Chapter 52: Chapter 42 (Part 1) – Departing From Orturic

That bastard Bardell. He was really pissing Kanae off. Him and his Outriders just couldn't leave them alone. After cleaning the store up and reporting to the guards what happened, the party returned to the adventurer's hall to come up with a plan.

"I'm not leaving until we find Takumi and Ingrid. That's my friend out there, and Ingrid might have been a bitch, but she did start changing for the better while working for us," Kanae said.

"Sorry…" Edina fiddled her thumbs, troubled that she might have caused this. "It's all because I was involved with the Outriders that this happened."

Kanae shook his head. "No, it isn't. The only one to blame is Bardell and his syndicate."

"I don't mean to put a damper on our search, but not even the guards know what happened. What hope do we have?" Arenade asked.

When they reported the incident to the city guards, several of them had no idea and others just flat out ignored them. Which was weird. Because someone must have seen the attack take place.

"If I may," Thedia began. "It is very possible that some guards within Orturic are under the Outriders' payroll and looked the other way."

The other three gasped. They hadn't thought of that, and Edina corroborated Thedia's suggestion that Bardell would have guards in his pocket. Leave it to the two who were less than upstanding citizens to come to that conclusion.

For now, the group returned to the store to check if they missed any clues.

Kanae watched as Thedia's keen eyes discerned the tracks of a wagon or carriage  in the dirt road, having parked right up against the door. The vehicle must have been somewhat large enough to hold multiple people and obscure what was going on, so that the crowded marketplace couldn't see the front of the store.

The cat girl was more than just a maid. While he knew she was a member of Renya's lucrative shipping crew, there appeared to be more about her than meets the eye.

"Judging by the direction they were headed, it is safe to say they went north. Since we're close to the coast, north from here can be many places, but the primary mode of travel is the Imperial Span," Thedia explained.

"Imperial Span?" Kanae repeated.

Arenade lit up and seized the opportunity to boast. "It's an extensive highway built thousands of years ago by me— my ancestors still in use today. The length of the road extends from one end of the continent to the other, uniting multiple kingdoms and serving as the artery throughout the lands."

"The Imperial Span is also how the Rown Company made most of its moolah. Isn't that right?" Edina added, casting a look to Thedia.

"Indeed, it is." The cat girl maid nodded. "Rown Company has conducted repairs to the highway, established rest stops and operated a transportation business, and more that have contributed to the growing prosperity of all kingdoms involved. All who travel walk the Imperial Span."

That sounded like quite the feat of engineering. The closest thing Kanae could associate it to was the Great Wall of China back on Earth. However, the Imperial Span was designed with the specific intention to connect the continent rather than to separate it.

"So it's possible that the kidnappers hopped onto the Imperial Span?" Kanae asked.

"If their intention is to reach whatever their destination is in a timely manner, then yes. On the other hand, if they simply wish to disappear, then taking beaten paths is also possible. In which case, finding your friends would be nigh impossible," Thedia said, putting them back to square one.

As they thought further, Kanae caught sight of a pair of guards, wearing padded leather armor, at the market roundabout throwing suspicious glances their way. One of them had his back turned to them, leaning on a crate next to a vendor's stall. Another was munching on an apple and pretending to talk to his partner.

"I think questioning the guards the normal way isn't going to work," Kanae said.

"Wait, you're not seriously going to charm the guards, are you?" Edina asked, inconspicuously following his eyes to the pair.

"Don't worry. I'm high enough level that they won't even know they've been charmed," he assured her.

Previously, when the Charm skill's effect ended, the target would know they were charmed. At a higher level now, and after testing it on a lab rat of a demigoddess a few times, Kanae discovered he was able to fine tune the skill such that a charmed individual would think nothing of it.

However, he had only used it on Arenade. It would be his first time using it on others.

Kanae casually strolled up to the apple stand where the bright red fruits were displayed on wooden trays for people to pick out themselves. The guards immediately tensed up, but he made it look natural by paying for a sack of fruits. Since there were other people around, he wasn't able to outright charm them without it looking suspicious. So…

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"Ah— sorry!" Kanae purposely bumped into a guard and spilled the bag of apples to make it seem like an accident. "I didn't mean to! Do you think you can help me pick these up and carry them back to my friends?"

The guards were about to shuffle away until Kanae charmed both of them.

"Sure, we'll give you a hand," both of them said.

They obediently walked alongside Kanae, carrying the bag of apples into the sex toy shop where everyone was waiting.

"Like a true succubus. Well done." Thedia smiled.

Manabe and Ichi each brought a chair out of the guards to sit down on. Their eyes were glazed over, and there was no indication of them faking it like Will did back when they partied up. Now the interrogations can begin. 

"Firstly, are you two spying on us for Bardell?" Kanae asked.

"Yeah. We were supposed to just keep an eye on you," the one with a lazy eye said.

"Did you see what happened to the store earlier?" Edina chimed in.

"We were actually on watch to make sure no other guards butted in. Happened real quick. Outriders broke in, wrecked the place, and got out with two captives," the other said.

"Where are they headed?" Thedia asked.

"They didn't tell us that much. I did overhear 'em saying they were headed to a small village called Bisk."

That was all the information they had. Kanae sent them back to the vendor stall where the charm effect ended, and the group proceeded to ruminate over what to do with the new revelations.

"You're in luck, Kanae. Bisk is a village off the Imperial Span. There is no doubt they are traveling upon the highway," Thedia said.

"Then there's no time to waste. Let's go!" Edina exclaimed, still feeling at fault and gung-ho to make things right.

Arenade and Edina went ahead with Thedia to charter a carriage. They were already packed to leave, and departing as soon as possible was a race against time to catch up. There was no telling what the Outriders were planning to do with Takumi and Ingrid.

Meanwhile, Kanae stayed behind to say goodbye to his remaining two friends.

"Counting on you to bring them back," Ichi said.

"What do you want us to do? Keep running the store?" Manabe asked.

"Yeah. There should still be inventory in the back anyway. Chances are, even after saving them, I won't be coming back with Takumi and Ingrid. So it might be a while before we see each other again," Kanae explained, hesitating to leave them.

After two were already kidnapped, Kanae worried that it might happen again. The only way to truly end it was to take down Bardell himself which wasn't going to be easy.

As Kanae picked up his bags to leave, he hesitated at the door. Instead of leaving, however, he locked the door and put up the close sign on the window, then turned around to face his friends. A pounding urge to sate his sexual desire swirled within.

"Do you guys… want to do it one more time before I go?" Kanae asked.

Ichi and Manabe swallowed hard. The large minotaur and orc cocks were quickly getting erect, showing as massive outlines in their pants.

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