第１０１０堀：なかったもの (Part2)
"Naturally, until today, Master, you have been wary of the existence of dungeons. Fortunately, or perhaps I should say as luck would have it, no dungeons were confirmed within the range where you and your people have been active. However, now that we have more breathing room, determining the presence or absence of dungeons on that continent is something we absolutely must investigate if Weed is to venture out and operate there. And so, though it was a small team, our intelligence unit conducted an investigation..."
"So, you're saying you found a dungeon, right?"
"Yes. We did. To be honest, however, it wasn't our dungeon search team that found it, but rather the Hein Empire investigation team."
As Kirika said this with a wry smile, everyone, including myself, tilted their heads in confusion.
"Kirika, what do you mean? Why would the unit investigating the Hein Empire be the ones to find a dungeon?"
"Is it possible to find something you weren't even looking for?"
"That's strange. Tell us more."
"Yes. To explain the circumstances briefly, when we infiltrated an ally of the Hein Empire, we obtained information that a dungeon existed there in the form of ruins. Well, the locals simply recognize it as a cave where monsters reside."
"Then, it isn't active, is it?"
"Correct. The dungeon the investigation team discovered was indeed not active."
*The dungeon the investigation team discovered, huh.*
Everyone seemed to notice the deliberate phrasing, and they waited for Kirika to continue.
"...However, as we proceeded with further investigations, we heard stories from adventurers suggesting that there are, in fact, active dungeons in the countries closer to the Hein Empire."
"And how credible are these stories?"
John, hearing that it was information from adventurers, asked about its reliability. Rumors from adventurers are often quite unreliable, as they are usually just information networks within their own circles.
"We have verified that as well. It seems that in the countries near the Hein Empire, dungeons are a common occurrence. The stories about caves where monsters appear are widely known not just to adventurers, but to the general public as well."
"Hmm. Wait, isn't that a bit strange? Why only near the Hein Empire? And if the general public knows about it, why haven't we heard anything about it until now?"
As Steve pointed out, if that were true, it would be bizarre that we hadn't found a single piece of information about dungeons in all our previous investigations. Especially since even the professional Adventurer's Guild hadn't mentioned it...
"We have looked into that as well. Over there, the Adventurer's Guild is split into two: the Zuraburu Great Empire side and the Hein Empire side."
For reference, to put the geography simply: at the far west is the so-called New Continent where Kagura and the others are. Across a massive mountain range that stretches from sea to sea, there is the Zuraburu Great Empire, and further east lies the Hein Empire. Well, this state of affairs has only been the case for the last ten years or so, ever since the Zuraburu Great Empire began expanding its influence... Ah, I see.
"In other words, because the Adventurer's Guild is split in two by the war between the Zuraburu Great Empire and the Hein Empire, the Zuraburu-side guild didn't have any information on dungeons?"
"Yes. That is one of the factors, but that alone leaves the question of why dungeons simply don't exist on the Zuraburu Great Empire side."
"Oh, right. Even if they are fighting between the east and west, there's no reason for the placement of dungeons to be biased toward one side. You can't exactly move a dungeon. Or rather, I don't see the point in making them biased in the first place."
"Exactly. Usually, a Dungeon Master places dungeons in various locations to gain DP, drawing in people and monsters. There is no reason to bias them regardless of whether a country is at war. However, after receiving this information, I went back to the Adventurer's Guild in the Zuraburu Imperial Capital to confirm the stories about dungeons, and it was confirmed that they only exist on the eastern side, where the Hein Empire is."
Once she said that much, I began to see the picture. Mino-chan seemed to have realized it too, as he clapped his hands together.
"So that's it. The reason there are no dungeons on the west side is because they couldn't be created... is that it?"
"Yes, while there is no definitive proof yet, the possibility is high. This phenomenon of being unable to create dungeons is usually inexplicable, but we know the answer. Now then, it seems she has arrived."
As Kirika directed her gaze toward the conference room door, it swung open...
"Yahoo! I heard there was delicious dessert to be eaten, so I came!"
There stood the carefree apprentice goddess, Hairen, flashing a cheerful smile.