Pseudo Resident’s Illegal Stay in Another World

Chapter 154: Hassan and the Nine-Headed Thief (5)

Chapter 154: Hassan and the Nine-Headed Thief (5)

From the moment we started jumping across other people's roofs, I knew there was something off about this Sandgirl Dorothea. It seemed like she had one of those peculiar mental disorders that people from this world tended to have.

"Now, there’s no one else than you! With you, we can bring down the 8th and seize the leader's position!"

But the sight of her shaking my arms back and forth while talking about killing and stealing was scary.

"Who's there?"

Someone in the alley shouted. The guard, who had been half-dozing just a moment ago, was now on alert and started walking towards us.

"....Ugh, this place isn't suitable. Let's go to my hideout! We can talk in detail there! Normally, no one is allowed in, but there's no other choice. There's no place as discreet as that."

Tap— Tap— Flap— Clang— Step— Step—

Dorothea began scaling the wall again at an astonishing speed. Soon, she was completely on the roof, and I, too, followed her, avoiding the guard's gaze.

When I first climbed onto the roof, it felt a bit unfamiliar and challenging, but by the second time, it wasn't uncomfortable at all.

Considering I had climbed many mountains to collect herbs or hunt snakes and that my dexterity and strength were added to the mix, I seemed to have a knack for climbing.

"That's strange. I heard a sound. Did I dream it?"

The guard, shining his torchlight around the area we occupied, voiced his suspicions. After thoroughly inspecting the surroundings, he left, allowing us to change our location by moving from roof to roof.

The place we found ourselves in was unexpectedly close to Luna's house, with many cabins and sheds nearby. Blood rushed to my face and lower half as I remembered what Hippolyte and I did in this neighborhood.

As night fell, I began to long for a woman's touch. If I hadn't known that taste from the start, I might not have felt this way. However, now that I'd experienced it, I constantly yearned for it.

While I was lost in these thoughts, Dorothea handed me a small piece of cloth. It startled me out of my reverie.

"What's this?"

"To cover eyes obviously."

"Oh, well."

Geez, she has so many requests.

So, I accepted the cloth from her hand. As our hands briefly touched, I could hear the Ding sound, and letters appeared in my mind.

[Stats] Name: FatimaLevel 14 Condition: Tenosynovitis? Lower Back Pain? Dry Skin? Oh. Clean condition details with no question marks. Was that because her level was lower than mine?

Still, being around level 14 meant she could be considered at a high level compared to most people in this world.

At this level, she could easily make a living as a bronze-tier adventurer, even without resorting to thievery. But the name listed here was Fatima. So, was Dorothea just an alias?

The status window never lied, it seemed that Fatima was her real name, and Dorothea was just a code name used for thievery or dancing gigs.

I thought she matched the name Dor- with Dorgo, but that wasn't the case. So, did Dorgo also have another name?

But well damn, I also went by Hassan, not Ha San. It was not uncommon for people to use an alias, so there was nothing weird about it.

"What are you staring at?"

"Oh, nothing at all."

Swoosh— Swoosh—

I used the cloth handed by Dorothea to cover her eyes.

"...What are you doing now?"

"You asked me to cover your eyes."

"Not my eyes, your eyes! It's because I need to keep my hideout's location a secret. I want you to cover your eyes."

"Oh, damn. I thought..."

Since blindfolding is a fairly well-known practice, even among more obscure fetishes, I had assumed this girl was expressing some devious desire for herself to be blindfolded.

"You should have said that sooner."

After roughly covering my eyes, she grabbed my wrist and went through the shed area.

Just by covering my eyes, I felt like I was about to trip and bump my face into something, which made me slightly anxious and scared.

I once wondered what kind of world people who couldn't see lived in. I felt both pity and a bit of admiration.

I should be grateful to have both eyes.

Halt.

We stopped walking at that moment.

Thunk— Thud—

Some kind of lock sound resounded, and before long, Dorothea led me into a chilling open space.

Whoosssh—

The sound of a fire igniting faintly reached my ears, and Dorothea said.

"You can uncover your eyes now."

And so, I was able to remove the cloth covering my face. What was revealed was a small cabin with a variety of statues filling the interior.

The statues were made of various materials, from wood to iron and marble. They portrayed characters and creatures of different sizes and shapes.

"Wow—"

The sight of these statues gathered together, illuminated by the lantern's light, was astonishing, and my mouth involuntarily hung open.

"Isn't it impressive? These are the collectibles I've gathered over the past two years."

"Did you steal everything?"

"Of course. I stole everything. Every single one!"

The woman puffed out her chest and shoulders as if she had done something truly remarkable.

I was not sure if she was proudly talking about stealing things, but from the beginning, her way of thinking seemed different from mine. She looked like a bad thief.

Should I report this girl? Maybe I would get a reward. I couldn't help but think this for a moment.

However, I'd rather take the chance to take out a whole bunch of Thieves' Guild executives than put only this one away.

The nine heads of Hydra that would keep regenerating.

I should cut them all off at once.

"This statue was stolen from 4th Street in the north, that one from the Baron in the east gate, and this one..."

But like a fool, Sandgirl Dancer probably didn’t know my wicked intentions, as she proudly began explaining where she stole each item from.

It occurred to me once again that people from this world liked to brag about anything and everything.

They even boasted about how much they'd suffered and endured in their painful lives if they had nothing to brag about.

Of course, I had no intention of indulging in such strange boasting. If this conversation dragged on any longer, it might arouse her suspicion. It would be better to quickly gather the information I need and return to the house where Luna was.

So, I decided to subtly compliment the girl’s spoils while trying my luck to extract information.

"These are truly splendid spoils. They're like Pluto's treasure trove. So, sooo, I was just wondering..."

"You're just wondering?"

Swoosh—

In the middle of our conversation, Sandgirl Dorothea started paying attention to my words while I just casually asked her as if it were just part of the conversation.

"You mentioned that the executives are gathering tomorrow for something big. Is it okay to ask where they're meeting and what they plan to steal?"

Swoosh—

Dorothea, who had just been chattering about uninteresting statues, closed her mouth and looked around in response to my question.

She busily moved her head as if she were inspecting the gaps in the wooden barn and its surroundings. Only after confirming that there was no one around did she quietly respond.

"Tomorrow, we're going to steal the city's hope."

"The city's hope?"

They were going to steal something abstract like that.

I was slightly expecting it to be the city’s important vault or a huge statue made of solid gold.

The information she told me was too vague so I couldn't help but frown.

"What exactly is that?"

"The city's hope. The guardian of humanity and the middle world. That’s the only one. We've decided to attack one of the gold-tier adventurers and bring them down."

"Damn, is that for real?! Attacking a gold tier?"

"Shh, keep your voice down!"

I was truly taken aback by the shocking revelation. Attacking gold-tier adventurers—the idea of stealing hope started to make sense.

In a world where monsters and cultists run rampant, if there was a reason people could still stretch their legs and rest at night somewhat, it was likely due to the military.

Well, the influence of gold-tier adventurers, also known as heroes, couldn't be ignored.

-Cultists have appeared!

The gold-tier adventurers would take care of it.

-Monsters are attacking the city!

The gold-tier adventurers would handle it too.

It was this kind of sentiment. Even I relied heavily on Hippolyte for the upcoming Thieve's Guild crackdown.

"If it's a gold tier, is it Hipolyte or Actaeon?"

Those two were the only gold-tier adventurers in Sodomora at this moment.

If they would launch an attack, it would be one of them, right?

However, when I asked, Dorothea shook her head.

"We don't know either. Only the 8th leader knows the plan. We just follow orders. It's the rules..."

"But is that even possible? Bringing down a gold-tier adventurer?"

"It would be difficult to win through a direct confrontation. But it seems the leader has thoughts and strategies. Yet, it'll still be a tough job. We might all die. And this isn't something the Thieves' Guild usually does."

I began to understand why this Sandgirl thief Dorothea, asked me to bring down their leader.

Success or failure, attacking gold-tier adventurers would be a mission that required someone’s sacrifice. Unless they were out of their minds, no one would support such a plan.

"Tomorrow, 7 PM. Come to the location written here. Then, with the consent of three guild executives, we'll officially appoint you as our new leader."

"Hmmm—"

"Then, you'll compete fairly with the current 8th leader and your skills. If you win in a showdown, you can become the king of the thieves who rules Sodomora's underground."

The King of Thieves?

Hassan, the King of Thieves.

I mentally thought of that name.

It sounded quite impressive, but in the end, I'd still be the damned leader of some criminals, wouldn't I? Only a miserable fate would await such a frightening person.

* * *

"Can I open my eyes now?"

........

There was no answer for a while. Since there was no sign or movement, too, I finally uncovered my eyes. However, the figure of Dorothea, one of the Thieves' Guild executives, was nowhere to be seen.

When did she leave?

She was really good at concealing her presence. There must be some extra padding on the soles of her feet.

Anyway, when I opened my eyes, I could see I was near Luna's cabin, so I decided not to delay further and headed back to the house where Luna was waiting for me.

Had she done making the elixir with Paranoy? By this time, it should be safe to go in, right?

However, Luna's cabin did not show any movement and all the lights were out.

I worried something wrong had happened, but when I entered, I saw Luna and Paranoy sleeping under the same blanket on the second floor.

It was quite lovely to see the two petite women sleeping cuddled up together.

"C-Candy... delicious..."

It was too late, so they had gone to sleep without waiting for me.

So, I just went to sleep on the first floor.

Tomorrow would be a busy and tiring day in many ways. I needed a good night's sleep. But...

Tap— Taptaptap—

Someone was shaking my body. It felt like they were tapping my chest.

What is it?

I slightly opened my eyes, feeling a sense of Deja Vu, and saw scarlet eyes staring at me from the darkness.

"Mr. Hassan, Mr. Hassan, please wake up!"

Even though the voice was faint but clear and urgent, triggering a flashback to my time working night shifts in the military. It was terrifying.

"What's going on? What is it?"

"I-It’s something urgent... something big might happen..."

"What's wrong? What's this big thing you're talking about?"

I hastily woke up and groggily opened my eyes, trying to make sense of things. I thought there might have been a fire, but it didn't seem to be the case.

"Why did you wake me up?"

"I-I tried to wake Miss Luna, but no matter how much I shook her, she wouldn't wake up, so I had no choice but to wake you, Mr. Hassan..."

"Ah, Luna always sleeps like a log. So, what's going on?"

"Um... I-I need to go to the restroom..."

"What?"

"I need to use the restroom... I've been holding it for a while now. It's getting really urgent."

"What? Fu—"

I couldn't understand what I was hearing.

"Then just go and come back.”

"I-I want to, but it's so dark outside, so I'm scared...”

"Ah."

This petite ditch water nymph seemed frightened to go outside alone in the dark. That made sense. If she was a girl with tender emotions, then it wasn't odd. A bit cute too.

Well, she was indeed cute and all, but still, damn it, she shouldn't be like this.

Nevertheless, she had been a cultist serving the dark god Pluto in the underground depths. It was unbelievable to see such a cultist being afraid of the dark.

She was more like a cultist in name only.

"C-Can you accompany me outside...?"

Paranoy twisted her body as if she were in a truly urgent situation. The way she held onto my arm so tightly made it appear as if it were very critical.

"H-huh, huh..."

If we kept going like this, she would probably end up wetting the floor here. Since I was the one doing the cabin cleaning, it would be a truly dreadful situation if that happened.

"Damn it, I got it. Let's go."

Damn it, I couldn’t really comprehend what we were doing this late at night. This reminded me of my younger sister when she was still in elementary school when she used to get scared after watching horror movies.

It was a time when my younger sister still had a rather cute side, although once she entered high school, she transformed into a tyrannosaurus.

Anyway, I headed towards the outdoor restroom with the nymph in tow. Rather than a restroom, it was more like a roughly made simple warehouse.

Because there were rather dirty corners, Luna would instead turn to the bakery with a brazier to use their restroom.

But now, it was dawn, so the bakery didn't seem like it would be open, and I, too, didn't have the energy to wander around looking for a clean place with my tired and sleepy body. I lazily pushed the small nymph inside and yawned.

"Yawn, hurry up, do your business..."

"Heuhhhh... heuuuhhh..."

Come to think of it, I always strangely got tangled up in this weird girl.

"...Uh, M-Mr. Hassan."

Right at that moment, I heard a noise coming from inside the shed.

"Mr. Hassan, are-are you outside...? Mr. Hassan! Mr. Hassan!"

"What is it now?"

"It's so dark here, I’m scared..."

"I'm here outside, so just finish quickly."

"Since nymphs always have to be cautious... we won't do our business unless it's safe..."

At the words of the ditch water nymph, I immediately imagined the nymphs that might have been attacked while they were doing their business.

While eating, sleeping, and going to the bathroom...

These were the only three occasions when a person's guard would be most relaxed, making them easy targets. Nymphs, indeed, lived a tough life.

"Mr. Hassan..."

"What now? Have you finished?"

"...This is a bit embarrassing to ask, but... can you please hold my hand...? I-I feel like someone might pop out from below...!"