第１８０５堀：メイドさんたちのお茶話 (Part2)
Still, this is a common enough tale.
Whether or not it leads to something significant is the question, and it is precisely because of this keen intuition that they managed to secure a position leading that coalition.
Yet, in the final hour, they faltered.
Or perhaps, one should say they failed to exercise that very intuition.
After all, they had made an enemy of our master.
"So, does that mean you're completely in the dark regarding the influence of the church?"
"No, I’ve managed to grasp a certain amount. It’s called the Clea Church, and it seems to be the mainstream religion in the northern countries. The word is that over the last fifty years, it has been surreptitiously replaced by a splinter group called the Clearstream Church."
"Replaced? You don't mean the Clea Church simply changed its name to the Clearstream Church?"
"It seems that originally, it was a religion dedicated to defeating monsters to bring about a pure world, and by organizing specialized monster subjugation squads, they were accepted by various nations."
"Wow... specialized in monsters? How did the church manage to sustain such an organization?"
As Sasari says, it is a strange story.
The desire for a peaceful life through the defeat of monsters is universal in places with heavy monster damage, like the Rogari or Zuraburu regions. To eliminate them, not only nations but individual towns and villages have formed various organizations to cope.
However, none have been able to achieve any notable results.
It is a constant back-and-forth, and if they push too hard, their members end up dead.
Simply forming an organization does not guarantee the certain extermination of monsters, which is precisely why they rely on adventurers—who can always be replaced.
Well, not that all those adventurers are particularly skilled, of course.
And the reason there are more adventurers is that they accept work other than monster hunting.
To make an organization viable, money is indispensable.
Supplies are necessary, too, but if you have money, you can generally secure supplies.
The more diverse your income streams, the more stable you become.
Therefore, relying on a single method—defeating monsters—to earn a stable living is... difficult on any continent.
As for the answer to that question:
"Being a church, they seem to assist with healing and village reconstruction as well. While the monster subjugation is voluntary, they appear to sell the materials to nations, the adventurer's guild, and the commercial guild. Naturally, they receive compensation for that, too. That is why their support is so high."
"So that’s how it is; they have proper sources of income. But what about the personnel?"
Even with money and supplies, you shouldn't be able to defeat monsters without people, right?
"They seem to take in orphans and train them, separating them into those suited for combat and those suited for support—though 'internal affairs' might be too grand a term for it. Of course, they also seem to poach skilled adventurers, and they apparently provide combat instruction in towns and villages."
"Heeh. To be able to pull that off, they must be trusted quite deeply. If they weren't, they’d surely be suspected of plotting a rebellion, wouldn't they?"
From childhood, you say? It looks like charity work, but to raise combat personnel... does that mean they are specialized solely for the war against monsters?
I’m not sure if the cost-benefit ratio holds up, but from the outside, their reputation would certainly be high.
And to teach the common folk the arts of war...
"Is the monster damage in the north really that severe?"
"Hard to say. I haven't turned the frequency of monster damage in the north into data. I’ve only heard from Baron Siana and the others that people die every year. I haven't heard of damage severe enough to wipe out entire villages or towns."
"Ahaha, if villages and towns were disappearing that easily, humanity would be extinct... oh, I see, so it’s *that* level of severity."
"Exactly. There is certainly monster damage, but it’s not to the extent that people can no longer live there."
Hmm, so it’s not a threat that can be overlooked, but it’s maintained well enough for people to sustain their lives.
And then, I remembered.
"You mentioned you had a consultation for us? May we hear it?"
"Ah, that’s right."
"I wanted to ask Sasari. It’s not a difficult topic, but there’s a sense of discrimination or exclusion toward demi-humans on the If Continent as well, isn't there? I thought that if I heard about that, I might gain some understanding of the situation."
"“Ah.”"
So they want to hear what I have heard.
With that, we prepared some tea and began our discussion.
Since they have gathered some information, it is only natural to try and collect more from environments that share similarities.
It’s not a guarantee, but it’s better than doing nothing at all.