第１２７２堀：やるべきことは？ (Part2)
"By the way, what has become of Senal? I assume she is still in Weed?"
"Ah, yes. She’s currently working at the hospital to assist Rurua and the others, and she’s essentially taken up residence at the Lilishe Church as well."
"...Mm. The Lilishe Church has become a den of gods."
"That it has. Lilishe, Hairen, Senal... even Hifi and Nonoa show up from time to time. And don't forget Nogosh and Noble. Honestly, there are far too many people whose names start with 'No'."
"Though, Faide-sama is the only one who refuses to even go near the place, isn't he? Ahaha..."
Ria offered a wry smile, to which none of us could offer a proper response. Faide, the God of Agriculture, was the former husband of the Goddess Lilishe, whom the church worshipped. They had fallen out over their child, Lilishe, and they were still at each other's throats—literally to the point of cracking the earth. I suppose it was just a testament to how much they both loved their child. I couldn't say who was in the wrong; after all, it was a family matter.
"Faide-sama's situation is unavoidable. Besides, it has absolutely nothing to do with Senal. So, Yuki-sama, have you heard anything from her regarding the circumstances?"
"No detailed word yet. Come to think of it, you were briefed on the active dungeons in the Zurabl region when we spoke before, weren't you? I left the handling of that to you and the others—how did it turn out?"
It wasn't that I had forgotten, but after Senal had been brought down, I had entrusted the conquest of the dungeons not under her control to Ria and the others while they were pregnant. Naturally, they weren't storming the front lines; they were acting as the general staff for the operations.
"You've seen the reports, haven't you? They were all duds. Not a single Dungeon Master appeared. We succeeded in seizing every one of them, and since then, nothing has happened—not even the emergence of new dungeons."
"Right, I saw them."
The dungeon attacks Cleena and the others had managed were all successful. In other words, there was no trace of a Dungeon Master within the Zurabl borders. And given that there hadn't been a single move to reclaim them, it was highly probable that the Dungeon Master there was already dead. They might have relocated elsewhere, but for now, the area was safe. It had served as a good training exercise for Cleena and the others to act as commanders, drafting strategies and issuing orders from the rear.
"We didn't get any new information from the dungeons in Zurabl. That leaves us with two options: searching for the individual suspected of being a Dungeon Master who vanished in the Great Mountain Range that Agil is investigating, or seeking Senal's cooperation to learn more about this new god. Jessica and the others will be focused on the student exchange program from here on out, so we’ll have to keep the scale of our operations small given our limited manpower."
"Indeed. If we make a clumsy move and something like a Great Serpent appears, it would only be an unnecessary distraction. In that sense, searching for the Dungeon Master is a poor strategy. Shall we start with questioning Senal?"
"That seems to be the case. After that, we have the data to review..."
"Ugh, I'm... not very good with that..."
It wasn't just Ria; Aurelia and the others were wearing similarly pained expressions. I suppose it made sense; when Agil had shown us the data before, it had all been complete gibberish to them.
"Oh, by the way, what about the investigation into the marine products in the Blue Hole?"
"Yayui, marine products fall under the jurisdiction of Ratz-sama and the others."
Aurelia corrected her with a weary tone, but that casual remark of Yayui's struck a chord. What was it?
"...Come to think of it, Eupia mentioned that the Hairen Empire was putting more effort into their navy than we had anticipated."
"That's it."
That was it. The Hairen Empire had dispatched a fleet to Aurelia Port—a modest one, perhaps, but a fleet nonetheless. And they had gone out of their way to build a shipyard along the coast, rather than in the royal capital or its suburbs. I hadn't heard the details on that.
"Alright. I'm just going to go ask. I'll start by talking to Eupia."
There would be plenty to discuss regarding the student exchange program anyway. Ah, the work never ends. Just because the preparations for the exchange program are finished doesn't mean the work disappears. It just keeps bubbling up, one thing after another. Or rather, it’s time to confirm the things that had been pushed to the back burner. Are you all managing your tasks properly?