Chapter 77: 77
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!”
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“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?”
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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?”
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“…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 .