第５７４堀：久々の登場で張り切る (Part1)
Chapter 574: Eager After a Long Absence
Side: Mauve
At first, I thought they were just another group of people migrating to this village from some settlement. That’s how this Demi-human village usually grows, after all.
Originally, this village was nothing more than a gateway to Weed. Yuki had asked Luna to investigate, and the place where the gate connected just happened to be near this Demi-human village. Knowing nothing about the If Continent at the time, we simply helped the Demi-humans who were being attacked by the Zilba Empire—partly to gather information.
Well, that led to us getting dragged into various things, and eventually, we ended up protecting the village. Since then, Demi-humans who didn't have a great standing in the If Continent—races like Beastmen and Elves, as we’d call them on the Rogali Continent—began gathering here, seeking refuge.
Now, the population is large enough that it’s honestly more of a town than a village. Well, that was Yuki’s intention all along.
In this If Continent, the Demi-humans in this village are outcasts. Unlike the Demi-humans of the White Forest, they didn't believe in holding hands with humans; they harbored hatred, waiting for the day they could trample them. If things went south, there was a real risk they could go on a rampage. That’s exactly why Yuki told us to protect this village and stationed us here. He saw that if trouble were to arise, it would start from this village where the Demi-humans were congregating.
And today, that trouble arrived.
"Should I say 'finally,' or 'at last'?" I muttered, staring at the reactions appearing on the Call map.
I thought they were just migrants, but the scale was wrong. Nearly a hundred people were approaching, and every single one of them was armed. They were clearly looking for a fight.
Well, the distance is still sufficient, so we should have time to evacuate, but...
As I was thinking that, Raiya returned.
"I’ve spoken to the village chief. He’s going to gather everyone in the central assembly hall immediately. How far out is the enemy?"
"Still quite a way. About three kilometers in a straight line. It’ll take them another hour or so."
"An hour, huh? Considering the number of villagers, that’s cutting it close. I wish we could have extended the detection range further."
"Can't really do that. We don't know how the mana instability in this land might react. We’re lucky we caught them this early as it is. What about Curse?"
"Curse went to meet Steve and his reinforcements. They should be here soon. What’s the word from Yuki?"
"No changes. Evacuate the villagers and wait for Steve’s group to arrive. He didn't tell us to go out and annihilate them."
"Well, that’s to be expected. It’s not like it’s been confirmed they’re enemies yet."
"Even though they’re armed to the teeth?"
As I said that sarcastically, Curse and Steve entered the room and answered my remark.
"The kings of various countries are currently in the middle of a conference at nearby Betan, after all."
"We can't just go and get blood on our hands carelessly. It could put the White Forest in a bad spot, and even if it didn't, we’d be accused of being instigated by the Great General, Zilba, or Enaria."
"What a massive pain in the neck."
"That’s just how the world works."
"True enough."
With that, Curse and Steve took their seats.
"So, since you two are here, the preparations are done?"
"Yes. The Goblin squad is already heading out for reconnaissance."
"Just reconnaissance, though. I’d be happy if they just ended up saying, 'Oops, we got lost,' but..."
"That’s not going to happen."
"Agreed. Looking at the Call screen, this is an organized movement."
On the screen, groups of five red dots were approaching in intervals of ten. Behind them was a larger group of about fifty. It was clearly a vanguard and a main force.
"Well, yes. But the timing is the real issue here."
"Exactly. Attacking at this exact moment suggests someone leaked the information."
"Wait, hold on. If that were the case, wouldn't they just go straight to Betan?"
I denied their theory, but Raiya nodded in agreement.
"I see. They can't attack Betan directly. They intend to take this place and add it to their fighting force. They probably thought that since it’s adjacent to the forest, even a small force could pull it off."
"There are many people who have complaints about us holding this place, after all."
"They probably thought if they could take us down, they could manage the rest. The problem is that they know the schedule so accurately. They’re even accounting for the time saved by gate travel, so we can assume something is being orchestrated from the inside."
"Ah, I see."
Until now, travel on the If Continent was done on foot or by horse. But with the simplification of travel via gates, movement between major powers had become easy. In other words, even if these Demi-humans knew about the conference, they couldn't have attacked with such perfect timing unless they had inside help. Travel is almost instantaneous now. From Enaria to Betan, it’s a carriage ride, but since the Demi-humans can't use the gates, they would be completely behind schedule. They would have had to know the plans and gathered long in advance.
That’s why Curse and Steve suspected someone close to the countries at the conference had leaked the info.
『Well, we won't know the details until we investigate, but since the upper brass claims ignorance, there’s no problem with eliminating them.』
"Whoa!? Yuki? What do you mean by 'upper brass'?"
『The members currently meeting at Betan. I told them an armed group was approaching the Demi-human village near Betan. No one seemed particularly rattled. I thought the King of White Forest might get blamed, but that didn't happen either. It’s likely some underlings are acting on their own due to interests or hatred of Demi-humans. Well, I don't know what’s going on behind the scenes. They might be trying to gauge things by watching how Weed handles the situation at Betan.』
"Hmm. So, what’s the final call?"
『Yeah, if everyone claims ignorance, we’re free to dispose of them ourselves. It’d be better to capture a few in a flashy way and show off our strength again. For the future.』
"Alright. So we just go and blow them away."
『No, don't take them all out. Let a few escape and follow them. They’ll head back to their nest. Have Steve’s recon unit track them.』
"Understood. I’ll go easy on them. Alright, Raiya, Curse. This is our biggest job since the Kingdom of Swords. Let’s move."
"Yeah."
"Understood."
"I’ll be hanging back in the rear, then."
Just as we stood up, ready to get to work, Yuki put a stop to it.
『Wait a second, there are reinforcements coming, so cooperate with them.』
"Reinforcements? We can handle that number ourselves, can't we?"
『It’s more of a distraction for them.』
"A distraction? What do you mean..."
The moment I asked, the door opened and the reinforcements arrived.
"Yoo-hoo! Mauve-san, we’re here to help too!"
Entering the room with lively energy were Riel, Tori, and Kaya.
"You three? Why are you here?"
"Why, you ask? We’d get rusty if we didn't move around once in a while."
"We’ve been sitting still since we got pregnant in the New Continent, and the Spirit Priestess stuff was just so noisy."
"...I feel better moving around in the If Continent. Especially in this village."
"No, I get that, but didn't you all just give birth? Is that really okay?"
That’s right. These three had given birth just half a month ago.