We had managed to clear up the villagers' misunderstandings, and we had been offered the house of Eugene, the village chief, as a place to stay for the night.


I'm really sorry. We were under the misapprehension that Lord Flick and his men were manhunters. It's a desolate area that rarely sees vendors or adventurers. But then the wagons came and we thought it was a manhunt.

It's the kind of place that doesn't seem to attract people. ....... And I think he said something about miners or something.


　Devon village is located about three days south of Inverness by normal speed wagon, so it's another remote village in the middle of nowhere.

　There are a number of different ways to go about digging up beautiful, undamaged crystal, but I've heard that the Abyss Walkers who were holed up inside were blown up and the mine was abandoned during the Great Raid.


The Lachman Mine is the Lachman Mine, isn't it?　I heard in the Adventurer's Guild of Invahannes that the place is now abandoned?

No, that's .......


　Eugene's face suddenly began to cloud over when he heard about the Lachman Mine.


'The Rahaman Mine had been blown up and abandoned about a decade ago, but it seems that someone had started to come in and rebuild it ....... By the time we found out about it, it had become something of a solid fortress.

A fortress?　I haven't heard anything like that from the Adventurer's Guild: ......


　And the information I got from Guildmaster Gidion of Invahannes says it's an abandoned mine.

　What's going on here?

　Do you think they're giving you false information?


　When I was confused by the new information brought by Eugene, he saw the expression on our face and continued to speak as if to supplement it.


''The information from the Adventurer's Guild is correct, you know. Or rather, the entrance to the old mine is still crumbling, but the area around the new tunnel that is being dug deep into the mountain from there is fortified.''

A new mine?

Yes, that's why we found it too late. That's why we were late in finding them. But in the early days of the discovery, they were selling food and other things to the people who settled there. And there were young men from the surrounding villages who went to work as miners.

Are you a migrant?　Not being hunted by people?

Yes, these people in the mines have the coin of the realm, and for us mere mortals who have nowhere to work, we're a very grateful bunch.


　Eugene's clouded face became more cloudy, and he looked at me with difficulty in saying.


'Something's gone wrong,'

''Well, yes. I don't like to say this as it would be a matter of my lord's business, but if you are Lord Flick, I wouldn't divulge anything else if you speak.

"I swear by my sword, I will not speak of this.


　I held Deere up in front of Eugene and vowed not to say anything else about what he was going to say.


'Thank you, sir. The reason why we refused to work in the mine was because there were a series of incidents where young men from the village who had gone to the mine as migrant workers went missing one after another. More than a dozen people from this village alone, and nearly 200 from other villages, have never returned from the mines.


　I didn't have any information on the 200 disappearances: .......

　I really wonder what's going on in the Lachman mine.


"Nearly 200 missing?

'Yes, of course, some of them are safely back in the village: ....... Many of them disappeared. From what I've been able to find out, it seems that those who have disappeared have been approached by the people who live in the mines and asked if they could do some more profitable work.

'A better paying job?　Does that mean it's not a mine job?

I don't understand that either, sir. The one who talked to me about it has not returned.


　Should we look at it as hiring those from the surrounding villages who are working in the mines to do other jobs?


When was the last time more people stopped coming back?

"The number of those who didn't return has increased rapidly in the last few months or so, so we've been talking with the surrounding villages ever since, and we've been forbidding our people from going into the mines." ......


　A few months ago .......

　Eugene told me that the guys at the mine settled down over a decade ago, and they've been interacting with each other for about five years now.

　So apparently something happened in the last few months that changed their attitude.


　I wonder where they have the financial resources to rebuild the mine on their own and turn it into a fortress.

　Crystal is an expensive mineral in its own right, but the amount of money invested in it just for that reason doesn't seem to be enough to cover it.


''Who are these people that have taken up residence here?

Well, we don't understand that either. The miners, who have gone to work in the mines, say that they have a very thick accent and rarely talk to each other.


　So a mysterious group is occupying the area.

　Just as I was about to check out the Abyss Walkers' trail, I felt like I had hit upon something extraordinary.


"And now they're going on a manhunt?

Yes, the miners have hired a group of Inverness vigilantes to start hunting people. They've been barging into villages and forcing people to come out and take them away, which has been happening a lot lately.

Is this a vigilante crumbling on a manhunt?

'Yes, the victimized villagers used to be vigilantes, and some of the man-hunters wore vigilante uniforms. ...... A disgrace to the beasties, hunting people while belonging to a prosperous vigilante group!


　Eugene's face twisted in hatred as he cursed the vigilante who was hunting people, and he slammed his fist on the floor.


　So the Adventurer's Guild was not aware of this situation.

　Gidion also said that he was pressured by the deputies to shut up when he tried to put the Abyss Walker matter on the agenda at the general meeting.

　There's something tacky about the situation.


'Dear Flick: ....... This doesn't seem to be a bit of a casual way to gather information in this area.


　Noelia, who was listening to the story, seemed to sense the seriousness of the situation and looked at me with a tightened expression.


　But we can't just leave it like this, can we?

　I want to look into the matter of Abyss Walker, but when I hear about the situation in the village, I also want to help them.

　It's not a bad idea to try and catch the people-hunters and gather some more information.


I'll try to catch these hunters and get more information. And then it wouldn't be too late to go to the Rahman mine.

'Huh!　You think Master Fricke is going to get those man-hunters?

'Oh, wouldn't it be better if the rowdy people disappeared around the village, Master Eugene?　Once we catch him and we get the information out of him, we can send him to the Adventurer's Guild in the city of Invahannes as a criminal. Noelia, I'm sorry, but I'd appreciate it if you could write a letter to Gidion to entrust to him.

'What?　Ah, yes. Yes--and you're going to get them!

'We're on our own when we're in trouble. I'm sure Lord Eugene and the people in the village are in trouble, and besides, we're just trying to get some more information about the Rahman Mine.

Well, yeah, but...


　I decided not to go to the Rahaman mine once and decided to catch the man-hunters who were attacking the villages around here.