第３６３堀：ちょっとした情報整理 (Part2)
"If they possess that much military strength, there's no need to go out of our way to contact Hifi-sama to ask if she has any intentions. It also means there's no point in leaving Mauve and the others alone, right? Or perhaps, it means they don't have any forces to spare for Mauve and the others? Well, considering there isn't even any surveillance on them, or rather, even if there were, they wouldn't be able to see through Mauve and the others' status concealment. In other words, their organizational structure is built accordingly, isn't it?"
"That's exactly it. Between that letter to Hifi earlier and the situation with Mauve and the others, we've managed to gauge the enemy's strength to a certain extent."
"I see why Taizo sent them out without saying anything to Hifi. They aren't even worthy of being called enemies."
"But in that case, wouldn't it be better to just suppress them all at once?"
Samantha proposed this as if it were the most natural thing in the world, but that method is off the table.
"Samantha. That would make the post-processing a nightmare. It’s fine for Betan because we have Horst-san there, but we’re already busy enough with Weed; we don't have the manpower to govern the Kingdom of Ex. That’s why we have to keep the fact that we were the ones behind it a secret. Plus, in future governance, we want to avoid having outsiders at the top, as the backlash would be severe."
"I see. Indeed, considering our mission, there is no reason to trouble ourselves with such matters. In that case, would it be easiest to leave the governance to the stakeholders of the Kingdom of Ex?"
"That’s the plan. Even assuming we move forward with that, the primary premise is that we must prevent a large-scale war from breaking out, and we absolutely must capture the mastermind. That’s why we’ll have forces closing in from all directions to completely seal them off. I’d hate for them to have some massive beast prepared, like the Ground Zero dragon during Alfin’s time. We’ll crush them before they can even make a move."
"…Mm. Understood. I said it was interesting because the enemy is far too defenseless. This means we can employ a multitude of methods. A good field exercise. We can do whatever we want. And yet, the opponent is foolish enough to think they are fully prepared."
"Pretty much. Well, there’s no guarantee they don't have a trump card that exceeds our expectations. We’ll be vigilant against that. That’s why, just in case, we have allies infiltrating from various directions and angles to gather information so we can sow confusion."
"That would be Mauve and the others, and Hifi and her group, then."
Well, the cards we use to sow confusion can also be used when we go on the offensive.
I hope the princess Mauve and the others picked up has some good information, too.
"Well, we’ll be increasing the number of attackers even further, but first, Kirika."
"Yes. I am here."
Kirika, the Dullahan assassin, appeared instantly.
She hasn't been wearing her armor lately, opting for regular clothes instead—she’s basically a ninja now...
Though, of course, since these were handmade by Narjia-san, the performance is on a completely different level.
"Whoa!? Kirika-chan!? Y-you startled me."
"Me too. I almost drew my sword."
"I didn't feel her presence at all. Wait, oh?"
"…There is no flow of magical power?"
Oh, so Samantha and Cleena, the professionals, finally noticed.
"If even my wives can't sense her, I’d say it’s complete."
"No, there is still much to be done. Yuki-sama noticed, did you not?"
"Well, yeah. Even if you block the magical power, there’s still thermal sensing. That’s something to work on for the future."
Yeah.
Even checking again, Kirika doesn't register on the dungeon's magical monitoring system.
She does, however, show up clearly on thermal sensors.
Zargis’s research is truly incredible when it gets to this point.
"Um. I don't really understand..."
"Please explain. Also, Kirika, try not to get so close to other people's husbands."
"My apologies."
With that, Kirika stepped back slightly to wait.
"I cannot feel the flow of magic at all..."
"…Strange. All living things unconsciously leak magic into the air to some degree. That is why we are able to sense them."
"Samantha and Cleena are right. I succeeded in developing an accessory that completely blocks magical power. With this, we can slip past dungeon magic monitoring. Thermal sensing is a different story, though."
"Eh? Isn't that an amazing invention!!"
"Indeed. With that, wouldn't it be possible to infiltrate enemy territory as much as we want?"
"No, that’s not quite right. Blocking the flow of magic means you can't expect natural recovery..."
"…Since it is assumed that magic exists in the air, one should not be able to breathe either. Perhaps it is only possible because Kirika is an undead."
"Samantha and Cleena are right. It’s limited to creatures that can function solely on magic, or rather, until now, they were all failures."
"Yes. This accessory was originally developed to stop magic depletion, but it couldn't be worn by anyone other than us."
"Well, it was only recently that I realized it wouldn't be caught by dungeon magic monitoring. We finished the tests in Weed; next is the capital of Ex."
"…You really have a face that says you're having fun."
"I’m starting to feel sorry for the opponent."
"It really does seem like this will be a testing ground for you, Yuki-sama."
"…Sounds interesting. I want a turn, too."
No, no, Cleena. We only step in after everything is checkmated.
The opponent will likely try to pull out every last hidden card they have, so we’ll wait until we’ve completely sealed all of those off.
I can’t put my wives in danger.
Well then, I wonder what other information will pop up.
Well, since other stories probably don't have descriptions like this, I’m explaining it in an easy-to-understand way.
It’s like, "This is how we think when we’re gauging the enemy's strength," right?
Well, that’s fine.
What kind of cosplay should the wives wear, I wonder?
Bunny suit? Nurse outfit? White swimsuit? Sailor uniform?
Yeah, when you’re restricted from fantasy-style gear, it’s actually quite hard to choose a cosplay.
Maid outfits might be an option, but over there, they’re just seen as regular servant clothes.