Day 491-500/Day 500

Day 500 / 30th day
This is a devastating blow to the underground gambling den ≪Dia Tres≫ (Day 3 in Spanish) run by ≪La Depardos≫. This is the first time I've been able to find out the identity of the jewel-armored demon that unilaterally overran the members of the fighting faction.
In the morning, with a pained expression on his face, the tanuki father brought the morning paper. In a city of merchants, where information is vital, there are apparently many information magazines, and such a headline graced the front page. There was also a photo, a black and white image of an underground gambling den, showing the dwarf leader just before he exploded and scattered due to an attack from the【Treasure Demon】.
It was a good picture of the executive's face, a mixture of astonishment and despair, and the imposing figure of the overwhelmingly powerful【Treasure Demon】and the article was quite detailed. Apparently, some of the captured guests were members of the press. From the angle, it was probably the young man or his companion who looked like an intellectual with dark glasses who was surrounded by beautiful women and drinking delicious sake.
If it was discovered that he had brought a magic item with a photographic function into the facility of the underworld organization, he would be erased in the worst case scenario, but he might have been doing an undercover interview, knowing the danger.
The reporter's life may be in danger because of this aspect of the story, but he or she is responsible for his or her own actions, so let's leave aside for the moment what will happen. It seems that the organization behind the scenes, ≪Ia Depardos≫, has gotten serious about this case. The tanuki father said that the【Treasure Demon】seems to have become a high-priced bounty hunter.
The notice has already circulated around the underworld, and the golems that have been released around the area for the purpose of espionage show the residents of the underworld beginning to get restless. The other underworld organizations that have an agreement with the underworld organization ≪Ia Depardos≫ start to search and move their members, and the rival underworld organizations start to search for the【Treasure Demon】in order to bring it into their camp.
The underworld, which had a certain order to it, will ring, and its effects will have an impact on the surface society as well.
While making plans for the future, I left the antsy boys behind and headed to the jeweler ≪Lignadro Jewelers≫ with cash and jewelry.
Perhaps the negotiations we had the other day had been good, but the store manager took care of us. This time, I took out all the jewelry from yesterday's battle, and put down the additional cash I had obtained as well as a couple of jeweled statues of goddesses as hush money.
After a lot of negotiations and contracts, an amount of cash that was added to the selling price of the jewelry at the ≪Lignadro Jewelers≫ was paid in addition to the price of the jewelry. Lignadro Jewelers added the cash they had loaded to the price of the jewelry and paid it to the new business association, the Drunken Wine Trading Company.
In return, the ≪Lignadro Jewelers≫ received jewelry and a statue of the goddess. This time, the details of the business are to be kept secret. The manager seems to have a lot on his mind, but I'm sure he's had similar experiences in his long career as a merchant. We both had our own thoughts, but we shook hands before making a profit. Incidentally, the statue of the goddess is a kind of golem, so if he betrays me, there will be appropriate consequences.
After the laundered money is ready, I can go to the real estate agency that the manager of ≪Lignadro Jewelers≫ introduced to me and sign a contract for 2 buildings, one cheap for its size and the other ordinary. One is a detached house in an ordinary residential area. It is often rented by peddlers on a temporary basis and has a spacious warehouse to store their goods. There is also a spacious warehouse for storing goods. Since the residents change frequently, the house is furnished to the minimum.
The price is a bit high, but it's not bad for a temporary base. The other cheaper one is a 2-story building with a basement, located a little off the main street. It is relatively new and the location and structure are not bad. In fact, it is in better condition than the previous house.
The reason why it's so cheap is that just a few months ago, the previous owner borrowed money from a certain underworld loan shark due to a slump in business and temporarily recovered, but the ballooning interest rate crushed him and he went bankrupt. He had no choice but to flee at night, but was caught and killed as he fled. The owner of the store was slaughtered as if he were being dismantled. The woman was found in an unbearable state, and the whereabouts of her 2 daughters are unknown.
It's a tragic story, but it also seems to have been an example, and through the magic of【Necromancy】, the owner of the store became an【Earthbound Spirit】that still remains in the building. The amount of money required for【Purification】is not insignificant, and if it fails, the spirit will become stronger and【Curse】, contaminating the area around the building.
It is a troublesome property to the extent that real estate agents complain that they would never deal with it if it was not in the section they were in charge of by agreement, due to various reasons. I signed a contract for such a property. I asked him to sell it to me at a discount, including the fact that it was before the【Purification】.
The actual estate agent looks at me quizzically, but the contract includes several conditions, such as the owner cannot sell the property until the purification of the former owner, who has become an【Earthbound Spirit】, is completed, and the owner will make up for any losses in the surrounding area.
After watching him leave, I stepped into the building. As soon as I entered the building, I saw an open space where products were displayed, and there was a translucent man with a grim expression and tears of blood. That is the former owner of the store, the【Earthbound Spirit】.
The owner of the store showed a grudge-like expression when I came in, but his momentum dropped a bit when I took out a certain item. The thing I took out was the head of a dwarf who had been killed in a gambling parlor and who was closely related to the owner. The owner of the store had borrowed money from the underworld organization ≪Ia Depardos≫, and it was this dwarf who had taken the owner and his family into his hands. In front of him, with the head of the person he hated so much that he wanted to kill, I could see the grudge of the store owner fade a little.
This is because the feeling of unpleasant and throbbing magic that was released faded away. Then, just like that, I used【Negotiation】and convinced the shopkeeper to naturally depart. I will avenge him. I'll make sure he gets his comeuppance. In order to do so, it is necessary to obtain information about the enemy.
The defense mechanism and security is massive, much more robust than a castle. Here is near the mansion where the leader of the underworld organization ≪Ia Depardos≫ lives, it is easy to make an inspection, so I want you to depart peacefully. The owner of the store gradually accepted the offer after I persuaded him with such reasoning. The owner of the store departed, leaving behind an item called the【Soul Stone of Grudge】.
To be honest, there was a part of me that was wondering what kind of abilities I would be able to learn if I ate the【Soul Stone of Grudge】, but I held back and worked on this and that. I was told that when the promise is fulfilled, the soul stone will be purified and turned into another product, and it seems that this product has many uses.
From today onwards, this place is the head office of the ≪Vermillion Spear Drunken Wine Trading Company≫. For the sake of the ant boys and the shopkeeper, I'll try to achieve my goal as soon as possible.
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RAWS
“三十日目”　／　“五■■■目”
――≪イア・デパルドス≫が運営する地下賭博場≪ディア・トレス≫壊滅的打撃ッ。
――武闘派構成員を一方的に蹂躙した宝石鎧鬼の正体に迫るッ。
早朝、苦々しい表情でタヌキ親父が持ってきた朝刊――情報が命の商人の都市なので、情報誌の類は多数あるらしい――の一面をそんな見出しが飾る。
写真もあり、地下賭博場を白黒で写したそれは小人の幹部が【宝殻鬼】から放たれた攻撃によって爆発四散する直前を切り取っていた。
幹部の驚愕と絶望が入り混じる顔と、圧倒的強者感を漂わせる【宝殻鬼】の堂々とした姿が上手い具合に一枚に凝縮され、記事も結構詳しく書かれている。
どうやら捕縛した客の一部に報道関係者がいたらしい。
角度的に、美女に囲まれて美味そうな酒を飲んでいたインテリ腹黒眼鏡に見えた青年かその連れだろう。
裏組織の施設に撮影機能を持つマジックアイテムを持ち込むなど発覚すれば最悪の場合消されるのだが、危険を承知で潜入取材でもしていたのかもしれない。
派手にメンツを傷つける一面なので記者の身が危ないかもしれないが、自己責任なのでどうなるかは一先ず置いとくとして。
裏組織≪イア・デパルドス≫は今回の一件で本気になったらしい。
タヌキ親父が言うには、【宝殻鬼】は高額賞金首になったようだ。
手配書は裏社会に既に流れ、諜報の為に周囲に放っている蟲型ゴーレムが慌ただしくなり始めた裏社会の住人達の姿を映している。
裏組織≪イア・デパルドス≫と協定を結ぶ他の裏組織は捜索に乗り出して構成員を動かし、敵対する裏組織は【宝殻鬼】を自陣営に取り込みたくて捜索を開始する。
ある種の秩序があった裏社会は鳴動し、その影響は表社会にも影響が出るだろう。
今後の予定を立てながら、蟻人少年達を残し、現金と宝石類を持って宝石商≪リグナドロー宝石店≫に向かった。
先日の交渉が良かったのか、店長が相手をしてくれた。
今回は昨日の戦果である宝石類を全て出し、追加で同じく得た現金と、口止め料を兼ねた宝石製の女神像数体を置く。
あれこれ交渉と契約を行い、≪リグナドロー宝石店≫では宝石類の売値に積んだ現金を加算した金額が新興商会≪商会≫に支払われた。
代わりに≪リグナドロー宝石店≫は宝石類と、女神像を得た。
今回の商売内容は秘匿が原則だ。
店長も色々と思う事はあるようだが、長い商人歴の間には似たような事もあっのだろう。
互いに思う事はあるが、利益の前に握手である。
ちなみに女神像はゴーレムの一種なので、裏切った場合は相応の結果になるだけだ。
洗浄した金が用意できた後は、≪リグナドロー宝石店≫店長に紹介された不動産に行って広さの割には事情により安い建物と普通の建物の二軒を契約する。
一軒は普通の住宅街にある一戸建ての民家だ。
行商人が一時的に借りる事が多い建物で、商品を入れておく広めの倉庫もある。住人の入れ替わりが激しいので、最低限の家具は用意されている。
金額は少々高いが、一時的な拠点とすれば悪くないだろう。
もう一軒の安い方は、表通りから少し入った場所にある地上二階地下一階建ての建物だ。
比較的新しいし立地も構造も悪くない。むしろ先の家よりも条件がいいくらいである。
それなのに安いのは、ほんの数ヶ月前、前の持ち主が事業不振によりとある裏組織の高利貸しから借金して一時的に持ち直したが、膨れ上がる金利に押し潰されてあえなく倒産。
夜逃げするしかなくなったが、逃げる間際に捕まって殺された事にある。
店主は解体されるように惨殺。その婦人も見るに堪えない状態で発見され、娘二人の行方は分かっていない。
ただでさえ悲惨な話だが、見せしめも兼ねていたらしく、【死霊術】という魔法によって店主は【地縛怨霊】になって今も建物内に残留している。
【浄化】するにしてもその金額も馬鹿にできないし、万が一失敗するとより強い怨念が【呪詛】となって建物周辺まで汚染する事になる。
色々その辺りの事情もあり、不動産屋も協定による担当区画になければ絶対に取り扱わないのに、と愚痴を漏らす程度には面倒な物件である。
そんな物件を俺は契約した。【浄化】前である事も含めて格安で売ってもらう。
不動産屋は訝しそうにコチラを見るが、契約内容には【地縛怨霊】となった店主の【浄化】が完了しない限り売る事もできない、周辺に影響がある場合の補填は持ち主がする、といった幾つかの条件も含まれているので、一先ず面倒な案件が片付いてホッとしたようだ。
軽快に帰っていく後姿を見送り、俺は建物内に足を踏み入れた。
入ってすぐの開けた空間は商品を陳列する場所であり、そこに怨めしそうな表情で血涙を流す半透明の男性がいた。
それが店主であり、【地縛怨霊】である。
店主は入って来たコチラに怨みがましい表情を見せるが、俺がとある物を取り出すと、その勢いは少し落ちる。
取り出したのは賭博場で殺した幹部であり、店主とも深く関係する小人の頭だった。
店主が借金してしまったのが裏組織≪イア・デパルドス≫であり、店主とその家族を手にかけたのもこの小人だった訳だ。
殺したいほど憎んでいた相手の頭部を前に、店主の怨みが少し薄れるのが分かる。
放たれる気持ちの悪いどろどろとした魔力の感じが薄まったからだ。
そしてここぞとばかりに【交渉人】によって店主が自然に成仏するよう説得する。
仇は討ってやる。絶対に報いを受けさせる。その為には敵の情報を得る必要がある。
防衛機構も警備も重厚で、下手な城よりも遙かに堅牢な裏組織≪イア・デパルドス≫の首領が住む豪邸に近いここからなら敵情視察もしやすいので明け渡してほしい。
そんな感じの事を並べて説得すると、次第に店主も受け入れてくれた。
店主は成仏したが、代わりに【怨霊の魂石】という品が残された。
約束を達成した時に【怨霊の魂石】は浄化されて別の品に変わるそうだが、それは色々と使い道がある品らしい。
正直【怨霊の魂石】を喰えばどんなアビリティがラーニングできるか気になる部分もあるのだがグッと我慢し、あれこれと作業を行った。
今日からここが≪商会≫本店である。
蟻人少年達や店主の為にも、一日でも早く目的を達成しようと思う。
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Category:Novel
Category:Re:Monster ~ The Dark Continent ~ Vol. 2