“The neighboring town… you mean that Union Street?”

Union Street.

Unlike this town of Torumin, which is relatively quiet and sees little foot traffic, it is a place where industries such as factories have developed and many people visit.

Why would a place like that—

“We still don’t know the reason… however, in order to guide this situation toward a resolution, even if only a little, we would like to ask you all to investigate it. Would you be willing to accept?”

Citrine bowed her head and pleaded with us.

Since this wasn’t a request made through the Association, it wasn’t really a good thing to do in principle, but…

“Understood. We’ll accept it.”

That’s what I said.

There’s a Misora next to me saying, “Wait!?” but one way or another, she’ll probably come along.

“Thank you very much!! Then, we’ll make the necessary preparations on our end, so we appreciate your cooperation!!”

“Also, would it be better if I kept Karua with me for the time being?”

“Huh?”

Karua-chan looked surprised.

Of course, we’ve shared with Citrine everything we’ve done up to now, so she agreed that it would be better not to bring Karua along to a battlefield.

“In that case, we can relax too! Right, senpai?”

“Yeah… then please take care of Karua-chan.”

“Huh?”

Leaving the still-confused Karua-chan in Citrine’s care, we headed out to investigate.

* * *

“Eh?”

I was fully planning to come along though?

Come to think of it, something like this happened before too.

“You can’t do that, Karua-san. You have to properly listen to what your guardians say.”

If you weren’t an enemy, I’d actually feel pretty relieved right now…

“…Saint, why did you release monsters into the Union?”

I already know the reason.

But somehow, I wanted to hear it directly from her mouth.

After that pasted-on smile warped slightly,

“No matter how much you’re Aruka-san’s favorite, I can’t say that〜 Well, it would be a bit troublesome if you went over there, so let’s head to Lady Kuneria’s place〜”

Huh?

She didn’t open the meeting room door…

Instead, she punched a hole straight through the wall, grabbed me, carried me—wait, this is a fireman’s carry.

The Saint just went straight through that hole and beyond it was—

“I’m back〜”

“Uweh! …Oh, it’s Citrine and—oh! Well well.”

There was the sight of a bokukko girl sprawled out on a sofa that looked like it could utterly ruin a person.

Is this really the near-top of the strength rankings?

* * *

After leaving Karua-chan behind, we headed to Union Street—not on foot, but riding in a carriage pulled by horse-shaped monsters arranged by Citrine.

It was surprisingly comfortable without much rattling along the way, but…

After being rocked for a while, the outside suddenly became noisy.

Then, with a loud clatter, the carriage came to an abrupt stop and a shock ran through the small compartment we were riding in.

“Ow! What was that!?”

“Did the horse suddenly stop? For now, should we check outside?”

We got down from the carriage and looked outside and there—

“Oho! Boss!! This one’s a real catch!”

“And there’s three of ’em. Looks like today’s our lucky day.”

What was probably the reason the carriage had stopped—a slightly filthy-looking pair—stood before us.

“Who are you people?”

“Huh? You don’t know us? The infamous Yoteru-sama—this big guy here is him!!”

I really don’t know.

“Who’s that supposed to be?”

Right?

Leaving aside the large man who was staring in shock going “Wha!?” Misora said something, so I listened again.

“Wanted criminal Yoteru and his associates. Charges include… kidnapping, corpse disposal, murder… there were plenty of others too.”

Hearing that, the man suddenly became cheerful.

“So the blonde young lady knows about me! That’s right, I’m Yoteru himself. Relax. It’d be a waste to kill you three, so I’ll let you live. Though you might end up wishing you were dead! Gahahahaha!!!”

“How vulgar. It makes me sick.”

Moe is unusually hurling insults.

I feel the same way.

“Since we’re heading to the Union anyway, should we toss them into prison on the way?”

“Heh, try it! Will you shove me into a pigsty first, or will I shove myself into you first—guess which!?”

Disgusting.

We should just jump over an obstacle like this and hurry to the city.

* * *

Around now, is that old guy dead yet?

If things follow the original story, they’d be getting stopped by thugs along the road.

They were normally strong—or rather troublesome—so a lot of things were set up around that, but now that I’m in this world, that won’t happen.

Even if it did, I’d just kill them!!

Well, I can’t get out right now though…

Before I knew it, I was drawn toward the spot where the bokukko girl had been lying down and I was sitting next to her, lazing around as well.

“So? What do you think of the custom-made cushion I ordered?”

It’s seriously the best… I could even roll over…

I won’t roll over though!?

“I can tell just by that expression, even without you saying anything. Right, Aruka?”

‘Yeah.’

Whoa, when did she get here?

I didn’t notice Aruka-chan sitting near the edge of the large cushion, so it startled me a bit.

“By the way, while we’re at it, I’ve got another request for you. You’ll take it, right?”

Aruka-chan said something like that too.

Something about being asked by the bokukko girl.

“There are still some remnants of my grandpa’s faction hanging around〜 such a pain. So, Citrine, lead the way please♪”

And with that, I was carried off again to another location.

It was only about three seconds, but based on the lightly explained contents during that time—

Basically, “defeat some huge thing!”

It seems Kyuu-chan stopped reacting, so she thinks it’s dead.

Since we completed the last request, she wants us to do this one too, apparently.

Why did you accept something like this… Aruka-chan…

Tell me already〜

Complaining won’t solve anything, so we arrive at the destination and face forward.

Huh?

This is Union Street.

The beautiful city that had been described so much is heavily destroyed.

Wait, does that mean we got ahead of the protagonist?

Then the thing I have to defeat now is—

Thud, thud… a huge sound approaches from behind.

Well, yeah… figures……

Turning around to look at this time’s opponent, there stood—

A golem made of rock, about five times my height.

This thing isn’t a gemstone and it’s not even a living creature!! Give me a break already!!