第１５３９堀：作戦地域の状況 (Part1)
**Chapter 1539: Situation in the Operational Area**
**Side: Enola**
“We’ve dispatched units to several candidate mountains where the secret treasure might be hidden, based on the info from the young miss Canary… and we’ve picked up a dungeon reaction, y’know?”
That report reached my ears as well.
Actually, it seemed everyone on the bus had caught it; a heavy silence fell as they all turned their gaze toward Yuki.
“So yeah, definitely a dungeon reaction. We’re assuming we’re being scouted, so we’ll move outside the dungeon’s range before contacting you with details. Over and out.”
It seemed the news was unexpected even for Yuki’s group. They tried to ask for clarification, but Steve simply repeated the report and cut the transmission immediately.
After that, Yuki exchanged a few brief words with Kirika before that call ended as well. Then, he turned his attention to us.
“Hey, now… care to fill us in on the details of that conversation?”
“Indeed. It sounds like the situation has developed quite significantly, hasn’t it?”
Before I could even move, Lady Lilishe and Lady Senal had already crowded around Yuki. As for Lady Hyren…
“Hmm? Didn’t he say we don’t know the details yet?”
She tilted her head in confusion. To be fair, she had been busy sensing Yuki’s badmouthing earlier and had moved closer to him for that reason.
“Yeah, Hyren’s right. We don’t have the specifics yet, but it seems Steve confirmed a dungeon has been deployed at one of the sites he suspected might house the secret treasure. Now, Canary, may I?”
“Yes. What is it?”
“Have you ever heard of a dungeon existing within Vinosia’s borders? Lilishe, Rurua—are you two aware of anything either?”
Ah, I thought we might have hit the jackpot, but if the dungeon had been there for ages, that would change things. But wait, based on our prior information…
“No. During my time there, I never heard of a dungeon being discovered, let alone managed. In fact, if one had existed, the national treasury would have been in much better shape.”
“That’s true. I’ve never heard a whisper about a dungeon there either.”
“Nor have I. What about the Adventurers Guild?”
At Lady Lilishe’s prompting, Rurua turned to Kyu for confirmation. It was possible the Guild had discovered something on their own.
“I just checked with Big Sis Milly, and she says there’s no record of such a thing,” Kyu reported.
“I thought so. As Canary said, a dungeon is essentially a hole that spits out infinite resources. The rights to it alone are worth a fortune. Even after the country collapsed, there’s no way the neighboring nations wouldn’t have intervened to claim it.”
“Covil is right,” Lady Lilishe added. “Securing a dungeon is a massive economic boon. While it’s certainly a spark that could ignite a war, many would have rushed to seize it once Vinosia fell. Besides, there’s no way the Adventurers Guild would just walk away from one.”
“Exactly. The common consensus is that if a dungeon isn’t properly managed, it risks a Stampede.”
Yes, that was the general public’s understanding of dungeons.
Of course, behind the scenes, a Dungeon Master produces monsters and decides whether to send them outside. There are benefits to conquering the surface, after all. However, since they usually collect DP from adventurers on a regular basis, they rarely resort to such extremes.
After listening to the discussion, Yuki closed his eyes for a moment, deep in thought.
“…Which means there’s a very high probability that this is a direct hit.”
“It seems so.”
“The likelihood is high.”
“Well, it wouldn’t be entirely strange if there were another stray Dungeon Master out there,” Kyu offered, though it felt like little more than a platitude.
The idea that stray Dungeon Masters were just popping up all over the place was a bit much to swallow.
“We can’t say for sure yet. For now, we’ll stick to the plan and head to the capital of Hinsua to gather intel. In the meantime, Steve and Kirika will keep digging, and we’ll cross-reference our findings later. That doesn’t change. Though, if they’re planning something truly dangerous, we’ll have to move.”
Yuki reached his conclusion. It was true that we didn’t have any hard evidence yet—only the discovery of a dungeon. Our search for the treasure hadn’t truly ended—it hadn't even really begun—so it was too early to make a move against the Dark Guild or the dungeon itself.
“So, we aren’t going to do anything right now?”
Ria asked for clarification. The reality was that there wasn’t much we *could* do.
“Nothing. We’ll just keep riding the bus and head toward our destination at a leisurely pace. Though, I didn’t expect to find a candidate so quickly.”
“That’s for sure. We were looking for a hideout, and finding it this easily feels almost anticlimactic. But… could it be a decoy?”
“Dressa makes a good point; that’s a distinct possibility,” Yuki agreed. “That’s why there’s no sense in making a fuss here. Everyone seems shaken by Steve’s report, but we still don’t know anything. Just relax for now.”
I see. Dressa’s intuition was sharp. There was a chance they wanted us to panic and move the moment we found a base. They could be leading us into a trap. Since it was a dungeon, they could even collapse the whole thing on top of us.
I wouldn’t have even considered such a thing if it weren’t for Yuki, but if someone wanted to ensure our demise, they’d have to go that far. Then again, I was fairly confident we could survive even a dungeon collapse.
With those thoughts in mind, we returned to our seats and enjoyed the rest of the bus ride. That night, another transmission arrived from Steve.
“Yo. Reporting in again. Uh, is it okay to talk in front of everyone on the bus this time?”
“Yeah. They heard the talk at noon anyway. Keeping secrets now would only make them more anxious.”
This time, Steve’s communication included video. He appeared on the monitor, looking a bit surprised that he could see our situation as well. But as Yuki said, after hearing the news earlier, we were all dying to know more.
“Roger that. Well then, regarding the dungeon we found earlier this afternoon—specifically at 13:22. The location is south-southwest of the old Vinosian capital… let’s see, about the seven o’clock direction. We picked up a dungeon signature inside a cave in the mountains there.”
As Steve spoke, a map appeared on a separate monitor. It was a map of old Vinosia, with red dots scattered around the capital. One of them was highlighted with a square, accompanied by a photograph.
“So this is the dungeon. At a glance, it just looks like an ordinary cave. It doesn’t look like it’s been modified by human hands at all.”