Chapter 1-22 : Dark Room (part 1)
「Hello, little missy. Are you awake?」(??)
「…Who…? I’m not… little… Ugh…」(Kako)
When I turned my face toward the direction where I heard the voice coming from, suddenly someone lit a lantern.
I spontaneously squinted as the lantern light filled the dark room, but thanks to that I could see the face of the man talking to me.
Behind him, there were twoー no, three other men who looked like thugs with scary faces. One of them was holding the lantern.
「Are you alright? Can you hear me?」(??)
The man smiled at me, but I could somehow feel a creepy aura coming from him.
What is this situation? Have I been kidnapped by these men?
I can’t think of any other reason why I’m in this small dark room with four mysterious men.
Anyway, I think I should get as much information as possible first.
「…Who are you?」(Kako)
「Nice to meet you. I’m the owner of Keema Adventurer Shop.」(??)
「Eh? Keema?」(Kako)
I’ve been to Keema a couple of times to buy potions, armor, and stuff.
So, he’s that adventurer shop’s owner? Why did he kidnap me?
「Yup. I heard from my employee that you bought a lot of potions and armor from my shop. Thank you for your patronage.」(??)
「Uhh… You’re… welcome.」(Kako)
No, no! Why am I having a friendly conversation with him?
I shook my head and glared at him.
「What do you want from me? Why did you bring me here?」(Kako)
「Haha. Calm down. You don’t need to be afraid. My subordinate found you lying down unconscious near the wall, so he brought you here.」(??)
「Huh…? No, you’re lying. If you found an unconscious girl lying on the street, normally you would put her in a bed, not on a cold dusty floor like this.」(Kako)
「No, no. I’m not lying. It’s a little bit dusty, this is my secret room. We brought you here to protect you.」(??)
「Protect me? From what? If you’re talking about monsters, then you don’t need to worry.」(Kako)
「No, not monsters. I’m protecting you from bad people who are targeting youー no, targeting your talent, to be exact.」(??)
「My talent?」(Kako)
What is he talking about?
Wait… Is he talking about… my Synthesis Skill!?
「I heard from my subordinate that you somehow strengthened the wall that was about to be destroyed by Wallbreakers.」(??)
「ー!!」(Kako)
I knew it!
So his subordinate saw me?
This is bad! This is reeeeally bad!!
I checked my surroundings before I used my Synthesis Skill to reinforce the wall and I saw no one. Did his subordinate hide behind a building or something?
Nyat, I’m sorry! You always warn me but… I messed up!
But, wait… He said he was protecting me from bad people who were targeting me, so doesn’t that mean that he’s a good guy?
While thinking about it, I glanced at the three scary-looking men standing behind him.
Hiiiiiiyy!! No, he was lying for sure! They’re not protecting me from bad guys. They ARE the bad guys!
「I couldn’t believe it at first, but… I had no idea that a little girl like you had such an incredible alchemy skill!」(??)
Gaahh!! I knew it! They found out about my… Synthesis…… Skill…….
Wait, what…?
「…Eh?」(Kako)
Alchemy? Nope, it’s called Item Synthesis!
It seems that he misunderstands my ability.
「Khu khu. There’s no need to try to deceive me with that confused face, little missy. You may be a young girl, but I know you’re a talented alchemist!」(??)
Yup. This man seems to have mistaken me for being an alchemist.
I don’t know if it’s a good thing, but I think I might be able to fool him with this misunderstanding somehow.
「Finally… Finally I found an alchemist who not only knows about the location of Isca Grass colony but also knows how to make Lost Potions! Haahaha!!」(??)
The man raised his arms and laughed like a villain in a movie.
Uwahh… He no longer even tries to pretend to protect me from bad guys.
Is he an idiot…?
Anyway, now I know why he kidnapped me.
Lost Potions and Isca Grass… I had a bad feeling when I heard those words coming from his mouth.
「Don’t worry. I’m not gonna hurt you. If you’re willing to cooperate, I will give you a much better life than your current one. I will treat you well as my store’s exclusive alchemist. I will even hire some bodyguards for you.」(??)
Bodyguards? Do you mean people who will keep an eye on me for twenty-four hours every day so that I can’t escape?
「You came to this town alone, right? Are you an orphan? It must be difficult to live by yourself at such a young age. Luckily, you have an aptitude for alchemy. It’s not rare for children your age to live by themselves in this cruel world. Mind if I ask about your parents? Did you lose them? Or…」(??)
Nope. They’re still alive in Japan. I didn’t lose them. They lost me…
But, there’s no way I would tell this man about it.
I decided to keep silent while glaring at him.
「…You don’t want to talk about your parents? It’s okay. I understand. Anyway, if you’re willing to work for me, I will give you anything you want. I will give you a place to live, food, clothes, even expensive accessories. Girls love accessories, right?」(??)
Whoa… Really? That doesn’t sound bad at all.
No, no! Kako, get a hold of yourself! He’s lying! He will treat you like a slave!
「So… Could you please tell me?」(??)
「…Tell you what?」(Kako)
「First, I want you to tell me the location of the Isca Grass colony! You know where it is, right? That’s why you were able to make a Lost Potion!」(??)
Uhh… Does he seriously think there’s a colony of Isca Grass left in this world?
Too bad, I made Isca Grass myself with my Synthesis Skill.
As a matter of course, I can’t tell him that, but he wouldn’t believe me if I said that I just happened to get one from the forest.
Ugh… What should I do? Should I just keep silent?
「……」(Kako)
「Hmm… You look confused. Ah, I see! You didn’t use Isca Grasses to make a Lost Potion, but you used your own recipe, right?」(??)
Nope. You’re wrong again, Sir.
「That’s fine too! Tell me! Hurry!」(??)
He’s so persistent… I think I should try to play dumb here…
「Umm… I don’t know what you’re talking about…」(Kako)
「Oh, come on! There’s no point in hiding it. I know that you healed Izack’s arm with a Lost Potion. He returned to the Adventurer Guild with a healed arm the day after he met you.」(??)
Ugh… It seems that he has been investigating me…
But even so, I can’t give up!
「Heal Izack-san’s arm? No way, I’m just a little girl. There’s no way I have the knowledge to create such an amazing potion nor do I have money to buy one. I’m Maitena-san’s disciple. I know Izack-san, but I only talked a few times with him.」(Kako)
Ugh… I hate to say the L word myself, but I had no choice…
I made my eyes teary and tried as best as I could to act like a child who knows nothing.
「Hahaha! Just a little girl, huh? That’s weird. How could a mere little girl sell large quantities of high-quality herbs as soon as she arrived in this town?」(??)
「Ugu!?」(Kako)
He even knows about that!?
Ughh… This is not good…
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