第１５８０堀：墓所のダンジョンについて (Part2)
"In this particular case, it was originally a burial ground. There would be no reason to tell anyone it was a dungeon. They would simply assume it was already in use, or..."
"There was also an order from Old Vinosia prohibiting entry, just in case."
"Yes. If we told them, they would be arrested as criminals. While it was suitable for concealment for that reason, it wasn't expected to provide efficient magic power recovery, so..."
"So the opposing faction chose to go outside and create a new dungeon?"
Kirika nodded at my question.
I rubbed my temples at her answer.
"In other words... the people who can create dungeons are missing?"
"Apparently, they said they were heading towards the sea, under the umbrella of Litea."
"Alstaire really has her hands full. At this point, it really feels like someone wants to drag Litea's prestige through the mud. Was there any information about that?"
After all, there's been constant trouble in Litea.
Starting with Suurus, then the Canaria auction, and now Hynsua and Old Vinosia.
Ah, the slave auction was on the Rumel side, but nothing happened there, and the cause was Hynsua anyway.
"No, there was no talk of targeting Litea. I judge this series of events to be coincidental."
"I see. Well, even if someone wanted to undermine Litea's credibility, it's not something that can be done easily."
"Precisely. While Alstaire and the people of Litea are indeed saying it's a matter of Litea's prestige, there hasn't been a civil war. The subordinate nations were merely having their own skirmishes. The general public views it as a major dungeon overflow occurring within that context. Before Weed arrived, dungeon overflows were common, and Litea's swift response has earned praise, not a decline in reputation."
Yes, as Kirika said, from the perspective of the general public, there's no problem.
From Logari's general public, that is.
"The concern lies with the merchants from other continents who have come to the market since the start of the Intercontinental Exchange Alliance. Soon after their arrival, there were war scares and monster incidents. Outside of the Logari continent, the existence of monsters is rare, and even in the Zuraburu region, there haven't been major overflows, so anxiety is spreading on that front. However, explanations from Logari merchants and residents have reassured them that it's nothing significant, and things have calmed down for now, but..."
"It wouldn't be good if it happened too many times."
"No. Regardless of war, damage related to monsters is something people from other continents can hardly imagine."
So, they want to avoid unsettling people from other continents.
Well, in that case, they'll just have to have the major nations in the Alliance issue proclamations.
Rumors are just rumors, after all.
The major nations of the Alliance also accept that this incident was unavoidable, and they have no complaints about Litea itself, having seen its actions in an emergency.
Still, the lower echelons might try to leverage this for more favorable terms.
In that sense, Litea probably feels its prestige is on the line.
"Even so, Litea won't fall because of something like this, will it?"
"Precisely. Even if its reputation declines, Litea isn't particularly skilled in combat, so it will regain its standing through relief efforts. Furthermore, members of the Dark Guild are indebted to Litea, so there's no reason for them to disadvantage Litea."
"I see. So the Dark Guild isn't targeting Litea. That brings us to why they caused such a commotion... No, that's not right. It's that we were able to grasp the situation because of who we are."
The premise was different.
"That's right. The major overflow in Suurus, if left unchecked, would have simply ravaged Suurus, and with support from the nations of Irinau and Kinauf, they would have barely repelled it, only to lose territory. In that process, the Dark Guild that caused the overflow would have secured magic power and received successful bounties from the two nations. Since they wouldn't have reduced their personnel, it would have been an ideal fighting force for the Dark Guild."
As Kirika said, for the Dark Guild, being able to use dungeon monsters as a fighting force is convenient because it allows them to deal with targets without human intervention.
It's convenient because they obey without needing to be carefully raised like monster tamers.
"But we, or rather, the Alliance's participation, shattered that premise."
"Yes. They apparently didn't expect us to act immediately within a non-allied nation. This was according to their initial plan. What was unexpected was that there was no Dungeon Master, and the Dark Guild members happened to acquire a core and became able to use it. They conducted tests in this burial ground and then moved into full operation in Suurus."
"If they had just worked a little more quietly, they wouldn't have been found out."
"They seem to have thought this would allow them to quickly revive the Dark Guild."
"Well, I understand the sentiment."
As I muttered that, Dressa nodded in agreement.
"Yes, I suppose. They might have regained their standing quickly, but given these results..."
Everyone else nodded at her words.
"Alright, then, all that's left are the people who moved with the core."
Well, the ones who remained in the burial ground are done for, but the problem is the group that split off.
I need to hear more detailed information about them.
It seems that when people gather, differences in opinion arise.
And there might be some idiot who left the core unattended somewhere.