VRMMO no Shien Shokunin ～Top Player no Shikakenin～

「Walter, stop. Stop right there.」 (Hind)

「Yes?」 (Walter)

I restrained Walter and gave him the order to not go any further.

I lowered my posture and carefully pushed aside the grass a couple steps in front of us.

There were traces that were too unnatural to have been done by some wild animal.

…Oh, there it is, I knew it.

「Walter, look.」 (Hind)

「Is this…a rope?」 (Walter)

At a height where our feet would get caught, a rope was firmly straightened.

The entrance of the tunnel could be slightly seen from here and when I thought that perhaps it could be that…

When I followed the rope with my line of sight, I saw a wooden clapper secretly dangling that would notify them if there were intruders.

Other than that, there were several traps installed that were camouflaged.

If the precautions are this rigorous, there’s probably no doubt about it.

「Yup, seems like this was the right choice.」 (Hind)

「Master, you are amazing! Ah, however…I believe you haven’t told me the reason you thought that the leader would be here right?」 (Walter)

「Oh, you are right.」 (Hind)

While requesting Walter walk right behind me following my steps, I stepped across the rope.

Following that, Walter, who was walking behind me tightly held onto the hem of my tunic.

Yup, these gestures of his are not really…on purpose, he’s just a natural airhead…

「I did say that their leader was quick witted right?」 (Hind)

「Yes. Your thoughts did coincide with ojou-sama’s in that regard right?」 (Walter)

「That’s right. So, Herscha calmly pointed at various places around the middle and expected him to be around those parts. However, I-」 (Hind)

While talking, I proceeded very carefully while not triggering any of the large quantity of traps.

They are set up in quite the unpleasant way…they are mainly made of bear traps and pitfalls so I have to be especially careful of where I walk.

Before long, we even saw some small monsters and animals that had gotten caught in them.

You should properly dispose of them…

「-I just judged that the type of person that would become a bandit leader would be far more cowardly. That’s why I deduced that he would be here since it’s easier to run away from the town from this place.

「Wait, let’s stop all this conceited talk here, it wouldn’t be funny if there was no one inside.」 (Hind)

「No, seeing how there are this many traps here…I believe it’s like master has said.」 (Walter)

「That would certainly be nice…oh, we have finally arrived…」 (Hind)

Even though we had only advanced about 100 meters, it had easily taken more than 5 minutes.

The entrance to the tunnel was made of wood and the interior was unusually dark.

When I told him that it was improbable that there would a trap placed at the entrance, Walter tried to enter first but…

「Wait.」 (Hind)

「Eh? Again?」 (Walter)

「That rock on the wall, its color feels out of place…」 (Hind)

「Ah, you are right. It feels like the color something in a set for a historical play would have.」 (Walter)

「Let’s move it a bit…ah.」 (Hind)

When I lightly touched it, what looked like a rock, was just a piece of cloth painted grey…

Protected by the heavy rocks around it, when I tore off the thin waving cloth, the entrance of a hole appeared.

It’s true that you wouldn’t notice when you are far away, but it was a childish way to hide the entrance.

Or, did they think that this was enough since the intruders would think that this was just a normal entrance to a tunnel?

「…Shall we go? It’s probably this way, the correct route」 (Hind)

「Yes, master, I’ll go first. Since I’m a vanguard, I’ll be better off if something happens compared to master who is a Shinto priest.」 (Walter)

「Thanks. In that case, I’m counting on you.」 (Hind)

Just in case, I used 「Guard Up」 and 「Resist up」 on Walter.

The hole was narrow, so we proceeded by crawling one after the other.

…

「Hihihi, I was able to get these results by using those simple minded fools well…jeez, I can’t stop laughing.」

「「…」」

I guess this is what they call to let your secrets slip when you are chatting.

Piles of gold were lined up, the man counting the gold didn’t notice us standing behind him.

A lantern dimly lit this part of the tunnel.

The money and goods that they pillaged were filling this slightly stinky room.

Since it was very cramped, there were no beds, seems like this was a secret room to store their treasure.

「Eh…is it OK if I just attack him…?」 (Walter)

「…Yeah, go ahead.」 (Hind)

「!?」

Just when the man turned around from hearing our voices, Walter’s fist plunged into the man’s chest.

The skinny man was blown away and slammed against the wall.

The message 「Fainted」 was displayed and the game notified us that the man had lost consciousness.

With just one blow…that was so disappointing.

However, that was quite the beautiful thrust…it probably wouldn’t be like that with just the skill correction.

「Walter, do you have martial arts experience by any chance?」 (Hind)

「Yes. I’ve done a bit of karate…」 (Walter)

Even if his appearance is lovely, his fighting prowess is high, huh…I, I’ve become a bit scared of angering him with my questions…

We used pieces of cloth and ropes in the vicinity and tightly bound the unconscious man.

This is going to be a bit hard for both of us to carry…even if this man is light, he’s quite tall.

I guess it’d be impossible unless I call Tobi and carry this guy along with him.

It would be another story if there was something to carry him though.

「Alright, let’s reunite with them on their end. If their leader is alone here, there’s a possibility that they have been surrounded by a big crowd over there.」 (Hind)

「Yes, master.」 (Walter)

Leaving the unconscious man there, we headed towards the center of the tunnels.

「What’s this…?」 (Hind)

This is quite the…odd sight.

The rowdy men with well built bodies were all prostrated.

In front of them was Herscha threatening them with her raised whip and next to her was Tobi, who just looked confused.

Moreover, from the looks of it, it seemed like they were arguing about something.

「H-however, Ane-san! Our leader is properly dividing the earnings with us…」

「There’s no way that would happen! 」

Herscha turned to look at us when she noticed we were there.

「Ane-san」 you say…there are some of them that are injured, but there was no one that looked like they resented her at all.

Don’t tell me…was she able to grasp the hearts of the bandits? In this short amount of time?

She’s quite terrifying. What did she really do?

「Eh…first off, I’m glad that you are fine. And, we were able to catch the leader on our end. There was a fair amount of treasure in a hidden room so I believe it’s just as Herscha has said. He was increasing his own profit.」 (Hind)

After they heard my words, the bandits started to shout.

Just when I thought it was going to get out of control-

「Silence!」 (Herscha)

Her whip flashed and along with the high pitched noise of it striking the ground, Herscha shouted.

Without stopping there, she started to give instructions.

「Vice-leader!」 (Herscha)

「Y-Yes! Ane-san!」

「Go and check it. Hind, Tobi!」 (Herscha)

「O-Oh. We’ll go along with him to show him the hidden room and bring their leader while we’re at it.」 (Hind)

「I’m counting on you. Walter, you stay here.」 (Herscha)

「Y-Yes! Ojou-sama!」 (Walter)

After that, the situation progressed in one go with Herscha’s unusual leadership skills.

We brought the leader in front of all his subordinates and he spilled everything, the vice-leader declared that he would turn himself in from admiration for Herscha.

The rest of the subordinates followed after him.

By the way, in the beginning, the leader tried to feign innocence in front of all his subordinates and the punishment Herscha tried to give him for that was quite severe…other than Herscha, the faces of the rest turned pale.

Normally, would you peel someone’s fingernails off? This is a game targeted for all ages you know?

We were able to stop her somehow, so that ended up in just a failed attempt.

Even I wouldn’t want to see something like that…

Feeling Herscha’s level of commitment, the leader panicked and started to tell us everything.

Excluding the skinny leader, it seems like the rest of the subordinates didn’t commit any murders even though they had robbed…since they are going to turn themselves in, Herscha predicted that they would be able to escape the death penalty.

In the case that it would be impossible, Herscha promised them that she would request the mayor to spare them herself.

Hearing those words, there were some bandits that were extremely moved and even cried…

Since they had already surrendered, I stood next to Tobi and just looked at the bandits running around the place.

「It’s quite the strange sight to see the perpetrators of the stealing transporting the goods to return them…even though we haven’t restrained anyone, no one is trying to run away.」 (Tobi)

「Yeah, you are right…it’s the result of Herscha’s influence…or rather, her controlling power. Though it’s kinda shocking…by the way, Tobi. Regarding Walter, there’s something I have to apologize about.」 (Hind)

「!! Don’t tell me that your intuition was off and she was a girl!?」 (Tobi)

「No, I’m sorry to say this when you are looking that happy but…I still don’t know.」 (Hind)

「Oh…」 (Tobi)

「So, I thought that it was about to ask Walter directly…」 (Hind)

Just in time, Herscha and Walter were passing by close to us.

Just when I took a step forward to tell them to stop…

「Hah!? So you mean that if Hind wasn’t there, you would have gotten caught in the traps and he’d have ran away!? Jeez, you are so careless…that’s why the rest of the servants make fun of you. Don’t you find it vexing when they tell you that you are not manly?」 (Herscha)

「But but, master is really amazing! I’ve somehow become really motivated to do my butler training! From now on, I’ll switch gears and work hard to become like master!」 (Walter)

「Heh…seems like you have started to be able to make a good face. Though it seems like I’m in debt with Hind again.」 (Herscha)

A certain lethal word reached our…especially Tobi’s earlobes.

Not manly…not manly…which means that Walter is…

「Aieeeee!? A guy!? Why is he a guy!?」 (Tobi)

「Hieee!? What’s wrong Tobi-san!? It’s true that I’m a guy though…」 (Walter)

「Abah!?」 (Tobi)

「You were here? I was looking for you.」 (Herscha)

「Y-Yeah. More importantly, Tobi…」 (Hind)

With a face like the word was ending, Tobi approached Walter, having heard the truth from the person in question’s own mouth, he crouched down in sorrow and shouted.

What should I say here…eh, I’m sorry…

I felt miserable and couldn’t bear to look at Tobi anymore.

Before I realized it, I asked Herscha as if to remind us of the truth.

「L-Look, Walter is very feminine, right? That’s why-」 (Hind)

「?? However, He’s wearing a butler uniform properly though? You’d know that he’s a guy just from seeing that right?」 (Herscha)

「R-Right. You are completely right…wait, like hell I would! That’s impossible! Telling me to judge from his appearance alone, that’s completely foul play! Don’t screw with me!」 (Hind)

「Kukuku, hahaha…hyahahahahaha! Ihihihihihihi!」 (Tobi)

「T-Tobi!? Tobi broke!? Hang in there! S-Someone! Medic, mediiiiiiiiiiiiiic!!」 (Hind)

「I have no idea what’s going on here but…aren’t you the medic, Hind?」 (Herscha)