“Still no contact with Gheni?”
“Yes, Brother Blat. The ships we sent onto the lake haven’t returned either. As for the land route, it will still be several more days before the scouting party arrives.”
Those gathered around the round table in Holy Capital Staritsa were deep in discussion under a heavy atmosphere.
“We’ve sent scouts running across the southern regions, but eighty percent have not returned. It is hardly likely that all of that was due to accidents. The reasonable conclusion is that the area has been occupied by some kind of force.”
“Mm... Have the scouts who did return brought back any information?”
“...Please look at this.”
A sketch was passed around, drawn based on the testimony and what the scouts had brought back.
“We received multiple accounts that creatures like this were roaming through the villages.”
“This is...”
It was a gigantic creature unlike anything they had ever seen. Since it had multiple legs, it was likely some kind of spider, or perhaps some kind of insect. However, the notes stated that ordinary residents had also been seen walking around normally.
“So the area has been occupied by monsters?”
“If they are monsters, then this is a matter for the Chimiya Family...”
“If the residents haven’t been eaten, then have they been domesticated?”
“I’ve never heard of anyone domesticating monsters...”
The problem, in any case, was that information simply was not coming in.
“These are not ordinary monsters. At the very least, they are acting in an organized manner—hunting scouts and suppressing the cleric-soldiers of Jechi.”
“So there is also the possibility that some outside force invaded?”
“If it’s the south, then did they come from the sea?”
“The fact that we can gather no information at all about what is happening makes this dire...”
The Grand High Priests stationed in the Holy Capital all sat there with their heads in their hands.
Supply convoys from the southern cities had stopped, and at the same time, the flow of people had ceased as well.
Naturally, that meant food and other supplies carried by those convoys were no longer arriving from the south either.
“In the end, don’t we have no choice but to summon the Chimiya?”
“But I do not think the Chimiya will quietly agree to that.”
“If we do nothing, support will be disrupted. That much is certain. Can we not use that as leverage to persuade them?”
“But we already summoned them once on that basis. Won’t they be far more reluctant a second time?”
“The last time concerned the future. This time it is an immediate matter. They cannot ignore it.”
Even now, the Chimiya were still fighting on the front lines before <Demon Forest>. In order to open the path to the Holy Land, they fought day and night in obedience to their faith.
Those in the rear sent vast amounts of supplies every day to support that Chimiya force.
Even if supplies from the south were delayed, there would be no immediate problem. Other regions were also sending shipments.
However, the south was one vast agricultural region that produced a great deal of food.
There were stockpiles, so there would be no problem for a while, but after one year, or two, the impact would become extremely severe.
“In any case, nothing will change unless we speak with them. Brother Blat, can we leave that to you?”
“Yes. I will go there myself.”
“Good. And above all, we need information. Let us send the Holy Knights out as scouts. If it is them, they should bring us back something.”
“Indeed. If they focus on escape, they should ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) not be so easily overtaken. I will arrange that myself.”
“And regardless, we will need to retake those cities. We need forces.”
“We have already sent our reserve forces to the front lines. Would anything more not be difficult?”
“If it is only the priests, there should be no issue even if we gather them. This is only temporary. The ordinary defense is handled by the cleric-soldiers of Jechi, after all.”
“Well... yes, that is true. If it is only for a few months, there should be no real issue. We can make up for it by increasing the number of巡回 priests.”
“Then I will handle notifying each city. Hm, it would probably be faster if I went myself.”
Once their course had been decided, the Grand High Priests moved quickly.
The reason a great nation like the Prava Divine Kingdom could continue operating without disruption was probably this speed of decision-making. Furthermore, when it came to delivering orders to each region, the Grand High Priests carried the word there on their own feet.
It was heavy-handed governance, made possible because it was a nation of magic, but if the country continued to function like this, then it could not be called wrong.
“Then this session of the Roundtable Council is concluded. Brother Blat, all of you, for Prava’s Law-God Bork.”
“““Amen.”””
◇◇◇◇
“...Okay. I get it now. You’ve planted this in our side too, haven’t you?”
“Of course.”
“Don’t say that so openly. But sorry, Amajio. We needed information.”
Inside the Grand Cathedral of the Prava Divine Kingdom, the entire group watched a live relay of the Roundtable Council, and Amajio looked up at the heavens.
“No, well, that’s fine. I personally haven’t done anything shady. If this lets us expose secret meetings, then it benefits me too.”
“Amajio was also under surveillance, but unfortunately there was nothing worth special mention in any report.”
“I told you already, I haven’t done anything shady. Hey, what’s with that command AI over there? That was pretty sarcastic.”
“Come on, <Ringo>, control yourself. Amajio, I’m sorry. She was the one who held out against your joining until the very end.”
“...Well, I can’t say I don’t understand. But I have no intention of harming your side on purpose. We’re going to be together for the long haul, so let’s get along.”
He looked completely caught off guard by the control AI’s reaction, which was so human it bordered on childish. Amajio gave a bitter smile and waved his hand.
“<Ringo>, be reasonable too. ...Now then, the Prava Divine Kingdom seems to have started concentrating its forces just as we expected. Also, we still have too little information on the unit called the Chimiya, so I’m going to increase the number of bots we infiltrate. Judging from the data analysis, they seem to possess considerable combat power.”
“From the sound of it, their ultimate goal is to open the path to the Holy Land. That place is full of monsters... threat organisms. It’s a literal hellscape. It would hardly be strange if their top fighting force were stationed there permanently.”
At Amajio’s words, <Ringo> nodded.
“The Chimiya Family appears to be regarded within the Divine Kingdom as the group most devout in faith. Basically, they seem to have no interest in anything other than opening the path. However, they also appear to understand the importance of support supplies from within the country, so they have agreed to join the invasion force as well.”
“If we handle the talks properly, it looks like we may not need to face them directly. At least, when it comes to them.”
“That’s good news. We still need to wipe them out at the root, but I was starting to think all that magic technology would be lost.”
If they exterminated all of the Prava Divine Kingdom’s cleric-soldiers, there was a risk that all traditions concerning magic would be lost as well. However, even if they took some prisoners for that reason, the risk of leaving trouble behind was too high, so in the end they had decided to proceed toward total extermination.
At the very least, as far as the Chimiya were concerned, they found no value in anything except the original faith of opening the path.
They were a kind of fanatic, but precisely because of that, they seemed to regard everything else as trivial and showed almost no interest in it.
Therefore, they had judged that the Chimiya at least left room for negotiation.
“As for magic itself, we have other leads besides the Prava Divine Kingdom. It looks like that place somehow gathered its cleric-soldiers of Jechi from across the whole country. Honestly, the idea of individuals polishing up magical power just doesn’t appeal to me. If it takes fourteen years before it becomes useful, that’s a bit much.”
“Ah... Yeah. Right. If it can’t be manufactured in about fourteen hours, it won’t do. No, yeah. It definitely won’t do.”
“Fourteen hours is pushing it, but at least one week, maybe. And after that, it would have to be something we can mass-produce too. Only once it reaches that point would I say it meets our standards as usable combat power.”
One-off units were powerful, but their use cases were limited, and the risk was far too high if one were lost even once.
That was why Eve preferred mass-produced models that could be prepared in any number.
If they lacked striking power, they could make up for it with numbers, and if they lost some, they could replenish them. As long as they could recover resources, being able to strengthen their forces endlessly was probably their greatest advantage.
A one-off unit took a long time to manufacture in the first place, and maintenance was difficult as well. The only way to compensate for that was to increase the number of them, but once you did that, the whole thing was no different from a mass-produced model anyway.
“Well, if you had no resources and were in a situation where that was the only thing you could pour your effort into, then I suppose there’d be no helping it.”
“I’m of the same opinion there, so relax. That’s exactly why our country puts its weight behind science and technology.”
