第３５９堀：集まり始める情報 (Part2)
"Yes. Well, 'took a quick look' is the most accurate way to put it."
"I wanted to wait until I showed it to you and the others before performing a full-scale disassembly."
"I've kept the video records, but when it comes to things like this, it's important to see the real thing, isn't it?"
"Fair point. So, did you learn anything from that quick look?"
As I asked, Zargis pulled a pendant—not the one in the box—and placed it on the desk...
*Whoosh!*
My wives and I immediately jumped up from our chairs and scrambled away from the table.
"Hey! Don't bring such a foul-smelling thing out here! Keep the stench to yourself!"
"Zargis-san, that really is a bit much."
"I agree. I have to question your common sense as a human being."
"It’s absolutely the worst."
"...Zargis, if you bring that any closer, I’ll burn it. Or rather, I’ll kill you. I see this as harassment, knowing full well that today is my night with Yuki."
My wives were in an uproar, and Cleena was outright furious. She had already gathered her magical energy, ready to blast him at a moment's notice.
"No, no, please, calm down! This is a different pendant; it doesn't smell at all."
"Yes, it's perfectly fine. If I did something like that, it would affect us too, so I’ve already turned Zargis-san into trash."
"That's right. It's perfectly safe."
Indeed, the room smelled normal. Realizing this, my wives returned to their seats. I followed suit, sitting down while keeping my eyes on the pendant. It looked familiar.
"Ah, is this the pendant you gave to Kirika and the others?"
"Correct. It was created to protect beings that rely on magical energy for vitality. While there are differences in the construction and output compared to the ones Mobe and his group recovered, the purpose is the same."
"In other words, it's meant to suppress magical decay and allow them to remain active?"
"Yes, exactly."
"It makes no sense to me, though. I never thought something so inefficient would be useful. Well, it's convenient for Yuki-kun's Dullahan Assassins to move around, but I don't see why you'd put it on such obvious undead. Besides, everything they recovered was completely drained of magic. Judging by the remnants and the structure of the gems, they’d be lucky to last two hours. The performance is significantly lower than what Zargis makes. I don't see the point of them at all."
Hmm, I see...
"I'll perform a detailed disassembly and investigation after this, but that's the situation for now."
"And what’s your current assessment?"
"...Well, I suspect it's the same as what Yuki is thinking."
"Oh? Did you both figure something out? What about you, Narjia?"
"Well, I have a hunch."
"Wait! Am I the only one who doesn't get it?"
"That can't be helped, Comet-san. You called it a failure after looking at it, after all."
"Hehe, it's not a bad thing, though."
True, from Comet's perspective, there was plenty of room for improvement, and it certainly wasn't a finished product. But from a different angle...
"It's an experiment, isn't it?"
"Exactly."
"That's right."
"An experiment? Ah, so they were just making them to see how well they would function!"
"That's the gist of it. With the members we have here, we can make high-performance items, so this wouldn't be considered practical, but for the enemy..."
"It means it already has enough performance to be worth experimenting with. That's why they were testing them on disposable goblin or orc zombies. If you have even one Lich and a supply of corpses, you can mass-produce undead."
"By the way, have you heard of the Blood Battle Mercenary Corps?"
"Hm? Oh, the ones who keep a massive horde of goblins to use as shields and create 'fields of blood'? I've heard rumors that they kidnap women to breed more goblins."
"It's unconfirmed, but there's word that the mercenary corps is in the capital of Ex."
"...I see. So they have no shortage of materials."
"And apparently, there's also a mercenary group in the Kingdom of Ex that specializes in monster extermination, and they've made quite a name for themselves."
"...Are they planning to use monster zombies as soldiers? In the Kingdom of Ex?"
"Who knows. They could just unleash them on enemy nations to cause chaos. Well, that depends on future intelligence gathering. For now, please proceed with the detailed analysis."
Everything is still beyond the stage of mere speculation. It will still be a while before the core we seized in the White Forest arrives. In the meantime, we should take whatever measures we can.
"Understood."
"Leave it to me."
"You can count on us."
These three are motivated, so I'll leave it to them and wait for the reports.
Well then, the Kingdom of Ex is bolstering its military power more than I thought. Sabotage in various countries, mass production of magic swords, replicas of holy swords, the practical application of undead, and Dungeon Master abilities...
I don't know to what extent they've succeeded, but it certainly looks troublesome.
Now, I'll mention this just in case: this concludes the main hostile forces in the New Continent.
Let's see how much they make Yuki suffer!
Oh, and I received the illustrations for the new characters in Volume 4. I'll post them in the activity report later, but they are:
Shera, Kirue, and Luna (the Useless Goddess).
Rejoice, you guys—the Useless Goddess is here!