第５９７堀：報告と第二次探索隊編成 (Part1)
### Chapter 597: Report and the Formation of the Second Exploration Team
**Side: Taiki**
Honestly, I thought it was all over.
I mean, they just vanished into thin air. I even had the bizarre thought that this must be what it feels like to encounter one of those school ghost stories.
Well, knowing Yuki-san, I figured he’d just pop back up like nothing happened, so I wasn’t *too* worried. But his wives? They were pale as ghosts.
And who could blame them? This is the second time he’s disappeared right in front of them. Even if we knew it was a possibility, actually seeing it happen is enough to shatter anyone’s nerves.
Rurua-san and Deryu-san were shaking me, demanding I "do something," while Kanna-san and Agil-san were pale for a different reason, whispering about this becoming an international incident. They were consulting me while I was being rattled like a maraca.
I was at the point where I felt like I might lose my lunch at any second.
Oh, and when I said "I thought it was all over," I meant for me.
"Hero shaken to death after vomiting" is not a headline I want to be part of. Actually, I don’t want to die like that, hero or not. That’s the kind of death you get from drinking too much and choking in your sleep.
*Should I have brought Airi along?* Ruth is just standing there acting like it’s no big deal.
Does he realize who’s shaking me? That’s Deryu, the Demon Lord officially recognized by Gartz! And the one crying behind her is a former Saintess of the Litea Holy Kingdom!
These are heavy hitters from major nations—people even higher ranked than me—so I can’t exactly tell them to knock it off. Besides, there’s no way I could stand up to his wives, who have been turned into absolute powerhouses thanks to Yuki-san’s safety measures.
Ah, so that’s why Ruth isn’t saying anything. He *can’t*.
Dammit. I guess a hero really is just a glorified errand boy.
After about three minutes of being shaken while fearing for my life, a message came through from Taizo-san, and I was finally released.
『Yuki-kun and the others are still present in that library according to the surveillance.』
"Excuse me?"
According to Taizo-san, they couldn't be found on the standard monitors, but the Call magic surveillance monitor showed them still on the third floor. Apparently, they were moving at high speed along the north wall.
We rushed to the corridor by the north wall, but we couldn't see them anywhere.
"They didn't just turn a corner, did they?"
『That’s not it. Actually, this is strange... there’s a reaction right behind you all.』
"Behind us?"
I turned around, but of course, there was no one there.
『They just passed right through you. ...It seems they aren't in the same dimension.』
"Dimension? That’s suddenly getting occult."
『It’s not occult. Thanks to you all, I’ve been reading through modern scientific research and papers, and the existence of other dimensions has been confirmed. Or rather, it’s not just "other dimensions," but a multiverse—a different world. It’s like how gravitons vanish in particle acceleration experiments...』
"Ah, sorry. Could you keep it brief?"
I don't understand a word of this technical jargon.
『In short, Yuki-kun and the others are in a place that is similar but distinct. It’s close enough that it doesn't show up to the naked eye, but it still registers on the magic surveillance.』
"...Right. So, can they come back?"
『This is the first time I’ve seen a phenomenon like this, so I can’t say for sure. But based on rumors and such, I don’t think it will take long. Yuki-kun went in there himself, after all.』
"Well, that's true."
Yuki-san wouldn't go somewhere he couldn't return from. Plus, he’s a Doppelganger, so he has the insurance of being able to return even if the worst happens. I didn't think it would be a major issue.
『Besides, he has Akiten-kun and the Water Dragon-dono with him, who seem well-versed in these kinds of phenomena, so nothing bad will happen. At worst, we know the origin point of this phenomenon, so we could try tampering with it. No need to panic yet.』
That’s true. He has the legendary Shuten-doji and the Water God with him.
"Is this what you’d call the 'Kakuriyo' (Hidden World)?"
『In my era, that was a topic scientists would scoff at, but the faithful believed in it. Now that I say it out loud, perhaps it really does mean a "world that is isolated."』
"Ah, so that’s why they became invisible."
『God-hiding, barriers... they might all work on the same principle. Ah, if only I could do research on this in Japan.』
I’ll pass on that. Rumors like that in Japan always come with a side of fatal accidents. Between the Yotsuya Kaidan and the head of Taira no Masakado, there are things people still won't touch without an exorcism first.
『Anyway, I’m recording the phenomenon involving Yuki-kun, so we’ll analyze it once they return.』
"I hope they managed to grab some information on their end."
『Indeed. Oh, Yuki-kun and the others have returned to the history section. Their movement is strange, but check them out.』
"Understood."
Well, if it’s an infinite loop, strange movement is to be expected. It might be hard for Taizo-san, who doesn't play many games, to grasp. I never thought I’d see an acquaintance experience it firsthand, though.
When we returned to the history section, Yuki-san and his group were standing there...
"Thank goodness!! You're back!! Master!!"
Rurua-san and the others swarmed them. Yuki-san was crushed by Rurua-san’s chest—or rather, he caught her—and looked at us.
"What happened on your end?"
"You just vanished all of a sudden."
"Yeah. The moment we stepped on the trap, everyone in the corridor disappeared."
"How long was it?"
『About ten minutes.』
"Ah, Taizo-san. Sorry for the worry."
『No, I could track your magic signature, so I wasn't too worried.』
"What do you mean?"
『You existed under the dungeon’s Call magic surveillance, even if you weren't visible to the naked eye.』
"...Are you recording this?"
『Of course. We’ll discuss the details once we get back.』
With that, we headed back. After a medical checkup confirmed everyone was safe and sound—with no fatigue other than from walking—we moved straight to a meeting.
"This is the footage from earlier."
In the recording Taizo-san played, the moment Kagura stepped on the trap, everyone in that corridor vanished.
"The range is likely this one row of the history section. Taiki-kun and the others were stationed on either side of the bookshelf, but they weren't transported."
Taizo-san explained the situation to Yuki-san. After that, they moved on to explaining what Yuki-san’s group experienced—a classic infinite loop, the kind you hear about in ghost stories.
"We could see the walls at the front and back, so I think the loop was set up to the left and right. The loop started here, and once you passed this point, you were returned to the start."
It seems the loop was constructed to center around the history section. Naturally, it was designed to keep people trapped there.
"After that, we thought we’d return to the history section to gather info, but then Ria heard some whispering. It seemed like it was only audible to those standing on the trap."
"Hm? You didn't verify that?"
"No. By the time we tried to verify it, we were back to normal."
"I see."
Taizo-san wrote the information he gathered from Yuki-san on the whiteboard:
* A trap that prevents exit is triggered in the 3rd-floor history section, with the block as the starting point.
* It appears to have a time limit; approximately 10 minutes?
* You might be able to hear whispering if you are standing on the trap.