第１７５３堀：魔物を調べる者たちよ (Part2)
"You turned it down?"
"Yeah, I put a stop to that. After all, Chaea is a vital asset to my space development team."
"I see. It’s certainly a difficult position to hold down two jobs at once."
"She is a general, after all. And unlike Jessica, Stasia, or Fiora, she doesn't have the backing of royalty or nobility."
It was true. While Chaea-san was Show-san’s mentor, she wasn't a royal or a noble. To those who didn't know the circumstances, a "part-time general" like her would seem like a half-baked amateur, someone unworthy of trust. And above all else, she was a ghost.
That realization led me to a sudden question.
"Come to think of it, have Chaea-san and Hope-san been stabilized, like Havia?"
"Of course. If they weren't, they wouldn't be able to work properly. They wouldn't even be able to go into space."
"Yeah, we had a serious talk with them, and they've taken that suspicious medicine."
I couldn't help but wince. Calling a medicine from Luna-sama "suspicious" to her face? Well, since we didn't really understand the ingredients, it *was* suspicious, but the sheer nerve to say that to a goddess was incredible.
"Yes, yes, we’re getting off track. Do you all understand why I’ve called you here?"
"Yes. You want us to conduct an investigation into the monsters, right?"
I summarized what we had been told earlier. I couldn't help but wonder why I was the one acting as the representative—surely Wazuphi or Havia should have taken the lead—but I waited for Agil-san and Yuki’s response.
"Exactly. And, to be specific, Ryushi..."
"Yes. I will be joining this investigation as well."
" " "Wait, what?" " "
I tilted my head in confusion. Why would a recovery mage be joining a monster investigation?
"It’s not like she’ll be glued to your side the whole time. Ryushi will share information about the monsters, and if they have poisons or special abilities, she’ll help devise countermeasures using medicine or magic."
" " "Ah, I see." " "
That made sense. We could easily figure out a monster's traits or how to use its materials, but when it came to dealing with their special abilities or toxins, our approach was usually just to avoid getting hit or to brute-force our way through. In the worst-case scenario, we could just drink or apply the panacea provided by Yuki.
However, such luxury was only available to the executives of Weed. The soldiers from the various nations who would be fighting these monsters couldn't afford such extravagance. It wasn't that their countries were stingy; it was a matter of budget. It was far cheaper to use specialized medicine or magic tailored to specific threats than to provide a universal panacea for every soldier.
Since a large number of soldiers would be deployed, these kinds of issues would be an everyday occurrence. It was only natural to prioritize medicine that could be mass-produced and magic that was easy to use. But our knowledge in that specific area was... lacking.
It wasn't that we didn't know how to handle them—we had operated in monster-infested forests and learned a great deal at Weed—but compared to Ryushi, who studied medicine and recovery magic under Rurua-sama, we were amateurs. She had strong ties to the hospital and was an expert in developing pharmaceuticals.
"I won't be with you at all times, as I have my duties to Yuki-sama and my work with the medicine, but I look forward to working with you."
"We're counting on you. We aren't exactly experts when it comes to the pharmaceutical side of things."
"Yep, yep! I'll teach you all about the monsters, so let's get along!"
"Agreed."
We accepted Ryushi into the fold without any complaints. Still...
"By the way, have you, Niru-a and the others, worked with Ryushi before?"
"We've crossed paths and eaten together occasionally, but this is the first time we've worked on the same mission."
"That's right. Oh, wait, we did train together, didn't we?"
"We did. During our sparring session with Deryu-san."
"Ahaha, we all got absolutely wiped out, didn't we?"
"I see."
And so, we began our operation as the new monster countermeasures team for the New Continent. It seemed like the three of us would have more to do than we initially thought. Since monster countermeasures were so vital, we were, in a sense, indispensable.