiar.


    Arent they the eyes Ive encountered most during these ten years of saving and spending money on magical tools?


    "Hmm, information... Not bad."


    But those eyes are a bit strange.


    They arent eyes that weigh people and information on a mental scale to price them, but eyes that hold passion in an unexpected direction.


    Wondering what this was all about, I fiddled with the gold coins in my pocket, debating whether to press her with money, when Han Se-ahs voice rang out from behind.


    "Huh? What, there''s such a title? Is this straight-up an NPC for that content? But she''s a merchant?"


    At her absurd shout, I involuntarily turn the stream window back on.


    Satisfying curiosityes first.


    Thus, I came to know the identity of the NPC in front of us.


    2 Lewd Violetta


    ...Damn it, she said she was a merchant.


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