第１７５０堀：あれからの港町は (Part1)
Chapter 1750: The Port Town Since Then
The Port Town Since Then
Side: Yuki
After finishing my discussion with Seraria, we returned to my office, but…
“Ugh, the paperwork never ends. If anything, it’s only piling up.”
“That is to be expected. You are mobilizing an army, after all.”
“Indeed. Even now, Steve and his men remain in Ohe, keeping watch over the enemy.”
Stasia and Jessica immediately retorted to my minor grumbling.
“I know, I know. So, Jessica, how were things with Fiora? And what about the situation here?”
With Stasia and me deployed to Ohe, I had entrusted the work in Weed to those two. I needed their report.
“There are no issues. We haven’t been forced into any sorties, after all.”
“Yes. We remained on standby in case we needed to send reinforcements, so organizing that logistics was quite a task.”
Come to think of it, I hadn’t known how the battle in Ohe would turn out, so I had prepared for reinforcements just in case.
“Right, I did ask for that. So, what are our current mobilization numbers?”
“Yes. Including the monster units, the total is around five thousand.”
“Five thousand, huh? Well, we have firearms, so we can manage a certain disparity in strength, but…”
“It goes without saying to you, Yuki, but it all depends on the situation. No matter how powerful our firearms are, if we can’t maintain distance, it becomes a melee. Of course, the goblins and orcs are well-trained, but they aren’t as overwhelmingly powerful as Steve’s group.”
“It depends on the situation, yes, but we cannot be overconfident.”
Even if we take minimal damage, a difference in numbers means a difference in how long we can sustain the fight. Since we can also resort to suffocation tactics, traps are effective as well.
“Ultimately, we don’t have enough strength to go on the offensive.”
“Weed has never been one to strike out on its own, anyway. We’ve always focused on territorial defense, relying on our friendly nations on the front lines as our main force.”
As Jessica said, whenever we’ve ventured onto the various continents, we’ve basically maintained a cooperative system with the major powers. It was obvious that if we made enemies of everyone indiscriminately, we’d run out of breath.
“I’d like to take that approach this time too, but there are simply too many enemies. Ohe, our ally, seems inward-looking—focused on domestic affairs and the exclusion of demi-humans—so it will be difficult to gain more allies there.”
Stasia explained the current state of the Ohe Kingdom in my stead.
“However, during your discussion with Yuki-sama, didn’t you mention sending envoys to the surrounding countries near Ohe?”
“Ah, as Fiora says, that is the plan. Even if Ohe is inward-looking, it’s not as if they’ve had zero contact. Demi-humans seem to live normally in the countries further south, and trade has certainly existed.”
“So, we use that as a foothold, then.”
“Exactly. Well, considering the number of enemies that invaded Ohe and the amount of hostages, I can’t exactly be optimistic.”
As I spoke with a sense of weariness, Samantha and Cleena reacted.
“Yuki-sama, do you truly believe this incident is merely a vanguard, or just a fraction of their forces?”
“Indeed, the number of hostages is low. I would think they’d bring more. Unless, well, they’re a hindrance to the march?”
“The answer to Samantha’s question is yes. After all, this land is larger than any of the other continents. It’s strange that twenty thousand is all they could muster. And regarding Cleena’s point about the number of hostages, you could say they are a burden to drag around, but it wouldn’t be strange if they had some other objective.”
“At worst, there is a possibility that the countries our envoys are heading to are facing the same situation, as you mentioned.”
“I did say that. In that case, we’d have to blow away the enemies surrounding them, which is a real pain.”
“And if they have the leeway to do something like that, it means their influence is vast.”
“Yeah, if they have the leeway to split their army and move them like that, it means they are reasonably unified.”
As Cleena said, having the surplus to dispatch such units to various countries implies that the core is large and sufficiently coordinated to execute such actions. Well, conversely, one could argue they are moving separately precisely because they aren’t unified, but there is no doubt they are moving with the same directionality, which makes them troublesome regardless.
“The important thing is gathering information. We can’t fight forever; we have to strike at the enemy’s weaknesses.”
“Indeed. We are currently struggling with a lack of manpower as it is.”
“It is better to reduce the number of enemies than to increase our own.”
Jessica and Fiora agreed with my proposal, and the other members nodded in unison.
“So, how are Prof and Orelia doing?”
Prof has been staying by my side recently, but as the head of the Resident Information Division, she has plenty of work. Orelia handles the merchants and commoners who wish to meet with me, along with other miscellaneous chores.
I complained about the paperwork on the table, but if it weren’t for these four, the pile would have been much higher. Ah, Fiora handles the nobles and military affairs. Jessica and Stasia, needless to say, handle diplomacy and military matters. Samantha and Cleena focus mainly on diplomacy and have been busy with the Intercontinental Exchange Alliance lately.
“Also, how is Ria? And what about Canaria?”
And then there’s Ria. After that airheaded goddess Lilishe turned her into a hero and various things happened, she’s been my bodyguard, but now she’s looking after Canaria—the princess of Vinosia, where the dark guild is said to be hiding after the Suurus incident. Canaria is in a very unique position, after all.
“Canaria’s bento shop is doing quite well. After all, we’re getting orders from the government office, and other residents of Glass are coming to buy from her as well.”
“Glad to hear it’s going smoothly. Speaking of residents, has the migration started?”
“Oh? Yuki-san, haven’t you heard? Mikos published the Glass port town in the magazine, and the government office put out a pamphlet recruiting migrants. Here.”
Saying that, Ria handed me the magazine and the government pamphlet.
“I haven’t seen Mikos, Sisua, or Sona since I told them my name. I heard they’d start moving once the name was decided, and I’ve been busy myself. Oh, this is well-made. Do you have copies for Prof and the others?”
“Um, I believe there are some for the storefront. Here it is. Yes, go ahead.”
“““Thank you very much.”””
Prof and the others took the magazines and pamphlets, peering into them together. It looked like a scene from a girls’ school during a break or after class. Men? Men do it too, but they usually look at them alone, don’t they? Well, it’s a question of which is more vibrant.
Leaving that aside, as for what Ria said…
“Are you keeping them at the shop, too?”