The Mystery of the Sewers
I felt that Milka’s observations were correct.
Well, if she was right, we would have to go to the scene in order to find proof.
And we still didn’t know who was behind it all.
Serulis said,
“If people are being abducted here…”
“Then it might be good to go search the place.”
“No, I think…I think I should go there as bait.”
Serulis said with determination.
I was about to tell her that this was nonsense, but then Milka opened her mouth.
“Oh, if you need bait, I’ll do it!”
“No, we can’t allow you to do it, Milka.”
“Sister Serulis. Even if it’s you telling me, this is one thing I will not back down on!”
“But you don’t have any combat training.”
“I don’t need combat training if I’m going to be bait!”
“No, it is very important.”
“You’re a noblewoman, aren’t you, Sister Serulis? And so pretty. I think you will draw too much attention. You’re no good as bait.”
Milka was right. In the strictest sense of the word, Milka was a better match.
Serulis was too well known. She was not only pretty, but she was Goran’s daughter.
There were hardly any nobles who did not know who she was.
Of course, that didn’t mean I would allow Milka to be used as bait either.
“We won’t be using any bait.”
“But why?”
“The risk is too high.”
“But Mister Locke. You have to enter the wolf’s lair in order to capture the wolf cub!”
“I’m surprised you know about that.”
Shia said with an expression of surprise. It was a saying from a far away country.
“My grandfather used to say it!”
Milka’s grandfather had taken a risk too. That had ended with heavy debts.
I didn’t think she should be following his advice. Well, he was dead. So I couldn’t speak ill of him either.
“Groof?”
As a wolf cub himself, Grulf thought we were talking about him, and he put his muzzle on the desk.
I petted his head and said,
“I understand how you feel, Milka and Serulis. But I cannot allow this strategy involving bait.”
“But a little danger is ne-…”
“Of course, there will be danger… And not only that.”
“What do you mean?”
I explained.
I didn’t know if they would be taken to some noble’s house after being abducted.
And there was a possibility that the kidnappers were just subordinates like Kabino.
Right now, I wanted to catch the one who was behind all of this.
I told them this, and Milka and Shia finally gave up on becoming bait.
While the explanation was long, the truth was that I just did not want to put them in any danger.
If you disregarded the risk, it was actually an effective plan.
Even if we just caught another subordinate, they would likely have information that would lead to their boss.
They were abducting people in a district where nobles lived.
So it wasn’t that unlikely that they would be taken to the boss’s house.
Shia nodded.
“I agree with you. It would be better if we don’t use any bait.”
“Cluck-cluck.”
“Lord Gerberga also says that we shouldn’t do it!”
Luchila claimed.
Gerberga clucked and then lept from Luchila’s arms and landed on top of the desk.
Then he walked across the desk to face Serulis.
Serulis petted him gently and said,
“Alright, we won’t use bait… So then, how are we supposed to find out what noble is behind all of this?”
“…Hmmm.”
Milka groaned and then began to make marks on the map.
“What are these markings?”
“These are the entrances to the sewers. I was preparing to live down there. So I know all the entrances.”
There were quite a few of them too. I didn’t even know about some of them.
It was very impressive. She really was planning on making the sewers her home.
“Milka. What’s so important about the sewer entrances?”
“Ummm. Sister Serulis. This thing was thrown away in the sewers, right?”
Milka asked as she pointed at the Evil God idol on the desk.
“Yes. What about that?”
“I think the houses nearest to the sewer entrances are the most suspect. Because it would be hard to walk so far to throw those away!”
“I see… That’s a good point.”
“It is? I hope so.”
“Good for you, Milka!”
Serulis said as she patted her on the head.
“Eheheh.” Milka laughed.
Indeed, it would be much harder to dispose of them if the house was far from the sewers.
That being said, I couldn’t quite agree with Milka’s reasoning.
“Milka, do you know a lot about the structure of the sewers?”
“Yes. I do. I did a lot of searching.”
And that was how she found the broken wall and hidden passage, I guess.
“Can you write down in which direction the sewage water flows?”
“I can if it’s a rough idea.”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
“Okay.”
And so Milka started to write down the direction that the water flowed.
It seemed to flow without much connection to the actual tunnel system.
There had probably already been natural caves and tunnels down there that were later converted to a sewer.
Serulis looked very impressed as she said,
“Milka. You sure know a lot.”
“I know where all the entrances are, so I just have to put the rest together in my head.”
“That’s amazing.”
“Ehehehe.”
She chuckled as she filled in the map.
“I finished!”
“Thank you.”
“But, what will this tell you?”
I had walked in the sewers quite a lot today. It was really just a moment ago, and so it was still fresh in my memory.
I recalled the small details and compared it with what Milka had written.
It appeared to me that she had done a very accurate job.
“Alright. So this is where the fragments had collected.”
“Oh?”
“Obviously, sewage water flows through the sewers.”
“Yes, yes.”
“It’s possible that they didn’t need to enter the sewer entrances to discard the fragments. They could have just flushed it down with the sewage water.”
I said. Milka immediately started to trace her finger along over the map.
She was thinking about the direction of the current.
“People are abducted along this road, and the water flows in this direction, so…”
There were only so many houses that faced that road.
And you can look at the place the fragments collected, and trace their path to find where they came from.
Milka’s finger stopped on a certain house.
“Ah, this house.”
It was Marquis Mastafon’s mansion.