第１６０６堀：どこも考えることは同じ (Part2)
"…Indeed. There’s no point in rotting away here."
Cleena finally seemed to reach a decision, lifting her heavy frame and rising to her feet. Samantha and I felt a wave of relief as we headed toward the office together. It felt as though we had finished a major task, though in truth, the work was far from over—a sobering reality. Still, it was better than leaving Cleena to stew in her bad mood.
"Excuse us."
With those words, I opened the door without waiting for a reply. It was a habit by now. After all, Yuki’s office was our workspace as much as it was his. Whether the master of the room was present or not, we simply did our jobs. That said, given the time of day, I expected him to be there, and as I stepped inside...
"As I thought, we must prioritize building the town first."
"I wonder? If we don't have the target naval port, Dressa and the others won't be able to dock, right? The development would be over in an instant."
"That is true. Since we can do everything simultaneously using dungeon skills, revisions are simple. We should build both rather than choosing one."
"“Indeed.”"
For some reason, they were all huddled around the conference table and whiteboard in the corner of the office, deep in discussion. I briefly wondered if some emergency had arisen, but a moment’s eavesdropping provided the answer.
"They seem to be talking about the port."
"…Mm. That place should be built as soon as possible. Having a base will broaden the scope of what we can achieve."
"Though, it’s not something that can be finished in two or three days."
Exactly. Since it was a port town, it wasn't a simple undertaking. Even if we could use dungeon skills to prepare the land and structures, it required prior planning and design. A significant error in the blueprints would severely cripple the port's functionality. It was only natural that they would hash out the details here to iron out any potential issues.
As we stood there listening, Yuki noticed us.
"Oh, you three are back. How did it go with the various nations?"
At his words, the others turned to look at us.
"My apologies. Hovis, Yayui, Lushi—prepare some tea."
"““Yes!””"
I didn't stop the four of them as they began their preparations. It was routine, and stopping them would only make them feel self-conscious. That was fine, but my focus shifted to Yuki’s inquiry.
"Yes, they seem to be considering the progress of the port town and the development of their own ports as well."
"Oh, them too? Similar discussions have been raised in Roday."
"…August as well."
"Well, it’s become clear that ports generate revenue. It’s no surprise that the If Continent, with its scarcity of monsters, would start making moves."
Yuki accepted the report without a hint of surprise, as if he had anticipated our findings, and began reviewing the documents we handed him.
"They’re asking for the know-how to build a port, huh? Well, I’ll share what I can... Oh, that reminds me. Sisua, Sona."
"Yes?"
"What is it?"
"Speaking of know-how, have you heard anything from Menou—ah, from Sea-Cypho?"
"No. Come to think of it, didn't they mention providing information regarding the port?"
"They did mention it during the meeting, didn't they? Wait, does this mean we should be the ones to reach out?"
"Well, they likely don't know our current progress. There’s a high chance they’re waiting for us to bring up the scheduling for a meeting."
It was true that Sea-Cypho had offered advice on building the port, but we had no idea when that was supposed to happen. While we had received funds from the various nations, we couldn't move forward on the technical side without a proper consultation.
"I see. But we haven't even finished the basic design of the port yet. Will that be alright?"
"There’s no such thing as 'perfect' when it comes to these things. Why don't you set a date for the meeting once you've compiled everything—what I discussed with Ratz, this current situation, and what you and Jessica have brought back?"
That made sense. Sea-Cypho was likely anxious about when the meeting would take place, so that seemed like the best course of action. And so, we joined the design meeting for the port town.
Ah, I’ll have to discuss Cleena’s request later. Well, it wasn't as if only one nation was thinking along these lines. The others were starting to move as well. The completion of it all was still a long way off, but that was precisely why we had to keep moving.