Preparing for the Investigation
Satou here. One of my coworkers once said that only the most incompetent workers want to hold meetings all the time. I suppose having a meeting can make you feel like you’ve been working hard, even if nothing actually gets resolved in the process.
“Welcome back, Lord Kuro.”
After parting with the hero, then producing more potions and medicine at the Ivy Manor in Labyrinth City so that my stocks didn’t run out, I went to the Echigoya Company headquarters in the royal capital. I only did preparations for the elixir-making process for now, since you can’t create those as quickly.
Even though it was the dead of night, the beautiful blond manager Eluterina and the quietly lovely, silver-haired Tifaleeza were still hard at work, along with many of the other executive staff members.
Little Louna, who usually rode on a stone wolf, was away on business with the former Shadow Thief, Sharururuun.
“I want to give Pippin a job to do. Is he free?”
“Yes, we haven’t given him any major assignments yet.”
“Glad to hear it. I’m going to have him provide support for the Saga Empire hero in Parion Province.”
“Sir Hayato the Hero? Not Sir Nanashi?”
“That’s right. A demon lord’s presence has been confirmed in Parion.”
“Pippin is certainly talented, but I can’t see him being very helpful in defeating a demon lord…”
“Don’t worry. I just want him to deal with an assassin who’s targeting the hero.”
While I doubted Hayato would lose to any attacker head-on, he might have been in trouble if someone mixed poison into his food in the holy city or out in the field, and it’d be stressful to be on edge during every meal.
I was hoping Pippin could help deal with most of that.
“That sounds like the perfect job for him, then.”
“I’ll come to get him around dawn. Tell him to be ready.”
“Understood.”
That should take care of any attempts to poison Hayato.
“Got anything to report?”
“Lady Ryuona of the Shiga Eight came to visit, though we aren’t sure of her intentions.”
Miss Manager’s caution was probably unnecessary. My guess was that she just came to thank Nanashi the Hero for healing her with an elixir after she was burned by a dragon.
But even after I told Eluterina not to worry because it was probably nothing important, her expression stayed clouded.
Maybe something happened to set her off? She and Ryuona had very different personalities, so it was possible that they clashed.
Next I turned to Tifaleeza, who looked like she wanted to report something.
“Some prospective immigrants arrived with letters of recommendation from you, Lord Kuro. We sent them to the in-development villages with top priority. Most of the completed villages are nearly full, so we’ve temporarily suspended applications for migration.”
“Since some of the applicants were craftsmen, we offered them jobs at the Echigoya Company. Those who missed out on the migration to the new villages are currently living in Echigoya Company tenement houses, making ends meet as day laborers.”
“Are there still a lot of applicants?”
“Yes, because the conditions are too—I mean, very generous. We may need to begin choosing by lottery.”
That sounds like a lot…
Maybe I should accelerate the plan for sending immigrants to Muno County.
For now, we had better make ten or so more villages.
“The mining villages have also begun to operate in earnest. We’ve been selling precious metals to the kingdom and metals like iron and lead to the commerce guilds, all at market price. We also keep a certain amount in stock at our company, so please let us know if you need any.”
I looked over the ledgers Tifaleeza handed me, satisfied that things seemed to be going well.
“Lord Kuro, we used some surplus assets to purchase empty lots and property in the royal capital and nearby cities. We’re thinking of extensively recruiting people to work at all of these locations.”
I approved the request to expand the size of the company staff, on the condition that confidential matters at the headquarters be kept only among those who were already executives here.
“I’ve also called in some of our best people for the expansion of our defense department, including Sumina from Labyrinth City.”
The big-sisterly Sumina was the head of the labyrinth exploration division of the Echigoya Company’s Celivera location, though now she was evidently being called back to the headquarters in the royal capital. Her apprentice and second-in-command was taking over the labyrinth division. I probably should have given them access to the areas I developed for Karina’s and Nana’s sisters to train in.
“We also established a clothing division of the company in order to use up excess thread and fabric produced by the textile division. Is it all right if we temporarily hire some of the seamstresses we’ve been subcontracting?”
“Of course. If they’re good workers, you can officially hire them, too. I’ll leave the decision up to you.”
“The airship division has begun rolling out the small MK I airships. Professor Jahado is continuing to refine the skypower engine schematics; we’ve prepared a hull for use in his work.”
She added that the professor and his assistant, young Aoi, were working through the night on their experiments.
Recently, he’d also begun roping in the magic tool craftsmen, shipbuilders, and other artisans we’d hired at the company, all in the name of further improvements to our airships. Since I was interested in seeing how their work would play out, I gave permission for them to use more resources and assets if needed.
“Lord Kuro, the alchemy division would also like to expand by hiring Ann and some of the others from our branch locations—”
“The engraving division needs to hire more employees as well! Please, Lord Kuro!”
“Our research and development division has finally reached the point where we are collecting ideas that could be sold as products. If possible, we hope to test sales here at the main branch and move into mass production.”
The heads of various departments began clamoring with reports and requests for permission.
I gave the OK to almost all their requests, with only the occasional suggestion to guide them in the right direction.
If anything went south, I was confident Manager Eluterina or Secretary Tifaleeza would put a stop to it for me.
Once I finished my work at the Echigoya Company, I paid a visit to the night owl Hikaru and joined her for a late-night drink in the royal capital manor, where she caught me up on the status of the boarding students who were staying with her from the Labyrinth City orphanage.
Even the kids who had tried to be the picture of politeness at first were now so attached to Hikaru that they called her “Hika,” and Hikaru herself was also smiling much more happily than before. I guess I made the right call in asking her to be the dorm mother to the visiting students.
Hikaru gave me the latest news from the royal capital, too.
Torriel, who’d started the rebellion in Vistall Duchy, had been disinherited and was living under house arrest in the countryside. As payment for his crimes, he’d been charged a hefty war expenditure to pay to Duke Vistall, as well as having several of his rights transferred to the kingdom.
Former Shiga Eight member Sir Gouen would be departing to the Azure Lands with the criminal slave unit Violet in the middle of the following month.
The Shiga Eight had also decided on two new members: the Scarlet Nobleman Baronet Jelil and “Windblade” Bauen Ganriu. Evidently, the eighth and final seat was staying empty, not going to Sir “Whitelance” Kerun as I’d expected. The next selection wouldn’t be for another year.
When I told Hikaru about the demon lord in Parion Province, she wanted to come help as well, but I talked her out of it by promising to contact her for aid if Hayato couldn’t handle it. Then I gave her a few of the potions I’d made that night, retrieved Pippin from the Echigoya Company, and returned to Parion Province.
“Plum porridge is just the thing for when you’re getting over an illness.”
Hayato was heartily digging into a large porcelain bowl full of rice porridge made with dried plums.
The day before, I’d asked on my way out if there was anything he might want for breakfast; his response was either white rice or porridge, which Lulu and I made for him.
I was confident that it was a top-tier porridge, as I’d already taste-tested it with my crew to ensure that it had the perfect texture and salt level.
Mia loved it, of course, and even the carnivorous Tama and Pochi gave it high marks.
“Palif bean paste and yogurt are fine and all, but as a Japanese person, I’ve just gotta eat rice, y’know?”
Clearly Hayato was a big rice fan.
I’m sure he was starving for a taste of his homeland; it had been years since he was summoned to the Saga Empire.
“I made rice and salt-grilled mackerel, too. Would you like some?”
“Hell yeah, I would!”
Hayato handed the now-empty bowl to a maid and took the tray I offered him, looking delighted as he cracked a raw egg into the rice in traditional Japanese fashion, then added soy sauce. This elicited strange expressions from some of the audience, like the maids and Princess Mariest, although they refrained from commenting.
He was excited to put soy sauce on the seaweed I provided, too. It was a hidden specialty of Ganika Marquisate that I acquired from Baron Jeetbert before I left the royal capital. I would have to thank him next time we met.
For a while, the only sounds in the room were the clacking of chopsticks and groans of “Mmm!” from Hayato the Hero.
“Thanks for the meal.”
Hayato pressed his hands together in appreciation, looking satisfied.
All that was left on the mackerel plate were white fish bones, thoroughly picked clean. He’d eaten every last bit of the skin, and even the grated daikon radish. I was glad he seemed to enjoy it so much.
Incidentally, I hadn’t seen any signs of someone plotting to poison him yet; maybe the Saga Empire people were on top of it. Even if I was just being paranoid, I still assigned Pippin to keep an eye on things from the shadows, figuring it was better to be safe than sorry.
“Anytime. I’m glad you liked it.”
With that, I handed Hayato the houjicha, or roasted green tea, that Lulu had prepared.
Once the hero had drunk his tea and taken a short rest, we talked about our next steps.
“I’d like you to come to the meeting we have this afternoon, Satou.”
“A…meeting?”
“Yeah, you heard me. The Dens of Evil are a huge network. Even with help from Ryukken and the rest of the Saga Empire scouting party, we can’t find the demon lord on our own. So we’re also getting help from some Parion Province soldiers and intelligence agents.”
He explained that this meeting was to work out the details of all that.
“Mari and Lilo will do most of the negotiating—all you need to do is listen in.”
I was surprised to learn that Miss Ringrande wouldn’t be participating in the negotiations.
When I asked why, he laughed and said that “Rin has no patience for idiots.” She would probably end up picking fights with some stubborn person or other.
“Hayato, it’s perfectly fine to leave the negotiations to us, just do try not to sleep during the meeting this time.”
“I make no promises.”
“Really! If you fall asleep, you’re going without rice for a week.”
“C-c’mon, anything but that. No coffee is one thing, but I can’t function if I don’t eat rice at least once a day…”
Hayato wilted under Princess Mariest’s threatening glare and promised not to fall asleep during the meeting.
I couldn’t blame him, though. It’s hard not to get sleepy during an unproductive meeting.
“…and as I said, the most we in the third priest corps can offer is two small squadrons.”
“What?! The priests’ district is a perfectly safe area! We have our hands full of troublemakers in the artisans’ district, yet we are providing four squadrons. Shame on you!”
“If we only need keep watch that the demon lord does not emerge, could we not simply hire watchmen from the nearby villages?”
“You fool. If Sandstorm Soldiers come out of the Dens of Evil, ordinary villagers won’t stand a chance!”
“Better to sacrifice a few villagers than to lose any priest soldiers, no?”
“How could you say such a thing?!”
Without the ability to settle things via phone or e-mail beforehand, meetings in this world were a mess of increasingly heated arguments that kept straying further from the main issues.
Incidentally, the priest soldiers offering assistance were primarily to keep watch on the countless entrances to the Dens of Evil.
“Enough of this nonsense!”
Clad in gaudy armor, the head of the Temple Knights slammed his hands on the table and stood.
He was a handsome macho man, and like the other Temple Knights that protected our caravan from the Sandstorm Soldiers before, he had a high level and a great deal of skills.
“The number of squadrons each group contributes will remain the same as we discussed before. I already have His Grace’s signature. Any further objections should be submitted to the cathedral’s head priest.”
Under his intense glare, the captains of the priest soldier squadrons straightened up in their chairs and turned pale.
“Now then, hero.”
The captain of the Temple Knights turned his harsh gaze on Hayato next.
“We of Parion Province are offering some one thousand soldiers to aid your cause, to say nothing of the countless provisions given us by our loyal followers. Despite demanding so much already, you would ask us to assist in smoking out vermin and keeping watch like scarecrows?”
“Your Excellency Mohkiris, if I may—”
When Secretary Lilo attempted to speak, the Temple Knights’ captain shouted her down.
“I did not ask the opinion of a mere servant! I am speaking to the hero!”
Princess Mariest moved to stand up and intervene on her behalf, but Hayato held out a hand to stop her, standing himself instead.
“That’s right. We’re the ones who Goddess Parion entrusted with the mission to defeat the demon lord. I’m grateful for all of you helping us out, but there’s no need for you to sacrifice your men for no good—”
“Are you mocking us?! We do not fear any demon lord!”
The captain of the Temple Knights was practically frothing with rage.
“The Holy Woman has bestowed us Temple Knights with Goddess Parion’s protection. Defeating a demon lord would be child’s play for us!”
Holy Woman?
That keyword caught my attention.
Having heard enough of the insult-slinging, I turned my attention to my map search and discovered one person with the “Holy Woman” title in the Holy City of Parion: an elderly priestess.
The phrase “Holy Woman” always brought to mind a beautiful young girl like Sara of the Tenion Temple, but in this world it seemed like the title usually belonged to an old lady like the head priestess of Tenion Temple. Still, I supposed she was certainly deserving of the title.
“Hmph. Rich words from a paper dragon who knows little more than play-fencing.”
As I turned my attention back to the meeting, the black knight made an unnecessary comment that stoked the flames of the knights’ captain’s rage just when he finally seemed to be calming down.
“A bumpkin knight who only wears rustproof black armor has no right to talk!”
“This blacksteel armor is crafted with cutting-edge technology of the Saga Empire! How dare you compare it to ordinary rustproof iron?!”
The black knight was just as quick to take the bait. Clearly, this guy had a short temper.
Incidentally, while I didn’t really understand what they were talking about at the time, Miss Ringrande explained to me later that impoverished knights who couldn’t properly maintain their iron armor coated it with a black rustproofing substance.
The “blacksteel” the black knight referred to was a recently developed alloy, a special steel alchemized with rare adamantite. Supposedly, it was even tougher than the mithril alloys that were more widely available.
“That’s quite enough, both of you. His Grace Cardinal Dobbunaf has deigned to join us.”
The cardinal and a bishop arrived and primly took their seats.
At some point, the sage had arrived and taken a seat, too. Once again, he wore a black hood that hid his face from view. Although I’d guessed from the wrinkles around his mouth that he might be an older man, my AR display indicated that he wasn’t as old as I thought. Maybe the wrinkles were a characteristic of his race, which was apparently “monkeyfolk.”
He had an impressive skill list, largely combat-oriented: the rare Shadow Magic, all four basic elemental magic skills, Practical Magic support skills like “Chant Shortening” and “Meditation,” and even physical skills like “Stickfighting” and “Evasion.” Overall, his skill composition was that of a mage or magic soldier, albeit with more skills than average.
His titles included “Sage,” of course, as well as “Adviser to the Pontiff,” “Seeker of the Truth,” and others befitting his role. As far as I could tell from my AR display, he didn’t seem to be a member of the demon lord–worshipping cult Light of Freedom.
If there’s time after the meeting, I should try asking him about Raito’s father.
“Secretary, summarize the proceedings thus far to His Grace and myself,” the bishop ordered pompously.
This was Bishop Shippunas, who I suspected of being a member of Light of Freedom.
I had better be mindful of his words and actions.
“The secretary has briefed us on the circumstances. Hero, Parion Province wishes you to allow six elite members of our Temple Knights to participate in the defeat of the demon lord.”
“Cardinal, sending the province’s most valuable defenders to die in vain would be—”
“Not in vain, my boy. It is our province’s highest directive to fight demon lords and protect world peace.” The cardinal interrupted Hayato. “A demon lord has appeared in the land named for the great Goddess Parion. For our holy Temple Knights to refrain from participating would be a discredit to our honor.”
Okay, I see what the cardinal’s saying, but he’s not the one whose life is going to be on the line.
“But—”
“Not one of our Temple Knights would value his own life above the province’s good name. Much less turn tail from the crusade against the demon lord.”
This time it was the Temple Knights’ captain who interrupted the hero’s protests.
While he himself was free to volunteer, I didn’t like the idea that some of his Temple Knights might be pressured into participating in the dangerous battle.
“Our best knight, Sir Mezzalt, has been honored with the Holy Sword Blutgang. Surely he will not hold you back, Sir Hero.”
The cardinal shot a haughty look at Hayato.
“Your Grace, I do believe that our great sage makes an excellent point. Should we not at least leave the Holy Sword wielder Sir Mezzalt to protect the pontiff?”
The bishop’s seemingly moderate suggestion sounded off to me when I considered that he might be a member of the demon lord–worshipping cult.
Was protecting the pontiff just an excuse to keep the Holy Sword user, who seemed next most likely to be effective against the demon lord after the hero, from joining the fray?
“Don’t be foolish. A Holy Sword wielder ought to be on the front lines against the demon lord. Why, if we were to leave anyone behind, it would make more sense for Captain Mohkiris here to stay with the pontiff, as he excels at defense and protection.”
“Your Grace…”
A vein twitched in the Temple Knights’ captain’s forehead at the cardinal’s words.
“Yes, I know. We would never be so moronic as to leave you behind. If we are to fight, we ought to bring all our might to the battlefield at once. Surely you realize that divvying up our forces into small waves would produce far more casualties, do you not, Sir Hero?”
The cardinal appeared to be both a religious leader and a strategist.
“I will say it again. Parion Province wishes to send six of our Temple Knights into the battle against the demon lord.”
With that, the cardinal glared at the hero.
Princess Mariest whispered something in his ear, and Hayato nodded gravely.
“All right. We accept.”
“Excellent. Then we shall arrange for the healing priests you requested to be sent out to the joint bases along with guards of their own.”
The cardinal smirked in satisfaction.
As he sat down, my “Lip Reading” skill told me that he mouthed to himself, “This will be perfect to get the opposing faction off our backs.”
Using a situation like this to his faction’s advantage seemed more like the move of a politician than a holy man.
The bishop, on the other hand, looked displeased. Noticing my gaze, he cleared his throat deliberately and put on a more neutral expression.
The Parion Province side seemed to be divided into two factions: the cardinal’s, which wanted more prestige for Parion Province, and the sage’s, which wanted to keep the holy city and the pontiff protected. The Temple Knight seemed to belong to the former, while Bishop Shippunas belonged to the latter, try as he might to appear neutral. Even the hero side was split into two factions: Hayato’s and the black knight’s.
I know it’s human nature to divide into cliques, but I wish we could at least all be on the same side when there’s a common enemy—especially when it’s a demon lord.
The meeting carried on while I was lost in thought.
“Sir Hero, I am told that the Saga Empire’s scouting party suffered serious losses in the last investigation. Will you not need additional support on that front?”
“Absolutely not! My men don’t need any help!”
The black knight jumped in to answer the sage’s question.
“Allow me to respond on behalf of the hero. If we investigate the Den of Evil caverns one by one, our group can function without any issues.”
“One by one? Unless you luck out and find the demon lord in the very first cavern, there’s no telling how long that might take!”
“Exactly! How long do you want our troops to stand around outside the entrances?!”
The temple soldiers’ side spoke up indignantly at secretary Lilo’s explanation.
“Then allow Parion Province to provide a survey team as well. The Temple Knights can easily protect them from any monsters that might appear during the investigation.”
“Hmph. Says the would-be swordsman.”
“Be quiet, you rustproofed old knight!”
The black knight and the Temple Knights’ captain started bickering again.
Even the sage and Mariest couldn’t get them to settle down. In the end, it was outraged shrieking from the cardinal that put a stop not just to their arguing but to the entire meeting.
Under the circumstances, I couldn’t exactly pull the sage aside for unrelated business. I decided to wait for my next chance instead.
Eventually, Lilo the secretary was sent running around to coordinate and fine-tune the plans, until finally it was decided that two more scouting parties would be formed, made up of the cardinal’s recommended scouting squad, the sage’s “gofers” (who were really his spies), and some explorers who investigated the caves for a living.
When I wondered aloud why they didn’t just entrust it all to Lilo in the first place, Ringrande said that it would take too long to get things in order that way.
The plan that everyone ultimately settled on was something like the following:
1. Place temple soldiers at all the Den of Evil entrances to keep watch.
2. Send search parties into three of the five largest, most likely Den of Evil sites.
3. The hero’s party re-explores the areas where they previously saw the demon lord.
4. Once the demon lord is found, notify the hero, black knight, and Temple Knights’ captain, who will work together to defeat him.
“Satou, you and your party will come with us. If you think you can handle it on your own, we can split the Den of Evil areas and search that way.”
I nodded at Princess Mariest’s words.
“And if you do find the demon lord, don’t try to fight him without us.”
“Ha-ha, you know I wouldn’t do anything so reckless.”
I laughed off Miss Ringrande’s joke.
“If only everyone could be as humble as you, Satou…”
“I bet anything Ryukken would try to take it on himself.”
“That Temple Knights’ captain seemed risky, too.”
Weeyari the archer, Rusus, and the others all shook their heads.
“People like that couldn’t care less about their subordinates’ lives if there’s something in it for them, ya know?”
“Surely they’d at least report the sighting first.”
“Yes, let’s hope so. We’ll have to be ready to summon the Jules Verne and come running at a moment’s notice in case we receive a report.” The priestess Loleiya smiled darkly. “I want to be sure to rescue those idiots’ subordinates, although the idiots themselves can die for all I care.”
While I wasn’t exactly sure how strong this demon lord was, he had to be stronger than a greater demon or a lesser dragon. If a group tried to take him on without a hero, they might very well have been wiped out completely.
My best bet was to check out the Den of Evil areas those groups were exploring ahead of time to see if the demon lord was there so that I could come running as Nanashi the Hero, if it came to that.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login