The town of Hember Final – On the night I saw off my juniors

“Hahahahahaha! It smells so young...! Its, Its so doesn't suit you…..."
"This, damn..."
A drunken Kikka holds her stomach and laughs, and blue streaks appear on Finn's temples.

On the night of Arthur's departure from Hember, the two of them, who had seen off their five juniors, returned to the Fleece Inn and sat around the table they had brought into the room with Kikka, who had finished her work.

"Because...you, you..."I like you"...bufuuu!"
"I'll kill you."
"Well, before I'll be killed... I might die laughing before that. Hahahahahahaha!"

Kikka,  made the reluctant Finn tell the story of last night, saying that it was her natural right as a collaborator, perhaps because she liked Finn's love story so much, she continued to laugh at him in good mood from beginning to end, and in contrast, Finn's mood continued to deteriorate.
Lloyd offered drinks to Kikka, who continued to ridicule the fourth-class adventurer's anger even though it contained alcohol.

"Look, you're drinking too much. And I agree that Finn, who was happy and sad about love affairs, is happy, but please don't make fun of the poor man who just got kicked out no matter how much he's trash."
“Don’t diss me out after like you’re going to help me up too!”

The two of them ignored Finn's rage, and instead, chatted while eating.
Finn, who felt silly to be angry at his friends' attitude, slurped down his glass in desperation.

"In general, how can a crazy woman who falls in love with the owner of the inn and becomes a prostitute at first sight talk to other people?"
"Why? It’s beautiful pure love."
"How can you say that with such straight eyes..."
"Is it possible to purify your tainted heart?"
"My head is going crazy"
"... What are you talking about when you're confused about falling in love with someone else's woman at night? You're crazy from the start, right?"
"Guh..."

Ordinarily, I'd hate myself for one or two things, but since I'm aware of the burden I've put on the two of them due to my physical condition over the past few days, I have no choice but to keep my mouth shut.
Thinking that there was no chance of winning if he continued talking to Kikka who was drunk, Finn turned to Lloyd in order to change the subject of the conversation.

"By the way, what the hell were you doing after all?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm sure you said you’re gone for a request or something. But I didn’t hear about the requests”
"What what? Are you talking about being lonely and unable to sleep without Lloyd? Ahahahahaha!"
"Don't talk like that! Shut up if you're drunk! --- So? Are you gonna talk yet?"
“The request itself is over. I'm just wondering if I should tell you..."

Pushing away the red-faced Kikka and asking again, Lloyd's expression was unexpectedly grim.
Finn, who felt that he had touched his nerve unexpectedly in order to divert her topic, changed his direction, and perhaps sensing the heavy atmosphere, Kikka tightened his expression.

"... I'm an outsider, but I'm no stranger to those kids anymore. How much do you know?"
"How far, what do you mean?"
"Because it's funny, isn't it? He was the one who suggested turning the girls into prostitutes, and soon after that, he was commissioned by someone he didn't even know who he was, and he didn't even say what he was doing. Arthur-kun told everyone. When I told you that he was going out without being noticed, you seemed to know something about him."

Now that you mention it, it's so well made that I wonder why I didn't realize it until she said it.
Aside from Arthur's outing, I couldn't believe that the mysterious client who suddenly appeared after Mei's use into prostitutes had nothing to do with it.
And Finn had an idea of the person who was related to them and was trying to contact us, and Lloyd had no choice but to accept the request.

“The Owner, huh?”
“…………”
"Can't you answer?"

Lloyd was silent while being exposed to Finn and Kikka's stern gazes, but he began to talk bit by bit to the two who showed no intention of backing down.

"There's nothing you can do about it by listening to it--not only that, but it might bring bad consequences for you and them. But--"
"Speak" "Let me listen"
"... I understand. Well then... First of all, you seem to think that the client contacted us because they became prostitutes... We made them prostitutes. So it's not"
"Does that have anything to do with this?"
"No, it's the other way round. My client approached me, he asked me to, so I suggested they become prostitutes."
"For someone you don't even know... you mean you turned them into prostitutes at the behest of those who used them as toys...?"

Kikka, who had heard most of the situation from Finn and the others, glared at him without even trying to hide her anger, but Lloyd ignored it and continued her story.

"There were two things I was asked to do. To have them join the prostitutes' union and gain experience as prostitutes. To listen to, record, and report the details of their actions with customers."
"You ────"
"Wait. When I heard about the request before, you said it was an experiment or something to investigate. Was that a lie?"

Finn asks Lloyd, who ignores Kikka's question and continues talking indifferently.
He controlled his rage and pretended to be calm, but deep in his eyes there was a rage that he couldn't hide.
However, Lloyd lightly shrugged off the anger of the two, who must have expected it.

"I lied to you about this matter… but I didn't lie to you, about everything.... Anyway, please listen to me until the end."
"……Alright"
“Kikka, you good with this too?”
"Eeeh..."

The two reluctantly nodded, and Lloyd gave her a wry smile and continued.

“Both the experiments and the investigations are not lies. If I dare say it, it would be an experiment and investigation targeting them and their surroundings."

 experiment.
Finn's and Kikka's expressions became stern again at the words, which were too vile to be used by people, but they somehow restrained themselves and urged Lloyd to continue.

“What I wanted to know was the extent of their curse, its symptoms, its depth, its mental impact, and——”
"You turned those girls into prostitutes to find that out...?"
"No, you’re wrong….. at least that’s what I had thought..."
"Hmm? You turned them into prostitutes to investigate, right? To find out what happened to those girls whose owners left their hands——"
"Ah, that's right... the order in which I spoke was wrong. The premise was wrong in the first place."

Lloyd interrupted her by saying that.
In the next moment, the words that came out of his mouth were something that neither of them expected.
"It was not the owner or anyone else who instructed them to be prostitutes and asked me to observe them."

--- It was Arthur-kun

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