GILF Hunter

’I’m back!’

Evening time, just as the sun began to set.

Mika, who had gone out, returned home with a triumphant look on her face.

Usually, Mika’s face was crestfallen after coming back from ’magic tome hunting.’

Seeing her return with an unusually bright face for once, everyone wore a puzzled expression.

’What is it? Did you actually buy a magic tome?’

’Fufu….’

When Rin asked without much thought, Mika let out a smirk.

…Wait, did she really find one?

Seeing Mika’s face and thinking she had achieved something big, Rin sprang up from her seat.

Lia, who knew nothing of ’romance,’ made a blunt comment.

’Where would you find a magic tome in the market? I told you to just buy one at the magic shop.’

’The ones hidden in places like that are the truly great ones!’

In any case, seeing her so confident, it seemed she had indeed brought something back.

Everyone had that thought and gathered around to see what Mika had brought.

’What did you buy, Mika?’

’Captain. Don’t be surprised.’

When Ian asked, Mika carefully pulled out an old book she had been holding inside her robe.

An old cover with traces of worn-away gold leaf decoration.

It was an ancient tome that looked as if it must have been quite luxurious back in its prime.

’Oh….’

’You bought this?’

’What kind of magic tome is it?’

Since Mika had pulled it out so significantly, it did seem like a fairly impressive magic tome.

As everyone showed interest, Mika spoke confidently.

’I’ll have to look at the contents in detail, but it’s likely something related to fire….’

Mika began explaining the book she just bought with a proud face.

However, instead of such a complex explanation, there was a quick and simple way to find out its value.

Ian stared quietly at the magic tome.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

[Book]

– Miscellaneous Item

– No Effect

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

After seeing the description of the magic tome, Ian let out a voice of doubt.

’…Huh?’

’What’s wrong?’

’Mika. I don’t think this is a magic tome.’

’What?’

Everyone’s gaze, including Mika’s, turned back toward the ’magic tome.’

＊ ＊ ＊

Not long after, Mika realized too late that the book was just a fake magic tome filled with plausible-sounding words.

The merchant had naturally tried not to show the contents in detail, but since the merchant who sold the barrier magic tome before had been the same, she hadn’t been very suspicious.

Thud.

With an aura that made it seem like the sky was falling, Mika collapsed onto the sofa.

’I’m an idiot….’

’I-it’s okay, Mika. Anyone could make a mistake.’

’Yeah. It does look pretty convincing on the outside.’

Surrounding Mika as she muttered while buried in the lounge sofa, everyone offered words of comfort.

It seemed they all thought she was just heartbroken because the magic tome was a fake.

When Mika showed no signs of recovery, Tanya, who had a suspicion, asked.

’How much did you buy this for?’

’….’

Mika, who flinched at Tanya’s question, looked around at everyone’s eyes before answering in a small voice.

’…5 gold coins.’

’Gasp…!’

’I’m an idiot…. a snail….’

Only then could everyone understand why Mika was slumped like this.

She wasn’t just discouraged because the magic tome was fake; she had been scammed.

Lin jumped up and shouted at Mika.

’Which shop is it? Let’s go find them and give them a piece of our mind!’

’It was just a street stall in the back alley….’

A street stall?

Everyone’s expression became strange upon hearing Mika’s answer.

’…Did you buy it from an illegal street stall?’

’I’m an idiot…. a snail…. Rin….’

’….’

Mika hugged a blanket and curled her body into a ball on the sofa.

’Wait. Why is my name coming up there alongside those?’

’Ugh, ugyagyak!’

Lin grabbed the cheeks of Mika, who was hiding in the blanket, and pulled her out by stretching them.

Mika was dragged out while flailing like a caught fish.

While the two were playing around together, Ian flipped through the magic tome Mika had brought.

First of all, the item description wasn’t that of a magic tome, and the contents were spells that Ian had never heard the names of.

It was a clear fake magic tome, intentionally made to look plausible.

Ian turned his head and asked Mika.

Mika, who had barely managed to escape Rin’s hands, rubbed her tingling cheeks as she answered.

’So you thought it was that merchant from before?’

’Yes…. He wore a robe, sold strange items for high prices, and his attitude looked suspicious at a glance….’

’….’

To ask why she bought something from such a suspicious person—the characteristics were too perfectly matched.

It was just that these were also characteristics shared by scammers.

Mika let out a small sigh.

Since there was no one to blame but herself.

Trying to imitate Ian without even knowing how to appraise items, only to get hit by such an obvious scam—she couldn’t blame anyone else.

Ann, unable to watch the dejected Mika any longer, jumped up from her seat.

’We shouldn’t just sit here; let’s find that scammer!’

’How?’

’If we search the market thoroughly for starters….’

’You said he was wearing a robe; how would we know who it is?’

’….’

Ann ultimately sat back down quietly.

If they could just go out and catch him, they obviously would have, but the problem was that no one knew who the merchant was that sold Mika the book.

To make matters worse, he was an illegal street vendor, and since he was wearing a robe, even a detailed description of his features was impossible.

Besides, now that he’d made a score, he would surely run away and stay hidden for a while.

They would just have to chalk this up to Mika being too careless.

As everyone was letting out sighs that Mika couldn’t hear, Ian spoke up.

’No…. We might actually be able to catch him.’

’What? How?’

At Ian’s words, everyone’s heads whipped around.

Mika, who had turned back into a pill bug on the sofa, also snapped her head up.

Ian, who had just tried saying it once without being certain, flinched.

To dismiss it as just something he said, everyone’s eyes were sparkling way too much.

’Do you have a way to find him?’

’As expected….’

’Mika! Get up! He says we can catch him!’

It was too late for Ian to take back his words; even Mika had found her energy and stood up.

’Uh…. No, it’s not exactly certain.’

’Oh come on, you always say that and then you always succeed.’

’….’

He could no longer say it wasn’t a sure method at this point.

It wasn’t that Ian had a way to figure out the identity of the robed scammer or track his traces.

It was just that he remembered a special event where one could find and arrest a scammer’s hideout within the city.

He couldn’t be sure if the scammer from that quest was the same person Mika had met.

’Alright! Then let’s go catch him right now!’

’We’ll go too!’

But hearing Ian’s words, everyone was shouting with motivation, eyes shining.

Thanks to that, Mika had completely regained her energy and was full of motivation to catch the scammer.

’….’

Well, they’re all scammers anyway. Wouldn’t it be similar?

If they take back the money Mika lost from a scammer, the result would be the same.

Ian just nodded his head without saying anything further.

＊ ＊ ＊

The next day, everyone from the Ian Mercenary Group left the base together.

Everyone, including Ian, was wearing robes that deeply hid their faces.

After hearing Ian’s plan to find and raid the scammer’s hideout, an over-enthusiastic Rin had obtained these from somewhere.

’….’

Ian looked around at the nearby mercenaries.

A group of mercenaries draped in robes was a suspicious group to anyone’s eyes.

At least it was lucky that in the Labyrinth, there were so many people walking around like this that the guards didn’t bother stopping them one by one.

’Then, let’s scatter. If you find something, signal.’

’Yes.’

After arriving at the pre-arranged meeting spot, Ian and the group scattered toward their designated positions.

To positions where they could monitor the alleyway where the scammer’s hideout was located.

’For us… it was this way, right?’

Tanya, who was paired with Ian, muttered while cautiously checking the surroundings.

Hiding her body behind a wall, Tanya poked her head out slightly to peek at the alleyway, which was the surveillance spot.

In the Labyrinth, where land prices were incredibly high, places where scammers or petty thieves could set up something as grand as a hideout were extremely limited.

The place they were targeting this time was one of them.

It was a small underground hideout secretly made in the basement of an ownerless building.

However, Ian only knew which district it was in; since he didn’t know the exact location of the entrance, they had to catch someone in the act of entering.

The mercenaries, having taken their positions, glanced at each other from a distance and nodded.

’Can we really catch him like this?’

’To be honest, I’m not sure either….’

They had come to the location of the hideout, but they couldn’t guarantee that the scammer would happen to visit at this time.

It was a plan that truly relied on luck, but since the dejected Mika had regained her spirit, it wouldn’t be a completely meaningless endeavor.

Tanya checked the surrounding streets with a quite tense expression.

Acting like that while wearing a robe made her look like a very suspicious character, but in the Labyrinth, encountering someone this suspicious about three times a day was normal.

Passersby and merchants would likely think of her as just some adventurer who had just arrived in the Labyrinth and hadn’t adapted yet.

’…?’

From one side of Ian’s vision, he saw the movement of someone waving their hand toward him.

It was Ann’s group, who were in charge of monitoring that sector.

Ann, waving her hand at Ian and Tanya, sent a signal with various hand motions.

Ian, watching the scene quietly, tilted his head.

’…What signal is that?’

Hearing Ian’s murmur, Tanya, who was next to him, turned bright red.

’Ah… that, it’s a signal we used among ourselves in the village.’

’…I’ll have to teach you proper hand signals later.’

’I-I’ll teach them later.’

Tanya held her head as she watched Ann using signals she and her friends had made up in their village instead of official mercenary hand signals.

’But what is she saying?’

’That a strange person went in this way… Ah.’

As Ian and Tanya turned their heads, they saw a suspicious robed figure glancing around and passing through the alleyway.