Gather Divine Coins and Gacha! - Chapter 200

 "That’s quite a reckless thought… Are you bored?" Liesel shrugged with a smile that invited laughter. She seemed rather at ease.

"I understand it's a man-made incident. So, where did it happen?"

Seriana didn't seem interested in playing along. She asked about any suspects who might have set the trap.

"I can't say where exactly. But I don't think it was the church."

"...Not the church?"

If something were to happen in this town, the only place I can think of is the church... I planned to keep quiet since there were too many unknowns, but I ended up saying it out loud.

"Yes. Thanks to your early discovery and the presence of Zig, the damage was minimal. But honestly, stopping that bear could have caused significant sacrifices."

"Yeah. It didn’t seem like we could take it down easily..."

Zighart looked our way and raised his glass with a chuckle.

"...I want to kick him."

"Hey..."

I let my true feelings slip, but if that thing had continued rampaging, it could have broken through even the sturdy walls of this town eventually.

"If that had happened, the church district would be the first attacked due to the town's structure. I don't know how far they would go, but it's hard to believe they’d do something that would endanger themselves, right? I checked the days around the attack, but no church officials had fled the town."

"...I see."

"Right. While there are people in the church district who don't think highly of us, their goal is to prevent the eastern development with their own hands. The damage caused by a monster attack like this doesn't align with their objectives and would instead result in more troops being sent in, strengthening our forces."

Their explanation made sense. The church's goal in this town is to take control and efficiently gather holy coins. As part of that plan, they seem to be targeting Seriana, but the town’s destruction is not their aim.

"I understand it's not the church, but we still don't know where, right?"

Seriana seemed convinced but circled back to the main issue.

"The Empire and the Allied Nations are in cahoots with the church, so it’s probably one of the small states. They likely mixed in with a trade caravan. With the rainy season just ended, there's a lot of movement, making it difficult to track everything. We can investigate dungeon explorations through records, but monitoring the comings and goings to the forest is nearly impossible..."

"True... We can't restrict everyone's movement..."

"We've arranged for regular patrols in the forest, but as the magistrate, that's about all I can do. We might have to wait until next year..."

"Yes. That means they can only send a few people. Mercenaries from the west, unfamiliar with monsters, wouldn’t make it far into the forest. Once I become the lord next year, we should be able to prevent this. ...Perhaps that's why they made their move this year."

It’s the same for us... The enemy has their plans too.

After that, we had a serious discussion about how to defend the northern and southern outposts. Once everyone, including Zighart, started drinking, I excused myself.

Well, the monster attack cleanup is nearly complete, and I have no visitors or outings planned for tomorrow. I’ll let them unwind properly.

◇

"..."

"...Do you have something to say?"

I hadn't said anything, but she seemed to infer something from my gaze. Honestly...

Since I’m allowed to use the bed, I knew when someone returned to the room late at night. From inside the room, I couldn’t tell who it was, but I assumed it was one of the maids. She had escorted me to the room’s door, and at the time, she seemed relatively fine...

"Miss, you can't handle alcohol, can you?"

I placed my hands on Seriana’s forehead and abdomen, activating [Prayer] and [Mira’s Blessing]. It’s been a while since I treated a hangover.

"...I can handle it."

So, she’s not strong with it.

I remember she was drinking wine diluted with fruit juice, but was that really strong? Or maybe, like a cocktail, it was so palatable she ended up drinking too much...

"Well, take it easy, alright? Is His Highness or anyone else okay? Isn’t Revan returning to his base today?"

"Yes... After you finish, please check on the other two..."

"Got it."