chapter04 · 104-ep104

Episode 101: Forum Thread 8.5 and a New Enemy

【Stop it already!】 Karin Ojou-sama Rookie-Training Stream Live Thread Part 450 【The Government's HP Is Already at 0, Desu wa!】

600　Passing-by Anon

Today's stream seemed like a relatively peaceful job—Elegantly instructing rookie explorers.

I too once had a time when I thought that way...

601　Passing-by Anon

No, seriously, what even IS that silver-haired dark-skinned girl called Sharie-chan!?

Why do monsters on Karin ojou-sama's level just casually sprout up!?

602　Passing-by Anon

A naturalized second-generation 14-year-old... there's abso-freaking-lutely no way that's true...

603　Passing-by Anon

Karin ojou-sama (16), that apparition, is already noise enough, but even so, 14 is just no, you know? Even if there are a fair few countries that throw kids into dungeons from early childhood...

604　Passing-by Anon

But in that case, that girl who looks neither naturalized second-generation nor 14... what in the world is she, desu no...?

Someone in the comments said it too, but she doesn't really give off "assassin from overseas" vibes either...

605　Passing-by Anon

Well, she and the ojou-sama really hit it off...

606　Passing-by Anon

Becoming friends by brawling—not on a riverbank but on a beach? She really is a thug Yankee ojou-sama, isn't she!?

607　Passing-by Anon

There was this analysis in another thread...

• Egyptian(?) features

• Female

• Magic-specialized suited to wide-area annihilation = a combat style that could efficiently wipe out enemy forces in war

• Her distinctive way of speaking suggests she actually speaks some old language and uses an ultra-high-grade translation-type magic item = implying she has connections and money of that caliber

• She's clearly aware of the impact her existence and strength have on the world; she's unquestionably doing outrageous things, yet you can glimpse subtle political care in her fine-grained maneuvering

From all that, there's a wild theory going around that she might be the African Unification Dungeon Queen herself...

608　Passing-by Anon

The Dungeon Queen!?

609　Passing-by Anon

That girl who was just calmly sitting among the middle schoolers, all smiles, listening to the closing greetings of Karin ojou-sama's training stream!?

610　Passing-by Anon

S-surely that's leaping way too far on all fronts, is it not...? (trembling voice)

611　Passing-by Anon

But I mean, that insane strength... can it be explained by anything less than a being on that level...?

612　Passing-by Anon

N-no no no, surely it's impossible, desu wa!

More like, I don't WANT it to be possible, desu wa!

613　Passing-by Anon

For starters, the Dungeon Queen is one of those whose very existence is doubted, right!?

And the queen of Africa deliberately hiding her identity to approach the ojou-sama? That's the kind of thing that only happens in anime... If she's the real deal, I'll gladly shove a dungeon boar up my ass and stream a middle-layer conquest, desu wa!

614　Passing-by Anon

What did Dungeon Boar-kun ever do to you!?

615　Passing-by Anon

Free Dungeon Boar

616　Passing-by Anon

Also, doesn't the age not match up?

If you believe the sketchy info from the African Federation, the Dungeon Queen is estimated to be around 27.

Even setting that aside, the African Federation's explosive founding was about ten years ago, so if the queen exists, she'd have to be of a reasonable age. Even if Sharie-chan is lying about her age, there's no way she looks late-twenties either way, desu wa. She doesn't even look 14—she looks about 10.

617　Passing-by Anon

About that...

There's a theory—true or not—that if you raise your level like crazy, aging slows down.

Similar in principle to how your internal organs and everything get reinforced along with your physical abilities.

In Africa, and especially during the warring era, there were apparently some seriously messed-up regions and warlords that threw four- and five-year-olds into dungeons. If she'd been grinding levels like crazy since she was tiny, it's not necessarily impossible...?

618　Passing-by Anon

N-now hold on, that's got to be a stretch at that point...

Even top explorers almost never have looks that diverge from their age...

619　Passing-by Anon

Was ○rohiko Araki an ultra-high-level explorer...?

620　Passing-by Anon

But after witnessing (failing to witness) that other-dimensional battle, you just can't summarily shoot down any hypothesis anymore...

621　Passing-by Anon

No no no!

It's still absolutely impossible, desu wa!?

Because if that girl were the 27-year-old Dungeon Queen, that would mean "a dictator in her late twenties illegally entered the country, then, on top of that, forged official documents well enough to deceive the Dungeon Bureau, claimed to be 14, and approached a minor high school girl ojou-sama," you realize!?

622　Passing-by Anon

>>621

Lmao

The wording alone is so unhinged it'd bankrupt the Lmao farm.

623　Passing-by Anon

But if that girl ISN'T the Dungeon Queen, then the alternative is the possibility that there's at least one MORE monster of that level out there—are you all still fine with that...?

624　Passing-by Anon

That said, if she really is the Dungeon Queen, the stomachs of every nation's leadership are getting riddled like a hornet's nest, desu wa!?

625　Passing-by Anon

Even if she's not the Dungeon Queen, they're already guaranteed hornet-nest status, so we're fine!

626　Passing-by Anon

A monster who landed a hit on Karin ojou-sama hitting it off with Karin ojou-sama and starting to conquer dungeons together... for the leadership class, that's nothing short of a nightmare...

627　Passing-by Anon

"Shall we attempt the pit together, perhaps!?"

↑If you kept clipping that problem statement and beaming it to Kasumigaseki and every national capital, you could probably hospitalize every politician and bureaucrat en masse with stomach ulcers.

628　Passing-by Anon

A sonic weapon that deals direct damage to your mental state... how novel...

629　Passing-by Anon

Don't invent a new inhumane weapon

630　Passing-by Anon

Ah—um, whether Sharie-sama is the Dungeon Queen or whatever else, isn't this potentially an even bigger international-affairs incident than when Karin ojou-sama defeated the abyssal boss...?

631　Passing-by Anon

So you've finally noticed...

632　Passing-by Anon

Which is why every message board and SNS in the world is currently in an uproar beyond all previous uproars☆

633　Passing-by Anon

The ojou-sama had been keeping quiet lately because of her genocide image, and just when I thought the internet was finally calming down—THIS!

634　Passing-by Anon

Why do these international-affairs incidents keep popping off one after another, huh?

635　Passing-by Anon

Well, when you've got a personified nuclear missile ojou-sama streaming... yeah?

636　Passing-by Anon

Except this time the nuclear missile came flying from the other side...

637　Passing-by Anon

Are nuclear missiles colliding with each other and triggering nuclear fusion, perhaps...? (misuse)

638　Passing-by Anon

W-well, theorizing about Sharie-sama's identity is getting nowhere anyway, so let's just not think at all and enjoy Karin ojou-sama's impromptu dungeon stream, shall we! (thought termination)

Oh, and Karin ojou-sama and Sharie-sama are choosing which dungeon to dive into together, friendly as can be—how heartwarming~~ (dead eyes)

639　Passing-by Anon

The question is whether Japan will still be in one piece by the time this stream ends...

Actually, no—if those two are getting along, Japan's probably SAFER than before.

640　Passing-by Anon

Somehow we're always worrying about Japan's fate on Karin ojou-sama's streams, desu wa!

641　Passing-by Anon

W-well, it's Karin ojou-sama we're talking about, so it'll all work itself out somehow in the end... (praying)

642　Passing-by Anon

I wonder just how many big shots around the world are clutching their heads right now

※

One of the largest-scale conglomerates in the country.

The Inukai Group, composed of multiple manufacturers centered on Inukai Industries.

Sharp clicks of high heels echoed through the enormous office building it occupied in a prime Tokyo location.

"""Good work, President."""

"Yes, good work."

Striding through her company like an empress, bowed to by her many capable employees, was the woman who had inherited Inukai Industries and the entire Inukai Group from her father, the previous president, and expanded the business through strong-arm management: Yoko Inukai.

Though past forty, her beauty made her look only in her early twenties—less a company president than an actress or the like—and the delighted smile playing on her face bordered on the bewitching.

"The President never changes... hasn't she basically not aged in twenty years?"

"She's busy running the company—how does she keep it up...?"

"No wonder people say she's sucking the souls out of the subcontractors and subsidiary employees."

"Hey, hey, don't take the grumbling of those loser subcontractors seriously, okay? The President will hear you."

"She's in a good mood today, too, though."

"Well, business has been steady. Thanks to the companies below us working exactly as we demand, holidays be damned."

The employees traded such remarks as the president, unaccompanied by even a secretary, disappeared toward the floor with the presidential office. Indeed, even after everyone around her was gone, an extremely pleased smile remained on the face of Yoko Inukai, whose looks gave no hint of her age.

But that smile was not—satisfaction with her company's steady performance, built by working to death the employees of forcibly acquired businesses, subcontractors, and subsidiaries.

"Kuku, ah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah!"

Seated in the presidential office chair, Yoko Inukai burst into guffaws as she gazed at a tablet.

Displayed on its screen were several news articles and the internet's responses to them.

"【Breaking News】 Dungeon Bureau Advisors to Continue with the Nation's Largest Clan, Black Tiger, This Fiscal Year and Beyond"

"Again? Seriously?"

"Somebody needs to do something about these guys already"

"I hear the Anti-Dungeon Division and Public Security are working pretty hard, though"

"And with zero results to show for it. These guys running rampant forever is genuinely affecting the national interest"

"No proof of wrongdoing or illegality ever surfaces—how is that even possible?"

"Their cozy arrangement with the Dungeon Bureau is what's too damn insidious"

"A clan that lets Puke's nuisance streaming run loose can't possibly be legit—what are they thinking, Dungeon Bureau"

"Dungeon Bureau, as useless as ever this year"

"Somebody just blow it all up, for real"

"Special Feature: The Present State of Japan, the So-Called Dungeon Developing Nation, and Challenges for the Future ~ The Lingering Scars of the Arakawa Dungeon Tragedy ~"

"A seriously committed article. Which is exactly why reading it is so depressing..."

"Japan being treated as a dungeon developing nation isn't only because of the Arakawa Dungeon, but that incident really, you know..."

"They've always said that if not for it, the number of top clans would've roughly doubled and some standout clan would've emerged"

"There were other factors, but there's no doubt this was a massive blow"

"They even say that without it, a monster capable of solo deep-layer conquest would've been born here"

↑There are rumors that one already exists behind the scenes, just unpublished

↑Isn't that hoping for a bit much?

"Shouldn't we follow other countries' example and allow dungeon challenges under 14, plus lift the ban on minors cashing in materials? The explorer pool would skyrocket and things would change"

"Japan's already got a birthrate problem—increase the number of kids dying in dungeons and not just the kids, the whole economy dies down the line, seriously"

"The birthrate is dropping in the other dungeon-advanced nations too... wait, some of them genuinely have shrinking workforces and economies in real trouble, huh"

"No guarantee top explorers would increase anyway. And even if the ruling party tried to move knowing the risks, the media would trash them and that'd be the end"

"That said, leave things as they are and national defense is a given, but dungeon material quality and supply won't grow, so long-term the economy's shaky too, no?"

"That balancing act sounds like a question with no answer for a hundred years"

"I do hear the government can't afford pretty ideals forever, so the SDF or Public Security might be quietly beefing up forces through, uh, 'certain methods'—wonder if that's true"

"It's a stretch"

"I've always thought—what if some insane rookie just suddenly sprouted up out of nowhere"

Every string of text on the tablet was articles and netizen voices lamenting the current state of Japan's dungeon society.

For a businesswoman, a prosperous national economy could only be a good thing; these were by no means pleasant articles. Moreover, with dungeon materials now deeply involved in manufacturing in all sorts of unprecedented forms, even the Inukai Group—which could compensate to a degree thanks to holding its own clan for material procurement—should have found nothing welcome in the explorer world's many problems.

And yet—

"Ah hah hah hah hah! Smooth—entirely too smooth. It's going so according to plan it's almost frightening."

At that state of Japan, Yoko Inukai laughed loudly, a suspicious light in her eyes.

――Some time after dungeons appeared in society, particularly in the nations designated dungeon-advanced powers, there was an era when groups called dungeon terrorists ran rampant.

Dungeons are dangerous. Dungeons, which allow individuals to obtain powerful military force, should be sealed. Do not pursue the use of dungeons—find ways to destroy or eliminate them—shouting such anti-dungeon ideology at the top of their lungs while simultaneously rampaging across the world using powers they themselves had gained from dungeons, these were armed groups.

Blocking dungeon entrances on their own was the least of it; their activities—brawls with explorers conquering dungeons, attacks on politicians promoting dungeon use—escalated year by year. Armed clashes with influential clans of various nations broke out repeatedly, at one point even prompting a certain country to declare "this is a civil war." From their coordinated movements and seemingly inexhaustible funds, the dungeon terrorists were rumored to be "sabotage units scattered across the world by a certain great dungeon power to weaken each nation and make invasion easier," and together with the anti-dungeon ideology that bore clear traces of infiltration operations, they were thoroughly detested.

But that was then.

With each nation pushing terrorism countermeasures at full speed in cooperation with their official explorers, those movements have now been quelled. Disturbances still occasionally occur, but the terrorists' existence has faded into the past as one of the confusions of the dungeon age of dawn, their activities long dormant.

But their 'main invasion force' ran far deeper...

Behind the flashy, foolish movements of the dungeon terrorists that drew every eye, the demonic claws of invasion had been extending their roots deep into each nation for decades, cunningly and insidiously.

And Japan, the so-called dungeon developing nation, was by no means an exception... that malice had completely taken hold of one of the nation's top-class mega-corporations, and using an array of special powers, had been quietly laying the stones for invasion, little by little, over many years.

(The plan proceeds smoothly. Only a little longer until my homeland becomes the ruler of this world...!)

Yoko Inukai smirked as she reviewed the summarized state of Japan on her tablet.

Everything was going smoothly.

Japan had always had a soft side; without any significant scheming, prohibitions on dungeon entry under 14 and on minors cashing in materials had been settled. A soil in which the absolute number of powerful explorers grew relatively poorly had been created with ease.

By generating irregulars at a frequency just below suspicion, they plucked young buds; problem clans and criminal organizations like Black Tiger, whose 'flowering of power' they had fostered, swelled the burden on public-order units—drawing the eyes of Public Security and the Anti-Dungeon Division while simultaneously eating into those agencies' training time.

The Arakawa Dungeon tragedy was simply superb.

Though it was also the result of various coincidences piling up, it had allowed them to cut down Japan's fighting strength enormously.

In the final stage of the invasion plan, reducing the forces of Japan and every other nation as much as possible was critically important.

Above all, for a certain reason Japan was designated the 'most critical strategic point'; having obstructed its military buildup and dragged it down to its current dungeon-developing-nation status was an achievement that could only be called tremendous.

Two aramitama-class special-grade forces lay hidden, but even so, it was more than enough.

(Kukuku, truly, the more I think about it, the more everything is going far too smoothly)

Yoko Inukai smirked.

The Inukai Group, obtained together with 'this piece-of-trash body' that thinks of nothing but taking from and grinding down others, served the research the plan required and helped secure the operating funds of the invasion sabotage units. All that remained was to advance the research needed for the plan's final stage while awaiting the homeland's preparations to be complete. Continuing to watch over the dungeon developing nation Japan's current state, it was beyond any doubt that after the homeland's invasion she, the representative in charge of Japan, would land an extremely juicy post.

"Truly a sublime feeling. I could leave the continued research and all the tedious work to that insolent No. 2 and my subordinates and drink from noon—the sweet wine of promised victory, that is."

So saying, Yoko Inukai—the advance sabotage unit's representative in charge of Japan—grinned sinisterly.

With everything going exactly as she pleased and her own brilliant future before her, her laughter rang out.

――That was the story until a few months ago.

"Ngu, AAAAAAAAAAAAH!?"

In that same presidential office where, until quite recently, she had carried out her public duties in high spirits daily, Yoko Inukai now stared fixedly at her tablet, hunched over the desk with her head in her hands.

What was displayed on its LCD was not—commentary lamenting Japan's internationally lagging dungeon society.

"N-no, it's not true, desu nooooooooooo!"

Displayed there was a collection of eye-disbelieving articles summarizing the recent everything—the annihilation of Black Tiger, the minor's solo deep-layer conquest and so on—and video clips of a self-styled ojou-sama in a frilly dress shrieking as she denied genocide allegations.

Karin Yamada.

An abnormal fighting power that had suddenly appeared in Japan, of all places, a dungeon developing nation.

"Wh-what IS this batshit insane monster...!?"

Her earlier high spirits utterly gone, Yoko Inukai all but tore at her hair, repeating "You've got to be kidding me...!?"

An aramitama—a country-toppling explorer, and even among them unmistakably one of the topmost absurd beings.

Moreover, in contrast to that derangement and combat power, she seemed strangely inclined toward good; with such a kindhearted monster on the scene, the probability of obstruction in the plan's final stage was extremely high.

And it wasn't only her bottomless combat power that was an eyesore.

Thanks to Karin Yamada's streaming activities, Black Tiger and the assortment of unsavory elements connected to it had been swept away in a great cleanup.

Regarding the powers Yoko Inukai's faction had granted them, Black Tiger and the rest had been entirely unaware themselves, so there was no risk of investigation reaching her side through their confessions... still, having the convenient smokescreen crowd wiped out in one go was a tremendous nuisance.

For now the Anti-Dungeon Division and Public Security were still busy with the aftermath of the uproar, and there were of course other criminal groups that could serve as smokescreens... even so, given time, both agencies would regain a fair amount of breathing room, making their various shadow operations markedly harder—that much was nearly certain. If anything—apparently to protect Karin Yamada—Public Security's Foreign Affairs Division had already begun expanding personnel, so continuing their shadow operations in coordination with comrades in other nations would unquestionably demand greater caution and effort than before.

Of course, beings like themselves would never be detected by something as trifling as the police, and continuing the shadow operations themselves remained entirely feasible... but an increase in labor of every kind was an extreme irritant.

"After I spent all this time sabotaging Japan's growth bit by bit, bit by bit, just enough to avoid suspicion, and getting the plan's preparations in order! Why did this mutation suddenly...!? And on top of that, wiping out the trash devouring Japan in such a short span...! Damn it, I want to erase her this instant...! But with this body, there's no way I could ever match her...!"

Years of accumulated results, stepping stones toward the plan's final stage. Faced with a situation that could blow it all away, Yoko Inukai ground her teeth and glared at the ojou-sama on her screen.

"N-no, calm down, me...! True, this situation is inconvenient, but however strong Karin Yamada may be, she's ultimately a lone overpowered freak in a dungeon developing nation! Even considering that two other aramitama lie hidden, the threat is limited to Karin Yamada alone!"

Right.

However high her combat power, Karin Yamada is a single person.

What she can do has limits, and her reach is finite.

Given the nature of the plan's final stage, it should have been impossible for one person alone to prevent everything completely.

"Yes, yes. Think calmly and it's nothing at all. The plan faces no obstruction. It's certainly quite inconvenient, indisputably—but unless Karin Yamada suddenly multiplies into two, we'll be fine. Probably."

Talking herself down, Yoko Inukai opened social media as part of her recent daily routine of checking Karin Yamada's movements—and in that instant,

a swarm of ominous words flew into Yoko Inukai's eyes.

"DREAM TEAM FORMED"

"(FOR THE GOVERNMENT) NIGHTMARE PARTY EXPLODES INTO EXISTENCE"

"A HIT LANDED ON KARIN OJOU-SAMA"

"LIL GRL(?) STRONK"

"YANKEE OJOU-SAMAS BECOME FRIENDS BY BRAWLING"

"SUSPECTED DUNGEON QUEEN ILLEGAL ENTRY"

"Hah?"

A barrage of words carrying the foulest premonitions.

No, no way... thinking so even as she thought it, Yoko Inukai clicked the clip video racking up staggering view counts.

"..................................................Hah?"

What played at once was a scene of battle beyond all common sense, and footage of Karin Yamada, eyes sparkling at the very sparring partner who had landed a hit on her, going on about attempting the pit together.

Then, dumbfounded by that incomprehensible footage, Yoko Inukai tapped the link attached to the clip. Jumping to what was apparently Karin Yamada's still-ongoing stream—

"Yaaay, ja~! My subjects, are you watching!?"

"And now, I shall gladly conquer this dungeon together with Sharie-sama, desu wa~!"

"..................Oh, right. This is a dream."

At that heartwarming (lol) footage of two girls with standout combat power getting along like gangbusters, Yoko Inukai let out a voice drained of all emotion, escaping into denial.

―――――――――――――――――――――――

And so, the new chapter's villain makes her entrance, desu wa. It turns out the Queen-sama's blunder may actually have been quite the fine play, along with the Dungeon Bureau Director-General's training-stream project (I should have posted this episode at the start of the new chapter to make that easier to follow...!).

The one suffering the biggest headache over this affair was apparently not the government, but the enemy side.

※Also, Ojou-sama Buzz volume two's release has been set for March 18, desu wa!

As I announced before, it contains roughly thirty thousand characters of newly written material, so I hope you'll look forward to it...! (I plan to post a trial read of the beginning of the new material in March, desu wa!)

※And, forgive the lengthy afterword, but... Ojou-sama Buzz has now passed 30,000 stars, desu wa!

That's (probably) 11th most in all of Kakuyomu by star count—it scared me half to death, desu no...!

Reaching this point in such a short time is entirely thanks to everyone's support—truly, thank you so much, desu wa! Supporting me with stars and follows helps deliver the ojou-sama's exploits to even more people, so together with your ratings, that makes me doubly happy, desu no!