A while after that, we had our strategy meeting.
"Well then, let's begin the second strategy meeting since arriving in Milishion."
The location is the bar.
Thinking about it, today I haven't moved one step from the bar.
This bar is comfortable. There aren't many guests, as well.
"Didn't we have one just the day before?"
Eris isn't angry anymore.
I had thought that she'd be shutting herself up in her room, sulking, but she came back after about 10 minutes.
The speed at which she's able to switch moods is something that I'd want to learn.
"The situation has changed. Specifically, we no longer need to earn money. As a result, I think we should leave Milishion in the near future."
Receiving 20 Royal Notes means that we don't need to work for money anymore.
As for information gathering, I've heard what I needed to from Paul.
Regarding the Supard race's reputation, for the moment we'll be putting it on hold.
What this means is that the number of things that we can do in this town have decreased to almost nothing.
I summarize this to them.
Regarding the situation in the Fedoa region, I had been hesitant in discussing it with Eris.
However, I braved it and told her.
Rather than getting to the scene of the incident, and then tasting despair, it'd be better to prepare ourselves, starting now.
"Eris, it seems that our home town doesn't exist anymore."
"Right."
"It seems that Philip-sama and Sauros-sama still haven't been found either."
"It can't be helped, huh?"
"We basically don't know Ghyslaine's whereabouts either, and it's possible that..."
"You know, Rudeus..."
Eris crossed her arms, raised her chin and looked at me.
"I've already prepared myself for that much."
There was no hesitation in Eris's eyes.
They were eyes that as usual, held great strength, arrogance, and not a single doubt about her future.
It's not that she had forgotten, but that she had prepared herself.
That's what she had said.
"Though I think Ghyslaine is alive somewhere, it wouldn't be strange if Otou-sama and Ojii-sama are dead, huh?"
She said with a snort.
In other words, because it was tough for her when she had been teleported to the Magic Continent, she had already anticipated that others might have died. The situation should be something like that, huh?
No, she might be putting on a tough front.
It's hard to tell apart the times when she's putting up a front, and the times when she really does have confidence.
"After all, even though you'd been hiding it from me, Rudeus, I already knew it all along."
I have no idea what she had supposedly known, but I don't feel like she's putting on a front at all.
Eris has been in her own way, considering various things.
In other words, the person who had completely forgotten about Fedoa, was just me, myself.
It's kind of shameful, huh?
"Is that so? I understand."
As you'd expect of Eris.
While thinking this, I continue the conversation.
"At any rate, I was thinking that we'd leave town in about a week, but..."
"Are you fine with that?"
The one who asked that was Ruijerd.
"What's wrong?"
"Once we begin our journey, there's the possibility that you'll never see your father again."
"We've ended up talking about something pretty unlucky again..."
Because Ruijerd says it, the significance is a little different than usual.
Still, it's not like we're in a war at the moment.
On the contrary...
"Because there are family members who we might never see again if we don't search for them, I'd like to prioritize them instead."
"Is that so? That's right, huh?"
With Ruijerd assenting to this, we finally start on our main topic.
"For the rest of our journey, let's focus our activities on information gathering."
As expected, I think the amount of time we should stay in each town is roughly a week.
However, during that time we won't be earning money, but instead focusing on gathering information.
What we'll be looking for is primarily the teleported people.
The journey between Milis and Asura.
In this world, this is the journey with the largest number of travelers, and the largest number of merchants; it's this world's Silk Road.
Naturally, there are probably members of the search party investigating along it.
However, there's the possibility that perhaps we might be able to find something that our predecessors hadn't.
Redeeming the Supard name we can do someway or other, whilst carrying out this search operation.
However, the name 『Dead End』 isn't well known on the Milis and Central Continents.
We'd better have another thought about just how we're going to sell the Supard name.
"The problem is the voyage fee, huh?"
In this world, the act of crossing the seas itself has a special meaning.
Though there are countless ways of dealing with entry into another country when it's a land route, it's only the seas that are difficult to cross.
Especially for a Supard.
"Regarding that, Rudeus, have a look at this."
What Ruijerd produced was a single piece of paper.
It was the envelope from yesterday, that I had given up on trying to see.
I take it and have a look.
The words 『To Duke Baqciel』 are scrawled across the front.
On the back is a seal of red wax.
The design on it might be a family crest.
It gives a truly unrefined feeling.
"This is?"
"It's something that an acquaintance of mine wrote for me, yesterday."
An acquaintance.
Now that it's mentioned, Ruijerd did say that he'd be going to meet with an acquaintance.
"What kind of person is your acquaintance?"
"A man named Gouache Brush[12]."
"What's his occupation?"
"I don't know. He seems pretty important."
I'm told that he met Gouache over 40 years ago.
It was on the Magic Continent.
Ruijerd had saved a group that was being attacked by monsters, and Gouache was among them.
At the time, Gouache was still a child and so looked on Ruijerd with fear and hostility, but it seems that by the time they had parted, they'd become relatively friendlier.
When he had finished escorting them to town, he was told that if he ever came to Milishion, he should visit, but because there was never the chance to, he had forgotten. However, it seems when we were circling the town to get to the Adventurers District's Entrance, he had suddenly seen with his 『eye』 and had remembered.★
As a result, he had felt that he may as well visit, but there was the chance that perhaps Gouache had forgotten. It seems that while carrying that anxiety in his chest, Ruijerd had approached him, but upon doing so, Gouache had remembered him as if a matter of course, and had greatly welcomed him.
Though he had planned to leave things with just a greeting, the two of them hit it off.
After talking about the journey up until now, it seems that he had said,
'Well then, when you get to Westport, show them this.'
Hitting it off with Ruijerd.
I wonder if he's someone a bit like Gustav?
Someone who'll immediately write a letter, and seems to be of important standing...
Hm, I want to try sneaking a peek inside, but it does certainly seem that breaking this seal will invalidate the contents of the letter, huh?
"This Gouache person is probably a noble, right?"
"He did have a lot of subordinates."
Subordinates.
It's quite a Ruijerd-ish way of putting things.
They're probably servants or something.
'A lot' is also quite vague.
Be that as it may, at any rate, he's Ruijerd's acquaintance.
It wouldn't be strange even if he turned out to be a Devil King candidate, aiming at the king.
"Did you go to his house?"
"Yeah."
"Was it big?"
"Pretty big, I guess."
"How big was it?"
"Not as big as the Kishirisu castle, I guess."
Kishirisu Castle.
For it to be smaller than this means that it isn't the White Palace in the middle of the lake.
It seems that as expected, they aren't royalty.
But it's something whose size is comparable, huh?
Hmmmm.
It's Ruijerd's acquaintance.
I don't think he'd be a bad person, but...
According to Paul, the noble in charge of the customs house hates the Magic Race.
If this acquaintance's standing is something half-assed, then there's the possibility that handing over the letter will cause problems.
It might be better to find out who this Gouache person is.
No, but there's the happy expression that Ruijerd made when he produced the letter.
I'd hate for us to end up discussing trust again, after having come up with stupid ideas about Gouache.
Well, whatever.
At any rate, I can't think of any other way of doing things.
I'll just let Ruijerd save face here.
Then I'll secretly ask Paul about the name Gouache later.
"I wouldn't mind even if we left tomorrow though, you know!"
I smiled wryly at Eris' comment, and ended the strategy meeting.