Book 5: Volume 4 Chapter 6, A Sudden Turn of Events?

Translator: Kazumi

Editor: Silavin

 

“Hmm. What lovely weather. Perfect for gathering.”

 

*Koon?*

 

Nana tilted her head slightly at the murmured words, apparently more interested in the hand stroking her neck than in their meaning. Beside them, Kouhi scanned their surroundings in silence.

 

The three of them, two people and one animal, were resting in a grassland west of the Smith Kingdom’s capital, taking a break after a morning of herb gathering. When it came to finding medicinal plants, Nana’s presence made the work almost effortless.

 

Give her a sample of what to look for, and she could locate it by scent alone. She alone could cover ground that would take any ordinary gathering party hours.

 

Anyone who did not know Nana’s true nature and happened to learn she was being used for something so mundane would likely have been baffled. She, a Divine Beast, acting as a tracking dog for herbs.

 

However, Nana, trotting happily at Kousuke’s side and now enjoying the gentle petting without any apparent objection, looked like any very well-behaved dog. It was difficult to imagine anyone looking at her and seeing her anything more than that.

 

They had finished gathering everything on the western side of town well before midday. There was no particular reason to move on to another direction today. The Prince’s request covered all four cardinal points around the capital, each direction holding some portion of the needed materials.

 

Also, one direction per day puts them on pace to finish comfortably before the deadline, with time left over.

 

Normal adventurers might spend two or three days combing this area. Kousuke and his group had cleared it in half a morning.

 

He lay back and let the breeze move over him.

 

“I wonder if Mitsuki and Peach are alright?”

 

“They should be fine.” Kouhi’s reply was unhurried. “It’s only reconnaissance. And even if something goes sideways, Mitsuki is there.”

 

Kouhi didn’t often join conversations when others were around, but with just the two of them, he spoke freely enough.

 

“Well, that’s true,” Kousuke agreed, looking up at the sky.

 

Neither of them was genuinely worried. They were simply talking. Peach was more than capable of handling herself, and Mitsuki’s judgment was sound. If something reached a point she considered truly dangerous, they would hear about it. In fact, the thought of Mitsuki deeming a situation impossibly difficult was itself hard to picture.

 

The silence stretched, comfortable and unhurried.

 

“By the way, how long are you planning to stay out here?”

 

“Hmm.” Kousuke considered it without much urgency. “We could head back to town, but there’s nothing waiting for us there.”

 

Once the collected materials were submitted to the Crown office, their time was entirely theirs to use. They could browse the stalls, or sit in an inn. Staying here was not meaningfully different. In the end, they spent the rest of the day just like that, resting in the grassland until dusk began to settle over the hills.

 

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The man frowned at the report.

 

“…What?”

 

The messenger repeated himself, voice steady.

 

“One of our bases in the capital has been destroyed. The building itself is gone, casualties are heavy, and rebuilding will take time.”

 

“Surely losing one base isn’t that much of a problem,” the man said slowly. There were several bases prepared in the capital. As long as the people were safe, reconstruction could begin quickly. Even with heavy losses, a single location didn’t hold that many defenders. Reinforcements sent from elsewhere could fill the gap without much difficulty.

 

That were his thoughts but the messenger shook his head.

 

“Only one building was destroyed. But the casualties account for over ninety percent of all members currently present in the capital. If we intend to continue the plan there, we will need reinforcements from the surrounding areas. Above all, the senior members have been completely eliminated. Personnel of equivalent rank will need to be transferred in.”

 

The man stared at him.

 

“What… what are you talking about? That’s impossible.”

 

“Unfortunately, it’s true. The capital is, for all practical purposes, gone.”

 

“W-What?! How?! What happened?!”

 

Until now, things had moved almost too smoothly. Dark guilds that resisted had been crushed one after another, overwhelmed by superior combat strength and resources. More recently, organizations that heard what was happening had simply surrendered without testing him. The capital had been within reach. The final step before the plan could proceed without obstacle.

 

And now that step had collapsed entirely.

 

The man sat with it for a moment, visibly shaken. Then, with effort, he steadied himself.

 

“What happened? Tell me. Which dark guild attacked them?”

 

“…We don’t have those details yet.”

 

A soft click of his tongue. “*Tch.* And the informants?”

 

“Every informant we’ve approached is demanding more than we’re willing to pay. We can’t obtain what we need at those rates.”

 

Informants were, in essence, merchants with deep knowledge. They would tell a person anything, for the right price of course.

 

This organization had absorbed dark guilds one after another without touching the informant networks. Their value lay precisely in their independence; interfere with one, and access to all of them would quietly close off. Even bringing a few into the fold forcibly would be counterproductive.

 

The networks were interconnected, and without access to the broader web, an informant’s usefulness dissolved. That was why, when the plan was being formulated, any direct involvement with informants had been strictly forbidden.

 

Even in the underworld, certain things were understood.

 

“…If I pay what they’re asking for, I’ll get the information I want?”

 

“The accuracy is uncertain, but it would be better than what we have now.”

 

The man weighed it briefly. Losing money was unpleasant, but at this moment, information mattered more than anything else. He could not address what he did not understand. And the plan itself was still ahead of schedule. A setback here, if handled correctly, would not be fatal.

 

As it turned out, he did not have to pay.

 

The door was thrown open with a force that made everyone in the room look up. One of his subordinates rushed in, visibly flustered, and the man was halfway through forming a rebuke when the subordinate spoke.

 

“B-Boss! Something’s happened! Our base on Mount Gabont has been taken!”

 

“W-What!?”

 

Mount Gabont itself was unremarkable. It was just an ordinary mountain. But for this organization, it served a critical function: a base for disrupting the wagon routes through the pass. It had been managed carefully for years, kept beneath official notice while generating a quiet, steady stream of funding.

 

“Which order did it!?”

 

“N-No, Boss. It wasn’t some knight order! It was adventurers! Just about ten of them!”

 

The man’s thoughts froze.