'Why a quest all of a sudden?'
It was the first message I'd seen since the quest to bring down the Iron Factory.
I hadn't intended to turn down Brundehil's request out of hand anyway, but now I had another reason to grant it.
'But why at this exact timing?'
If a new quest was going to appear, it wouldn't have been strange for it to show up at some other time.
Like telling me to grant Dorothy's favors and recruit her, or to complete a negotiation with the Little Boum organization.
If I had to guess, maybe quests triggered once you entered each city's main questline.
There was an episode about catching a mana stone thief among the main quests, too.
The original storyline had most likely already collapsed anyway, so there was no being sure either way.
Just one thing: the system that sent that message was pushing me to accept the request.
"Asking a mage for a favor like this wounds my pride, but you are a friend of my apprentices and seem quite capable, so I would like to offer it to you. What do you say?"
"By the mana stone theft cases, you mean including what happened yesterday."
"Indeed. Even excluding this case, there have already been over twenty in the past few months. Considering the number of mana stone-related crimes averages no more than ten a month, there certainly seems to be someone behind it."
Dorothy added an explanation to Brundehil's words.
"Most of those cases involved goods Grandpa brought in or owns. This case too. We can't be sure yet, but we suspect it's someone's scheme to hurt Grandpa."
I understood now why Dorothy had been so proactive yesterday and so worried at the same time.
"Given how splendidly you handled Dorothy's favor, and that you took back Adeban with Edith and even earned Deputy Commissioner Kalian's trust, I think you could manage this request well too. Of course, if you would rather refuse, you are free to refuse."
"No, I accept. But in return, let me make an offer too."
"Go on."
"Connect my Iron Factory to your mana stone import route, Mr. Brundehil."
Brundehil was a dwarf who had lived in Revendale for close to several hundred years.
Using the achievements he'd built up over that time as a foothold, he'd amassed great wealth and reached into most of Revendale's businesses.
And the greatest of his powers was that he held a mana stone import route from outside.
There were others besides Brundehil with mana stone import routes, but few had routes as reliable as Brundehil's.
To get mana stones cheaply and quickly right now, if only to enhance my parts, I had to get the mana stone route from Brundehil.
Even if not in this way, I'd been planning to come to Brundehil anyway.
"Opening the mana stone route to you... what you want is rather big compared to what I asked."
"This request isn't simply about catching mana stone thieves anyway. Isn't the ultimate goal not only to uncover whoever's behind them but to deal with them too? I'll help you with that."
At my words, which saw right through him, one of Brundehil's eyebrows rose.
"You did not become the Iron Factory's boss for nothing. Very well. If you complete my request, I will open the mana stone route you asked for. But you must know. That among the things I ask, there are also jobs that are not clean."
"I know it well. I already have experience with vigilante work."
"Ah, so you do. Vigilante work, what an amusing fellow."
And so I agreed to grant Brundehil's request, and a little later I left Brundehil's hotel with Dorothy.
"So... where should we start? Maybe the nearest one first...."
I asked Dorothy, who was checking the logbook containing information on the mana stone theft cases.
"Before that, what happened with what I mentioned yesterday?"
"Oh, the stuff you commissioned yesterday? I made a few of them the way you asked; want to take a look?"
***
Arriving at Dorothy's repair shop, I checked the parts newly added to the prosthetic.
[A new module has been added to the Genocide Alloy Prosthetic.]
[new! - High-Tensile Steel Wire]
[new! - Lightweight Alloy Power Gauntlet]
[new! - Colt Magnum Revolver]
They were the things I'd asked for in my note.
I'd come up with them based on my combat experience at the Iron Factory last time.
'I wonder if that doll's doing well at the factory too.'
But what was that guy's name again?
I think it was Mun-something.
[Swapping modules on the Genocide Alloy Prosthetic.]
[Steel Alloy Prosthetic -> High-Tensile Steel Wire]
I kept swapping modules to check that nothing jammed.
[High-Tensile Steel Wire -> Lightweight Alloy Power Gauntlet]
When I equipped the gauntlet, it wrapped around my hand with a hefty feel.
[Lightweight Alloy Power Gauntlet -> Colt Magnum Revolver]
[This part is kept in a stowed form.]
Just as the message said, instead of attaching to the prosthetic, the revolver landed right in my grip.
It was the only weapon among the things I'd asked for that didn't need to be made separately.
'I'll use it for testing, so just keep it stowed for now.'
[Activating the skill Part Enhancement lv. 2.]
When I activated the skill, a blue light rose from my chest.
[Part Enhancement complete.]
[The High-Tensile Steel Wire's Durability increases, and a magic protection function is added.]
[An Energy Charge function is added to the Lightweight Alloy Power Gauntlet.]
The wire got a Durability boost, and the gauntlet gained a new effect.
It looked like an effect that let me charge magic and release the energy for a powerful attack.
"M-Mr. Enon, a light just came from your chest... could that be a Mana Core?"
To notice that at a single glance; truly the knowledge you'd expect of a genius mechanic.
"That's right."
"I'm dying to know who built your body, Mr. Enon. It makes me want to ask how you can build something of this level."
"...They're probably not a very nice person."
"Ah, right, they're the one who did bad things to you, Mr. Enon...."
With the maintenance done, I got up to carry on with the quest.
"Then let's go catch the mana stone thief."
"Great. So where should we go first? There are tons of places where cases happened, so let's decide where to start before we leave."
"There's no need. I've already decided where we're going."
At my words, Dorothy looked puzzled.
"What? You haven't even looked at the logbook yet. Did you look at it earlier?"
"There's no need to investigate further to trace their movements. The thief's destination is already set anyway."
"By destination, you mean...."
"If they're not going to use it themselves, they'll obviously have to sell it to someone."
In Revendale, if you were talking about a place where criminals operated and sold stolen goods, there was only one.
"Let's go to the black market."
***
"The black market, right, if you want to make money selling mana stones, there's nowhere better. But...."
"I know. Mr. Brundehil has already investigated it, I'm sure. And found that no new mana stones have come in, too."
"...You even predicted that?"
"Someone like Mr. Brundehil would already have done most of the investigating. The fact that he still left the job to me means it's to test my abilities. Whether I'm a capable enough person to entrust you to, Miss Dorothy."
Brundehil was the foremost businessman and mechanic in Revendale.
He had enough power to exert influence both inside and outside the law, but for that very reason, there were bound to be limits on his actions.
Being that big a player, he couldn't help but catch the Police Bureau's eye, and then he'd hesitate to break the law.
Above all, the black market beneath the city was a place that all kinds of organizations jointly ran under tacitly agreed rules.
One of those rules was that the origin of goods was never revealed.
However strong Brundehil was, breaking that rule meant violating the code.
The bigger the body, the greater the air resistance, so to speak.
That was why he'd asked me, an outsider, for help, even granting my offer.
'That way, at least it counts as them not moving directly.'
And that was why most secret informants tended not to reveal who they were.
"If I were the thief, I'd know the black market would be watched, so I wouldn't list the goods right away. I'd wait at least a day or so before coming to put them in."
"So you're saying we catch them right then?"
I nodded in answer.
"Then should we disguise ourselves before we go?"
"You're the one who needs a disguise, Miss Dorothy. Everyone would know who you are just from your face."
"Ah, true, they would."
Part of why Dorothy was so well known in Revendale was her skill, but being Brundehil's apprentice played a part too.
If someone like her showed up openly at the black market, other organizations were bound to notice and get suspicious.
"Then let's stop by my shop before we go. Don't you need to disguise yourself a little too, Mr. Enon?"
It sounded like she was just saying it, but she wasn't wrong.
"This is enough for me."
[Partially releasing the trait effect Thousand Masks.]
I raised my right hand, which had become the prosthetic.
"Whoa... that's more than enough, it's overkill? Wait just a bit! I'll go change real quick."
A little later, Dorothy appeared with her hair tied up and a newsboy cap pulled low.
Her clothes were plain too, unlike usual.
"Here, wear this."
What Dorothy handed me was a gentleman's hat.
"The concept is a gentleman with a prosthetic and a mysterious girl. What do you think?"
"...Let's just get going."
I took the hat, put it right on my head, and set out with Dorothy.
After entering District 8 through the shortcut I'd used last time, Dorothy and I quickly headed for District 9.
"Mr. Enon, have you been to Revendale before, by any chance? You know the way really well."
"I roughly memorized a map and I'm roughly finding my way by that."
Once we entered District 9, fumes began to seep out here and there, and it started to feel properly punk.
The black market, located in the center of Revendale's underground zone, took up most of District 9.
Strange parts and drugs were displayed in shops here and there, but those shops weren't our target.
'There's no way they'd sell something as precious as mana stones in a place like this.'
Even on the black market streets, the real deal was sold at the auction house at the heart of the black market.
The thief who'd stolen the mana stones would surely head there too.
"With the disguises, people really don't recognize us, huh?"
"If you keep drawing attention like that, I think everyone will recognize you."
"Ah, you're right. I'll be careful."
Dorothy and I walked down the street as naturally as could be.
So as not to stand out for no reason, I pretended to chat with Dorothy now and then.
"Ugh, it's even more ticklish when you put your mouth to my ear and don't say anything."
Dorothy hunched her shoulders and picked at her ear, saying it tickled.
We soon arrived at the entrance of the auction house.
The auction house hadn't opened yet, so there weren't really any people.
"Is there any other way into the auction house besides here?"
"No, only auction house staff can use the other entrance."
"Then let's watch people from here."
Dorothy and I went to a street stall with a good view of the entrance, bought fish skewers like passersby, sat nearby, and watched our surroundings.
"By the way, we don't know the thief's face, so how are we going to find them?"
"Whoever among those going into the auction house has magic coming off them will be the thief. Not many people carry a mana stone on them."
"And one of those would be you, Mr. Enon."
But even by the time we'd nearly finished the fish skewers we were each holding, no one with magic coming off them had appeared.
"Well? Has anyone with a mana stone gone by?"
Already on her third fish skewer, Dorothy waved what was left of her skewer this way and that.
"No, maybe they've already handed the goods to the auction house."
"Hmm, then that'll be pretty tough. Finding the owner of goods put up at the auction house is almost impossible."
But I kept patiently watching the auction house's entrance.
It was around the time the sun set, the hour when the auction house opened.
"Found them."
"Really? Where, what do they look like?"
"That man over there in the long jacket. Magic is flowing out of his pocket."
"Great. Then let's go after him and catch him right now."
We followed the man into the auction house as he went in.
Just as we entered the large lobby at the auction house entrance, Dorothy spotted the man's location and told me.
"He's over by that restroom. What should we do?"
"First, let's go and talk to him calmly. Causing a scene for nothing will only draw eyes."
Leaving Dorothy behind me, I tapped the shoulder of the man standing in front of the restroom.
"...Who're you?"
"I have something to talk about. Let's step outside for a moment and talk."
"...Last time you said to meet in District 7, then this time you said to meet at the auction house, and now you want to go somewhere else again?"
Hearing the man say something off the wall, I realized he'd mistaken me for a different contact.
I quietly moved my hand behind me and signaled Dorothy not to come closer.
"There are a lot of eyes here, so let's talk somewhere quiet."
"Fine. Wonder what job they'll have me do this time."
So he'd been getting jobs from some other contact.
When I led the man out to a spot outside the auction house with few people around, the man spoke first.
"So, when are you giving me my pay from last time?"
"Pay? Weren't you going to take it out of what you got from the last job?"
"What are you talking about? Yesterday you took the goods and said you'd pay me today. Wait, are you really the guy I was supposed to meet?"
He was sharper than I'd thought.
"...Who are you? Tell me right now."
"I was going to get back the mana stones you stole, but it seems there's something more behind this after all."
"Oh, shit."
Realizing the situation, the man immediately turned around to run, but Dorothy was already blocking the road on the other side.
"Hey, hey, where do you think you're running!"
"What are you, get out of the way!"
"Wh-Whoa!"
In an instant, the man slipped through the gap beside Dorothy and quickly began to flee into the alleys.
Of course, I hadn't expected much. If anything, I'd tensed up thinking he was going to attack Dorothy.
"I'll catch him."
[Activating the Mana Core.]
[Sending magic through the body to activate physical abilities.]
My original Agility stat was a measly 1.
But after equipping the alloy prosthetic, I'd gained 10 Agility, so my current Agility stat was 11.
An ordinary human's Agility stat didn't exceed 10, so the distance between the man and me closed in no time.
The man seemed to notice that too, because he quickly ducked into one of the alleys that split off in several directions.
'I can see where he went anyway.'
[Activating the skill Magic Sight.]
Following the flow of magic the man had left behind, I tracked the route he'd fled down in no time.
"H-How are you following me!"
Just as I reached out toward the man, who was shouting in horror, he put his hand into the pocket that was leaking magic.
I thought he might be about to surrender, but what the man pulled out of his pocket was none other than a pistol set with a mana stone.
"Damn it, die!"
BANG!
'How does he have a mana stone weapon?'
A magic bullet fired from the muzzle came flying straight at me.