第５３１堀：諸々の調査結果 (Part1)
### Chapter 531: Various Investigation Results
**Side: Yuki**
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Zargis said this as he served me tea.
"No, I’m the one who should be apologizing for dumping a new task on you right in the middle of your magical energy survey of the New Continent."
"Not at all. It’s a nice change of pace. Still, it’s amazing how one thing after another keeps turning up. As a researcher, I’m delighted, but it certainly sounds like you’re having a rough time of it."
I took a sip of the tea before answering.
"Thanks to that, I’m running around like a headless chicken. I’m starting to wonder if I’m cursed."
"Well, you are blessed by a Goddess, so that might not be entirely inaccurate."
"Hah, well, complaining won't change anything. Let’s get to the main point."
As I said this, I looked around the laboratory. As always, it was impeccably organized. Zargis wasn't the stereotypical "scatterbrained researcher"; he was the type who kept everything in perfect order. I remember being surprised by that when we first met.
"Understood. Here is the summary report. I’m sure you’ll read through it, but I’ll explain the highlights orally as well."
"I’m counting on you."
"First, regarding the issue of magical energy efficiency on the New Continent: it has become clear that the 5,000-fold load only applies when utilizing Dungeon Master skills. I’m sure you’re already well aware of this, Yuki. The magical consumption for casting other types of magic remains unchanged. It’s at the same 1:1 ratio as the Rogari Continent."
That’s right.
That continent has incredibly poor efficiency when it comes to Dungeon Master skills.
Well, I don’t know if it’s the same on the other side of the mountains, but I’ve confirmed that the 5,000-fold multiplier holds true for the entire region from Baide to Haiden.
However, there are no such restrictions on other magic.
It isn't like the If Continent, where the magical concentration is so low that it demands 20 times the consumption.
As proof, the number of mages themselves is high, and I’ve confirmed that they operate organized aerial units. If anything, in terms of pure magic, they might even surpass the Rogari Continent.
"However, strangely enough, the Beastmen and Elves—those known locally as Spirit Maidens or warriors—are extremely rare. No, I should say they are on the verge of extinction. Furthermore, as for monsters, aside from species capable of some level of communication like Goblins and Orcs, they have all vanished. The threat of 'monsters' simply does not exist."
"That’s the part that’s so strange. I wish I knew the reason."
"I’ve managed to form a hypothesis, at least to some extent. The hint was the fact that you couldn't summon monsters using your dungeon skills."
"What do you mean? I know there’s no such thing as a simple 'error,' but can you really tell that much from just that?"
"Well, this is a prediction, so your input is valuable, but I believe the Dungeon's monster summoning circles and summoning from another world—or the Lizardman summoning you sent over the day before yesterday—are fundamentally different things. I’m convinced of it. Do you know why?"
"…Different things, huh? I can’t say I fully grasp it."
"If it were easy to understand, researchers wouldn't be needed, would they? You’ve never really examined the mechanisms closely, have you?"
"I’ve been busy, you know."
"Fair enough. To get back to the point: the Dungeon’s monster summoning circle is anomalous. Or rather, it’s something else entirely. To be precise, it is a 'monster production circle'."
"…Ah!! That’s it!!"
Zargis’s words made it click.
"In other words, the birth of monsters is being obstructed, but summoning is not restricted. That’s why I couldn't call forth monsters using the summoning circle inside the dungeon I built in Baide. And the latter—the otherworld summoning and the Lizardman summoning—were literally pulling entities from elsewhere."
"I appreciate your quick understanding. As proof, Steve and his kin can come and go through the gate without issue. This phenomenon can certainly be classified as a form of summoning."
"True. I can't believe I didn't realize it until you pointed it out. The dungeon’s monster summoning system is indeed a production process. It consumes DP to intentionally form a pool of magical energy to generate monsters. 'Production' is a more accurate term than 'summoning'."
"Normally, such a thing would be impossible, but let’s just attribute that to the Goddess’s power. However, since it’s impossible for an ordinary person to construct such a system, you have no choice but to call upon existing entities from elsewhere in the world. That’s why the latter is more accurately called 'summoning'."
"So, on that continent, the emergence of monsters from magical energy pools is forbidden, which is why monster production in the dungeon failed."
"And my theory is that the Beastmen and Elves were caught in the fallout of that."
"That makes sense."
Now that I think about it, Luna did say that Beastmen and Elves maintain certain parts of their bodies through magical energy.
I don't know what criteria the system uses to define a "monster," but it seems they got caught in that obstruction system, leading to their drastic decline.
"Well, it remains to be verified. Since the topic of monsters came up, I’ll include this in the report: I wasn't sure if it was the air or the continent’s concentration, but since that remains constant, I thought magical creatures might be fine. I tried taking a low-level slime produced in the dungeon to Baide. The result…"
"The result?"
"It vanished completely. To put it simply, the reason was the destruction of its core."
"The destruction of its core? Not from magical energy depletion?"
"Yes. Well, strictly speaking, it might be the same thing, but all magical creatures share a common trait: they possess a core, a magic stone, that maintains their physical form. A magical creature cannot survive without its magic stone. All the important things, like magical energy and knowledge, are packed into that stone. But the moment it arrived on that continent, a massive load was placed on the core, causing it to vanish. Every single one of them experienced the exact same phenomenon."
"A load?"
"Yes. It’s a bit too intense to call it 'magical energy depletion.' It wasn't a gradual decline; I observed a sudden drop of nearly 1,000."
"1,000? Wouldn't that be dangerous even for Surakichi-san?"
"Yes. It’s an impossibly high load rate. Compared to the 5,000-fold load on a Dungeon Master, it’s arguably 'better,' but for most magical creatures, it’s an instant-death level event."
"Why on earth..."
"I don't know the reason for that, but something must have happened 500 years ago, which is said to be when monsters began to disappear. Since there’s no one left from that time, we’ll have to dig through old documents to find out. Until we solve that, Weed’s proud monster army can only use biological types on the New Continent. That effectively seals off about half of our forces. So, it’s a matter we must resolve eventually."
"Just knowing that much is a start. But, 500 years ago, huh..."
If there’s anyone from that time, there was that entity in the basement of the Kamishiro Duke’s mansion.
I doubt it knows everything, but I should ask it later.
Come to think of it, how would that thing be categorized?
If it were a monster, it would have vanished as a magical creature, so is it in the "god" category?
Or is there some kind of barrier inside that shrine?