Book 5: Volume 4 Chapter 15, Results Report

Translator: Kazumi

Editor: Silavin

 

It was on Kouhi’s instruction that Nana was given the task of following the instigator.

 

Kousuke, having returned to Smit through a different gate than Haino’s, worked with the adventurers inside the branch to see whether they could identify who among the crowd had been steering it. Thanks largely to Haino’s efforts during the commotion itself, they had managed to piece it together before the gathering dispersed.

 

Kouhi’s eye for such things, of course, made the confirmation easier.

 

After that, Nana followed one of the identified instigators.

 

There was something almost perfectly suited to the task about her. Wearing a collar, moving at the unhurried pace of a dog out for an afternoon wander, she drew no more attention than any of the other animals drifting through the city streets. Pets in Smith were common. Dogs and cats that belonged to no one in particular, or to someone somewhere, moving through the city on their own most of the time. Thus, no one spared Nana a second glance.

 

If suspicion had risen anyway, she had options. Her size was not fixed.

 

She located the base without incident.

 

Kousuke considered the information in his hands and thought carefully about where it should go.

 

Crown was the obvious answer. But there were also direct channels to the Royal Family, and the shadows. Each came with its own implications.

 

Bringing the information directly to the Royal Family felt wrong. Kousuke was aware of how he was perceived. How a Living God showing up with intelligence about dark guild activity would feel pressuring. That was not a dynamic he wanted to create.

 

[The shadows, then.]

 

Once the shadows had the information, the Royal Family would receive it through them. What they chose to do with it after that was a matter for the kingdom, not for him. The same applied to the broader question of the gate fees. That was an international concern, something that would need to be resolved between those with the authority and the responsibility to resolve it.

 

Besides, the area where the base was located made the choice easier to feel settled. It was the kind of place that certain people frequented, people who operated in the parts of the world that didn’t officially exist. It was definitely connected to a dark guild. He had confirmed the location, made certain of what he was looking at, and then stepped back.

 

Some places were such that one did not go inside uninvited.

 

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After relaying the information to the leader of the Smith Kingdom shadows, Kousuke went directly to the branch office.

 

He operated outwardly as an ordinary adventurer, and he wasn’t certain Haino would see him immediately. But it seemed Haino had made arrangements, because the moment Kousuke gave his name at the reception desk, he was guided to the back without pause.

 

“It’s good to see you.” Haino received him with a warmth that bordered on relief.

 

They hadn’t actually met before the meeting at headquarters but the fact that Gazeran regarded Kousuke as he did said enough. Haino had thought carefully about what kind of person walked that closely alongside the department head.

 

People who rose to branch chief tended to notice these things.

 

“Is there something I can help you with?”

 

Kousuke said it with a slight tilt of the head. The way Haino had received him suggested he had been expecting the visit but the tailing of the instigator had been something Nana and Kousuke had done on their own. Haino could not have known.

 

“I realized, when we parted so quickly at headquarters, that I never had the chance to thank you properly.” Haino paused. “I wanted to do that now.”

 

Something in Kousuke’s expression settled.

 

“It’s nothing. I happened to be near the branch when the trouble started. Finding the instigator after that seemed like the best thing to do.”

 

“I understand you were also in the process of handling a request from the Royal Family.”

 

The Crown Prince’s request had been routed through the branch, which meant it was, formally speaking, a properly received commission. Haino had evidently looked into it before this meeting.

 

Kousuke understood that and didn’t take issue with it. The investigation made sense. And a request from the Royal Family, passing through Crown’s formal channels, carried its own weight.

 

He nodded once, then explained what he and Nana had found.

 

Haino listened in silence. When Kousuke finished, the branch chief’s expression had settled into something between thoughtfulness and quiet concern.

 

Even if those followed were the instigators, that was not enough evidence to make a move. The commotion was over. The gathering had dispersed peacefully. The Knights had never needed to appear. To put it plainly, Crown had no grounds to act.

 

Acting on Kousuke’s words without something more concrete would only create vulnerabilities of a different kind.

 

Before Haino could begin to articulate this, Kousuke raised his hand slightly.

 

“I’m not asking Crown to do anything with this. Honestly, I think it’s better if they don’t.” He paused. “I simply wanted you to know what happened.”

 

Haino was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded.

 

He understood. There was no evidence to bring to the Knights. Better to hold the information, stay watchful, and wait for something solid. If the dark guild made another move, or if their intent became something more direct, there would be a time to act. Now was not that time.

 

He thanked Kousuke for what had been shared, and the meeting came to a close.

 

In the days that followed, things returned to quiet. No further incidents came. The turmoil that had briefly disturbed the branch’s routines became something people mentioned less and less, and then stopped mentioning altogether.

 

The motives of the dark guild remained unresolved, tucked somewhere beneath the surface.

 

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The report reached the dark guild’s leader, and he exhaled.

 

“So both are safe.”

 

“Yes. It seems they’d heard about what happened in the capital and in Gabont, and moved quickly.”

 

The Ichii and Nilni bases had been important. Everyone managing them knew it, and the defenses had been reinforced accordingly. Whether that was the reason or simply coincidence, the kingdom’s shadows hadn’t struck yet, who knew.

 

But that base had indeed fallen, and the leader found he couldn’t stop turning that over in his mind.

 

An organization capable of destroying it without warning, was not an organization that simply stopped.

 

“Are there any unusual movements among the affiliated guilds? Anything?”

 

His subordinates exchanged uncertain looks.

 

“Nothing, boss. We’d know immediately if something were happening.”

 

“Yes. Yes, of course.”

 

He watched them nod and tried to let that be enough.

 

It wasn’t, quite.

 

The shadows had existed for a long time. They practically existed as long as the kingdom itself. In the world that operated beneath the visible one, debts accumulated in strange ways. Loyalties that looked reliable sometimes weren’t. It was the kind of thing that was impossible to fully account for.

 

“All the same,” he said, after a moment. “Do background checks on the affiliated organizations. Quietly. Nothing that would signal our intentions.”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

Some of them moved quickly, almost too quickly.

 

He watched them go and found himself sitting with the unease that had been growing since the moment the first report had reached him. It didn’t diminish. If anything, the activity of his subordinates made the room feel quieter around him than it had before.