第３８３堀：知るということはいいことだけではない (Part1)
**Chapter 383: Knowing Isn’t Always a Good Thing**
**Side: Yuki**
It’s not exactly rare for me to be doing this, but I’m currently in my office, seriously reading through some documents.
Usually, my role in Weed is to handle things half-heartedly or pass them off to others.
In the first place, I only took in slaves because I didn’t want to deal with the hassle myself, telling them, "Here, do whatever you want with yourselves."
To me, Weed is nothing more than a DP collection point.
I only invited people into the dungeon as a way to make that easier.
It’s not like I specifically wanted to build a nation or a city.
It just happened to be part of the process to get the answers I wanted.
Well, I don’t have any objections to people living happily, so I’ll help out a little.
But I don’t have the free time to take the lead. At the end of the day, I’m just one person.
That’s why I rely on my wives and the many others here—or rather, I dump the work on them.
So, the fact that I’m actually reading these documents means this isn’t a Weed-related matter.
In other words, this is a situation I have to handle personally.
"...So, Steve. You’re certain you saw the site with your own eyes?"
"You bet, Boss. I saw the photos and the evidence, didn't I?"
I’m just confirming there are no mistakes in the report with the man himself.
And, as expected, he hits me with the classic "go look at the real thing yourself" line.
"Haa. I really think it’s a problem when things go too smoothly in this world."
"I’m with you on that one, Boss."
Well, the fact that I’m talking to Steve means the infiltration mission was a success.
A success that brought back a massive haul.
I’ll leave Steve’s detailed progress report for later, but let’s organize how everyone else did.
* **Popuri, Lara:** Invited by Noble to inspect magic tools, they performed their role as decoys perfectly. Noble left midway, but his reaction upon returning wasn't bad; it seems they can build a good relationship.
* **Eris, Deryu, Taiki, Amanda, Eoid:** The second group of decoys. Acting separately from Popuri’s group, they probed the castle and gathered information on Arne. As a result, it’s highly probable that this Arne is the same one Dressa spoke of. Also, it was confirmed that the place they ate lunch at was the shop Mauve and the others mentioned served good meat. They performed their decoy duties well.
* **Mauve, Raiya, Curse, Doppel-Dressa:** Surveillance in the castle town. Aside from speaking with Kirika in the morning, there was no unusual activity. As usual, they trained with the Rosetta Mercenary Corps, ate, and slept. There has been no contact from the Blood Battle Mercenary Corps since that day, as far as Mauve and the others are aware.
Thanks to the decoys functioning so well, the infiltration team was able to carry out their mission as planned and achieve their objectives.
It went so well that the command center actually got anxious about the situation.
And as for the massive haul from the infiltration team...
* **Kirika:** Infiltrated the royal castle alone. She created a rough map of the interior, broke into the office, and successfully recorded some documents. Afterward, she left a rat monster in the office to fulfill her role as a decoy. The contents of the documents are currently being scrutinized.
* **Steve:** The "I only look like a wild goblin" operation. While maintaining that, he conducted an investigation into the ruins and the dungeon. He sent teams into four ruins, and the one Steve infiltrated was functioning as a dungeon. It had a living infrastructure similar to Weed, and it appears to be a base for DP collection. He couldn't investigate the residents' lives in detail, but it doesn't look like they are being treated poorly, like slaves. Based on the number of houses, there are likely 10,000 to 20,000 people—about the size of a mid-sized town, given the local civilization level. And in the large building inside, he confirmed the production of magic sword parts. Naturally, the core that acts as the heart of those swords was also confirmed.
Overall, it was a rare, complete victory.
However, that result brought up—or rather, revealed—something troublesome...
"...So, you discovered a facility that uses monster magic stones to generate cores, and then reuses the remaining corpses by turning them into zombies for military strength."
"That’s right. Pretty great, huh? 'Nothing goes to waste.' Sounds like a slogan for some food brand."
"Can't eat those, though."
"True."
"..."
We both let out a sigh.
"Um... would you like some tea?"
"Ria, don't spoil them. Why do you both look so exhausted?"
"Because... this report is a massive, massive problem."
"I suppose so. I find it strange that you two have lost your motivation, though. This seems like a grave situation..."
The four who always work as my guards are, of course, reading the report too.
And they’re right; this is quite a problem.
I had assumed there was no connection between monster zombies, undead, and magic sword cores.
This fact means that the increase in magic swords is linked to the increase in undead—both are growing steadily.
I never imagined it was possible to just trade magic stones for cores directly.
Well, the difference between a magic stone and a core is indeed just the size.
But it’s not like melting them together improves their function.
It turns out that by using the dungeon’s functions, it *is* possible to gather magic stones and generate them.
I suppose my oversight was due to having an abundance of DP.
They, being starved for DP, had to explore various possibilities.
This fact means that the spread of magic swords among Ex soldiers is widespread, and they have a significant undead force as a secret weapon—if you can even call it "internal."
If it were just that fact, it would be a big problem, but the reason our motivation is dropping is something else entirely.
"I don't really care about this military strength. We could just change the terrain, or at worst, annihilate them with modern weaponry."
That’s right. Against opponents like us, having a bunch of these guys is meaningless.
They’d only be equal if we were at the same civilization level.
They’re just convenient practice targets.
"Then, the people of Ex..."
"Jessica. If that were going to happen, it already would have. I don't know what Noble is thinking, but it seems he has no intention of attacking his own country for now. Though, I don't know what will happen if we corner him..."
"...I understand the logic. If Noble wants to be efficient, he doesn't need to worry about the people. But now that we know, we can't just do nothing, if only for our own safety."
"That’s right. As Cleena says, we have no choice but to act now."
"And is there a problem with that?"
"Samantha. We have to divert strategies and military strength to resolve and deal with this situation. Now, the extremely realistic question is: who is going to bear that burden?"
Once I said that, the four of them seemed to understand, and their gazes shifted between me and Steve.
"A-anyway, please have some tea."
Ria offered us the tea.
Steve and I drank it.
*Haa*, that green tea really hits the spot.
After setting our cups down, Steve and I looked at each other...
"What the hell did you find, man!! What is this, some kind of protagonist-specific trouble-magnetism!?"