Someone Has to Pay

Kazusa left in a hurry, leaving only Yohane and the others behind.

"So, what's this about a theft ring?"

She must not have wanted to ask in front of Kazusa, an outsider.

Alexia finally broached the subject.

"Hold on. Let's put all this away first."

He gestured at the various items spread out around them.

They unlocked the warehouse, and the four of them carried everything in.

It was a fair amount, but with that many hands, they put it all away quickly.

Yohane placed only the high-value orbs into his personal safe.

The warehouse locks had been made far more secure than before Azu and the others had left, and iron bars had been fitted over the windows.

Countermeasures against the theft ring, no doubt. The iron bars made sense, but Azu couldn't figure out why the warehouse needed extra locks too.

Yohane asked Elza to make some tea and sat down in his chair.

He let out a sigh at the same time.

Seeing him look so deflated was rare, from Azu's perspective.

It might have been a first. She'd assumed he deliberately avoided showing weakness.

Even when a Temple Knight had pointed a sword at his throat, he hadn't let his bold front slip.

Elza pilfered a few sweets from the kitchen and brought them out along with the tea.

"Here you go."

"Sweets like these… well, whatever. I thought I had a good eye for people."

He picked up a cookie, popped it in his mouth, crunched through it, and washed it down with tea.

Azu sat on the floor and sipped her tea while watching him carefully.

"I took in a kid from the orphanage to join the staff. Good work ethic, picked things up fast. But a few days later, the theft ring broke into the warehouse and cleaned it out. The kid vanished at the same time."

He poured sugar into his tea with a heavy hand.

He never used this much sugar normally. He must be incredibly stressed, she thought.

He drained the sweetened tea in one go and poured himself another cup from the pot.

"So you think the new employee let them in?"

"Can't say for sure, but it looks that way. They took anything easy to fence from the warehouse and shop floor, and it happened the very night I gave them a key."

"Your room has a separate lock, after all."

"Yeah. If it didn't, things could've been a lot worse. I've changed all the locks, so it should be fine now."

Yohane had absolutely zero combat ability.

If he'd been attacked, it would have been extremely dangerous.

"My my, how much did they get away with?"

"About fifteen gold coins' worth, maybe. Even the valuable stuff was just what happened to be sitting in the warehouse."

"I see. Still, we can't just let someone get away with stealing from us."

"Agreed. Someone has to pay for this."

Azu and Alexia stood up.

"Wait, are you two planning to go after them?"

"Of course. No matter how much the patrols have improved, they won't catch the culprits anytime soon. Letting lawlessness go unchecked never ends well."

Yohane knew that all too well.

During the earlier questioning, the guards had said they would investigate, but it was clear they were short-staffed.

More people coming and going meant more trouble, and just handling that much was already stretching them thin.

Tax revenue was up, so reinforcements would eventually follow.

But not yet.

"You just got back from the labyrinth, so I was going to let you rest, but… please. I'll do whatever I can to help."

"Leave it to us."

"Hmm, well, I guess that works. Let's give it our best."

Azu pressed her right hand to her chest and eagerly accepted the task.

They wrapped up for the moment, and Azu and the others headed to their own room.

Elza had sneakily pocketed some of the sweets, so the three of them split those.

"He looked surprisingly down, didn't he? That's unusual."

"Right? But I get it. If you think the kid you personally brought on might have been the one who set it up, that'd get to anyone."

"If they took advantage of his kindness, I won't forgive them."

"Being too nice only makes you lose out."

"That's only because there are people making them lose out!"

Azu shot back at Alexia's words without a moment's hesitation.

She was keenly aware that Yohane had pulled her out of hell.

That was precisely why she couldn't tolerate anyone repaying that kindness with betrayal.

"So, how do we track them down?"

"He mentioned an orphanage. Maybe someone was bribed."

"It's too early to jump to conclusions. Assumptions cloud your judgment."

"That's true. If it were just enemies, we could fight them and be done with it… but wait, we know someone perfect for this kind of thing."

"Oh!"

Finn. The thought clicked.

It seemed like Yohane should have thought of it first, but the shock must have been weighing on him too heavily.

"Let's go right away. If we can recover what was stolen, there's nothing wrong with relying on him."

Asking Finn for help would cost a fee.

That was a bit beyond what Azu and the others, as slaves, could manage on their own.

When Azu went to Yohane's room, she found him working on his ledgers.

"What is it?"

"I'd like to contact Finn-san."

"Ah, she's going to be unreachable for a while. She's tied up dealing with some trouble in the Empire."

"Is that so? Understood."

"But it was a good call. I'm counting on you."

"Yes."

After being praised, Azu left the room and closed the door, then squeezed the pouch hanging from her neck where she kept her most precious things.

She had to live up to his expectations.

Asking Finn would have solved it quickly, but since she wasn't available, there was no helping it.

She met up with Alexia and the others and headed for the Adventurer's Guild first.

If they called themselves a theft ring, they were probably causing trouble elsewhere too.

If so, there should be a quest posted about it.

The Adventurer's Guild in the city of Kassad was more packed than Azu had ever seen it.

It was hard to believe this was the same place that had been filled with nothing but novice adventurers when Yohane first bought her.

They managed to weave through the crowd and check the quest board.

There were plenty of quests, but nothing about a theft ring.

When they asked at the reception desk, they learned that while rumors were floating around, no one had actually filed a quest related to a theft ring.