“Hey, you.”

“...You’re… a god, aren’t you?”

Sensing an aura that clearly wasn’t human, I guessed the one speaking to me was a god.

Messy, feathery hair and a slightly flashy look.

What does he want with me?

“Woah! You see through it in one shot? My name’s Eren. Could it be that you're that level 2 guy people have been talking about lately?”

“I don’t know if I’m being talked about but yeah, my level is 2.”

A skill that overturns the common sense of ‘you can’t lie to gods.’

With it, I calmly lied straight to a god.

“...I see, I seeeeee. Nice, very nice. This meeting of ours.”

“...What are you talking about?”

“The moment I saw you, I got this chill, you know… A kid walking alone in times like these, that kind of guts is impressive.”

Getting treated like a kid is annoying.

I’m definitely a ten-year-old child.

But in times like these where you get called out just for walking outside, it’s a pain.

“What do you want to say?”

“Because it’s times like these. How you think, how you get stained. And what kind of ‘answer’ you end up with… Ahh, I’m insanely interested.”

There was no malice.

No hostility either.

But his way of talking got on my nerves.

What is this god?

“Ah! Kiyo~!!”

Then from behind Eren, I heard Anya’s voice.

Anya from the Ganesha Familia was someone I’d gotten a little acquainted with at the inspection when entering Orario.

It’s not like we’re especially close and it’s not like we’re on bad terms either.

If you put it in words, we’re just acquaintances.

“Looks like you’ve got company, so I’ll head off. See you again.”

With that said, Eren crossed past me and walked off somewhere.

And setting Eren aside, I turned my face toward Anya, who came running up from the front.

“Was that person someone you know?”

“No. I dropped something and he picked it up, so I just thanked him.”

“Yeah? Then that’s fine but no it’s not fine! Kiyo, this is a dangerous place right now. You heard the explosion just now, right? If Lady Artemis is with you, that’s one thing but walking around alone is dangerous.”

Is it fine or not fine?

I really want her to make up her mind.

Still, Anya is lively.

Even after dealing with an explosion like that, she’s still scattering smiles this easily.

“The place I’m staying was close to the blast site, so I had Artemis evacuate to the Guild.”

“Oh, that’s what it was? Then it’s fine now! We caught them all!”

“Then it’s fine to go back to the inn now?”

“Yeah. That’s right! Crime has been happening a lot lately, so be careful. If you’re in trouble, you can rely on me too! Alright, I’m going back to my patrol, so see you!”

With that, she briskly left.

She was like the wind.

Patrol, huh.

In a lawless zone where people die as easily as breathing and screams never stop, even children who aren’t adults yet have to be sent out on patrol and in that situation, patrol.

What can a mere level 3 do?

There are plenty of people stronger than Anya all over the place.

“Alright then, I’ll go pick up Artemis.”

I muttered in a voice no one could hear.

* * *

These days, even inside the Dungeon there’s something called ‘adventurer hunting.’

So while keeping an eye out for them, I still have to go down there.

If you go to the deep floors, ‘adventurer hunters’ are almost...no, completely nonexistent.

And on the way down, if an ‘adventurer hunter’ spots me, I make sure to kill them, so rumors about me won’t spread.

That day, I returned to the inn with Artemis.

And in this city that kept getting worse, I restarted my life.

And it draws closer, little by little.

I don’t know that during this time, Freya and Loki… were fighting the dark faction’s executives.

* * *

I thought.

Using the information I had, I thought about why the expanding dark faction was able to grow so much.

Why were they expanding and spreading their influence so quickly?

And I came to one conclusion.

“Artemis, isn’t it the ‘merchants’ who come and go from the city that are lending power to the dark faction?”

There’s definitely a force that wants to turn Orario into a ‘lawless city.’

A force aiming for ‘the downfall of the Guild.’

“You mean?”

After several more days had passed, Artemis and I were sitting across from each other in our room, talking.

“In Orario, negotiating drop items is allowed. But any trade involving ‘magic stones’ is completely forbidden.”

“Yeah, even though it’s the Labyrinth City, business related to the Dungeon is restricted.”

“In other words, for many merchants, the Guild that cracks down on that becomes an obstacle.”

Orario’s magic stone product industry is exactly why it’s called ‘the center of the world’ and the economic impact is beyond measure.

Because Orario can obtain an endless supply of ‘magic stones’ from the Dungeon, it became the richest city in the Lower World.

And is there anyone who wouldn’t look favorably on a business that treasure, more valuable than gold ingots?

...The answer is no.

Merchants are the type of people who will do anything, even war and even human lives, for their own ‘profit.’

“So they’d encourage Orario’s chaos for short-term profit...”

I can’t say I don’t understand the merchant mindset.

People’s true nature is that everyone seeks their own benefit and prioritizes it.

That’s why people say that those who wave around ‘justice’ are ‘hypocrites.’

Merchants are just living by their desires.

And for that, they’ll use any means.

In a sense, it’s a correct way to live.

To be honest, I also think that kind of way of living is the best.

“But if we assume the Guild is defeated, then who manages the Dungeon? If adventurers die, then who… can defeat the ‘Black Dragon’?”

“Who knows…”

“Orario’s collapse equals the world’s collapse. In a way, that’s a very ‘human’ way to live. But why would merchants help the dark faction?”

That’s true.

If so, then there should have been any number of times they could have tried to overthrow the city.

So I formed a hypothesis.

If you don’t know, start with a hypothesis and think from there.

That was a foundational thing I learned at the facility.

“This is only a hypothesis but isn’t it because there’s a ‘force that can replace adventurers’? If merchants set their eyes on the ‘huge force’ behind the dark faction, investing in them makes sense. It’s forceful but it’s a coherent line, right? It’s a simple prediction, though.”

For some reason, I felt confident in this hypothesis.

Why?

“A strong group that can replace adventurers… something that could seize Orario even after the Guild is gone… The dark faction’s suspicious movements now. Collusion with merchants. A powerful, large existence. If you include their schemes outside the city too, it all lines up. Then that means they exist...”

“A troublesome ‘god’...”

At Artemis’s words, I suddenly remembered that male god… Eren.

“Hey, Artemis.”

“What is it?”

“Do you know a god named Eren?”

When I said that, Artemis’s eyes widened.

It wasn’t a look of her wondering why I knew the name.

“Why do you ask?”

“I ran into him in the city. Even though he looked flashy, he was the kind of guy who got on my nerves, so I remember him clearly.”

“Haa, I’ll tell you. I hate the male god named Eren. I hate him. When I was in Heaven, he kept bothering me every chance he got and he was gross. He knew I hated men and he still did it.”

“I see. Better to be cautious, then.”

“Yeah, he’s the kind of guy you can’t tell what he’s thinking.”

God Eren.

He hasn’t done anything especially evil but if he becomes a harmful existence to me, I’ll erase him.

“There’s no point thinking about a god who isn’t here right now. What will we do today? Are you diving into the Dungeon?”

Since there wasn’t concrete information, I understood there was no point in talking more and Artemis changed the subject, anticipating that.

“That’s fine too but I was thinking of walking around outside today… how about you, Artemis?”

“Patrol, huh, sounds good. I’ll come with you.”

It’s not really patrol but for now, that’s fine.

There are quite a few people I want to have points of contact with while I can, so I decided to go outside.

They should still be patrolling the city, so if I look a little, I should be able to meet them.

“Then get ready.”

“Ready for what? There’s nothing in particular to bring, is there? As long as you have your dagger, Kiyo...and if we bring a little money too, we won’t have problems.”

“...Yeah.”

Hearing Artemis say that, I realized preparation wasn’t needed.

When we went outside, maybe because the aftermath of the factory explosion still lingered, the sky was still dim.

Just a dark sky was enough to stir up anxiety in the public.

There were clearly fewer residents outside.

Because incidents had happened one after another, anxiety was accelerating.

So most people were holding back from going out and spending their time inside their homes.

“There really seem to be fewer people lately.”

“Of course, there was that explosion and I’ve heard petty crime has been increasing after that too.”

While looking around the city, I touched on the current situation a little.

“Big Familias like Freya’s and Loki’s seem to be completely tied up with the dark faction… But the Astraea Familia and the Ganesha Familia really do patrol a lot.”

“Putting Ganesha aside, Astraea’s people are carrying the banner of ‘justice’. They probably can’t not patrol.”

So was it obligation that made Alise and the others patrol?

The answer is no.

Each one of them has their own ‘justice’ inside themselves.

It’s like a symbol of their convictions.

And they patrol every day wishing that ‘evil’ will disappear from this city.

When ‘evil’ disappears from the city, only then will their patrol truly become unnecessary.

“Ah, it’s Kiyo and Lady Artemis is with you today too?”

After walking for a bit, I ran into one of the people I was looking for, the red-haired girl… Alise.

Not just Alise.

Ryuu, Kaguya, Lyra.

Four people, eight eyes, all focused on me and Artemis.

“So this is the boy the captain was talking about?”

“Yeah! I met him for the first time when I was patrolling near the Dungeon entrance with Ryuu the other day.”

“Heeey, so it’s a brat like this, huh.”

The one with short light-pink hair said that while looking at me.

Her height wasn’t that different from mine.

Our eye level was almost the same and our gazes crossed.

“Lyra, I hate to say it but Kiyo is level 2 just like you, you know?”

“No, no, I didn’t mean anything by it. If it bothered you, I’ll apologize. My bad.”

She raised one hand and apologized but I didn’t care, so it didn’t matter.

“No, it’s fine… so what were you all doing?”

I could guess but I used it as material to develop the conversation.

“Patrolling! You know there have been more bad people lately, right? So we’re patrolling the city!”

“I see… how long are you going to patrol?”

That question had two meanings.

First, until what time are they patrolling.

Second, until when are they going to keep doing this patrol work.

“What do you mean by that?”

Ryuu questioned me with a suspicious look.

“Exactly what I said. Right now you’re providing unpaid service for this city. Then I wonder when the time comes that you stop providing unpaid service.”

At my grown-up way of talking, Alise and Kaguya gave wry smiles and Lyra laughed pretty loudly.

And the one who answered was—

“...Of course, until ‘evil’ disappears. When true peace comes to the city, our patrol will no longer have meaning.”

It was Ryuu.

“So it’s not until your ‘sense of justice’ disappears, huh?”

At my question, Ryuu made a face of ‘disgust.’

“What are you trying to say?”

“Service without asking for anything in return is just painful. If you ask me, it’s extremely unhealthy and warped, so I had some thoughts.”

I looked away as if to say I hadn’t even noticed Ryuu sharpening her gaze.

“When you’re healthy and energetic, it might still be fine. But when you’re exhausted in mind and body, can you still say the same thing?”

“So what, Kiyo, you looking to pick a fight with us?”