1065: Rokkars

We left Dars along with the liberated residents and continued southeast on foot. Our destination was a reasonably sized town within a few days of walking.

The plan was to check the situation there first.

Oh yeah. On the way there, we reunited with some adventurers who escaped the city earlier, giving us more hands to help escort everyone. That allowed us to move more easily, so Fran was happy to have them.

Raydoss seemingly didn’t have the manpower to chase us down, so we saw no further signs of them. The monsters were way more troublesome.

We also obtained some additional information from our prisoners of war, the commander and the beast tamer. They said a small group of scouts and military engineers left Dars after its occupation, though it consisted of less than 30 people in total.

This’s consistent with what we heard from Valusa.

Since they planned on occupying a village as a base of operations, it’s a little worrisome. But we can always look into the issue after finishing the evacuation.

Then, four days after escaping Dars.

We managed to reach town without leaving anyone else behind. The second largest town in the region after Dars, Rokkars.

Upon arrival, our group was greeted with 60% welcoming looks, 30% doubtful stares, and 10% worried faces. The most welcoming group were the other refugees from Dars who had been living in tents outside the town. They were happy to see their fellow residents alive.

The doubtful ones were probably the police and residents of the town. They can’t be happy to see even more outsiders arriving in their city.

The worried faces were also residents of the town, probably concerned about the issue of food shortages. They now had 300 additional mouths to feed in the middle of an ongoing war. Worry about how the rationing will work is only natural.

Guess we’ll have to put on an act.

After we finished talking to the guards, I had Fran say a few lines in a louder voice so everyone could hear.

First, she piled up some supply crates stolen from Raydoss and explained that they contained army rations.

「Here are some supplies I got from Raydoss. They’re packed with beans and such.」

「Oh! C-Could you possibly allow us to have them? Please, we’ll buy it off you!」

The captain here was a good man. He asked us to sell the supplies rather than simply requisitioning them. Since the country is at war, he technically has the power to forcibly seize such things.

Or perhaps his intention was to make a good impression of himself, considering the possibility that we had even more supplies in our dimensional storage? If so, he has a talented eye. I think we can trust him.

Fran continued speaking after piling up more boxes.

「It’s all from Raydoss, so I won’t take any money for it.」

「R-Really?」

「In place of money, I want you to accept the people I’ve brought with me.」

「Y-Yes, of course.」

「Some of them are soldiers from Dars, so they can help protect this town.」

「Oh! That would be wonderful!」

Perhaps recognizing our intention halfway through the conversation, the captain answered back in a loud voice. Almost too loud.

Well, my idea was simple. We were just loudly advertising that we’re providing food and troops! and treat them well since they’re useful!

I could see the expressions on the faces of the Rokkars residents soften considerably after listening to the discussion. After all, they had so much food supplies piled up in front of them.

Though the mountain of crates looked incredibly appealing, it would probably only feed everyone in Rokkars for a day or so. The town had thousands of people after all. It’s more of an optical illusion than an actual solution.

Well, we could always add more if we have to.

「Where should I put these?」

「Don’t worry, we’ll take care of the transportation.」

「But it’s easier if I do it myself.」

「That is true, but I want to show everyone all the supplies we’re bringing in. We also need a job for the people sitting around doing nothing, or they might start all sorts of trouble.」

「Trouble?」

「Brawls, theft, and public intoxication. Our town isn’t in a good spot right now. The sailors from Dars are especially violent, and they never get along with the thugs here originally.」

Ah, so there’s already plenty of conflicts between the refugees and original residents. Especially the territorial wars among the ruffians.

Why not make all the idiots transport supplies throughout town to tire them out, as well as showing off the supplies to ease the citizens’ minds.

「Will they actually listen?」

「We’ll boot them out of town if they don’t, which should be easy due to all the troops you’ve brought. Besides, making them listen will allow us to count them among our forces if the time comes.」

Ruffians are more experienced in combat than ordinary citizens, so it would be good to have them available as a fighting force. This guy seems as smart as I thought.

We parted with the smiling captain and headed for the Adventurers Guild to report what happened in Dars. Thus completes the request we took in Bulbora.

Charlotte and the others were already inside when we entered the guild. It seems they were also reporting on the events of Dars. We listened in from the side, but we didn’t hear much new information.

Only a single new detail. Apparently, Charlotte had been told she would be sent to a village called Metelmam in a day or two.

Then, the guildmaster listening to the report shouted in surprise.

「Metelmam? Are you sure that was the village’s name?」

「Y-Yes. A very important-looking person definitely said Metelmam.」

「We currently have many evacuees coming into Rokkars from the surrounding towns and villages, but not a single evacuee has arrived from Metelmam.」

My first thought was that the village simply wasn’t aware of the invasion, but it seems adventurers had been sent to inform them. Moreover, those adventurers never returned.

「Maybe those adventurers had an accident on the way there, so the news never reached the town. But if not…」

「Then the Raydoss army is doing something in Metelmam?」

「Indeed, that’s a likely possibility.」

The guildmaster’s eyes turned to Fran.

「You are Fran-dono, the Black Lightning Princess?」

「Nn.」

「I have a request for you, the reconnaissance and rescue of Metelmam. What do you say?」

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