第２４０掘：筒抜け (Part2)
A betrayal came unexpectedly, or rather, it wasn't about being young or old.
"I don't understand why you all dislike the elderly, but I fall into that category too. Well, it might be disrespectful to true elders to put us in the 'elderly' category."
"Huh? Why?"
"What do you mean?"
"You've all explored Weed to some extent, right? The people who live there call those who have truly lived, gained experience, seen many people, and protected their foundations for a long time 'elders.' It would be disrespectful to equate them with us, who simply act on emotion and have blood on our hands."
"......"
"You should try talking to the elderly people in the park sometime. When we were desperately fighting for our lives based on emotion, they were desperately protecting their villages, growing crops, protecting their children, and passing things on to the next generation. You'll surely understand. Well, it's rude of me to preach like this, but I was taught this myself."
Mhm, bringing Peace to Weed was the right decision.
She's properly studying, and she's capable when she applies herself.
"Well, that's beside the point. My question was poorly phrased. What do you think of that conference?"
"Hmm? Ah, I see. My apologies. As Sya and Kishua said, they likely intend to exterminate humanity from this continent... Repeating what I did must have been for a very serious reason. They are trying to exterminate the very people they once tried to protect..."
"......"
"I'll ask what happened to lead them in that direction later, but for now, I believe the enemy is acting as Sya and Kishua said."
"Yes, to erase humanity from this continent. They are working to ensure it."
Peace said that, and the surroundings fell silent.
To erase humanity from the continent, to exterminate them...
Well, based on the journal Aigil mentioned, they must have despaired.
It's easy to understand, or perhaps their decision was too hasty. To despair of humanity and enact world destruction...
No, the scale is smaller, but the content is similar.
"Now, regarding intelligence, Peace and Sya's conversation revealed that the enemy intends to exterminate the people of this continent. For now, we will continue our investigation in Enaria. And we need to strengthen our connections."
"Eh!? Yuki-san, are you abandoning everyone on that continent?"
Riel looked at me with very sad eyes.
"No, no, I have no intention of abandoning them. But we are mercenaries, after all. And we have a contract with Zilba. This prevents us from freely traveling to other countries. If we could launch a decisive attack on the enemy's gathering place and defeat them, that would be ideal. But if we fail, they will surely go into hiding, making them difficult to track. We also cannot reveal the enemy's secrets and request aid from various countries. Generally, the hidden stories of the Holy Sword users are taboo, or rather, a stain that countries want to hide."
"Ugh, I'm sorry, Yuki-san. I got a bit emotional. I see, so what we can do now is to become friendly with as many countries as possible so that we can rush to their aid in times of crisis."
After listening to me, Riel seemed to realize the difficulty of acting freely and the troublesome nature of relations with countries.
"Exactly. The countries still don't even know that the Holy Sword users like Sya have started moving. It's impossible to warn them. Therefore, it's important for us to expand our network in Enaria and prepare to act immediately. Well, the enemy has seven remaining. If they move on multiple fronts simultaneously, it will be quite tough for us. Honestly, we could capture them all at once. In fact, I think we can. But that would defeat the purpose. The representatives of each country should know why Sya, Kishua, and their allies have caused such a situation. This is not something we can just gloss over."
"I see, making up is important, isn't it?"
"Yes."
Mhm, what Riel is saying is correct.
It's a very bright answer.
Reconciliation will be difficult, but they have been hiding what their ancestors did.
I think experiencing the consequences of that will be a good medicine.
"However, since we have the information, we will minimize the damage."
"Yes!"
Alright, now we just need to investigate the enemy's movements in detail through Nina and adjust the damage.
This way, we can gain favor with various countries and move from a position of advantage.
Well, they seem to have already started moving, so we must be prepared for a few countries to be destroyed.
We don't have enough manpower to compensate for that.
"Alright, today's emergency meeting is over! Let's get some sleep!"
"......"
"Also, you two grandmas over there, please put away your teacups."
"We're not grandmas!!"
The punchline has landed, so let's get some sleep.
Tomorrow is an early start.
However, while it's good that information is leaking, it's inconvenient to be attacked at this hour.
I should have them record it next time...
Let's try to avoid late-night contact.