第１４０２堀：情報をまとめてみよう (Part2)
"Right then, I'll leave the summary to you. I'm heading out."
Having seen us settle on our course of action, Nina-sama departed to attend to her own duties. We, the remaining members, gathered before the whiteboard to hold a meeting based on the materials we had compiled thus far. As usual, Prol took the lead as moderator to kick things off.
"Now then, let’s begin by documenting exactly what information we have managed to gather."
**Dark Guild Intelligence (Chronological Order of Discovery)**
* Bandit incidents along the Roschur-Gartz border: Interviewing involved parties for additional leads.
* Inflow of anti-Weed factions via additional immigration for the International Exchange School: Investigating the routes of their correspondence.
* Investigation into the flow of funds and supplies to the two nations: Examining the entities involved in the supply chain.
* Miscellaneous: Confirmation and promises of information provision from various related quarters.
These were the points we had drafted before we even began our operation. Whether the volume of data is substantial or not, I honestly couldn’t say. Regardless, we spent a fair amount of time gathering these pieces one by one.
"Regarding the first item, the bandit incidents along the Roschur-Gartz border, we are currently in the process of conducting interviews."
* Bandit incidents along the Roschur-Gartz border: Interviewing involved parties for additional leads. (Currently under investigation)
"Which means the remaining items are still in the information-gathering phase."
* Inflow of anti-Weed factions via additional immigration for the International Exchange School: Investigating the routes of their correspondence.
"For this one... was it Orelia?"
"Yes. Regarding the routes used by the anti-Weed factions, it appears the two nations involved in the war have been brazenly routing their communications through Litea. We have even confirmed that they are utilizing the commercial guilds of both nations. The next step would be to move in and conduct an on-site investigation."
Exactly. The content of the letters from these anti-Weed factions was mostly just updates on their recent status, but the two nations that incited this war were openly using Litea to stay in contact.
"Since we have now entered a state of war, the flow of letters has ceased. As for the routes used by other anti-Weed factions, it seems they are sending them to smaller nations via a major power that acts as a hub. We lack the authority to track these directly, but I have subtly requested that our merchant acquaintances look into it, so I expect to hear back from them soon."
The only subordinates we can directly command are the general staff at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, so we’ve been relying on merchants as external collaborators to track the letters. We didn't explicitly mention the Dark Guild's involvement, of course, but we hinted that someone might be plotting something untoward. Naturally, we provided the necessary funding for this. Yuki-sama always said that for merchants, contracts and money are what matter most.
"I see. In that case, we are waiting on the results from those merchants, and as for the two nations currently at war, Eger and her team will move in for an investigation at a later date."
* Inflow of anti-Weed factions via additional immigration for the International Exchange School: Investigating the routes of their correspondence. (Currently under investigation via merchants; Eger and her team to investigate the two nations at a later date.)
"Next, regarding the flow of funds and supplies... that would be Hovis, correct?"
"That's right."
* Investigation into the flow of funds and supplies to the two nations: Examining the entities involved in the supply chain.
"The results of our inquiry show that it was a multitude of merchants who orchestrated the provision of funds and supplies to those two nations. It seems they caught wind of the fact that the two nations were buying up goods, and they rushed to sell to them. It wasn't any one specific merchant."
"And where did that information about the 'buying up' come from?"
"That, too, seems to have come from merchants who traveled to those two nations. We are tracing it, but the original source remains unknown. However, one thing is certain: it wasn't leaked by any specific country. I can say that much for sure."
"In other words, the nations themselves are not overtly complicit. Is that to prevent us from narrowing down the location of the Dark Guild's base? Is that why they are only using merchants?"
"Hard to say. All we know for now is that the merchants obtained the information independently and seized a business opportunity."
* Investigation into the flow of funds and supplies to the two nations: Examining the entities involved in the supply chain. (Someone provided the information. Currently under investigation.)
"I see, I see. This in itself is a meaningful discovery. Now then, as for the rest..."
With that, Prol turned her gaze toward Yayui.
"Finally, for the miscellaneous information—let's take a break first."
And so, we transitioned into tea time.
*Sigh.* I’m exhausted. We are working hard to gather this intelligence. This kind of steady, behind-the-scenes work is vital. When other departments get involved, even just collecting information becomes a massive undertaking, after all.