DanMachi, My Members Are From Slice-of-Life Anime

"Hey, even if it's a remote inn, at least there's a chef and the owner, right? It's only 10 a.m., they're not closed yet, are they?" Xia Jia said quietly.

"Hmm."

A thought crossed their minds.

Lulune acted decisively, stepping forward to knock on the door, instantly shattering the rusty lock on the outside...

The dog-woman looked embarrassed.

"Ahem, alright, you can go in now."

Xia Jia remained silent, then gestured with her eyes: Girl, you're strong, you go first, I'll cover for you.

"Hold it to defend yourself."

Lulune, skilled and daring, first tossed a dagger to Shaga, then pushed open the door and went inside.

"By the way, do you have a staff? I'm a mage." Shaka tried to take advantage of her.

"Stop talking nonsense and hurry up and catch up." Lulune looked helpless.

I'm just a thief, why would I carry something like that on me?

"Crench."

Lulune pushed open the dilapidated door, making a harsh creaking sound as she opened it. What came into view was a fairly clean service desk, with nothing on it except a resident registration form.

Lulune lowered her head and began to look through the check-in list, while Shaga checked the rooms around.

Click, click, clack.

As Shaga moved, the old floorboards creaked, and in one spot, the sound of his footsteps became noticeably deeper and clearer.

Does it have a basement?

This was Xia Jia's first thought, but before he could speak...

"Gah, gah, gah, gah!"

"Click."

A violent flapping of wings and the cawing of crows rang out, followed by the sound of a huge object hitting the ground and the shattering of glass.

"I rely on."

Xia Jia looked closely and saw a crow with scarlet pupils stare through the window and land on the beam.

"what's the situation?"

Lulune also put down the parchment she was holding and came over.

"It's nothing, the crow just came in," Shaka explained.

Tap tap tap, a series of footsteps came from upstairs.

someone!

The two looked at each other.

Lulune abandoned her disdain and stared intently at the stairs, while Shaga also drew his dagger on guard.

On the stairs, an elderly, hunchbacked little man carrying a lantern walked down the stairs, cursing, "Who is it? It's so early in the morning. This place is not open to the public. Don't disturb my rest."

An old man, or a dwarf?

Xia Jia recognized the person who had come in, his mind settled, and he couldn't help but squint his eyes and mutter, "It's already ten o'clock in the morning, old man."

"Who are you?" The old shopkeeper glared at Xia Jia, then paused slightly when he saw Lulune's ambiguous smile.

As rats in the same gray industry, their scents are easy to spot, and they're the kind that are not to be trifled with!

The old man's expression changed. He glanced at the broken glass beside the bed and changed the subject: "Oh dear, that damned beast, running around in people's houses for no reason."

Why do I feel like he's insulting us?

Shaga glanced at Lulune; this guy had experience dealing with seasoned veterans like her.

As expected, Lulune just smiled and took out a cloth bag from her bosom, from which gold coins jingled.

She approached the old man from the dwarf race, bent down, hooked her arm around his neck, and whispered:

"Tell me, do you want the money in this bag, or do you want to end up like that beast?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a gold coin shot towards the roof beam. The crow didn't even have time to squawk before it fell straight to the ground, leaving a pool of blood.

"What are you talking about? I don't quite understand." The old man felt the weight on his shoulders and touched the bag of gold coins in his hand, seemingly hesitant.

"Have you thought this through? You only get one chance." Lulune said, her face displeased.

“It’s not worth getting angry with animals.” Xia Jia’s eyes flashed red, his words carrying a double meaning.

Compared to Lulune, the old man seemed more afraid of Shaga, always feeling a ferocious aura emanating from that smiling eye.

That was the hunting instinct of animals brought about by the "zone," which seemed to have a deterrent effect after the Shaga spirit reached a certain level.

Xia Jia could sense that as his "weapon" improved, even more powerful talents seemed to be emerging, such as reaching the "state of selflessness" in the Prince of Tennis was not a dream.

"No, it's not what you think." The old man gave a dry, awkward laugh and explained, "You've come to me, so you should at least tell me why you want to see this old man. Otherwise, I won't know what you gentlemen want with this old man."

“Didn’t we say that?” Lulune turned to look at Shaga.

Shaga shrugged. Okay, he didn't say anything.

Lulune chuckled awkwardly, straightened the old man's collar, and asked:

"We want to know if a group of mercenaries moved into your shop yesterday with a large box."

The old man habitually stroked his mustache, his eyes sweeping towards a corner:

"You mean them? They've gone out; they're not here."

"Over there?" Lulune ignored the old man's words and followed his imperceptible gaze. The area was blocked by several wine barrels and looked unremarkable.

Xia Jia, hands on her hips, said disdainfully, "Still playing tricks."

"I didn't. That's our inn's wine cellar," the old man said with a bitter face.

He thought to himself, "What's going on? Such a big thing happened, why didn't those mercenaries react at all? Could it be that they really left overnight?"

His place was just an intermediary agency, only concerned with collecting money; frankly, there was no need for him to help those mercenaries.

The reason they dared to cheat was because they saw the emblem on Xia Jia's chest.

Having seen much, he naturally understood that the Astrea Familia was not one to take lives lightly. As long as this person was there, even if something happened, no one would die, so he wasn't afraid.

Unfortunately, he was still ignorant. If he knew that there was a madman named "Swift Wind" who was searching for merchants who were connected with the Dark Faction, I wonder what he would think.

At that moment, as Lulune pushed aside the wine barrel and opened the steel plate leading to the wine cellar, Shaga's expression changed.

A strong, fishy stench wafted over.

The pitch-black underground wine cellar was like Pandora's box that had been opened, emanating a nauseating stench of decay.

What did you put in there?

"No?" The old man's face also looked unwell, and he seemed anxious. "It's just a regular underground wine cellar. How could it smell rotten?"

He stepped forward to check.

Lulune tried to stop him, but to no avail; the scene before her had already been witnessed by the old man.

Broken limbs, empty eyes, a head with its mouth agape as if trying to scream, and horrific blood smeared all over the walls.

The ground was pitch black, splattered with a viscous, black liquid, with brain matter and internal organs spilled all over it.

The limbs were scattered and dismembered, making it impossible to tell how many people were dead; it resembled hell.

Chapter 31 The Poisonous Curse Cat Demon

"How...how could it have turned out like this?" The old man was completely stunned.

"Where is Lord Baker? Where did he go? He hired high-ranking adventurers; there's no way something could have happened to him!"

His pupils contracted sharply, and cold sweat beaded on his nose and forehead; he didn't seem to be lying.

Shaga asked, "Were you at the hotel all night?"

"Yes, I've been sleeping in the attic."

Xia Jia didn't give the old man time to think and continued to press, "Didn't you notice anything unusual?"

"No, it's the same as always. Just annoying crows and stray cats. Besides, the tenants here are the Albera Merchant Guild, and they've hired level 3 adventurers for protection. It's none of my business to worry about them."

As the old man spoke, as if he had just remembered something, he pushed Lulu aside and tried to enter the basement:

"I need to see if Lord Baker is here. He can't be dead; he hasn't paid yet!"

More than a dozen people died mysteriously in the cellar; he probably won't be able to keep his hotel open.

Albera Chamber of Commerce?

Xia Jia concluded that the old shopkeeper was not lying, so the information he provided was valuable. Coincidentally, Xia Jia knew about this merchant guild.

In the original story, this merchant guild lured the protagonist Bell into the dungeon under the guise of investment, offering him one million falies. However, their true purpose was to work for the Ishtar Familia, which resulted in Bell being captured by the Ishtar Familia.

It's fair to say he wasn't a kind person.