Chapter 244

Yuri's guess that a good amount of information would be gathered within a couple of days was easily overturned.

Three hours after Yuri had ordered the gathering of information through the guild chat room, some information had already been gathered by the hands of the <Nadeshiko>.

In the office, Yuri received a report from Partita, the captain of the <Nadeshiko>.

“Does your master know the location of the city of Yose?”

“…I honestly don't remember. It's one of the cities in the Yuri Empire… although I think it was in the northern part of the former Eldard Kingdom.”

“You are right, Master. Yose is the most northerly city in the former Eldard Kingdom. Of course, it's also the northernmost city in the current land of the Yuri Empire.”

The majority of the former Eldard Kingdom territory is a long, east-west stretch of land that stretches south of the Great Forest.

It is said that Yose is the northernmost city in this northern stretch of land.

“It's the farthest city from the capital, Yuritania, among the cities of the Yuri Empire?”

“That's correct. Of course, it is farther from the city of Hourai, which is the base of the air transport. And since you can't fly from Hourai to Yose in a straight line, you'll have to take a little detour.”

“…Can't fly in a straight line? Why?”

“Because if you fly straight, you'll pass over the Great Forest on the way.”

“Oh, I see…”

The Loftsdrake is not a very strong demon. So, if you are attacked by a demon that has escaped from the ‘extermination’ on the way, there is a good chance that you will not be able to escape and will be dropped.

This is why Hourai Air Transport, run by Rubetta, has a requirement of level 40 when recruiting Loftsdrake riders. The reason is that with this level of skill, even if you are damaged by falling from a Loftsdrake in flight, you will be fine.

However, safety can only be expected if the destination of the fall is a normal land.

If you fall into the “Great Forest,” which is filled with “miasma” that makes people sick and is also home to many high-level demons, you will not be safe.

Therefore, as a rule, Hourai Air Transport does not fly over the “Great Forest” in case of emergency. To be safe, we always take an air route that bypasses the forest.

Well, in reality, there is no miasma or demons in the outer edges of the Great Forest, so there is no particular danger.

Although the Loftsdrake is slower than other flying demons, it can still reach speeds of up to 80 kilometers per hour. Even if you avoid the entire forest for safety reasons, it doesn't add much flight time.

“I know the location of the city of Yose and the air route from Hourai.

So… have you found the unreturned Loftsdrake?”

“Yes, we've already found it. The remains of the Loftsdrake 11 kilometers south-southwest of the city of Yose.”

“Cause of death?”

“Arrow wounds. More than thirty arrows were lodged in the body of the Loftsdrake. There were also two spear thrusts, presumably to finish it off.”

“The possibility of an accidental death has been eliminated.”

If there were a large number of arrows sticking out of it, it would be obvious that it was the handiwork of a human being.

There is also the possibility that it was a demon with a body similar to that of a human being. At this point, we have not received any reports of such demons appearing in the vicinity.

Yuri heard that goblins do appear, though. The goblin's arrows should not be able to shoot down the Loftsdrake.

“Is there anything suspicious about the Loftsdrake's remains?”

“There is one thing that is obviously wrong. The only thing that has fallen at the site is the carcass of Loftsdrake, but there is no body of the rider.”

“So it's possible that the rider is still alive?”

“No. We have confirmed that there is a large amount of blood on the ground nearby, not from Loftsdrake. Unfortunately, judging by the amount of blood loss, I'm pretty sure that the rider was killed as well.”

“I see…”

Yuri hopes that the people will be okay, but unfortunately, it seems that there is no hope.

Yuri let out a big sigh and changed his mind. Instead of being discouraged, he should first make the necessary decisions and give the necessary instructions as the head of state.

“Do you have any idea who did it?”

“The bloodstains that seemed to belong to the rider continued to dot the forest side. We believe that the body was taken into the forest, so we suspect that it was done by some elves who live on the outer edge of the Great Forest.

We are currently sending 24 people from <Nadeshiko> to investigate the outer edges of the forest. I'm sure we'll have additional information soon.”

“You're very good at what you do… Oh, and if you don't mind, could you take one of my sylphs to the site?”

“Yes. I'll send 12 more people to support you later, and I'll order them to accompany the sylph.”

Once we send the beasts, we can register the area as a【 Transfer Point 】.

You can fly to the city of Yose through the【 Transfer Gate 】, so it won't be too much of a hassle to move from there. It would be more convenient to travel directly to the site anyway.

“I would like to confirm once again that the corpse of Loftsdrake is still there, with the arrow still in it?”

“Yes, we have not been instructed to remove them, so I'm sure of it.”

“That makes it easy to find out who did it. Partita, I'm sorry, but could you please go to Hourai now and ask Amaterasu for help?

If you explain the whole situation and say, “I'd like to accept your pledge,” I'm sure they'll understand right away.”

“Oh―――I see. Surely, then, we can quickly identify the culprit.”

I understand. I'll request cooperation immediately.”

“Please.”

Yuri watches Partita's back as she walks out of the office.

(……As expected, it turned out to be troublesome…)

Yuri let out a second sigh as she thought about it after the door to the office was closed.

Now that the people of the Yuri Empire had been harmed, it was no longer something that could be overlooked.

This matter should be thoroughly dealt with to give the leader proper retribution.