第１８７８堀：医療従事者が見る王都について (Part2)
"Indeed. And what of Archbishop Dodona?"
"Yes, I have explained everything to him," replied Vilia. She had slipped into the conversation before I even noticed. "When I consulted with Emma-san regarding the meeting—or rather, the preliminary discussions—Archbishop Dodona suggested that this church would be the perfect venue. It seems he and Chancellor Daeda, as well as King Giadana, have crossed paths here before, so he feels it would be like meeting with old friends."
"I see. I suppose Archbishop Dodona has always had an interest in the Clearstream Church, so that makes sense."
"Yes. And it seems he is quite curious about the people being dispatched from Weed—or rather, from Ohe."
"Curious about us, are they?"
It was a bit unsettling, though, in all honesty, it was likely just a desire to gauge us, given that we are demi-humans. If it were anything more sinister, they would likely be in league with the Clearstream Church behind the scenes, plotting our removal. But then again, if that were the case, they wouldn't have bothered maintaining the Clear Church to begin with. They would have simply defected to the Clearstream Church long ago.
At worst, they could be spies working to dismantle the Kingdom of Giadana, but if I started chasing every shadow, there would be no end to it. We would simply have to handle whatever came our way. Yuki had likely considered as much already.
"Understood. We’re heading out now, but as I told Emma, we’ll be walking and taking in the sights of the town, so it will take us about twenty minutes."
"Yes, that is fine. 'Take your time' might be the wrong way to put it, but please, do enjoy the town."
And so, we made our way toward the Clear Church, observing the city as we walked. The royal capital of the Kingdom of Giadana was, as one would expect of a capital, quite vibrant. Still, it might be rude to say that every city looks the same, but they all seemed to share a similar, stone-based architecture. Perhaps because the threat of monsters is a universal constant, the defensive designs inevitably converge, regardless of the continent.
Wood is simply too fragile, so stone is the only logical choice. It isn't that wood is entirely unavailable, but rather that the lack of guaranteed safety or the absence of a budget for masonry forces their hand.
But the one thing that bothered me most was...
"The sanitation here is truly abysmal."
A foul stench assaulted my nose. It was the smell of sewage.
"Can't be helped," Yuki remarked. "There’s no sewer system to speak of. Carriages churn through the main streets, and the standard method for waste disposal is simply to toss it out the window. If it rains, it washes away. That’s the extent of it."
He was right; the waste management was non-existent. In truth, that was the standard everywhere outside of Weed. Since they hadn't bothered to construct a sewage network, people simply hurled their filth out into the streets. Those who had joined the Intercontinental Exchange Alliance were finally beginning to grasp the importance of hygiene, slowly implementing sewage systems and strict waste disposal protocols, but the progress was slow.
"Sigh. I suppose I should just view this as a world with plenty of room for improvement?"
"That’s a positive way of looking at it. Why don't you offer King Giadana and Chancellor Daeda a lecture on sanitation while you're at it?"
"...That doesn't sound like a joke."
"It isn't. How would you feel if we had to fight alongside them, only to be offered a base knee-deep in filth?"
"I’d hate that."
While it might be standard for them, to us, it was an intolerable environment. A shared understanding of hygiene was absolutely essential.
"If only we had a system to collect sewage using slimes. Come to think of it, are there even slimes on this continent?"
"Hard to say. I’ve never heard of slime subjugation requests at the adventurer guild Vilia and the others run."
"Then perhaps we should transport some slimes from home and put them to work on the sewage?"
"It’s a viable tactic, but if they’re seen as unknown monsters, there might be significant resistance. Let’s negotiate with that in mind."
"Please do."
These days, even the lowliest slimes were considered strategic assets. They were surprisingly efficient at digesting almost anything over time, and they even discharged clean water in the process. They were, in every sense, military supplies.
But for now, we had to reach the Clear Church. It was, after all, quite filthy. Though, in reality—or at least compared to Earth—there were methods of purification using magic and monsters. The problem was that the number of people capable of such feats was limited, and the very idea of using magic to deal with sewage was a concept that simply hadn't occurred to them.