Chapter 48: The Murder Case in Rivira Town! (Double Chapter)

Shiro and his companions entered the Dungeon at noon.

As they descended, monsters emerged from the shadows, only to be swiftly eliminated.

Perhaps the dungeon sensed their overwhelming strength, so the monsters' appearances gradually dwindled as the party progressed.

They soon reached the 17th floor, crossing the upper floors with ease.

"Ah! This feels so much better!" Tiona exclaimed, brandishing her newly made Urga, the second generation of her signature weapon.

"Wait, Tiona-san, when did you get your Urga? Didn't you say you were still saving to buy it this morning?"

Tiona chuckled, thinking of the exasperated glares from the blacksmiths she had pestered.

"Oh, this? Since I didn't have money, I kept visiting the blacksmiths to check on my new weapon. They got fed up with me and just gave it to me, saying I could pay them later!"

"I can only imagine the suffering of Goibniu Familia blacksmiths..."

Tione muttered under her breath as she extracted a magic stone from a slain monster.

Ais and the others continued their journey, traversing the floor's caves and caverns as they headed towards the 18th floor.

"Hmm~ Finally, a break," Tiona sighed dramatically, stretching her arms as if she had been the one doing all the fighting.

Shiro playfully knocked her on the head.

"Don't act like you've been fighting all this time. I've been the one in charge of handling all the monsters along the way."

Tiona stuck her tongue out playfully at him.

"Ehehe? Anyway, let's head to Rivira town first. We need to sell these drop items."

"No! Please let me take them to Orario and sell them there!" Torajirou, the self-proclaimed penny-pincher, interjected with a serious expression.

Remembering Rivira's exorbitant prices, Shiro shuddered at the thought of spending even a single valis here.

"No, we should still go. We didn't bring any camping equipment, so we have no choice but to rest in Rivira town," Finn pointed out, highlighting a crucial oversight in their planning.

"Damn it..." The white-haired boy grumbled under his breath.

Arriving at the entrance of Rivira town, Shiro stared at the archway constructed from wooden pillars and flags.

"I've always wondered, what does the number '334' on the gate signify?"

"That's the number of times Rivira town has been rebuilt. This is the 334th generation," Riveria explained.

"Meaning..."

"This place has been destroyed more than 330 times."

Both Shiro and Lefiya's eyes widened in shock at Riveria's revelation.

It was also the first time Lefiya knew the meaning of this number.

Although monsters couldn't spawn within Rivira, the town seemed to suffer greatly during every abnormal situation within the Dungeon.

As they entered the town and walked along the streets, Tiona and Tione chatted amongst themselves while Shiro trailed behind, silently counting on his fingers, calculating the day's expenses.

"Something's not right," Riveria observed, her keen eyes scanning their surroundings.

Despite being within the Dungeon, the 18th floor was considered a safe zone.

Many adventurers used it as their base camp for extended stays, making it a normally bustling hub of activity.

However, today, the streets were eerily deserted.

Only a handful of adventurers passed by, and even the shopkeeper notorious for selling potions at 50,000 valis was nowhere to be found, leaving several bottles of potions unattended.

Finn inquired at a nearby shop and learned about a recent murder case that had attracted the attention of almost all the adventurers in the area.

Driven by their responsibility as members of one of Orario's strongest Familia to maintain order, the group headed towards the town's center, where they found the missing adventurers gathered around a crowded alleyway, pointing and whispering amongst themselves.

Taking advantage of his small stature as a Pallum, Finn slipped through the gaps in the crowd, leaving Tione to glare at the backs of the onlookers.

"Move aside!" Tione roared in frustration after several failed attempts to push through.

"It's the Loki Familia!" Finally, someone in the crowd noticed them and shouted, and a path was instantly cleared for them.

Several adventurers stood guard at the entrance of the alley, but thanks to Finn's earlier instruction, they allowed Shiro and the others to pass through without obstruction.

They entered Villy's Inn, a lodging established within a natural cave.

The entrance featured a long counter, the walls adorned with magic stone lamps, and the floor covered in a rug made from some beast's hide.

As they ventured deeper, they noticed numerous cave openings on either side, each concealed by a curtain.

These openings served as the inn's rooms, with the curtains acting as makeshift doors.

Three adventurers stood before one of the curtains, speaking with Finn.

Upon seeing Shiro and the others, they hurriedly drew back the curtain, allowing them to enter.

In the deepest part of the cave, a man's headless corpse lay sprawled amidst a pool of blood.

The dead body was clad only in trousers, and unidentified pieces of flesh floated in the crimson liquid.

Blood splattered the surrounding objects, staining the rug a deep red.

"Don't look, Lefiya!" Ais swiftly shielded Lefiya's eyes, blocking her view from the gruesome scene.

The commotion drew the attention of two individuals within the room.

One of them, a muscular man with a black eyepatch covering one eye, scowled at the newcomers.

"Hey! You lot! This area is off-limits! Are the guards at the entrance playing dead?!"

"Don't be like that, Bors," Finn said in a familiar tone.

"We were planning on staying here, so we just wanted to help you resolve this case sooner."

Bors Elder, the manager of Rivira town, was also the one responsible for investigating the murder case.

"Ha! Nice words, Finn. You high-level adventurers love to showcase your power, acting all high and mighty," Bors scoffed, clearly not impressed by Finn's offer.

Ignoring the taunt, Finn pressed on, "What's the current situation? Did anyone else enter the room when 'he' checked in?"

"Oh... this guy came in wearing full armor, accompanied by a woman in a robe. We didn't see her face, but since she's missing, she's most likely the culprit, right, Villy?"

"Yes, I only saw a man and a woman enter this room." The innkeeper, Villy, confirmed, further adding,

"They both wore masks and wanted to rent the entire area. I assumed they were up to some, uh, private affairs, but the rooms are only separated by curtains, so I gave them this room at the secluded corner."

Riveria asked Shiro for a piece of cloth to cover the victim's head as Finn continued his questioning.

"You mean to say that you didn't see the murderer leave?"

"Come on, I told you the walls here are thin. What if I heard something private and they retaliated? So, I took their money and went drinking somewhere else. The people at the tavern can vouch for me!"

"What about the receipt? Did you keep it?"

"They were quite generous. Gave me a good quality magic stone and told me to keep the change, so I didn't ask for more information."

"Wait!"

Shiro interrupted before Finn could continue.

"Didn't you say the man was wearing armor? Where is the armor?"

The victim's body was devoid of any armor, and the room only contained furniture and decorations.

A piece of armor wouldn't simply vanish into thin air.

This meant the killer was currently wearing the armor to conceal their identity.

A bead of sweat trickled down Finn's forehead as he realized the implications.

"Bors! Quickly seal off all of Rivira's entrances and exits! Gather all men and women wearing armor!"

"Ais, you and the others split up and go search for the murderer. Send a signal if you find any clues!"

After realizing the murderer was still out there wearing the dead man's armor and hiding amongst the crowd, Finn quickly issued orders, hoping to catch the murderer as soon as possible.

….

"Huff, huff..."

An animal-eared girl sprinted through the narrow paths of the dungeon.

She was panting and breathing rapidly.

After a while, she glanced back, spotting a blond-haired girl and a white-haired boy pursuing her.

Suddenly, something appeared in the white-haired figure's hand.

The animal-eared girl instinctively curled into a ball, bracing for an attack.

However, instead of an attack, a deafening sound erupted from the object in the man's hand.

"The person ahead, listen up! You are surrounded! Drop your weapons and surrender!"

"Like hell I will!!!" The animal-eared girl screamed back, only to be met with a chilling smile from the white-haired figure.

"Eek!!"

Suddenly, a honey-colored-haired elf had appeared before her, blocking her escape route.

Trapped and defeated, the animal-eared girl collapsed to the ground.

"The diversion plan was a success!" Shiro exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air.

"It actually worked..." Lefiya muttered in disbelief.

"The art of diversion never gets old! Let's take her to Finn and the others!" Shiro replied with a grin.

He then turned his attention to the collapsed animal-eared girl.

She wore knee-high boots and a thin combat outfit, her body devoid of any armor.

Her skin was a healthy tan, and her black hair was adorned with animal ears that twitched at the tips, making them incredibly tempting to touch.

"No!"

Upon hearing that they intended to take her to Finn, the beast girl shuddered, tears welling up in her eyes.

She desperately clung to Ais's leg, her bandaged arm trembling.

"Please! Don't take me to the square! I don't want to die! I don't want to be the next victim!"

Witnessing her emotional breakdown, Shiro and the others decided to let her calm down first.

They led her to a secluded area near the northwest side of town, where stacks of crates used for transporting goods provided some privacy.

They brought her deeper into the warehouse, offering her a crate to sit on before Shiro began his questioning.

"Name."

"Lulune... Lulune Louie."

"Age."

"1...18."

"Gender."

"Stop asking such weird questions!" Lefiya smacked Shiro on the head.

"Huh? How can you assume someone's gender before they tell you?" Shiro retorted, asking some weird modern questions.

"Level and Familia?"

"Lv... Lv2, Hermes Familia."

"Why do you think you'll be killed?"

Lulune's pupils constricted, and she wrapped her arms tightly around her head, as if seeking a sense of security.

"Because... of a commission." She replied, her voice trembling as she recounted the events that led her to accept the commission.

She had been walking alone at night when a cloaked figure suddenly appeared, offering her a substantial sum of money to retrieve an item from a man wearing armor.

Lulune had been suspicious and hesitant, but the reward was too tempting to refuse.

Upon reaching the 18th floor, she briefly made contact with the armored man, discreetly exchanging the item without the murderer noticing anything off.

Later, she learned about the murder case.

"Please, don't take me to the square! That woman is after the item! If she finds out I have it, she'll definitely kill me!" Lulune pleaded, her voice filled with desperation as she regained some composure.

"Wait, why would the client entrust such an important task to a Lv2 adventurer?" Shiro found something suspicious.

It made no sense to entrust a valuable item to such a low-level adventurer who could easily perish in the Dungeon.

"I... I'm sorry! Actually... our God instructed us to conceal our level. I'm actually a Lv3 adventurer." Lulune confessed, her voice barely a whisper.

This revelation only deepened Shiro's suspicion.

The so-called mysterious client's information network was extensive enough to know about Hermes Familia's hidden information.

"The best option now is to return to the square with us and let everyone know that we have the commissioned item. But before that, we need to take a look at what the item actually is." Shiro decided, unable to make any decision without seeing the object in question.

After a moment of hesitation, Lulune retrieved a spherical item wrapped in white cloth from her bag and handed it to Ais.

Ais unwrapped it, revealing a green orb filled with some sort of liquid and containing a strange fetus.

Thump—

The fetus's eyes suddenly opened, staring up at the blond-haired girl.

A bizarre sensation washed over Ais.

Thump... thump…

The fetus's heartbeat quickened, and Ais's own blood began to react to the fetus's heartbeat.

A wave of nausea rose from her stomach, forcing her to her knees.

The orb tumbled from her grasp and rolled onto the ground.

"Ais-san!" Lefiya rushed to her side, while Shiro kicked the weird orb that made Ais strange away.

Once the orb was at a safe distance, Ais began to recover, gasping for air.

Clack, clack, clack.

Suddenly, an armored figure approached them, her footsteps echoing through the space.

Spotting Ais on her knees, a smile crept onto the armored figure's cold, emotionless face.

The unknown figure reached inside her armor and pulled out a grass whistle.

"—Come out, monsters."

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