The Mystery of the Demon Rats

  “I’m back!”


  “Welcome. We’re in the drawing room.”


  “Understood.”


  Grulf got up quickly as soon as he heard Shia’s voice.

  Then he started to wag his tail and run towards the entrance.

  “Oh, Grulf. How are you?”


  “Groof-groof!”


  “Good boy, good boy.”


  Her cheery voice rang from the door.

  Maybe Grulf liked Shia so much because she was a wolf beastkin.

  I felt like he had taken to her especially well.

  And the two of them played by the main entrance for quite some time.

  And so we just continued our conversation.

  Luchila said,

  “Hmm. If we can’t go to the palace, how will you get the palace alchemists to look at it?”


  “I’ll have to ask Eric.”


  “I don’t think it’s important enough to ask His Majesty directly. You should tell daddy.”


  Goran was a noble and the grand master of the Adventurer’s Guild.

  He would surely have some connection to the palace alchemists.

  “I guess I’ll go visit your house then. When is Goran likely to be back?”


  “Ohh. But I think daddy might try and visit you here. You might just miss each other.”


  “I doubt that. Goran is very busy.”


  “I don’t think he’s that busy.”


  Serulis said seriously.

  It was hard to imagine, but I suddenly had the suspicion that Serulis believed Goran had a lot of free time.

  I should probably clear things up.

  “No. Serulis. Goran is very busy.”


  “Oh, that’s not what I meant. I think he would come and visit you no matter how busy he was.”


  “I don’t think he would. He’ll probably go home and sleep.”


  I did think Goran would come and visit us often.

  However, it would probably be during his days off. I didn’t think he would come here on a weekday without any reason to.

  “Still, I think daddy will come here.”


  Serulis said stubbornly.

  As we argued like this, Shia and Grulf entered the room.

  Grulf looked so happy to see Shia.

  “I’m back!”


  “Welcome back.”


  “How did the demon rat hunt go?”


  “About that. ……There were so many giant demon rats.”


  “Ohhhh. What a horrible thing. So, did you find them?”


  “Not at all.”


  Shia and Serulis began talking about something the rest us did not understand.

  “Cluck!”


  Gerberga clucked loudly.

  I felt as if he were telling them to explain things clearly.

  “Pardon me, Lord Gerberga. I wanted Serulis to see if any of the missing people were hiding in the sewers.”


  “That’s right. Do you know how the city guards watch the entrances closely? I think it would be difficult for most people to enter the sewers without there being a record of it.”


  “That is true.”


  I agreed and Serulis continued.

  “I was talking with Shia, and we agreed that the sewers were the perfect place for someone who wanted to hide their whereabouts.”


  “I see.”


  “Though, there was no one down there……”


  Luchila said seriously.

  “Is it possible that they were gobbled up by the demon rats?”


  “.……”


  The room fell silent. And it wasn’t because Luchila had said something stupid.

  Actually, it seemed almost too likely.

  Imagining people being eaten by demon rats was what made everyone fall silent.

  “I guess there was plenty of food to allow all that growth……”


  Shia said with a stern look.

  Maybe they had become so big by eating people. They had not even left any bones to be discovered.

  Just then, Milka said,

  “Hmmm. But I didn’t see anyone else when I was in the sewers.”


  “Is that right?”


  “Yes. Not a single person. That’s why I thought it was so comfortable.”


  “Wait a second.”


  Serulis said in confusion.

  “It was just last night that Milka invaded this house, wasn’t it?”


  “Yes.”


  So much had happened, that it had seemed like a long time ago.

  However, it had really just been one day.

  “But Milka wasn’t eaten by the demon rats yesterday. Wouldn’t that mean that they must have infested the sewers in large numbers between then and now?”


  “.……Rats breed like rabbits, but that’s too fast.”


  “One day……no, if it had been a few hours late, then Milka would have been rat food.”


  “.……Oh-oh, no.”


  Milka said with a pale face.

  “You must be so relieved.”


  Serulis said as she hugged Milka and gently patted her on the head.

  “Then they must have traveled from somewhere else. Otherwise, they couldn’t have increased so rapidly in one day.”


  “That’s also unlikely, but still more realistic than rapid breeding.”


  Just then, Shia looked at the desk.

  “Hm? And what is this thing? No, could it be……”


  Shia looked at the wooden box with the object inside.

  “Ahh, this was made from fragments we collected from the corpses of the demon rats.”


  “.……”


  Shia looked at it silently.

  “We have no idea what it is for. Do you know, Shia?”


  “.……This resembles an idol used to summon the Evil God…… That is what I think.”


  “Evil God?”


  “The god of the dark ones. It is one of the pillars.”


  Shia said a most frightening thing.