第５５１堀：ハイデン殴り込み隊結成 (Part2)
With that, I plan to commit almost all of my movable forces to the raid on Haiden.
"Steve. John. Status?"
"You got it. Clay Igott, who fled last night, has escaped to the Haiden royal capital as expected. The stealth camouflage is operating without issues."
...Clay Igott? Who’s that?
...Ah!! That’s right, he’s that pathetic, handsome member of the secret society that attacked us in the Duchy of Kamishiro!
He’s also that useless guy who claimed to be Kagura’s fiancé, only to easily break the flag and leave me and Taiki-kun in despair. I’d completely forgotten about him until just now!
"…Right. Keep him under surveillance with the Goblin squad until we arrive. How about you, John?"
"The roads leading to the Haiden royal capital and the interior of the capital itself are being scouted smoothly. The stealth camouflage is working perfectly."
"Good, keep that up. It’s fortunate that the usage time for magic tools isn't being shortened like it was on the If Continent."
"It sure is. Thanks to that, we can operate in stealth at our leisure."
"Still, it’s strange that the magic tools don't dissipate, even though they use monster magic stones."
"We don't know the details yet, but I suspect the problem is having the magic stone inside a living monster's body. When we brought slimes along, the moment they arrived, their magic stones vanished and they lost their physical form."
"If that's the case, don't we have magic stones inside us too? Why are we fine?"
"Well, Zargis investigated, and it seems the magic stones inside the Goblin and Orc squads disappeared the moment they arrived in this land."
"Wait, what!? Is that safe!?"
"The fact that you’re all perfectly healthy is proof enough. However, the stones regenerate once you return to the Rogari Continent, so Zargis suggests that some phenomenon is temporarily suppressing the magic stones within monsters. Or rather, he says you guys are anomalies even among monsters—you’re creatures that can function without magic stones."
"If you put it that way, what about Zargis, who is a demon, or Covil, the fairy who is basically a lump of magic?"
"We haven't investigated them in detail yet. We decided it was safe to bring the Goblins and Orcs because their existence was already confirmed. It’s too dangerous to throw demons or fairies, whose nature we don't fully understand, into this continent."
If things went wrong, they might just cease to exist on the spot.
"Well, it’ll be clarified eventually. Getting back on track: the goal now is to confirm the connection between the 'Gathering of Wisdom' inside Haiden and the remnants of the Lira Kingdom, then root out the idiots within the Haiden palace who are involved."
"Root them out? Aren't we going to annihilate them?"
"If they’re organized, wiping out a secret society like this is difficult. The fact that the ones who were in Findar have flowed into Haiden means they likely have bases in other countries, too. If we just drive them out, they’ll likely flee there. This matter involves things like Dungeon Cores, so we need to investigate the very roots. Well, on the surface, we’ll cooperate with saving Haiden, but for you two, in the worst-case scenario..."
"You mean we should help them escape for the sake of the future?"
"Exactly. I know it’s a distasteful job, but it’s more problematic if we wipe them out, lose their trail, and they go underground. They’re showing us their tails on purpose. We’re going to drag out not just the tail, but the whole body. Got it?"
" "Understood." "
"For now, stabilizing Haiden and Findar is the priority, but our original purpose is to investigate this distorted magical environment. Sadly, peace isn't our ultimate goal."
"If I recall, you said there’s a possibility that the lackeys of the intermediate god who preceded the Useless Goddess might be involved, right?"
"Yeah."
"…Sigh, that means things might get even more troublesome from here on out. Steve, do your best."
"John!! You do your best too!! You’re going to work!!"
"Don't worry. I’ll make sure to work you both to the bone equally."
" "..." "
Looking at me with those eyes won't change anything.
Besides, once I finish with Haiden, I’ll likely have to return to intercontinental diplomacy, and the investigation here will be left primarily to the two of you. There’s no way I’m letting either of you slack off.
Let’s fall into the hell of working together, shall we?
"Sigh, well, I guess it can't be helped. It’s not as bad as the Boss's situation."
"True. With this incident, we’ve got Kagura and Princess Stasia, right? Compared to that, this is still better."
"Wait a second. Why are those two names coming up right now?"
"Eh?"
"Huh?"
Stop looking at me like I’m an idiot.
That whole thing was supposed to be over as just me being self-conscious, right?
Right!?
"Sure. From an outsider's perspective, it’s just you being self-conscious."
"But from our perspective, it looks like nothing but a pile of flags."
"Don't call them flags. That’s impossible, you’ve been playing too many games!!"
"I hope it’s just your imagination. Oh, John. I bet 10 cucumbers that they’ll come to marry him."
"That’s not a bet. I’ll bet 100 cucumbers that they’ll marry him."
"You guys have some nerve!! That’s absolutely impossible, I bet 1,000 cucumbers!!"
And so, a secret wager was made.
Since the bet is in cucumbers, John is the only one who can actually consume the winnings...