The pitch-black sewer was filled with silence.
About ten meters wide and three meters high, with sewage flowing through the center and narrow walkways on either side.
It was a place that maintenance workers visited only once every few weeks, and
“—Bwah!”
Lonzder pulled herself from the water surface onto the walkway.
“Hah… hah… hah…”
With her right hand gripping her jacket hooked on the edge, her upper body leaning out,
“There we go.”
“Cough, cough…!”
She pulled Elteel up with her left hand.
“Ah, damn, you’re heavy! Come on, move yourself! Dogs should be good at swimming!”
“Ugh… my nose… my nose feels like it’s going to bend…”
“Don’t be selfish. We’ve swum to a relatively better place.”
After crawling onto the walkway and pulling Elteel up, Lonzder sat down weakly.
The cigarette she took out from her pocket was naturally soaked through and not smokeable.
“Good grief.”
“That’s my line… What were you thinking… Just like with the museum last month, do you have to destroy every place you visit…?”
“It couldn’t be helped. I don’t understand Whisper or that rod. Fighting in that state would be dangerous. I needed to retreat, gather information again, and reorganize our stance.”
When Lonzder shook her head to fling water from her hair, it splattered on Elteel’s face.
“Ugh… I really should have come with Norman-sama instead.”
“That’s my line…”
The two sighed in unison.
The fatigue from the battle itself wasn’t significant, but after that, collapsing the place and then swimming from the flooded catacomb to the sewers was naturally exhausting.
“…By the way, did you properly know that the catacomb and sewers were connected?”
“Of course. Otherwise, would I have done such a thing? Didn’t I mention the flood damage and sewer maintenance? The sewers were built to avoid the catacomb, but there were places where they inevitably had to be adjacent. Normally, human wouldn’t be able to hold your breath long enough to get through there to the sewers, but for me and you, about ten minutes should be plenty of leeway, right?”
“The smell is more of a problem than breathing. I can’t go back to the office like this.”
“Such a complainer…”
Again, both sighed simultaneously.
Just as Lonzder was thinking about what to do next,
“—Hey, Elteel.”
“What?”
“Someone’s coming.”
A faint light was approaching from the depths of the passage. No footsteps could be heard, but the light was gradually growing stronger.
“Can you detect with your nose… no good? At a crucial time like this.”
“I feel like I’m about to throw up… Is it Whisper?”
“How should I know? We’ll find out soon enough.”
The two stood up and waited for the owner of the light.
As Lonzder had said, the identity became clear soon enough.
“…Oh, that homeless…?”
“…”
What appeared was a child holding a lantern.
Shabby clothing, androgynous features that made gender difficult to determine.
Lonzder had seen them before.
“That kid who sometimes wanders around near the office?”
“Yes. And last month, Norman-sama got information from this child.”
“Ah… the homeless network. He doesn’t use things like that when he’s with me… hmm.”
The child gazed blankly at the two conversing, then,
“…Both of you, follow me.”
Saying only that, they returned down the original path.
“…”
Left behind, Lonzder and Elteel looked at each other,
“…That kid could talk?”
“This is the first time I’ve heard their voice too…”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
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Lonzder and the others followed the child through the sewers for a while and emerged into a wide space.
As far as she could see, it wasn’t originally built that way, but was a space created later through excavation and reinforcement. Wooden boards and corrugated metal sheets were attached here and there.
And regarding this space, Lonzder thought:
“This is… a marketplace for the homeless?”
“Well, I’ll be…”
In the wide underground space, people in shabby clothes and small huts were crowded together, showing the liveliness of a marketplace.
In Balldlum, homeless people were often seen in back alleys.
When she encountered them in such times, they would blend into the background and keep themselves hidden, but here it was different.
Drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, eating meals, laughing together, crowds of people coming and going through narrow passages.
Torches and lanterns were hung from the ceiling and various parts of the huts, providing sufficient brightness.
“…This way.”
Unconcerned with the surprised Lonzder and Elteel, the small guide quietly proceeded.
Though the two were giving off a foul odor from their bodies that had been soaked in sewage despite having dried off, no one seemed to mind.
In terms of shabby appearance, there wasn’t much difference between the two and the homeless people.
Pushing through more crowds, they arrived at a hut that was a size larger than the others.
The silent child entered without even checking behind them.
“…What should we do?”
To Elteel’s question, Lonzder shrugged in response.
“We’ve come this far. We have no choice but to go. Besides, it looks like there’s alcohol and cigarettes too.”
“That’s all you think about…”
Inside, it was built like a typical tavern.
There were liquor shelves and a counter, with several tables arranged, but it was quiet.
There was only one person in the tavern.
“I brought them, big brother.”
“Hey, Vee. Thanks.”
A worn coat and felt hat. Slightly long hair tied back at the neck.
With his L-shaped cane leaning against the counter, he was,
“Norman-sama!?”
“Norman.”
Norman Hamish.
Seeing the two, he shrugged his shoulders as usual,
“Looks like you had a tough time.”
He let slip words that didn’t convey any sense of difficulty at all.
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“Ahhhhh… I’m coming back to life.”
With her body submerged in hot water up to her shoulders, Lonzder savored the warmth.
It was a wide stone-built bath.
One hut’s worth had been turned into a bathhouse, a public bath that could accommodate more than ten people at once.
This format was rarely seen in Balldlum, or rather in the country of Bristen.
It was something that had spread in the great nation of Romulua, which had an inland sea beyond the continent across the sea, but even Lonzder had only heard about it and this was her first time actually using one.
They were enjoying such a place with just the two of them.
In the wide bathtub, Lonzder leaned her back against the edge and relaxed her entire body, while Elteel hugged her knees with her large body curled up.
“Really, what homeless people. Despite saying they don’t have homes, this is excessive. To think they’ve even built a bath like this. Norman said he knew the leader of those people… do you know about it?”
“No, not at all.”
“Me neither. That guy’s social connections are pretty mysterious too.”
His network was strangely wide, and Lonzder couldn’t keep track of it all.
Not that she intended to.
“Well, whatever. But this feels good. Couldn’t we make a bath like this at the office too? Using the bar’s basement or something. I guess that’s impossible after all.”
“…Lonzder-san.”
“What?”
“What did Whisper mean by what he said earlier?”
“…”
At the question, Lonzder ran her fingers through her wet hair.
“That’s none of your business. It’s already over.”
“If it’s over, then please tell me about it.”
“…………I noticed today that you’re surprisingly good with words.”
She sighed, and wryly smiled at how many times she’d done so today.
And then,
“Whisper is right. A year and a half ago, after we caught him in RubyVas, I received a request from your father. He asked me to find his daughter who had gone to Balldlum. That’s why I came to this city. And then—I became an 《Unlaw》.”
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