第８４４堀：解体現場 (Part1)
Dungeon 844: The Dismantling Site
Side: Yuki
"Ugh. I’ve reached my limit. I’m heading out."
"Right. Don't push yourself."
As I replied, Deryu, looking slightly pale, quickly exited the dismantling room.
"Deryu-sama is surprisingly delicate, isn't she?"
"Well, don't say that, Milly. Dismantling large animals is a bit much for those who aren't used to it, and the scent of the sea probably didn't help."
"Ah, I see. She’s still reeling from that incident on the galleon, isn't she?"
"That, combined with the sheer volume of monsters to dismantle, is a recipe for disaster."
Indeed, we were currently dissecting the coelacanths that had turned into monsters to study their biological structures.
There were nearly two hundred of them, and Deryu, having suffered from terrible seasickness recently, had made a swift exit before the nausea could take hold. It was a smart decision—she had no intention of being incapacitated by seasickness twice.
"Ah, come to think of it, Deryu-sama was quite seasick. And what about you, Kirue-senpai? You were feeling ill on the boat too, weren't you?"
"This level of work is nothing to me. Please do not worry, Master."
"I see. As long as you aren't pushing yourself, that's fine. But that goes for everyone—Deryu, Kirue, and the rest of you. If you feel unwell, tell me immediately. There’s no need to force it."
"Yes!"
As we talked, we continued to process the fish one after another. The gutted fish were passed down the line, but...
"Taiki-kun, are you holding up okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Surprisingly, I don't mind this kind of work. Ruth, however, didn't seem to handle it well."
I looked around and noticed that Ruth was indeed missing.
"He said being in a place where entrails are being strewn about is a bit much, so he went outside to get some fresh air."
"I see. Well, it takes some getting used to."
I looked behind Taiki-kun, where a mountain of entrails had already begun to pile up. But that wasn't the only thing catching my eye.
"Hmm. This one looks fine."
"This one is clear, too."
Two girls and a woman were happily grabbing handfuls of entrails and tossing them aside. Of course, they had been wearing appropriate gear for the task, but no matter how careful you are, blood splatter is inevitable. Given the sheer volume, both of them were now drenched in red from head to toe.
"If you saw them like this in the middle of the night, you’d wet yourself, wouldn't you?"
"They look exactly like the scene of a gruesome murder..."
As I was saying this to Taiki-kun, the door suddenly swung open. Thinking it might be Ruth returning, I turned to look.
"Ugh... it reeks of blood in here."
"We're dismantling fish, after all."
"There are nearly two hundred of them, so it can't be helped."
"I assume you haven't finished them all yet, but you've made decent progress."
"It really is quite blood-soaked, isn't it?"
For some reason, Aslin and the others had arrived, bringing Dressa along with them. I wondered why, and then Taiki-kun seemed to realize something and spoke up.
"Ah, if you're looking for seconds, there's more in the refrigerator over there. But we have to distribute them to everyone else, so just take one each for now. If there's any left, I'll give you more."
Ah, right. The pseudo-coelacanths were surprisingly tasty. I had asked Aslin and the others to bring some to Dressa, hoping she’d like it. I was glad to see she did.
"Yes, thank you. Wait, that's not it! Stop making it sound like I'm just a glutton."
"Oh, my bad. That wasn't it?"
"Wait, was it not tasty?"
"No, it was delicious, so don't worry about that. The reason I came here is that I had some concerns about these sea monsters."
"Hm? Concerns?"
"I heard from Aslin and the others—Sera-chan said these monsters were starving, right? But doesn't that seem strange, considering the state of the sea?"
"Ah, that. You're right. With bodies that large, they shouldn't have any trouble finding food. I’ve been wondering about that myself."
That said, it was just something Sera-chan had mentioned, and looking at their physiques, they didn't exactly look emaciated.
"In other words, isn't it possible these monsters were seeking something other than food?"
"Seeking something else?"
"I don't know what that might be. But if something was lacking or depleted, it would explain why they ignored the surrounding fish and attacked Sera-chan and the warships instead."
Hmm. I had prioritized understanding their physical structure through dissection, but Dressa had brought up a new perspective. I was just about to suggest stopping the work to hold a meeting in the conference room when...
"Ah! That's it! That's the answer!"
"Oh! So our premise was wrong! Dressa, you're a genius!"
"Eh?"
With those shouts, Agil and Comet—covered in blood and entrails—dashed toward Dressa...
"Noooo!? Ah—"
"Oh, Dressa-chan? What's wrong? It's dangerous if you faint."
"Wait a moment, Aslin... she’s already fainted."
"...You two. Please, be a little more mindful of your appearance."
"...Even we were taken aback."
Yeah. They looked like creatures straight out of a bio-horror film.
"Hm? Ah, my apologies. We were in the middle of work."
"Yeah, it's rare to get to dissect and study living things like this, so we got a little too focused."
They laughed casually, but standing there covered in blood, holding handfuls of viscera while smiling brightly, they looked less like beautiful women and more like serial killers.
"So, did you two find out anything?"
Since there was no way to fix their appearance right now, I decided to ask for their findings.
"Oh, here. Take this."
Agil tossed something toward me.
*Squelch.*
With that unpleasant sound, I caught something dripping with blood. It was so soaked in gore that I couldn't even tell what I was holding. To make matters worse, blood splattered onto my face.
"Yuki, you should be able to guess the cause from that, right?"
Comet said it so nonchalantly... I silently plunged the object into the bucket of water Kirue had prepared, washing it off while...
"How am I supposed to tell what this is when it's covered in this much blood!" I roared at the research-obsessed pair.
"Ah, sorry, sorry. Didn't notice."
"Oh, right. It was covered in blood, wasn't it? You were both the same."
There's no helping them.
As I thought that, I pulled the washed object out of the bucket...
"...A magic stone?"
Indeed, the thing that had been drenched in blood was a magic stone.