Volume 4 Chapter 18 The Great Villain Of The World, Finding The Hideout Of The Suspicious People
──From Tenhou's Perspective──
"Is this really the hideout of the suspicious people...?"
The save point cave actually exists.
It was hard to find in 'History of Swordmaster,' and it's the same in real life.
The trees around it are thick, making it hard to spot.
If you didn't know there was a cave here, it would be tough to find.
At the entrance of the cave, there are remnants of a campfire.
On the ground, there are marks from horse hooves.
It seems this cave was someone's hideout.
There are other signs that people lived here.
For example, on a branch next to the cave, pieces of wood are hanging down.
There are more than ten of them. Pieces of wood are dangling from branches everywhere.
The surface of the wood pieces has marks as if something hit them.
These were probably used for sword training.
I can tell because Shouou and I did something similar.
In our case, Master Raikou threw the wood pieces for us to cut down.
There are wooden stakes driven into the ground.
These are for standing on to train balance.
Maybe those suspicious people were training here.
I can kind of understand why they sneaked in past the guards.
There were several wooden tablets lying around in the cave.
They must have hurriedly packed up and left.
That's why they dropped some of the wooden tablets.
The wooden tablet had writing on it.
It showed the time and the number of soldiers.
There were other things written too.
"On the wall," "Number of soldiers guarding the south gate," "Shift times," and so on.
...Could this be the number of soldiers protecting Toukaku of the Eastern Town and their schedule?
But there were also names of other towns written on it.
Those had the number of soldiers guarding those towns and the schedule and routes for patrolling the roads.
"Could it be... that it has information about the soldiers in Toukaku and the nearby towns...?"
No way, right?
Soldiers' information is not something to be leaked to the outside.
If someone knows where the soldiers are stationed, they could take advantage of that.
They could choose a spot with fewer soldiers... climb the wall, and sneak into the town.
The patrol schedule for the roads is the same.
If they know when the soldiers are moving on the roads... it becomes easier to attack travelers or merchant groups.
It's simple. They just need to act when the soldiers are far away.
"Where did the information leak from? Could someone be spilling the info...?"
If that's the case... they must have snuck into Toukaku based on this information...
Heki Nei-san's sister and her husband being attacked means that the intruders had access to soldier information.
"...Is this the reason why Heki Nei-san joined the hero army in the game?"
The intruders are the enemies of Heki Nei-san's sister and her husband.
They had obtained information about the soldiers.
Only someone in a relatively high position could hand over such information.
Specifically, it's probably the captain of the defense in Toukaku... or someone above him.
I don't know why that person was leaking information.
But if it's because of them that Heki Nei-san's sister and her husband were killed... it's no wonder Heki Nei-san is angry.
He would be in despair over Aika Country, and I can understand why he would give up on the country.
He might even work with the traitor to bring Toukaku down.
The game's Kou Tenhou burning Toukaku's town might be related to this.
The higher-ups in Toukaku were connected to the bandits, and there was nothing he could do. The only way to cut off the roots of their evil was to burn the town down... maybe?
...Who did it? Who leaked soldier information to the suspicious person?
What are they thinking?
Don't they realize that this will cause trouble for everyone around them?
I don't know who the culprit is.
I mean, I just got assigned to Toukaku...
"I guess I'll have to ask Heki Nei-san and Shuu-san."
I don't want to share such useless information with them.
But this is something I have to do.
If the suspicious person is a user of the 'Fake Five Gods' similar to 'Five Divine Steps' and 'Five Divine Swordsmanship,' then it's not unrelated to me.
Thinking about that, I waited for Heki Nei-san and the others to arrive.
"What does this mean, Ri Kai-dono!!"
Heki Nei-san approached Ri Kai-san, the captain of the defense, holding a wooden tablet.
After that, I guided Heki Nei-san and the others to the cave.
I explained what I found there and what was written on the wooden tablet.
When Heki Nei-san received the tablet from me, his face turned pale.
In the next moment, he jumped on his horse and took off.
He was heading to Ri Kai-san.
I asked Shuu-san and his team of 6 to guard the cave.
There might be suspicious people coming back, and we needed to preserve the scene.
I quickly caught up to Heki Nei-san.
I was riding Sakugetsu, so there was no way a regular horse could shake me off.
While running alongside Heki Nei-san, I told him about the suspect's identity.
Heki Nei-san shared his own reasoning.
The one who has been governing Toukaku town until now is the eldest son of the Chou Family, Chou Shoukatsu
It seems that Ri Kai-san just recently became the captain of the defense.
It would be difficult for Ri Kai-san, who just took office, to make connections with the suspicious people.
Besides, Ri Kai-san is related to the Chou Family.
It's impossible for him to leak information to the suspicious people without the Chou Family's permission.
In other words──
"We should consider that the Chou Family is connected to the suspicious people... no, to the bandits."
I found a wooden tablet in the cave, and it was something the Chou Family gave to them.
That was Heki Nei-san's conclusion.
Then Heki Nei-san rushed back to Ri Kai-san──
──after clearing the area, he confronted Ri Kai-san.
"There's no way information about the town's defense could have leaked out!"
Heki Nei-san shouted, hand on his sword.
"Moreover, this wooden tablet contains information about the surrounding towns and villages. Only a few people could have access to such information! Were you involved in leaking it, Ri Kai-dono?!"
"I-I don't know! I had no idea!!"
Ri Kai-san shook his head, his face pale.
"More importantly, Heki Nei! Know your place!!"
"...What did you say?"
"How dare you question your superior as a subordinate!? Do you think such rudeness is acceptable?!"
"I'm ready to throw my life away!!"
Heki Nei-san shouted.
"I swore at my sister and her husband's grave. I will take revenge, even if it costs me my life! I made that decision 3 years ago!!"
"Heki Nei!!"
"Let me hear it, Ri Kai-dono. Were you the one leaking information? Or was it the Chou Family? What were you planning by connecting with the bandits?!"
"Heki Nei! Put away your sword!!"
"I'm not afraid of losing my life!!"
"Think about your niece!!"
Shaking, Ri Kai-san yelled.
"How will your niece be if you kill me!? There could be consequences for her too. Otherwise, she'll have to live as the relative of someone who killed their boss!! Is that really okay with you!?"
"...Are you using my niece's life as a shield? Have some shame!!"
"I'm telling you to think about your position!!"
"──I have something to say to Ri Kai-sama and Heki Nei-san!!"
I raised my voice.
"My step-sister's family was killed by bandits."
I said.
Ri Kai-san and Heki Nei-san looked at me.
After confirming that, I continued speaking.
"The surviving step-sister was deeply hurt. Even after being taken in by the Kou family, she hardly spoke at all. It was truly a miracle that she managed to recover."
The real Seirei is a good and honest girl.
Because her parents were killed, she was hurt──if the game's story went as planned, she would have become a villain.
It was just luck that she was able to change that fate.
"That's why I understand why Heki Nei-san, who lost her sister, feels angry. But... you shouldn't direct your anger at the wrong person. Heki Nei-san knows that it wasn't Ri Kai-sama who leaked information to the suspicious people, right?"
"Ri Kai-dono is a subordinate of the Chou Family. He must have been informed about the connections with the bandits!"
"That might be true. But didn't Ri Kai-sama want to stop it?"
"...What did you say?"
"If Ri Kai-sama was connected to the bandits, I don't think he would have ordered the soldiers to investigate."
After receiving a report about a suspicious person, Ri Kai-san started a search around the town.
With a large number of soldiers, it was a big operation.
If Ri Kai-san was working with the bandits, there would be no need for such a thing.
He could just tell me and Heki Nei-san to "search on our own."
"Isn't Ri Kai-sama's large-scale search meant to warn the bandits? 'Your presence has been revealed. You can't continue your usual dealings. Stay away from Toukaku'."
I looked at Ri Kai-san.
"Ri Kai-sama knew about the bandits. He was against connecting with them, but... he couldn't go against the Chou Family's wishes. So, he conducted a large search to warn the bandits to 'stay away.' Am I wrong?"
"......Kou Tenhou. You..."
Ri Kai-san looked at me with a pale face.
"I'm... frustrated. If you had been my subordinate before... we could have cleared everything up before it got to this point..."
Then Ri Kai-san slumped his shoulders as if he had given up.
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