ch301-ch320 · 304-ch304
Chapter 304: New Dungeon Appearance Flag 【Hashimoto Masaki】 Part 4
"A—a honey trap!? Call Hoshino-kun at once—no, bring me Kinoshita-kun as well."
Unbelievable......
It seems the SDF's subversion operation was already underway.
The nations of the world are currently competing over which country will clear Floor 50 first.
But that is not only a contest between countries.
The military and the Adventurer's Association are competing over which of them gets there first.
'Blue Ocean' has already reached the 'Gate to Floor 50'—it could be cleared any day now. The SDF must have judged so and made their move.
The SDF—or could it be the Ministry of Defense?
So this is also a struggle among politicians who utterly despise losing face......
In any case I would like to hear it from the person herself, but the trouble is that 【Sword Saint】 only says whatever she pleases—no conversation comes of it.
As for her relations with her party members, I have no choice but to ask Kinoshita Ao.
"Chairman, it's an emergency!"
The secretary bursts in.
"Knock—! Now, what is it?"
Has Hoshino slipped out without permission again?
Possible.
Well, Kinoshita first......
"Kuwashima is missing!"
Hogeh!
"Missing, how? She was off duty today, resting in her own room, was she not?"
"I don't know. I called upstairs myself, and it's total chaos up there—I can't make out anything......"
Did she slip out?
She seemed so troubled yesterday......
No—I fully intended to hear her out.
And then the trouble at the Aomori branch kept me from the mixer......
"Her guards? There is security at the upstairs entrance, is there not?"
"All her guards are off duty. It was the security staff who noticed. She asked them to buy something, and when they delivered it to her room, she wasn't there."
Off duty!
Useless at the moments that matter!
"In any case, I am going upstairs myself!"
Miyuki-kun, stay safe......
︙
︙
"Contact Hoshino's guards!"
The reason they realized Miyuki-kun, who had asked security to buy something for her, had vanished, was that the item was ice cream.
Worried it would melt, they kept ringing the intercom—and grew uneasy that Miyuki-kun would not come out at all.
Her room is empty, and the possibility of kidnapping shoots up—but at the same moment, word comes that Hoshino Chiharu has vanished from 'Blue Ocean' as well.
Hoshino's chauffeured car is gone, and her dedicated guards are not with her.
A poaching operation by the SDF......
Yokohama again?
"Chairman—Chiba."
Chiba!
The dots connect.
The honey trap!
Miyuki-kun is in danger!
"We leave at once!"
︙
︙
"Chairman, about the Aomori matter......"
On the way, the secretary begins raising the work she has been putting off.
"Leave it all to the branch manager there. As I said yesterday, it is a case that may happen again. Have them keep records and make it a model case."
Some fool punched a hole in the Aomori Dungeon's wall, and entry to the Aomori Dungeon is currently prohibited.
I'm told that if no one is nearby, a day is enough for the wall to repair itself.
It will already be fixed by now, but for safety's sake, entry should stay barred for a few days.
And so that we have a benchmark for how long to close a dungeon when this happens again, the records must be kept properly......
"The branch manager there has called asking what to do with the staffer who caused the disturbance......"
"Fire them—FIRED! Make them submit their resignation!"
The Aomori Dungeon may as well be called Japan's pantry.
It supplies monster meat, Wild Boar foremost, to the dungeons of every prefecture.
A single day's halt means losses in the hundreds of millions.
There is room for leniency since it was an accident, not deliberate—but that it was a staffer, not an adventurer, who did this is the real problem.
It cannot go unpunished.
"As for that staffer—it appears to be the new employee you sent from Chiba, Chairman."
Huh? Chiba again?
Chiba, from the branch manager on down, must be considered fully under SDF control......
Could it be sabotage?
Terrorism?
If so, forcing it to a stop would mean inviting an interrogation over nothing......
"Wait—forcing them is no good. Have it done as the person wishes. And send someone to keep watch over them. Yamada has opened up, hasn't she? Send her to Aomori to investigate."
What a mess.
Could this be a diversion to part me from Miyuki-kun?
Would they go that far?
︙
︙
'Formation A—'
What is this 'Formation A'?
My arrival has thrown the Chiba branch into an uproar.
"Where is Miyuki-kun?"
"She is in the dungeon."
The female staffer who came out to receive me answers.
I know this one.
The woman called Hayashi from Yamada's reports.
I hear she runs the Chiba branch in place of the often-absent branch manager.
His right hand.
In other words, an SDF-side employee.
"Is the branch manager there as well?"
"No, the branch manager is out today. On a business trip to the Aomori branch over that matter."
This one smiled, just faintly, at the word 'Aomori'!
So it WAS their sabotage!
Do they have any idea how much loss that means!
And the branch manager—out on an alibi-building errand of his own, or simply absent......
No—more important now is Miyuki-kun.
Haruki Kasugano may possess some skill that exerts coercive power over women.
Thinking so, Watanabe Kasumi's abnormal hostility toward Yamada makes sense too.
Skills like 【Blood Suck】—such things really do exist.
That must be why he was brought to the Chiba branch, of all places.
Stay safe......
︙
︙
"Miyuki-kun! You're safe!"
"Chairman!? Why are you here?"
In the room inside the dungeon there are only the three of them: Miyuki-kun, Hoshino, and Watanabe.
Did I make it in time?
"All of you, go outside. Every one of you. Hoshino-kun, would you step out as well?"
"You can hear everything from outside the room, so it's pointless."
"Grrrnnn. Stats, is it. Very well. There is a matter to discuss with you too—the weekly magazine. But first...... Watanabe-kun."
"What would that be?"
Hiee.
What overwhelming pressure.
'That woman means to kill me!'
Yamada's words come back to me.
M-maybe she means to tear ME limb from limb too......
"What you are doing borders on the criminal. I won't tell you to break it off. But couldn't you at least refrain from seeing each other until next year?"
Best to keep things amicable......
If only they would behave until my term ends......
"Nooo—. Chairman, make them break up right now!"
"Now, now, Miyuki-kun. In situations like these, forcing a couple apart only makes them dig in."
Terrifying.
Sending the guards outside was a mistake.
Whether the 【Sword Saint】 is an ally is uncertain—she may already have been caught in Haruki Kasugano's fangs.
In any case, right now my priority must be taking Miyuki-kun home......
Afterward, I somehow manage to lead out Miyuki-kun, at least.
It seems Miyuki-kun, too, had seen through Haruki Kasugano's true nature and came to part her from Watanabe.
Kind as ever......