――Ding-dong!
Someone was ringing the doorbell.
――Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-dong!
Who would ring the bell so incessantly this early in the morning? It was enough to wake the neighbors.
Dragging my tired body off the living room couch, I headed to the door. I must have fallen asleep there last night.
「Who the heck is—」
「Naoki-san, excuse us!」
Standing at the door were a staff member from the Explorers’ Guild and the woman who’d bought the second batch of vegetables yesterday.
「Huh? What brings you here so early?」
Without waiting, they stepped inside, scanning the room.
「So, you really fell asleep during the stream.」
The guild staffer surveyed the messy living room with a troubled expression. Was it that bad?
「Where’s Dori-chan?」
「Dori? She should be sleeping upstairs—」
The other woman bolted up the stairs before I could finish. Her speed was impossible to follow.
「What’s going on—」
「Naoki-san, please stay calm. Dori-chan has been kidnapped.」
I must still be dreaming. Dori should be asleep upstairs.
I ran up after them. The woman had already flung open every door, checking each room.
「Naoki, what’s happening here?」
Grandpa and Grandma were awake now, baffled by the strangers in our home. My mind was still foggy, struggling to grasp the situation.
「Dori’s been kidnapped? That can’t be—」
But when I looked into the room, Dori wasn’t there. The futon beside mine was empty, just a hollowed shell of blankets.
I shouted Dori’s name, but no response came. I checked the bathroom, the storage room, every nook and cranny. She was nowhere to be found.
I couldn’t believe that what we’d joked about yesterday had come true.
「It seems she really was kidnapped.」
The woman spoke with certainty, as if she knew more. Panic surged through me. I had to get Dori back before anything happened to her.
Had streaming together with Dori triggered this?
「Was it those guys from before?」
Grandpa mentioned the men who claimed to be from the Explorers’ Guild and my former superior.
「Are these the people you’re talking about?」
The woman showed me an image. It was the same group that came by the other day. And alongside the image was a video clip — those same people sneaking around behind me during the stream.
「They likely wrapped her in a blanket and took her. Thankfully, because you forgot to end the stream, everything was caught on video. They won’t be able to deny it.」
Even with the video evidence, I couldn’t be sure Dori was safe. She looks like a cute little girl; there are people with twisted interests out there.
The more I thought about it, the closer I came to losing my grip on reality.
「Papa-san, please calm down!」
The woman grabbed my shoulders, her voice steadying me.
「Papa-san?」
「Ah, my apologies. I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Amamori Sena— also known as Iron-Walled Saintess.」
Sena… I remembered her. She was one of my early viewers, someone who’d left encouraging comments.
「She’s an S-Rank explorer.」
「S-Rank!?」
Even someone unfamiliar with explorers knew how rare S-Ranks were. There were only a handful in Japan.
Ranks go up to SS, but as far as I knew, S was the highest anyone had reached. With that kind of expertise, it made sense she’d quickly recognize Dori as a dryad.
「Don’t worry, Papa-san! Everyone’s already pinpointed their location.」
She handed me her phone. On the screen was a detailed trail: the abductors’ path and their current whereabouts, all mapped out.
I didn’t know how they’d gathered this much intel so quickly, but right now, I had no choice but to trust them.
「Dori’s in that warehouse!」
I grabbed a hoe, jumped into my car, and started the engine. Just as I was about to pull out, the passenger door swung open.
「I need to come along, or you’ll get lost, right?」
Sena slipped into the seat. She wasn’t about to take no for an answer.
Leaving my grandparents in the care of the guild staff, I sped off toward the place where they’d taken Dori.
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