The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I'm a "Farmer", Not a Demon King! ~ - Chapter 472

The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I’m a “Farmer”, Not a Demon King! ~

Chapter 472   Hero: Security maintenance unit?

“Thud!”

It was probably a mistake to stop and start thinking. I ended up bumping into someone who came from in front of me. When I looked, it was someone who looked like a child.

Sorry. I thought about saying that, but the child ignored me without saying anything and quickly walked away.

…Well, this is the kind of town where greetings are not necessary, I guess.

Thinking that, I tried to start walking, but then I realized that something strange was happening to my body.

“Strange” might be a bit exaggerated, but the weight I had felt in my pocket seemed to have lightened a bit.

In a panic, I checked my surroundings, and there was the child from earlier running away from me. In the child’s hand was a familiar bag.

Panicking, I checked my own pocket, and the thing that should have been there—my wallet—was gone. Upon closer inspection, part of my clothes was also cut, so I understood that it wasn’t dropped but stolen.

Realizing that, I immediately started running and chased after the fleeing child.

It’s not exactly a crowded place, but I had to navigate through people, so I couldn’t run at full speed.

Even so, with the power of a “hero” possessing the strength of the tenth rank, I could easily catch up.

“Tsk！？ Damn it——!”

It seemed like the child sensed something. The child who stole the wallet looked back, and perhaps realizing I was closer than expected, widened his eyes and cursed at me.

Then, grabbing something from his waist, he threw it towards me.

It turned out to be a net, spreading out to envelop me on its way. However, I managed to dodge it without getting caught and continued chasing.

The child, noticing that I was still pursuing, finally threw the stolen wallet in my direction. I caught it, continued chasing, and subdued the child.

“Ugh——! Damn it, let go!”

The child, probably a boy, struggled against being held down, but it wasn’t enough to break free.

While I thought that, the boy, still pinned down, looked back at me and suddenly spat something out. Instinctively, I released one hand to shield my face… was that dirt?

Presumably, in the midst of his struggles, he had bitten into the ground and spat it out. Quite an extreme move.

Trying to take advantage of my released hand, the boy attempted to escape, but even with just one hand, I couldn’t let someone of his age group overpower me. I grabbed him again with both hands and pinned him down.

Now, what to do? Even if I catch him here, what’s the next step? In a normal town, I could hand him over to the patrol soldiers, but it wouldn’t work the same way in this town. After all, there shouldn’t be any organization here to maintain law and order.

“What’s going on!”

However, as I pondered what to do, a person dressed in armor and armed like a soldier approached me.

The reason I hesitated to call this person a soldier was that I couldn’t imagine there being soldiers in this town.

Yet, their appearance and actions seemed soldier-like. Could it be that there were soldiers here after all?

“I caught a pickpocket. What about you?”

“A pickpocket, huh? My apologies. I’m Alex, from the third division of the city’s security maintenance unit.”

I attempted to explain the situation politely, but it seemed like this person was indeed a soldier.

“Security maintenance? I didn’t think there was anything like that.”

“Well, people from outside often think that. But, in reality, we do have something like that. It might not be as solid as the knight orders in other towns, but there’s an organization that manages the safety of the city. Without it, there’s no way we could have a ‘safe city for customers’ in a place like this, right?”

Although Alex casually laughed as he introduced himself, it made sense. Without soldiers, it would be impossible to create a ‘safe city.’

“Anyway, if you lay hands on ‘customers’ from outside, it becomes our job to catch them. Leave the rest to me. If you capture a criminal, you can claim the bounty by presenting this token at the mercenary guild near the gate.”

“A bounty? And there’s a mercenary guild here?”

“Yeah. Even with security organizations like us, there are more criminals than we can handle. Without the cooperation of the citizens, it’s impossible to catch everyone and maintain a safe city. So, we offer rewards to the citizens for capturing criminals. The mercenary guild provides regular jobs. Despite appearances, there are plenty of strong individuals here. Besides, for handling shady matters, you need a place like that.”

“I see.”

“Shady dealings.” That essentially meant requests for theft or murder.

While I couldn’t endorse such activities, the fact remained that there were people seeking those services, and there was nothing I could do about it.

If this were the Holy Kingdom, I could easily report such places and have them shut down, but that wasn’t possible here.

“Well, take this; it should cover your lunch at least. Prices are high here, so it might just disappear with one meal. Consider it a little pocket money.”

“Understood. Thank you.”

“No, if anything, I should be thanking you for catching this one.”

Accepting the wooden board that Alex handed over, I handed over the pickpocket boy.

“A city of criminals with a security maintenance unit…”

After seeing the two depart, I lowered my gaze to the wooden board in my hands.

If there were rewards for catching criminals in the city, it would indeed make committing crimes more difficult. After all, if discovered, everyone around would become an enemy.

However, I also thought it would be risky to do such a thing in a normal town. The opponents would be criminals armed with weapons who wouldn’t hesitate to attack. Trying to stop such individuals might lead to a counterattack, resulting in death.

Here, everything was at one’s own risk. Even if someone died, it wouldn’t cause a big fuss, making it possible.

“Big bro got done in.”

I didn’t have any particular plans for what came next, and just as I was considering exchanging the wooden board I received, I heard a voice from a nearby street vendor.

“… Done in? What do you mean?”

It might have been a mutter, or it might not have been, but the words spoken with a chuckle weren’t particularly pleasant. I could have ignored them, but I couldn’t help but be curious, so I asked back.

“Hehe, you really don’t understand anything, huh? Well, I guess that’s expected.”

“So, what’s going on?”

“You want to know? Well, got something to offer, don’t ya?”

“Money…”

The man smirked, forming a circle with his thumb and index finger, leering suggestively.

Feeling no need to be polite with such an attitude, I furrowed my brows, and my language naturally became rough.

“Yeah, right. Even so, if I claim it’s confiscated from a ‘customer,’ I’ll become a target for capture too. So, how about buying something from our stock? Then it’s just a regular transaction. As a bonus, I’ll throw in a little chit-chat. How about it?”

“…Expensive.”

In response to the man’s words, I glanced at the displayed items, but all I saw were used weapons, dubious-quality potions, and subtly questionable artworks. Despite being such items, the prices were quite… no, significantly high. It was a price that anyone could understand wouldn’t sell normally.

Still, the reason they were selling at this price was probably because this man never intended to sell proper goods in the first place. He likely normally dealt in something “different.”

… Ah, I see. This might be what they call an information dealer.

“The price is my prerogative, and it’s the customer’s choice to buy. Even if it’s an exorbitant amount, as long as both parties agree, it’s a legitimate transaction. Big bro, can you accept this amount? Don’t you have something you want to know?”

“…Then, give me this knife.”

Opting for the second cheapest item, a practical knife, I still found it to be quite expensive.

By the way, the cheapest item was an unknown piece of fabric. I say unknown because, even though I called it that, it looked like it might have been someone’s clothing. It was too tattered to be of any use, and even if it weren’t, I had no intention of using it, so I chose the knife.

“Wow! You’ve got good taste. Here you go.”

“It’s better quality than I expected.”

“Oh, that knife? Some brat from somewhere probably killed and robbed someone for that. It’s recommended if you plan on using it to kill someone. After all, it comes with ‘credentials.’ Oh, and no returns accepted, by the way.”

Having paid for the knife and confirming its condition, I was interrupted by the man explaining about the knife. I stopped in my tracks, turning sharply to face him.

However, despite my reaction, the man merely grinned and chuckled. There was no point in saying anything at this point, and buying something else now didn’t guarantee it would be genuine. Reminding myself that I needed to buy something if I wanted information, I shifted my focus away from the knife.

“… So, what do you mean by ‘big bro got done in’ earlier?”

“Hmm? Oh, right. That was a screw-up.”

“A screw-up?”

“Yeah. That brat who messed up the pickpocketing and the guy who claimed to be from the security maintenance something-or-other. Those two are partners pulling tricks on ‘customers.'”

“Those two are partners? Then, the security maintenance unit…?”

This was undoubtedly information worth paying attention to. Were that soldier and the pickpocket in cahoots? It was hard to believe. After all, as far as I could tell, that soldier named Alex seemed like a genuinely ordinary person.

But, thinking about it, there were suspicious aspects. When I caught the boy, he struggled, but once handed over to the soldier, he became obedient. I initially thought he gave up, but would someone trying to escape by biting into the ground so easily give up?

“It’s not like that. Well, there’s something similar. They move if there’s excessive violence or killing against ‘customers,’ but that’s special. It’s not something those small fry can handle. After all, they’re part of the direct forces of the Five Emperors.”

The term “Five Emperors” referred to the leaders who divided the city into five parts and ruled when it was just one city called Karakas.

Each ruler managed their respective areas in their ways, but despite being called different areas, from what I heard, they held positions similar to kings. When you think of kings, you might expect a broader territory, but considering the peculiarities of this place, the scale of power, and the nature of the inhabitants, it was somewhat understandable.

However, when it came to the direct forces, were they like the royal guards? That would indeed be challenging.

“If they go too far against ‘customers,’ they might get captured. Well, they’re aware of their limits, so they won’t get caught.”

In other words, those two would likely continue their pickpocketing in the future.

In my case, I noticed it immediately, but for an average person, they wouldn’t notice if they were stolen from so naturally. Even if they did notice, the speed at which the ordinary child fled wasn’t normal, and catching them would be impossible. Even if possible, they might end up like me, deceived and letting them escape.

Is this the norm in this city…?