Chapter 201: The Kukkoro Male Knight and the Volcano Expedition

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After spending a night in the farming village, we returned to the city of Carrera. The on-site inspection had been one where unforeseen events occurred again and again, but being able to make contact with the Elves was a major gain. For the time being, in order to discuss our future direction, I had gathered the senior members of my vassal corps in the conference room of the lord’s manor.

“Anyway, we were overwhelmingly behind in the information war. Whether we pursued peace or war in this state, we would be at a massive disadvantage.”

“Even the country name New Elfenia Empire was something we had never heard before… Though at the moment, we cannot even be certain that such a nation truly exists.”

With a troubled expression, Sonia toyed with the cup of herbal tea in her hands.

“Relying on that single Elf as our only source of information is obviously a bad situation. The possibility that every word she said was a lie is low, but even if some fake information was mixed in, we would have no means of verifying it.”

“Exactly. Unless we secure an independent source of information as quickly as possible, we will continue dancing in Lady Dalaiya’s palm forever.”

We still did not know how much truth lay in Lady Dalaiya’s claims, but it was obvious that she was quite sharp. Her story about her age being over a thousand years probably wasn’t a lie, either. She looked terribly adorable, but as a negotiation partner she was unbelievably troublesome.

“That’s why our immediate objective is to make independent contact with the Elves, separate from Lady Dalaiya and her group.”

“I agree with that opinion. …However…”

With an awkward expression, Gilberto looked at me. She had been in charge of the Elf search, but until now, she had made absolutely no progress. Since this was her first job after transferring to the Blondin family, the lack of results seemed to be weighing on her.

“No matter how much more searching we do, I don’t believe we will be able to locate any new Elves… I am ashamed to admit something so pathetic, but this Liseben Forest is simply too much for our information-gathering ability. That is a fact we must acknowledge.”

Certainly, as Gilberto said, further investigation would yield nothing. This was not her fault, but because the Liseben Jungle was far too vast. It was like trying to find a single needle buried in a mountain of straw.

“It was impossible from the start to think we could fully search a forest this absurdly large with fewer than fifty men. Don’t worry about it. …Of course, I’m not saying we should recklessly expand our search range.”

“…Meaning?”

“The Rana Volcano. The one that supposedly erupted a hundred years ago and destroyed the Elven nation.”

I said that and then took out a map. On the brownish paper was drawn a peninsula shaped like a stump crudely cut down by an incompetent lumberjack. This was my domain, the Liseben Peninsula. Liseben remained largely unexplored, but through coastal surveying by ship, the general shape and area of the peninsula were known. Since this world’s surveying techniques were more advanced than those of the Age of Exploration in my previous life’s Europe, their accuracy was reasonably trustworthy.

“According to Lady Dalaiya, the Rana Volcano was located in the center of the Liseben Peninsula. For now, we’ll use wyverns to locate the mountain. It was a massive volcano that scattered ash across the entire southern region of Galea. If we search from the sky, it shouldn’t be that difficult to find.”

Pointing at the center of Liseben on the map, I continued. This peninsula was fairly large, but even so, a wyvern could cross it from end to end in about half a day. If we had a rough idea of the target’s location, finding one or two volcanoes shouldn’t be too difficult.

“Certainly, there are stories that the Elves’ former capital was near this Rana Volcano…”

Sonia looked down at the map with a thoughtful expression and tilted her head slightly.

“There seem to be two problems with this plan.”

“Let’s hear them.”

My stance was that objections and counterarguments from subordinates were always welcome. A leader surrounded only by yes-men (or yes-women?) was a pathetic sight. Naturally, Sonia, who had known me a long time, understood that perfectly.

“First: Even if it was the location of the former capital, it was also the site of a major eruption. And the Elves are a long-lived race. One hundred years would feel like yesterday to them. I do not believe they would still live in a place like that.”

“That’s certainly true. They wouldn’t build a new capital right on top of the old one that was buried in pyroclastic flow.”

If Lady Dalaiya’s words were accurate, the eruption was large enough to push the entire Elven tribe of Liseben to the brink of extinction. It would be natural for them to avoid building a city near the source of such a calamity.

“Even so, it’s hard to imagine that there would be no Elves near the volcano at all. They’d likely have set up some manner of observation post to avoid missing signs of a future eruption. If we fly wyverns around above them, they’ll probably take some sort of action.”

“I see.”

Sonia nodded and moistened her lips with herbal tea.

“Next, the second problem. The Liseben Peninsula is vast. On top of that, we have no confirmed landmarks to navigate by while flying. If we dispatch wyverns to such a place, the riders would get lost.”

“Indeed. I’ve received training as a dragon rider myself, but flying in a place without landmarks is impossible. Even veteran riders would be the same.”

Naturally, this world had no GPS. If a rider lost track of their current position mid-flight, they would become lost in no time. Thus, dragon riders navigated by landmarks, things like mountains, towns, and coastlines. But in an unexplored region like Liseben, that method could not be used.

“Yes, exactly. …But there are people who can pinpoint their location even on a vast ocean with no landmarks whatsoever.”

“…Star Guides.”

Sonia murmured softly. Star Guides were, as their name implied, one of the roles within the Star-Guiding Church, Galea’s national religion. The church itself originally developed from navigation techniques used for crossing the open sea. Naturally, its members mastered practical surveying skills. Among them, Star Guides were specialists in celestial navigation. They lived in facilities called asterism towers, performing tasks ranging from occult-like divinations to scientific weather forecasting. They were, in a sense, professionals of celestial measurement.

“That’s right. I had intended from the start to do aerial reconnaissance of inland Liseben. I already sent a request for a Star Guide to be dispatched from the nearest asterism tower. If we put that Star Guide in the back seat of the wyvern, we’ll be able to fly long distances safely even in unexplored areas.”

“…A Star Guide will come here? To Liseben?”

In the western continent, secular and sacred authority were separate. Realistically, a minor frontier lord asking for a Star Guide seldom had their request approved. However, I happened to have a high-ranking acquaintance in the Star-Guiding Church, so strings could be pulled. Connections truly were invaluable.

“Yes. Bishop Fiorenza sent the request for me. I also sent a messenger by wyvern to the nearest asterism tower early this morning…So the exploration flights should begin the day after tomorrow.”

“… ”

“… ”

The moment I mentioned Bishop Fiorenza’s name, Sonia and Gilberto exchanged extremely sour expressions.

…Huh? What was with that reaction?

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