Excuse me, are you there, Mr. Military Police?

　A military police officer appears from the military police house at a languid call.

Oh, Mr. Lasse, how can I help you?

　It was Lasse who came to the military police house.

"I just brought you some new ones in.

　Saying that, Lasse shows you what he had in his back pocket.

Again. That's a lot lately.

　An MP looking at it with a disgusted look.
　Lasse's arrival was human.
　They were human beings wrapped in ropes.

Will the charges be the usual trespassing and assault on the premises and theft, as usual?

Yes, that's all I ask. I'll assume the bail is for a set of their property.

　The military police go through the documents with a practiced hand, describing the charges against the men.
　Yes, they were thieves.
　Specifically, they were adventurers who had come to steal materials for the demons living at the ranch in Lasse.

It was a misunderstanding!　We've been asked to exterminate a demon that has taken up residence here!

　An adventurer claims his innocence.

"Sure, sure, that's a lie because I heard that when I got the other adventurers. Besides, you know that the Reisses' ranch is fenced in, so you know it's private property, right?　If there wasn't, then we're going to have to find out where it came from, right?　And the name of the client?　What's the look?　If you've been asked to do this, you have a meeting place to meet to get paid, right?

"......

　The adventurer is unable to say anything to the military police, who slurps out denials and questions as if they were repeated over and over again.

"I already know that I happened to hear that if you guys go to the town where the dragon wielders live, you can steal all the demon materials you want.

　Many adventurers have gathered in Dexter's town to get the materials for the monsters that Lasse follows.
　For some reason, they all happen to have heard that Lasse has many demons with her, and that a legendary dragon is among them.
　And since they are demons, it shouldn't be a problem to get the materials on the ground.

　Who would believe such a dreamy story that you might be able to get the materials of a dragon with minimal risk?
　Normally, no one would believe this nonsense about a dragon living next door to a city and being able to get as much material as he wants.

　Unfortunately, there was one fact that made adventurers believe the rumor.
　In the city of Dexhi, dragons are said to work as carriages.
　While this may seem like a scandal, many traveling merchants claim this is true and say they too have ridden in the dragon carriage.
　Apparently there was a hefty price to pay for the ride, and only big merchants who made a certain amount of money would testify, adding to the authenticity of the story.

　If you're dealing with a dragon that's docile enough to take people on, you could probably scale them in their sleep.　And .

　As a result, many people, regardless of occupation, gathered at night in the city of Dexhi, dreaming of getting rich.

You will pay him for all your personal belongings as a nuisance. Then he'll sell the unwanted items to the town's pawnbroker and you'll have to work to repay him if you want them back.

That's tyranny!　What right do you have to go that far!

　The adventurers make a strong protest, but the gendarme shrugs it off like the wind in a willow.

"A thief is whipped 100 times, and assaulting a resident's pet is the same as assaulting a family member, so the charge of assault is a two-year labor sentence, and most importantly, this is a nobleman, so breaking into a nobleman's house, theft, or assault is a felony. Death or criminal slavery is the order of the day.

What?

　When they heard that Lasse was a nobleman, the adventurers rolled their eyes and stared at Lasse.

No, actually, he was.

　A one-time honorary aristocrat and a secret to say that he is an honorary aristocrat, Lise returns the nod.

"Ki, nobleman. ......

But there have been so many thieves lately. If we executed or enslaved all those who come to steal, there would be no one left in this country, so we decided to confiscate their belongings and make them understand the importance of work.

　Lasse explains to the adventurers to include the child.
　The adventurers felt a chill in his gentle tone.

That's why I'll report you to the Adventurers' Guild, but after I confiscate your luggage, you'll be released. If you want your money back, you can get a job with the Adventurers' Guild. Oh yeah, you should be careful when selling off rare demon materials in this town. A discerning appraiser will take a closer look at these materials to make sure they don't belong to the demon in Lasse's home.

　The adventurers who had naively thought that they could get their money back quickly by selling the dragon's scales cowered as the military police grinned at them.

　◇

"There's really been a lot of that lately.

　After selling off the adventurer's equipment to the pawn shop as usual, Lasse muttered dismissively, "Yes, there are too many people with bad intentions.

Well, there are too many malicious people gathered here.

　Lamia, who was with the sale, agrees to it.

I'm also curious about the information they happened to hear. It's almost as if someone's luring people to me. And with bad intentions.

"Master Lasse, have you done anything to offend anyone lately?

　Ramirez asks questions that are outlandish.

Hmm, what do you think?　I wonder if he's related to his military days?

　As long as he was in the war, there was no guarantee that he would not be held against people.
　That's why Lasse has been unable to identify the culprit.

"Well, if you take the people who are caught like this and throw them out, word will spread and they will understand that stealing is not worth it.

What do you think?　Isn't it rather counterproductive?

　Against an optimistic Lasse, Lamia questions.

"Is it counterproductive?



Yes, in that case, more people are going to be motivated by the fact that no matter how much they fail, they're going to make it out alive.

"......

　Convinced that this might be the case, Lasse is silent.

"Why don't you just accept it in a big way?

"Accept?

"Yes!

　Lasse rolls his eyes when he hears that you're accepting thieves.

"I'm running a demon material shop. Don't you think we can make enough money selling our demons' shedding hair, scales, and other unwanted items as demon materials?

What?

　This was an eye-opener for Lasse.
　The idea was just mind-blowing. I've always thought of selling trash, but I never thought of selling unwanted materials from my family.

We could also fight the demons directly for the materials. Of course, in order to avoid serious injury to each other, we will minimize the danger by crushing the blade of the weapon. In this case, how about paying a fee and stealing materials from the demon's lair and returning to the entrance within the time limit?

I'm getting a lot of ideas.

If the number of thieves doesn't decrease, it's better to turn thieves into customers so they won't resent you.

　Lasse was deeply impressed by Lamia's idea of what to expect later on.

Then the main attraction is the dragon's slipping scale. Since fighting can be a hassle for some people, we should have separate spaces for living and adventuring on the grounds.

Yes. I don't want the dryads to be angry at me for trashing the house.

　There are many demons who extremely dislike the fact that their territory is being violated.
　That is why Lasse and his team carefully devised a plan to use the premises.

All right, now we'll talk to the Adventurer's Guild and ask them to inform us.

"So you fill in the bad news!

That's the thing!

　Thus, a new product for dealing with demonic materials, the "Adventurer's Race," was added to Rise's farm.