...how could this happen?


　The girl named Misa, who had spoken with Tsutomu the other day instead of Riki, got up early in the morning with a gloomy look on her face. Her face never clears as she brushes her shaggy hair, unable to go to the public baths, which she had enjoyed every three days. It's no exaggeration to say that today was the day Tsutomu had called her out, and it was the day that would determine her fate.

　Abandoned to the slums as a child, Misa had survived in the harshest of environments by belonging to a group and taking on men. Fortunately, her eyesight wasn't that bad, so she was good at taking in someone.

　Thanks to this, he was able to get into the good graces of Riki, who was a key figure in a strong group of orphans, and he was lucky enough to escape to the Maze City through the help of a merchant. It was a very fortunate thing, since the organization above Riki during the Stampede had been exposed by the military and had been unable to make a living.

　And in a place called God's Dungeon, which was like something out of a fairy tale, they had managed to find a way to bring together the numerous orphans who had come with them to survive. In the mysterious dungeon where you can be brought back to life even if you die, you somehow manage to collect rubbish magic stones and earn money at the exchange.

　There were times when I felt as cramped as I did in King's Landing, but it was better that there was no bloody war between orphans. The orphans in the Labyrinth City weren't hungry enough to cause a war for the amount of money they could earn in the God's Dungeon to some extent, so they didn't have the enemies of Riki and the others who were making a wide berth in the King's Capital.

　The fact that the world below is still the same, but still, the orphans formed a group and were able to live without pickpocketing or robbing people like they did in King's Landing. These days, they can even afford to take a public bath every few days, so there is finally a glimmer of hope for the future.

　However, that life changed drastically one day. It all started when Riki unintentionally blurted out something in the guild, and unfortunately, Tsutomu blamed him for it and called him out. At that time, Misa managed to subdue Riki and talk him out of it, but rumors of a dispute between Tsutomu and the orphans soon spread.


'Wow!　You've been saying that to that guy!
Heck, he wasn't even that big of a deal. You could have beaten him in a fight.


　The orphans under Riki's umbrella praise him for coming back safely after fighting with Tsutomu. Riki was delighted to see that he was the orphan that Tsutomu had been talking to.

　However, the next day, something strange happened at the Magic Stone Exchange, one of the few places that didn't change their attitude towards the dirty orphans.


''Oh, I won't buy your stuff anymore. Can you leave?
'What?　Why!


　The dwarf girl, the owner of the shop who had dealt with the orphans without looking at their feet until now, said shrilly and thrust back the scrap demon stone they had collected. The brown-skinned shopkeeper looked at her in disgust as Riki voiced his surprise at her sudden refusal.


''You guys picked a fight with that Tsutomu, didn't you?　I won't have anything to do with you guys anymore, because it would be a big loss for me if I displease him and he won't sell me the magic stones. When you understand, just leave quickly.
Wait a minute. We didn't mean to pick a fight. And she didn't seem to be angry either, and she told me to get together again later.


　Misa looks flustered and makes an excuse, but the shopkeeper seems completely unwilling to listen to the argument.


''That's your subjective view, right?　Can you believe it?　And I've met Tsutomu a few times too, but that guy doesn't show his anger on his face. Huh, I'm sorry to hear you're fighting with that guy of all people.
Yeah, is that what he does?　I'm not at all...


　She looked at Riki's words as if she had a stinker in front of her.


'It seems like you can't talk to an idiot about anything. 'Misa, was it?　He said he wants us to get together at a later date, so give it up. He is also merciless towards women and children, so there's nothing we can do about it. .........Come to think of it, the raccoon boy doesn't even have a face anymore, and I wonder if he took care of it while it was no longer being talked about. Scary, scary.
..........


　She finally blurted things out and cleared her hands, and the strong gatekeeper's man made an intimidating sound as he poked the ground with a spear stone prod. The loud and powerful sound startled Riki and Meesa, and they immediately left the Demon Stone Exchange Station with the orphans.

　After that, I was turned away from the equipment store that bought the equipment that had fallen on one level and so on, and the potion shop that bought the herbs that could be collected in the dungeon because of the dispute with Tsutomu. In addition, the people who bought the junk from me almost caught me, so Misa and her friends had to run back to their hideout.


What are we going to do?　No one will buy me out!　It's not good as it is!


　Although the spectators still call Tsutomu an annoying annoyance and take him lightly, he has a great connection with those in the industry whose explorers are his customers. For the past year, Tsutomu has been a good customer from the point of view of the merchants and artisans who patrol the market once a week and buy things related to the dungeon.

　Many of the magic tool developers, especially those who bought the junk, were able to make a living because of Tsutomu's investment. Therefore, many of them tried to catch the orphans who had a dispute with Tsutomu.

　It's very difficult to get a good idea of what to do with it. While the orphans around them were making a big fuss, Misa tapped Riki's shoulder, whose face was pale.


''........Riki. That guy was like a boss.''
But...
You've seen that today. I don't blame you for anything. It's very narrow-minded of him to blame you for that. But when you see Tsutomu the day after tomorrow, you will apologize to him with all your might. Maybe, Riki. You have to bow to him. Otherwise we're really done for.
Oh...


　Riki stared back at Misa's words, which she had uttered while looking at her friends admonishing the orphans who were originally in the labyrinth city, with a determined look in her eyes. He already knew from today's events that he was in an unpleasant situation because of the wrong person to pick a fight with. If they didn't, they wouldn't be able to survive in the labyrinth city, and the words of the dwarves at the Demon Stone Exchange were still ringing in their ears.

　Then Riki and the others shrugged their shoulders for a few days, but managed to survive without being caught while searching for information about Tsutomu. They learned that Tsutomu had plunged a female newspaper reporter into debt a year ago, and that he had connections with the people behind the scenes at the Sollitto Corporation. The connections seemed particularly frightening, especially since Riki and the others knew the people behind the scenes.

　Riki and the others, having been reminded that they were just beyond the cliff, could only despair. It was far beyond what they could manage. In the midst of all this, the sense that it was over for Misa, too, was growing stronger.


(Really, what should I do........)


　Meesa couldn't help but think about the feeling of being trapped the more she searched for information. She wondered if she could somehow be let off the hook, but she couldn't come up with a good plan.

　If it comes to this, I have no choice but to apologize anyway. The four of them, who had no choice but to agree with Riki who had decided to do so, had gathered at the guild ten minutes before the time Tsutomu had designated. But when Tsutomu was already seated at the designated place, the five of them looked at each other with a look on their faces, wondering what to do. Finally, their gaze was drawn to Riki, but his face was pale.


''Ah, um,''
Oh, there you are.


　When Riki froze and showed no sign of moving, Tsutomu turned around when Misa called out to him with a wilful intention. Like a slave-trader who treats people as a commodity, narrow eyes that measure a person's worth. Myssa's knees involuntarily started to tremble when she was given such a look.

　I thought I had prepared myself in many ways. Even in the royal capital, there were several occasions when I was almost killed. But the unknowable Tsutomu still holds my heart, and I'm afraid that I can't imagine what he might do to me.


'....for now, why don't you sit down?


　And as Tsutomu crossed his legs and looked down on them in an intimidating manner, Meesa and the others followed his instructions with fear.


　oooh.


(...these guys aren't do-it-yourself orphans, are they?)


　Unlike the other day, Tsutomu gave a quizzical look to Riki, who was sitting in his seat looking completely deflated. He had made preparations without cutting out the young Garum as his opponent, but when he saw the orphans shaking like livestock before they were slaughtered, Tsutomu's venom was drained out of his mind.

　The orphan PT members are Riki, who has a long face and strong-looking face, and a frail-looking boy. The PT consists of two men and three women. However, the girls seem to be daring to defend themselves by getting themselves dirty, and since their faces and clothes are dirtier than Riki's, it's difficult to discern their gender. Tsutomu also thought there was only one girl until he asked his informant about it.

　Since the informant told him about many other things, he knows that the orphans are currently in a difficult situation. That it was no longer possible to use the magic stone exchange and other shops. That was tantamount to no longer having a source of income for them, as they didn't have a status card.

　Yes, they don't even have a status card. I've heard that they are outstanding among the orphans, so I thought that they were at least twenty levels above the highest level, but since they don't have a status card, even the highest level is unknown to begin with.

　You can join a team in a dungeon if you're lucky, even if you don't have a status card. However, it's impossible to join up with a hierarchical master, so it's unlikely you'll ever break through the ten levels.

　Whenever such information comes out, Tsutomu thinks that there is no way that would be the case, so yesterday he went all the way to the magic stone exchange station where the dwarf girl is located for a long time and asked her about it. However, she also told me that those guys aren't much different from those kids, and Tsutomu's enthusiasm for them was slipping away.

　Perhaps they were not the source of the rumors. I'm not sure if I'm wrong, but I came here with a little bit of hope that my guesses were correct, but it's clear that the people who are trembling in front of me are not. Rather, they are the ones who danced to that rumor.


''Huh........''


　When Tsutomu sighed involuntarily in recognition of this, the orphans jumped their shoulders with a jolt. Riki and Misa's faces stiffened, while the other three had crying faces. A particularly feeble looking boy was already sniffling and was about to start ranting and crying.

　This is completely like a scene where he is torturing the orphans. If Garum had been the gatekeeper in the guild, he would have been called out for sure. Tsutomu stopped crossing his legs with a completely deflated look on his face at the thought of it.


''At any rate, I don't intend to do anything about you guys, so you can rest assured. It looks like I was mistaken, too.


　That being said, the tension in the orphans didn't dissipate at all. Instead, I looked at their faces, which were getting crumpled up more and more, and wondered what was going on. Although he brought Diniel with him as an escort, I don't think she would be able to faze the child. It's more like she's going to be scared with that straight face.


(How did that happen?)


　In this case, I should have brought the good-natured Amy and Daryl with me. Besides, regretting that I should have been honest about the source of the rumor without worrying about the physicality of the informant, Tsutomu took the orphans outside with the eyes of the people around him.