Riku, having finished his report to King Kristof, headed directly to Crown Headquarters.
Since there was a branch in the royal capital of the Sumit Kingdom, there were no distance constraints with Headquarters.
While there were some limitations when traveling between different countries, this was irrelevant to Riku and “Flame Wolf,” who were A Rank adventurers.
Upon returning to Headquarters using the Teleport Gate, Riku and his party immediately secured a meeting with Gazelan, the head of the organization. They also specified that the matter was urgent. Such unreasonable requests were acceptable because the Adventurer Division of Crown placed great importance on rank.
When Riku’s party requested the meeting at reception, it seemed they had a prior appointment, and Riku’s group was made to wait in a separate room. However, Gazelan had apparently been informed of their urgent request, as he entered the room where they were waiting with a hurried demeanor.
“Well now. It’s rare to have an urgent call from you all. What happened? I thought you were investigating in Sumit, weren’t you?”
As expected of someone who had seen action themselves, Gazelan skipped any unnecessary pleasantries and got straight to the point. Furthermore, by the time he reached their room, he had thoroughly researched the request Riku’s party had been undertaking.
“Ah. As for the results, we hit the jackpot, by the looks of it.”
“Sigh… I wish we hadn’t, if possible. Dealing with it is a hassle.”
Gazelan let out a big sigh at Riku’s reply.
If their organization were rooted throughout the entire continent, like in the Central Continent, monster responses could be handled collectively. However, on other continents where branches were merely scattered here and there, they had no choice but to deal with each situation individually. This meant that for widespread disasters like a flood, they could only provide insufficient responses. Moreover, no matter how much Crown coordinated to respond, effective results could not be achieved if the various countries didn’t march in step. For this reason, dealing with the countries that were likely to experience a flood was extremely important. …However, it was uncertain whether countries on continents where floods rarely occurred had this awareness.
Gazelan, scratching his head vigorously, turned a probing gaze towards Riku and his party.
“So? What are you going to do?”
“There’s nothing to be done. For now, the request is finished. After that, we’ll look for whether there’s a next request…”
“You think I’d allow that?”
When Gazelan interrupted Riku’s words with a smug smile, Riku’s party all put on grim faces.
“Sigh. I figured it would come to this.”
“Naturally. Since we’ve gotten involved, we’ll have you stay until the end. Of course, if you want to stay in the safety zone by pretending you know nothing, that’s a different story.”
Gazelan said this in a deliberately provocative manner. Riku remained expressionless… but the other members didn’t stay silent.
“There’s no way we’d run away,” Eddie said, to which Angel replied, “Right?” and even Gereon nodded in agreement. The two women didn’t say anything, but their faces conveyed their thoughts clearly. Riku desperately wanted to say, “You’re being manipulated, you know,” but he refrained from saying it, as it might make them think he actually intended to abandon them. Instead, he looked at Gazelan with a sigh.
“…That’s what they say.”
“I see. It’s good to have companions,” Gazelan replied with a chuckle.
After this playful exchange, they began to seriously discuss the details of the investigation. However, since Riku’s party had only investigated the mountain range on the Sumit Kingdom’s side, they could only speak about that region.
“…I see. In that case, it seems a full investigation of the entire mountain range will be necessary.” Riku nodded at Gazelan’s words. “Ah. And across a wide area, too… Although King Kristof did say he would appeal to other countries…”
“Whether they’ll take him seriously is uncertain, huh.”
At the very least, countries with Crown branches were relatively aware of the dangers posed by monsters and would likely listen to Kristof’s words. However, other countries might very well assume that floods simply wouldn’t occur. This response was almost unbelievable to those in the Central Continent, where floods were frequent, but unfortunately, it was the more common reaction on other continents. In fact, when setting up branches, they had advocated for the necessity of an organization capable of operating across national borders, but the response was sluggish… or rather, some countries even reacted with cold laughter. The reason for their complacency, despite having so much evidence, was the perception that even if a flood did occur, it would rarely reach inhabited areas. In reality, there had been several instances where predicted floods from Crown’s predictions had naturally subsided. In that sense, humans still didn’t fully understand floods.
Everyone present sighed at the conversation between Riku and Gazelan, but that didn’t change the situation. They themselves had no choice but to prepare as if a flood would definitely occur. Furthermore, given all the circumstances, it was unlikely that a flood wouldn’t happen.
“There’s a possibility of multiple Leader Species emerging, so internal conflict isn’t out of the question, but that would make the silence in the forest too noticeable,” Riku said, incorporating his own analysis, to which Gazelan nodded in agreement. “That’s true, internal conflict probably wouldn’t happen then. Or perhaps a conflict is occurring elsewhere in the mountain range…” Ultimately, without investigating the entire mountain range, nothing definitive could be known.
Since there was no point in deliberating solely on speculation, Gazelan made a decision. “It can’t be helped. For now, I’ll have you go investigate another location.” “Well, I suppose that’s to be expected. What about the others? We might not make it in time?” “I’m aware. Of course, we’ll send parties as they become available… From what you’ve told me, it would be best to send someone with good tracking skills.” Based on Riku’s party’s account, the situation might have already progressed to a point beyond the capabilities of C Rank adventurers. In that case, there would be little point even in investigating.
However, Riku interjected at Gazelan’s words. “No. If that’s the case, we can also investigate how far it has spread, can’t we?” “Ah, I see. Indeed, that’s a possibility.” In the current state, the exact scale of the potential flood was still unknown. Even if their tracking skills were somewhat lacking, they could still determine the extent of its spread.
With the course of action decided, Gazelan let out a grand sigh, the nth time that day. “Good grief. This is going to be a tremendous expense.” Aside from Riku’s party’s request, the upcoming investigation would be entirely funded by Crown, as there was no original client. It might be possible to recoup the investigation costs later under the guise of expenses, but the extent of recovery was unknown.
“Since we’re involving the Merchant Division anyway, it doesn’t really matter, does it?” “Well, that’s true… No, if you think of Crown as a whole, it’s still an expense!” Gazelan, briefly tricked by Riku (?), realized his mistake midway and glared at Riku. If a flood were to occur, it would affect the transportation efforts of the Merchant Division, so they could extract funds under the guise of investigation costs. However, from the perspective of “Crown” as a whole, it was undoubtedly a significant expenditure.
Riku, anticipating that Schmidt would also be troubled, thought about the potential damages as if it were someone else’s problem.
When a flood occurs, time is of the essence. However, behind the scenes, we must also consider the financial aspects lol. In the Central Continent, we don’t have to worry too much because we have guarantees from Razek Amamiya.
I have started posting a new work.
Title: “Let’s Learn and Spread Magic in Another World”
Please give it your support!
