The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 212
A puzzled silence fell over them. Dorofei asked vacantly.
“Mr. Elliot, is that really true? That the tracking point is here…?”
“I’m not sure either. The magic I cast on the blood stone earlier flew off to some strange place like the Magic Continent. Plus, this blood stone. It was made with your blood, right?”
Gaspar nodded with a stern expression.
“Then it could be because of you. Since it was made with your blood, logically the tracking magic would have to point to you. That’s why I said the results would be uncertain if I cast tracking on the blood stone.”
“Hmm.”
Gaspar groaned and glared at Elliot with sharp eyes.
“For someone saying that, your expression suggests you have other thoughts.”
“…”
“Tell me straight.”
Elliot responded with a somewhat bitter expression.
“The magical wavelength pointed to some location that wasn’t you. If it were tracking you, the wavelength wouldn’t have taken that form.”
“Then I suppose we can consider the tracking successful.”
“I’ll say it again – it’s an unstable result. The tracking might not have gone far because it was drawn to you.”
“I don’t care. It’s enough that we got even a small lead.”
“Well then, I have nothing more to say.”
At that moment, Dorofei hurriedly interrupted.
“Wait, Mr. Gaspar! It’s strange that Ms. Yumir would be here!”
“Why is that?”
“Because I’ve searched Uland thoroughly. Since Ars couldn’t find Erina, I thought I might be missing something too, so I spent all my spare time investigating the city. Ms. Yumir has such a distinct characteristic of being a pregnant beastkin, there’s no way I could have missed her. I think the result must be unstable like Mr. Elliot said.”
“Searched thoroughly…? What about underground?”
“Pardon?”
“I heard there’s a special facility built by the Alliance underground in Uland. I heard it’s mainly used for slave trading and black market dealings that are difficult to conduct above ground.”
“Haha…. I don’t know where you heard such rumors, but there’s nothing like that here.”
“Oh really? Your colleague here doesn’t seem to think so.”
Elliot’s face twitched. He lightly clenched his teeth.
“Gaspar, was it? Where did you get that information?”
“I once dealt with some slave hunters. Tortured one of their higher-ups nearly to death. It was to find someone called Aggert who had been captured.”
My mother, who had been rescued by Gaspar back then, widened her eyes.
“He spilled everything quite easily. About Uland’s underground market.”
“That person you tortured was probably a high-ranking Alliance member.”
“So what?”
“…Did you kill him?”
“What does it matter whether I killed him or not?”
“As a member of the same Alliance, I can’t just let this slide.”
“Hah, want to try me? You little nobody.”
“It would be a big mistake to think I can only use tracking magic.”
As killing intent swirled, I stood protectively in front of mother and mediated between them.
“Gaspar, that’s enough.”
“Tch.”
“Mr. Elliot too. The slave hunter incident would be something the Alliance couldn’t publicly acknowledge anyway, right? Besides, Gaspar probably didn’t know that when he killed him.”
Elliot let out a light sigh.
“True, I wasn’t fond of the slave hunting either….”
“More importantly, does this underground market Gaspar mentioned really exist?”
“It does. Something ordinary people couldn’t even imagine.”
“Just to ask – did that magical wavelength from earlier possibly point underground?”
“Don’t know. Magic usually has properties that make it absorbed into the ground, so even if it pointed underground, I wouldn’t be able to tell. But since Dorofei confirmed he checked everywhere above ground, underground is the only possibility left.”
“How do you get in there?”
“You need at least Alliance member status.”
Eyes turned to Dorofei for a moment. But Elliot immediately shook his head.
“That’s just the minimum requirement – having that doesn’t mean you’ll be let in. First you need an invitation, and qualifying for that is difficult. For a rookie like Dorofei to get qualified… Well, it might take about a year.”
“That seems short for how grand you made it sound?”
“That’s because this one is a Teleportation Skills Mage. Usually it would take 30 years. In fact, most people don’t get invited even after 30 years.”
From what I heard about gambling dens and fighting arenas, it seemed like a VIP entertainment district of sorts.
“There’s no way for you all to get invitations right now. And saying this, you’ll probably…”
Elliot looked at Gaspar’s and my expressions, then sighed deeply.
“You’ll probably try to break in anyway.”
“We can’t just sit around doing nothing.”
“Stop it. The security there is handled by the Alliance’s elite.”
“As it happens, we’re not lacking in ability either.”
“That’s what worries me….” Elliot hung his head. “Fine. Fine. I’ll try to do something. Despite appearances, I’m in a position where I can at least get an invitation. You just need me to get out that pregnant beastkin called Yumir, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Let me warn you – I can’t force her out. That place isn’t managed by our Alliance. If it can be resolved with money, I’ll do that, but if not, there’s nothing I can do.”
“Then I’ll find a way myself.”
“Sigh, how did I end up with this task? Dorofei, you owe me big time for this.”
With that conclusion, Elliot didn’t delay. Not wanting to drag things out, he headed straight for the underground market that very night.
***
After Elliot headed to the underground market, we had some time to spare.
I decided to use this time to explore this place called Uland.
Since I couldn’t show my face openly, I walked through the city in disguise, with a hood pulled over my head.
‘So this is Uland, the Alliance’s core stronghold….’
It was the city where the ‘Seeker’, the highest-ranking Alliance, had their meeting hall.
The city had quite a free atmosphere. While the kingdom’s capital Baien had a strong character as a city of academics and nobles with strict security and quiet nights, this place became more lively as night fell.
Dorofei said with a bitter smile, “It’s this active at night. I never would have thought there’d be an underground market too.”
“There’s no limit to entertainment.”
“Hmm, if we were to compare it to somewhere in our Magic Continent, would it be like Karten in Crossing?”
The metropolis Karten. Territory ruled by Juras.
“Even though it looks similar, that place is well-organized. It doesn’t have disorderly or illegal facilities like here.”
“Well, the Alliance has little public authority.”
“Rather, they’re directly operating something like an underground market.”
At my scathing comment, Dorofei replied defensively, “S-still, the Alliance isn’t a bad place. Alliance members work together to help people in need and even eliminate monsters for free. At least our Alliance citizens live well without complaints.”
“That’s probably true for most. Otherwise, the Alliance system couldn’t have been maintained.”
Dorofei, perhaps trying to change the mood, bought some dessert from nearby.
“It’s called Mirdan, and they only sell it here. Try some.”
“Oh, it’s delicious. I should buy some when we return to Baien.”
“Get some tea leaves too. They have lots of good ones here.”
Eating something sweet seemed to ease the tension.
Dorofei smiled contentedly and murmured while looking into the distance, “Ms. Yumir. I really hope we find her.”
“Not ‘hope’ – we will find her. Whatever it takes.”
“Haha…. Well, if you say so, Ars, it’ll probably happen. After all, you’ve already found almost everyone, right? The only ones left are Princess Melodie, Aggert, and….”
Olaf and sister Julia. Plus Ash’s lover Lysithea.
“Sigh…. That might be a long-term battle.”
The fact that there were no clues after about six months meant they were at least somewhere beyond my consciousness. Like Yumir is now.
“Hey, don’t be negative. I believe you’ll find them soon. I believe in you.”
When Dorofei says it like that, I really feel like I can do it.
“Look how late it’s gotten. Let’s head back. We don’t know when Mr. Elliot will return. It would be good to get some proper rest tonight.”
“That would be better.”
When we returned to the abandoned mansion with Dorofei, that’s when it happened.
Elliot, whom we thought would take longer, returned with a tired face.
It had been 6 hours since he headed to the underground market.
“Haa, haa…!”
He was breathing heavily. When Dorofei offered water, he gulped it down.
“Phew! Now I can live.”
He seemed more mentally exhausted than physically tired.
Trying to suppress the anxiety brushing against my chest, I asked him, “You’re back earlier than expected. Judging by your look, I guess there’s no good news.”
“Right, there’s a problem. Yumir, was it? I think I found someone similar. When I asked around about pregnant beastkin, there seemed to be about five. Among them, there was a woman who matched the conditions you mentioned.”
“…! And then?”
“That’s as far as I got. I tried to approach the woman but was stopped.”
“Is it a top-secret facility?”
“The facility itself is ordinary. It’s where they distribute and prepare food for the underground market. But the people managing it are far from ordinary. Have you heard of the Alliance called Roar?”
“Roar…?”
“Well, I suppose it can’t be helped if you haven’t heard of it, as it’s not a widely known Alliance name. To cut to the chase, they’re a particularly sensitive group even within the Alliance. Their executive members are composed of radical beastkin, and their unity is incredible.”
That reminded me of the western beastkin groups. The beastkin who hated and massacred humans.
‘But this world doesn’t really have discrimination.’
With monsters as a common enemy, racial discrimination hasn’t become prominent.
As if reading my thoughts, Gaspar quietly whispered, “It’s not that there’s no discrimination at all. Ars, have you ever seen any beastkin among the nobles of the Ellan Kingdom?”
“…Now that I think about it, no.”
And similarly, their poverty rate was actually higher.
Elliot waited for our conversation to end before continuing, “From what I can tell, this Yumir person you’re looking for seems to be related to Roar. And if that’s the case, money won’t solve it. You’ll need to somehow negotiate with Roar’s executives to get her back.”
“If it were that easy, you wouldn’t be telling us this.”
“Right. They’re unlikely to be cooperative. Plus, it seems there are quite a few people caught by slave hunters in that facility. They won’t easily let anyone out.”
“Hmm….”
This was troublesome.
If we were certain Yumir was there, we could use extreme methods to rescue her, but we weren’t sure yet.
If we raided the place only to find someone who just looked like Yumir, the disappointment would be immense.
Not to mention, dealing with the aftermath wouldn’t be easy.
“…”
As I hesitated, Gaspar pressed, “What are you wavering for, Ars? We can worry about failure when it happens! This is the only lead to finding her! Are you really going to hesitate?”
“…Alright. Gaspar, I’ll leave the preliminary preparations to you. If we’re doing this, let’s do it with a bang.”
“Khah, that’s right. That’s more like you. Who are we calling?”
“We should select only those capable of close combat. Master Ilya, Gunther, Ash, Elena. Plus you and me. We’ll raid with six people.”
“I’ll contact them right away.”
Dorofei, who had been blankly watching the situation unfold, suddenly came to his senses and exclaimed, “You’re going to raid the underground market?!”
“What other choice do we have? We’ll have to take it by force.”
“But…”
“Don’t worry. We’re not planning to start a war.”
This was a covert and precise raid operation. In modern terms, it would be like an intelligent bank heist.
Elliot shook his head, “This isn’t really something you should be discussing in front of me…. Sigh, as long as there are no casualties, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything. Just don’t be too extreme.”
Now that we had the outline of the operation, we needed more thorough preparation.
I decided to return to Baien first to consult with the other companions.
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