第９８３堀：誰にでも欠点はある (Part1)
Chapter 983: Everyone Has Flaws
Side: Vilia
"I can't take it anymore—"
My foolish younger sister, Hiiro, was throwing a tantrum, face-planted onto the desk.
Honestly. She’s been completely slacking off lately.
Well, I understand how she feels, but... as her older sister and her superior, I have to scold her.
"Come now, Hiiro. Are you saying you want to abandon the document sorting that Yuki-sama entrusted to us?"
"Ugh... Vili-nee, don't be so mad. I mean, it’s just staring at papers all day, right? We’re surrounded by books! There’s no end in sight!"
...Indeed. We are currently in the archives of the Zurable Empire, conducting research.
Even so, we absolutely cannot afford to give up.
"And what of it? This is an important task requested by Yuki-sama. Not to mention, it’s work to prevent a Great Monster Outbreak before it happens."
"You were sighing just as much as me, Vili-nee."
"Ugh."
That stings.
Hiiro is right; this work is incredibly grueling.
Mentally, at least. We are simply sifting through an endless pile of documents to digitize them, and it’s unlikely that we’ll be the ones to analyze the data ourselves.
That is the job of Yuki-sama, and researchers like Comet-san and Agil-san.
"...I wonder how much more we have to do before we find signs of the Great Outbreak?"
"Who knows... Well, the end of our work here is when we finish checking every single book in this library. Once that’s done, I’m sure we’ll be released."
I say this while looking over the rows of bookshelves.
As expected of the Zurable Empire’s archives, the number of books is extraordinary.
I can’t even begin to guess how many there are.
"No way— Hiiro is going to be killed by books! And besides, where is everyone else? Why are only Hiiro and Vili-nee gathering information here?"
"You know why. Yuki-sama and the others aren't just discussing future trade goods with Emperor Eupia; they are also tracking the Zurable Empire’s future movements and gathering intelligence on the Hain Empire."
"They aren't coming back at all! Hiiro and Vili-nee are all alone!"
"That’s not true. Even so, it would take far too long if we were the only ones searching these archives. Once they finish their discussions to a certain extent, reinforcements will arrive, so be quiet and do your best."
"Haa... Ria-nee and the others are sorting the documents found at the Adventurer’s Guild back home, Dre-nee is summarizing the ocean surveys from the aircraft carrier and issuing future orders, and Yuki-sama and the others are talking to Emperor Eupia and gathering info on the Hain Empire... There’s just too much to do."
It is true that Weed is currently involved in many things.
However...
"Hiiro, stop it already. Until now, we’ve had Yuki-sama and the others do all of this for us."
"..."
Hiiro seems to understand that much, at least.
But I should say it clearly, just once.
"We followed Yuki-sama this far because we wanted to be useful to him. Yet, are you going to easily abandon the work he specifically designated for us? Do you think Yuki-sama entrusted this to us just to harass us?"
"Muu!! Yuki wouldn't do that! I know that!"
"Yes. I’m glad to hear you say that."
If she had continued to be selfish, I wouldn't have allowed her to be involved with Yuki-sama ever again.
"Now, let’s pull ourselves together and continue. Or rather, let’s take a break for now."
"Break, yay. If we push too hard, our efficiency drops. You said that before."
Hiiro is right; it’s true that we were pushing too hard and our efficiency had worsened.
It’s a situation similar to when we were helping with diplomatic duties.
Yuki-sama had also told us to take breaks in moderation.
With that, I quickly prepared tea and snacks, and we began our break.
"Ah, this tea is delicious."
"It certainly is."
"Carbonated drinks are nice too, but green tea is so soothing for Hiiro—"
"I feel the same. If anything, it’s Yuki-sama’s influence."
"Yeah. Yuki loves green tea."
The reason we prefer green tea is heavily influenced by Yuki-sama.
It’s not that we dislike juice, but because Yuki-sama enjoys it, and there’s something about enjoying the aroma of tea like this that is just better.
"Well, speaking of aroma, coffee isn't bad either."
"Coffee is too bitter, Hiiro doesn't like it—"
"Oh? It seems adults enjoy blending coffee beans, you know?"
"Muu. Then Hiiro will blend tea leaves too."
"Let me know if you make a delicious tea."
"Yeah."
As we were chatting, I suddenly wondered...
"Come to think of it, why did Emperor Eupia say we could look through this archive as much as we wanted?"
"Who knows? Given the scale of this place, there should be plenty of important national information..."
Hiiro is right; I don't know the intention behind Emperor Eupia opening these archives.
As a collection of literature, it is flawless, but I don't understand the background of completely opening such a place to us.
Well, surely the truly important information for the country has already been removed, but even so, it is questionable to open an archive of this magnitude to foreigners.
Just as I was thinking that, a voice called out from behind us.
"My apologies, but the importance of the documents in this room has not yet been determined."
"Shou-sama."
"Oh, Shou-nee."
"Yes. Pardon the intrusion. Vilia-den, Hiiro-den."
Standing there was Shou-sama, known as the Great Imperial Advisor of the Zurable Empire, with her beautiful long white hair and a lovely red hair ornament that served as an accent.
"Important information that would be classified for our country has already been moved to a different archive room. This is considered an archive where sorting has not yet been completed, and as for the important information, we already discussed it in yesterday’s meeting, did we not?"
Indeed, the information Yuki-sama needed to estimate the Great Outbreak had mostly been gathered in yesterday’s meeting.
"Then, what are the books in this room?"
"These are books and documents that were kept in the countries we have pacified and occupied. To His Majesty and myself, such literature is necessary for understanding human history, and it is something irreplaceable—the crystallization of human wisdom that should be cherished. ...Though I say it so grandly, well, it’s just that they are still unclassified."
"Eh? But, there were quite a few monster documents too, right?"
"Yes. I suppose there are those as well. Well, we gather the information necessary for running the country as needed, so we don't pull out all of those documents."
I see.
So this is an archive that hasn't been properly touched yet.
"I told Yuki-sama as much, but he said he wanted to investigate this information as well, so His Majesty granted permission."
"So that was it."
"Maybe there’s something overlooked in a place like this. If it’s Yuki, he would surely think so."