第１０８６堀：とりあえず本人に聞こう (Part1)
"Indeed. That is certainly a difficult problem. Hearing from Yuki about the concerns Showu had raised, I found myself troubled as well.
It is true that even if we act at the request of another country, there are many things that would be problematic if we were to unilaterally handle their internal affairs. Our response to the villages' drought is one such example. It is crucial that Weed came to their aid 'in the name of the Kingdom of Dafaiho,' and not that Weed helped the villages independently or arbitrarily. If that were the case, the Kingdom of Dafaiho would lose its meaning for the villages. It was precisely because we knew this would become a governance issue later that we established the Kingdom of Dafaiho and addressed the matter...
This matter with Coral, the dragon... Hmm, as I pondered what we should do, Labyris casually stated, "There's no need to worry so much. The fact that there was a dragon is undeniable. We should just publicly announce it. All we need to do is inform Dafaiho and Roschur beforehand."
"That's true. If we're going to mitigate the disadvantages of it being exposed, it's important for us to announce it first."
"Dressa. While you say that... we did handle it unilaterally, so I'm concerned about the reactions of others."
"Big Sister is right. Big Brother hid it once. Won't there be various problems if we reveal it later?"
That's right. Hiiro is absolutely correct. If we had informed Princess Fiora from the beginning, there would have been no issue, but out of concern for delaying intercontinental exchange, we silently dealt with the dragon.
"But Big Brother just 'exterminated a monster,' didn't he?"
"That's right. Exterminating monsters is fine no matter where it's done. We simply exterminated a monster, a dragon, that we encountered during our water source survey."
"They're both right. We were conducting the requested water source survey, and a monster, a dragon, appeared, so we defeated it. I think that's perfectly acceptable, don't you? More to the point, aren't dragons essentially monsters on the level of natural disasters? It would be utterly foolish to argue over how to handle them."
"Mmm... that's certainly true, but I imagine those who want to complain will still complain..."
Indeed, as Aslin and Firia said, it's not impossible to insist that we merely exterminated a monster while performing a task requested by another country. And as Dressa mentioned, dragons are inherently considered monsters on the level of natural disasters. Interfering with their handling is typically the act of a fool, but...
"Even so, humans always desire what they don't have. What Showu said isn't entirely wrong."
"Yes. Since Gaul and others have already been introduced as 'friendly dragons,' people will surely emerge who think, 'If only we had been there, the dragon might have become our ally.'"
"So, there's a possibility that smaller nations might become reluctant to cooperate in the future, is that it? Hmm, but then again, that's only if the existence of the dragon is revealed in the first place, right?"
"That's right, if it's not exposed, it's fine! I'll talk to Coral!"
Yes. As Hiiro said, if it's not exposed in the first place, there's no problem. However, we are discussing 'what if it *is* exposed,' so this deviates from the current purpose of our discussion. Or so I thought...
"Ah, that's right. Hiiro's suggestion is adopted."
"Yay!"
"Huh? Yuki. What do you mean?"
"It's not a difficult matter at all. As Hiiro said, we can't discuss this without the person concerned."
"Talk to Coral?"
"Yes. If she says it's fine to reveal that she's a dragon, then we'll reveal it. If she wants us to keep quiet, then we'll keep quiet. While it is a state secret, that particular point doesn't concern Coral. No matter what we think or plot, if Coral herself doesn't agree, it's nothing more than a pie in the sky, a mere empty promise."
"That's certainly true."
Even if we arbitrarily decide what to do, as long as Coral herself doesn't act according to our will, neither an attempt to conceal nor an attempt to publicize will succeed. And so, we immediately set off to see Coral, but...
"Yuki, why are we heading towards the commercial district? We're going to see Coral, aren't we?"
Labyris asked, voicing everyone's question. Indeed, we were currently heading not to Kirika's inn, where Coral was supposed to be staying, but to the commercial district—a bustling area famous as one of Weed's tourist attractions.
"Ah, I just received word from Queen Miyabi that Coral is in the commercial district right now."
"Why is she already in the commercial district? Coral is a dragon, isn't she? Even if she's a dragon, doesn't she understand basic common sense? If she were to transform into a dragon in the commercial district, the damage would be immense!"
Dressa was right. While it might be understandable for Gaul, who is gentle, thoughtful, and accustomed to Weed, why would Coral, who has just arrived and isn't yet familiar with the place, be in the commercial district? If things went wrong, it wouldn't just be a matter of whether to conceal it or not, or a dragon appearing in the mountains of some small country. There was a risk of exposure before we could even implement countermeasures...
"Well, she has a proper chaperone, and she's wearing an anti-transformation accessory."
"That's the first I've heard of such a device."
"The one I asked Zargis to make was just completed. Leaving Gaul aside, the other Dragonkin are young. Gaul himself was quite worried and had asked me about it."
Indeed, the people of the Dragonkin village had the same concerns. The reason I hadn't worried much about it was because I was sure Yuki would have taken some kind of action.
However, Zargis must be quite busy. Even though it was at Yuki's request, he's making such devices in between investigating the mana depletion phenomenon. Even the water supply device delivered to the Kingdom of Dafaiho, while led by Agil and Comet, had Zargis assisting as a sub-leader. He might dislike me saying this, but he's truly the unsung hero.
"Well, even I didn't expect it to be done so quickly. Our technical department really is high-performing, isn't it?"
"Why are you surprised by that, Yuki? From my perspective, Earth's technology is far more astonishing."
Dressa is right. For us, 'Earth's technology' is still full of wonders. While it might be unfair to compare, even Weed's proud geniuses are ultimately just following in the footsteps of Earth's technology. Yet, Yuki seems surprised by this current situation.
"No, no, this anti-transformation accessory is something quite removed from Earth's technological system, with almost no prior information. Zargis and the others built the theory from scratch and created it. Normally, developing entirely new technology like that takes years, even decades, you know?"
"Oh, really? Big Sister?"
"Um, I don't really understand such things. Aslin, Firia, do you?"
"No, we don't understand."
Aslin and Firia immediately shook their heads. Well, it can't be helped, can it?