Chapter 94:
Various Happenings
“Hmm…”
Reina had just come from the library, where she had checked out a new book—requiring an exorbitantly high security deposit. The author was none other than Reina’s favorite new up-and-comer, Miami Satodele.
“Apparently, Scavengers and golems are different from other monsters, and they don’t antagonize humanoids… Mile, what d’you think about that?”
“Uh, y-y-yeah! Hmm, I wonder… I mean, based on our most recent encounter, I would have to agree. Honestly, they never did attack us. It’s probably because we approached them in a friendly manner, rather than attacking on sight like most hunters do, but even that would never work with normal monsters,” said Mile, scrambling a bit to give what she thought would be a safe answer to Reina’s sudden inquiry.
“Well, I guess that’s true. Though I also feel like that only worked out because you were there…” Reina continued. Mile gulped. “Still, I guess it’s a bit late to worry about that!”
“I suppose so…” added Pauline.
“Guess so…” Mavis chimed.
“And also…”
“It’s a family secret!” the three of them chorused.
G-gulp!
Mile was sweating. She had already messed up. It was fairly obvious that the golems and Scavengers liked Mile—or at the very least had deemed her to be a friendly entity.
“Still, it might just be because she’s a natural idiot who can pass as non-human. Not sure if I should be jealous or not…” Reina muttered.
“I’ll pass on that, thanks,” Mavis reflexively replied.
“Me too,” Pauline agreed.
“Wha…?”
For a moment, Mile was speechless.
“Wh-wh-what…?”
And then she exploded.
“What the heck, you guuuuuuys?!?!”
***
It was the middle of the night, so late that even the plants were sleeping.
In the midst of the darkness, books were plucked one by one from a library shelf and stacked upon a desk. Someone flipped briskly through all their pages and then returned them to their original places.
There was no sign of any person; it was as though the books themselves were dancing. Yet, on further inspection one might see that there was something like a giant insect that was carrying the books and turning their pages. It captured each and every page within its lenses and recorded what it saw.
The insectoid form, after working at this for some time, then cleaned up all the books as though finished with its duties for the evening, before skittering out through a crack, flapping its wings, and vanishing into the lightening sky.
[******……]
The Scavenger in charge of intelligence analysis ceased what it was doing. One of the insect-type intelligence-gathering machines, sent out to infiltrate a human town and gather information on humans, the most populous of the humanoid races, had returned with information from a certain tome.
This tome appeared to be a book of enlightenment, in the form of fiction—one which asked the question whether they, the Scavengers and golems, which most humanoids thought of as a type of monster, might not be something else entirely, a non-antagonistic force with which coexistence might be possible.
[******……]
Upon taking this information in, the Scavenger issued a command to the machine to prioritize all other tomes penned by this author.
That author’s name was…
***
“Are you telling us we should believe this?”
“No. Our duty is merely to report the facts. Whether those who receive this information believe it is not under our jurisdiction.”
That was true. This was not a trial, so it was not necessary that their audience believed what they had to say. That was up to the higher-ups of the intelligence division—in other words, their bosses—not to the lowest-level investigators. They simply reported, while others would decide what from their reports was accurate and credible, and what might be done with the information gleaned.
“………”
That said, there was no point in even ordering an investigation if they could not trust the report of the investigators they themselves had dispatched. Furthermore, not only did they not have any information that would refute this report, but if they were to believe it, then countless other pieces of inexplicable information they had received would suddenly fall into place and start to make sense.
However…
“It’s all so unbelievable!!!”
The Crimson Vow had made no real efforts to keep their employers, the false merchants, quiet. They were employees of the Crown, who were conducting an investigation on official orders. It was their duty to their kingdom to report all information they had obtained, and their doing so would be taken as proof of their loyalty. This was not something that a group of hired hunters had any business interfering in.
However, the individual abilities of the hunters in question, who had nothing to do with the investigation, was not covered in the scope of what they were required to report. Indeed, exposing personal information about a contracted hunter that had been brought to light in the line of duty was the most taboo of taboos. If it turned out the hunters in question were nobles, or even royals, a certain “reward” might even be in order for those who ignored that rule. This could become a political matter on a guild level, or simply a personal matter for the hunter, but what both of these cases had in common was that the sort of “reward” one might expect for revealing a hunter’s secrets was not of the variety that anyone would ever wish to receive.
Thus, the Crown’s men would be reporting neither Mile’s search magic, nor, obviously, on the Crimson Vow’s account of what had happened underground. Besides, even if they did, it was such an absurd story that no one would ever believe them.
“So, the demi-humans were temporarily stationed in some location for some purpose or other… That makes sense. It turns out what they were after was off the mark, so they withdrew. That also makes sense… But what the heck is with this elder dragon vacation home business?!?!” their superior screamed.
Unbelievable events aside, the report had been made and their plans executed efficiently in terms of budget and personnel. Furthermore, no matter how much money they made, their most valuable resource—the time spent on the mission—could never be recouped. At the end of the day, this had to be called a success.
The superior clutched at his thinning hair, not realizing there was yet more to come. He had no idea of the chaos that awaited them, when reports would come of the mysterious flaming arrows rising from the mountains of the Empire, the halting of much of the imperial military’s actions as their troops and provisions fell into disarray, and the rise of a new military sect that worshipped a holy maiden. This, and many other such perplexing things, were still ahead…
***
“Please, you must be ready to forgive me,” said Princess Morena, bursting into tears.
Indeed, her heart was on the verge of breaking. After being discovered as the primary culprit behind the Wonder Trio’s plans to abscond—though in fact, they were on a special mission from the princess, so it wasn’t really absconding—Morena had been harshly censured by her parents the king and queen; her older and younger brother, who were both smitten with Marcela; and a number of other nobles who had been hoping that Marcela might marry their eldest sons. Additionally, her excursions from the palace had been limited, her allowance cut by fifty percent, and her study hours increased by twenty percent, all while she suffered under the cold gazes of her esteemed elder and darling younger brothers.
And yet, this was not a case where anyone was inclined to be lenient or take extenuating circumstances into account.
Of course, everyone who was aware of the circumstances surrounding the case of Viscountess Ascham desperately wished to see her found. However, they could not go mobilizing troops on foreign soil or launch any overt espionage operation. Furthermore, they had no clue where to even begin looking, so there would be no point in any kind of forceful actions.
Now, what if they were to have access to a group of young girls of the Viscountess’s same age, who had known her for quite some time and picked up on her thought patterns and behaviors? A group of young girls still of tender years, inherently unsuspicious? Moreover, what if they were a group of rookie hunters, who would seem not at all strange to be seen walking across the land?
Indeed, Princess Morena’s judgment was sound. The fact that she had shown the wisdom, the foresight, and the cunning to not only come up with this plan, but to execute it without anyone knowing, put her in higher esteem in the eyes of many. Though they would never say so publicly, they had begun to think of her as Morena the Clever and the Princess of Stratagems.
“Still, this and that are completely different things!”
“What are you going to do if something happens to Marcela?!”
“Big sister, you’re the worst!!”
Once again, Princess Morena found herself in tears in the face of the harsh criticisms of her father and brothers.
Later, alone, she punched at her pillows, crying. “Why haven’t they sent any repoooorts?!?!”
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