084. Speed is the Most Important Thing in War
A few days later.
Once again, we went to the hidden village in the "Great Sea of Trees" again and explained to Roselia and the other Elders what happened at Hanaria, and as expected, they seemed to be at a loss for words.
「I-I never expected such a thing to happen.」
Muttered Roselia, with a blue face.
「But what was even more difficult was the fact that the situation, which was already a mess, had just gotten worse.」
Just as we were groping our way forward, phenomena such as "Hanaria Castle exploded and caught fire" and "people who touched the mysterious ashes were petrified" were added to the list.
「The important thing is, is it an 'incident' or an 'accident'? We'd have to check it, though」
「Returning to Hanaria under these circumstances is a risky move in many ways」
Osada-kun expressed his opinion, but that doesn't mean we can leave it at that.
「Also, even though the situation has developed so unexpectedly, we cannot forget that we have to deal with the events that have happened so far at the same time」
The ever-increasing presence of demonic beasts.
The Evil Groups.
The upper echelons of Hanaria.
And, finally― the movements of some people who have disappeared.
(Led by the old man Iru, Guriguri, and a dark elf called "Leige" or something like that. Maybe Nora's old man――Gail might be included and above all)
「――Sis. I wonder where she is now and what she's doing.」
Barbara whisperingly expresses her anxiety.
Where on earth should we start and how should we get there? My brain was boiling, but...
(You're trying to get a "perfect score" for every situation――)
Without warning, the old man's words came back to me.
(...... tsk. That old man. You don't mean to tell me you've been reading all this, do you?)
Right. I could lose everything while I'm thinking about it.
(What do I personally want to do right now, before Hanaria or anything else?)
Before I know it, I'm involved in the case and trying to walk the path to a solution. ...... Is that really what I want to do?
The answer is――No.
I take one deep breath and then...
「Philly. It's about the request I received from you. It's going to be difficult to accomplish now that it's happened. There's a chance the King died in that explosion.」`
「Eh!? T-that's――」
「Of course, I haven't checked, so he may be still alive somewhere――so I'm going to cancel the request and request a new contract with renewed terms and conditions.」
When I said this, it was Roselia who responded.
「You, what are you thinking?」
「Nothing. The reason I came back here in the first place was to secure a "base" for solving a series of cases.」
Until now, I had been staying at Nora's store in Hanaria, but it was not a "base," and there were still many inconveniences and uncertainties to begin with.
「The reason why I had Nora pack her bags was because we were planning to use this village as our base of operations. The place is "warded" and no outsider can enter――if they find us, the people who hate humans will make a fuss.」
Above all, many of them have more "Force" than the human race, so even if there were to be a conflict, they would not fall behind. They would even be prepared to flee.
「Hence, Philly. The content of the new contract is, 'In exchange for cooperating with me until the series of incidents are settled to some extent, you guys should also support me in my actions and so on"」
「Is that - in essence - a 'mutual assistance agreement'?」
「That's right. Therefore, each party has its own advantages and disadvantages, so there are no particular rewards. Details are discussed on a case-by-case basis, and if you say it's not possible or not worth it, you can refuse. I'll do the same.」
「Well, it's not that we're at a disadvantage, so it's fine, but can you be more specific?」
「First of all, as I said, give Nora a workshop. She's a good blacksmith and half-dwarf. I'm sure she's more trustworthy than me, a human, and if there's anyone who can lend a hand, put them on support.」
「What-What do I do after that?」
Nora said, but...
「Sorry, but you're making my set of equipment, not just armor, a top priority. Please do it as soon as possible. Until then, I'll use the ones in the store as substitutes, but you don't mind right?」
I borrowed a sword that was displayed in the store before I came here, but it was not enough. But...
「――Sorry, Yuuto, I forgot to tell you that when Grieve-san came to visit us before, she left a set of swords behind when she left, saying, "It's Yuuto's personal belongings"」
「Oh, sorry! I completely forgot!」
Osada-kun, who apparently had been keeping them, spit out my halberd, armor, etc.
I saw that and inwardly thought, "――I wish you'd remembered that a little earlier," but as I thought, the halberd I had custom-made for myself and my favorite armor were comfortable to wear.
「Then, the next one is ...... Lilyza. I'm sorry to say that we just arrived in the village, but I need you to use this as a base to exterminate the monsters that appear in the neighborhood and raise your level to 20 in the next 7 to 10 days. From my current point of view, it is time for Lilyza to grow up to the next level, and I believe she has the potential to do so. Honestly, I can't trust you with my back as you are now. Especially if you are in a state of mind where you are misled by other people's words and are distracted by your own sorrows.」
「――!」
Lilyza bit her lip in frustration.
「But you never know after a few days. Though I don't know what Lilyza herself thinks, you're a genius and you must be 'affected by my abilities'. Above all――I believe in you. Can you do it?」
I said, and Lilyza looked me in the eye and nodded her head.
「And Barbara, while supporting Lilyza, I want you to do something about the 'bad feelings toward the human race' that the people in the village have. As it stands now, if they cause internal discord, it will only benefit the enemy.」
It should not be impossible for a mid-level Felician healer to do so, since she has aspirations to become an idol.
Besides, we are in danger of being "stuck" if we don't build a good relationship with those in the village, even later on.
I don't consider them "ordinary people" or "mobs," and it would be impossible to solve the case without the cooperation of many.
「So, Philly, I need you to review the clues left by the old man. You're the only one I can ask to do this.」
「All right, but what is Yuuto going to do?」
「I'm going with Osada-kun to Aegir, a defense base east of Bele. I've given it a lot of thought, but our first priority is to rescue Jean」
I've thought about it a lot, but whether it was a trap or not, we're not going to get anywhere until we start.
「――To be honest, I had a lot of anxiety before I came here.」
Though it seems that I had begun to overthink things without even realizing it.
(I'm not very smart, you know. Besides...)
For a brief moment, I look at Barbara.
(I want to rescue Jean quickly and eat Barbara deliciously――if it works out, a "threesome" including Jean would not be a dream♪)
I want to have sex with Barbara as soon as possible――I don't care what happens to Hanaria as long as it comes true.
「In the meantime, let's regroup in about 10 days. It's probably going to be the heaviest routine ever, but ...... for myself. And for all of us, let's do our best!」
When I said this with a smile on my face, my friends who were present raised their voices, "Oohhh~!"
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