The day after the mutant Devitree-fight, I dragged Mira and Alf to visit the island's TNT store. Their real occupation is terra structures and construction, but who cares about the details? What is important is that this place is the only legal method to obtain dynamite on this almost-secluded island. There may be other options to choose from, but I doubt they could gather so much boom without being noticed.

We questioned the employees by telling them that we were sent from the Adventurers' Union asking about yesterday's incident. And it's not even a lie!

"Ah, yes. We have waited for you to arrive since we heard the news about the explosion yesterday." - Employee

"You did?" - Garami

"Yes. For someone from the Union at all, to be precise." - Employee

Hmm? There has been no one who's taken to visit these guys until now? What are those guys at the Union doing?

"In that case, have you any lists of people buying large amounts of explosives then? Knowing that will help with our investigation." - Mira

She sounds like a cop. And it's not too far from it either. This island's security isn't all that great. This place consists of 90% farmers, after all, so adventurers get treated like voluntary police officers. Officers with no authority outside what the Union gives them, which is close to zilch, but you get the idea.

"There have been 2 people who bought much of our available merchandise, but one was an agent from the Union, so we believed it was to be used in the investigation of the recent monster outbreaks." - Employee

Tch, a dead-end. Wait, didn't he say "2" people?

"And who is the other one?" - Alf

"That was a request from the Ariens farm." - Employee

"Oh, that's Firis' place." - Mira

"Yes, that one." - Employee

The little angel girl's farm? I didn't notice any explosives when we were there. Not that it would be logical to keep that in the open, but...

---

After leaving the shop with a copy of the recent buyers, we split up with Mira going to the Union with the list and the intel we'd gathered from the shop, and Alf and I going to daddy bearman's place.

"Explosives? I have heard nothing about that." - Benjamin Ariens (daddy bearman)

Eh? Did we hit a dead-end here?

Daddy bearman didn't seem to have any clue about what we were talking about. And honestly, this guy has as little reason for being behind the Devitrees as the Union is. I mean, he's the guy who hired us to solve the problem in the first place! Not to mention that it's not him who's getting the most significant slice of the cake made from processing the wood of the fallen tree monsters. Nor the construction company selling the dynamite, I might add. That's the result of a different business. I've already checked, as they were pretty suspicious from the beginning.

"Back to start then," said Alf as we walked the scenic route to the local Union Hall.

I needed to unwind my brain. That and the main roads are filled with farmers at this time of the day. A true, nauseating experience. Yuck. Therefore, we decided to take the less-populated path. It's going past some empty fields where a few sheep were grassing. I bet the shepherd is taking a nap in the grass somewhere. It's a detour compared to the main road, but it's great for escaping the hustle of the rush hour.

"Then only smuggling remains..." - Garami

"For how the moles obtained the TNT?" - Alf

"Yes..., and now that I think about it, all the other equipment they had." - Garami

"It is strange how the Stella Moles had access to all that equipment. And where did this 'grey goo' originate from?" - Alf

That, and what that goo is. We know it acts as some super-fertilizer, but nothing else. All the sludge that had been in the cave had evaporated after the explosion, so there was nothing left to investigate. We should be glad that the Union didn't give us a penalty for destroying crucial evidence.

"...Speaking of the moles, how did they manage to escape again?" - Alf

Huh? What is he talking about now? They managed to slip...oh.

In the mud, a pair of footprints were made without anyone nearby.

Don't tell me, an invisible-type skill like my [Optical Camoflage]? And one at a high-enough level to win over my Perception skills! Nice going, Alf.

And BTW, isn't this possibly whatever I hit when trying to flee the secret hideout cave? If it is, then we may have found our mole releaser! No way a single mole could help many of its kin escape! Their paws are too cuddly for my sticky webs.

But man, a rocky cave floor is one thing, but you're busting your cover by walking in this mud. I guess even a strong skill is useless if its wielder isn't careful. As an owner of a similar skill, I should be mindful of this.

"Are you kidding me? How else could they get free except using those dexterous paws of theirs?" - Garami

"Yeah, you're probably right. But what are our goals now? Shall we continue to hunt trees, or should we inspect the docks for smugglers?" - Alf

"Either sound pretty good. Where else should these criminals be?" - Garami

"It is a complete mystery." - Alf

Alf and I continued with our mindless blabbering to keep our invisible friend from noticing that we already knew they were sneaking on us. I jumped on top of one of the fences while making it look like I just got in the mood for some balance training while I took out a web bomb in a way so that the invisible footstep maker couldn't see me.

After slowing my pace, disguised as being careful with my balance training on top of the fence, I kept my ears and [Auditory Reinforcement] peeled on the faint steps of our invisible friend. ...Friends? No, it's a friend. These steps sound more like the four-legged tortoise in the Water-Knot than the two-legged raptors. My long years of hiding from them have given me the experience to differentiate beasts based on their footsteps. And this...is quite the heavy fellow?

I acted as if I almost fell off the fence...and threw the web bomb at our four-legged friend. And four more! No mercy, no surrender! I've learned my lesson from the moles! You're not getting away this time, my invisible friend!

"Iiik!" - ???

Hahahaha...ha? Hey, was that a little girl's voice?

*Splatt*

Something fell off the bunch of webs suspended in the air, which caused whatever I had webbed to become visible. This is...Mira's cow! The one she won from that betting match, then sold off! And on top of it is...

Firis!? Daddy bearman's little daughter!? Why is she here!? Don't tell me she is the mastermind behind the moles!? ...What am I? Stupid?

"*Sniff*, WAAAAA!" - Firis

Aw, crap! Now she started the waterworks! Wh-wh-wh-what do I do now!? Err, a lollipop..., they don't have those here!? Oh, I should remove the web..., but then she'll run away! Or will she? Argh, this is too alien from what I'm used to! Why couldn't she just have been any random monster trying to sneak up on us for a light snack!?

"You're little Firis, are you not? Why did you follow us?" - Alf

Alf, not bothered by any stupid ideas, as opposed to me, went down to match Firis' line of sight as she sat on top of the cow. I guess he's more used to children than I am. ...What is this strange feeling of defeat?

"*Sniff*, whue?" - Firis

"...If you promise not to run and answer our questions, then we can remove the sticky web. Is that fine?" - Alf

"........" - Firis

"And have no worries. We will not tell your dad if you do not wish for him to know. Is that a deal?" - Alf

".........okay..." - Firis

Hey, she's agreeing! Okay, one more reason why I would want to recruit Alf: he's good with children. Damn good, that bastard!

While making sure the cow couldn't run away, I got the little lady out of the web and put her to the ground. Ugh, I got half-angel snot all over my coat... It was only after she got her feet on the ground that Alf gave her a handkerchief to blow her nose. Make her do that BEFORE I get snotted! Though I gotta agree that the circumstances didn't make that possible, I'm still offended!

Leaving the questioning to Alf, I made sure the cow couldn't run. It seems to have calmed down now, so no worries there..., hmm? There's an amulet in the mud. Is this what I heard before?

Thanks to Alf's gentle "interrogation", for a lack of a better word, we got the story from the little angel. One day, a "big sis" came and played with Firis when her dad was busy with the farm due to the sudden influx of work due to the return of the grand lake. After that, the "big sis" suggested that they would give daddy bearman a gift, and asked Firis to help her do that.

"And that 'gift' was the lumber from the Devitree?" - Alf

"I don't know... Big sis just said that having my friends help her would make papa happy in the end..." - Firis

That sounds like a scam..., "friends"?

"Who are those 'friends' you are talking about?" - Alf

"They are Moley, Doley, Toley, Roley..." - Firis

What a lack of imagination when it comes to names!! But I can guess the punchline now.

"It's the moles." - Garami

"The Stella Moles, I might add." - Alf

"Ah! Those, those! That is what people call them! Big sis told me not to tell other people about them, because they would take ad...ad...?" - Firis

"Take advantage of your friends?" - Alf

"Yes, that!" - Firis

Sorry, kid. I feel like that's exactly what just happened.

"The big sis gave me a pretty item to keep me hidden while I helped big sis with the gift for papa." - Firis

"You mean this?" - Garami

I showed them the amulet I'd picked up from the mud and the little angel's face brightened like a lightbulb.

"That! That is the gift from big sis! People can't see me when it glows! But, it sometimes doesn't glow..." - Firis

Hmm, it seems to have mana-storing crystals attached to it. Maybe they work like a battery?

"Did it fail when you tried to walk through the plains the day we first met you?" - Alf

"Mhm. I wanted to give the cowies some goodies, but the gift went out before I could get back..." - Firis

Talk about bad luck..., or maybe not. Those workers back then mentioned something about an arrow. Don't tell me, that was a deliberate attack on the little angel!?

"¨Did you ever see that 'big sis' after that? We need to talk to her." - Alf

"......" - Firis

"...Oh, right. We promise that no harm will come to her. Right?" - Alf

"...Yeah, right." - Garami

As much as we can, at least. If they're really behind the Devitree infestation, she better has a goddamn good excuse for messing up with the local ecosystem!

---

After the event on the desolated road, we returned Firis to her home before regrouping with Mira to exchange our stories.

"So, in short, we need to find this 'big sis', make her surrender without harming her, AND try to prevent her from getting sent to jail, if not worse?" - Mira

"As much as possible." - Garami

"Whatever the fate is stored for this scamming 'big sis', we need to make sure Firis does not come in the crossfire." - Alf

"Now you're getting it~. Also, the lead about the explosives purchased by the Union turned out to be a dead end." - Mira

"How so?" - Garami

"It turns out that they purchased it for something happening on a different island. Something that required so much firepower that they needed to collect some firecrackers even from this place." - Mira

Then the reason why the Union didn't question the construction company is that they believed there were no more ka-boom left. Firis could probably ask them to set off some if she said it was for her dad's case..., and that may have been one of the reasons this 'big sis'-character wanted to recruit Firis.

"That's not helpful with our problem, other than that the Union isn't likely to follow the same lead we're following." - Garami

"Is that a good thing?" - Alf

"Yes, because we can't fabricate a story where Firis isn't involved in this mess if the Union is breathing down our necks." - Garami

"That's a good point. I agree with you there." - Alf

"Me three~. There is the slight problem of us not having the advantage of numbers if we can't have the other adventurers back us. I don't want to fight another monster tree..." - Mira

"Numbers aren't the problem anymore~." - Garami

Mira looked strangely at me, who was grinning at my own words. Hehehe~. This is gonna be fun! Or, at least "cuddly". ...We still have the advantage here, right?