Conflict in the City Alliance

Heading east along the highway between the mountains, they finally caught sight of the border checkpoint.

"Adventurers, huh… You're quite young."

Here too, Sei didn't use his ducal status. He'd been told in advance that adventurers could pass through normally.

"Halflings like me and other demi-humans often look young."

"Hmm… You don't have any guns? The treatment of adventurers is a bit different in the region ahead, so make sure to check and register as soon as you reach a town. You may pass."

They passed through the checkpoint without issue, and after continuing through the mountain road for a while longer, flat land finally came into view.

"We've finally made it this far…"

As his homeland drew near, Chaos let out a small sigh.

The City Alliance region. It was an area formerly known as the Seven Cities Alliance.

Due to geographical factors, it had escaped significant damage from past great wars and built a self-contained sphere of life within its borders.

Three thousand years ago, it was annexed by Lemdria, but it gained independence during the succession crisis there as well. Now with eleven major cities, they maintained an alliance, but whether getting along or quarreling, it was a region where political situations were complexly intertwined.

"So Sei, where are we heading?"

When Kukuri asked, Sei crossed his arms and thought. There were five Heroes in this region. And three of them were acting together. They were moving around from place to place.

Were they adventurers? Or, though he didn't want to think about it, they might have become bandits. Either way, they were a troublesome trio to deal with, but distance-wise, they were the closest.

"Head north. I'll decide after checking them on the map."

Even if their criminal record included murder, that didn't necessarily mean they were vicious. He might have to make another difficult judgment.

Upon reaching a town, Sei secured the best inn and immediately headed to the Adventurer's Guild.

Since they'd been told at the checkpoint, he thought he should first confirm the differences in treatment and register. That was his thinking.

But in the end, he only confirmed and didn't register.

The treatment of adventurers in this region was indeed different from previous regions.

Registered adventurers had an obligation to participate in wars.

It's not like he was a mercenary, so why should he get involved in conflicts between humans? That was Sei's judgment.

The rest of the group made the same judgment and didn't register. Even without operating as adventurers, they had enough money to live comfortably. In that case, it was better to just use the guild as an information source.

He came to the guild's information broker, saying he was looking for someone. He was a little surprised that the person in charge was a goblin.

"Is that a request?"

"Well, you could call it that."

"Hmm, do you have a name or distinguishing features?"

"I don't know. But I'd like you to tell me if there are any adventurers who've suddenly risen to prominence recently."

"That's not possible. The guild protects adventurers. I won't ask why you're looking for them, but I can't give out that information."

"I'll pay."

"… I can tell the adventurer in question that you're looking for them. But if you don't even know their name, there's no way to relay that."

Personal information seemed to be properly protected.

So then, Sei changed his thinking.

"Do you know anything about Heroes?"

At that question, the goblin man's eyes went wide.

"Heroes? You're searching based on fairy tales like that?"

It wasn't a fairy tale but reality, though it was understandable that he wouldn't believe it.

"I see… Sorry to bother you."

With no results, Sei left the guild.

"So, we have no choice but to search methodically using the map, but…"

In a room at the inn, Sei spread a map on the table and pondered.

The difference in scale between his map and reality. This was a major problem.

Sei's map had a radius of twenty kilometers. You could say that was a sufficiently wide range, but to search this vast region would require considerable effort.

"Hmm, if they're moving around various places, there's another possibility."

When told that, Sei's immediate thought was something peaceful like traveling merchants.

"Mercenaries."

Chaos's words were heavy.

This region had a mercenary guild.

There was plenty of guard and escort work. And above all, the greatest demand was for inter-city warfare.

Mercenary companies existed, and they would catch the scent of war and move to that region.

The combat power Heroes possessed was mostly specialized for one-on-one combat, but Gifts that could fight against groups weren't entirely absent either.

"If a trio is moving around, they're probably either adventurers or mercenaries."

And in this case, mercenaries would be easier to find.

If they were adventurers, they'd just be an ordinary trio, but if they were a mercenary company, their trail would be easier to follow.

"Can't be helped. Let's start moving tomorrow… Just in case, Lavi, is there any way to find Heroes?"

Sei asked, grasping at straws, but Lavi shook her head.

"But the map problem can be solved."

At those words, Sei's face brightened involuntarily.

"If you compare Mako's dot with those three's dots, you can tell which way to go."

Mako was a Hero. Her dot was shown on the map.

If they moved so that dot approached the other dots, even with the precision limitations of Sei's map, they could bridge the gap.

"That's right. Why didn't I think of that…"

"No, I didn't notice either."

Mako was nodding along, but that wasn't exactly something to be proud of.

The travel plans remained unchanged. But the destination was now clear.

Thinking how glad he was to have Lavi as a companion, Sei fell asleep once again with the two girls each holding one of his arms.

There were cities called Nakea and Neporo.

Both were influential cities, and there was bad blood between them.

When they were conquered three thousand years ago, Lemdria divided and ruled the cities of this region.

They differentiated treatment between cities, grouped races into mostly homogeneous populations, and made each city specialize in unique products.

Even so, during the war of independence they cooperated against Lemdria, but what came after was problematic.

What was particularly troublesome was that races were separated by city.

Not just the broad categories of humans, demi-humans, and demons, but even within those, demons and demi-humans were further divided.

There was also the concept of territorial separation, so that alone wouldn't necessarily be a problem.

But Lemdria skillfully advanced a policy of racial segregation. This, in an era when integration policies were the norm in other countries.

As a result, even now the city-states didn't get along well. They would go to war at the drop of a hat.

However, since they were in the same economic sphere and often needed each other's specialties, typically another city-state would quickly mediate and peace would be made.

Yet subtle economic disparities and racial differences prevented peaceful integration.

"Nakea is a human-dominated country, and Neporo is a goblin-dominated country. Both have high food production rates and don't depend on each other for anything, so war is more likely to break out."

Kukuri, who had done the research, even provided analysis.

Since both humans and goblins had reasonably high fertility rates, there was also a scheme to seize the opponent's farmland.

Sei thought that would indeed lead to war, and wanted to curse the Lemdria of the past.

"Whether as adventurers or mercenaries, they're definitely on the Nakea side."

Chaos said this while looking at Sei.

"We need to make contact as quickly as possible and get them to return before the war starts."

Most Hero Gifts became useless against human wave tactics.

For example, if Seal was used on the front lines, they'd be surrounded by more enemies than the ten people they could kill.

In that sense, Mako's Gluttony, which simply made her stronger, might be more versatile.

Somehow, Sei and the others arrived at Nakea before the war began.

Tents were already pitched around the city, decorated with the flags of various mercenary companies.

"They don't seem to be inside the city. So they really are mercenaries after all…"

Sei advanced with map in hand. Some of the mercenaries gathered around paid attention to them, but Chaos kept them in check with a glare.

"Found them…"

The Black Wolf Mercenary Company. The three were probably in there.

What Sei confirmed were three people with the Gifts of Infinite Magic Power, Life Creation, and Gravity Control.

One boy and two girls. They were in close proximity to each other.

"Man, every single one of them has such powerful Gifts… If they wanted to, they could each be a one-man army."

Considering their levels had increased, they'd probably been using them to some extent.

Especially Gravity Control. This one was brutal. Even with Sei's immortality, if he was launched into outer space, returning would be difficult. Even without that, just by blocking gravity, one could take on multiple soldiers.

When Sei confirmed the names with Mako, there was no mistake. The boy was only a classmate, but the two girls were apparently friends.

After confirming that much, Sei and the others entered the city of Nakea.

As always, they stayed at a high-class inn, finished their meal and bath, and now it was strategy time.

"So those three stick together? How's their contact with other mercenaries?"

"How… Normal, I guess? They seem to approach others occasionally, but basically they only act as a group of three."

"I see… This time might be easy."

"Huh? But there are three of them, you know?"

At that, Ria on the other end of the communicator let out a sigh.

"What did you think of traveling through this world? The food, baths, toilets, sleep, transportation, that sort of thing."

"Well… Food and baths I can manage on my own, but toilets are inconvenient. I don't like sleeping outdoors either, and the carriage was tough until I got used to it."

"For food and baths, you have the best environment this world can offer. After all, I gave you that much money. Toilets and sleep should be decent enough at high-class inns too. Can't do much about the carriage though."

"Yes, I think we're fortunate."

"Now then, what about those three mercenaries? The food and bath situation for ordinary mercenaries, toilets and sleep, and travel methods. How do you think it compares to your world?"

"Compared to Japan, it must be terrible, right?"

Once it was put that way, Sei started to understand what she was getting at. It was the same thing Keita had said when they sent him back to Earth.

"Plus there are two women among the mercenaries, right? Well, I don't know what the discipline of that mercenary company is like, but don't you think they'd feel their safety is at risk?"

"That's true. It would be natural for girls to feel anxious."

"The remaining guy is either earnestly protecting the girls or being fawned over with a girl on each arm, I don't know, but if they mostly stick together as three, they probably haven't fit in with their surroundings."

With each confirmation, Sei's confidence in persuading them grew.

"The remaining risks are being interfered with by surrounding mercenaries. With those three's Gifts, any mercenary company would want them. Also, while the probability is low, we should also consider the case where things get complicated and it comes to a fight."

Infinite Magic Power. As the name suggests, it grants infinite magic power, but if one's magic skills aren't high, the maximum output doesn't change, so it doesn't mean much. Carla should be able to completely shut it down.

Life Creation. It has levels. Meaning without raising the level, strong life forms like monsters couldn't be created. It would be different if they could create dragons, but otherwise it shouldn't be a problem.

Gravity Control. This also has levels. Either crushed by increased gravity or sent flying into the sky by negating gravity. For the former, Sei wouldn't have a problem, and for the latter, he could just slam his body into the ground with wind magic.

"I thought they all seemed strong, but when you think about it that way, they're not that much of a threat."

"There's nothing that beats combat experience. In fact, you took nearly infinite amounts of my magic and you're still alive, aren't you?"

A dry laugh escaped from Sei's mouth. Could you really say you're alive when you died once and came back?

Even thinking about the worst-case scenario, he seemed likely to survive. Bad news for Kukuri, but it didn't seem like it would make for a good poem.

"Understood. I'll do my best to persuade them while being prepared for combat."

"Yeah, I'm counting on you."

Thinking about facing three at once was scary, but thinking about it calmly, having three gathered together was actually convenient.

Of course, he wouldn't let his guard down. They might have been corrupted by this world and developed some strange obsessions.

"They probably haven't been living this well, after all…"

Lying down on the canopied bed, Sei fell asleep.