第１６１２堀：闇ギルドはどうするつもりだったのか (Part1)
Chapter 1612: What Was the Dark Guild Planning?
What was the Dark Guild planning?
Side: Kirika
The Master and his associates have begun taking actions, such as constructing a port, in order to track down the members of the Dark Guild who fled—or rather, parted ways with them.
That plan is proceeding smoothly. On the surface, it is being developed as a port officially recognized by the various nations of Rogari, intended to secure future trade routes to the various continents and to ensure a steady supply of seafood. I have received word that they have already secured the site, completed the military port, and have it fully operational.
"It hasn't been that long since then, but as expected of the Master."
It has only been about twelve or thirteen days since we left Vinosia.
To not only select a site for a port but to build one in the blink of an eye—even if it can be constructed instantly using dungeon skills, the bureaucratic coordination with various nations would normally take years. To accomplish all of that in such a short span is truly astonishing.
It just goes to show how much trust he has earned from those nations.
"No, perhaps it is also because they are desperate to avoid the chaos the Dark Guild tends to incite."
I set the documents I was holding onto the table.
They are a summary of the damages incurred at Suls.
It concerns the Great Stampede that the Dark Guild orchestrated in cooperation with Kinauf and Irinau.
You might think it is too late to be dwelling on such things, but since my subordinates are already tracking the situation on the ground, I am using information like this to narrow down the Dark Guild's true objectives.
Of course, our intelligence division alone is far too understaffed to handle this case, so we are gathering information from various sources and following the trail.
The ones compiling all of this are the three—no, now five, with Prof and Lyushi having joined—who serve the Master.
Because they are organizing the data and conducting investigations when necessary, we are managing to scrape by without having to abandon our other duties.
But, putting that aside, regarding the damages:
"...The damage was limited to about one town and the people who lived there. That was only because Weed intervened. In other words, the projected damage was supposed to be much greater."
Yes, I am currently in the process of uncovering the damage the enemy had anticipated—or perhaps, if we look at it from their perspective, the "war results" they had hoped for.
"The enemies, Irinau and Kinauf, had the objective of securing a town near a water source. And, on the surface, they were acting as reinforcements for the Great Stampede. In other words, they didn't intend to destroy Suls?"
Suls had stated that had our alliance not intervened, they would have been grateful for the reinforcements from the two nations. If Suls had been destroyed, it was obvious that Ritea, the leader of the alliance, and the alliance itself would have mobilized.
If that had happened, it would have surely become difficult even for the monsters of a Great Stampede to prevail.
However, something feels off.
"...Would they really just withdraw quietly after causing a Great Stampede? Certainly, if they could seize the land of Suls, as the Master said, the Dark Guild's reputation would rise. But if they just retreated after that, while the DP wouldn't be wasted, they wouldn't be able to replenish it either. After all, this was an event occurring outside of a dungeon."
That’s right. While their reputation would rise and they would gain monetary profit, they would lose the DP necessary to operate their dungeon.
DP is collected by killing intruders within the dungeon or by keeping them there for a certain period.
However, the Great Stampede in Suls had erased the dungeon.
Well, it is possible they erased it because they had clashed with us and been defeated, but I haven't heard any reports of the townspeople being taken away.
"After all, the townspeople safely retreated to the northern town. The ones who became sacrifices were the soldiers who remained behind. And almost all of them died in the town. Well, if it were within the dungeon's range, they could recover some DP from those battles, but..."
Even if it is on the surface, if it is within the dungeon's range, they can absorb DP, though the efficiency is lower than inside the dungeon.
No, wait.
"...We know that we can recover a small amount of DP from people inside a dungeon. What if the enemy realized that?"
If that were the case, it wouldn't be strange if that destroyed town had been within the dungeon's range for a long time, and DP had been collected from it already.
If so, does that mean it wouldn't be a problem if they couldn't recover it during the Great Stampede?
"However, there is no doubt that they ran out of DP during that Great Stampede and shifted to trading with Lady Canaria. We know that as a fact."
After all, we extracted their memories.
Does that mean I am misinterpreting something?
"They wouldn't do something that results in zero DP gain. Could it be that in their memories, 'DP' was replaced by another term, and we failed to recognize it?"
I decide to re-examine the information on the Dark Guild members we captured in Vinosia.
Since I am using a computer to sync the text with the audio, it is easy to spot discrepancies.
There, a record regarding dungeon knowledge appears.
Indeed, in their responses, they acknowledge the existence of DP.
And that they poured it into the Great Stampede at Suls.
"There are no suspicious points here. Let's see... where they replenished the depleted DP... Ah, it's probably around here."
In the data, I begin playing the section regarding the replenishment of consumed resources.
It mentions that Irinau and Kinauf expected to receive various things as a success fee, and they were planning to use that for replenishment.
It seems it was lumped together, and we hadn't recognized it as such.
In other words, they were planning to replenish their DP after the invasion of Suls was completed.
Well, I understand that there is no point in being stingy and failing because of it.
Among that, the fact that they erased the dungeon to remove traces in the event of failure was also as expected.
"Still, the part about how they planned to replenish the DP is missing. ...My method of questioning was poor. I'll need to revise the manual."
It's not so much that my subordinates were at fault; since they failed, they couldn't replenish it, so they prioritized future actions over dwelling on that point.
Regardless, let's look through the records one more time.
How far did the operation in Suls have to go to be considered a success?
Just how far was the Dark Guild willing to go?
"...In the end, the western town was just propaganda personnel to announce the Great Stampede, and by annihilating them at their escape point, the northern town, they were aiming to delay the reinforcements from Ritea, is that it?"