Mob Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni
Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter #156
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 156: Trade
Following our discussion, we
finalized the details: the clone would be dispatched to Oragashima tomorrow.
Accordingly, the meeting with
the Guild was scheduled for tomorrow as well, and I decided to attend.
I had considered leaving the negotiations
with the Guild to Anna and the others while I scouted Ikebukuro, but I realized
I couldn't dive into dungeons while a subordinate was dispatched (crossing
floor boundaries cause them to vanish). Since I couldn't grind anyway, I chose
to sit in.
"Thank you very much for your time today."
The next day, at noon. We met
in a room within Anna’s Mayoiga, deployed just outside Hesperides.
Seated before me were Yaguchi,
the man who had visited previously, and a man said to be his superior. Both
bowed their heads in unison.
The other man looked to be a
decade or two older than Yaguchi. He was a middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper
hair and a slightly heavy build.
"I am Yaguchi, Section Chief of the
Large-Scale Dungeon Disaster Strategy Department, Support Division, for the
Tachikawa Branch of the Tokyo Adventurers' Cooperative Association. It is a
pleasure to meet you."
"...Yaguchi?"
Hearing the familiar surname,
I automatically reacted. Section Chief Yaguchi smiled and replied,
"Yes, this young man is my nephew."
"I see... Please, have a seat."
"Thank you."
Anna gestured for them to sit
down, and once they were settled, she immediately got down to business,
"Well then, Yaguchi-san... er,
Yaguchi-san, the Section Chief."
"Just 'Section Chief' is fine."
"Pardon me, then. Section Chief Yaguchi. Regarding
today’s agenda: you mentioned the acceptance of the evacuees?"
"Yes. ...However, before that, I must
confirm one thing: does everyone currently sheltered at this school intend of
relocating to the Guild?"
"At present, we aren't considering that."
"I see. May I ask why?"
"Is it necessary for us to answer that?"
Anna countered with a sharp,
assertive smile. Section Chief Yaguchi stole a quick glance at me.
"No, no, that's fine. It was just
something the higher-ups instructed me to ask, you see. Hahaha."
Section Chief Yaguchi gave a
hollow laugh before shifting gears,
"Now, then. Let us be frank with each
other. Honestly speaking, the current Tachikawa Shelter does not have the room
to accept new evacuees. We are already well beyond capacity."
So what was all that talk about
'everyone should evacuate to the Guild' before? Don't tell me you were just
after the Garden of Hesperides after all...
...Anna didn't bother asking that,
since the answer was obvious.
This discussion was about what
to do in light of that fact.
"So, you're saying you cannot accept even
a portion of the evacuees?"
"Correct. However, if it were only a temporary
arrangement, it might be possible."
"Temporary, you say?"
"Temporary."
The two emphasized the word
'temporary' as they spoke.
...In other words, “We, the Guild, will
teach those entitled evacuees a lesson about reality,” is what they’re
saying?
They would take the
disgruntled evacuees off our hands for a while and place them in an environment
far worse than this one, making them realize just how pampered they had been
under our care.
Once they were humbled by
reality, they’d become obedient to us.
Naturally, the evacuees'
impression of the Guild would plummet, but the Guild likely offered this as
part of their apology for these recent events.
" I see. Even a temporary stay would be a
help to us. However, since we’ll have to take them back eventually, doesn't
that leave the core problem unsolved?"
Anna was subtly demanding for
more compensation—or rather, 'support'. Section Chief Yaguchi nodded as if to
say “I understand."
"Yes, of course. The Guild will provide as
much support as possible. First, we will certify this school as a temporary
shelter and send relief supplies."
During the Angolmois, if an
adventurer managed to save civilians but couldn't evacuate them to a designated
shelter due to unavoidable circumstances, or if the Guild itself couldn't take
them in for some reason, the adventurer's location could be designated as a
temporary shelter.
In such cases, the
Self-Defense Forces (or the Guild, if the SDF was delayed) would provide food
and essentials based on the headcount.
Basically, it was a way of
saying, "Here's a bit of help; keep doing the hard work
yourselves."
“What specifically do you mean by 'relief
supplies'?”
“Primarily food and cards for defense...
However, since you seem to have plenty of food and adequate defense
capabilities, how about cutting those and increase the supply of daily
necessities instead?”
"We could always use more cards, though?"
"Even if I say ‘defense cards’, for a
temporary shelter, one C-rank card is typically the limit. Accounting for your
circumstances even to the utmost, three cards would be the absolute maximum..."
"Hmm. What about cross-space cards, like
Mayoiga?"
" My apologies, but cross-space cards are
outside the scope of support."
"I see. In that case, we'll pass on the
cards."
"Thank you for your understanding."
It was within expectations
that they wouldn't give us B-rank or cross-space cards. Therefore, Anna
withdrew without further insistence.
But is that all we can get right now? Just a
lesson for the evacuees and daily necessities?
Both are helpful, sure, but considering what
the Guild pulled, it feels insufficient.
If cards are too difficult, then maybe magic
items?
Just as Anna and I shared this
thought via eye contact, and Anna was about to bring it up, the Section Chief
spoke,
"...I am aware this is not exactly a
comparable offer, but as an alternative, if you have any electrical appliances
damaged by Mechanical Destruction or something similar, we'd be happy to repair
them free of charge."
This took us by surprise. Our
eyes widened slightly.
Repairing electrical appliances damaged by Mechanical
Destruction...? I’d heard that Mechanical Destruction is closer to a curse or
conceptual destruction—even if you replace the internal circuitry, they
mysteriously refused to work…
"Is such a thing even possible?"
"To be precise, would it be more accurate
to say 're-production' rather than 'repairing'? Machines broken by Mechanical
Destruction cannot be fixed by conventional means, but if you break them back
down to raw materials and build them again from scratch, they function
perfectly fine."
...I see. Not fixing, but creating it anew.
That might actually remove the curse of Mechanical Destruction.
"Does the Guild have facilities capable of
re-producing mechanical goods?"
"The Guild maintains underground factories
within the shelters. Each branch has basic production capabilities, but we also
have specialized equipment tailored for specific roles. One branch might have
underground farms, another handles clothing, and another focuses on daily
goods. It's simply more efficient to centralize production. And in the case of
the Tachikawa Branch..."
"You specialize in the repair—or rather,
the production—of mechanical products?"
Section Chief Yaguchi nodded.
I see. Each Guild branch is specialized in one
field.
The Guild used to have its own
distribution network by utilizing transfer gates. Essentially, thanks to these
gates, all the branches across the country effectively formed a cohesive
organization.
It was a rational setup: give
everyone basic survival tools, but specialize in one major industry.
Of course, that distribution
network had now been utterly destroyed...
"Regarding the re-production of mechanical
goods—for instance, if we scavenge machinery from somewhere, will you
re-produce those for free as well?"
"As long as the parts are all there,
certainly. Otherwise, we'll either charge a fee to re-produce it, or we'll buy
it from you."
"And what would the payment be?"
"We’d like to say cash or license charges
are fine… but unfortunately, given the current state of things, we’ll have to
ask for payment in Magic Stones."
So they’ve already switched completely to Magic
Stones as currency, huh.
Well, given the existence of food
production-type cards and the Authority of the Deity of Commerce, it's only
natural.
Still, they’re willing to re-produce scavenged
machinery for free, and they’ll even buy it off us?
From the Tachikawa Guild's perspective, this
might be a mix of an apology and a way to get us to do the local resource
salvaging for them. But considering my Hamelin's Flute...
I glanced at Anna and Oribe.
They both gave me a firm nod.
This kind of support is worth far more than
some mediocre magic item.
"We understand. We will take you up on
that. ...Is that all the support your side offers?"
"Yes. ..Ah, one more thing. If anyone on
your side commits a serious crime, the Guild is willing to take them off your
hands, if you’d like."
"Serious crime, you say?"
"Yes. We apologize, but we’ll have to ask
you to handle petty crimes yourselves."
The three of us exchanged
looks, falling into thought.
This... how should we read this? Is it a
genuine kindness because they think, "They won't be able to handle it,"
or did they want to deny us ‘judicial power’? But in that case, why leave
the petty crimes to us...?
Anna wore a troubled
expression for a moment before turning back to Section Chief Yaguchi,
" ...Would theft—specifically the theft of
cards or extortion—count as a petty crime?"
"Hmm... Taking the current state of the
world into account, I think treating those as serious crimes would be
appropriate? We’ll leave the specifics of that judgment to your discretion."
"What punishment will the Guild enforce
after taking them in?"
"Imprisonment, just like before Angolmois.
...Well, for the time being, at least."
"I see. ...May we have a moment to discuss
it?"
"Of course."
The three of us moved to a
separate room and, once a soundproofing barrier was deployed, Anna immediately cut
to the chase,
"What do you think?"
"Hmm... Is it kindness, thinking us
children can't handle it ourselves? Or do they want to keep judicial power for
themselves...?"
"It could be both, you know."
Oribe's words made Anna and I
both nodded.
It was only natural the Guild
would want to claim the power of judgment, getting a hold of authority.
But at the same time, they
probably thought "It would be a problem if the school collapse from
within." ?
Currently, the only large, organized groups in
Tachikawa are the Guild and us. Every other community likely perished or was
absorbed by either of us.
While we have our differences, we share the
common ground of protecting the powerless without treating them like slaves. And
we both share the reality of being at max capacity for evacuees...
If either were to collapse now, what would
happen?
If everyone just rolled over and died, that
might be the end of it. But if people stubbornly survived, there's a chance
that a powerful band of bandits would emerge.
Therefore, it's better for all involved if both
sides maintain their current loose cooperative relationship and continue to
exist. From the Guild’s perspective, they can still try to butter us up and
eventually absorb us peacefully... That would be the ideal scenario for them,
wouldn't it?
Judicial power is a crucial element in
community governance, but when people judge other people, resentment is almost
inevitable.
No matter how fair and appropriate the
sentence, the perpetrator will think it's “too heavy,” the victim will
think it’s “too light,” and both will doubt, “Is this judgment truly
just?"
That doubt will only be magnified when the one
passing judgment is a child.
We could do a public trial like they did on
Oragashima to create a sense of fairness, but that's a risky move too.
When faced with a perpetrator and a victim,
human nature makes people want to side with the victim. Without exceptionally
strong rationality, judgments tend to lean heavily in favor of the victim.
Since the masses are the ones demanding it, the
sentences would eventually escalate into something truly cruel.
It’s a straight path to a dystopia where even
the smallest offense is met with the death penalty.
Of course, reaching that point is rare;
usually, the community collapses long before that.
The Guild wants to avoid that mess, so they’re
leaving us with enough authority to handle the small stuff while offering to
haul away the criminals that are too much for us to handle.
"I don't really see a problem with that...
Basically, the Guild is providing a prison for us, right?"
When I said that, the other
two nodded deeply.
"To be honest, I don't want to have to
deal with criminals either. As for forced labor, it's only suitable for minor
offenses at best," Anna admitted.
"And for judicial power, as long as we can
handle the minor crimes ourselves, that should be enough," Oribe added.
Besides, where the line between ‘minor’ and
‘serious’ is drawn is up to our discretion...
" Then it's settled. ...Still, we didn't
manage to get any cards or magic items out of them," Anna regretted.
" Well, that was expected. Key Items are a
long shot, but I was hoping to get Vouivre Diamonds at least..."
As I said that, a flash of
inspiration hit me.
"Wait. Why don't we try suggesting a trade?
Using B-rank card."
【Tips】Guild Plants
Each Guild shelter is equipped
with a plant (factory), designed for long-term refuge or to serve as a ‘base
for civilizational revival’.
These plants are specialized
in a single function for each Guild branch.
This is because specializing
in one expertise allows for much more efficient production than attempting a
general-purpose setup.
Before Angolmois, the Guild
planned to use the transfer gate network to distribute goods produced at each
plant, ensuring a steady supply of various resources for everyone... or so it
was supposed to be.
Furthermore,
to prevent a domino collapse should any Guild branch become dysfunctional due
to unforeseen circumstances, a portion of the specialized plants can be
repurposed to produce a basic range of essentials. However, this would yield
only the bare minimum level in both quality and quantity.
***
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