Chapter 38
Chapter 38. The First Secret Plan (2)
There was a commotion from dawn.
"Serena disappeared?"
Penelope, who had been fixing her disheveled hair in a half-asleep state, rushed out with a feeling like cold water had been dumped on her the moment she heard Manager Ritz's message.
When she arrived at the workshop by car, Jurgen and the Renoir Workshop employees were already having a conversation with dark expressions.
Penelope practically ran to squeeze herself between them.
"What happened?"
"Th, that... is..."
The workshop employee explained the circumstances, almost sobbing.
The team members, unable to watch any longer, had half-pushed her to take a rest.
But Serena, who had said she was heading straight home, suddenly disappeared.
The butler from the Renoir main house also said he'd never seen her coming or going.
Penelope's eyes narrowed as she heard this far.
She'd predicted this to some extent.
Blyton had burned down the general store and sent an undertaker.
She'd figured that bastard Rex, being cut from the same cloth, could also mobilize force.
The Renoir family was a viscountcy, and although nominally nobles, they weren't a family the Gray Council couldn't touch.
That's why she'd hired bodyguards from the Adventurers Union to attach to Serena...
"Where are the bodyguards? What were they doing?"
"Well, they were by her side the whole time, but it happened to be dinner time..."
"She moved without saying anything, so there was nothing we could do."
"You call that an excuse?"
Penelope interrogated them, speaking rapidly without raising her voice.
"What bodyguard takes their eyes off their protection target to eat? This won't be passed over lightly."
To Jurgen, Penelope was a cute young lady with sloppy sides, but the Penelope in rumors was a tremendous noble equal to or greater than the Gray Council.
The bodyguards turned pale.
"What are you doing? If your client went missing, shouldn't you at least pretend to search instead of standing here?"
"Yes!"
"We'll, we'll request support right now!"
Penelope barely held back the urge to spew curses.
To think they'd be this useless after she'd hired them with expensive money!
No.
The timing of the kidnapping, when the guard was precisely empty, was also unnatural.
Perhaps they'd been bought off.
She would definitely investigate the truth of this part and hold them responsible later.
"Jurgen, what do you think?"
"It seems our preparations were lacking."
"Right, to think they'd pull this stunt in the middle of the city..."
"Miss...! Miss Rosemore...!"
Then the employee who'd been sniffling from earlier approached and grabbed Penelope's sleeve.
"Please... Miss Penelope, please find the young lady... I know we should have attended to her properly but... she's weak and timid..."
He pleaded while shedding snot and tears without acting his age.
He seemed to believe only Penelope could save Serena.
"Please, please, I beg you... Isn't, isn't Miss Serena your friend...?"
"..."
Friend.
A friend...
Actually, she wasn't sure if Serena was a friend.
Until Penelope gave her Cola, Serena was just a stranger.
Though she'd often seen her face at various social circles events, they'd never exchanged a word.
Maybe Serena had cursed Penelope when gossiping together with others, and probably if it weren't for Cola, she would never have approached first.
Even after that, they'd only been together because of mutual interests, and she couldn't particularly remember having a serious heart-to-heart conversation.
Wasn't friendship that kind of thing that only appeared in fairy tales anyway?
"Miss Penelope, what do you intend to do?"
Speaking coldly, at this point Serena wasn't an absolutely necessary person.
She only knew about the secret plan in fragments, so there was no worry that all the information would leak out.
Even if Rex extracted the core technology from Serena, Belheim had promised to 'clean up the aftermath' as long as they won the market share war.
With ample funds, a workshop more excellent and larger than Renoir Workshop would accept Y&P's commission.
Though the handover was a bit worrying, they could just toss the work done so far over there and continue.
It might sound petty and cold, but this was a time attack game with tremendous money at stake.
If they wasted time and lost the war with Keystone Company, Penelope and Jurgen would be sitting on a tremendous pile of debt.
The gentle beast Belheim would take everything from Y&P Trading Company according to the special clause.
They'd have to restart not from zero, but from an abysmal pit.
It was a more rational decision to move on to the next step rather than focus on the kidnapping incident.
What was really strange here was...
"What are you asking? Of course we have to save Serena."
Even though these possibilities kept popping into her head, not for a single moment did her heart lean toward the option of 'abandoning Serena.'
"An immediate answer."
"Thank you...! Thank you, Miss Rosemore...!"
Why?
Perhaps it was because when the Cola factory was first completed.
'Hwaaaaang...! Hwaaaaang!'
'Thank goodness... we completed it... so magnificently...'
'Hwaaang, aaaang... if something went wrong... it would be terrible... I was worried...'
Maybe it was because of how Serena had been happy as if it were her own business.
"I'll go to Rex. Jurgen, you stay put at the hotel. It'll be troublesome if they target you too."
"Will you be okay going alone?"
"What's with you? I'm a 5th Rank Alchemist. And that thug Rex must have learned something from watching Blyton."
"Understood."
"You workshop employees spread out as many people as possible to search. Whether it's a villa or under a sofa at home. She might be passed out sleeping somewhere."
"Yes...! Thank you again so much...!"
After giving instructions, Penelope immediately got in a car and headed to Rex's mansion.
The employees also scattered in all directions and ran out to find traces of Serena.
"...Haa."
Jurgen, left alone, sighed deeply and tapped his leather bag.
He'd brought it just in case, but it seemed this incident would require borrowing Vic's power.
—Shhhk
The zipper of the bag opened by itself and shadow-like tentacles crawled out, stretching like yawning.
"Vic, will you help?"
[Candy?]
"Of course I'll give you plenty of candy. Cola too."
[Cola!][Cola!]
Vic waved its tentacles like cheering sticks, delighted.
Normally Jurgen would have smiled, but not today.
"Do you remember Miss Serena's scent?"
[Yes!][Sandalwood][Peppermint][Iris]
"Can you track it?"
Vic, who had been answering excitedly, looked up at Jurgen from the bag gap like a puppy peeking out.
Vic's sense of smell was superior to a trained hunting dog.
If it focused only on smell, it could track a target dozens of kilometers away with just a whiff of body scent.
[Vic][Tired]
"I'll give you lots and lots of candy."
[Tired][Haaam]
But Vic had always terribly hated using its sense of smell.
That's why it always went around doused in perfume until its nose became dull.
Even now, hadn't it immediately shown reluctance the moment tracking was requested?
Jurgen also didn't want to force tracking on Vic except when absolutely necessary.
He wanted to respect Vic's will.
[Sleep]
When Vic, who had been watching cautiously, tried to slip back into the bag.
Jurgen reluctantly said,
"Vic, it's a mission."
[Mission?]
"Yes. A mission."
Vic, who had been about to slack off, hesitated then formed letters with its tentacles.
[Okay][Captain]
"Thanks as always. Please track Serena's scent."
[Target confirmed][Tracking initiated]
Eyes and mouths sprouted densely from the bag gap.
The small mouths opened wide and absorbed surrounding particles like an air purifier.
[This way]
Soon it stretched out a tentacle like a dowsing rod, pointing in a direction.
"..."
He knew this emotion boiling in his chest stemmed from regret or guilt, somewhere around there.
That the series of situations was half due to carelessness and negligence.
That if he'd prepared very thoroughly, it could have been prevented.
That if so, there would have been no need to assign Vic unpleasant work while talking about missions.
He knew it well.
"I'm very angry."
Jurgen would save Serena.
And he would hold those involved in this incident responsible.
***
Penelope found Rex's mansion.
She half-threatened his subordinates who were pathetically trying to intimidate her and barged all the way into the dining room.
"Well, who's this? Isn't it our Mother of Cola?"
Rex, with snake eyes raised, welcomed Penelope.
He was eating lamb dripping with blood, slathered with plenty of mint sauce from the morning.
"How dare you crawl in here!"
"Gutsy bitch!"
"Boss! Just give the order! I'll handle it."
The subordinates lined up behind Rex each raised their voices trying to show off their loyalty, but...
"Shut your traps."
At Penelope's threat, they all shut their mouths in unison and just glared with bulging eyes.
The subordinates also had ears to hear and eyes to see.
Their opponent was the second daughter of Rosemore, whose rumors were fierce in the underworld.
Still, they made the most vicious expressions possible and glared hard to prove they weren't intimidated.
"I won't waste words."
Penelope roughly sat down across the unnecessarily long table and spoke.
"Return Serena."
It was bravado that would have overwhelmed most people, but to Rex it only warranted a sneer.
"Why is a lady from a noble house so rough-mouthed? Who's Serena?"
"Will you remember if I burn this thug den to the ground? If you return her even now, I'll let it pass."
"Hey, miss. I get that you're upset about your failing business, but don't throw tantrums at the dinner table."
Rex judged that Penelope's notoriety was overrated.
Influence over the Gray Council? No such thing.
Cautious Chairman Marcus had convinced the other council members, and Rex had just reluctantly played along.
Family protection? That also didn't exist.
Rosemore wouldn't move unless Rex caused direct harm to Penelope.
Otherwise, wouldn't there have been some kind of restraint when he tried to crush the Cola business she'd worked so hard to build?
The fact that Penelope was a 5th Rank Alchemist? No problem.
Rex had been raising the Black Fang Gang in the Demon Realm over several years.
An outlaw group of 57 vicious criminals.
Among them were five 3rd Rank Knights, one 4th Rank Knight and one 5th Rank Alchemist each, and above all, a priest from 'the Order.'
If she started using violence without justification, Rex's side was ready to show overwhelming violence in return.
In this world, justification was that important.
"Of course, my influence is spread throughout the city. If your side shows sincerity, I might be able to help find this Serena or whatever."
"Cut the bullshit."
Serena's kidnapping.
That was indeed something Rex had ordered.
But there would be no evidence.
He'd used subordinates who handled things cleanly.
A hitman was scheduled to visit the bought-off bodyguard soon too.
By now Serena must have been stuffed in a box and dragged to the Black Fang Gang's den, Rex's main force.
This was both a method to attack Y&P's most vulnerable link and a trick to steal technology.
"No, I'm being serious?"
It was okay to just buy time while gently provoking Penelope, who had nothing but bravado to offer.
Meanwhile, the collaborator dispatched from the Order would extract information from Serena.
No wait.
Was there even a need to borrow the collaborator's hand?
She was a young lady who looked fragile at a glance.
Maybe she was already spilling information.
"Whoa, whoa, calm down and don't get heated. Dialogue, peace, harmony—what wonderful words."
Of course.
That didn't mean Serena would ever return home.
***
Serena, intercepted on her way home from work, immediately had a gag stuffed in her mouth.
A thick sack that didn't let a single ray of light through was pulled over her head.
Her hands and ankles were bound, and without uttering a single word, she was stuffed in a box and dragged somewhere.
It was a typical method to prevent the kidnap victim from identifying their location.
"Huff... huff...!"
Serena thought ceaselessly in the rattling darkness.
Though tears kept flowing and she couldn't breathe properly from fear, it felt like she'd suffocate on terror if she stopped thinking.
What on earth was happening?
With high probability, Gray Council's Rex was involved, right?
Tremendous regret washed over her.
She shouldn't have gotten involved in such a big affair after all.
That damned desire for social advancement had blinded her eyes.
Originally in underworld whale fights, shrimp like Serena were supposed to burst and die...
"Hubrbrbrb..."
Still, there was hope.
Not killing her immediately meant Serena's usefulness hadn't run out.
How many hours had passed?
When sensation in her hands and feet went numb and drool started flowing past the gag.
—Clunk.
The box opened roughly.
"Uuuup! Uuuuuup!!!"
Strong hands roughly removed the sack covering Serena's head and the gag blocking her mouth.
"Sorry, miss. It was stuffy for a long time, right? Originally this doesn't take this long. Ah, damn, got spit on me."
"Why are those customs bastards working so hard lately?"
"Look at those eyes turned into goldfish. Did she drool the whole time?"
Inside a space resembling a cabin.
Two rough men and one woman greeted Serena with fishy smiles.
Their outfits and equipment were clearly those of adventurers.
Then this must be inside the Labyrinth Demon Realm.
'If they're adventurers doing this kind of thing...'
Ah, outlaws.
No wonder they had such nasty faces.
'Outlaws related to Rex... Then I'm right now at their headquarters...'
Serena felt dizziness like she'd faint right there at the intuition.
If pirates threw corpses into the sea, in Nortaris they threw them into the Demon Realm.
Both had in common that corpses disappeared without a trace.
Before falling into panic, Serena poured out words rapidly.
"P, please spare me...! I, I, I'm, I'm insured for kidnapping! If you talk with my family, you can get at least a thousand Crowns! No, maybe even two thousand Crowns!"
"..."
"..."
The Black Fang Gang members, who had been silent for a moment at Serena's desperate struggle, burst into laughter in unison.
"Hah hah hah! You think we brought you here for such pocket change?"
"Nobles really have no sense of reality."
"Hey, her dad's a first-generation noble. What kind of noble is a viscount?"
Among them, a woman with a scar near her eye sat on the box and caressed Serena's cheek.
"Cute. A bit pitiful too. You know sis isn't doing this because she has bad feelings, right?"
Serena was as sensitive to reading others' moods as she was timid.
At least she could sense that the woman didn't truly pity Serena.
It was closer to a wildcat's eyes playing with a mouse.
"Serena doesn't like pain either, right? First tell sis about the manufacturing technology you know. Then sis will at least use you as a servant."
"..."
The situation was the worst.
She'd already been dragged into the enemy's den in the middle of the Demon Realm.
It didn't seem like Jurgen and Penelope would come to rescue her just because they'd built some grand friendship from when.
Even if Serena were in their position, she would have given up.
If she obediently handed over the technology here, in exchange for becoming that criminal's servant, she might save her life...
The outlaw watched Serena agonizing and swallowed the chuckle that kept trying to burst out.
It was funny watching an immature noble lady pretending to agonize over pride when she had neither the guts nor the nerve.
"I, I'll... tell you..."
There, see.
Not even a minute of consideration before betraying loyalty to save her own skin.
"That's right, good girl. Sis will treat you well from now on."
Anyway, the moment they extracted the technology, they'd decided to hand her over to that 'End Order' bastard.
She'd get to see the sight of crying and wailing 'You promised!'...
"...is what you'd expect? Y, you idiot?"
An answer beyond expectations was heard.
"A, anyway, even if I spill the technology, it's, it's useless, you know? Y, you don't know how scary Penelope and... Senior Jurgen are, right? And where does a sewer rat-like c, criminal dare... tell a noble... they'll make them a servant or not..."
Every outlaw's mouth hung open blankly.
"I don't know! K, kill me or whatever! Whether I die this way or that way! Do as you please! But listen carefully! Y, you won't die comfortably either!!!"