arc3 · 158-ch158

Chapter 158: Disaster Relief

Having passed the Explorer Exam without a hitch, I bought a celebratory cake on the way home.

"Onii-chan, how did the exam go?"

The moment I stepped into the entryway, my little sister Umi was waiting, eyes sparkling, asking how it went. Instead of answering, I held the cake box up high for her to see.

"Yay! Congrats on passing! Now you're an explorer too, Onii-chan, starting today!"

She must have read everything from the cake box, because she started hopping around with joy. What an adorable little creature my sister is.

I patted her head, went inside, and opened the fridge to put the cake away — only to realize there was already a cake inside.

"Aww, so you found out! Mom and I were so sure you'd pass, we bought a cake ahead of time!"

What!? Mom and Umi had bought a cake for me!? And hearing that they were sure I'd pass — how am I supposed to hold back tears after that!?

Though I was about to cry from the emotion, I held it in and managed a simple thanks.

"Thank you."

That night, we spent a blissful evening filled with a luxurious dinner, fun conversation, and two cakes.

▽▽▽

The next morning it was pouring rain — unfortunate, since it was patrol day. I sent Asahi and Hayate on the main patrol route and Shiden off to potion sales. Hayate and Shiden aside, I owe President Yamamoto my thanks for making Asahi waterproof.

The patrol was going smoothly, nearly finished, when a news story playing on my computer happened to catch my eye.

"A major landslide disaster in Ishikawa Prefecture, huh... Maybe I'll go take a look."

Maybe because Arihara-san had once talked to me about disaster relief, I felt oddly compelled to go even though no one had asked. Still, just like Arihara-san warned, I have to make sure no one finds out how much I can actually do.

I sent Asahi and Hayate, just out of the dungeon, toward the disaster site, and sent Shiden to the Dungeon Agency. The heavy rain made visibility terrible, but it also drowned out Asahi's flight noise and made it hard to spot — maybe that worked in my favor.

Then I picked up my phone and called Arihara-san.

"Hello, Arihara here. Could it be — did you see the news about the landslide?"

Oops. Seems Arihara-san had already figured out why I was calling.

"That's exactly right. I thought there might be something I could do, so I gave you a call."

My offer was followed by a long silence.

"Then — might I ask you to transport supplies? The Cabinet Office has just set up a countermeasure headquarters. Relief supplies will be gathered there. Could you carry them to the disaster zone?"

Just as I'd predicted — a request to transport supplies. That was exactly why I'd sent Shiden to the Dungeon Agency.

"Yes — that's why Shiden is already heading there. Hayate is at the disaster site, so I believe we can move supplies without any time lost."

"Thank you. Then I'll arrange for the gathered supplies to be stored at the Dungeon Agency. I'm heading to the rooftop now — I'll guide you to the storage warehouse."

With the plan settled, I hung up. Shiden arrived on the Dungeon Agency rooftop almost immediately, took the supplies from the waiting Arihara-san, and headed for the warehouse.

Then, until the supplies started arriving at the warehouse, I shared Asahi's and Hayate's video feeds to assess the damage. Since we couldn't conduct a large-scale rescue operation, I slipped into the disaster zone quietly.

"It's pretty bad out there."

Watching the footage on the screen before me, the words slipped out. Sediment had poured down from the mountains, swallowing part of the town.

"Yes... though I never imagined we'd have footage from the ground this quickly. The Self-Defense Forces haven't even finished preparing for departure yet."

Arihara-san sounded impressed, but I think it's only natural the SDF needs time to prepare. If anything, the news helicopters would probably get there faster. Though my drones are faster than even those.

This was where the Thermal Camera — the unit I'd added to Hayate — really shone. People trapped inside buildings swallowed by the landslide showed up crystal clear. So I used Storage to remove the sediment bit by bit from above.

The problem was the building wreckage. Because buildings have owners, apparently, I couldn't store the broken remains. With no other choice, I called out to the people buried alive inside and asked permission to clear the rubble before proceeding.

But when there was no reply, I could only store the sediment, so I removed as much of it as I could before reluctantly moving on to the next spot.

For any of the rescued who were injured, I handed over low-grade potions. And for people buried within sight but out of reach, I fired Asahi's recovery shots, dousing them in potion. Maybe it would save them.

Also, for every spot where someone was buried alive, I marked it on a map using my Auto-Mapping for reference. If we got this to the SDF, they should be able to rescue those people smoothly.

After that, I cleared the sediment off the roads so they could be used. By the time all the work was done, it was already completely dark.

By then, a decent pile of relief supplies had gathered at the warehouse, so it was time to deliver them to the shelters. Since my Storage is set up to look small, I can't hand over everything under the sun — but I wanted to deliver what people truly needed.

"Excuse me — this is SS's drone. I've brought some relief supplies."

I spoke through Hayate to the receptionist at the shelter entrance.

"Huh? Whaaat!? SS's drone!? Amazing! Is it real!?"

The receptionist lady made a far bigger fuss than I'd expected. Maybe because of that, people started pouring out from inside.

"Whoa!? I've seen this in the videos! It's SS's drone!"

"The real SS!? Seeing this here of all places — I'm touched!"

"Wow, so cool!"

Since this was a shelter, I'd expected everyone to be pretty down — but they were all watching Hayate with shining eyes.

"Everyone! SS has brought us relief supplies!"

The receptionist's loud announcement made the excitement swell even further. It was a little embarrassing, but if it brightened the shelter's gloomy mood even a little, then coming here was worth it.

With everyone in the shelter watching, I landed Hayate at the center of the gymnasium. After asking them to clear some space for the supplies, I went over the needed items with the shelter's representative.

"First, water. We're desperately short of it. After that, food, medicine, tissues, toilet paper — anything like that would help."

I relayed the list of needed items to Arihara-san through Shiden, and had him prepare them from what had gathered at the warehouse. Shiden stored them, and I pulled them out from Hayate.

"Whoa!? It really came out of nowhere!"

"Incredible! To witness SS's Storage with my own eyes!"

"So awesome! This machine is awesome!"

Come to think of it, people who don't dive into dungeons rarely get to see my Storage in person, do they? But there might even be people here who lost family in this disaster. If my drones can lift their spirits, there's nothing I'd be happier about.

I explained that this was just the bare minimum, and that the SDF would be bringing the rest, then headed for the next shelter.

After making the rounds of several shelters, it was past midnight by the time I sent Asahi back to the Dungeon Agency.