第３１２堀：駄目神、説明しろ (Part3)
"You know that this dungeon project has two phases, right? Reye, the younger brother of Deryu over there, and Comet, my predecessor in the New Continent, were part of the first phase. I tried to have the locals manage the dungeons to cope with the mana depletion. But, honestly, almost none of them functioned properly. They were barely scraping by with the mana circulation of the continent they were on. It was far from a solution. However, among them, Comet, the previous Dungeon Master of the New Continent, left relatively good results. But you could say those results were thanks to the cooperative relationship she formed with Hifi. Since Comet and Hifi happened to get along, I told them to work together as a god and a Dungeon Master. Oh, and they knew absolutely nothing about the mana depletion issue. I didn't lie to them. Hifi was earnest, so she kept her position as a god hidden, supported Comet, and tackled the problems, but..."
The result is as we all know.
"Before I knew it, Comet had been cut down, and Hifi had gone silent. I judged it a failure, just like all the others."
You’d naturally think that. Especially if you’ve seen the same thing happen over and over. It’s like something you couldn't find no matter how hard you looked suddenly popping up one day—though the scale and the gravity of the problem were different.
"So, I decided to move to the second phase. You all know what that second phase is. It’s Yuki over there. After reviewing the results, I concluded that the current Aulito couldn't resolve the situation on their own. So, I decided to bring someone from another world—an idle person with the knowledge and the capability to do it."
"Hey, watch it."
Who are you calling idle? I work my job appropriately every day, I don't aim for troublesome positions, I work as a regular employee, and I spend my days off playing games—I’m a busy man!
"Shut up. You’re an idle shut-in whose greatest hobby is playing games on his days off. Well, even this pathetic man from Earth’s Japan has produced remarkable results, as you can see. Though, we’ve gone a bit past the point of talking about that. But, do you understand about Hifi now?"
"Yuki is not a pathetic man, though. Well, this conversation is like a mud-slinging contest for both of us. We both play games... I understand about Hifi. Now, Luna, will you lend us your strength?"
Well, if we started arguing about who is more pathetic, Yuki or Luna, it would probably end up being decided by a game or something, so I’ll hold off on that for now. But does Deryu really think she’ll help us? My prediction is that this dynamic is...
"Impossible. Looking at the conversation logs, it seems Hifi decided to step out into the open and reform the world after the dungeon solution I proposed failed. She saw that as the cause of the mana depletion. Well, if it were just Hifi and the undead-ified Comet, it might have been fine, but the problem is this Honme guy who came from the other world—from Japan during the Second World War. Thanks to this Honme, her actions seem realistic even to me. Do you really think she’d nod and say, 'Oh, sure, I’ll follow the new Dungeon Master you brought in after your last solution failed'?"
She wouldn't nod. Luna’s credibility is in the gutter.
"Judging by her demeanor, she might show me respect, but I don't think she’d ever adopt a roundabout method like a dungeon again... I’ve already failed once and pushed Hifi to that point, so it’s hard for me to intervene."
"But if that’s the case, the New Continent will be stained with blood..."
"That, too, is a matter of indifference to me. Or rather, I can’t take either side."
"Eh?"
"In the end, Yuki’s reforms aren't bloodless either. It just happens to be convenient for Yuki’s policy, but that doesn't negate Hifi’s policy. My goal is strictly to prevent the collapse of civilizations built on mana and magic due to mana depletion. In the end, Yuki’s policy might also become distorted in the distant future and cause a massive bloodbath. I won't go so far as to say that lessons without pain are meaningless, but I do think lessons are learned better when there is pain. Hifi’s actions this time are enough of a painful lesson. At least for the empty-headed locals."
Right. In the end, it’s just a difference in policy. In this situation, Luna can’t take either side.
"To be honest, if Hifi is still there doing something, then Yuki and the others are the ones intruding, so it would be correct for you to withdraw."
"But isn't Hifi, the god who hasn't sent any word until now, also at fault?"
"That’s true. Hifi is also to blame for not sending word. That’s why I can’t force you to withdraw. Or rather, she didn't send word because she decided my plan was no good... *Sigh*, do you have any stomach medicine?"
Even for me, the listener, the content is enough to give me a stomachache. The person herself must already be in agony. Kirue immediately prepares some stomach medicine, and she washes it down with green tea.
...I feel like I’ve heard that taking medicine with green tea makes it ineffective, but I have to start from the premise of whether stomach medicine even works on a god, so I’ll stop thinking about it. If she says she wants it, that’s fine.
"Besides, the current situation is that Hifi has already declared war, right? Even if I persuaded her, how would you settle the situation? As long as that country is being attacked, Hifi will fight with everything she has, you know?"
"..."
As Luna said, the problem is how to prepare a landing spot even if we did persuade her. ...No, it’s not impossible. After seeing that report from Mino-chan, and investigating Zargis and other fronts, it all lines up perfectly. So, the first question is how to persuade Hifi.
"...It seems you already have a prospect for resolving the situation, doesn't it? As always, your mind works well in those areas."