The owner of the tool shop was a middle-aged man.
He wore a gentle expression, but the bulging muscles and scars on his shoulders suggested that he had once lived a rough life.
He asked in a soft voice,
“Have you picked out everything?”
“Yes.”
I placed a reasonable selection of herbs on the counter.
The owner bowed his head and said,
“That’ll be 12 guild.”
“Here you go.”
“Thank you… Hm? Sir, you’ve given too much.”
I had handed him 50 guild.
I spoke in a subtle tone.
“I was hoping to get some information.”
“If it’s information you’re after, perhaps try requesting it from the Mercenary Guild instead. I can give you directions, if you’d like?”
“It’s not the kind of information that needs professionals.”
“In that case, sure.”
He smoothly tucked away the coins.
I spoke again.
“Let’s see… Oh, right, what’s your name?”
“Grey Palm.”
“Nice name.”
“Haha. Thank you. So, what would you like to know?”
I already knew.
‘He said his name is Grey Palm. Show me the secret between Grey Palm and Neril Slane.’
[Got it.]
A screen soon appeared.
<You have used the Eye of Omniscience.>
<The current level of the Eye of Omniscience is 1. Accessible secret rank: D.>
<Selection condition: “The secret between Grey Palm and Neril Slane.”>
<The relevant secret is rank D. Accessing.>
The first image on screen was of Grey Palm.
Grey was moving through the darkness with a group of huge men.
One of the thugs spoke.
“Hey, boss. You sure about today’s job?”
“Yeah. This info took a lot of effort to dig up. Trust me.”
“Say that ninety-five more times and we’ll hit a hundred.”
“Talkative bastard. I’m telling you, this time’s the real deal.”
“……”
“Don’t let your guard down. Today we’re digging up the hidden tomb of none other than the famous Enerika family.”
The others grinned at his confident words.
Wait a second. Enerika family?
Enerika… Where have I heard that name before?
‘Ah!’
[What is it? You startled me.]
‘No, it’s nothing.’
I brushed it off to Trail, but it wasn’t nothing at all.
The blood-red letters that were once written above Neril’s head before regression:
—Committed crimes against May Enerika and 287 others.
That same Enerika name had just come up again.
‘The Enerika family… Yeah, they were pretty famous.’
[Indeed. They’re the family of the hero who appeared during the third Demon King’s descent, the Demon King of Corruption.]
On this continent, Demon Kings had appeared four times in the past.
Destruction, Greed, Corruption, and Ruin — in that order.
And in a few years, the fifth one, Idria, Demon King of Lies and Deceit, would descend.
Anyway, one of the heroes from the era of the third Demon King of Corruption was the great sage Beyond Erenika.
Like the other heroes, Beyond made major contributions in defeating the Demon King of Corruption.
In recognition, he was granted a title, and his family went on to produce many capable mages, becoming a prestigious household.
However, when the fourth Demon King of Ruin appeared, they failed to achieve anything notable, and their influence declined. From what I know, the family was completely wiped out around 200 years ago due to some incident.
‘Don’t tell me… Neril was the one who wiped them out? Since it said she committed a crime against May Erenika…’
It sounded plausible, but my instinct — which often activated randomly — told me, ‘It’s too soon to be certain.’
Well, it wasn’t the most pressing matter right now anyway.
The scene shifted again.
Climbing a mountain path, they finally arrived at a few rather shabby burial mounds.
Grey looked visibly baffled.
One of the men spoke as if he had expected this.
“Knew it. Damn.”
“Wait. I think there’s been a mistake…”
“You can say that looking at this garbage? Even if they were wiped out, this was a noble family! No village elder would bury their dog here!”
“……”
“Just wasted our time. I’m heading back.”
That’s when it happened.
“Who goes there?”
A voice rang out — one that didn’t belong to anyone in the group.
An old man appeared, holding a torch. He looked to be nearing sixty, yet his posture was straight and his voice clear — he was in excellent condition.
‘And his outfit…’
[Hmm. Not something you’d wear to hike up a mountain. He’s dressed quite nicely.]
‘To be precise, he’s dressed formally. Maybe he came to pay his respects to this grave.’
Of course, Grey and his crew had no sense of respect.
One of the men spat on the ground and said,
“Move along, old man.”
“Wait. Hold on.”
“Huh, boss? What is it?”
“Don’t you think that old guy’s dressed a bit too well?”
“And?”
“Wouldn’t be easy for someone his age to climb all the way here in clothes like that.”
They started whispering among themselves, speculating.
Meanwhile, the old man spoke with a displeased expression.
“Leave. This is private property.”
“Oh yeah? Yours?”
“No. It belongs to the one I serve.”
“So it’s not yours, then?”
“Don’t waste time with nonsense. Just leave—”
That’s when one of the thugs cut him off.
He looked rather sly.
“Hey. We were thinking… you didn’t climb up from the base of the mountain, did you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Hard to imagine someone hiking in that outfit. Bet you live somewhere around here.”
“……”
“And judging by what you said… you must be the caretaker of this tomb? A tomb of a noble family, at that. I bet you get paid handsomely.”
I knew where this was going.
The old man seemed to realize it too and quickly backed away.
But it was already too late.
“Guh…! Cough…”
Before anyone realized, Grey had slipped behind him and stabbed a dagger into the old man’s chest.
“Y-you bastards…”
“Geez, tough old man. Rest in peace.”
He twisted the dagger.
The old man let out a bubbling, bloody sound and died.
Drip.
With that, the screen cut out.
I folded my arms and tapped my index finger.
That’s when Trail cautiously said,
[By the way, when you use the Eye of Omniscience, time in the real world stops. No matter how long you watch, it won’t cost you any time.]
Just as he said, Grey showed no sign of awkwardness and asked,
“Is something wrong? You said you had a question.”
“You’ve gotten quite polite with age, haven’t you?”
“Pardon?”
“Where are your men? You grave-robbing scum.”
Grey’s face froze instantly.
A moment of silence passed between us.
Slide.
Slowly — very slowly — he reached under the counter.
Knowing exactly what he was doing, I calmly turned and shut the tool shop door.
I flipped the sign hanging on it to “Closed.”
By the time I returned, Grey had a dagger in hand, ready for combat.
He asked,
“Who the hell are you?”
“Just a freelance mercenary.”
“Pfft. So you couldn’t get hired anywhere? Sounds like you’re not much.”
“Or maybe I’m so skilled I don’t need to tie myself down.”
“Haha! You saying you’re the second type?”
“Don’t laugh.”
At my words, the man’s laughter stopped like a lie.
Sweat began to bead on his forehead.
Because I wasn’t hiding my pressure anymore.
“Compared to you, even bandits are cute.”
“W-what?”
“Let’s start by putting that down.”
Crack.
I dashed in like lightning and twisted his arm.
Grey let out a strangled cry and dropped the dagger.
I saw his white bone burst through his flesh.
“Uugh. Grrgh.”
Grey foamed at the mouth and swung his another fist.
I casually leaned my torso back to dodge, then hooked his leg and tripped him.
Thud!
“Aaaargh! Hrk!”
He struggled to get up, but I was already pressing firmly on his back with my foot.
“Don’t move. Unless you want your spine broken.”
“Wh-Why are you doing this to me? I didn’t do anything…”
“No. You’ve done plenty.”
Crack. Creak.
A sound that shouldn’t have come from a back echoed.
I continued, giving him just enough pain to make him pass out — but not quite.
“Let’s go through this one by one. This case involves recruiting Neril, but I also need to build my reputation.”
“P-Please… please spare me…”
“First, let’s see. Who should we look into first?”
I expanded the blood-lettered window floating above his head.
As always, the phrase “~and several others” disappeared, and ninety names were listed in a long column.
Plop.
I sat down on Grey’s back.
“Let’s go through them one by one before Catastrophe arrives.”
For the next two days, Grey’s Tool Shop didn’t open.
I was still sitting comfortably on Grey’s back, leisurely watching through the Eye of Omniscience.
“Uuugh… Ngh…”
Grey clutched his broken arm, drenched in cold sweat.
He couldn’t speak properly because his mouth was gagged.
‘Alright. Show me the next one. I want to see the secret between Greg Felis and that bastard.’
[Can we… maybe take a short break first?]
‘I suppose. I have been using the Eye of Omniscience back to back. Let’s rest for a bit.’
[Thank you…]
‘Alright. Now that we’re rested, let’s get started again.’
[…]
On the evening of the second day,
I had come to vividly understand the full extent of the crimes Grey had committed against all ninety people.
Putting it all down in documents could easily fill a book.
Trail spoke in a strangely enlightened voice.
[Something’s coming to me… Ah, I see a river. Would things feel easier if I crossed it?]
‘Stay calm and come back.’
[You are a demon.]
‘I had no choice. To ensure the greatest happiness for the greatest number, I needed a meticulous plan. If I were just here to recruit Neril and leave, there’d have been no need to go this far.’
Trail regained some composure and spoke again.
[You seem more passionate about this than I am now.]
‘Appreciate it.’
[But wouldn’t it have been easier to just torture that guy and make him talk? Instead of working me to death.]
‘You can’t tell whether something’s the truth with torture. When there’s a more reliable way, why take a risk?’
Trail seemed to accept that and went quiet.
At any rate, I ungagged Grey.
He was half-dead from the pain of his broken arm, rising fever, hunger, and thirst.
“Hrrgh… Please, just spare me…”
I opened a canteen and dripped a bit of water into his mouth.
“Stay with me. You can’t die just yet.”
Gulp gulp. “Hah… what do you mean, yet?”
“Someone will be visiting soon. Is there a secret room in this tool shop?”
“…Th-There’s a basement.”
“Let’s go.”
I dragged him down the stairs.
Crash.
I tossed him to the floor and asked casually,
“Where did you hide the Lord’s heirloom?”
“…!”
“Not that I needed to ask. It’s right here.”
Grey had committed crimes against “Frank de Levan and 89 others.”
Frank de Levan was listed as the representative. In other words, the person whose secrets Grey most wanted to hide.
That was the name of the lord who governed the Quelk territory.
Through the Eye of Omniscience, I had clearly seen Grey hide the Lord’s heirloom in this basement.
Rustle rustle.
I moved aside some disorganized farming tools, and beneath them was a small jewel box.
I picked it up lightly and gave it a shake.
“Seems a bit too valuable for someone like you to hold onto.”
“Grrgh.”
This time, Grey looked like he might die not from the broken arm, but from the spike in his blood pressure.
“How the hell do you know that?! Who the hell are you?!”
“Changed your tone again?”
“No! I mean—what the hell are you?!”
“Take a break. There’s something more urgent than dealing with this box right now.”
Click clack.
Familiar footsteps approached from outside the shop.
‘She’s here. Neril.’
I struck Grey at the back of the neck, knocking him out cold.
Then I hurried upstairs. Just as I reached the top, I heard a knock.
“Excuse me. Are you open?”
Definitely Neril’s voice.
Was it strange that I felt glad, even under these circumstances?
“Yes, I’ll be right there.”
I flipped the sign to “Open” and opened the door.
A woman with deep blue hair down to her waist stood there.
Slightly slanted eyes and tightly pressed lips gave her a sharp impression, but even that couldn’t overshadow her beauty.
The teardrop mole under her right eye was just as I remembered.
I smiled gently and said,
“Are you a customer? The owner stepped out for a moment.”
“Do you work here?”
“Yes. Just for today. For this one time only.”
“…?”
“Why don’t you come in?”
Neril nodded and stepped inside.
I returned to the counter and asked in a relaxed tone,
“Is there something you’re looking for?”
Neril stood with her arms crossed, staring at me silently.
“I’m looking for someone.”
“…”
“His name is Grey Palm. He’s probably around 41 now. Bald except for the hair right above his ears.”
“Sounds like someone I know.”
“You’d have to. He’s the owner here, isn’t he?”
Her tone changed.
She continued in a voice as cold as winter.
“You’re not just some part-timer, are you? You weren’t hired just to mind the shop.”
“…”
“I already took care of all Grey’s other lackeys. One by one. Over five years. They were living successful lives all over the continent.”
“…”
“Guards, guild masters, branch heads of merchant unions… Their deaths made waves. If Grey heard those rumors, I figured he might start hiring bodyguards.”
She seemed to think Grey had hired me as one.
“But would he really have the money to hire someone of your caliber?”
“Do you know who I am?”
“No idea. But I can tell from your posture alone—you’ve been through a lot.”
The tension in the air began to thicken.
I straightened my back and changed my tone.
“You’re mostly right, but let me correct one thing. I wasn’t hired by Grey.”
“…”
“I was actually waiting for you.”
“…What?”
“Would you like some tea? I heard you especially love black tea. Absolutely crazy for it, in fact.”
Neril’s eyes wavered slightly.
“Nice to meet you… Witch of Carnage, Neril Slane.”
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