第１７１８堀：実働部隊との意見交換 (Part2)
"Just as Steve says, if we can already envision the risks, then investigating the forest where the monsters are lurking is a necessity for our own security. We should avoid any trouble that comes from knowingly leaving a threat unchecked."
Kirika voiced her agreement with my assessment. As expected, her grasp on risk management was as sharp as ever.
"No matter how much we outclass them in levels or equipment, our numbers are still far too few," I added. "If it were just us, that would be one thing, but this time we’re talking about protecting the village—and potentially everyone in this entire region, right? If we end up reactive instead of proactive, we’ll be completely helpless."
"Indeed," Kirika said. "Furthermore, I believe it is necessary to dispatch intelligence agents into the heart of both Roschur and Gartz. And in this instance, I would suggest they not merely blend in or infiltrate, but be given orders to seize information aggressively."
Once we had laid it all out, the Boss and Lady Seraria fell silent, lost in thought for a moment.
"I see," the Boss finally admitted. "I suppose I was lacking in foresight. I wanted to keep the damage to a minimum, but..."
"Hearing it from Steve and Kirika makes me realize that might be impossible," Seraria added with a sigh.
"Well, it can’t be helped," I said. "Ideally, if they had just accepted the investigation in the first place, everything would have been resolved."
That was the truth of it. The simplest solution to this entire mess would have been for them to cooperate with the survey. Of course, I understood well enough that they had their own reasons for refusing.
"Even though they’re only piquing our interest further," Seraria remarked.
"I really do feel that way. So, what are your orders?" I asked.
"…Very well," the Boss said. "I’ll accept your proposals. That said, how many people can you actually send?"
"Given the nature of this mission, the monster unit will need at least one platoon," I replied. "With that, we should be able to manage both the defense of the remote village and the investigation of the surrounding area."
For the record, that meant forty individuals. And while every one of them was capable of combat, that number included the rear-support personnel responsible for cooking and logistics. In terms of actual frontline mobility, we’d probably only have about half that number available at any given time. Yeah, it was going to be tight.
"As for the intelligence gathering," Kirika interjected, "since the situation is urgent and requires deep infiltration, I will deploy two teams of three—six agents in total—to cover both nations, ensuring they have mutual backup. I can manage that much."
Kirika’s estimate seemed reasonable. To anyone else, the idea of challenging two entire nations with only three people per side would be laughable, but we had a mountain of tools that blended science and sorcery. With things like optical camouflage at our disposal, I had high hopes they could pull it off.
"We really are short-handed," the Boss muttered.
"And we don't have the time to train more," Seraria noted. "But we have to do it. Both of you, begin your preparations immediately."
"Yes, sir!" we answered in unison.
"Ah, Steve, wait. Kirika, you head out and begin the operation."
"Understood."
With that brief acknowledgment, Kirika vanished into thin air. She always had such a baffling way of disappearing. I’d heard she made full use of teleportation magic, but there was almost no magical trace left behind; it truly felt as if she simply ceased to exist in this space.
Setting that aside for a moment...
"So, why’d you ask me to stay?"
"Well, I called you here specifically to deal with this current trouble," the Boss said. "What we just discussed was just another job that cropped up on the side—even if it is part of the overall solution."
"Oh, right. We were talking about organizing the defense force against the invasion and deploying the hidden garrison, weren't we? Can't the units we just discussed handle that?"
"That's true," Seraria agreed. "The mission objectives are quite similar."
"It all comes down to whether we're searching for the enemy's base or not," I said. "That said, when it comes to the actual suppression force later on, we’re really pushing our limits. We don't even know the scale of the enemy yet."
"You're right about that," the Boss sighed.
Asking us to prepare when we were completely in the dark was a tall order.
"For now, I can have one company—roughly two hundred men—ready to move at a moment's notice."
"Is that a lot, or a little?" the Boss wondered aloud.
"In conventional terms, that's about the size of a garrison for a small town," Seraria noted. "Let's just hope the enemy is only town-sized as well."
Lady Seraria said it with a straight face, even though she clearly believed there wasn't a chance in hell it would be that simple.
"Regardless, we'll likely have to establish a base on-site and prepare to fight back. It would be nice if we could just talk it out, though."
"If you want diplomacy, don't look at me," I told them. "Go talk to Holy-san or Lady Vilia."
A goblin trying to handle international relations? The chances of that ending in a total disaster were way too high.
And so, having delivered my report and been saddled with the headache of organizing additional reinforcements, I made my way back to the military facilities. Steve was used to being given unreasonable demands, but even he couldn't help but dive headfirst into the fray when things looked grim. He simply couldn't stand by and watch.
With Kirika committing six of her precious few intelligence agents to the field, the stakes were rising rapidly. The situation was spiraling into something massive—and only time would tell how it would end.