<586 – Delicious Linked Quest (10)>
Borrowing a sled dog, I made my way toward the village, which looked cleaner and more livable than before.
After recognizing her, the village chief greeted Jigoku, but first, she inquired about the identity of the travelers.
The chief then bowed his head and offered gratitude to Jigoku.
“Since these people, who are Administrative Instructors from the Gift Academy, have been taking down those wicked ones pretending to be soldiers, isn’t it only fitting that Jigoku-sama kindly sent subordinates to our village? As a token of appreciation, I would like to present you with the biggest smelt caught in early spring.”
Only then did Jigoku realize the situation.
The passing seniors had randomly taken down visible groups and disappeared.
“Um… do you really need that smelt?”
“No, um, well…”
They’re not even the people I called.
Jigoku felt a slight pang of guilt.
But seeing the chief so disappointed made it hard to simply send him away.
Informing the chief of the truth and receiving his disappointment vs. accepting the biggest smelt caught in early spring.
After much contemplation, Jigoku decided to accept the smelt.
“… Is this really the biggest one?”
“Smelt usually range from 3cm to 15cm. Twenty centimeters is quite a hefty one!”
“Ugh. Forget it. Bringing something inferior that doesn’t even compare to a valley carp… Just make some spicy soup and take care of yourself, chief. More importantly, let me see the corpses of those subordinates… I mean the ones you mentioned.”
The bodies buried in the snow left a flamboyant trace.
They looked like they had been smashed by something moving at high speed, with signs of multiple fractures!
With fatal wounds from stones or gravel that pierced their hearts, necks, and heads from confirming fire.
To anyone, it resembled a massacre of innocent citizens.
While worrying about what would happen if the seniors found out they had treated them like subordinates, when she saw the face of one body that was relatively intact, she realized that worrying about the seniors was the easier worry.
“Uh? Isn’t this the guy who got off the cruise ship last time because he didn’t want to be a pirate?”
Among the bodies of the innocents was the subordinate of the Wahyhiemhai Foundation’s director.
Jigoku’s expression hardened.
A member of the foundation was found dead, having acted stupidly within her territory.
If it were something the director was behind, it would be fine.
But if it wasn’t…
“No way…?”
Jigoku’s eyes trembled.
Oknodie had reached into her territory.
Such ominous thoughts were not even tolerable as mere imagination.
“It can’t be. It must not be.”
Yet mere denial couldn’t shake off her unease.
In reality, Oknodie’s actions had been utterly unpredictable recently, leading her outside of the Academy.
She wanted to gather evidence.
Evidence that would assure her Oknodie had no part in this incident.
– If, someday, you need to borrow the power of the Dark Trading Company, go find a wall marked with this symbol in a large town or city with a population of over 10,000. Leave the mark in the specified manner, and your contact will reach out soon to provide you with information support.
Jigoku contacted Jezel’s Dark Trading Company, which was outside the Academy.
“I hope to gather some information.”
“You’re a companion of Jezel, I see. Just say the word. Jezel will cover the information fee.”
“Please trace where the group that attacked this village came from based on the corpses.”
“Are you looking to track those threatening the village?”
“Yes.”
“Could you please mark the location on the map?”
“Of course.”
“Understood. An investigator will be dispatched, and information is currently being gathered, so please wait for one hour.”
The Dark Trading Company inspected all trade networks and transport routes conducted through unofficial channels and unveiled the paths of their intrusion and their identities.
“These individuals were equipped with weapons through the support of the Northern Adventurer’s Guild East Branch’s branch manager, backed by the Wahyhiemhai Foundation. They acquired adventurer licenses, but those were not obtained through legal procedures.”
“Specifically?”
“They impersonated the identities of the deceased. Their actual identities cannot be identified. They are stateless individuals who are not registered in the International Identity Registration Bureau.”
“Was the foundation behind it after all…?”
“However, the weapons they used bore distinctive markings proving they were supplied to the Northern Regular Army.”
“!!”
An attack by a fake unit disguised as the Northern Regular Army.
This was a plan set by the director; the Dark Trading Company was sharp enough to recognize the military insignia.
“The unit that received those military supplies has been confirmed to have perished on the front lines, so this is ‘military supplies’ independently collected by the foundation from the frontline zones.”
“What does that imply?”
“By gathering stateless individuals and providing them with weapons—symbols of the regular army—if they cause trouble, as long as the damage looks only a little severe, it could easily be mistaken for the regular army’s doing. The foundation likely wanted to harm your territory using the regular army.”
But why the heck do they know my territory so casually?
Seeing Jigoku flustered, the information agent hurriedly shook his head.
“Please don’t misunderstand. Our Dark Trading Company is a coalition of ‘merchants’ from all over the world; we naturally come to recognize which small villages are intertwined with which forces based on dealings with brokers. Unless it’s a subordinate of a merchant who operates for information gathering purposes, merchants wouldn’t regularly visit impoverished villages like this or high-level hunting grounds.”
Jigoku realized why each deprived village had at least one wealthier merchant capable of buying enormous amounts of monster materials and junk without a hitch.
But her concern was not about how the Dark Trading Company obtained information.
“Do you know ‘who’ those foundation folks were acting on orders from?”
“That’s quite a challenging request.”
“Sorry, but you’re my only option. If you need money, I can pay you directly instead of Jezel. I’m also a somewhat successful pirate.”
“Oh, that’s fine. Jezel was the one who provided resources and manpower to the conversion from unnecessary materials on the cruise ship to a warship. The forces she mobilized also belong to the Dark Trading Company. So feel free to use us without burden.”
“… Jezel is scarier than I thought.”
“How quickly would you like information?”
“As quickly as possible.”
“Understood.”
The informant returned a day later.
“You, that arm…!”
“It’s nothing. Losing one arm to acquire information from the foundation was a bargain.”
“Did I ask you to gather information quickly?”
“Ah, please don’t misunderstand. This is due to my lack of skills, not the deadline. Our informants also suffered around ten deaths, but their families receive support and protection from the Dark Trading Company due to certain circumstances. So really, you don’t need to worry about anything, Jigoku-sama.”
Even ten or more people died!
With the irreversible loss of life, Jigoku’s earlier heat ceased and reality returned.
The foundation was a perilous organization.
To urgently dig into such a dangerous organization, putting one’s life on the line was only natural.
They likely believed that Jezel and the Dark Trading Company would cover the ‘cost’ of lives lost during the operation.
The parties involved didn’t intend to incur a debt on the Jigoku Pirates, but Jigoku could not view her conscience as debt-free either.
By mobilizing the Dark Trading Company for information collection, Jezel had incurred a debt against the Jigoku Pirates.
Whether she knew or was ignorant of the impending loss of life when she made the request, the damage had already been real.
So this was a debt.
One that must be repaid.
Jigoku felt Jezel’s ‘kindness’ weighing heavily on her.
But now, it was urgent to obtain information relying on such kindness.
“The orders were transmitted from the Foundation Headquarters to the Northern Adventurer’s Guild East Branch’s branch manager. The content of the orders was
Second was
“That’s it!”
“Pardon?”
“You said it was marked on the map. That means the foundation was already aware of the existence of that village?”
“Of course, that would be the case. You can’t mark an unfamiliar place on a map, can you?”
Jigoku no longer tried to piece together her suspicions and hints into a coherent picture while engaging in small talk with the Dark Trading Company.
Who knew how many more deaths would occur due to her small talk?
“I want to be sure right now… that Oknodie did not inform the foundation and acted against the interests of the Jigoku Pirates.”
“Ah… So you wanted such intriguing information.”
“Exactly. What do you think?”
“There’s evidence suggesting it could be the work of the upper echelons of the foundation. The villagers here are actually escaped mining slaves fleeing the chaos caused by a mana disaster in the mana stone mine. Those guilty of draft evasion, military law violations, and other serious crimes are tattooed forcibly, and since this culture doesn’t exist in the South, it’s only natural you wouldn’t know.”
“!!”
“But if an adversary uses ignorance, it can become a reason to lose one’s life. The mana stone mine is a precious mine from which mana stones used in sorcerers’ spells can be mined. The military manages it as a key resource, and the main facility is the mana stone mine. The Northern Grand Duke would not spare the escaped slaves from such a place.”
“Well… I guess any nation would do the same. If pirates were skimming valuable underwater resources, they’d be executed on the spot.”
“That’s the problem. The casualties reported near the fishing village are confirmed to be missing Northern Regular Army members, and the discovered weapons are evidence of that, which has reached the nearest bureau. I can assure you this isn’t information leaked from the Dark Trading Company, meaning this is the work of the foundation.”
Before the stormy winds hit the coastline, waves and tides roared higher and fiercer.
The strength of the winds and the height of the waters changed, clouds darkened and hung low, dogs rushed to hide in holes, and fish fled to deeper waters, while birds disappeared from the sky.
In Jigoku’s heart as well, ominous feelings sank low like dark clouds beginning to thunder.
However, what was about to pour down wasn’t transparent rain.
It was the red blood people would spill upon death.
“If the Northern Grand Duke has been informed, regular troops will soon be dispatched. If this is a trap by the foundation, then the Jigoku Pirates have genuinely fallen into a trap. There’s a strong possibility that we will incur the blame of causing a mana disaster at the mine beyond merely protecting escaped slaves.”
“I can’t believe it. It’s such a hell of a crisis, yet I can’t help but laugh. If the trap is that deep and intricate, maybe it’s not Oknodie’s scheme after all?”
Should I like this or not?
Jigoku was indecisive, unable to smile or weep.
However, the expression of the information agent grew even darker.
“I think it would be premature to feel relief.”
“Why?”
“Last year, during the second semester midterm exam at the academy, the Dark Princess encountered the Northern Grand Duke Yuda.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means there’s a chance she might have made a ‘judicial deal’—by guaranteeing the foundation’s interests through meeting with the Northern Grand Duke, she could provide the location of the Jigoku Pirates’ territory to incite an opportunity to eliminate them while ignoring the accountability for the mana stones smuggled from the mine.”
“No way!”
“Are you truly so certain?”
“Oknodie isn’t that kind of person!”
“The Dark Princess is known to maintain a close relationship with her father, the director, to the extent she calls him ‘Papa.’ As the Fourth Princess of the Empire, she infiltrated near the Emperor, thereby raising rumors of her death to spark a revolution, and came back to the academy in grand style.”
“That’s…”
“Do you truly think you know a [Scary Child] with that level of cunning?”
“…”
Jigoku found it hard to open her mouth.
