第２４０掘：筒抜け (Part1)
The 240th Excavation: Leaky
It's annoying when the phone rings while you're trying to sleep.
Leaky
Side: Nina
The dark room was illuminated by candlelight.
Inside, her companions, who had been eagerly awaiting the results, sat in chairs, maintaining a heavy silence as they listened to my report.
...I can hardly believe it myself.
It has been over 400 years since the great war, that grand folly.
Humans still haven't stopped their foolish conflicts and have been steadily declining since that day.
Physically, that is.
The average level of knights has been dropping year by year, and many people can't even use simple magic, let alone large-scale spells.
And with the decrease in monsters, they have no experience fighting absolute powers.
Therefore, to eliminate those rotten people, we were going to use our accumulated DP to summon a Greater Demon and ensure that Enaria would become a desolate country.
A natural consequence of our own actions.
But the result was different.
Was it a mistake to disperse them to kill all the people? No, we hadn't considered that they could be repelled.
No, I thought those trash called magic sword users might put up a bit of a fight.
But we, along with Siiia and Kishua, thought we could easily overwhelm them with numbers.
However, there was something else in Enaria.
I, who had been observing from afar, witnessed it.
A Greater Demon, soaring through the absolute domain of the sky, was rapidly falling.
And it was likely being done by at least three people.
One was a human with black hair. I could clearly see their figure.
Because they were leaping onto the flying Greater Demon and severing its head, then leaping to the next.
If the arrows could fly this far, those shot at close range wouldn't survive.
The last one was a spear user. A spear also flew towards me.
I immediately contacted the other two, but to my disbelief, they had already been captured.
It made no sense; there was no way for the plan to be leaked.
Yet, the two of them were indeed kneeling, bound by ropes, at the location they had contacted me from.
So I memorized the man near them and returned to report to my companions.
"...Unbelievable. It's easy to say that."
The leader's voice pulled me back from the memory of that time.
My companions, too, looked at the leader at the sound of his voice.
"But Nina is here, and Siiia and Kishua are unreachable. Even if the information is slightly different, there's no doubt the plan failed. It deviated from our expectations, but there's no change in what we will do from now on. Whether it succeeds or fails, we will continue. That's our policy."
Everyone nodded at the leader's words.
Yes, it was different from what we expected.
But there was no reason to stop.
"Well, we need to investigate the person who supposedly captured Siiia and Kishua. And the reason why they identified Siiia and Kishua as the culprits. I don't think the current foolish people could make such a judgment. There must be a reason. After investigating that, if Siiia and Kishua are alive, we will launch a rescue operation. Well, if they are dead, we just need to retrieve the dungeon core. ...It would be easier for our plan if they were alive."
A silence fell over the room at his words.
Only the flickering candle flame swayed.
"Then, Nina, continue gathering information on the person who captured Siiia and Kishua. ...Yes. Just in case, Layla, you go with her. Absolutely, just gather information. Do not act on your own. After gathering information, we will hold another meeting like this and ensure our success. Everyone else, proceed as planned and take action in your designated areas."
We nodded, and the leader seemed satisfied, nodding as well.
After that, the leader seemed to relax a little, and I felt the tense atmosphere ease.
"However, though it may be inappropriate, I might be happy about this situation..."
The leader said these strange words with a smile.
"Why is that?"
One person asked.
But the leader opened his mouth with a slightly troubled expression.
"...I can't quite measure it myself. The ones who captured our companions, if they truly exist, they will be our greatest obstacle. Naturally, if we are trying to eradicate the human race from this land..."
Indeed, if they captured Siiia and Kishua with their strength, they could be an obstacle.
As the leader said, our goal is the extinction of humans on this continent, so we will surely clash with them somewhere.
"But, it suddenly reminded me of our past selves. No, I only heard about it, so perhaps 'reminded me' is the correct word. Of our ignorant selves from that day... I'm sure everyone believed they could understand each other and took up their swords. The thought that such enemies still exist makes me a little happy. Well, I won't hold back. If we are defeated like Peace, there's no reason for us to have lived this long. ...When we meet that enemy, we will crush their spirit and erase them by showing them our youth and ignorance. I don't want to see myself from that time."
I see. It's true that one wouldn't want to see themselves from that time.
But I understand the leader's feelings.
"Believing and holding swords back then..."
Enemies similar to that, they certainly won't agree with our plan.
They don't even have that knowledge...
Now, our course of action is decided.
I will thoroughly investigate the enemy who could become an obstacle and prevent them from suffering the same fate as Peace.
Side: Yuki
And so, the enemy's meeting came to an end.
For now, there's only one thing I want to say.
"...Onii-chan, I'm sleepy~"
"Nii-sama~, unyu."
"Yuki..., nnn..."
The usual three little ones were forced to follow me, but this is their state.
...In other words.
"What time do you think it is? Having a meeting at this hour is stupid, isn't it?"
It's currently 3 AM.
Whether it's another world or Earth, most people are asleep at this time.
And then, I look at the two holy sword users who are sitting in seiza in the corner of the banquet hall.
"N-no. Even if you say that..."
"Th-that's right. It has nothing to do with us."
Geez, after over 400 years, why at this hour...
Hmm, oh right.
"You're too much of an early riser? You're old, and your inner self is like a grandmother."
"Stop it!! I may have aged, but I am a maiden in both appearance and spirit!!"
"That's right!! Stop with the terrible accusations!! It's just their inner selves that are old!!"
"Th-that's right!! We're properly sleeping at this time, and they're just acting old!!"
...Hmm, can this be called selling out your companions?
Declaring your companions as grandmothers might lead to internal strife.
"Well, never mind the ramblings of old women, what do you think, Peace?"
I ask Peace about the content of the meeting.
After all, the other party is all acquaintances of Peace.
"...Huh? Yes, isn't it fine to call them all old women? Because you decide based on age, whether they are young or old?"
"Peaceeee!!"