Chapter 450: Enemies 4
「… So what does that mean?」(Mile)
「Ah, ah, there’s a lot of noise in this country right now …」(Peddler)
Disregard the criticism from Rena’s Trio, somewhat unconvincing, Mile resumed asking the peddler.
「It’s not a political change, they also don’t prepare for a war with other countries either.
Somehow, the air is bad, or the atmosphere is bad …
The number of hunters who fail the request is increasing,
the number of people who are stuck in debt due to penalties,
And the number of people who are forced to retire due to injury is increasing,
and the hunter guild is in a dark atmosphere in every city…
When the hunters’ economy is bad, the economy of bars, inns, and markets is also bad.
If that happens, people working in such places will also be reluctant to spend money, and all industries will be ruined.
Compared to other people, the hunters spend a lot of money in the cafeterias of bars and inns …」(Peddler)
(Oh, it’s the same city with US military and SDF bases …) (Mile)
Mile had heard such a story in her previous life.
The salary is quite good, and many singles live in the base for free, food, clothing, and shelter, and military personnel has a lot of disposable income, so they pay good money.
「In a city where 100 bars are operating in the black, how many bars do you think will collapse if the sales of all the bars decrease by 20%?」()
At this part, none of Red Oath replies with “20 bars”
Normally, this would be a “trick question” to make the listener answer and join the conversion, but no one answered, so the peddler continued talking.
「Yes, all 100 bars.
If all stores lose 20% of their sales, all stores will be in the red and will collapse.
…Well, in reality, when nearly half of them are crushed, customers will flow to the store that somehow still remains, but think of it as a word game.
Besides, even at the stores that survived, the average customer price will drop if the customers hesitate to spend money.
There is a deficit up to that point, so it’s not a good story.」(Peddler)
Two daughters of merchants and two daughters of aristocrats.
And one of them has knowledge in the previous life.
Yes, all members of Red Oath could understand such a story.
「That would make the atmosphere of the city worse …」(Mile)
Pauline’s Trio nods with a dull face to Mile. As a merchant’s daughter, it’s a story that’s mesmerizing.
… and the aristocratic daughter, whose tax paid by the merchant is very important …
「Not only that.
If the number of hunters decreases or the request continues to fail, it means issued by the rural village fails or there is no recipient.
The caravan escorts also have to hire unsuitable hunters because of the lack of manpower …」(Peddler)
「「「「Ah~……」」」」(Red Oath)
It is a vicious circle.
To destroy the huge system/machine of “economy” that is running well, you don’t have to smash everything by force.
If you put a small amount of sand on the gear or drain the lubricating oil, it will soon fail and collapse.
「Well, that’s why it’s a little…
Did you come by any request?
Or is it a training trip?
Be careful when accepting requests.
Be careful by increasing the safety factor more than usual.
Especially when you go to the guild branch where they are in trouble because of requests, it’s appropriate …
You may be forced to be “appropriate” in a bad sense, so choose a job considering the difficulty and risk.」(Peddler)
「「「「…………」」」」(Red Oath)
It was useful information.
Mile served a hot lunch and give a bottle of distilled spirit in Item Box as thank for the peddler who was worried and advised them
Mile gave Liquor after reminding him to prepare for the night camp, finish dinner, ensure safety, and then drink it, but he was overjoyed by the unexpected gift.
It would have been a sufficient price as a thank-you for the information.
Then, after both sides say thank many times, the peddler left…
「Everyone, what do you think about the previous story?」(Maevis)
「Hmmm, it’s certainly a strong candidate for “strange rumors” …」(Rena)
「But is it enough for other countries to investigate?」(Pauline)
As Maevis said that, Rena and Pauline told their thought, Mile was silent a little and…
「The problem is the reason for the hunters to keep failing over and over.
And we are aware of such a case that leads to such a situation…」(Mile)
「「「Eh?」」」(Rena’s Trio)
Rena’s Trio is surprised by Mile’s unexpected words.
And Mile continued.
「If those hunters by chance met the monsters in the request to hunt, which were “for some reason, monsters that are stronger than ordinary monsters” …」(Mile)
「「「Ah…」」」(Rena’s Trio)
Certainly, everyone was aware of such a case.
「Orc stronger than usual ……」(Rena)
「Ogre stronger than usual……」(Maevis)
「From the dwarven village……」(Pauline)
Yes, those “unusual monsters” that seem to have emerged from the cracks in the mysterious space.
If a mysterious crack was created again, and those monsters appeared from there …
If hunters go hunting orcs, they will find “Super Orcs” that are as strong as Ogres.
And when they go hunting Ogres, they will meet a group of a high Ogre…
Yes, the reproduction of that dwarven village was about to collapse.
「But is that all?」(Maevis)
However, Maevis didn’t seem to be convinced.
「Back then, that dwarven village is a half-isolated village, far away from the human civilization.
And because of their pride, the dwarves didn’t ask humans for help nor did they spread information, right?
But this is a normal human village, if a stronger monster appeared, that news will soon spread, the guild or the army will deal with it.」(Maevis)
「Yeah, certainly…
Besides, based on our report, the guild branch of neighboring countries should have been notified about the new species.
This is a neighboring country of the Kingdom of Marein where the incident happened, and they have a friendly relationship.
Besides, not only the guild, the royal palace should have been informed as well…
Despite this, the fact that they didn’t take any measure for it…」(Rena)
「Yes.
One: the report was untrustworthy and ignored.
Two: they haven’t noticed the connection yet.
Three: They are aware of it but intentionally ignored it.
Well, they know, but they can’t get around it, or so…」(Pauline)
「「「……」」」(Rena’s Trio)
At times like this, the three of them were silent, perhaps because they were convinced by the analysis of Mile.
Perhaps they are thinking about oversights, mistakes, and other possibilities.
「… Well, even we, who fought directly, got in a pinch. But when other hunters hearing that the information source is from an inexperienced young hunter party in another country, they may not have taken it seriously.
Therefore, it’s not like they ignored it because of bad will…
In the first place, the reason for the failure of the request is “because the monsters were stronger than usual”, it’s an embarrassing excuse to report for beginner Hunters of rank F, there’s no way they can do it if they have normal nerves …」(Rena)
「Even we didn’t think of it until Mile told us. We can’t blame them…」(Maevis)
「Besides, that’s just Mile-chan’s expectation.
Actually, it may be another cause that has nothing to do with it …」(Pauline)
Rena, Mavis, and Pauline also thought Mile’s explanation was correct, but they didn’t decide.
It was only taken into consideration as one of the possible causes.
…… Although it is a “candidate” with a high probability.
「Well, we have just crossed the border.
If we solve it on the first day, we can’t make any extra money!」(Mile)
「Ahaha, Sure」(Maevis)
Maevis dry-laughs and agrees with Mile.
Yes, the requested “Training Journey” was just beginning.
「And our journey was still going on …」(Mile)
「「「Until the Final Episode!!」」」(Rena’s Trio)
(Good, Good, I have done well in training everyone) (Mile)
(T.N: Yes, yes. Let the average flow through you)
Mile smirks as Rena’s Trio has followed her script as planned.