Chapter 186

186 . Counterattack 2

“How’s it going?” (Mitsuha)

“Yes . Merchants who seem to be conducting independent investigation, thugs who are likely to receive jobs from [Merchants who seems likely to perpetrate something], and Merchants whose apprentices or clerks weren’t in the store or didn’t go home on the night of that day… I hired people to investigate them, and there are three suspicious places… and after further investigation, I listed the places where the security of their warehouse has suddenly become stricter, and the places that bit into the false information that there’s someone who wants to buy our products via dark route at 4 times the price, after narrowing them down, there are several places that I’m almost certain…” (Rephilia)

I grinned after listening to Rephilia’s reports .

Yeah, money exist in order for us to make the best of it . It’s useless if you don’t use it when you should!

Usually, you can wait until the half-price sale at 8:30 . But, when you should use it, use it without hesitation . That’s how a good woman spends money!

“But, unfortunately, there is only circumstantial evidence and no solid evidence …” (Rephilia)

Rephilia regretfully says so …

“Ah, that’s not necessary” (Mitsuha)

“Eh?” (Rephilia)

Rephilia responds with a puzzled expression…

Yes, it’s fine as long as there’s [the fact that I’m convinced] .

There is no need to convince anyone else .

The Plaintiff, me .

The Prosecutor, me .

The Judge, me .

The Executioner, me .

Who decided?

Of course, me .

…I, the judge .

Mickey Spillane?

No no, it should be Haruhiko Oyabu . This is a revenge after all .

(Note: Revenge is the main theme of Haruhiko Oyabu’s works, i . e . Youth of the Beast)

Late at night .

It’s the so called [the dead of night] .

I transferred onto the top of the building adjacent to the target place .

And if you look closely at the target place…

There’s a solid-looking warehouse behind a store building . Around the warehouse, there are five to six security guards .

No one seems to be asleep, and everyone seems to be on guard .

Well, I’m currently lying prone on the roof of the building next to it, and on top of that there’s no light other than starlight, even if they look here, they will never find me .

Having that many guards outside the warehouse means it’s safe to assume that nobody is inside . If you have people inside, you don’t have to put that many people outside . That is, unless there are 20 thieves breaking in .

Maybe it’s not to prevent the goods in the warehouse from being stolen, but to prevent anything inside from being seen or examined .

Usually, the guards would take turns on the night watch, and make a loud noise to inform the rest of the guards who are sleeping if they find a thief . They’re not instructed to fight the thief alone .

And most of the night watches would be stationed in the main building where the safe and the bedroom of the merchant family are located, they would only patrol around the warehouse regularly .

…that’s why the security guards of the Rephilia Trade were easily neutralized though . They were ambushed during the patrol and neutralized before they had the chance to shout . And the security guards who came to check were also neutralized . Thus, the main building and the security office were suppressed, and after that, the thieves did as they please .

Since the store and warehouse of Rephilia Trade are rented, the living quarter is small and most of the employees are commuters and not living there, so there weren’t many guards with decent combat strength . Besides, it wouldn’t be worth it if they security guards were killed because they were poorly resisted . If you think it’s impossible, give up immediately without any resistance .

That is not a wrong decision, and even in modern Japan, store clerks are trained that they should obediently give the money in case of aggravated robbery . Having a dead employee would deal more damage to the store than losing a little of sales proceeds…

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Well, anyway, the guards don’t seem to hold the key to the warehouse . Is it because the merchant doesn’t trust the guards, or is it because it would be inconvenient if they see the content of the warehouse…

Then, from the stone steps at the entrance of the warehouse, I guessed the height of the inside floor, and transferred there . Even if the space itself isn’t visible, there’s no problem if I can clearly recognize the space coordinates .

…pitch dark .

I wonder if the lighting windows are closed…

Well I guess rainwater, insects, pests, etc . would get in if they’re always open…

I took out the ultra-small LED light from my pocket…

I also prepared a glow stick to reduce light leakage, but LED light would be fine in this situation . Even if the guards were alerted, they should take some time to open the door, so I just have to transfer before they get in .

And I looked around…

Yeah, there they are!!

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In addition to ordinary stock supplies, there are random piles of Yamano Territory products… the products were bought on Earth, but they were repacked in our territory, because the original packaging areOOPArtshere… there are a lot of packages with Yamano Territory marks…

It seems that they’re trying to get rid the evidence, and that they’re repacking the goods with other bags, but they have not been completed yet . And apparently, they want to increase the amount of the mixture, so they can tell that these are not our-product .

I wonder if that’s why they’re not working at night . Since darkness increases the probability of mistakes . Or is it because they just wanted to save on oil and candles?

Well, it doesn’t matter . I have confirmed the culprit . That’s all .

Alright, let’s do this…

Transfer!

I transferred the goods to Yamano warehouse in a fraction of a second .

Of course, I transferred everything that was in the warehouse, not just what was taken from the warehouse of the Rephilia Trade .

Those who deprives should be prepared to be deprived!

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…no, no matter how prepared they are, being deprived is still terrible .

The security of this warehouse was strict, so we investigated this one first, but in fact this warehouse is not the only one . So, let’s continue to the other warehouses!

Maybe everything that were taken away from us were stored here, but well, there’s a saying that you should take the opportunity if it arises .

And after I transferred all the contents of all warehouses, finally…

[Transfer a part of the walls of all warehouses!!]

In the darkest of the nights, a small part of walls silently disappeared in an instant .

Unless someone is looking at it directly, no one won’t notice it immediately .

And the guards are watching the outside, they have no reason to stare at the warehouse wall .

The guards will probably notice the anomaly after quite some time . Besides, even if they immediately noticed, it’s not much of a problem .

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The time needed for a getaway is unrelated in my case…

With this, Phantom Thief Mitsuha’ today’s mission is over!