ch181-ch200 · 183-ch183

Chapter 183: New Dungeon Appearance Flag 【Hashimoto Masaki】

SIDE: Hashimoto Masaki (Chairman of the Adventurer's Association)

"Chairman, the report on the 'Spear King' has come in. Please review it."

"Hmm."

I review the report on a tablet in the chairman's office at the top of the Adventurer's Association headquarters building.

I am Hashimoto Masaki, the second Chairman of the Adventurer's Association.

My predecessor produced an unbelievable number of deaths within a single year of taking office, so the upper echelons were replaced wholesale.

With no other suitable candidate to be found, I—barely past thirty—became the second chairman.

An extraordinary promotion, and that while on secondment from my home ministry.

Staying on as Association chairman wouldn't be a bad lot in life, but it has already been decided that I will be given an important post at the Dungeon Agency, to be established next year.

If I achieve a great feat in the "that" now looming at the start of next year, the top seat itself might be within reach...

And then, just as I was making preparations, came the 'Umemoto Incident'—and the 'Hasegawa Incident,' uncovered by digging into the past...

Fifteen dead between the two.

Whatever else may be said of the 'Umemoto Incident,' the 'Hasegawa Incident' was a complete failure on the Association's part—in other words, MY failure.

The deaths in Triple-Rank promotion requests that the Association had ruled accidental were in fact a serial murder case committed by adventurers.

The top seat is out of reach, and even the post I was promised is now in jeopardy...

I was buried in press response day after day, but things have finally settled down.

"...Ah, 'that report,' hm? Speaking of 'that,' what became of 'the otherworlder'? Has he been found?"

I gave the report a quick read, but there's no mention of any otherworlder...

Once things settled down and I went over the incident's full story again, I learned there are rumors of strange circumstances surrounding its resolution.

Around the time the incident was resolved, there are rumors of a naked otherworlder on Chiba's Floor 1.

Investigating, it seems he wasn't actually naked—he was clothed, just wearing no armor whatsoever—and he apparently broke through the sealed Chiba Dungeon's 'Gate to Floor 2', then sauntered back after the incident was resolved as if nothing had happened.

Multiple Triple-Rank adventurers witnessed this otherworlder, and he was a young man none of them had ever seen before.

"No, he has not been found. We also checked the entry and exit logs for the Chiba branch's 'Dungeon Gate' that day, but since the incident, no one but staff and Triple-Rank adventurers has entered. The adventurers who remained were only the two parties that had been caught inside."

We took statements from the two stranded parties as well, but none of them saw this otherworlder.

Then it would be reasonable to conclude he has no connection to the incident.

"If he had no direct involvement, further investigation is a waste... So in the end, rumor is just rumor, hm..."

There had long been rumors from the Chiba branch of an adventurer wearing no armor hunting solo past Floor 15, and apparently the word spread that this was the otherworlder.

The rumor must have simply attached itself to someone entering the 'Gate to Floor 2'.

The scout-type on Floor 2 probably just took his armor off to go to the toilet—the truth is surely something like that.

"Then shall we call off the search for the otherworlder?"

"Yes. Ahem—we've strayed from the report. Back to business. It says no collaborator of Watanabe Kasumi's has been found, but what of this Akashiya Miyako?"

"When she was at headquarters she was a Double-Rank 【Blacksmith】, and her new high-rank job also appears to be in the smithing line. When she leased her shop at the Chiba branch, her job was registered as 【Master Craftsman】. She's not a combat job, so I don't believe she's the collaborator you're looking for."

When a production job leases a shop with production facilities, the Association provides subsidies according to rank.

To prevent abuse of that system, a job name must be declared so the line of production can be determined.

Falsifying it would constitute fraud, so there's no doubt Akashiya Miyako is a Triple-Rank production job holder.

A collaborator of Watanabe Kasumi's...

Someone must have raised Watanabe Kasumi to Triple-Rank.

The Association currently wants as many Triple-Rank adventurers as it can get.

If a party capable of accepting Triple-Rank promotion requests exists, I want them accepting requests by any means necessary.

Since the incident, promotion requests have dropped, and so have the adventurers willing to take them.

A grave situation.

The problem is that Watanabe Kasumi is hiding this collaborator's existence.

She claims she cleared Floor 30 alone.

And it's not just Watanabe Kasumi—the Chiba branch manager and the branch staff are moving suspiciously too.

"Something happening and only then finding out" is unforgivable—that is what the chairman's post is.

As part of the incident's aftermath, the HQ dungeon manager—Hasegawa and company's direct superior—was dismissed.

The Ibaraki branch manager, responsible for Umemoto's side, could also be dismissed depending on the verdict in Umemoto's trial.

I myself already have a pay cut coming; if any more of Hasegawa's misdeeds surface, dismissal it will be.

Which is why I must distinguish myself in the 'new dungeon appearance' that will occur at the start of next year.

At the last 'new dungeon appearance,' the Self-Defense Forces handled the survey of every dungeon—this time, I want it led by the Association and carried out by adventurers.

If I can make that happen, it will be a great feat.

For that, we need more fighting strength...

"Then what remains is Association staff or the SDF. The Chiba branch manager is black as pitch. He knows something, that much is certain—and it's possible he was directly involved. Then there are these staff members... Hiramatsu and Shiraishi, hm? I'll also look into other staff close to Watanabe Kasumi."

Hiramatsu is the staff member from that viral video, and apparently quite skilled—he reportedly brushes aside even Triple-Rank adventurers with ease.

On paper he's registered Single-Rank, but like Watanabe Kasumi, he may be concealing his rank.

The other one is Chiba's 【Healer】.

There were oddities in the treatment records of the captured Umemoto and the stranded parties.

According to Kuwashima-kun, Umemoto had already been treated when they found him...

The party attacked by Umemoto when he returned the next day had also already received first aid.

Clearly suspicious.

"Investigating staff...? How, specifically? Surveillance? We can't do anything too conspicuous, you know—this time, the most we managed was questioning under the guise of investigating the 'Umemoto Incident.'"

"Then it will have to be done in secret. First, send in a 【Healer】 and have them use 【Analyze・HP】 to check whether anyone else is a Triple-Rank."

A miracle like a Triple-Rank adventurer suddenly appearing on the very day of the incident could not have happened in the first place.

Something is going on at that branch.

"In secret... Then we need someone trustworthy. Who will you send?"

A trustworthy 【Healer】, hm...

"Kuwashima-kun will... no. I will go inspect Chiba directly. Kuwashima-kun will accompany me."

She's seemed down lately, saying she hardly ever gets to go out—I'll take her along for her sake.

"Not AGAIN... The 'Saint's schedule is packed, so please adjust yours, Chairman."

"I know. There's also the matter of the 'new dungeon appearance,' so have her come."

With half a year left, it's about time for televised warnings.

I'd like to leave that job to the 'Holy Maiden'—the face of the Adventurer's Association—as a matter of course.

"But surely, for all this effort, it's not possible that the 'Spear King' cleared Floor 30 alone, as she reported?"

"Impossible. Akashiya Miyako's promotion request may truly have been completed solo. She holds a job bearing the title of 'King,' after all—and she captured Umemoto. Her ability is the real deal. But her OWN promotion is impossible."

"How, when she could do it solo?"

"Think, man. Before promotion she was Double-Rank. A Double-Rank clearing Floor 30 alone is impossible. Even Hoshino Chiharu couldn't do it before she became 【Sword Saint】. You could search the whole world and find no such person."

And if such a person DID exist, he truly would be an otherworlder.