第１０２２堀：地方ダンジョンの情報 (Part1)
**Chapter 1022: Information on Regional Dungeons**
**Side: Agil**
*Ping.*
The electronic chime signaling an incoming message echoed through the laboratory.
"Hmm?"
*Ugh, I was just getting to the good part,* I thought, but I couldn't exactly ignore it. I reluctantly opened the call to see the words "URGENT CONTACT" flashing on the screen.
Wondering what it could be, I checked the contents...
*Primary objective achieved: Successfully seized the frontier dungeon located in the Hein Empire. Strategy meeting to be held at 1500 hours in the Military Conference Room.*
"Oh! They actually did it."
The moment I saw that, I tossed my current research aside and bolted out of the room, only to—
"Whoa."
"Oops."
"Oh my."
I nearly collided with Narjia and Comet, who had burst out of their own labs at the exact same time.
"Looks like you got the message too, then?"
"Yes. It arrived for us as well."
"Well, it's great that it went smoothly. Not that I ever doubted Yuki would succeed."
He had prepared so much for this. Even if he had failed to seize the dungeon, the information gathered would have been useful, so it was a win-win for us. If we have even a single piece of data, we can slowly piece the puzzle together through diligent research.
Still, the fact that they successfully seized it meant we had a wealth of information at our fingertips.
"Well, hopefully, this will shed some light on the intentions of the Dungeon Master on the Hein Empire side, which have been completely incomprehensible until now."
"Personally, I’m hoping there are some unique, never-before-seen weapons inside the dungeon."
"Narjia, you really never change, do you?"
As we chatted like usual and headed toward the conference room...
"Excuse me, but could you please stop ignoring me?"
"Oh, you were there?"
"Sigh... never mind."
Zargis, who had been standing there with zero presence, let out a deep sigh. We ignored his melancholy and hurried to the conference room.
"Good, you're here."
"We're here. Now, time for the usual."
I said that and leaped at Yuki, wrapping him in a tight hug, which he returned in kind.
"Oh, how lovey-dovey."
"Indeed."
"Honestly, I never thought I’d be doing things like this as a matter of course."
Marriage is truly a terrifying thing. These kinds of physical displays of affection have become completely natural. I was a bit embarrassed at first, but now, I feel uneasy if I don't have this.
"So, Yuki. What’s the situation?"
"We'll discuss that once everyone is here. That said, there’s no bad news. We’ve definitely secured the dungeon and the surrounding area. Steve and his team are currently investigating. If there are no issues, we plan to connect it to our relay points."
"Ah, so we can't rule out the possibility that they let us take it on purpose?"
The possibility that the enemy temporarily gave up one of their minor dungeons to probe our true identity.
"But Yuki, once we connect it to the Weed mainland, I don't think they have enough DP to take it back."
"I agree. Weed is vast even just as a dungeon, and that’s not counting all the internal facilities. I don't think it's something they could ever hope to capture."
That’s right. As Comet and Narjia said, the probability of our Weed being taken is near zero.
"Your opinions are valid, but our basic policy is to minimize the risk of information leakage as much as possible."
"The iron rule of modern warfare."
"I mean, I understand it in my head, but seeing it put into practice like this... it’s thorough."
"Indeed."
Naturally, no one opposed Yuki’s policy. It was just a matter of layering safety upon safety. We wouldn't leak a single shred of information, and we would finish everything while the enemy was still struggling to figure out who we were.
It’s the ideal form of warfare. If possible, we’d finish it before they even recognized us as enemies. It might be considered cowardly by the standards of chivalry, but at the end of the day, it’s a struggle for survival. Besides, the war between the Zurabul Great Empire and the Hein Empire had already begun. We were merely providing assistance. There was no reason for us in Weed to shed blood over it.
"And, it’s about time. Everyone, take your seats."
"Got it."
"Roger."
"Yes, yes."
While we were chatting, the time for the meeting had arrived. Before I knew it, everyone was seated. I took my assigned seat as well. There were no latecomers; that’s how much everyone was paying attention to this matter.
Well, that was only natural. If things went poorly, this could turn into a large-scale war between dungeons. It would be the first such battle for Weed. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that. Regardless, the first order of business was the dungeon we secured today.
"Everyone, thank you for responding so quickly to the emergency call. Now, let’s get straight to the current situation."
Yuki began his explanation.
"I believe I gave you the gist of it via the call, but I will explain the details again. Following Taizo’s proposal, we launched an investigation into regional, remote dungeons that appeared to be unused. We now have the preliminary results."
Right, that was the plan. The goal was to seize a seemingly unused regional dungeon to grasp its operational status, the placement of monsters and traps, and its scale, all to understand the enemy's condition. If the dungeon was small and lacked proper facilities, it would tell us how much DP they were allocating, allowing us to predict how much attention the enemy was paying to their dungeons.
"However, this is just a primary report. Things may change with further investigation, so please take this as information as of this moment."
As Yuki spoke, a message appeared on the monitors in front of us, indicating that data had been sent.
"The data I just sent to your screens contains information on the interior and exterior of the dungeon. Let’s start with the exterior. If anyone is not good with computers, let me know. I’ll teach you."
Since I couldn't do my job without being able to use a computer, I clicked to open the external information. A vast map appeared, along with explanatory text and even coordinates for wherever the mouse hovered.
They really put effort into this. Did they make this software specifically for this? Well, they probably just improved existing map software, so it might not have been that much trouble... no, wait, that’s still a lot of work. Tweaking programs and settings is quite a task. I’m still not quite there yet.
Maybe what Weed needs next is a programmer who can develop software tailored to our needs like this?
Well, that’s neither here nor there. Right now, it’s about the dungeon information in front of me.
"Everyone has it open? First, the dungeon’s area of control is minimal—only one kilometer square. It’s the smallest possible scale for a dungeon. Also, there are no structures on the surface. The monsters under its control haven't been deployed outside, either. It’s a typical dungeon designed to lure in adventurers."
"I see. But, Yuki-san, isn't the original situation strange? Was this dungeon actually operational?"
The first to ask was Milly, not one of the Dungeon Masters. Well, that made sense; she was the representative of the Adventurer’s Guild. While she was involved in the management side of dungeons, her public role was to gather information on them and lead the side that conquered them.
"Yeah. It was operational."