An Ominous Presence

We waited near the people we'd knocked out.

It was a strange feeling, to say the least.

After a while, Finn came back.

She'd found the location where the final processing was being done.

"This way. It's closer than I thought."

We moved again under Finn's guidance.

We'd be leaving them tied up and unattended, but the room was warm and there was water. They'd just have to tough it out until someone came for them.

The place Finn led us to was a somewhat larger mansion.

It wasn't far from the abandoned church.

So this entire area was connected to the drug operation.

No wonder someone had tried to have Kazusa killed. She'd gotten dragged into something dangerous without even knowing it.

The girl just couldn't catch a break.

Unlike the last place, this mansion had two guards out front.

If we caused a commotion, reinforcements would come running.

"What's the plan? Storm the place?"

"Calm down, will you? You've been way too gung-ho about this whole thing."

Finn jabbed me lightly in the solar plexus with her elbow.

I might have been getting a little too worked up.

"But we can't get in like this."

"If it were just me, sneaking in would be easy, but this place is bigger. It'd be faster to split up. And we've got someone with a trustworthy face right here. Why not have her put on a little act?"

Her gaze drifted to Elza.

Elza was wearing her priest robes under a winter coat. Among all of us, she was definitely the one who'd put the guards most at ease.

Azu could probably catch them off guard too, but she wasn't nearly as silver-tongued as Elza.

"Oh, it's my turn? I just need to get their attention, right?"

"That's right. Draw as much of it as you can. After that…"

"Azu and I will knock them out from behind. You can handle that, right?"

"I'll be fine. I can do it."

"All right then. You two are too big to sneak around, so you're on lookout."

Alexia and I exchanged a glance.

I didn't think we were that big, but compared to Azu and Finn, hiding behind cover probably wasn't our strong suit.

"All right, I'm off. Hold this for me, please."

I took Elza's coat. Underneath was her usual red priest robe.

Black skirt, rosary at her collar.

She looked every bit the working priestess from any angle.

Elza walked toward the guards casually, without a hint of tension.

Finn took Azu and circled around from a position outside the guards' line of sight.

I watched alongside Alexia.

… A soft sensation pressed against my shoulder.

I made a conscious decision not to think about what it was.

Elza made contact.

"Good afternoon."

"… The hell does a priestess want? If you're here to proselytize, we're good. Get lost."

"Oh my! Don't be like that. God watches over all who live, you know. Offer a prayer and you'll understand."

The guard shot an annoyed look at his partner.

"Look, lady, we're working here. Our job is to chase off anyone suspicious who comes near this mansion. And that includes you. I'd rather not rough up a defenseless woman, let alone a priestess. So how about you just head on home?"

His partner said that while tapping the pommel of his sword with his fingers.

Apparently they figured a little intimidation would make her back down.

"How kind of you. Well then, please sleep for a little while."

The moment Elza said that, Azu and Finn, who had circled around behind them, struck the guards from behind, knocking them unconscious.

Elza gave a small round of applause.

"Nicely done. No witnesses, either. Good job, you two."

"Obviously. The key is… here. I'm opening the door now, so drag them inside."

"Heave-ho!"

Finn opened the door while Elza and Azu hauled the unconscious guards in.

Alexia and I slipped inside along with them.

Having Finn around for this kind of rough work was reassuring. Without her, we'd have had to resort to much cruder methods, and the odds of failure would've been far higher.

We bound the guards' hands and feet, gagged them, and tossed them into a random room.

"I'll work my way down from the top. You lot secure this floor first."

"Got it. If you take too long, I'll come check on you. If something happens, just shout. That work?"

"Yeah. Well then. Don't screw it up."

With that, Finn made her way up the stairs without a sound.

Even Azu couldn't move that quietly.

I left that to her and focused on our end.

None of the doors inside the mansion were locked. We opened and checked them one by one.

The cleaning had been neglected, and every room reeked of mildew.

There were too many rooms for a building this size. Still, we pressed on until we reached one stacked with burlap sacks.

Inside the large sacks were smaller bags packed tightly together.

I opened one onto a plate. White crystals, crammed in tight.

No question. This was a drug refined from poppy seeds.

Crushing it, cutting it with filler to stretch the volume, then selling it. That was exactly how they'd flooded Kassad last time.

If we destroyed this stash here, the current incident would be essentially resolved.

But that would only treat the symptom.

I couldn't risk it happening again. Besides, this was evidence. Destroying it unilaterally would be a mistake.

Don't act on emotion. You're a merchant. Act on profit.

"Alexia, can you make it so these sacks can't be easily carried out?"

"I was worried you'd tell me to burn them. This should do the trick."

Alexia encased the burlap sacks in a wall of ice.

Thick ice. I couldn't have dented it even with tools.

Without a formidable warrior or mage on hand, no one was moving these.

"That'll do. Now we just need to round up whoever's left and take out the head, and…"

"This matter will be settled. Mm, just a little more."

"It's about time."

"Let's keep at it."

Just as I was about to respond to Azu, a thunderous crash shook the building.

I rushed out through the door to find the entrance had been blown open.

Standing where the door used to be were a hulking man and a slender man. The big one was just setting his foot back down.

It looked like he'd kicked the door clean off its hinges.

"Hey bro, ain't that them?"

"Looks like it. Let's deal with 'em quick and collect the pay."

It didn't seem like we'd be building a friendly rapport with these two.