55 This Hero and The Small Home!

"Hm? You still have questions? What more could you want to ask?" The innkeeper asked.

"You're aware of the people that have been disappearing, correct?" I asked the innkeeper as I scratched my chin.

"Ah, yeah that's awful stuff…" He trailed off.

"Were these people regulars here?"

"Yeah they were… Things have been really quiet ever since they up and disappeared. I hope you can find them soon."

Perfect. I have a correlation.

"Out of the people that disappeared, had the initial people that disappeared heard a performance from Rena before they disappeared?"

"Well, she's been performing at this bar every night for the past month now! It'd be strange for them to not have heard her perform. Why do you ask?"

"Were these people acting strangely before they disappeared? Even a subtle shift in their behavior might matter."

"Subtle?" The innkeeper asked as he began to look up and scratch the side of his face.

"Ernest wasn't drinking much beer!" The innkeeper's son chimed in from the side room.

"I see…" I trailed off. I turned away from the innkeeper as I began to think.

Now that I've learned that Rena developed her level in bard after she had begun performing in this town, on top of what we already knew, I decided to pull the party together in a huddle.

"Okay guys. I think I have an idea." I told the group.

"Okay. What is it Kenji?" Tael asked me.

I slowly looked over the party's faces. They were all looking at me expectantly.

"We need to raid Rena's home. At this point there's no room for doubt. She's definitely the cause of people disappearing in some shape or form. Since I know what level she is, I doubt she'd be able to take all 4 of us on with her single level in bard if it was to result in a confrontation. Is this alright with all of you?"

"R-Raid Rena-san's home? That's awfully violent, Kenji-san!"

"Well it's been a while since I broke into a house but…"

"Kenji you dog! A panty raid!"

I took a deep inhale to interrupt my parties complaints and worries.

"Look! There is no ulterior motive or anything! We just need to get to the bottom of this! At this point there is a 99% chance that it's Rena doing it." I asserted.

"Huh? 99% chance? What could the other 1% chance be?" Erana looked at me inquisitiely as she asked this.

"Well… You always need to be ready for the unexpected." I brushed her off. It's not that I don't want to tell them, but it's best that we focus on the investigation right now.

"Okay! Well then I agree with Kenji-san." Erana turned to the rest of the group and declared.

"Seconded." Tael raised his hand lazily.

"Well, that's the majority. I'll bust out the lockpicks." Kany sighed.

We broke out of the huddle and I went towards the bar once more.

"What, are you her stalker now?" The innkeeper raised an eyebrow as he eyed me suspiciously.

"N-No… I just need to speak to her to continue the investigation."

"Hmph. It's the house at the edge of the village. It's not big and it's near the forest so you should be able to find it. If I hear you caused trouble then I'll get the whole village to whoop your ass. You understand?" The innkeeper got uncomfortably close and maintained eye contact with me.

"Alright. I won't cause trouble." I lied as I turned back to leave the inn. I could feel the innkeeper leering at me the entire time I was heading out of the building. It seems he really does like Rena.

"Okay. It's the house at the edge of the village next to the forest. Let's go."

We began to move towards the edge of the village. Tael ran up to me and matched my pace as he began talking to me.

"Okay. What's the plan Kenji?"

"Ideally, we can question her and she will confess to her crimes. If she does that then we'll just apprehend her. If she tries to fight then we'll be forced to go on the offensive." I said as I patted my sword.

"Oi Onii-san, I don't want to kill her." Kany elbowed me.

"K-Kenji-san! We're not killing her! How cruel!"

"I'm not going to kill her!" I shouted. A farmer that was resting at a nearby fence looked at us with concern, but decided to ignore us after a moment.

Our party walked silently for a little while before we approached a small wooden building at the edge of the village.

"Is this… the place?" Kany asked.

Her apprehension is right. This building looks more like a shack than a house that people live in. The building can't be any bigger than 5 meters across. Is this really a place that someone is living?

"I think so…" Erana muttered.

I approached the front door and knocked. Ideally, Rena would let us into her home and this doesn't need to get ugly.

I waited at the front door for a little while, but nobody came.

"Rena-san! It's Kenji, from last night! I need to ask you a few questions if that's alright with you!" I yelled out. Due to the small size of her home, there's no way that she wouldn't have heard me.

I waited for another moment but heard nothing. I turned over to Kany and motioned her towards the door.

"Haah… I don't really like doing this. It makes me feel like a robber."

"But you are a robber." Tael and I both said at the same time. We quietly fistbumped behind Kany's back as a result of being perfectly in sync.

"Yeah yeah…" Kany grumbled as she began to pick the lock on the door.

"Huh?" Kany let out.

"What is it Kany?" Erana asked.

"This door isn't locked. I don't think this door even has a lock in the first place…" Kany explained.

With this, all of us were put on edge. I walked up to the front door and pulled out my dagger. The size of this building would make using my broadsword difficult, so the dagger is the best option.

I gently opened the door…

My vision was filled with what seemed to be a run down home of a single person. There was an old and dirty bed to the right, a small desk next to the bed and a small dresser. On the floor there was a faded red rug. Above the desk, there is a window that has faded drapes. This is the only room in the house it seems. Rena is nowhere to be found.

"Can bards turn invisible?" I asked Tael.

"Huh? No, I don't think so. Wizards can but not bards." Tael answered.

I calmed down a bit at this answer.

"Okay… We need to search the room." I announced.

"Eh? Kenji-san, I think the girls should do this." Erana declared.

"W-Why?" I asked.

"Well… What if she left her underwear somewhere and you were to touch it or something…? I saw the way you were looking at Rena-san last night..." Erana fidgeted in place as she spoke.

"T-That has nothing to do with anything right now! We need to investigate! I don't care about her panties or anything!" I could feel myself blushing.

"O-Okay, but I'll hold you to that!" Erana asserted.

I merely grumbled and walked deeper into the room. The lack of objects in this room reminds me of when I was living with Ania, so I don't feel very on edge in here.

"Kenji, what are we looking for?" Tael asked me.

I cupped my chin and began to think aloud to ensure everyone was on the same page.

"Hmm… Notes maybe? I doubt she'd be dumb enough to leave an account of her actions or anything, but it's best to go down the list after all. Other than that, maybe a weapon or something? Anything that could be used as evidence against her I guess." I said.

"Okay. I'll search her dresser." Kany raised her hand to volunteer.

"I suppose I'll take the desk then." Tael said as he walked past me.

"That leaves me with the bed!" Erana happily declared.

"Oh, Kenji what are you going to do?" Tael turned back and asked me.

"I have an idea…" I said as I crouched down.

Everyone began investigating the room. Kany thought she found something important, but it turned out to just be song lyrics.

We searched the room for around 15 minutes.

"Ugh… I don't think anything is here, Onii-san." Kany declared as she sat down.

"I agree with Kany, Kenji-san. Perhaps you were wrong?" Erana sat down on the bed.

Tael said nothing, but I could tell by the way he was looking at me that he felt the same way.

"If you're so sure about that, then explain this!" I shouted as I pulled up the rug.

"Huh? Why should that matter?" Tael asked.

I walked over to a spot next to the bed that had been covered by the rug and crouched back down.

"This is why." I said as I lifted a loose floorboard from the ground.

A small cavity was revealed and inside there was a small leatherbound book inside.

"W-Woah! A girls diary!" Tael let out. Kany knocked him on the head for that comment.