Vending Machine - 140 - The Strength of a Little Girl (Patreon)

The number of powerful people suddenly increased all at once. We not only increase in terms of strength but numbers as well.

To be honest, I was surprise to see the elderly couple. According to them, they wanted to participate because they could move around easily on a cart pulled by Botan.

That excuse was so pointless that even Ramis have doubts about it, “Grandpa, Grandpa, are you sure this is fine?”

“Ahh, well, the wife told me that she wants to enjoy a little forest bathing therapy [1]~”

“What a blessing it is to enjoy a nature trip without having to walk on our feet.”

I have no idea whether they were joking with us or not.

The two elderly people were looking at each other and smiling, the very picture of a loving couple.

“I brought them along for a reason. I want to avoid spending too much time dealing with magical anomalies on each floor. I think the King of the Netherworld and Leader Keyroil planned to make us waste our time through these petty tricks. Therefore, I thought it would be best for us to increase our ability to fight back too.”

“Clearflow Lake has calmed down?”

“That’s right, major defenders Karrios and Gors are here too, as well as the hunters from the Beginner Floor. Just in case, I had Hoxie… that is, the principal stay behind.”

If we have the Principal with us, our fighting power would increase by a lot. Not only was she incredibly powerful, she could also heal and handled the bow even better than Shui, which meant flying enemies were nothing to her.

“Even though we’re pressed for time, it would be pointless if we rush forward only to fall flat on our faces. To get things done efficiently, it’s best to put forth our most powerful people on the attack and have the most versatile individual defend our base.”

Grandma’s sword skills are incredibly extraordinary. However, in such a situation, I would rather rely on Grandpa’s fire magic.

Wait, that’s right, since we’re in a forest, we should be careful about fire. Does this mean that we absolutely cannot use fire?”

“Now, I know it’s a little troublesome, but shall we go meet Kurokuro?”

Who is this Kurokuro? From the way he was sighing and shaking his head, Director Bear looked a bit reluctant to meet with them.

"Ouch ouch, my back pain suddenly got worse."

"Oh no, are you alright Grandpa? Sorry, but I must stay here and look after Grandpa. It’s too bad, but do meet Kurokuro on our behalf.”

Director Bear glanced over at elderly couple. Grandpa bent over even further while Grandma rubbed his back and muttered something encouraging.

"I need you to come with me. It's too exhausting to handle that one alone.”

The elderly couple averted their eyes, and, despite his supposed back pain Grandpa stood up straight. The couple sighed deeply.

[2] Goodness, I’m starting to get a glimmering of who this Kurokuro person is.

“Must we?”

“He’s a lively one, but it gets tiring after a bit.”

It must be quite something if even his former party members talk about him this way. However, anyone who had ever experience that avalanche like words would never want to talk to him again. So, their reaction was understandable.

“Well then, let’s do… Kikoyu.”

“Yes, what is it, Mister Bear?”

Hm? Kikoyu called Director Bear ‘Mister Bear’?

I have no idea what is going on, but he doesn’t look displeased. The elderly couple also had noticeably relaxed expressions when talking to Kikoyu. She is definitely an ‘elderly-killer’.

It was so cute to see her trotting over to me with her charming little steps. Her little white cloak suits her very well too. The synergistic effect of her outfit and sweet gestures made people smile just looking at her.

“I shall leave it to you,”

“Yes, I understand.”

I wonder what they are talking about? It must be important from Director Bear’s tight expression.

Even once Director Bear’s party left, I still pondered on that word. Kikoyu, who must have noticed my curiosity, touched my metal body.

[3] “”Mister Hakkon, Mister Bear asked me to do something. Could you help me?””

[3] Her voice echoed in my mind. That’s right, she could send telepathic message through the creatures and sentient beings she touches.

Well, I’m fine with it, but what kind of favour do you want?”

“”It’s a secret. Is everyone on this floor gathered here?””

That’s right. Aside from the Director of Darkness and the Hunter Association staff, everyone is here.

Since we just returned from a raid, it was about time for me to distribute meals, which is why everyone is gathered here.

“”Perfect, is it alright for me to hand out Mister Hakkon’s goods?”

Please do. I’m sure the people receiving the products would be happy to get their goods from a cute girl. In fact, you would be doing me a favour.

I have some idea of what you’re planning. However, this is still mostly speculation, but I shall do my best to observe carefully.

"Welcome"

A loud ‘Welcome’ was the signal for the start of the food distribution and people quickly started lining up in front of me.

The first in line was Shui. Almost at once, the four Big Eaters materialised behind her. In terms of speed, the Big Eaters party was overwhelmingly superior, but it was nothing compared to Shui’s foreknowledge who had been awaiting on the sides like a carnivorous predator awaiting its prey. This makes the difference between who arrived first.

“Are you going serve the fancy ones today?”

By the ‘fancy ones’, you mean the <Auto-vending Convenient Store>, right? After tasting it once, Shui appeared hooked by the goods there and would bring it up every chance she gets.

I still have two hours of transformation time left, so it ought to be alright, but what should I do?

In the end, I gave in to Shui’s gleaming eyes and the frantically wagging tails of the Big Eaters party which had started up at the word ‘fancy ones’. Guess, I shall spend a little time as <Auto-vending Convenience Store> today.

[4] Shui said, “Ah, that’s right. Can up put up the wanted notice from the Hunter Association next to you?”

“Ye-es”

Most of the people on this floor would buy something from me, so, putting up a poster next to makes sense. The actual poster has a full-length picture of the King of the Netherworld, along with the reward money for credible informants. The picture they use was the one I had recorded, so it looked exactly like him.

Shui selected a lot of things. When the items started falling into the dispenser area, Kikoyu rushed forward to grab them first and handed them over to Shui.

“Um, you’re Kikoyu-chan, right? Thanks!”

“Yes, here you go."

Reeled in by Kikoyu's smile, Shui smiled back.

Since I was providing the goods at a very low price, most people paid with silver coins and would receive some change in return. Very few people would carry large amounts of copper coins with them since it gets quite bulky, and few people, especially hunters like to carry bulky stuff on their person.

Kikoyu continued to hand over goods and change to the people. For a while, nothing much change. However, I did note that the people seemed to be quite happy at the ‘fancy goods’ as well as being served by a charming girl.

Ten, twenty people received their goods and change without any problem.

Then, when Kikoyu handed the goods over to the twenty-fifth person, there was a subtle change to her expression, and I quickly hit ‘record’.

Number Twenty-five bought three items. When she reached into the dispenser area to take out the second item, a voice echoed in my head.

"This person is King of the Netherworld’s Commander."

As expected,, Kikoyu was reading the hearts of the people while handing over change and items.

Moreover, by placing the wanted poster at such a prominent place, people who were lining up to buy goods from us would inevitably think about the King of the Netherworld. Thus, she could read their minds and know how favourable their thoughts were towards this evil being.

I recorded the woman’s face perfectly. She was a woman with a very common and non-descriptive face. The perfect person to blend into a mob, in other words.

“Thank you very much”

"Thank you for the delicious food as always," her refreshing responses leave a good impression, but now that we know she's with the King of the Netherworld, everything felt like an act.

I was glad to be a vending machine right then. If I were in my human form, I think my expression would have given me away.

I considered trapping her in my <Barrier> so she couldn't escape, but since the Director might have a plan, I decided not to intervene.

After everyone was done with their meal, Director Bear returned with a few others and Kikoyu ran over to meet him. She touched his arm in a natural gesture, but knowing her powers, it was clear that must be communicating with him through telepathy.

Instead of moving towards the suspect, Director Bear walked over to me.

“You remember that person, Hakkon?”

“Ye-es”

After confirming that the Commander was not around, I displayed the footage through the small LCD screen so that only Director Bear, Director Darkness, the elderly couple and Kikoyu could see it.

“Hahh, this is one of our hunters. She’s a young woman who had been working hard on this floor for a while. I had high hopes for her. I never imagined that she would be one of the King of the Netherworld's people."

"I see. Whether she had been hiding here all along or had been recruited like Leader Keyroil, we won't know. So, what should we do about it?"

"How about letting her swim around for a while? And wait for her to make contact with others?"

“Oh, great idea, Old Man.”

Indeed, it would be better to watch her and see who she comes into contact with and capture them all at once. However, since we are also short of time, it may be better to extract as much information out of her as possible.

"Oh my, what are you all discussing? If it's about shoes, do include me."

Why would we gather together to talk about shoes?

It was already clear who was speaking from the topic of choice. When Hevoy came to my view, I noticed that he was looking on the floor even as he approached us.

Ah, that’s right. This fellow would be perfect for the job.

“Lea-ve to yo-u”

I punctuated this by dropping a milk tea into the dispenser slot and floating it towards Hevoy.

Everyone seemed to have the same dawning realisation and nodded together once.

“Excuse me, but why are you all staring at me? I have refrained myself from buying excessive amounts of shoes lately, you know?”

Looks like he was about to confess to all kinds of crimes we are better off not knowing. However, with Hevoy’s sensory manipulation and Kikoyu’s mind-reading ability, we should be able to extract whatever information we need from our target.

[Gumihou: For a moment there, I thought they were going to use Hevoy to torture the poor woman by talking about shoes…]

[1] Forest bathing or Shinrin-yoku – is a sensory experience where you meander through the trees and soak up the sounds, smells and sight of the forest

https://www.japan.travel/en/guide/forest-bathing/

[2] Simplified the drama, it was a little draggy.

[3] Redid the text so that it better reflects the ‘telepathic’ talk

[4] Add details to make the text makes sense