Chapter 204
★ Lef Magocracy — Red Gate Front Line ★
Today, some famous adventurer or other appeared.
Today, some famous adventurer or other died.
That kind of information came flooding in every day at about the same frequency, only to pass on.
The three members of the Silver Scales party sometimes went into battle, but spent most of their time in the rear. The official explanation was that Mimino and Non specialized in support, while Dantes's strength was invaluable at construction sites expanding the encampment—
In fact,
"I-I did it! It's done!"
When Dantes returned today, having heard a whole string of adventurer rumors and carrying just as many logs, Muge poked his head out of Aba's tent and beckoned to him.
He hurried inside, where Mimino and Non were waiting, along with Aba, who owned the tent, and Rurusha. The entire Team Reiji had assembled.
Aba's tent was spacious, in part because of his high rank, and just right for everyone to gather in. At first, Aba frowned when his bed was pushed into a corner and magical devices were brought in to fill a large table, but
"Sorry to impose. I'm in your debt."
Rurusha said,
"Slurp. Feel free to use it for as long as you like."
Aba replied with a self-satisfied look. The stick he'd kept sucking on even after the syrup was gone gradually grew thinner, and Aba slimmed down along with it. He now looked as though he had a toothpick between his lips.
So, what Muge had been researching in Aba's tent was—
"This silver dish-like thing?"
On the table sat a pedestal about twenty-five centimeters across, with a flat, round piece of silver metal atop it.
"Yes. Please listen carefully."
"..."
When he leaned closer, he heard a faint, droning hum.
"What is this?"
"It's a signal from the bracelet attached to Reiji-san."
The research to confirm Reiji's survival had finally borne fruit.
"This... sound?"
"Since it amplifies weak vibrations, we can't make out their content, but there's no doubt it's picking up the information being transmitted."
"Didn't you say yesterday that this didn't seem possible at all?"
"No, no. To be precise, the situation was 'something is being received, but there's too much noise to identify it.' Since this is an amplifier, it amplifies the noise too. There's no doubt that's an adverse effect of crossing between worlds, but isolating only the equipment we brought over is difficult—"
"Sorry, I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about, so never mind."
"The cracked jewel from the giant snake we defeated with Reiji-kun came in handy, I reckon."
Mimino said from beside them.
It was the Ouroboros summoned by the Mediator in Holy Capital Kurvagne.
"That thing?"
"Yeah. We were using a magic stone for power, but it seemed to be attracting the noise. When we switched to the jewel, it worked. The jewel was from the other world, right? So it seems to have done a good job absorbing the noise from over there."
"Huh... I don't understand any of this."
"Anyway, as long as this sound doesn't stop, Reiji-kun is alive! We even tested it in practice, so it's almost certain!"
"I see."
Dantes nodded, a grin spreading across his face.
He'd thought Reiji must be alive. Still, having it proven like this was a relief.
"This sound, huh..."
Dantes leaned closer again. The low hum reached his ears. Mimino and Non leaned in too—and then—
"Whoa!?"
"Wah!?"
"Eek!"
Suddenly, a loud WAAANG rang out, and the three of them recoiled.
"What was that?"
"Oh, it seems Reiji-san was startled—or perhaps did something."
"..."
Then Non said,
"It kind of feels like we're peeking in on him..."
which was a perfectly reasonable thing to say.
In the end, they settled on checking this "Reiji Detector" only once a day and otherwise leaving it alone.
Was this thing really going to stay here...? Aba looked into the distance, but he wasn't so boorish as to complain about it.
"If Reiji is alive, then there's a high chance Princess Anastasia is alive too... Isn't that right?"
When Dantes said this, Aba nodded.
"But we won't report this to His Majesty right away. I want to wait for the right moment."
"I see. It is a rather difficult matter..."
If Anastasia was alive, the emperor might send out a search party. It was precisely because they believed this might also lead to Reiji's rescue that they had built the magical device.
But if the war situation was bad, there would be no time for a search—Dantes understood Aba's idea of waiting for the right moment.
"How did the battle go today?"
When Dantes asked, Rurusha answered.
"We've managed to advance quite far inside. But the monsters nearly as large as the rift are extremely powerful... We're in a situation where we have no choice but to rely on that 'Black Sky Pirate.'"
"A mysterious girl who wields black blades... She's the one who stole the 'Beauty Under the Moon,' too, right? Can we trust her?"
"I suppose we simply have no choice but to trust her. Our contact with her is limited enough that even Aba can't meet her, isn't it?"
"...Yeah."
Aba nodded.
"We don't know her name or her background, either. But it seems His Majesty the Emperor, several of his close aides, and a doctor are summoned often, so I imagine they've met her."
"A doctor? Is she feeling unwell? Does she have a chronic condition?"
"That part is being kept quiet too."
Aba toyed with the long toothpick at his lips.
That so-called "Black Sky Pirate" was Lark, but unfortunately none of the people gathered here had any connection to her.
"The wounded are taking longer to return, so it looks like they'll pull back the front line for tomorrow's operation,"
Non said. She worked at a medical aid station, so information from the front reached her.
"Is that so? That's even worse news."
"But it doesn't sound like the news is all bad. From what I heard from the supply corps, a large shipment of supplies is due to arrive tomorrow."
"Reinforcements!"
Mimino nodded with a smile.
"It sounds like reinforcements and supplies will arrive from the Holy Kingdom of Kurvane tomorrow. What's more, the former Holy King is apparently leading them personally, so we can certainly hope to push the front line back!"
"That's incredible! The former Holy King is also renowned as a master spearman."
In this empire, where countless monsters rained down from the sky with no telling when they would stop, fighting on was exhausting.
But if they could gather enough people to exterminate the monsters in one sweep, there was reason to hope they could take Red Gate.
"Tomorrow, His Majesty the Emperor will hold a conference with the former Holy King. Depending on how the discussion goes, I think the situation could change dramatically."
Aba said firmly.