第４３９堀：大混乱だぜ！！ (Part1)
**Chapter 439: Total Chaos!!**
**Side: Nonoa Wizard Shine, Head of the Magic Nation, Goddess of Magic**
"For now, even if you are angry, it wouldn't be too late to hear us out first. This is your own castle, is it not? Does that not strike you as the proper course of action?"
"I, too, must insist."
"……Fine. I suppose I shall listen to your excuses. I hope you have something worth saying. If not, you know what will happen to all of you, don't you?"
Honestly, does this fake not understand the situation? Or perhaps Seraria is the one pulling the strings behind the scenes? Still, if they intended to be hostile, they wouldn't have bothered sending envoys. There is no harm in hearing them out. Besides, the fact that Faide suggested listening to them is troubling, and from our perspective, it would be far too disadvantageous to have no Dungeon Master available during our upcoming conflict with Nogosh.
At all costs, I want to bring Seraria—the Dungeon Master currently in Weed—over to our side.
……Yes. Since they clearly don't realize they are in the wrong, if I carefully explain it to them, they will surely feel indebted to me. After all, they were brought here from an underdeveloped world; we must handle this with the maturity of adults.
Let us remain calm. Haste makes waste. That is not a trait befitting someone as overflowing with intellect as myself.
"Very well. I cannot guarantee that we will be able to meet your expectations, but I shall explain the discrepancies in our understanding."
"Yes, I would like to hear it, wouldn't I?"
"Before that, I would like to confirm something. I assume the purpose of accepting this envoy is to establish a cooperative relationship or perhaps a vassal state. Am I correct in that assumption?"
Hmm. It seems this middle-aged man calling himself Yuki understands that much.
"That is correct. We believe it would be a waste to simply discard your power as a Dungeon Master. You seem to lack common sense regarding this world, so we are prepared to ensure you are treated well by compensating for those gaps."
Well, the correct way to put it is that they will become my subordinates. If any more military power gathers under Nogosh, it will become difficult to oppose him.
"……Hmm. It is as I thought; this is strange."
Yuki muttered this after hearing my explanation.
"What is strange, exactly?"
"Hmm. I am struggling with how to explain this, but let us start with the conclusion. The reality of our situation is completely different from what you have gathered."
"What do you mean? Which information is incorrect?"
"All of it. To begin with, your claims are incomprehensible to us. Let’s see... let us start by addressing the discrepancies in your claims one by one. First, you operate under the assumption that we are receiving power from Lady Luna without limit to expand our dungeon, but..."
My, how disrespectful to speak the holy name of Lady Luna so lightly. Right here... no, stay calm. I decided to listen.
"Is that not the case?"
"No, it is not. I would like you to think carefully. Lady Luna desires for us to solve the problems of this world with our own hands. If she were to provide unlimited aid simply because she brought us from another world, there would be no point in relying on me. It would be faster for Lady Luna to do it herself."
"That is... No, Lady Luna is busy, and that is precisely why she lent a hand to you, Yuki-dono, is it not?"
"That is the very thing that makes no sense. If she were to go out of her way to bring in a newcomer and favor them, problems like this would be inevitable. Surely, the aid should have been directed toward you, Nonoa-dono and the others, rather than me?"
……That is true. If Lady Luna had granted us her power, there would be no such chaos. No, wait. The current topic is to correct our mutual misunderstandings. Therefore...
"In other words, are you saying that you, Yuki-dono, have not received any unlimited aid from Lady Luna?"
"Yes. That is exactly what I am saying."
Stay calm. This is just a lie to escape responsibility. I just need to point that out.
"However, I understand well enough that you lack the magical power for a dungeon of that scale and the teleportation gates. Where did that magical power come from? I find it impossible to believe it came from anyone other than Lady Luna."
Indeed, the magical power required to create and maintain a dungeon of that magnitude is simply not enough.
"Or perhaps, are you kidnapping people from somewhere and converting them into DP? I cannot overlook such conduct."
Even if one pours in magical power, there is a limit. If they insist they aren't receiving aid from Lady Luna, the number of people they must have sacrificed to convert into DP would be countless. I cannot leave someone who does such things unchecked. No matter what they say, there is no way you people can be forgiven.
However, Yuki did not seem particularly shaken; he tilted his head and opened his mouth once more.
"It is strange indeed. You say the same thing as Faide-dono."
"That is only natural. I am the one who taught Faide the way of the dungeon. Now, what exactly is strange?"
"Regarding the method of obtaining magical power to maintain a dungeon, there is another way besides the one Nonoa-dono mentioned."
"……And what method would that be?"
"By having living beings who are not under the dungeon's control remain within the dungeon for an extended period, the small amount of magical power that dissipates unconsciously is absorbed by the dungeon."
……That is absurd. If that were true, there would be no reason for Weed, which houses so many people, to run out of magical power. There would be no need to sacrifice people one by one. In other words, it would mean that we are the ones who have been misguided. All that remains is the fact that we are simply being selfish because we do not want to admit that we are losing to people from another world...
No, wait. I must not take the opponent's words at face value.
"Is there any proof that this is the truth?"
"Well, I am in contact with other Dungeon Masters, and all of them say the same thing: that magical power can be recovered when people are inside the dungeon for a certain period of time. I can say that I am not the only one who is special."
"What did you just say? You spoke as if you were already in contact with other Dungeon Masters..."
"Yes. I have already formed friendships with multiple Dungeon Masters and am working together to address the problem of magical depletion. Naturally, we also have the cooperation of Lilishe-dono and other gods."
"……"
Wait. ……Is this quite bad? I had assumed he was rising to power alone, but does this mean that crushing Yuki—or rather, Seraria—would not allow me to seize control? Furthermore, he has the cooperation of gods other than Lilishe? That is ridiculous. The only ones left on this continent besides us are the Beast God Gota. He said "gods," which means there are others besides Gota. Where did they come from!?
"Well, since you likely won't believe me based on my word alone, that is why I had Faide-dono accompany us here."