第４３７堀：裏方の様子と魔女の狙い (Part2)
The sound was faint, but in the deathly silence of our conference room, it rang out with startling clarity.
There were no signs that we had been discovered. I could hear the sounds of what I assumed were multiple patrolling soldiers, their footsteps approaching and then fading away, perhaps as they moved to a different sector. Occasionally, the muffled chatter of soldiers and maids drifted through, suggesting they were passing quite close to the window.
After a while of this, Steve contacted me again.
"This is Steve. I’ve circled the castle. They don't seem to have noticed us at all. I think infiltrating the interior is doable."
"…Alright. It’s risky, but I’m counting on you. The top priority for the interior is the dungeon entrance. Second is gathering intelligence on Nonoa herself. If you happen to stumble upon the Dungeon Master, that’s third, but…"
"Understood. Proceeding as planned. …Though, it’s gonna be tough to find the Dungeon Master when we don't even know what they look like."
After Steve replied, the line went silent, presumably because he had slipped inside the castle.
Unless it was a gate, the entrance to a dungeon was almost always located underground, which made the search area narrow and easier to manage. Though, it was unlikely they would place a gate in a castle that was already difficult to secure, rather than in a proper dungeon.
For a while, I could hear the same sounds as before—soldiers walking, maids gossiping—only much clearer now. The content was trivial: complaints about being busy today, or suggestions to go grab a bite to eat. Just as Steve said, there was no indication they had detected our infiltration. It was just a normal, mundane day for them.
Eventually, the sounds faded away entirely. He had likely headed toward the basement to search for the dungeon entrance. After a period of silence, Steve checked in.
"This is Steve. Reporting the situation. Unless my senses are failing me, there is no dungeon in the basement. I can't detect the unique magical concentration. The magic sensor isn't hitting the threshold for a dungeon, either. Should I keep searching the basement? Or should I switch to investigating the upper floors?"
What did that mean? No dungeon found? Were they hiding it with some unknown technology? …No, I didn't have enough information. It was foolish to push too hard.
"Understood. Call off the dungeon search and switch to investigating the upper floors."
"Copy that."
If it wasn't there, it wasn't there. Our time was limited, so it was better to switch to other objectives. Just as I was trying to convince myself of this, Steve picked up a new conversation.
"It’s good, Nonoa-sama. This means we can finally establish a connection with Weed."
"Indeed. I’m relieved they arrived safely without incident. I leave the preparations for tomorrow’s negotiation table to you."
"Yes, leave it to me!! I shall begin the preparations at once!!"
"Good. I’m counting on you."
After that exchange, I heard the sound of a door opening and footsteps passing by. The person tasked with the preparations must have left. If I hadn't misheard, the other person was Nonoa.
"Good. Now I’ve made contact before Nogosh could. It paid off to tell them that if they wanted to negotiate with Faide, they should come to me instead of Nogosh. Well, Nogosh is an idiot, so he just dumped the details of the surrender recommendation on me. Thanks to that, the Dungeon Master fell right into my lap. If I tell this 'Yuki' fellow that I’ll treat him well if he joins my side, he’ll surely follow me, and he’ll have no reason to stay teamed up with Nogosh. Once I leak some information and crush Nogosh and the Dungeon Master in one fell swoop, I’ll be the sole winner. As for Gota, he’s just a beast; I can handle him however I like. For now, my victory is decided."
...
Hah. I was speechless at the sheer naivety of it all. It was the exact moment Nonoa’s crushing defeat was sealed.
"Steve. You’re cleared to retreat. You’re the closest one there—you’ll know better than anyone if those words are the truth."
"…Understood. Withdrawing."
"After that, increase the guard as a precaution. I’ll compile what we just heard and contact Taizo-san."
"You got it."
*Sigh.* My motivation just plummeted. My tension had vanished, though I suppose it wasn't much different from before.
"…Yuki. So, the reason there was no interference with Taizo and the others was…"
Deryu looked at me with an expression that suggested she found the whole thing ridiculous.
"It was just to butter us up so we’d join forces with them. Just as expected, they think we’re going to surrender."
"Well, when you think about it, it’s not like there’s one Dungeon Master for every god. It’s only natural that one side would try to monopolize them. And since Nonoa didn't have a Dungeon Master, she wanted to get her hands on you in secret…"
"I think Ratz is right. They aren't exactly a united front over there."
"Thinking ahead to what comes next is a proper way to plan, but…"
"…Mm. This god doesn't realize that her fundamental premises are all wrong."
Samantha was right; there was nothing wrong with planning a strategy for the future. You couldn't move forward without a vision of what’s to come. But as Cleena said, her premises were fundamentally flawed. I didn't know why there was such a disconnect, but for some reason, she believed she had the upper hand, and Nonoa likely didn't know the details about the Dungeon Master either. It felt too subtle to be a grand scheme by Nogosh or the Dungeon Master to create a justification for taking Nonoa down.
Well, the only thing I knew for sure was that there was no dungeon in this magic kingdom, and tomorrow’s negotiations would likely be much easier than expected.
"Wait a second. Am I the one who has to explain this ridiculous truth to Taizo-san?"
"…Yuki can do it."
"Yuki-san, you can do it."
Kaya and Tori said that, but man, that was going to be tough. Oh, wait—I had it recorded, so I could just let him listen to it. Taizo-san was probably going to get a massive headache, but it couldn't be helped.