Huh? Why?

As far as we were concerned, we'd already done our part and wrapped things up, but—

"—So, what about the other oni women?"

Youki-chan was busy interrogating the shabbily-dressed merchants—well, former merchants, seeing as they'd been stripped of everything.

"… We've already sold them off."

"We didn't keep detailed records either…"

"Remember everything you can! Or I'll feed you to the dragon!"

"E-eeeek!!"

Turned out that aside from the most recent victim, the others had already been sold off and couldn't be traced.

Their horns, the oni's very symbol, had been shaved down to nothing, making them slaves who looked hardly any different from humans. Tracking them down would be a nightmare.

So yeah, from the oni village's perspective, this was far from over.

"Oi, you. Who said you could decide my menu? Want me to bite you? Huh?"

"See! Even the dragon's raring to go, so start spitting it out!"

"No, I was talking about you though—"

By the way, I'd had Kirigon tag along. All I told him was to sit somewhere nearby. Never said a word about following Youki-chan's orders.

And Kirigon had zero intention of cooperating with her either, but just by sitting there and making noises, the former merchants' mouths became slippery smooth, their tongues light as if someone had cast levitation magic on them.

"Th-that one was a major slave trader from the Empire! I-if you inquire with them, y-you might be able to track them down!"

"I-if you kill us here, you'll lose the trail entirely, you know!? Is that really what you want!?"

"There's two of you, so one would be enough… right?"

"How about I just bite all three of you? Huh?"

"W-we'll talk, we'll talk! Just spare our lives!"

"I-I have five wives and seven children…!"

"Fufufu, interrogations go so smoothly with a dragon's cooperation!"

"… Dammit, she's impossible to deal with…!! Hey, Anego! Tell this girl something for me, will ya!? She can't understand a word I say!"

Kirigon was saying something, but I pretended not to hear.

Because not being able to communicate is just how it normally works.

Besides, I was in the middle of decorating Gyaldra's nails with Dea-kun.

What's more important, listening to some guy whine or making a girl look cute? Exactly.

"Dea-kun-chan-sama, amazing sense! Way cuter than what Karina does!"

"Onee-san, is she happy with this?"

"… Yeah, she's over the moon."

That's weird. I was the one who became friends with Gyaldra first…!

I loaded Gyaldra's nails with all those gemstones, and she's saying Dea-kun's are better…!!

"Seriously Gyaldra, you're saying hers is better than mine… was what we had just a fling!?"

"I mean yeah, it was Karina's idea, but having good taste is a whole different thing? Dea-kun-chan-sama's sense is outstanding? You're just filling in gaps?"

Uguu!! It was true. Dea-kun's design didn't have unnecessary stones piled on. It was centered around larger gems with wire decorations arranged like a coat of arms.

It genuinely had the elegance of fine jewelry craftsmanship!

But gyaru nail art is supposed to be that dotted-pattern style where you pack in a ton of Swarovski beads! Look how sparkly mine is!!

"W-well, some people like that, I guess? It's just not my preference."

"The Five Elders loved it though… They were saying you could enchant each individual gemstone for an amazing number of effects, and were wondering what would happen if you drew magic circles with them…"

"Those people look at things from a craftsman's perspective. They make jewelry too, so they have that kind of eye for it, but dwarves in general tend to prioritize function over design…"

So elves have better aesthetic sense too!?

Kuh, how could this be… Dea-kun is such a genius…!

"…"

Oh, Youki-chan was looking our way. Did she want in on the nail decorating too?

That's what I thought, but she spoke to us without so much as a glance at the gems.

"U-um. Could you help me rescue everyone who was sold?"

"Huh? Why?"

Oops. That slipped out as a completely genuine response.

But I am a merchant, you know? I don't do freebies unless I feel like it.