Volume 2 Chapter 18 [Alliance SIDE] Throughout History, There's No Weakness Greater Than 'Unawareness'
In the Cedal Alliance's office, a calm voice echoed quietly.
"...So it's you. Sid."
"Yes, it's been 4 years, Pastor."
The man who suddenly appeared in the room was in his mid-forties.
He wore a white long coat over a black shirt and trousers, giving off the kind of 'solid, dependable guy' vibe──if it weren't for the faint, unsettling smirk curling his lips that ruined it all.
"Sir Pastor, this man is..."
"The one who handed over the blueprint for that 'mental abnormal resistance' magic item during a certain operation 4 years ago."
"Heh. Cedal, nice to meet you at last. I'm Sid, head of the workshop called 'Key of Pharos'."
"...So, what exactly do you want here?"
"Simply put, I've prepared a hideout and an escape route."
"What? An escape route?"
"You seem unaware, but this building's already surrounded."
"What!?"
Pastor hurried to the window and peered outside.
What met his eyes was a tight ring of burly men encircling the building.
"T-this is too fast... Is headquarters seriously ignoring all my past achievements?!"
"Forgot your colossal failure from 4 years ago? Well, you're in debt, too. I imagine they plan to write that off as well."
"Debt? What debt?"
"Have you forgotten your own orders? You said, 'Defeat the Demon Lord and reap a fortune ── so just gather the money, no matter what.'"
"T-that's... but taking on debt..."
"Even with your standing as an officer, aid can only go so far. That left you no choice but to borrow. The funds your plans required were truly enormous."
That 'huge failure'?
Above all, it was a matter of money.
Naturally, creating a whole batch of high-quality magic items from scratch comes with a massive price tag.
Procuring materials, transporting supplies, securing skilled craftsmen──
you're essentially buying people's time.
To cover those costs, and given just how difficult the task was, money was absolutely critical.
Not only did they need to gather magic items, but if they were going to 'assault a city ruled by a Demon Lord', they'd also need high-quality equipment.
Many underestimated the Demon Lord, but they knew he had 'a large number of incredibly powerful men' under his command.
Overcoming that required top-tier gear.
They needed to prepare for a siege, too.
Setting up proper defenses and ensuring a constant supply line was crucial when facing a city.
'Assaulting' a city sounded simple enough, but the larger the operation, the more astronomical the costs became.
And Pastor used his authority as an executive to push all of this forward.
But as everyone knew, the Adventurers didn't even get to fight.
The Demon Lord just strolled out of the city and... every single one of them was captured.
All the supplies they'd gathered became the Demon Lord's spoils.
...Such a massive screw-up.
The 'cleanup' alone would cost a fortune.
The number of craftsmen on the front lines was minimal, but a thousand A-rank Adventurers and merchants with the transport abilities necessary for the operation were captured.
On top of that, they lost all of their high-quality equipment.
The fallout from this disaster was catastrophic, and they still hadn't 'recovered' from it.
"I pretended to be a headquarters staff member and casually asked the hero community about your total debt, you see."
"How much? If it's around 10,000 gold coins, I can easily handle it──"
"One hundred million."
"...Huh?!"
"The preparations for the operation and the cleanup of the disaster. The debts accumulated 'before the chaos settled' totaled 100 million gold coins. You didn't know?"
That was ten thousand times the amount he'd thought he could easily handle.
No matter how many connections Pastor used, he couldn't pay this off.
"The preparation period for the operation was very long. The cleanup took a very long time. And, to 'focus on the operation', the budget paid to the Adventurers, merchants, and craftsmen was enormous. The prosperity of the high-class brōtḥels and high-class restaurants at the time was at a level rarely seen."
"...No way."
"Especially since the Adventurers were already fed up. They can't even challenge the Demon Lord just because they're male. Meanwhile, the hero communities──full of beautiful girls──are racking up achievement after achievement. And here they are, stuck doing nothing. So when this massive chance fell into their laps? No wonder they got cocky."
A thin, cruel grin deepened on Sid's face.
"That said, these 'cocky Adventurers' had no clue how to act in high-end brōtḥels or fancy restaurants. Naturally, this led to plenty of 'brōtḥels filled with broken women' and 'restaurants left in ruins.' The compensation costs piled up fast."
He chuckled darkly.
"And even with those damages paid, the staff at these places kept holding their tongues. Why? Because they told themselves they were 'sacrifices for the Demon Lord's defeat.' It's one thing if the Adventurers were just spoiled brats throwing money around, but if they convinced themselves they were heroes sacrificing for a cause? Well, it gave them pride──however misguided. Still, the reality was a massive failure. The only option to tame those furious establishments was to throw even more money their way."
"All that happened..."
"So, 100 million gold coins. Multiple executive members from headquarters came day after day, bowing low to the hero community. And the name on the loan? Pastor's. It's all on you."
"..."
No words could come out anymore.
"Still, if you choose to hide, that's probably the right call. Even if you're demoted to some minor branch in a small nation, there are plenty who'll want revenge. And now that you're no longer a headquarters exec, you can't even begin to imagine how many knives will be aimed at you."
"*Gasp──*"
"So yeah, that's why I'm setting up an escape route and a hideout for you."
"Wh-Why are you helping a loser like me? What's your angle?!"
"Well, that's for you to find out."
"...I'll take that deal. Get me out of here, Sid."
"Understood. Heh heh."
That day, Pastor and Cedal suddenly... vanished.
They'd had a promise: 'Write off the debt if demoted.' But Ellie said a bunch of things, and for now, it was put on hold.
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