第１２６９堀：防衛機能確認試験 (Part2)
"In that case, it falls to us to apprehend the suspicious individuals, the perpetrators themselves... How are things on that front?"
"Tori and her team are currently combing through the intelligence. Or rather, they’ve been investigating anyone suspicious for several days now, but..."
Seraria cast a glance toward Tori and the others, but it was Deryu who answered in their stead.
"Regrettably, there isn't a single 'suspicious person' to be found."
"Huh? You mean there’s no one acting out of the ordinary?"
"Precisely. At this moment, there is no one whose actions clearly mark them as an enemy. Whether in the student district, the commercial district, or the adventurer district, there isn't a soul with a questionable background. Well, that is to be expected; they are all performing their duties diligently, which is precisely why no one stands out as suspicious."
"If that’s the case, then fine. But we have to assume that someone is hiding among them, don't we?"
That’s the crux of it. As Agil said, it would be foolish to think we could completely prevent an infiltration.
No, wait—what exactly is the definition of a "suspicious person" here?
"Deryu, how exactly are we defining these suspicious individuals?"
"Defining them? For now, we’re checking their status to see if they possess any peculiar titles, and of course, we’ve accounted for Kirika, Steve, and the rest of Yuki’s subordinates."
"I see. Concealment doesn't work on us, does it? In that case, wouldn't it be impossible to slip through?"
Indeed. Status modifications that we couldn't see through are virtually non-existent. After all, most concealment can be pierced by the dungeon’s own functions, and we’ve already excluded Yuki’s own personnel. Status screens are, for better or worse, remarkably candid in revealing personal information.
Well, at our level, we can even see through those. That is precisely why we make sure to feed others dummy information ourselves.
"Alright, let’s calm down and think. I’ve heard of situations like this before."
"You mean the 'no suspects' scenario?"
"Was there such a story?"
"Hmm. Well, as Comet says, having no suspects is common in standard investigations, but given the objective of this exercise, it is rather strange that we haven't found a single lead... Though, there is the possibility that Yuki is simply feeding us lies to test us."
As Deryu suggests, there is a chance he’s lying to lead us on a wild goose chase, but would he really ignore the victory and defeat conditions he set himself? The entire point of this exercise is to confirm whether there are any holes in our defensive perimeter. Failing to clarify that would defeat the purpose of the test. It is far more logical to assume that Yuki found a way to bypass the defensive network we constructed—a method that could be executed even without his direct involvement.
"Reporting! Contact with the defensive objective confirmed! Defensive functions have been neutralized! Location: inside the school building in the student district!"
The sudden report left everyone stunned.
"Put the feed on screen!"
At Seraria’s shout, the image materialized before us, and there stood...
"Eh?"
Miss Fusora, who was supposed to be at the school as an exchange student, stood there with a look of utter bewilderment.
Wait, what is going on here?
Had she touched something by accident? She looked around the darkened school building, seemingly unaware of what had just transpired.
Then, as if a realization had struck her, Agil cried out:
"An unwitting accomplice! Damn it! We’ve been had!"
Ah, so that’s the game. If a person’s background is too easy to uncover, the best strategy is to involve an ordinary person who has no questionable history and, more importantly, no idea what they are being made to do.
And just like that, less than an hour after it began, the defensive function test ended in a spectacular defeat.
We really do need to test just how well we can defend against this. When dealing with this sort of adversary, tearing things down from the inside is the most effective path of all.