Honey Trap! ~The Honey Trap Encirclement to Ensnare the Summoned Hero~ - Chapter 35 & 36

Chapter 35: Troublemakers Take on a Missing Person Case (Part 2)

“Nothing else to do, so let’s play cards!”

Yuri’s words, fresh off his wrestling match.

As if it’s the most natural thing, he shuffled cards, the other three eagerly joining in.

Even Eliza tugged Yuri’s sleeve, saying, “Is this really the time?”

Perhaps her plea got through, as Yuri grinned and said—

“Don’t worry, we’re not leaving you out!

You won’t know the rules yet, so watch from behind me. I’ll teach ya!”

That’s not the issue.

Eliza shook her head, joined by the jailer.

“Hm, this ‘trump’ game Yuri brought is quite fun. Learn the rules well, kid.”

“How ‘bout starting with Old Maid? Simple, no need to memorize much.”

“Nah, it’s not kid-friendly. People like Agamemnon show everything on their face.”

“Are you naturally calling me a child?!”

*

“Revolution—! Wahaha, you’re all peasants now!”

“Ngh, all my cards are pigs!”

“My trump cards… reduced to scraps…!”

“Lucky me, I’m safe. Thanks, Agamemnon!”

They played Daihinmin (Big Poor).

A devilish game that drags on forever once it heats up.

Just one round in, the vibe was already at fever pitch.

Eliza might’ve joined the fun… if they weren’t in a dungeon.

“Hey, kid… these guys okay?”

“Uh… they’re good people…?”

Eliza’s a kid, not thick-skinned enough to game in jail. The jailer agreed.

As she started thinking, Are adventurers like this…?—a rude notion for the profession—Agamemnon, fresh off his revolution win, casually asked the jailer—

“Hm… Say, jailer, any weird stuff happen here?

Like screams in the night?”

“Whoa, nailed it! Yeah, this dungeon’s haunted!

At night, you hear sobbing from beyond the walls…”

The jailer gleefully launched into a ghost story. The four adventurers shouted in unison—

““““That’s it!””””

*

“It is here! Alright, excavation time!

Come out, digging crew! Vent your grudge against the living on those stone walls!”

“Shuko, shuko!”

Eremia summoned a horde of undead, making the jailer fall off his chair and Eliza’s eyes widen.

The undead, gripping shovels, seemed to scream, “Screw you!” for some reason.

“Hm, I’m getting pumped!”

“Me too, me too!”

Lucius and Yuri bent the iron bars gunya and strolled out.

The jailer, unable to process reality, just tilted his head, muttering, “Huh? What?”

“Wait… you could’ve left anytime?”

“Well, yeah, these flimsy bars… Oh, bent ‘em too much to fix. Not my fault!”

“Huh…?”

Eliza crossed her arms, puzzled. Is escaping jail that easy?

While the girl pondered, the digging roared on. A black queen’s undead, a chuuni demon king, and a world-saving hero made quick work of it.

A tunnel formed in the dungeon, and Agamemnon sniffed kunkun.

“Hm, the scent’s getting clearer…! Kinda like the kid’s…”

“Keep digging, let’s go!”

“Kukuku, nice one, lolicon dragon! Time to score big, make the guild eat their lectures!”

“Wow, Lucius, you actually cared about those?”

“They’re like my minister’s sermons—unbearable…!”

Demon King Lucius—maybe the most serious of the bunch.

Eremia let lectures slide off like water, forgetting them instantly.

“I’m not a lolicon…! Kid, don’t believe them! I’m no pervert dragon lusting after human girls!”

“Uh, okay… but I’m so confused…”

“Same here… Who are you people?”

Eliza and the jailer, transcending roles, shared a unified thought: What are these guys?

But then, a clearer voice echoed from beyond the wall—

“!? Is someone there!?”

A painfully familiar voice. Eliza’s body jolted bikuri.

“S-Sister!?”

“Eliza!? Is that you!? Why are you here!?”

“I came to save you! The adventurers helped!”

Tears streaming, Eliza shouted to her sister.

The four, digging away, secretly cheered, “This wipes out all our screw-ups!”

Rude questioning, bent bars—if the baron’s a villain, it’s all good, right?

“Fuhaha! With us Troublemakers here, you’re as good as saved!

Stay clear of the wall and wait!”

“Yup! In the hands of us Troublemakers, this case is solved! Spread the word after!”

Chanting their odd party name, they dug—or rather, demolished—toward the heart of it.

The jailer trembled, watching.

“No way…! Those scumbag bosses really into shady stuff!?”

“Oh? Jailer, heard any rumors?”

“Y-Yeah… just rumors. Baron’s been flush lately, probably tied to the underworld, doing dirty deeds.

But this…”

Finding a kidnapped girl in a dug-out dungeon? No excuses would hold.

As the jailer stared, stunned, at the tunnel, gachagacha—urgent sounds echoed from the other side.

“!? T-They’re already here…!? No, you can’t come! Eliza, run—!”

“Whoops.”

A serious line, but a second too late.

Dokaan! Lucius kicked through the final wall, striking a pose and cackling.

“Gwah!”

“Fuhaha! For guild points, I, Lucius, have arrived!

Captured ones, tell the guild of my feats!”

“Oi, Lucius, you just blasted someone!”

“What!?”

A giant over two meters tall, blown away by Lucius’s grand entrance, lay unconscious.

Lucius panicked.

“N-No, that was an accident! Doesn’t count…!”

“Nah, that’s on you for not looking… Hey, you alive?”

Yuri approached the man.

Something was off. Armored, wielding a huge sword—not very prisoner-like.

Looking around, the tunnel opened into a wide space. Crude cells lined up, each holding a chained woman.

Guarding them were armed men, all with nasty faces. In other words—

“Wahaha! This guy’s one of the kidnappers!

See that, you lot? First glory’s mine!”

Lucius’s victory moment.

Forgetting his “no-count” plea, he thrust a fist up, gloating.

Yuri and co. stomped in frustration.

“Damn, he stole it!”

“Hey, my undead did the digging!”

“This MVP’s my nose, no?”

The armed men froze, as did the captives.

The guy Lucius floored was their top fighter—an ex-A-rank adventurer who could kill bears barehanded.

Losing their strongest before the fight even started crushed the guards’ morale.

Then, from behind the four, gashagasha—

“Shu, shu!”

“Watch out, undead!”

A mob of shovel-wielding undead, eyes gleaming with grudge-like fury, charged the guards in a tantrum-like frenzy.

A swung shovel hurts and knocks you out.

“Haha, that’s my second glory!”

“Sneaky, Eremia!”

The guards outnumbered the party, but it didn’t matter.

“Sister…!”

“Eliza, Eliza…!”

Amid the chaos, Eliza and Miranda reunited.

Agamemnon smashed the cells, playing liberator to earn favor later—a dragon’s cunning.

The women were freed one by one, gathering behind the dragon sweeping bassabassa through the dungeon.

“Haha, all captives saved! Big score for me!”

“Damn, he got us!”

“Sneaky, Agamemnon…!”

The three, done beating the guards, gaped at Agamemnon stealing the spotlight.

But the situation shifted. Gashagasha—fully armed knights appeared.

“You won’t leave alive!”

Swords drawn, shields up, radiating killing intent.

Dozens of them. Yuri was hyped.

“Awesome! FPS cliché, Wave 2! Listen up, team!

Mission’s to hold out till backup! Go!”

“No need to hold out. I’m crushing them for points.”

“I wanna make the Guildmaster eat his words too.”

“…True…!”

Like moths to a flame.

The knights, meant to attack, were instead overwhelmed in chaos.

Chapter 36: Troublemakers Take on a Missing Person Case (Part 3)

While Yuri’s crew played cards in the dungeon, a messenger from Baron Yoram’s estate arrived at the guild: “Your adventurers barged in for a search and got detained. Come get them.” The receptionist slumped over the table.

“Guildmaster, what do we do…? They’ve pulled a massive blunder…”

“Ugh, worst-case scenario. Fine, let’s grab ‘em. They’re getting a huge lecture this time.”

Debating how to make a sermon stick—maybe demote them to F-rank?—the Guildmaster and receptionist headed to the baron’s mansion, uneasy.

But something was off. No guards, no people—just eerie silence.

“Huh? That’s weird. No gatekeepers or sentries.”

“This gives me a bad feeling…”

The battle-hardened Guildmaster trusted his gut and stormed the grounds. The receptionist scrambled after him.

From deep within, dokaan dokaan—loud crashes echoed.

“Crap, that’s combat!”

“Ehhh!?”

The Guildmaster sprinted, the receptionist trailing, racing into the mansion, toward the noise, down the dungeon stairs, through a freshly dug tunnel, until they reached the scene.

“Adventurers’ Guild!

Troublemakers, what are you—hyaa!”

“We’re in combat!”

It was a warzone.

The receptionist and Guildmaster froze at the sight.

Freed women, likely captives, guarded by a small dragon.

Baron Yoram was actually a kidnapper. Shocking enough, but what blew that away—

“Fuhahaha! Receptionist and Guildmaster, behold my triumph!”

“Alright, most takedowns wins! Watch closely—necromancers shine in chaos!”

“Lucky! Guildmaster, mind watching the girls? I’m off to rack up points!”

Knights poured in, only to be tossed like ragdolls, ponpon, slammed to the ground. Less a battle, more a massacre.

“This… this is too much…!”

“Oi, what are these guys? All I can do is laugh…”

Rank was irrelevant. The power gap was absurd.

“You dare defile Baron Yoram’s household!?”

The baron himself arrived. With no soldiers returning, he’d brought his elite guard—a fatal mistake.

“Oh, he’s mad his crimes got exposed. Hilarious!

Boo, you mad your dirty deeds got caught?”

“Yes! That’s practically a confession—let’s tie him up!”

“Easy peasy. Old man, atone for your sins!”

“What!? Stop—!”

“Wait, he’s a noble…!”

Before the receptionist could intervene, the baron was pummeled and hogtied. His elite guard lay flattened in the collateral damage.

“Mission complete!”

“Fuhaha, my grand victory!”

“Easy job!”

“All captives safe!”

Kicking the baron, the four gloated, glancing at the guild duo, who could only wryly smile.

The freed women cheered wildly, their kya kya screams showering Yuri, who blatantly preened.

Eliza, reunited with her sister, forgot her dungeon doubts—“Are these guys…?”—and gazed at the four with starry eyes.

“Amazing! Thank you, adventurers! You’re incredible…!”

“Don’t make them the standard!”

The receptionist’s near-breaking scream. The Guildmaster’s sooty groan: “I gotta clean this up…?”

And so, the capital’s kidnapping case was resolved.

*

Epilogue

Baron Yoram, caught red-handed, faced trial and prison.

The Guildmaster received a commendation from the palace, feeling like he’d been pranked.

“Something’s off. A noble’s involved; this should’ve been messier.”

“The king’s just that great.”

“They let me off too! Man, what a relief.”

The jailer, spared by some mysterious pull, now worked as a city guard. He’d drop by the guild, drinking and ranting, his work ethic unchanged.

One man ran around tying it all together: Prime Minister Daniel, pleading with Lunaria and Reza.

“Please, subtly—subtly—steer Hero-sama toward… maybe not taking jobs…?”

Hearing a weirdly named party from the guild crushed a corrupt noble, Daniel investigated. Familiar names—Yuri, Eremia, Lucius, Agamemnon—nearly stopped his heart.

“Yuri-sama is just… so Yuri-sama.”

“I don’t hate that about him. The other three, well…”

Lunaria and Reza recalled the hero’s crew. Eremia, the Undead Queen, was closest. A fitting savior…

“Summoning me during a nap? That playboy! I’ll crush him!”

“Sorry! We beat some thugs, but I dunno how to handle the aftermath. Tie ‘em up and toss ‘em in the river?”

…Very Yuri-like.

She’d faint if she heard, but Lunaria and Reza were sure: they’re cut from the same cloth.

Given the four’s bond, Lucius and Agamemnon were likely similar.

“Prime Minister, who else knows?”

“I’ve gagged the info. The guild doesn’t realize who those four are.”

“Impressive… Keep it hushed. Ideally, it never leaks.”

“I agree with Her Highness. If this got out…”

The savior heroes, E-rank adventurers.

It was a mess in every way.

“Hey, our kingdom’s always catching flak for not rewarding Hero-sama enough. Any ideas, Reza-san?”

“Reza, any advice for this poor Prime Minister…?”

“Look, you two. I’m a commoner—a former courtesan. Can you not rely on me for big stuff…?”

Hero’s advisor—secretly the kingdom’s last bastion.