第１５４８堀：意外と秘宝はあるのかも？ (Part1)
**Chapter 1548: Perhaps There Are Unexpected Treasures?**
**Side: Yuki**
It has been three days since our arrival in the royal capital of Hinsua.
Fortunately, our time here has been peaceful—or as peaceful as it ever gets for us. The enemy hasn't taken the bait yet, so we’ve spent our days focused on intelligence gathering.
Granted, there’s only so much one can learn in three days, but I’m grateful that my companions and I have been able to take things slow for a change. Our ultimate goal is to infiltrate the enemy’s stronghold. If anything, I’d prefer they didn't launch a preemptive strike on us; if we thin out their forces too much now, they might tuck tail and abandon their base before we can find it.
As I sat in the salon, nursing a cup of coffee and mulling over these strategies, Rurua, who was sitting with me, spoke up.
"So, Darling, I assume you will be continuing your information gathering at the royal castle today?"
"Yeah. And I take it you’ll be heading back to the Litea Church here in Hinsua to continue the medical treatments and your own scouting?"
"Yes, that is the plan. It seems three days isn't nearly enough time to clear the queue of patients."
"It feels like word of your visit spread faster than expected. We did send a formal notice to Hinsua beforehand—maybe it leaked from there?"
"It wasn't so much about me specifically," Rurua clarified. "It seems many people had heard that 'someone' from the Litea Church was coming to provide medical aid."
"So the details were a bit fuzzy?"
"Likely. Our visit to Hinsua was only finalized after the auction ended, which was barely two weeks ago. Not even a month has passed. In a way, it’s strange that the news reached a place as distant as Hinsua so quickly. Even if the authorities knew, I wonder if there was enough time for the rumor to circulate so thoroughly among the commoners."
"When you put it that way, it is a bit suspicious. Wait, no... we were the ones leaking rumors on our end too, weren't we?"
"Rumors? Ah, to draw them out?"
I nodded in response to Rurua’s realization.
"Exactly. I left it to Kirika to spread word so we could monitor any movements and hopefully flush out the enemy. So, Kirika... how does it look?"
I addressed the empty air, and Kirika’s voice whispered directly into my ear.
"Yes, My Lord. Regarding Lady Rurua’s medical activities, we planted specific rumors beforehand to track the enemy's reactions."
"And did you find anything?" Rurua asked.
"To an extent. We’ve been able to identify the general 'origin' of the people seeking treatment."
"Meaning...?"
Rurua and the others present tilted their heads in confusion. Kiyu, standing nearby, let out a wry smile and chimed in.
"It’s a classic tactic, isn't it? You vary the details of the rumors depending on where you spread them. By listening to what the arriving patients have heard, you can tell exactly where they traveled from."
"Precisely," Kirika confirmed. "As Lady Rurua noted, there is the issue of travel distance, but even so, there is a glaring statistical bias."
"...I’m afraid I still don't quite follow. Could you explain?"
"Right," I said. "To put it simply, if we label the rumors A, B, and C, and a person arriving in Hinsua mentions version B, we know they came from the region where version B was circulated."
"I see, that makes sense. So, where are these people coming from?" Rurua asked, leaning in.
I suspected Kirika had made the web of rumors even more complex by tracking *who* spread them, but she likely kept the explanation simple to avoid derailing the conversation.
"The vast majority of those seeking treatment in Hinsua right now are from the former Vinosia territories," Kirika reported. "The numbers from other regions are negligible. The disparity is overwhelming."
"But wouldn't there naturally be a lot of people from the former Vinosia?" Mikos interjected. "It was an entire kingdom, after all. Isn't it normal for them to make up the bulk of the population?"
It was a fair point. One would expect the largest demographic to yield the most patients, but...
"Lady Mikos," Kirika countered, "that would only hold true if the population of former Vinosia remained high. In reality, the current residents are few. During the civil war, approximately eighty percent of the population fled the country."
"What? That many?"
"Yes. This is confirmed by both Litea and the intelligence provided by Hinsua. While we lack the precision of a modern census, those are the accepted estimates. Given that fact, for them to represent such an overwhelming majority of the patients here means..."
"That someone is intentionally funneling them toward us?" Rurua finished.
"Precisely. While we cannot be certain of their ultimate goal, the most obvious motive would be to tie down our forces and keep us distracted."
"To keep us occupied with healing so we can't move freely..."
"Indeed. While Weed is focused on securing the treasures, the Litea Church’s priority is the salvation of the people. What are your thoughts, My Lord?"
Kirika threw the question back to me. I took a moment to process it.
Funneling civilians toward us so blatantly was practically a neon sign saying the enemy was on the other side. Did they do this knowing we’d catch on?
Using rumors to track enemy movements is an age-old tactic. A dark guild wouldn't be ignorant of such methods.
If so, Kirika was likely right. Their goal was to dump a humanitarian crisis on our doorstep to reduce the number of combatants we could send into their base—or perhaps to set us up for a staggered defeat. Either way, there was no doubt they were targeting us.
"The probability is high," I said, "but we can't rule out other objectives. They might be pinning us down here while they cause chaos elsewhere."
"A valid concern. I will ensure our external intelligence channels remain wide open," Kirika replied.
"Good. Keep in close contact with the various nations and the Adventurer’s Guild. Now, back to the main point—what about the enemy base?"
"We haven't found any location more promising than the one we initially scouted. However, we have confirmed three caves that have been converted into dungeons. All of them are within a ten-kilometer radius, which suggests..."
"They’re connected? An escape route?"
"The possibility is high."
Being able to create dungeons at will certainly makes installing escape routes easy. Then again, even without that power, any competent strategist would prepare multiple exits depending on the situation. In this world, where monsters make large-scale construction a nightmare, such tunnels are usually much harder to come by.
"We need to keep those under surveillance. Deploy drones or familiars. We need to find where they’re planning to go next. We can worry about sending in a squad to lock them down after we've mapped out their movements."
"Understood."
We could move to suppress them now, but since we don't know the full extent of their network, it’s more important to track them back to their source. This location might be a formidable outpost, but since they’re trying to lure us in to deal with us, it’s unlikely to be their true headquarters.
There has to be a primary hideout somewhere else.