The Targeted Cargo

Rivira Town is a dilapidated town that could be abandoned at any moment. Even the stalls and shops are so simple. It's impossible to build any decent roads in the town. There are intricate rock alleys everywhere. Only the blue crystals that emit a faint glow are beautiful, illuminating every corner of the town.

The dog-woman carrying a medium-sized handbag ran through the intricate rocky alleyways, as if she were in a panic. She was panting and occasionally looked back as she ran forward in a frantic manner, making it clear to anyone with eyes that she was running for her life.

Unfortunately, her speed was not fast compared to those chasing her.

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

Two figures rushed towards her at an astonishing speed, their running even causing changes in the airflow and creating a whistling sound.

The speed and the momentum made it clear to even the most clueless person that one thing was certain.

That is, the two people behind the dog-woman are extremely strong.

At least, compared to her who is only Lv.3, she must be much stronger.

Thinking of this, the dog-woman became increasingly panicked. She gritted her teeth and squeezed into a narrow alleyway beside her, then wandered into an even more intricate network of paths, attempting to shake off the people behind her.

Unfortunately, even with such efforts, those two were ultimately beyond her reach as a Level 3.

"Call"

In a flash, a golden figure darted over first, and after arriving behind her, suddenly leaped over her head and landed in front of her, blocking her path.

"Alas!"

The dog-woman let out a strange cry, and like a horse suddenly braking, her limbs thrashed about. She barely managed to stop her forward momentum and turned around, ready to escape in another direction, only to find, to her dismay, that the path was blocked.

"Still planning to run away?"

Leo stood there alone, sword in hand, blocking the dog-woman's path. He stared at her, one hand resting on the hilt of his Dragon Fang Sword at his waist, but he didn't draw it. He simply stood there, speaking quietly.

"You... you all...!"

The dog-girl's face was stiff. She looked at Leo, then at Ais, who was also blocking her way behind her, and she was in a panic.

"----Who are you?" Ais observed the dog-woman girl in silence for a while before speaking, "Why are you running?"

This question elicited only the dog-woman's cries.

"Then why are you all chasing after me?!"

That's a great question; it even stumped Ais.

Leo responded to this question.

"Your behavior is so suspicious, it's only natural that we chase you, isn't it?" Leo said with a half-smile. "After all, someone just died in this town, there was a murder, and yet you're acting all flustered and evasive in a place like this. Anyone would think you're a suspect, right?"

These words seemed to enrage the dog-woman.

"You are the suspects! You are the murderers!"

After vehemently accusing the dog-woman for a while, she finally realized that the person blocking her way looked somewhat familiar.

"Wait—aren't you [Sword Princess]?"

The dog-woman recognized Ais's identity and looked utterly astonished.

Ais nodded, staring silently at the dog-woman.

After recognizing Ais, the dog-girl immediately recognized Leo as well.

"I... I've seen your picture on the guild's bulletin board! You're that monster rookie from the Loki Familia who ascended three times in two months! Leo Eligos!"

The dog-woman pointed at Leo, her face showing even greater shock and disbelief.

"Monster Rookie----"

Leo, however, was quite puzzled by this title.

It's quite fitting, but it doesn't sound like a compliment.

A newbie is a newbie, why add a prefix?

Who's the monster?

Leo inwardly grumbled, but his face remained calm, and he even took a step closer to the dog-woman.

Now that our identities have been revealed, shouldn't we reveal yours too?

Upon hearing this, the dog-woman looked at the man and woman who were famous throughout Orario and even the entire Lower World, and suddenly calmed down, no longer so flustered.

His reaction was as if he had suddenly realized that the two people in front of him were not his enemies and would not harm him.

"I am Lulune, Lulune Louis."

This is how the other person introduced themselves.

Leo glanced at Ais, who shook Ais head in response.

The meaning is quite simple: it's telling Leo that he doesn't know this person.

Which clan do you belong to?

Leo already knew the other person's identity, but he still pretended not to know and asked.

Then, the other party gave the name of a family or clan.

"The Hermes Familia".

Leo aside, Ais had a subtle reaction to these words.

"The Hermes Familia ----"

Clearly, Ais knew about this clan.

The Hermes Familia is a rather special family.

They publicly claimed to be an exploration-oriented familia, meaning a familia whose main business was exploring Dungeon. They were also registered as an exploration-oriented familia in the guild. In reality, however, they would get involved in anything as long as there was profit to be made, whether it was commerce, mail, or intelligence. They had contact with various fields and would handle everything, making them a notoriously unscrupulous familia.

According to the guild's ranking system, this familia is only at level F, and the highest-ranking member is only Lv.2. It's an extremely small familia, so small that they can only reach the 19th floor of the Dungeon. Yet, for some reason, this small familia has the power to freely enter and exit Orila, a power that other familia do not possess. Hermes, the familia's Chief God, is also frequently traveling around and even works as a deliveryman, making them very suspicious and mysterious.

Compared to the Loki Familia, whose faction rank is as high as S, the Hermes Familia may seem insignificant. However, no matter who it is, when Hermes, the Chief God of this Familia, is mentioned, they will all have a complicated expression.

The same goes for Loki.

Ais was unaware of the details, but Leo, who was well-versed in the original work, knew it all too well.

The Hermes Familia, this family is actually quite powerful.

While they are far from being as powerful as the Loki Familia, the Hermes Familia is still among the strongest in the city, even within the entire Orario region.

Because their Chief God Hermes favored conformity and preferred to conceal their strength, at the other party's request, many adventurers within this clan hid their true abilities. In the guild's declaration, they falsely reported more than ten Lv.3 members and the Lv.4 guild leader as Lv.2, and even underreported the number of floors they reached in the Dungeon by more than twenty floors. It was incredibly underhanded.

The creator of the Flying Shoes mentioned before, the "Perseus" Asfi al Andromeda who has mastered the "mysterious" development ability, is the leader of this Familia. Her own level has already reached Lv.4, but she lies to the outside world that she is Lv.2, causing many people who do not know the truth to misjudge the strength of her and her Hermes Familia.

This dog-human girl Lulune Louise, probably lied about her rank to the guild, which is why she seems so unknown.

Ais, who was unaware of all this, immediately spoke up after confirming Lulune's identity and background.

Why did you run away?

This question, which had already been asked once, finally received a different answer this time.

"I... I thought you were the murderers who killed the deliveryman, and that you were chasing me to get that package!"

Lulune's words elicited a different reaction from Ais.

"----goods?"

This question received no further response from Lulune.

The dog-woman stood there, looking hesitant and unsure whether to reveal the truth.

Seeing this, Leo simply spoke up.

"You mean the person who was murdered was actually a deliveryman who handed over a package to you, but was then targeted and killed by someone you didn't know, right?"

Faced with Leo's blunt questioning, Lulune fell silent and chose to remain quiet.

Ais understood what Leo meant.

Leo's meaning is simple: someone has their eye on something that was originally on the body of the murdered recipient, which is why the other party killed him in an attempt to seize it. However, the item has already been secretly handed over to someone else—the dog-woman in front of him.

The dog-woman received the shipment and learned of the deliveryman's murder before leaving the town of Rivira. She immediately guessed that someone was after the shipment, or rather, after her.

That's why she seemed to be in a hurry and flustered, and as soon as she realized she was being followed, she immediately started to run away in a panic.

She initially thought Leo and Ais were there to kill her and get their hands on the cargo, but after discovering they were famous members of the Loki Familia, she realized they couldn't possibly be the killers.

No matter what, they are core elites of the Loki Familia and members of the city's strongest faction. They shouldn't be so blatant as to do something as despicable as harming their peers and damaging the reputation of their family.

Therefore, Lulune, thinking this way, stopped panicking and regained her composure.

Ais's gaze immediately shifted to the medium-sized handbag Lulune was carrying.

That bag, which the other party had been protecting so tightly, must have contained the cargo that led to their death, right?

What is that?

Ais didn't know, and she shouldn't have cared.

Given her personality, she usually wouldn't care so much about something that has nothing to do with her.

For some reason, looking at that handbag, Ais felt a strange sense of unease and even heartache.

That feeling was as if it was telling her that what was inside was definitely not unrelated to her.

While she was staring at Lulune's bag, Leo had already figured out most of the situation.

"I've heard that the Hermes Familia are involved in many fields, including the professional service of delivering objects; even the Chief God himself is in this business."

Leo spoke in a calm tone.

"So, can I assume that you, as a member of the Hermes Familia, have actually accepted a commission today to obtain a item from someone here and take it to the surface?"

"That person is the deliveryman, and you are the recipient. You may not know each other's identities, let alone the origin of the goods. But as long as you exchange the password, you can take the goods from the other person. Then, just bring them to the ground and hand them over to the client."

"But you didn't expect that the recipient would be murdered later, and that you yourself were very likely to become the next victim, which is why you panicked and wanted to leave so badly."

These words undoubtedly startled Lulune.

"You, you, you, you, you----!"

She pointed at Leo, stammering so much she couldn't speak.

This reaction already tells others that Leo is right.

What should have been a closely guarded secret was somehow guessed pretty much by this monstrous newcomer from the Loki Familia.

I've heard that the [Braver] is an exceptionally intelligent strategist, a brilliant tactician. Could this new monster from the Loki Familia also be such a clever mind?

That would be too terrifying!

The frightened dog-girl Lulune was unaware that Leo wasn't some kind of strategist or tactician; he was simply using his foresight to expose the truth from the perspective of the original story.

"----What exactly was that shipment?"

Ais broke her silence and, with suppressed emotions, confronted him with a question.

"I... I don't know what that thing is either!" Lulune shook her head, feeling extremely aggrieved. "The client told me not to ask any more questions and that I absolutely couldn't show it to anyone—"

These words did not deter Ais; instead, they made her fixated on Lulune.

That attitude was practically a blatant message to the other party: hurry up and show it, stop hiding it.

Lulune somewhat reluctant, but considering that this thing had brought her to the brink of death, she had no choice but to reluctantly place the medium-sized bag containing the goods on the ground and open it.

Then, Lulune removed the divider from the bottom compartment of her bag and took out a bag with the opening tied shut.

"Knock knock"

At that moment, Ais's heart inexplicably began to beat faster.

She stared intently at the bag, or rather, at what was inside it, until her breathing became erratic without her realizing it.

Then, the blood began to stir.

Then, my head started to spin.

Her instincts screamed, resisted, and even felt nauseous, making her suddenly want to vomit.

Don't open it!

This thought echoed in Ais's heart, as if she wanted to escape from this place, to escape from that thing.

Unfortunately, by then it was too late to resist.

Under the watchful eyes of both Lulune and Leo, Lulune took the items out of the bag.