“Y-yes, sir…we’ve sent numerous messages, but he is still yet to respond…”
Raul was irritated.
The reason for that was Luke, the older brother that he had already presumed dead. According to the rumors being spread in the territory, Luke has built a magnificent city in a wasteland.
In order to ascertain the truth, an order to investigate was given to the governor nearest to that wasteland. That governor had sent a report that denied any authenticity to that rumor.
However, instead of the rumor dying down due to its falsehood, it has only gotten more widespread as time passed.
This was certainly odd, so another investigation was requested. But unlike before, the governor in question hasn’t made any response whatsoever, even after repeated requests.
“Given this lack of cooperation, I think it’s possible that Governor Dant has defected to Luke-sama’s side…”
“Tsk…he’s a mere governor; how dare he defy me!”
Further amplifying Raul’s anger was the fact that, even at this point, they still couldn’t tell how true the rumors were, if at all. After all, each and every person they themselves sent to investigate has failed to return.
Funnily enough, the only report they have is the one from Governor Dant.
“Maybe the rumors are true, especially the parts about the city having delicious food and comfortable homes, and that’s why none of our teams have returned…”
“Preposterous! That wasteland’s so barren, it’s impossible to grow even a single crop! Plus, it’s surrounded by monster-infested areas! And even if they can somehow solve those things, how can he build a city like that in just a year!”
Raul barked so toward his retainer.
At that moment though, a man Raul didn’t know entered the room.
“Who’re you? I’m busy right now, so you better not be here for something trivial.”
“R-Raul-sama…this man is a subordinate of Governor Dant.”
“What?”
The man apparently has come to report to Raul about Governor Dant’s treachery.
“I-I’m risking my life to be here…if I get found out, I don’t know what fate will befall me…even so, I’ve decided to risk it all for you, R-Raul-sama…”
“Your plight is of no interest to me. Now, do you have something for me about your master’s treachery or not?”
“I-I do. Here, sir…”
The document that the man produced supposedly contained Governor Dant’s information about the so-called city in the wasteland.
Upon looking it over though, Raul concluded that the things written there were just too unbelievable for Raul.
“Two layers of walls, each one better than those in the royal capital, a population of at least 10,000, a dungeon… what is this nonsense!? You, you have the gall to show me this nonsense!?”
“I-i-it’s not nonsense! If it was, the governor wouldn’t have bothered keeping it safe within his room, right?”
Raul still thought that the document was unbelievable, but he also couldn’t help but feel anxious.
If this is somehow true…
“Send a team to the wasteland again! But this time, have them pose as immigrants!”
“Y-yes sir!”
“And if the chance presents itself once they’re inside… tell them to kill that Luke bastard.”
◇ ◇ ◇
“It’s really there…”
“But what’s with those walls? Wasn’t this place supposed to be built just a year ago or something…?”
“Yeah, this road’s odd as well. Something like this should take several years to build, right…”
While advancing through the road in the wasteland, a certain group was wildly baffled.
The group was initially half-convinced that their mission was a fool’s errand. And so, as soon as they saw the city, they were so shocked that they have forgotten about their objectives.
“That Luke-sama built this…?”
“So that governor’s report wasn’t true, after all…”
“How could they have hidden a city like this…w-we should go tell Raul-sama right away…”
Yes, this group was an investigation team dispatched by Raul.
“I’ll gather more information about that city. You guys go ahead and return to the capital to report to Raul-sama.”
So said the veteran spy to his subordinates.
He had infiltrated a countless number of places before, and obtained valuable intelligence. It could be said that he has contributed a lot to the rapid rise of the Albert house.
And from time to time, he also did assassinations…
“…it seems like I’ll have to dirty my hands this time as well.”
The other members of the investigation team had no idea of this objective, as only the veteran spy was given this instruction directly by Raul.
However, before the others could leave…
“““…huh?”””
The ground they were standing on all of a sudden just vanished.