Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

March 20, 2018 – Typo corrections made.

This is Satou. The rumors about the underworld and dark web sites, which people talk about as if they’re gospel, might have a certain urban legend-like appeal.

It’s not a matter of whether they exist or not, but rather that places that seem likely to exist naturally pique curiosity.

◇

“Should I search for Douzi or Duzi?”

“Neither of them come up.”

I had already searched before Arisa even mentioned it.

I also tried searching by criminal records, and found that, like in other cities, many villains were hiding.

Still, I couldn’t find any organization named criminal organization Duzi.

“Could it be a street name?”

“Maybe.”

Even if hidden on the map search, you can usually find them, but when a nickname is very different from the original organization name, it’s difficult to find.

“If you’re going to use some special investigation method, maybe Sera and I should head back to base?”

Arisa whispered, probably out of consideration because there were suspicions about us having a backdoor connection to the gods.

“No, it’s fine this time.”

It didn’t seem necessary to use any cheat techniques this time.

Besides, so far, the anti-backdoor detection devices equipped on Arisa and Sera hadn’t reacted.

The gods didn’t seem to have the leisure to frequently peek into our world.

By the way, this anti-backdoor detection works by indirectly measuring divine power through the movement of miasma and magic power.

It didn’t respond to my “unit placement” or the holy magic used by Sera and the others, but when I accepted the “trial of the gods” earlier, I confirmed it did react to divine power, so it should be functioning properly.

“I’m going to the Echigoya Trading Company to gather information. Why don’t you all do some inquiries around the inn and local guilds?”

The group readily accepted my suggestion.

I transformed into Kuro in an alley and headed to the inn where the Echigoya Trading Company’s advance team was staying.

“Lord Kuro!”

The advance team consisted of a noble daughter directly under Elterina, the general manager of Echigoya Trading Company.

She could use summoning magic, which was handy for secret information gathering and communication.

I got straight to the point.

“—Criminal organization Duzi? That’s a well-known group.”

They were said to be involved in a wide range of activities like illicit alcohol production and salt smuggling.

“I tried searching with the summoned rats...”

But apparently, they couldn’t even find any members, let alone their base.

“Rumor has it their headquarters is in the nearby corrupt city Dodobu, but merchants from Dodobu deny that.”

The so-called corrupt city is actually called the commercial city Dodobu.

It’s a city-state known for gray-market goods and services.

“Alright then, I’ll go to Dodobu city once.”

After thanking the noble daughter, I asked her to continue gathering information about the criminal organization Duzi.

‘The criminal organization Duzi is said to have its base in the commercial city (...) Dodobu, so I’m heading there.’

‘Got it — but don’t go to those shady women’s shops in the corrupt city (...) Dodobu just because you’re alone.’

Apparently, Arisa and the others had also heard about Dodobu during their inquiries.

‘Of course not.’

With the help of my poker face skill, I answered promptly, being careful not to let any hesitation or guilt slip into my voice.

Fine.

I’ll save the beautiful women’s shops for another time.

◇

“—I’m back.”

““Welcome back, Mr. Satou.””

“That was quick.”

After returning to the inn’s room by unit placement from the corrupt city Dodobu, I met up with Arisa and the others, who were doing inquiries guided by the map.

“Did you strike out?”

“Yeah, people, both ordinary and criminal, knew about the criminal organization Duzi, but nobody knew how to contact them.”

Since I couldn’t find them on the map search, I barged into a bigger criminal guild’s base, using “interrogation” and “negotiation” skills together, but with no results.