191

I compared the two candidates in my hands.

One was a rifle I knew well, one I had used many times back when I was a trainee soldier.

Even in those days it had already long since become an outdated old model, but thanks to its sturdiness, it was a mass-produced type that had remained in use for a long time, for better or worse an ordinary weapon.

Its advantage lay in the fact that it used old-model ammunition, so its penetration power was poor, and it would probably have difficulty piercing my outer hide; even if it were mass-produced, viewed in the short term, the threat would be low.

Its disadvantage was the leakage of technology.

There was no doubt that the Type Thirty-Six rifle was good material for understanding the structure of firearms, and if it were developed further, it could become a threat to me.

Next I looked at the ornate gun that had belonged to the aristocrat.

It was a handgun, but I had absolutely no idea what gun it had originally been based on.

I could imagine that it had been modified, but I did not know in what way those modifications had been made.

At the very least, I had no memory of ever seeing a gun resembling it, so there was also a possibility that it was a one-of-a-kind piece.

It was a somewhat optimistic view to assume that handing this over would not lead to mass production, but it was also undeniably worth considering.

In other words, the merit of using this ornate gun in the trade was that it might not lead to a threat against me.

However, that was only because I did not know this thing’s specs, and I had to consider the possibility that, on the contrary, it might drive me into danger.

In the end, since it was a gun outside my knowledge, I judged that carelessly circulating it was dangerous, and I made my decision on which one to use in the trade.

“Well, in the end, it has to be this one, doesn’t it?”

The one selected was the Type Thirty-Six rifle.

It was only in fairly decent visible condition, so it was possible that even if they tried to make something from it, they might still fail.

He had said, “I have gathered skilled smiths,” but were they truly at a level capable of imitating Imperial technology?

There was also a possibility that, no matter which one I handed over, they would fail to restore it and nothing would happen at all.

That future was desirable in its own way, but if possible, I honestly also wanted at least some kind of upheaval to occur and draw Seizeria’s attention away from the west.

In the end, unless I acted, nothing would change.

“Now then, I do not know how this will be passed down to later generations, but depending on what I obtain, it may well be worth it.”

There was no reason not to do it, I told myself, backing up my own choice.

With that, I had acquired the item for the trade, so all that remained was to wait.

I put away the unchosen handgun in my backpack, and since there was still a possibility of finding a gun even more suitable than the Type Thirty-Six, I continued searching.

It would have been even better if I found something I myself could use, but that was probably asking too much.

I searched all around the depot ruins, where hardly any original shapes remained.

The sun climbed high, and then it set.

During that time, the only thing I managed to find was old ammunition for the Type Thirty-Six rifle.

Whether it had been for training on site or whether they had really needed to throw even such things into actual battle, I did not know, but it was not a bad thing for the number of goods usable in trade to increase.

It was regrettable that I had found only about this much that looked usable, but I decided to think of it as a blessing that the number of candidates had not increased enough to give me even more to worry about.

I carefully wrapped up my finds, put them into my backpack, and started moving.

There was still one more point I had checked left.

I wanted to confirm this one too, so I hoped to arrive before the sun had fully gone down.

But just as I thought that, the density of the trees kept me from reaching it, and things did not go so smoothly.

Instead, so to speak, I secured two rabbits that had leapt out of their nest in surprise at my presence.

It would hardly be an exaggeration to say that the technique of sharply flicking them up with my tail, then smoothly extending my hand and grabbing them by the neck, had by now reached the level of art.

As I walked while draining the blood, I sensed wild animals watching me from a distance, perhaps having caught the scent of blood.

Mixed among them were green humanoid figures—goblins, targets for extermination.

After driving them ahead with a rabbit in each hand and neatly disposing of a small goblin group, I found, of all things, human bones there.

That meant Seizerian humans were coming as far as places not all that distant from here.

The south had advanced westward even more than I had expected.

(I see. The north had been delayed because of its skirmishes with the Kingdom of Canaan, but the south is far from the Furon Council-State.)

Since there was no one to interfere, expanding territory westward was easy, and it could be assumed that they had managed to open up the forest that much more deeply.

That made the benefit of having Gust stir up trouble even greater.

At this rate, I might need to consider making a certain amount of concession.

By the time the forest had grown completely dark, I looked for an open place to prepare dinner.

Fortunately, I found one quickly, so I butchered the rabbit meat I held in both hands.

I grilled the meat and went with a simple seasoning of salt and herbs.

This time I used herbs with little harshness, so the taste was not bad at all.

When the meal and cleanup were finished, I stood up and started walking again.

In terms of position, the next point lay still farther east from here.

I judged that the possibility of it already having been incorporated into Seizeria’s sphere of influence was still low, but that did not change the fact that people would still be coming.

As I pushed my way through the plants in the dark forest, I continued onward with a slight sense of impatience.

And around well past midnight… or rather, just before dawn, I arrived roughly near the point.

There was nothing that could serve as a marker, so I had reached it purely by feel.

I immediately went to use light magic—but before that, I checked the surroundings.

Concentrating my senses to see whether there was any human presence, and probing the area through sound and smell, I confirmed that no one was there, then released several spheres of light from my fingertips to illuminate the area.

The information I wanted was on the ground, so I kept the light sources at around waist height.

If this was the site of something, then traces of it ought to remain.

I bent down and searched using the feel beneath my feet as well, but found nothing, and though I continued searching while moving around, the morning sun rose.

No gains.

Though my shoulders slumped at that result, I took another proper look around the forest as it began to brighten.

“So this place was a miss too…”

Letting out a sigh, I set my course even farther east because there was one more thing I wanted to confirm.

How far had Seizeria advanced by now?

Paying attention not only ahead but to the surroundings as well, I raced east, farther and farther east.

And once the density of the trees began to thin, I used my camouflage ability.

The reason was a fresh sword still embedded in a tree.

Looking around that area, I saw bloodstains and cut plants that seemed to have been caused by slashes, and it appeared there had been a battle here.

(Judging from the situation, could it have been the skeleton I saw over there?)

I guessed that someone had lost their weapon here, made a fatal mistake against goblins, and had been carried back to the nest and eaten.

Judging from the situation, it had been a lone accident—and if so, it was fair to say that this area was already within Seizeria’s range of activity.

There ought to be a frontier settlement serving as a forward base not too far away.

I had considered the possibility that they had already crossed the river, but now that it had become reality, I would have to hurry my exploration of the blank region.

But before that, I wanted to know what scale of base Seizeria had prepared.

Keeping up my camouflage ability, I broke into a run in search of the base.

The first thing I found was a wooden defensive wall.

It was probably, like Canaan’s, a base intended to be expanded later on with removal in mind.

Fortunately, its scale was not much different from the one in Canaan.

I carefully observed its construction while circling around the wall.

It was a shabby defensive wall that perfectly embodied the phrase “bare minimum.”

Should I take it that, because their population was small for the size of their territory, and because monsters still infested their country, they had little strength to spare for outside expansion as well?

Deciding that this alone was not enough information, I headed for the river.

Releasing my camouflage ability here and there along the way, I clicked my tongue at what I saw when I arrived.

“I figured they’d built a bridge, but…”

This was a broader stone bridge than I had expected, and a fine one at that.

Seeing that it was clearly built with the transport of large quantities of supplies in mind, the words “sabotage” floated into my head, but unfortunately I had no experience with that, and if one did it, doing so under cover of darkness was the basic rule.

This time, there had simply been no opportunity for it, so I withdrew meekly.

Since Seizeria was a magic nation, I lightly probed for magic power with a casual sort of, “There’s probably some kind of magical something here, right?” and there really was.

Cursing the fact that I could no longer carry out destruction carelessly, I turned my back on the bridge and started running.

I had seen what I needed to see, so there was no point lingering.

My camouflage ability was not perfect either, so I wanted to get out of Seizeria’s sphere of influence as soon as possible.

As I ran, I glanced sideways at the makeshift-looking forward base.

Even if the wall was shabby, it was frustrating that I could not see inside, and after witnessing sturdy men carrying axes cutting down trees near the base, I grew anxious over whether it was really all right to remain so leisurely.

After all, it would be best to have Gust do his best.

Once that was decided, I would head back north.

I had not yet finished exploring the surrounding area, so even if I returned a little early, there was still plenty left to do.

Because of this giant body, if I moved through the forest, the traces I left behind would be obvious.

That meant they could know how far I had gone and what I had seen… but this, at least, could not be helped.

Once I had put a suitable distance between myself and Seizeria’s forward base, I changed my course north.

For the time being, I would also continue exploring around here as I returned to the basement that had become my provisional eastern base.

I had left myself enough time, so I ought to make it in time for the trade.