第１８４５堀：新人武具の真実 (Part1)
Chapter 1845: The Truth About the Rookie Gear
Side: Hiiro
I caught wind of something interesting, so I headed over to Big Brother’s place... or rather, I came to check on what kind of decision Vilia-nee would make, just as Dore-nee suggested.
Well, knowing Vilia-nee, there’s no doubt she’ll accept Big Brother’s proposal to head north. She’s the type who’d do anything for his sake, even if she didn’t want to, so this is just a formality.
To be honest, I wanted to head north too, but with this appearance of mine... well, you know. I’m stuck in this small form. I could use a Doppelganger to create a larger body, but I’m much more comfortable moving in this one. My combat style relies on a great shield to compensate for my lack of weight, after all.
No matter how you look at it, I’m an oddity. I’m bound to get dragged into trouble, and I don’t want to be the one holding everyone back. Besides, from what I’ve heard, there’s no doubt we’ll be getting into some messy situations. Even here in Weed, I get bothered by idiots.
"Well, if Vilia-nee and the others are in a pinch, I’ll come running, though~"
While I was thinking that, I arrived in front of Big Brother’s office...
*Zaza-za...*
Huh? Someone’s coming out of the office. Wait, is that Pro-nee and the others?
"What happened?"
"Ah, Hiiro-sama. Narjia-sama has brought in some gear, so..."
"Ah, I get it."
I understood immediately. In other words, there’s a high probability of an explosion.
"Are the documents and stuff okay?"
"They’re moving them immediately, so we’re evacuating first. Documents don't have legs, after all. I assume they’ve been protected."
"I see. Then I’ll just wait here instead of going in."
I don’t want to get caught in an explosion the moment I step inside. I love Big Brother, but getting caught up in Narjia-nee’s hobbies is a different story. Just as I was thinking that, Big Brother came out, dragging Narjia-nee along with him.
"Boo~. You’re so rough with women~. Actually, aren’t you sometimes terribly rough with me specifically~?"
"Please stop bringing explosives into the office. You know exactly what you’re doing, don’t you?"
"Well, that’s what you call a 'standard procedure.' Oh, if it isn’t Hiiro-chan~."
Oh, she noticed me. Wait, so the explosives are a "standard procedure"? Doing it systematically is pretty malicious, but I guess I can understand it. It’s a trope in manga and anime, and I know that new weapons are easy targets. After all, if the enemy gets their hands on new technology, they can analyze it and come up with countermeasures. At first, I wondered if there was any point to that, but watching anime and stuff taught me that it’s definitely meaningful.
Yeah, as Big Brother says, anime and manga are good teachers. That’s why I understand why Narjia-nee is obsessed with installing self-destruct devices. It’s rational to dispose of them before they fall into enemy hands. Still, having that kind of stuff nearby is scary.
"So, Hiiro, what are you doing here?"
"Eh? Me?"
At Big Brother’s voice, Vilia-nee and Nina-nee came out of the office. Ah, I guess they’re moving together with Vilia-nee? It would be worrying if she were alone, after all.
"Hiiro. You weren’t thinking anything rude, were you?"
"No, I was just wondering why Nina-nee and the others are with Vilia-nee?"
She’s as sharp as ever. I decided to deflect. I do want to know why Nina-nee and the others are tagging along, though.
"Ah, Nina and the others are scheduled to act alongside Vilia when they infiltrate the north. We’re about to go check the equipment now—want to come along?"
"I’m going. Dore-nee told me to come and see what Vilia-nee decides to do."
"Dressa said that?"
"Yeah. Dore-nee consulted with Tori-nee and the others, worried if she was pushing herself too hard."
"I see."
Vilia-nee basically never refuses anything related to Big Brother. Well, I don’t think Big Brother would ask for anything unreasonable, but people still worry. So, I tagged along with Big Brother and the others to check the equipment.
"Well, I did ask her myself if she was pushing herself too hard."
"I am not pushing myself at all. In fact, the investigation team in the south has hit a wall, so there’s very little for me to do."
"What’s that? Trouble?"
"Ah, no, that’s not it. Well, if you call it trouble, I suppose it is, but the southern lands are just too vast. We’ve reached a point where we don’t know how far or how much we should be investigating. Since we don’t have many people to begin with, we can’t just investigate everything all at once."
"Ah, I see."
It’s obvious that with the number of people in Weed, investigating the entire south of that massive new continent would take an enormous amount of time. Plus, having to watch out for monster movements—it’s easy to imagine they’re short-handed.
"Because of that, I’m mostly just summarizing reports from the investigation team. I’ll handle it if a powerful monster appears, but otherwise, I’m basically just stationed at the fort, compiling information."
"Ugh..."
That sounds like desk work, which I’m terrible at.
"Haha, Hiiro likes working out in the field, after all."
"Yeah. I’m the type who does my best on the front lines."
Actually, in the Navy, I go out to sea with the monsters to help with patrol duties. Recently, I took down a giant fish monster—one ten times the size of an adult. The meat didn’t taste good, though. Since things like that are out in the open sea, normal wooden ships wouldn’t stand a chance. Actually, according to Shi-chan the Sea Dragon, there’s also a giant rotting fish called a Leviathan out there. The world is huge.
"Haa, well, it’s fine. That’s why Tori-nee-sama and Fiora-nee-sama judged that it would be fine for me to move."
"I see~. So Vilia-nee wanted to fight outside, too~."
"That is not it. If I remain ignorant of the north, I might inadvertently drag us into a war, so I am moving to prevent that as much as possible."
"I know, I know~."
It’s obvious that it’s just a joke to say she just wants to go on a rampage. That kind of thing is definitely not for me, though.
"To ensure things proceed smoothly, we need to check the equipment. We’ve arrived at the training grounds. Orelia?"
"Yes. I have already submitted the application. We are at Training Ground No. 3. Also, the soldiers in the adjacent training grounds have been evacuated."
Ah, as expected, when it comes to Narjia-nee’s gear, it ends up like this. Is Hiiro going to be okay? Maybe I should have evacuated too...
"Now, Hiiro, you came to check on things because Dressa told you to, right? You have to watch closely and report back."
"That’s right."
Ugh, before I knew it, Vilia-nee and Nina-nee grabbed me and dragged me into the training ground. I missed my chance to run.
"Now, Narjia-san. Please explain the equipment you’ve brought."
"Okay! Then, let’s spread it out on this table."
With that, Narjia-nee spread out the gear. At first glance, it looked like well-worn, low-quality equipment.