第３８１堀：困難な任務だったぜ（棒読み） (Part2)
Naturally, it was a solid wall. There were no signs of windows or entrances on this side.
I had specifically chosen this spot as our infiltration point for that very reason.
But that’s not what I meant by that…
(It’s just brickwork, isn’t it? With construction like this, it just looks like a warehouse.)
Exactly. It looks like nothing more than a giant warehouse.
It doesn’t have that "high-tech military research facility" vibe at all.
Well, compared to Solid, anyway.
…Everything in this world, including the military outposts, is made of brick. It’s so drab.
There’s a chance it’s camouflage, but… I have a feeling hoping for that would be a waste of time.
(Well, no use complaining about it. For now, there’s nothing suspicious or worth noting here. We’ll proceed along the planned route.)
(Understood.)
Even if we’re following a route, we’re doing it "Hyde-style."
No matter how well our optical camouflage hides us, it would be pointless if we just walked normally and bumped into someone around a corner.
I mean, it’s not like we’d be exposed immediately, but we shouldn't give them even the slightest opening.
That’s what an infiltration mission is all about.
Now, I just hope the interior isn't unnecessarily complicated.
It would be easy if I could just peek inside and see everything…
There was a time when I held onto such faint hopes.
(What is this?)
(It looks like they’re manufacturing some kind of parts…)
So, what am I supposed to do when those faint hopes actually come true?
I peeked through a window just around the corner, and it turned out the building was designed in such a way that you could see almost the entire interior just by looking in.
A warehouse.
It was truly just a warehouse.
It looked like they had set up a production line and were churning things out. Is this a real factory?!
Wait a minute, the exterior was so plain, so why is the inside suddenly modernized?
Well, "production line" might be a stretch—it was all manual labor.
It was like parts were being spat out from a large box, and people were picking them up, passing them along in a relay, and packing them into open crates.
It really makes you realize how great conveyor belts are. It was a sight of tear-jerking, laborious effort.
The grunts have it rough everywhere, don't they?
I understand that, but we have a job to do, too.
I really want to get my hands on those parts.
(…We need to secure those parts as intelligence items, no matter what.)
(Agreed. The relay-style work is a nuisance. If they were on a conveyor belt, we could just swipe them…)
(We can’t steal them. …In that case, the packing station is our best bet.)
(I’m not sure if it’ll go well, but we can at least get a closer look at the items. Let’s go.)
(Right.)
Even just getting a photo from up close would be worth it.
So, we watched them packing away busily… though they were just tossing them into boxes without even checking them.
If this were Weed, Ratz-ane-san would be throwing a huge fit. Something about "duty to inspect" or "proper handling of goods."
(It seems they aren’t even counting the quantities.)
(That’s a relief. We’ll just help ourselves to a few.)
And just like that, we repeated the process of easily acquiring some of their products.
Yes, we repeated it.
(…Why is every place we peek into a factory?)
(Well, in a way, it’s rational to use a large building for that.)
(But it’s strange that everywhere is the same—just items coming out of a weirdly large box. Did you see them bringing in raw materials?)
(No. I didn’t see that either. However, I did confirm magic power reactions.)
(You too? The way that magic reacts… it’s similar to how things are created using a Core.)
It’s highly likely that there’s a Dungeon Core inside those large boxes, creating specific items.
If it’s a Core, it just needs magic power; it doesn’t need raw materials. That explains the situation perfectly.
(Well, that’s fine. The problem is these parts…)
At first, they looked like simple clasps, and I had no idea what they were. But as we gathered different types, it started to look like a puzzle…
(It’s a sword. The blade, the hilt, the guard, the fittings—all the fine components.)
Exactly, it’s a sword.
And conveniently, there was a hollow space at the base of the blade where something could be inserted. I’ve seen finished products with something inside that space before.
(…It’s a low-quality magic sword. Sigh, should I say we found something outrageous, or that it went exactly as planned…)
Is there no such thing as a "Special Evaluation Bonus" or a massive payout for this?
"It must have been a very difficult mission, right?"
Work is always difficult.
Anyway, leaving Steve aside, I have an announcement.
Volume 4 will be released on May 30th.
As expected, the samples have arrived and are piled up.
I’m wondering what to do with them, but if you’d like one, could you declare it in the comments?
There’s talk of doing another event in Tokyo, and well, it doesn’t cost anything to ask.
Depending on how many people are interested, I’m open to holding another gathering like the last one.
And finally, the next update will be on the 27th as usual, but as I stated in the last afterword:
In order to "become a hero once more" on the 27th, I plan to post "Pitfall" around 11:00 PM on the 26th.
The content… you already know, don't you?
See you next time!