【Adventurer Mitran】The True Identity of the Underwear Thief

“I'm sorry...... that you had to take on a role like this......”

“I'll definitely make it up to you.”

“Thank you, really, thank you so much!”

......Being told things like this, surrounded by the town's pretty ladies: that's me, and my name is Mitran.

A boy who travels as an adventurer, 8 years old!

But because of my face, I'm usually mistaken for a girl.

That's exactly why this time...... I took on this “bait” role on behalf of the ladies.

This is in Topuringon, a hot-spring town famous for its open-air baths...... and to put it bluntly, it's the women's changing room of a hot spring.

Why is a boy like me in a place like this?

Of course, it's not because I have any dirty intentions.

Right now, I'm in the middle of an operation to catch the underwear thief!

Right now, the women of Topuringon are being terrified by an unidentified underwear thief.

This underwear thief, who got really active a few years ago, mostly steals underwear from this changing room.

Up until now, the town guards and adventurers have tried to catch the culprit lots of times, but they've never once pulled it off.

The underwear thief has a good nose for it; the moment the guards or adventurers start moving to catch him, he abruptly stops his crimes.

Then, once things have cooled down, he starts stealing underwear again.

So this time, it was decided that we'd carry out a capture operation with a small, low-key group: the landlady of the hot-spring inn, the receptionist lady at the Adventurers' Guild branch office, an adventurer lady, and me.

This capture operation is extremely simple: lure the culprit out with underwear and catch him.

Since we don't know where the culprit might notice our movements, to be cautious, we haven't even accepted the guild's ‘Underwear Thief Capture Request’.

In other words, it's completely unpaid, but this is for the sake of all the women in this town.

And while it's necessary, if I let the women take on a role like this, it would be a disgrace to me as a man.

That's where I come in!

After all, much to my dismay, I apparently look like nothing but a girl, any way you look at me......

Everyone in this town, apart from the ladies helping with this operation, takes me for a girl too.

I just hope the underwear thief mistakes me for a girl too.

......Sigh.

But I never thought that the first enemy I'd face after reincarnating into another world would be an underwear thief.

Oh, right, I might not have mentioned it, but I'm actually a reincarnator from another world.

I was granted power by a god who looked like some old guy calling himself the “Adventure God” and reincarnated into this world.

I originally intended to start adventuring after I grew up a bit more, but at some point, the Adventure God started appearing in my dreams.

He started making a fuss, shouting, ‘Set off already! Just set off!’

The Adventure God just really wants me to adventure in a fantasy world of swords and magic.

I never imagined that a god, of all beings, would stoop to ruining my sleep......

I had no choice but to explain the situation to my family and set off.

Well, there was a time before when I tried to leave home in a way that was practically running away, so compared to that, I think it was good that I was able to set off in a way that didn't cause my family trouble.

I'm truly grateful to Kamasse, the senior adventurer who stopped me from running away.

Anyway, back to the story.

I left the ladies hiding behind the pillars and started taking off my clothes.

Currently, thanks to the landlady's cooperation, the bath here is reserved for our use.

If the culprit is going to steal any underwear, it's bound to be mine.

By the way, so far the culprit has stolen underwear for all ages, from children's to adults'.

So even though I'm clearly a kid, he's bound to happily steal my underwear too.

Ugh...... still, having to specifically buy girls' panties for this operation and wear them was truly embarrassing......

I want this to be the last time I ever do something like this......

Once I'm undressed and have a bath towel wrapped around me, I secretly dust the panties with powdered paralysis drug.

This paralysis drug has no particular effect just by touching it, but if you lick it or inhale it, it's the kind of stuff that would make even a bear unable to move properly.

The senior woman adventurer helping with this operation got it ready for me.

She said the effect has been weakened, but it's more than enough for a human.

I hope we can catch the underwear thief successfully with this......

◇ ◇ ◇

Now then, I leave the changing room and, making a chapo chapo sound, sink my body into the hot spring.

Slowly, almost stroking, I pour hot water over my shoulders and the back of my neck.

When I look up, the sky is full of stars.

If only the underwear thief weren't here, it would be the perfect situation; it's truly a shame.

I'm anxious about whether the operation will work, and because of my nerves, I can't even bring myself to enjoy the hot spring.

It's been a few dozen minutes since I got in the water.

I feel like I'm about to get light-headed from the heat.

I've reached my limit waiting for the underwear thief.

I wonder if this operation is a failure......

Just as I lost heart and started thinking that...... it was then!

Gashaaan!!

A sound like something falling rang out from the direction of the changing room!

I hurriedly got out of the bath and ran toward the sound.

Lying there was...... a grandpa with a mustache like a hermit sage's!

Clutched tight in his hand are the panties I dusted with paralysis drug!

Without a doubt, this grandpa is the underwear thief!

Wait, but I feel like I've seen this grandpa somewhere before......?

“Ch, Chief Earthcell!? No, it can't be, you were the underwear thief!?”

The receptionist lady at the Adventurers' Guild branch office shouted, her face turning pale!

T, that's right, this grandpa!

Isn't he the branch chief of the Adventurers' Guild branch office in this hot-spring town, Topuringon!

“I see...... no wonder our underwear-thief capture operations kept failing! Chief! In your position, you could find out the operation dates in advance! So all this time, we were idiots telling the culprit our plans ahead of time!”

The senior woman adventurer mutters bitterly!

“Come to think of it, the underwear thief started appearing right around when you were posted to this town......! You can't talk your way out of this anymore!”

The beautiful landlady glares hard at the branch chief!

“F...... Foooh~~~...... how careless of me...... I've slipped up!!”

With a frustrated look, Chief Earthcell was struggling to force his paralyzed body to move.

“Ch, Chief...... why would you do this!?”

I asked him that without thinking.

Because this branch chief was supposed to be kind to all the customers and adventurers who used the branch office, always smiling, so dependable, someone trusted by everyone in town!

“............Fo, you're...... Mitran-chan, was it? ......Fuwahahaha...... this, you see, is a trial.”

And that was how Chief Earthcell answered my question.

“A, a trial!?”

“Indeed...... this town, Topuringon, has always been a peaceful town with few dangerous monsters about and no incidents...... and so its adventurers, compared with other branch offices, tended to be weaker......”

A single tear glistened on Chief Earthcell's cheek.

“And so I thought. If no incidents happen, then one need only cause them. To solve those incidents, the adventurers would rouse themselves, and surely, with that as their chance, grow......!”

“Ch, Chief......!”

Having said this, Chief Earthcell looked around with satisfaction at all of us surrounding him.

“And, Mitran-chan. At last, you have all done it! To protect the town's peace, you racked your brains, and at last you caught the underwear thief! Well done, well done, how you have grown!”

The chief stood up awkwardly and clapped, pan, pan, pan.

“I have nothing more to say to you now! Farewell, young ones! Aim for the heights!”

And turning his back to us, Chief Earthcell left the changing room......

“Hey, hold it right there, you old geezer!”

“You call that an excuse!? Huh!?”

“Don't you dare try to run, you dumbass!!”

But he was caught right away by the ladies helping with the operation and beaten to a pulp!

“Gu, nu, Foooh~~~!! So it didn't fool you!!”

“Of course not, you dumbass!”

W, wait, so that was a lie to get away!?

Th, that's terrible, Chief Earthcell!

“Nuuuuuu! Is this the end, then! But, but! If it comes to this, Mitran-chan's panties at least! This beautiful girl's panties at least! I will not let go of them even if I die! These are mine~~~!!”

U, uwah!

Finally, spitting out that crazy line, Chief Earthcell started stuffing my panties, which were supposed to be covered in paralysis drug, into his mouth!

G, gross!

“B, but Chief Earthcell! You've got it wrong!”

“Wrong!? I am not, wrong in the least! This is who I am! I can no longer, pretend or hide it!! This, is my, way of life~~~!!”

“No, that's not it, that's not it!”

Letting the bath towel around my body fall open, I shouted at the top of my voice!

“I'M NOT A BEAUTIFUL GIRL OR ANYTHING! I'M...... A BOY!”

............The changing room goes quiet, as if the uproar a moment ago had been a lie.

Chief Earthcell looked back and forth between my face and my lower half over and over again.

“............Eh?”

He let out that sound, went pale...... and fainted.

Whether it was the shock of my being a boy, or the paralysis drug finally kicking in hard.

Which it was, I don't know.

Anyway.

And so, the serial underwear thefts in the hot-spring town of Topuringon came to an end.

Was this really the adventure in a fantasy world of swords and magic that that old guy, the Adventure God, wanted from me?

Probably not, I get the feeling it's something else......

Mitran, for the first time in a while.