Chapter 275 The Situation Escalates
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
After finishing the experiment, we moved from the otherworldly space Snow-san created to the underground passage of the space I made, heading for the mansion.
”…Hey, Neil-sama.”
”Yes? What is it?”
Estesia-san looked serious, so I asked what was wrong.
She hesitated but finally spoke up.
”You trusted me, so you told me about Origin, didn’t you?”
”Well… yeah, I guess.”
To be exact, I don’t fully get why Estesia-san feels affection toward me.
I’m the only one who doesn’t understand why she trusts me, but based on what Diana and Lewya said, and how Estesia-san acts, I figured it’s okay to trust her.
”Then is it safe to say you’re hiding nothing from me?”
”Uh, what do you mean──”
”That huge amount of Origin I sometimes sense south of the frontier settlement… you’re not the cause of it, are you?”
”──What did you say?”
Something with a massive amount of Origin exists south of the frontier settlement?
I had no idea, and seeing my face, Estesia-san seemed to understand.
”Looks like you’re not involved in this either.”
”Is that true?”
”What would I gain from lying? This isn’t the Crimson I feel from you, it’s the same kind of Origin that’s in Momoka. Though Momoka’s on your side, so I thought maybe she’s secretly doing something in the forest.”
”That’s news to me… So ‘sometimes’ means it’s not always there? When did this start?”
”About… 3 weeks ago. You know, around the time you were making a fuss about unearthing Gioniium during the construction.”
”Since then, huh.”
If you had mentioned that earlier, I would’ve wanted to know sooner, but I guess it’s understandable if you suspected I was hiding something.
”Lord Neil, if you don’t mind, we could go scout ahead.”
”Yeah, if I go with Niya and Iko, we’ll have a solid scouting team.”
”That probably won’t matter. I only sense things once in a while, and even then it’s just a fleeting moment. I think they hide most of the time, so no matter how much we scout, we won’t find them.”
”Are there really places that wouldn’t trigger Estesia’s magic detection?”
”Yes, like the inside of another dimension.”
”The inside of another dimension… If we can use Origin, we can create one and enter or exit. It would indeed be tough to find them, no matter how much we scout.”
”That’s true, but the source of the Origin isn’t entering or exiting the alternate space.”
”Huh?”
”I told you, I can only sense it for a moment. If someone was just wandering around the base space, I wouldn’t say this. There’s probably something in the alternate space emitting a massive amount of Origin, and I could only detect it when someone opens the entrance to enter or exit.”
”If someone’s coming in and out, we should be able to spot them with a scout.”
”But the frequency is really low. In the last 3 weeks, I’ve only sensed it 4 times. The last time was a week ago, and that was actually twice in one day. The other 2 times were over 2 weeks ago.”
”Considering they come in once to enter and once to leave, that means they’ve only actually come in and out twice in 3 weeks.”
”It’s not realistic to find someone who only moves that rarely with just 3 of us. If we want to succeed, we need a bigger group and to ban hunting in the forest.”
Just as Estesia said, finding a specific person coming in and out of that vast forest is no easy task, especially since there are many others hunting in and out of it.
It would be impossible to find them without restricting that and dedicating a larger number of people.
But then, if we pull off such a bold move, it would just make them suspicious.
”Well, still…”
”Is there something else?”
I asked Estesia, who seemed to be struggling to find her words…
”…No, it’s nothing.”
* * *
The next day, past noon, the events of last night kept nagging at the back of my mind.
There’s a massive amount of Origin south of the frontier settlement.
The otherworldly place south of the frontier settlement is the Elven village, but that doesn’t explain why Estesia-san suddenly started picking up on it just 3 weeks ago.
Nothing bad has happened, but leaving it alone feels too unsettling.
What the hell am I supposed to do about it──
”──Neil-sama? Neil-sama!”
”Huh?”
Diana’s call snapped me back to reality, and when I looked up, there was a worried-looking man right in front of me.
”S-sorry, Kussel-san! I was just lost in thought.”
”No, no! Neil-sama, even with your busy schedule, you made time for someone like me. I’m truly honored, yes.”
This overly humble guy is Kussel-san, the person in charge of the ‘Toys of Preference’ branch in the frontier settlement.
There’s been a string of sudden visitors lately, but normally, you have to request meetings in advance.
Today was set aside to clear those pending appointments.
The reason for meeting Kussel-san was to renew our contract for help around the mansion and to have him warn his side about people who tried entering the forbidden south hallway on the mansion’s first floor during the Estesia-san transparency scandal.
”…Let me confirm once more: please extend the contract with ‘Toys of Preference,’ and also, Kussel-sama, please warn your people to avoid the south hallway on the mansion’s first floor.”
”Of course! Brothels often get suspicious eyes. I’ll make sure to give strict orders so there’s no unwanted misunderstandings.”
That was the end of the meeting.
As Kussel-san bowed deeply and left the parlor, Diana shot me a sharp look.
”How can you zone out in front of guests like that?”
”Ugh… sorry.”
”Is this about what Estesia-san told you yesterday? It’s the ruler’s job to prepare for crises, but for now, please focus on your role. The next person will be the last.”
”Got it. Who’s next?”
”Melgis-sama from Spear of Shouhyou.”
”Ah, now that you mention it, it is today.”
”I’ll go get Melgis-sama, so stay sharp until the very end.”
After seeing Diana leave the lounge with those words, I slumped deeply into the sofa.
Alex leads the Spear of Shouhyou crew at the frontier settlement, and he’s also my direct contact.
But he’s just a hands-on worker, not a manager.
The contracts and paperwork pass through Melgis.
So far, all our contact has been through documents, and now, out of the blue, Melgis wants to say hello in person.
I usually refuse pointless meet-and-greets, but since they have the Spear of Shouhyou name and have done a lot for us, I can’t exactly say no.
Just as I was thinking this, there was a knock on the lounge door.
I jumped up from the sofa, ready to greet.
”Neil-sama, Melgis-sama has arrived.”
”Send them in.”
At that cue, Diana opened the door, and a long-haired woman stepped inside.
Her cold, sharp gaze screamed Spear of Shouhyou’s name so loudly I caught my breath and forgot to welcome her before she spoke first.
”Pleased to meet you. I am Melgis, bearer of the Spear of Shouhyou name. It is my deepest honor to behold your noble visage, Neil.”
”Ah, yes, nice to meet you──wait, not just that──”
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply