第１９３７堀：覚悟しておくように (Part1)
Chapter 1937: Be Prepared
Be prepared.
Side: Vilia
"Wait, what? Accelerate the development of the land battleships? By two weeks?"
The sheer absurdity of the report forces the words out of me.
"Well, it sounds like a joke, doesn't it? Still, looking at the monster raid that happened the day before, it looked less like a reconnaissance mission and more like they were just throwing away pawns to see how much our forces could handle."
My brother offers a wry smile, but his eyes sharpen as he analyzes the chaos that erupted in the town of Uesa.
That scale of an attack... just a reconnaissance mission? Just pawns?
No, he’s right. It lacked the fundamentals of proper unit deployment—there was no retreat strategy, nor were there any supply lines. That leaves only one conclusion: that group was nothing more than a disposable sacrifice.
They were observing the outcome. Watching to see what would happen.
And they did it on that scale.
"…You’re right. Putting aside the scale and the numbers, the strength of those Orcs was unexpected. The town was practically on the verge of abandoning all hope."
"Well, if it weren't for Knightman, the situation would have been dire. My estimate? The lord’s army and the adventurer team were effectively wiped out—a total wash."
"That’s being too optimistic. The monster army surpassed the level of most of the lord’s soldiers and adventurers, and those twenty Ogres were stronger than the highest-level individuals in Uesa. When you factor in the regenerative abilities unique to monsters, there was essentially no path to victory."
Yes, honestly, I agree with Sia.
If we had possessed powerful artifacts, we might have been able to overcome the level gap, but without such weapons, and facing twenty enemies who were purely superior in strength, I also saw no chance of winning.
"Exactly. That’s why it’s so strange that they had no supply or communication units. It’s too optimistic to think that a force capable of nearly annihilating a town just happened to show up in Uesa by pure coincidence, isn't it?"
"…Yuki is right. Does that mean this isn't just happening in Uesa?"
"If they were just pawns, would you send them to only one location?"
"Not a chance. If they’re disposable, you spread them out to gather data. Which means…"
"…If we look at this logically, Uesa wasn't the only town attacked, was it?"
"That’s highly probable. The question is, how many other places managed to repel them as safely as we did—or rather, as safely as Uesa did…"
If I could wish for a dream scenario, I’d want to believe that every place attacked managed to repel them without issue, but I couldn't bring myself to say it.
After all, I know nothing of the situation in the North.
"So, has any information regarding that sort of thing been gathered? If it’s the Adventurer’s Guild, I’d assume they have some kind of communication network, right?"
"…We don't have that much of a connection with the Adventurer’s Guild. We’ve already left Uesa, and we’re currently in the next town, deciding whether to take on work or keep moving. Oh, and for the record, there’s no sign of discrimination against demi-humans here."
"That’s right, it’s peaceful. Though, we do hear plenty of talk about monster subjugation."
"Indeed. That said, I haven't heard any reports of monsters closing in on this town."
"Yes. As everyone said, since we’ve moved to a different town, we haven't visited the Adventurer’s Guild yet. As for the monsters, other than Uesa, there’s no word of any other towns being raided…"
"I see. We haven't traveled that far yet, and the locations probably aren't that concentrated. How much longer until we reach the Ioa Kingdom?"
"…At our current pace, about six days. Fortunately, our investigations into the Clearstream Church and the Adventurer’s Guild took less time than initially planned, so we haven't been delayed too much."
As Nina said, that at least is a silver lining.
There are no demi-humans suffering here.
That said, our investigations have indeed uncovered evidence of black-market dealings, so we’ll have to decide how to handle that later. We haven't even fully looked into the reasons behind those illicit trades yet.
There might be extenuating circumstances, after all.
Regardless, that’s neither here nor there. Thanks to that, we can move toward the Ioa Kingdom smoothly without having to stop.
"I see. In that case, if there are no problems, head to the Ioa Kingdom by the shortest route and gather information on the various countries. The Adventurer’s Guild is fine, too. Then, make contact with the people from the Clearstream Church and investigate the situation in the North in detail. I think that’s the best way to respond if something happens. What do you think?"
"I agree with that opinion. Whether what happened in Uesa is an isolated incident or something occurring elsewhere in the North—just finding that out is of great importance."
"Agreed. If we’re too slow to act, we might end up on the back foot. It’s better to face any trouble after gathering as much information as possible."
"Yes. That’s the most constructive approach. Though, things rarely go that smoothly."
"Haha, it would be convenient if we could talk to the higher-ups before the land battleships are finished, but..."
I’ve realized through traveling with my brother that things in this world rarely go as conveniently as one would hope. Well, there have been many times when it was precisely because my brother was there that we were able to force those problems open.
But this time, it isn't my brother doing the negotiating—it’s Nina and the others, and myself.
"So, negotiating with the higher-ups is fine, but how many of our cards are we allowed to play?"
Indeed, as Nina says, the difficulty of the negotiation changes depending on how much of our hand—our standing and our background—we reveal.
"Basically, I’ll give you instructions on when to reveal your cards. Well, you’re free to use the information you obtained from Archbishop Dodona and the Giadana Kingdom, though."
"Understood. Still, neither of those are cards we can play lightly."
"The names are too big. If we aren't careful, we’ll either be stalled because we’re 'important people,' or detained just to verify if it’s actually true."
"That’s true. When a name carries that much weight, it draws attention for both good and bad reasons."
"It’s difficult."
"That’s why you need a delicate touch. Well, wouldn't it be convenient to play the 'disciples of Archbishop Dodona' angle? You don't have much of a track record yet, but you can push the angle of being specialists in monster extermination, right?"
Indeed, being disciples of Archbishop Dodona might be useful for gaining information about monsters.
Our other connections have backgrounds that are far too powerful; they feel like double-edged swords.
"…That’s the safest bet."
"Agreed. That way, we can push our own agenda just enough while hopefully pulling some information out of them."
"Indeed. Well, if we mess up and get sent to the front lines, we’ll just have to go all out and force them to acknowledge our existence."
"Oh, but if the plan is to move quickly this time, what are we doing about dispatching Knightman to the various regions?"