Not long after that, the Wild Hunters came to the coffee shop one by one.

　Gandalf and Eil, the elves, hadn't changed in appearance, but the remaining two--especially Kargahime--had undergone a major change in appearance.

　She was about the same age as Sakura, or a little older.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this in the future.

''Oh, I don't see any Fraxinus. Don't tell me you've overslept?
'He'd be on his way there with Alphasul as an advance party. You said you had something on your mind.

　Gandalf replies to Hyannil woman, who has the same tone of voice as before despite her appearance, while Gandalf plays with his gun.

　Gandalf's gun had been replaced with a newer model that was one size larger, perhaps reflecting the passage of five years of time.

　If the power is proportional to the size of the gun, it will be able to shoot the example monster beast that was previously blocked by the fur.

''Let's get right to it, but let's reaffirm the details of this mission. Our destination is the former site of a magical power plant in the mountains. It was a facility that supplied magical power to this city until very recently. Currently, the plant has been replaced by a new plant built on a different site and the old facility has been abandoned.

　At the back of the coffee shop, in a seat that is out of the way of the other customers, the Wild Hunt strategy meeting begins.

　Since the leader, Alfazul, is ahead of the pack, the strategy meeting is led by Gandalf, and the other members show no signs of disagreeing with it.

　Apparently, an agreement has been formed for some time that Gandalf will be the sub-leader.

The site of this plant has not been demolished even now. The reason for this is the appearance of a demon. It's unclear if it was generated locally or if a herd from elsewhere is using it as a feeding ground for residual magic, but in any case, the city council has put a bounty on the demolition of the old plant to prevent it from being dismantled.

　Gandalf spread a map on the table and pointed to the location of the plant's ruins.

　To the north of the city, which was as large as the royal capital, an unspoiled rocky mountain range stretched out, indicating the existence of some kind of facility in the depths of the city.

　From the looks of it, the traffic is bad, and it seems to be close to the worst location, but there must have been a reason to dare to establish it in this location.

　Perhaps, as a result of selecting the location on the condition of being able to gather magic power efficiently, they had no choice but to disregard the ease of coming and going.

''However, none of the bounty hunters who went to the site for the prize money have come back at present. Even though the prize money has been raised substantially, very few of them have been willing to come on board anew. So far, so good.
By the time we found out, things were kind of outrageous.

　Ail nodded at the mama in her chair.

　The Hyun-ri woman next to her also added her dissatisfied impressions as she filled her small stomach with stick-shaped snacks (snacks).

''It's not good that the city council's bounty is too cheap to begin with. That's not going to move a competent bounty hunter, and if they're the ones who want a cheap job, they won't be able to stand up to a strong demon.''
''No, based on the initial reconnaissance results when the demons began to be identified, it must not have been a difficult prey.

　Gandalf continues to speak nonchalantly, without losing his calm demeanor.

It's a good idea to have a good time with them," he said. All I can say is that it was a bad time.
At any rate, it's just that there is a monster that is stronger than we thought. The question is, what are you going to do about it?
'Of course. Alphasul and the others are ahead of us for that.

　Lightly brushing aside Ivaldi's spear, Gandalf finally cut to the chase of the strategy meeting.

'Alfazul assumes the existence of an unexpected individual ...... so to speak, a demon that could be called the Pu(⋅)n(⋅)t's (⋅)Lord(⋅)of the (⋅)n(⋅)t's (⋅)n(⋅), and is trying to find out its whereabouts. I don't even know why Fraxinus wanted to accompany us, though.
'I'm curious about something, right? I've got a good instinct for the oddest of things: ...... I might be a little nervous.
I suppose the purpose of Fraxinus is to alleviate that concern. Is there anything we need to know at this point?

　Gandalf looks over at the Wild Hunters as he asks this question.

　I quickly asked for permission to speak and decided to ask for confirmation.

　If I remained silent here, it would be treated as a no-brainer.

'What means of transportation do you use?　It looks like it's pretty deep in the mountains. ......
Don't worry. There are good roads for plant personnel and Magical Control Bureau officials to use to get to and from the site. It's only an hour's drive to the site.

　Glancing at the map, I estimate in my head the distance and travel time from the city to the mountains.

　It's a distance that would easily take an entire day on foot or in a wagon.

　I don't mean from dawn to sunset, but a literal day ...... far enough to keep moving through the night and arrive at the same time of departure.

　And perhaps because the terrain is terrain, there are no towns or villages at all where you can rest while traveling.

　As Gandalf says, this road seems to be used only by those who have business with the magic plant.

　But if you use a carriage that doesn't use horses - a carriage that doesn't use horses - you can traverse this route in just an hour.

　In order to achieve such a short travel time, it should be necessary to maintain a speed as fast as a fast horse with no refueling and no breaks, assuming that you can change over a short distance.

　Once again, we are reminded of the high performance of the ancient magical civilization's finesse.

　If such a vehicle existed today, logistics and economics would be completely transformed from the ground up.

(Really ...... this era is outrageous)

　One could almost feel a sense of astonishment and mild despair at the same time.

　Even a civilization this highly developed could not be spared from destruction by the divine beasts released into the world.

　If even one of them had been secured by Agart Ram--just thinking about it was enough to make his head hurt.

Then we'll leave too. I've already turned the car around to the back of the shop.

　Gandalf made sure no other questions came up, then stood up, snapping the keys in his hand.

　...... Could it be that guy is driving?