Chapter 6
-Sniff sniff. Sniff sniff.
Baskerville, with his nose buried on the ground, focused intently on tracking.
As I walked leisurely down the street with Baskerville on a leash, passersby’s gazes gradually turned toward him.
“Oh my, are you out for a walk? Your dog is so adorable~”
“Can I pet him just once?”
“Yes, sure, a light pat is fine.”
“Kyaa, his fur is so fluffy~”
Passersby giggled as they patted Baskerville.
Receiving their touches, Baskerville soon stuck out his tongue and began to drool.
-Pant, pant.
Ah, this is dangerous.
I tugged on Baskerville’s leash to stop his behavior.
“Hold on for now. I’ll feed you after all this is over.”
Back in Hell, I used to send him hunting on his own or throw troublemakers to him as food.
I guess I’ll need to train him not to eat people for now.
While thinking so, I continued to walk Baskerville through the streets.
How much time had passed as we strolled around?
Eventually, Baskerville settled in one spot, raising his head to sniff the air.
A grand mansion that looked like it belonged to a wealthy person… Could this be the hideout of the underwear thief?
“No, that can’t be right.”
Why would someone from the upper class bother with stealing underwear?
Even so, the underwear thief we’ve been tracking has started targeting primarily the wealthy lately.
So, rather than being the hideout, it’s more likely that the thief is currently active in this area.
Making that assumption, I scaled the mansion’s wall and instructed Baskerville to continue tracking the scent.
I wanted to figure out what route the culprit had used to avoid the investigators’ pursuit.
-Bark!
At the end of the trail, Baskerville let out a soft bark.
Following his gaze, I looked up to find a small ventilation duct greeting me.
A ventilation duct. Indeed, most buildings have these in various spots, making them perfect for infiltration.
But the size must permit it. The vent before me was too small for an adult to enter.
Could the culprit be a child?
“Hey, who’s there!”
Oh no, a security guard.
I quickly retrieved Baskerville into my body and turned toward the mansion’s corner.
Then, seizing the moment when the guard’s sight was blocked, I dissolved my physical form into black mist.
As I flattened my mist-like body to the ground, the guard rounded the corner with a bewildered expression.
“What, what the heck? I swear someone was just here.”
As expected, he didn’t notice me.
Well, who would ever imagine that someone could evaporate like smoke?
And with this form, I could easily enter the ventilation duct where I suspected the culprit had gone.
“Being summoned has its uses, depending on how you utilize it.”
Swoosh. My misty body slipped into the ventilation duct.
I arrived at the end of the duct and entered a room.
Inside, I quietly observed what was happening.
What I saw was a figure clad in black and wearing a mask rummaging through a wardrobe.
But their body was incredibly small.
Not only was it small, but their hunched posture made their overall height barely reach an adult’s knee.
And yet, the professional touch in their movements made it clear that this wasn’t some clumsy child.
“Well, this is far more peculiar than I expected.”
“Kiik!?”
Startled by my murmur, the thief flinched.
I smirked and let my mist-like body regain its human shape.
“Oh dear, did you hear my self-talk?”
To think I’d get caught muttering to myself during an infiltration.
It seems my habit of talking to myself in Hell, surrounded by quarrelsome demons, has come back to bite me here.
Well, no matter. This one isn’t too difficult to handle.
“Since it’s come to this, why don’t we have a little chat face to face?”
“Kiyaaak!!”
The thief screamed and lunged at me.
I sidestepped their attack and casually tore off their mask.
And when their exposed face came into view, I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.
“Well, this is something I didn’t see coming.”
Green, rough skin, pointed ears, and a sharp nose.
There was no way this could be human. But identifying it was remarkably easy.
After all, this figure was a staple of the fantasy media I’d consumed as a human.
“Who would’ve thought the thief’s identity would be a goblin.”
A goblin.
A small, nimble humanoid creature. They possessed a degree of intelligence, enabling them to use tools and form groups.
But even with intelligence, it was primitive compared to humans.
Hence, they were labeled as monsters and thoroughly shunned in human society.
Why would such a monster exist in the middle of a city…? No, why would they be sneaking into an upper-class residence to steal underwear?
-Kiyaaak!!
With a shriek, the goblin bolted from the room.
Following him, I pursued in my mist form and climbed to the rooftop, but by then, the goblin had already leapt to the rooftop of another building, disappearing quickly from view.
It was a daring move, as if he had planned an escape route in advance.
“For a goblin, to think he even planned an escape route…”
I had heard that a goblin’s intelligence was at best equivalent to that of a child, yet this situation was far beyond what I could have imagined.
However, what bothered me more was why a goblin was stealing underwear in the first place.
The goblins I knew from Romancing Academy were extremely primitive creatures.
While they did feel sexual desire, it was purely for reproduction.
It had nothing to do with physiological processes.
In other words, a concept like “sexual fetishism” — such as being aroused by underwear — was something completely alien to primitive creatures like goblins.
And yet, here we have a primitive species stealing underwear in the middle of a civilized society.
“…This isn’t something to resolve immediately. It needs further observation.”
Yes, I was certain someone was behind this goblin.
With that suspicion in mind, I avoided the guards who had been drawn by the commotion and jumped off the rooftop.
Once again, I transformed my body into mist and hid in the darkness to resume my pursuit of the target.
***
Herta City was the most prosperous city in the empire, but not everyone who lived there led a wealthy life.
For someone to become rich, someone else had to become poor.
Naturally, as the influence of the wealthy grew, so too did the number of impoverished, and the gap between the rich and poor in Herta City was growing more severe by the day.
As a result, areas known as “back alleys” stretched like roots throughout the city, where the impoverished resided.
Such places were out of the wealthy’s reach and, therefore, ideal hideouts for criminals.
“Kyaaah…”
In the middle of a back alley, deep within the city, a goblin named Gobuta cautiously adjusted the bundle strapped to his back as he ventured further into the alley.
His actions were more meticulous than usual.
After all, this time, someone had spotted him during his work.
Worried that he might be followed, he took a winding path to ensure he wasn’t being pursued.
Only when he felt no trace of being followed did Gobuta finally relax and squeeze his small body through a hole in a wall.
It was a path he had traveled dozens of times before.
Thanks to his small size, Gobuta could easily navigate places that were impossible for an average human to pass through—a skill he had honed through years of city life.
And it wasn’t just his experience that taught him; it was his “parent,” the one who raised him.
“Oh, you’re back, Gobuta.”
Inside an abandoned building, surrounded by rows of rusty iron cages, a caretaker was feeding the creatures within.
He greeted Gobuta warmly and patted his head.
“You did well again today, didn’t you? You didn’t get caught or hurt, right?”
“Kyaaah!”
Though he had been discovered by someone today, Gobuta chose not to mention it.
After all, he had already shaken off his pursuer and didn’t want to cause unnecessary worry for his master.
“Good, good. You’ve done well again today.”
Pleased, the caretaker checked the contents of the bundle Gobuta had brought.
Seeing the pile of underwear inside, he smiled contentedly, but a wailing sound came from one of the cages.
-Wooooaaah…
“Oh, sorry. I’ll feed you right away.”
He quickly threw a large piece of meat into the cage, which the monster inside snatched and devoured hungrily.
Watching them eat, the caretaker’s face softened into a fond smile.
To him, the monsters here were like his children.
Feeding them well, ensuring they didn’t starve—this was his greatest happiness.
“Thanks to Gobuta, everyone can eat their fill. I’m really grateful.”
At first, when Gobuta mistakenly stole underwear instead of valuables, the caretaker had been worried.
But those very undergarments had turned out to be the key to solving their financial struggles.
After all, in the back alleys, stolen underwear—still imbued with someone’s scent—could fetch a high price from shady merchants.
From newlywed brides to popular actresses, and even young ladies raised in high society…
The caretaker couldn’t care less about the perverted desires of those willing to pay a fortune for such items.
To him, they were simply good customers.
“Kyaaah.”
“Yes, yes, Gobuta. You should eat, too.”
Gobuta, who played a crucial role in this lucrative operation, was a cherished existence to the caretaker.
Watching Gobuta quietly eat the meal he provided, the caretaker patted his head and smiled bitterly.
“Yes, step by step… We’ll repay the humiliation we suffered in this world.”
Though stealing underwear was a petty act, it had recently become such a nuisance that a bounty had been placed on them.
And every time Gobuta narrowly evaded the authorities, the caretaker felt a deep sense of triumph.
He couldn’t forgive those who had cast him aside after he devoted his entire life to his work.
Though he had neither power nor influence, he believed that if he persisted in these small acts of revenge, one day, he would see results.
“If we keep going like this…”
“…We’ll show them.”
As he muttered his resolve, a voice interrupted him, causing his body to freeze in shock.
When he turned his gaze, he saw a figure slowly emerging from the darkness—a man taking shape from the shadows.
“Judging by what I’ve heard, it seems you’re running a business while trying to settle a grudge. But isn’t it a little too modest for someone who claims to be seeking revenge against the world?”
“W-who are you!?”
A stranger appearing in his hidden refuge—an intruder.
The caretaker, his guard raised, questioned the man, who responded with a soft smile.
“I’m just an ordinary butler.”
“A… butler…?”
“Yes, though it might be more accurate to say ‘a butler in desperate need of money.’”
His voice was gentle, almost soothing.
For a moment, the caretaker was tempted to think the man before him was harmless.
“Of course, if I were only interested in making money, I might resort to the same shady methods as you. But, unfortunately, I can’t engage in activities that would disgrace the one I serve.”
But this was a location even the authorities hadn’t found—a place where only Gobuta was allowed access.
It was clear that this man wasn’t ordinary.
“In that sense… turning in someone with a bounty to the authorities is a rather legitimate way to make money, wouldn’t you agree?”
Yes, this man was undoubtedly an enemy.
Realizing this, the caretaker’s hand moved toward the lock on the cage where his “children” were kept.
—
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