"Anyway, let's check it out tonight. Mile, don't try to do anything on your own this time! We'll check the situation, discuss it together, and then we'll come up with a plan!
...Ah, it's okay to contact Salisha-chan without anyone else finding out and confirm her intentions.
Or rather, we can't set a policy without checking that."
Kokukoku
And so, Mile waited until night fell before setting out.
The other three were waiting at the inn.
Depending on whether Mile found Sarisha and she could talk privately after everyone had gone to bed or if it came sooner, Mile's time of return would change greatly, but the discussion must be completed by tonight. Whatever the outcome, they wouldn't actually take action until tomorrow morning, or possibly even into the night, so there was plenty of time.
Even if the discussion dragged on and they ended up having to act first thing tomorrow morning, it's no problem.
For a Hunter, staying up all night for a day or two was no big deal. After all, it's not unusual to go through dangerous forests or through enemy lines without sleep, or to protect a caravan from pursuers or hordes of monsters while constantly fleeing day and night.
Mile and her companion tended to take on relatively "easy requests" in that respect, and had not often encountered such experiences in reality, but of course they had trained and were mentally prepared for such situations.
...Plus, even if a request was "easy for Mile and her party," it could still be extremely tough for other parties, so it's not like Crimson Vow was avoiding tough requests.
The other party did not have an item box, portable fortress toilet, portable fortress bathroom, or a nighttime barrier magic with an alarm function, and they did not have Mile. That was all.
(Deploying an invisible field, and...)
Approaching the store in question, Mile made preparations for the break-in.
This time, the sound insulation field would not be deployed. It would be inconvenient for Mile to use it, as it would prevent her from hearing any sounds or voices from outside.
Since she wasn't fighting snake monsters or snake beastmen... although snakes weren't animals, and such things didn't exist... she didn't think that thermal shielding would be necessary, and she didn't use any magic to deal with it.
There would be no need to deal with odors.
Yes, humans were quite easy among all living creatures...
Her clothes were slightly different from those of this store for the same reason as last time (to make it seem like she was an errand girl from another store in the event that she was discovered, reducing the chances of someone suddenly yelling at her), but it was ordinary clothes similar to those worn by store servants or errand girls.
Mile was the type of person who paid close attention to details like this.
...And Mavis and the others' thoughts that if they could afford to worry about such things, wouldn't it be better to pay attention to more basic things? But this was never conveyed to Mile.
(Okay, let's start infiltration (sneak)! ...But we don't have any cardboard boxes...)
And then, Mile broke into the merchant's house in a similar manner to the last time he broke into the Viscount's house, but...
(Not here……)
Well, if she used search magic, it would be possible to pinpoint the location of the source of the beast-like reaction, but Mile had thought from the start that doing that was a bit wrong.
Of course, if the fluffy-eared little girl was in danger, she wouldn't hesitate to use it, but right now the situation wasn't that urgent.
However, she thought that if she relied on cheat magic for everything, she might stray a little from the mold of being a "normal, ordinary, everyday girl."
Yes, that might be it (...).
Still, it might have been possible to find him by a careful search, or by following him in the servants' dining room at dinnertime, or by following a single portion of food, little more than scraps, which was worse than the servants' meal, being carried somewhere.
But…….
(Never mind. It's troublesome, so let's use some search magic...)
If Reina and the others were here, they would probably have muttered this.
"Mile... Your will is too weak..."
Yes, Mile was too particular when it came to things she needed to be particular about, but when it wasn't she was lazy and too careless...
(Huh? I'm close... I'm really close, but I can't see... Wait, it's underground!)
Mile distorted her face and grumbled.
(It is normal and common sense to place a young beast girl in the basement of a rich or powerful person's mansion, who would want to hide her from the prying eyes of others...)
Mile was extremely angry.
(They must have built a luxurious room to adore their little girls, creating a fluffy paradise!!
Damn, my biggest dream in life is... No way...)
Even Mile, as expected, seemed to be not so ignorant of common sense.
(The hidden door in the floor is... yes, this is it...)
Using search magic, it's easy to find the cavity under the floor. If so, the part closest to the floor was the entrance.
And as long as she knew the location, there were no complex mechanical mechanisms or electronic locking systems, and the primitive locks were meaningless against Mile's super strength in picking locks.
Then, after making sure that there was no one around, Mile quickly slipped through the hidden door.
...Even if they couldn't see Mile, it would still be bad for her to see the secret door opening and closing on its own...
(At the bottom of the stairs is a small, empty room... And there is only one door leading to the back.
Well, it's not an underground dungeon or anything, so it can't be that big.
If they dig too wide without doing proper strength calculations, it will likely collapse under the weight of the structures on the ground...)
Mile would have taken appropriate measures such as casting immobilizing and strengthening magic on the walls and ceiling, building pillars, etc. Of course, even in this world, if there were a professional designer or architect, they would have calculated the structural strength during the design stage, so it wouldn't be a problem.
But it didn't seem like that kind of atmosphere here.
Uneven walls and ceilings, crooked corners, and uneven, distorted room shapes...
Yes, no matter how you look at it, it was a basement that had been dug haphazardly. It was probably dug by an amateur using human wave tactics.
So it appeared that they did not first dig deep and then build a building with a basement, but rather it was a completely added-on, sloppy project in which a hole was dug in the basement of the building later and used as a room.
With this in mind, Mile headed towards the only door in the small room at the bottom of the stairs.
Apart from the insects and mice on the other side of the room, there was only one other biological reaction. The owner of this place didn't seem to feel the need to keep an eye on the locked up young girl.
Then, Mile deactivated the invisibility field so as not to surprise the other person, and quietly opened the door...
Even though she was a young girl, she was still a beast-human, and perhaps sensing the door opening or Mile's presence, the girl suddenly turned towards Mile, even though she was not supposed to be looking towards the door.
However, although she had done so reflexively, it seemed the girl realised that her action had no meaning, so she looked away from Mile again and bowed her head in silence.
(That's the question you should ask: "Who is it?" If you don't say that, I can't say, "It's a thief..." Ahhhhh!!)
Without noticing the screams of Mile's blood racing in her heart...
(No, let's put that aside for a moment! It's bunny ears, bunny ears!! No, no, let's put that aside for a moment!
What is this!!)
Mile put her worldly desires on hold for the time being... she only put them on hold, she did not in any way drive them away, and in fact she had no intention of driving them away... she opened her eyes wide and was trembling with anger.
A wooden grate separated her from the bunny-eared girl.
Beyond that was a young girl, an old bed, a small table that looked like it was used for dining, and a single chair.
…Yes, that was what was commonly called a prison cell.
Then Mile muttered in a small voice.
"...I won't forgive you..."
Author's Note
Vacation is over! (^^)/
This time, there was no book publishing work involved, so it was a relaxing two weeks.
The book I was reading during my vacation was "The Saint Wants Overtime Pay - I Don't Want a Prince, Just Give Me Money"
The story of a miserly, small-breasted saint. (Completed.)
Reina "Why do you always read stories about little girls?"
FUNA: "Shut up!"
Pauline "It looks like there's quite a lot to see..."