第１７１６堀：寒村の未来 (Part1)
Chapter 1716: The Future of a Remote Village
Side: Milly
“Kina! Do you have any info on monster sightings in that region?”
The moment I finished listening to Seraria and the others, I rushed back to the Adventurer Guild and barked out the question. Fortunately, Kina had just returned from the port town, which was a huge help.
“Huh? By ‘that region,’ do you mean the port?”
“Not there. I mean the area where the disappearances are happening.”
“Oh? Was it caused by monsters?”
“No, it’s just that we haven’t been able to get any information at all. The idea came up that we should check if monster habitats or distributions have shifted.”
“Ah, I see. Hmm… Mr. Rock?”
Kina turned her gaze toward Rock, who was busy with paperwork. I followed her lead. Rock stopped his pen and looked up.
“You want me to pull the records for that area? It’s not impossible, but won’t it look like suspicious interference? It would be more discreet to have Nina—or rather, Snow—go to the local guild branch and gather info on the ground.”
“That’s the problem. We can’t really do that anymore.”
I explained that, following the statements made at the remote village, there was a high probability the national government now viewed the situation as a problem.
““Yikes…””
Both of them had the exact same reaction as Yuki and his group. Well, I couldn’t blame them; I’d reacted the same way.
“True… if the International Exchange Alliance has officially intervened…” Rock muttered.
“It means the country’s lost face,” Kina finished.
“If it were just that, it might be fine. But the setting is a remote, impoverished village. What do you think the higher-ups will do?”
As I spoke, their wry smiles vanished, replaced by grim expressions. These two understood exactly how the authorities would move.
“...They can’t exactly ignore it, can they?”
“No. If this matter is just swept under the rug, the damage to our side will be significant. And if the village that reported the incident to us suddenly disappears…”
“Then we’ll be the ones getting blamed for it,” Kina sighed.
“There will certainly be people who try. Even though we were the ones who gave them the warning in the first place.”
Originally, it was the responsibility of the sovereign nation, not Weed, to gather these rumors and resolve them. To have them hide the truth just because we pointed it out was unbearable.
“If they truly didn’t know… that’s a problem in its own right,” Kina added.
“Indeed,” Rock agreed. “It would make Weed and the Alliance look bad. People would ask what the point of the Alliance even is. They’d act as if their own blunders never happened.”
“Well, that’s how nations are. Or rather, any organization that gets too big,” I said, scowling.
Weed hadn’t had any major public failures, but we’d certainly pulled our fair share of stunts to pin a bad reputation on others. Mostly because Yuki found it entertaining, so I hadn’t felt much guilt about it. Like when Seraria’s sister, Elju, was framed by Lithea’s schemes—we made sure the blame fell on the Kingdom of Last and the old Demon King’s domain.
Kina must have read my thoughts from my expression, because she gave a small laugh.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. Yuki-san might be nefarious in his methods, but he never crosses the ultimate line.”
“Yeah,” Rock added. “Yuki knows where to draw the line, so don’t worry about that. If he didn’t, the Grand Master would never cooperate with him. Anyway, I understand the situation. I’ll make contact immediately. If I frame it as being related to the Dark Guilds, I can fudge the details and keep people quiet.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
The conversation hit a lull, but then Kina suddenly voiced a doubt.
“Hey, I was just thinking. Suppose the kidnappers are found. What happens to that village? Even if nothing else happens, we can’t exactly just leave them be, can we?”
“True,” Rock said. “Based on what we just discussed, that village is now labeled as the place that shamed the crown. It’ll be hard for them to return to a normal life. But at the same time, we can’t just leave them in the middle of a kidnapping crisis, right?”
“That’s…”
It hit me then. I hadn’t realized it until they pointed it out.
Does that village even have a future?
“I understand the village needs to exist until the investigation is over. They’re our primary source of information. But we have to think about what happens to them afterward, or things will get ugly…”
“It’s a question of how we handle the cover-up,” I murmured.
“Yeah, and it’s going to be a pain,” Rock sighed. “The information came through the Adventurer Guild, so the government knows the village exists. In fact, other countries probably know about the issue through Weed by now, right? We can’t just let the villagers vanish into thin air easily.”
“Then it’ll be obvious that Weed intervened. But we can’t just abandon them…”
“That’s not an option,” I said firmly. “I’m going back to work out a countermeasure. Rock, can you consult with the Grand Master?”
“Understood. I’ll handle the diplomatic side with the nations.”
“Right. I’ll make sure Yuki-san works his hardest.”
I hurried out, checking Yuki’s location while initiating a call.
*“Milly? What’s the word from the Adventurer Guild?”*
“I’ve secured their cooperation, but Kina pointed something out to me.”
*“Pointed something out?”*
“Yes. It’s not something I can explain while I’m on the move. Could you gather Seraria and the diplomatic members from the various countries in the monitor room? Immediately.”
*“Got it. I’ll be waiting.”*
Yuki cut the call right there. As expected, he moved into action without wasting time questioning me. It was proof of his trust. That said, I couldn’t think of a single solution myself, so I’d have to leave it to Yuki and the diplomats.
When I hurried back into the monitor room, the members currently in Weed were already assembled.
“What’s going on? I heard it was an emergency, so I practically flew here,” Riel said.
“Riel, you *did* literally fly here,” Deryu remarked.
“Don’t use the walls and ceiling to move around indoors,” Eris chided with a wry smile. “You startled the staff.”
Normally, I would have joined in the banter, but the situation was too dire.
“Thank you for coming. Yuki-san, can I speak?”
“Yeah. I take it this is as bad as it sounds?”
“Yes. Well…”
I relayed what Kina and Rock had told me—that, one way or another, the village had no future.
“““...”””
Silence fell over the room. Yuki and Seraria both went quiet, hands over their mouths in shock. Finally, Yuki spoke.
“Damn it. I was so focused on the immediate response that I didn’t think about the aftermath.”
“...You’re right,” Seraria agreed. “Solving the kidnappings isn’t the end of it. Even if the village did nothing wrong, they caused unnecessary chaos and invited foreign intervention. The government could dissolve the village or punish them, and they wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. Either way, the result is the same.”