第３３９堀：結構精神は簡単に削れる (Part1)
### Chapter 339: It’s Surprisingly Easy to Break Someone’s Spirit
**Side: Yuki**
Yeah, yeah. To put it mildly, things are moving at a breakneck speed.
It all started with the intelligence we provided. We reported that magic swords were being smuggled into Roday, but who could have imagined what would follow? On the very day we handed over the intel, they raided the location, secured the evidence, the idiot pulling the strings showed up, attempted a coup, and was promptly suppressed...
All of this happened in about half a day.
That’s right, only half a day.
We left the Huge estate before dawn and arrived at the royal capital around 9:00 AM. The audience was at 10:00 AM, the raid happened around 11:00 AM, and the inspection and the coup took place around 1:00 PM.
Despite all that, we’ve barely reached the halfway point of the day.
Honestly, things are moving too fast.
I had assumed that after providing the information, we’d get our travel permit for White Forest and call it a day. I mean, this is a massive issue; normally, a nation would hold meetings, set up a search headquarters, organize troops, and begin a proper intelligence-gathering operation. If they had discovered it earlier, we wouldn't have been dragged into it, and we would have easily secured our passage to White Forest regardless.
But look at how things turned out.
The old ma—no, the King himself jumped into action, raided a place he had a hunch about, and hit the bullseye. Then, the mastermind who had been pulling the strings in Roday appeared.
Hey, hey, this development is beyond convenient.
And so, after being dragged into the mess, we finally sat down for a late lunch... while inspecting the confiscated cargo.
"Man, this brings back memories! Eating right in the middle of the spoils of war!"
The old man who caused this whole situation looked delighted. He grabbed a bone-in piece of meat with his bare hands, tore into it with gusto, and washed it down with wine.
...Is this a tavern on a weekend?
"Still, these really are magic swords."
"Hey, watch it! Wipe your hands before you touch them! You’re getting grease all over them!"
"It’s fine, it’s fine. You’ve got to maintain swords with oil, anyway."
It’s true that oil is essential for maintaining blades. But using oil filled with impurities like that is nonsense. And wait, isn't he the Sword King? What’s with that sloppy handling of a sword?!
"Besides, a sword is a consumable item. Anyone who treasures a single sword on the battlefield will die young. The basics are to pick up whatever sword or spear is lying around and keep fighting."
It’s a common misconception regarding swords, armor, and weapons in general, but these tools are truly consumables. Unless you’re a master, they’re usually headed for the scrap heap after one battle. The more you cut with a sword, the duller it gets from blood and oil, and clashing blades causes chips. Armor wears out at the joints the more you move, and it gets physically damaged when hit. Guns are the same; the more you fire, the more the barrel wears down, leading to lower accuracy and jams. From that perspective, the old man’s idea of picking up weapons on the battlefield isn't wrong.
Well, since his job as a mercenary isn't limited to just the battlefield, he does have his own preferred weapons for one-on-one combat.
"That applies to ordinary swords. But magic swords are different. They can trigger magic. And these are magic swords that anyone can use. If these spread across the battlefield..."
"The way wars are fought will change in an instant."
It seems the brains of Samantha’s father—who traveled the battlefield with the Sword King—and the Chancellor are still functioning. Well, it’s not that the Sword King is stupid, but he relies too much on intuition to make a proper assessment. He lost his match against Jessica because of the referee, and while his raw ability is inferior, the fact that Jessica couldn't finish him in one blow makes me struggle to evaluate his true strength. His intuitive ability is off the charts. If this old man decided to focus purely on running away, we might not even be able to catch him.
"That’s the problem. Why is a weapon of this caliber being smuggled into the country in secret? Looking at the quantity, it feels like they’re mass-producing them. If they have this much, other countries probably have them too. The backing is huge, but their methods are sloppy."
"Agreed. They should have kept the development of such weapons secret and used them to topple a nation. They’ve named a certain country, but what do you think, Ronri?"
"Well... since the surrounding nations are also unable to confirm if it’s that country’s doing, I can’t say for certain either. But for now, let’s proceed with the assumption that they are the ones pulling the strings. If other organizations were involved, they’d only be distractions. If that country is the mastermind, they’re likely observing our response."
"Response?"
"They left a letter that was intentionally easy to find to see how we would react. No, that’s not it. They are observing us from the basics: can we handle the internal problems caused by these magic swords? If we can’t even detect the magic swords and let the royal capital turn into a sea of fire, then they know they can do whatever they want later."
"I see... Indeed, they’d think that a place unable to manage its own country, let alone its capital, is hopeless."
"Fortunately—if I may say so—the small nation of Hifie, located behind August, was on the verge of falling but managed to recover. They discovered the plot and are now scrambling to implement defensive measures. From that perspective, one could say that country’s expectations were thwarted."
"In that case... if they make a move in the future..."
"It will be a full-scale military operation. Their attempt to incite civil war with magic swords failed. It would be nice if they stopped there, but it wouldn't be strange if they possessed even higher-performance magic swords than the ones they distributed. Seeing an item that can boost national power like this, it’s only natural they would begin development. Therefore, either way, their attention to external matters will be neglected."
"They wouldn't want their own domestic magic sword development to be discovered, after all."
"Well, that’s assuming that country is the mastermind. We can’t rule out other possibilities."
Hmm, hmm. The old men are thinking it through properly. We’re also struggling with the ambiguity of it all. Well, since we’ve left Zilba open as bait, it’ll be easy to tell if they take it.
"Well, Yuki and his group will probably crush those leads for us. That’s why you’re going to confirm things at White Forest, right?"
"That is the plan. I’m not confident we can investigate it properly, though."
"Don’t worry. Just secretly record it with that camera. If you bring it back here, I’ll be able to tell if there’s anything being hidden."
"I’m not sure if relying on His Majesty’s intuition is a good idea, but if you record it with this video camera, we should be able to make a judgment to some extent. Given the various circumstances surrounding this White Forest matter, I would very much like you to confirm it."
"Understood."
Since I was able to explain the video camera at the same time, there was no opposition to our trip to White Forest. I really hope we can finish that business without having to get too involved in the footage.
"That said, you aren't planning on kicking us out today, are you?"
" 'Kicking you out' is a crude way of putting it. Of course, we need to draft a letter from our country, and we need to provide you with various pieces of information regarding White Forest. You’ll be staying for two or three days."
"Alright. In that case, let’s have that sword match..."
"That’s not happening."
"It’s impossible. We’re about to get incredibly busy, so I don’t know why you think you’re the only one who gets to be free, Your Majesty."
"Tch..."
" "Don't 'tch' us." "
I mean, really.