第２８０堀：怪獣の名前 (Part3)
"So, she is the tamer the two of them were talking about? The Holy Sword user who is also a Tamer, correct?"
"……Yes."
"No mistake. She gave us quite a hard time."
I had been gathering information on the characteristics and abilities of the Holy Sword users from Peace and Popuri. The last one was Alfin. However, her abilities did not stem from the Holy Sword itself. It seems she possesses an extraordinary Tamer skill.
Anyone from modern Earth looking at her appearance would likely recognize it immediately. She is, by all appearances, an albino—white hair, red eyes, a genetic condition. Congenital hypopigmentation. In Japan, white snakes and white rabbits are familiar sights, but in the wild, an albino’s conspicuous appearance leads to a very low survival rate. Furthermore, in civilizations with lower levels of development, such an appearance, so far removed from the norm, often becomes a target for persecution.
She was no exception. After her parents passed away, she lived in the forest as if hiding, where she was eventually saved by my predecessor. When asked why she remained unharmed back then—despite magic power being much denser and monsters being far more numerous—it was apparently thanks to her own ability: her Tamer skill.
I have received reports that when she moved into the dungeon, she brought no fewer than 300 monsters with her. Furthermore, for some reason, she assisted in the assassination of my predecessor, and with that Tamer skill, she forced the dungeon army led by Peace into a very difficult struggle. In a sense, she is to Weed what Aslin is to us.
"I see. So that Tamer is the Holy Sword user and our final opponent?" Ratz confirmed.
"Yes. She is the last one. The turmoil caused by the Holy Sword users ends with her."
"Hmm. But she’s a troublesome final opponent. Aside from the monsters she can summon with DP, there’s the possibility that wild monsters are following her."
"No, that won't happen." I immediately dismissed Ratz’s concern.
"Eh? Why is that?"
"It’s not that we’ve gathered everyone because there’s a massive swarm of monsters. The enemy is just her and one single monster."
"Just one? Wait, ah. You mean the 30-meter monster you reported earlier?"
"Exactly. I’ve confirmed it. There isn't a single monster, or even an animal, within the vicinity of her and that creature. Judging by her Tamer skill, she’s likely keeping them away intentionally."
"Does that mean that one monster is enough for her?"
"Probably. It’s also possible that the maintenance cost is enormous since it isn't a dungeon-born creature."
"Oh, come to think of it, where is that monster? It doesn't seem to be on the monitor."
Ratz—no, all of my wives—didn't seem to fully grasp the scale of "huge." They probably couldn't visualize what 30 meters actually meant. But Taiki-kun muttered fearfully:
"……The rock beneath her is the monster, isn't it?"
"That’s right."
"““Huh?””"
Everyone except Taiki-kun let out a sound of utter confusion. I moved the monitor away from Alfin.
"It just looks like a rocky mountain to me, but wait—!?"
The moment Ratz muttered that, what appeared to be a massive tail swung, flattening trees and kicking up a cloud of dust.
"W-wait a second, big brother. Isn't this way bigger than 30 meters!?"
"30 meters in height, 120 meters in total length. I believe it’s a quadrupedal Earth Dragon type."
"Hya, 120 meters!?"
Everyone was speechless. It was a size that shouldn't exist in this world.
"The fortunate thing is that this Earth Dragon doesn't seem to be able to fly. If it could, it would have already reached the Academy."
"T-that is true."
"But even if we leave it alone, it will eventually move toward us on its own."
"……I suppose so."
"Then we have no choice but to strike it all at once before the enemy moves. That is why I called everyone for this strategy meeting. The Weed modern weapons unit is already prepared for deployment."
"You really intend to fight it for real, don't you?"
"Yes."
If we don't clash once, I won't get the information I need.
"First, before I explain the strategy I’ve devised, I’ve gathered some information on this Earth Dragon."
"Information? How? You didn't engage it in battle without telling us, did you!?"
Seraria stood up, genuinely angry. The other wives were also narrowing their eyes, ready to restrain me. Ah, I need to clear up this misunderstanding before I get locked up.
"No, no, calm down. Obviously, I wouldn't do that, as it might provoke the enemy to advance."
"……Then how do you know?"
"Well, we’re summoning monsters in Weed to gather information, right? It’s a prediction based on that."
"Ah, you did create that department. I see."
With that, Seraria sat back down. The gazes of the other wives returned to normal. ...Phew.
"I was researching similar dragon types and monsters we haven't summoned with DP yet."
I switched the monitor. It showed a dragon I had summoned with DP before—smaller than the Earth Dragon Alfin was accompanied by, but similar.
"This species is called a Grand Dragon. The DP consumed for the summon was 400 million in Weed."
"““400 million!?””"
"Where did you get the budget for that!!"
"Well, I discussed it with Eris. We have over 30,000 residents in Weed now, and even at a minimum of 30,000 DP per hour, that’s 720,000 DP in 24 hours. Since I told the residents that the tax is 1 DP per person for every 10 hours of work, there’s no problem with the supply."
"‘No problem,’ you say—400 million is nowhere near enough! Oh, wait, you mean including the DP from tourism and the Adventurer Guild’s dungeon expeditions, right?"
"Exactly. Though, I’m sure I told Seraria about this. You should have received the documents."
"……Now that you mention it, you did say something about conducting a large-scale experiment. And that the Adventurer Guild would bear a significant portion of the cost."
As Seraria searched her memory, Milly, who was involved, spoke up as if she had just remembered.
"Ah! The Grand Master came to me and showed me those documents. He said we should use the DP the Adventurer Guild had been hoarding, which was strange. I see, so it was used for this Grand Dragon."
"So, the DP we provided wasn't that much. It was summoned using the DP the Adventurer Guild scraped together. The guild itself requested the information gathering through monster summoning."
"Ah, so that’s why the information about the DP consumption didn't reach us. We were only getting the monster data every day. So, why did you conclude that this Grand Dragon and Alfin’s subordinate are similar?"
Indeed, as Seraria pointed out, why did I judge that this Grand Dragon, which is at most 20 meters long, is similar to that massive Earth Dragon?
"You know that I use Appraisal on the monsters I summon to check the details of their skills, right?"
"Yes. Your and Labyris’s Appraisal skills are important and powerful tools for us."
"The description for the Grand Dragon says it’s a juvenile."
"A juvenile?"
Seraria tilted her head, not understanding, but the members who could imagine the implication turned pale. ...Taiki-kun, in particular, probably found it easy to imagine since he’s dealt with that sort of thing in games. Well, the ones in his world fly, which makes them far more troublesome.
"B-big brother. Does that mean a fully grown adult exists?"
"Eh!? I-is that so!? Darling!?"
At Ratz’s words, Seraria seemed to have reached the same conclusion and hurriedly checked with me.
"It likely exists. I haven't been able to summon it yet, but there are several monsters that can be summoned for 5 billion DP."
"5 billio—"
"The names have appeared, so I’ll tell you for now. The name of the adult Grand Dragon that can be summoned for 5 billion is..."
Everyone fell silent, waiting for my words.
"Ground Zero Dragon."
Coincidentally, it is the name given to the site of the unprecedented historical disaster in our world, meaning the epicenter of an explosion.
Well, I’m sure my wives and the meeting members now understand what kind of preposterous opponent we are dealing with. And we must stop this Ground Zero as soon as possible.
The unpleasant news is that it has been confirmed that even the juvenile Grand Dragon can breathe heat rays. Damn it, this is why I hate fantasy!!
...It doesn't fly, right? Like a certain Gravios?