Ruby said he wasn't worried, but deep down, he was still somewhat concerned.
In theory, those cultists couldn't possibly travel over countless mountains and rivers from the southernmost edge of Merchant Faction territory to the northernmost edge just to cause trouble for the survey team. But one defining trait of cultists was "madness." Every last one of those bastards was insane—raving lunatics, violent lunatics, silent lunatics, or calm lunatics... that was all.
It wasn't impossible to use "in theory" reasoning to analyze a lunatic's behavior, but it was definitely unreliable. If lunatics acted according to common sense, would they still be called lunatics?
So even with nearly two thousand li between them, cultists might still come happily scampering all the way here to make trouble.
It was like on Earth: everyone knew terrorists had their strongholds in the Middle East, but where on the entire planet could escape their ravages? Probably only the penguins in Antarctica and the cacti in the Sahara Desert didn't have to worry about getting bombed...
The cultists' ability to take action was beyond what ordinary people could imagine.
So Ruby quietly strengthened the camp's defenses and contacted several adventurers, setting up a permanent hidden lookout at the foot of the mountain along the road leading to the camp.
He knew it might all be unnecessary, but if he didn't do it, he wouldn't feel at ease.
In truth, even after doing so, he still didn't feel particularly at ease.
Several days later, further news arrived.
The clergy of the Church of the Lord of Justice, the God of Law, had encountered those cultists. The two sides fought a vicious battle, and both suffered heavy losses. During the battle, the cultists had brought out a special golem. It looked utterly unremarkable, yet it could command positive