第１７１４堀：寒村にとっては死活問題だった (Part1)
It seemed the Hayden region took the situation more seriously than I expected.
"Indeed."
I sank deeper into the sofa, listening to Seraria's words.
We were in Seraria's office, about to discuss the merchants and investigation team that would be newly dispatched.
We had been struggling with how to conduct the on-site investigation, but the cooperation from the Hayden region had been a great help.
Well, it wasn't impossible financially, but...
"Isn't that a good thing? Increasing the number of merchants, as a hope for other countries, would likely face less resistance than if we acted alone."
"Perhaps. We were already doing this to compensate for the decrease in merchants due to the gates, so it's an excuse for each country to increase their sales channels."
"With Hayden offering cooperation, other countries have also provided some assistance."
"They probably realized that overlooking something like this would be problematic. Of course, there are likely countries that manage their own merchants."
"Normally, it's abnormal for us to be doing this on behalf of each country."
That was true, but the existence of gates, a means of travel beyond common sense, had drastically reduced the need for merchants to take risks.
If left unchecked, remote villages would be forced to perish or turn to banditry, disrupting public order.
This would affect not only the lords but also the reputation of the country.
After all, every country claimed to welcome active land reclamation.
This meant an increase in new tax revenue.
It would look bad to encourage it themselves and then abandon it.
However, there were limits to budgets and personnel, so the Weed merchant dispatch system, which bore some of that burden, was welcomed with open arms.
"Well, thanks to that, the merchants going to the area this time won't seem suspicious~"
Ratz, who was present, said so casually.
"What do you mean?"
"You see~. I received a message from Asu. While looking for merchants, we found someone who had been trading with that village within our merchant guild."
"That's quite convenient, or rather..."
"Well, they're at the very bottom rung, of course. I mean, a merchant who travels to remote villages..."
"We should be grateful since they're helping us now. But that merchant isn't doing it purely out of goodwill, are they?"
"Of course not. They're doing it because they want to open their own shop someday, right~?"
One would need that much ambition to engage in risky trade.
Perhaps they had connections, their own sales channels, or even unique local products that could become a profitable commodity.
At that point, I asked Ratz if he had any information about the village.
"So, they know at least a little about the village, right? Did they hear anything?"
"Ah, unfortunately, there's nothing particularly new. If Nina hadn't arrived first, it might have been better, but the village has 84 inhabitants and 23 houses. Their main industries are agriculture and hunting."
"84 people? That's a depopulated village. Or rather, the standards are different from Japan."
"Indeed~. However, less than 10% are elderly, the majority are of working age, and about 20% are children."
"They won't be able to sustain themselves like that."
Putting aside the elderly, 20% children means 16 people.
These are the children who currently exist.
How many of them will remain in the village?
If we consider 8 elderly people, then with the children, that's 24 people.
The remaining 60 people, assuming an even split between men and women, means 30 women capable of bearing children.
Pregnancy would render them unable to work, and since not everyone has children, the actual number would be even lower.
Well, that's if they have children every year, but in this world, the survival rate of mothers and children after childbirth isn't that high.
Is a 50% survival rate considered good?
After all, neither sanitation nor medical technology is advanced.
Of course, if there were church healing mages, it would improve considerably... but expecting that in a remote village is asking too much.
"Well, that's something the village chief will have to figure out. Besides, such remote villages tend to attract people from somewhere, otherwise they would have disappeared long ago."
"Ah, I see..."
"What do you mean?"
Seraria tilted her head, seemingly puzzled by my understanding.
"It seems that village has been around for 20 years. People who were displaced from somewhere have come to settle there."
"So, remote villages are places where people who couldn't stay in their towns or villages due to some trouble flee to."
"...Ah, I understand."
Seraria's expression turned bitter as she grasped the situation from Ratz's and my words.
Basically, being unable to stay in a town or village means something truly dire must have happened.
Power struggles are a common story, and Lyush and Orelia, who serve me, grimaced.
Lyush... was sold to bandits along with his entire village, and Orelia was sold by her siblings in the merchant guild... that sort of thing.
"I understand what you're saying, but is the village's public order okay? If people with such backgrounds live there, wouldn't outsiders be unwelcome?"
"There's a possibility of that. Nina hasn't mentioned anything about it..."
"Why don't you ask her?"
"That's a good idea."
We can always contact Nina.
This is a place where summoning abductions are occurring.
We've had her under surveillance 24/7.
"Nina. Can you hear me?"
"What? Nothing's particularly changed on my end."
"I don't know if that's good or bad, but I have a question. Is it okay to talk for a while?"
"No problem. I'm currently investigating in the forest near the village. Did something happen?"
"It's not that something happened, but I wanted to ask about the remote village. We were discussing the possibility that it's a place for people with troubled pasts."
"Ah, there is that kind of atmosphere. In fact, many remote villages are like that."
Nina replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"So, Nina, you've been to this kind of remote village before?"
"Yes. Or rather, we were the type of people who lived in such a remote village. Comet and Hifia found us."
Ah, right.
Nina and the others themselves had troubled pasts.
"So, the question is, since people with troubled pasts live there, are they uncooperative with the investigation, or perhaps wary of outsiders?"