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I’m going to have Orty participate in the auction. However, I don’t have the time to go back to the store and get Orty now.

Then…

I take a glance at the adventurers who’ve come to the slave market. There are a few dozens or so. Well, there are all kinds of people on the street, from strong-looking warriors with full plate armor to lightly dressed explorers wearing only cloaks.

Yeah, with this many people, there should at least be one among them. Let’s start with the nearest group.

I walked out of the hall and walked up to a group of adventurers who were chatting in a circle.

“The hell you want, woman?”

The adventurers are wary of my sudden appearance. They stare at me suspiciously. I take a deep breath. Then…

“WAHAHAHA! I, Dark Matter the Evil God, announce my presence to members of the Evil God Army.”

I spoke chuuni-esque.

That’s right, there is no time for me to run back to the store. If that’s the case, I’ll use Edim’s network of kins to call Orty to me. I’ll also call Edim to be my guard. If I can contact both Orty and Edim, they should be able to get here from the store in time.

Now, I just need to see if any of these guys are Edim’s kin.

And the result is…

“Oy oy, you appear out of nowhere and start talking nonsense. Woman, you crazy or what?”
“Yeah, she’s definitely not right in the head. But she doesn’t look half-bad. Why don’t you come and have a drink with me?”

So they said then started approaching me.

Hm, that’s a blank. They’re just regular guys.

Here I thought, with so many people, there should be at least some of Edim’s fourth or fifth-generation kin.

“Haah, haah, Tilea, what’s wrong? Why did you suddenly run out?”

Ooh, Bizef sure comes at a convenient time. Let’s use his reputation to shoo them away.

“Mister Bizef.”
“What is it?”
“I’m sorry I asked you right when you just arrived, but please do something about them.”

I pointed at the adventurers who approached me.

Loser (Bizef) seems to immediately understand the situation. He glares down at the adventurers.

And then…

“Mess with Tilea and you’re dead!”

He barked at the adventurers so hard, it betrayed his Loser alias.

“Y-, you’re Bizef the Mad Dog!”
“Wh-, what do we do? That crazy chick is Bizef’s woman.”

The adventurers freaked out, whispering to each other as if their enthusiasm from before was a lie.

Yup, it seems like Loser (Bizef)’s moniker works wonders. Loser (Bizef), keep being my bouncer like that, okay?

I take the opportunity to go to another group of adventures and say the same line.

They replied pretty much the same.

They call me “crazy b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲” this, “brain-damaged lunatic” that, or even “Is that an invitation?” and tried to grab me.

Kgh, it’s no use….

I went through five, six more groups of adventurers and found nothing.

At this rate, Edim’s kins would stay hidden instead.

Edim said she hasn’t increased her kins since I told her not to, and it’s not like Edim would just make kins left and right.

The number of her kin is probably less than one percent of the population of the royal capital. The chances of meeting one by chance by shouting out for them are probably next to zero.

Now that I think about it, I must be a huge idiot. I won’t make it for the auction this way. And that means I will lose the means to save those children.

I collapsed to my knees on the spot.

“Haa, haa, T-, Tilea. What have you been doing? Do you know how hard it was to deal with all those adventures? I know I’m a strong, great guy, but please don’t try to pick a fight with the adventurers.”
“Huu, Mister Bizef. I’m sorry. I-, I’m just a huge idiot.”
“Aah, aah, Tilea. Don’t cry. You’re not an idiot, Tilea. You just have a different, or maybe a bit slower, thought process than most others do. That’s all.”

Well, you sure said it, you Loser (Bizef). You basically said I’m stupid, you know that?

When Loser (Bizef) was trying to console me by ridiculing me,

“Ah, there he is! Mad Dog Bizef! Don’t think you can look down on us!”

The guys who tried to mess with me showed up en masse. Seems like they gathered quite a number to fight against Bizef the Mad Dog.

“Get out of here, Tilea.”
“Eh?! B-, but, I can’t leave you all alone, Mister Bizef…”
“It’s okay, leave them to me! Fighting this number while protecting you is going to be hard.”
“I-, I understand. Please escape before they surround you, okay?”

I leave that Loser, no, Mister Bizef to those guys and run away to the back alley. Yeah, after putting him in so much trouble, I won’t call him a Loser anymore. For today, he’s lifted from his Loser status. For today, though.

While I was running away, splitting up from Mister Bizef, three thugs appeared to block me from the front.

“He he he, found me a girl. She’s just a sitting duck here.”
“Yeah, lucky us. I heard some crazy b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲ going around saying nonsense, but I didn’t know she’s such a catch.”

Saying that, those ragamuffins creep over me with their eyes licking me all over. They all have weapons. Big swords and bows in their hands, perfectly serving as vanguard and rear guard. Trying to escape from them would be hard.

Kgh, it’s all over for me, huh…

“Oy, was it the truth?”
“H-, huh?”

Suddenly, the guy in the middle speaks to me.

“About the Evil God Army! Was it the f̲u̲c̲k̲i̲n̲g truth or not?!”
“Y-, yes, it’s true…”
“I see…”
“B-, brother Zebra, wha—gobah!”
“O-, oy, why did you—gahak!”

Uwoah! Wh-, what the hell? I couldn’t catch up with what was happening, and the guy suddenly killed his own friends. They probably didn’t expect they’d be killed by their older brother, the two thugs fell to the ground just like that.

Hm?! Don’t tell me, is he…

“Ah, are you perhaps Edim’s kin?”
“Who the hell is Edim? I am a loyal servant of Master Kikka, the supervisor of the Eville District from the Bloodsucking Unit of the Evil God Army.”
“You don’t know Edim? …Are you really a kin? And Kikka who?”
“You b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲! You don’t know who Master Kikka is?! Are you really a member of the Evil God Army?!”

This Zebra guy then draws his sword and is ready to kill me.

“W-, wait, hold, hold… Ah, I see. So this Kikka guy—”
“B̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲! Show respect to Master Kikka!”
“I-, I get it, I get it, okay? Calm down. S-, so, this Master Kikka should be under Edim, so—”
“What are you saying? The one above Master Kikka is Master Jayjay.”
“Aah, so that’s how it is. I see, I see. I understand now.”
“Hah, you don’t understand s̲h̲i̲t̲! You speak like you’re challenged in the head! What do you even understand? Are you even a member of the Evil God Army?”

I managed to make Zebra put down his sword, but I’m sure he plans to attack me again depending on my answer.

Geez, you leave me no choice, huh~

Zebra, don’t you know you’re doing something very outrageous? This Kikka guy that you adore the most is under Jayjay, and Jayjay is under Edim, and Edim and I are best friends. Yes, we’re not just friends. We are B F F!

If Edim learns that you’re attacking me, her BFF, she’ll beat you to a pulp.

“Zebra, since you don’t seem to know, I’ll tell you. You see, I am best friends with the girl at the top of the ladder of your lord.”
“And that girl is Edim?”
“That’s right. And you should show respect to her too.”
“Hngh! I did hear from Master Kikka that the leader of the bloodsucking unit is a beautiful girl.”
“Yup, that’s right.”
“But, I don’t know if her name is Edim or not.”
“Eh?! You don’t know the name of your leader? How low in the ranks are you?!”
“Kgh. It’s only been a month since I joined the Evil God Army. Being able to meet Master Jayjay is proof that I made it big already.”

Zebra then makes a smug. Well, he sure put Jayjay on a pedestal.

Hmm, just meeting Jayjay and he’s already on cloud nine, huh~

Well, I don’t care about the pyramid structure between Edim’s kins. What is important is to get him to do what I’m telling him to.

“Either way, I am good friends with Edim. That’s why, I want you to use your kin network to call Edim for me.”
“Hell nah!”
“Wh-, why? Did you listen to me? I’m the best friend of the person who leads you!”
“Well, sure, you seem to know about the Evil God Army, but that’s not enough for me to trust your words. First of all, name your affiliation!”
“We~ll, I can’t really say I’m affiliated with anyone…”
“What, you can’t say that?! You sure you’re not the lackey here?”
“Grr, now you said it! Fine, I’ll tell you. Brace yourself! If Edim is two ranks above you, then I’m the one who’s four ranks above Edim!”