The next morning.
As soon as the day dawned, I headed back to ‘Dumb Idiots’.
Of course, I didn’t mean to turn this closed tavern upside down and shout for the kid to come out. Actually, I didn’t even think I’d be able to find the kid here.
Presumably, this was a place that had nothing to do with the little kid. It wasn’t her base, and it didn’t seem like she had any close friends here either. And because she had no connections to this place, she would have chosen to meet here.
In my opinion, this tavern seemed to be a bit of a hub for the criminal types. Judging from the location and the other aspects, that was the most likely. A pub at the back of a dark alley, and men with rough eyes gathering here and there.
This meant that the meeting place was deliberately chosen in order to completely hide personal identities. All the criminals in Big City would have thought this way.
However, there was one thing the little kid didn’t know.
“Let’s see… Was it on the left side of the front door?”
I passed the locked entrance of the tavern and went to the building on the left.
Soon after,
“Yup.”
What I was looking for caught my eye.
A small side gate with a door knocker painted dark green.
I strode towards it.
Then –
Tock. Tock. Tock –.
I knocked on the door with the knocker three times.
After a while,
“… Who?”
An aged voice came from beyond the gate.
“I came to buy some information.”
“… Guild member’s mark?”
“Don’t have one.”
“Then it’ll be expensive.”
“It’s a rip-off either way.”
“I’ve never seen your face before, but that’s one big mouth you’ve got. So, what information do you want?”
“Yellow Devil.”
“… Wait.”
The word “wait” is the same as the word “accepted”.
Done. It took a bit of time, but it was a success.
Information Guild.
A secret group that is spread all over the world, and promises to give you any information if you give them money.
That’s the one thing this kid didn’t know. This place, which she believed could hide her identity, was actually the base of the Information Guild.
Actually, I was surprised when I saw the sign of the ‘Dumb Idiots’ pub last night. To be precise, the green question mark at the left corner of the sign.
This is a sign that symbolizes the Information Guild, meaning that there is a meeting point within a 10m radius. If the question mark is straight, it is on the left, and if it is upside down, it is on the right.
The way to meet them is simple, find the side door with a green door knocker and knock on it three times.
Then after a while,
“Khm, khm. Are you there?”
A muffled cough was heard from beyond the gate.
“Say it.”
However, the words of that old voice were quite surprising.
“The Yellow Devil is second level intelligence.”
“… What?”
“It’s second level. I want to check if you can pay, first.”
“Are you kidding me, second level? That little kid?”
“You seem to know something about the Yellow Devil. But that doesn’t mean the cost of information is going to go down. If you’re trying to cut the price, you’d better leave.”
“Hoh…”
To be honest, I was very disappointed.
Level 2 means quite advanced information. The classification level of the Information Guild spans from level 5 at the bottom to ‘special’ level at the top. The details of a city mayor-level figure, for example, would probably fall into the second level.
Besides, this isn’t even the beginning of the main manga plot. As far as I know, at least a double-digit number of chapters need to pass for level 2 or higher information to appear in the main story.
This went to the point of being absurd. The kid was a secret character set at that kind of level?
Just then, that decrepit voice rang out again.
“If you don’t have the money, go away.”
“I have the money.”
“Show me.”
“Do you think I’m scamming you?”
It wasn’t a lie that I had money.
Actually, last night, before going to see the little kid, I had set aside a gold nugget and a few bundles of money.
It wasn’t that it was a waste to separate the halves straight away, but rather that I wanted to check the precision of the special ability of that little kid. If you get caught, you just have to put it back in. If you don’t, it’s just a little bit of extra income. I’d wondered if the curse would be triggered even though the caster did not even notice it.
In fact, it was for this reason that I didn’t say much when she suddenly said she was going to change the bags. Because I thought I’d been caught.
At that moment, I was in a panic and my mind had felt like it was about to explode. If I’d known this would be all I’d end up with, I would have boldly grabbed a little bit more.
“… Hoo.”
Nope.
I immediately shook my head. I just have to catch her and make her spit out the money again, anyway.
I took out some of my leftover money to show the information broker.
“Is this enough?”
“One million gold… The amount of information is not much, so the price is probably right. Hand it over.”
“The information, first.”
“This young bastard is bargaining now.”
“Look at your own mug first. This voice right now is your real one, is it?”
The decrepit voice chuckled once in response, and then spoke again.
“No problem. Then let’s meet each other halfway first. Pay me half and I’ll give you half the information. After that, we’ll exchange the rest.”
“If it’s halfway…”
Seemed this was the limit.
When I handed over the 500,000 gold, the old voice immediately continued.
“Yellow Devil. Estimated to be around 10 years old. First appeared here in Big City about a year ago. Judged as a member of some organization, given that there are frequent cases of acting together with other people. However, nothing is known about this organization.”
“It’s an organization… I see.”
It was then that something clicked.
Although this is a manga world, there were things that made no sense. For a little kid to find out the password to the vault, manipulate the CCTV, and set up as well as detonate explosives on her own…
Besides, the special abilities the kid had were not one or two. The curse, the leather pouch, and the power expressed while lifting the sack… that kind of line-up isn’t possible without a separate chain of supply.
“The main haunts of the Yellow Devil are the ‘Dumb Idiots’ here, the bank, the stores selling jewels and precious metals, and the special potions shop. They also often walk around wearing a mask.”
The aged voice shut up after saying that.
“What, is that all?”
“That’s all. Of course, there is still half left. Pay to listen.”
“Is this information worth 500,000 gold?”
“I did tell you. There isn’t much information.”
“Hoh…”
“I’m not going to say more.”
I couldn’t help but be worried. To be honest, it was difficult to see if whatever this guy had been babbling about so far had any particular value.
“Do you have any information about the Yellow Devil’s current location? Or even his lodgings.”
I asked a question out of curiosity, but the voice readily answered.
“None. We can find out if you want to, but it takes time and money to do that. I don’t know if you know, but direct quests are very expensive.”
“It’s annoying.”
That was then –
“However, the remaining information might allow you to infer something.”
“What is it?”
“Pay the money. Then I’ll tell you.”
“…”
It seemed fruitless. But I had no alternative.
When I handed over the rest of the money, that old voice said with a smirk.
“You are lucky. There is only one piece of information left, but it’s worth 990,000 gold. There are three main gathering places for those who appear to be members of the organization the Yellow Devil belongs to. Apparently, in one of them, the Yellow Devil was spotted this morning.”
“Oh! Really?”
It was indeed information worth 990,000 gold.
“Where is it?”
Impatiently, I asked.
But the answer that followed was absurd.
“Information has been provided according to the payment. If you want to know the exact location, pay extra.”
“No, you didn’t tell me the place, did you?”
“The hint that the Yellow Devil could actually be located is also information. If you don’t have the money, you can quit.”
“…”
In the end, I couldn’t stand it and spat out a curse.
“Fucking shit! How much!”
「Cafeteria before a Bizarre Adventure」
I stared intently at the shabby, crumbling building in front of me.
That bizarrely-named basement cafe over there was the location obtained by paying an additional 500,000 gold.
Over there was the backing of the little kid.
“Really, I had to run around so much.”
I gulped down the [Yep, be strong! Power-up Potion] in one mouthful.
I couldn’t go back to the special potions shop. Weren’t they the ones who alerted the bank just because I purchased some goods? Hearing that the bank had been robbed by an invisible man, there was no way they hadn’t taken any further action. Maybe my wanted posters were already hanging everywhere.
So, I bought a power-up potion with a duration of 30 minutes at double the price from the black market.
To be honest, I felt like I was dying with regret, but there was nothing for it. If you have this, you might be able to lessen the burden.
Of course, I, a ‘character from the first chapter’, was not afraid of the guys who were just part of the background.
However, I was alone against many enemies, I wasn’t familiar with their skills, and I had to be strong enough to take back ‘what was mine’ that had been stolen.
Soon after, a foreign energy began to flow through my body.
“Oh… the muscles are bulging!”
To check out the increase in power, I went over to a large tree that was just beside the road.
When I hugged it, it was so thick that my fingertips could barely touch on the other side.
‘Should I?’
I grabbed the wood tightly and lifted it up.
Then,
Souk –.
Without much effort, the tree was uprooted.
“Great.”
This would be enough to clean up that rampant organization that didn’t know its place.
Take over the gang, take back my money, get whatever else they’ve robbed – a return-on-investment of hundreds of times compared to what I paid those thieves of the Information Guild.
After reflecting a final time on today’s goal, I started moving slowly.
As I was about to approach the entrance –
Two men stopped me.
“Stop.”
“The cafe is closed today.”
But the feeling was a little odd. They didn’t make a fuss, rather they were blocking me quite modestly. Even respectfully.
‘Uh… wait a minute.’
For a moment, I felt a bit of incongruity.
The reason was simple. This is because usually in this world, the fussier one is, the weaker he is. Isn’t this a shounen manga full of clichés?
Hmmm.
‘Ah, I’m probably still stronger.’
I decided to go strong.
“That’s your problem.”
Then, their reactions were indeed different from each other.
“… What is this? You wanna die?”
“Okay, leave now. You only get a warning once. Not twice.”
The one who is more restrained is the stronger one.
As soon as I made my decision, I ran towards the weaker one.
It was completely unexpected, and he couldn’t react to my flying fist at all.
Peo–ok.
He wasn’t that strong either. A regular blow to the temple, and he collapsed on the spot.
I turned to the other guy.
How will you react now?
“I’ll let you go, so would you go away? I just want to take a look inside.”
The strength of this guy can also be easily classified according to clichés. If you get excited by the provocation and rush in, you are weak, and if you keep calm, you are strong.
“I don’t know who you are, but you made a mistake. You will not survive.”
He only stared at me carefully.
Hmmm.
It didn’t seem like an easy match.
I stared at him while maintaining my tension.
As if he was also conscious of my power, he didn’t move hastily.
A stand-off.
It was the guy who showed a gap first.
As the confrontation went longer, he looked downward for a moment. Was he debating whether or not to call for reincorcements?
I didn’t miss that moment and put my fist on the guy’s chin.
Following,
“Ka, kaha…”
The guy collapsed with a shriek.
“Hoo…”
It ended blandly, but I knew I was lucky. If he hadn’t looked down for a moment, I might have been the one to fall.
I turned my gaze to my thigh, where I felt a stinging pain.
There was a small dagger embedded there.
“Kkngh…”
Blood gushed out as I pulled out the knife. Even though I knew this was a manga world, I felt dizzy.
‘It’s like this from the start…’
There’s a very simple formula in every shounen manga. It’s always the weakest guys who guard the gates.
That meant the guys below would be stronger.
I was intending to just smash everything and get my money back, but it seemed like I had no choice but to change my plans. I had to sneak in.
“I didn’t mean to use it here…”
I pulled out an invisibility potion from my pocket. I had exchanged it for a gold nugget and a bundle of notes just in case. It was a pity, but it was worth it.
Then, as I was about to drink the potion, a question suddenly ran through my head.
Wait, so what’s next after infiltrating?
“…”
I quickly took a step back.
The thought of taking care of the entire organization had long since disappeared. These guys looked dozens of times more dangerous than I’d assumed.
In the end, the goal was money… I didn’t know where the money sacks were right now, and even if I found them, I wondered if I would be able to bring them out without a sound.
Because.
The duration of the potion was 30 minutes.
I didn’t have time to spare, but I couldn’t help but think about it.
How many sacks can I bring out? What should I take first? What is the most valuable thing I can get right now?
And just then,
“… Ah!”
There was only one thing that came to mind.
The kid.
I tapped my forehead. Did I miss out on the most important thing?
She would know where my money is. Maybe she’s kept it.
And if you can get her leather pouch anyway, it’s not even a matter of carrying money anymore. I just need to carry one kid and run. Even if you don’t have the money, if you have that kid, you’ll always get an opportunity later.
“Okay.”
First of all, let’s kidnap the kid.
Having confirmed the target, I immediately drank the invisibility potion.
Then,
“It’s an attack! Get him!”
I shouted loudly towards the basement of the building.
Soon,
“What!”
“What’s the matter?”
A group of people rushed out from below.
“Uh? Over there!”
“Were you attacked?”
“Hey, are you alright?”
Then, while the guys rushed towards the two fallen gang members, I slowly took my way downstairs.
The next morning.
As soon as the day dawned, I headed back to ‘Dumb Idiots’.
Of course, I didn’t mean to turn this closed tavern upside down and shout for the kid to come out. Actually, I didn’t even think I’d be able to find the kid here.
Presumably, this was a place that had nothing to do with the little kid. It wasn’t her base, and it didn’t seem like she had any close friends here either. And because she had no connections to this place, she would have chosen to meet here.
In my opinion, this tavern seemed to be a bit of a hub for the criminal types. Judging from the location and the other aspects, that was the most likely. A pub at the back of a dark alley, and men with rough eyes gathering here and there.
This meant that the meeting place was deliberately chosen in order to completely hide personal identities. All the criminals in Big City would have thought this way.
However, there was one thing the little kid didn’t know.
“Let’s see… Was it on the left side of the front door?”
I passed the locked entrance of the tavern and went to the building on the left.
Soon after,
“Yup.”
What I was looking for caught my eye.
A small side gate with a door knocker painted dark green.
I strode towards it.
Then –
Tock. Tock. Tock –.
I knocked on the door with the knocker three times.
After a while,
“… Who?”
An aged voice came from beyond the gate.
“I came to buy some information.”
“… Guild member’s mark?”
“Don’t have one.”
“Then it’ll be expensive.”
“It’s a rip-off either way.”
“I’ve never seen your face before, but that’s one big mouth you’ve got. So, what information do you want?”
“Yellow Devil.”
“… Wait.”
The word “wait” is the same as the word “accepted”.
Done. It took a bit of time, but it was a success.
Information Guild.
A secret group that is spread all over the world, and promises to give you any information if you give them money.
That’s the one thing this kid didn’t know. This place, which she believed could hide her identity, was actually the base of the Information Guild.
Actually, I was surprised when I saw the sign of the ‘Dumb Idiots’ pub last night. To be precise, the green question mark at the left corner of the sign.
This is a sign that symbolizes the Information Guild, meaning that there is a meeting point within a 10m radius. If the question mark is straight, it is on the left, and if it is upside down, it is on the right.
The way to meet them is simple, find the side door with a green door knocker and knock on it three times.
Then after a while,
“Khm, khm. Are you there?”
A muffled cough was heard from beyond the gate.
“Say it.”
However, the words of that old voice were quite surprising.
“The Yellow Devil is second level intelligence.”
“… What?”
“It’s second level. I want to check if you can pay, first.”
“Are you kidding me, second level? That little kid?”
“You seem to know something about the Yellow Devil. But that doesn’t mean the cost of information is going to go down. If you’re trying to cut the price, you’d better leave.”
“Hoh…”
To be honest, I was very disappointed.
Level 2 means quite advanced information. The classification level of the Information Guild spans from level 5 at the bottom to ‘special’ level at the top. The details of a city mayor-level figure, for example, would probably fall into the second level.
Besides, this isn’t even the beginning of the main manga plot. As far as I know, at least a double-digit number of chapters need to pass for level 2 or higher information to appear in the main story.
This went to the point of being absurd. The kid was a secret character set at that kind of level?
Just then, that decrepit voice rang out again.
“If you don’t have the money, go away.”
“I have the money.”
“Show me.”
“Do you think I’m scamming you?”
It wasn’t a lie that I had money.
Actually, last night, before going to see the little kid, I had set aside a gold nugget and a few bundles of money.
It wasn’t that it was a waste to separate the halves straight away, but rather that I wanted to check the precision of the special ability of that little kid. If you get caught, you just have to put it back in. If you don’t, it’s just a little bit of extra income. I’d wondered if the curse would be triggered even though the caster did not even notice it.
In fact, it was for this reason that I didn’t say much when she suddenly said she was going to change the bags. Because I thought I’d been caught.
At that moment, I was in a panic and my mind had felt like it was about to explode. If I’d known this would be all I’d end up with, I would have boldly grabbed a little bit more.
“… Hoo.”
Nope.
I immediately shook my head. I just have to catch her and make her spit out the money again, anyway.
I took out some of my leftover money to show the information broker.
“Is this enough?”
“One million gold… The amount of information is not much, so the price is probably right. Hand it over.”
“The information, first.”
“This young bastard is bargaining now.”
“Look at your own mug first. This voice right now is your real one, is it?”
The decrepit voice chuckled once in response, and then spoke again.
“No problem. Then let’s meet each other halfway first. Pay me half and I’ll give you half the information. After that, we’ll exchange the rest.”
“If it’s halfway…”
Seemed this was the limit.
When I handed over the 500,000 gold, the old voice immediately continued.
“Yellow Devil. Estimated to be around 10 years old. First appeared here in Big City about a year ago. Judged as a member of some organization, given that there are frequent cases of acting together with other people. However, nothing is known about this organization.”
“It’s an organization… I see.”
It was then that something clicked.
Although this is a manga world, there were things that made no sense. For a little kid to find out the password to the vault, manipulate the CCTV, and set up as well as detonate explosives on her own…
Besides, the special abilities the kid had were not one or two. The curse, the leather pouch, and the power expressed while lifting the sack… that kind of line-up isn’t possible without a separate chain of supply.
“The main haunts of the Yellow Devil are the ‘Dumb Idiots’ here, the bank, the stores selling jewels and precious metals, and the special potions shop. They also often walk around wearing a mask.”
The aged voice shut up after saying that.
“What, is that all?”
“That’s all. Of course, there is still half left. Pay to listen.”
“Is this information worth 500,000 gold?”
“I did tell you. There isn’t much information.”
“Hoh…”
“I’m not going to say more.”
I couldn’t help but be worried. To be honest, it was difficult to see if whatever this guy had been babbling about so far had any particular value.
“Do you have any information about the Yellow Devil’s current location? Or even his lodgings.”
I asked a question out of curiosity, but the voice readily answered.
“None. We can find out if you want to, but it takes time and money to do that. I don’t know if you know, but direct quests are very expensive.”
“It’s annoying.”
That was then –
“However, the remaining information might allow you to infer something.”
“What is it?”
“Pay the money. Then I’ll tell you.”
“…”
It seemed fruitless. But I had no alternative.
When I handed over the rest of the money, that old voice said with a smirk.
“You are lucky. There is only one piece of information left, but it’s worth 990,000 gold. There are three main gathering places for those who appear to be members of the organization the Yellow Devil belongs to. Apparently, in one of them, the Yellow Devil was spotted this morning.”
“Oh! Really?”
It was indeed information worth 990,000 gold.
“Where is it?”
Impatiently, I asked.
But the answer that followed was absurd.
“Information has been provided according to the payment. If you want to know the exact location, pay extra.”
“No, you didn’t tell me the place, did you?”
“The hint that the Yellow Devil could actually be located is also information. If you don’t have the money, you can quit.”
“…”
In the end, I couldn’t stand it and spat out a curse.
“Fucking shit! How much!”
「Cafeteria before a Bizarre Adventure」
I stared intently at the shabby, crumbling building in front of me.
That bizarrely-named basement cafe over there was the location obtained by paying an additional 500,000 gold.
Over there was the backing of the little kid.
“Really, I had to run around so much.”
I gulped down the [Yep, be strong! Power-up Potion] in one mouthful.
I couldn’t go back to the special potions shop. Weren’t they the ones who alerted the bank just because I purchased some goods? Hearing that the bank had been robbed by an invisible man, there was no way they hadn’t taken any further action. Maybe my wanted posters were already hanging everywhere.
So, I bought a power-up potion with a duration of 30 minutes at double the price from the black market.
To be honest, I felt like I was dying with regret, but there was nothing for it. If you have this, you might be able to lessen the burden.
Of course, I, a ‘character from the first chapter’, was not afraid of the guys who were just part of the background.
However, I was alone against many enemies, I wasn’t familiar with their skills, and I had to be strong enough to take back ‘what was mine’ that had been stolen.
Soon after, a foreign energy began to flow through my body.
“Oh… the muscles are bulging!”
To check out the increase in power, I went over to a large tree that was just beside the road.
When I hugged it, it was so thick that my fingertips could barely touch on the other side.
‘Should I?’
I grabbed the wood tightly and lifted it up.
Then,
Souk –.
Without much effort, the tree was uprooted.
“Great.”
This would be enough to clean up that rampant organization that didn’t know its place.
Take over the gang, take back my money, get whatever else they’ve robbed – a return-on-investment of hundreds of times compared to what I paid those thieves of the Information Guild.
After reflecting a final time on today’s goal, I started moving slowly.
As I was about to approach the entrance –
Two men stopped me.
“Stop.”
“The cafe is closed today.”
But the feeling was a little odd. They didn’t make a fuss, rather they were blocking me quite modestly. Even respectfully.
‘Uh… wait a minute.’
For a moment, I felt a bit of incongruity.
The reason was simple. This is because usually in this world, the fussier one is, the weaker he is. Isn’t this a shounen manga full of clichés?
Hmmm.
‘Ah, I’m probably still stronger.’
I decided to go strong.
“That’s your problem.”
Then, their reactions were indeed different from each other.
“… What is this? You wanna die?”
“Okay, leave now. You only get a warning once. Not twice.”
The one who is more restrained is the stronger one.
As soon as I made my decision, I ran towards the weaker one.
It was completely unexpected, and he couldn’t react to my flying fist at all.
Peo–ok.
He wasn’t that strong either. A regular blow to the temple, and he collapsed on the spot.
I turned to the other guy.
How will you react now?
“I’ll let you go, so would you go away? I just want to take a look inside.”
The strength of this guy can also be easily classified according to clichés. If you get excited by the provocation and rush in, you are weak, and if you keep calm, you are strong.
“I don’t know who you are, but you made a mistake. You will not survive.”
He only stared at me carefully.
Hmmm.
It didn’t seem like an easy match.
I stared at him while maintaining my tension.
As if he was also conscious of my power, he didn’t move hastily.
A stand-off.
It was the guy who showed a gap first.
As the confrontation went longer, he looked downward for a moment. Was he debating whether or not to call for reincorcements?
I didn’t miss that moment and put my fist on the guy’s chin.
Following,
“Ka, kaha…”
The guy collapsed with a shriek.
“Hoo…”
It ended blandly, but I knew I was lucky. If he hadn’t looked down for a moment, I might have been the one to fall.
I turned my gaze to my thigh, where I felt a stinging pain.
There was a small dagger embedded there.
“Kkngh…”
Blood gushed out as I pulled out the knife. Even though I knew this was a manga world, I felt dizzy.
‘It’s like this from the start…’
There’s a very simple formula in every shounen manga. It’s always the weakest guys who guard the gates.
That meant the guys below would be stronger.
I was intending to just smash everything and get my money back, but it seemed like I had no choice but to change my plans. I had to sneak in.
“I didn’t mean to use it here…”
I pulled out an invisibility potion from my pocket. I had exchanged it for a gold nugget and a bundle of notes just in case. It was a pity, but it was worth it.
Then, as I was about to drink the potion, a question suddenly ran through my head.
Wait, so what’s next after infiltrating?
“…”
I quickly took a step back.
The thought of taking care of the entire organization had long since disappeared. These guys looked dozens of times more dangerous than I’d assumed.
In the end, the goal was money… I didn’t know where the money sacks were right now, and even if I found them, I wondered if I would be able to bring them out without a sound.
Because.
The duration of the potion was 30 minutes.
I didn’t have time to spare, but I couldn’t help but think about it.
How many sacks can I bring out? What should I take first? What is the most valuable thing I can get right now?
And just then,
“… Ah!”
There was only one thing that came to mind.
The kid.
I tapped my forehead. Did I miss out on the most important thing?
She would know where my money is. Maybe she’s kept it.
And if you can get her leather pouch anyway, it’s not even a matter of carrying money anymore. I just need to carry one kid and run. Even if you don’t have the money, if you have that kid, you’ll always get an opportunity later.
“Okay.”
First of all, let’s kidnap the kid.
Having confirmed the target, I immediately drank the invisibility potion.
Then,
“It’s an attack! Get him!”
I shouted loudly towards the basement of the building.
Soon,
“What!”
“What’s the matter?”
A group of people rushed out from below.
“Uh? Over there!”
“Were you attacked?”
“Hey, are you alright?”
Then, while the guys rushed towards the two fallen gang members, I slowly took my way downstairs.
