ch361-ch380 · 362-ch362
Chapter 362: New Dungeon Appearance Flag 【Hashimoto Masaki】 Part 5
SIDE: Hashimoto Masaki (Chairman of the Adventurer's Association)
Gentlemen—a Happy New Year to you all.
I humbly celebrate the new spring with you.
I am Hashimoto Masaki, second Chairman of the Adventurer's Association.
Well—I can introduce myself that way for only about three more months.
After that I take up a new post, but that introduction can wait until it does......
"Across nearly every branch, the number of dungeons lost matches the number gained. Excluding dungeons believed to have moved across prefectural borders to neighboring prefectures, every branch but Yamanashi nets zero. The search for new dungeons has been called off for today."
January 1st, 5 PM.
The sun has already set outside; it's gone fully dark.
I am in the chairman's office at headquarters, receiving the first day's search results.
The number of dungeons vanishing and the number appearing apparently match on a per-country basis.
They may cross prefectural borders, but never national ones.
Of course, some go unfound, or are deliberately hidden—but according to scholars worldwide, apart from those lost in that incident in America, the dungeon count has held constant for ten years.
Four years ago...... last time, in Japan, the 'Dungeon Gate' count had balanced out by the 7th.
This time, on day one, we are already down to one remaining.
Well, that is only natural—the number vanishing shrinks with every cycle.
The plan had been for all of this cycle's new dungeon gates to be accounted for within three days, but......
"Of all places, on the Yamanashi side......"
"Yes. A new 'Dungeon Gate' has been found on a mountain road on the Shizuoka side, so the scholars' opinion is that the last one lies within the sea of trees."
The scholars—the experts of Japan's dungeon academic community.
By their account, this cycle's dungeons would appear concentrated in more populous areas, and that has proven nearly dead-on.
Nearly every dungeon was found within a single day, after all.
It is also accepted theory that new 'Dungeon Gates' appear a set distance apart from one another.
That narrows the likely appearance points down to a degree.
Still—Aokigahara. The sea of trees at the foot of Fuji......
Do people even come and go in a place like that?
"In a sea of trees, staff and adventurers will not manage it. I will issue a cooperation request to the Self-Defense Forces. Prepare a document compiling the scholars' opinions."
If the SDF is to be asked, it is better left to the top brass than to me.
Though briefing those top brass may well take longer.
But I cannot slack.
If even a single 'Dungeon Gate' goes missing, there are plenty who will raise the cry that criminals or another country's agents seized it.
I must also remember to warn the top brass against letting information leak to such factions.
"Yes. Next—the spate of foreign nationals intruding into the new dungeons. There were ten actual reports; of those, the culprits were apprehended in three cases. Beyond that, numerous sightings have been posted through social media. Those are under close review."
What is wrong with people who film the whole thing and never report it?
The darkness of modern society.
Well—no 'Dungeon Gate' itself was seized, so I shall count it as acceptable.
The problem lies elsewhere......
"The ones who caught culprits were Ren-kun and—WHAT!? Him again? Nobody told me this!"
No—I am receiving the report right now, aren't I.
I have found a problem where there wasn't one.
Kasugano Haruki......
When Miyuki-kun asked for Christmas off, I pressed her for the reason, and she said she was going to meet THIS one.
Despite having a dinner appointment with me. (A work dinner, that is.)
I remember my vision going white.
What the streets call having your brain destroyed, I believe.
I managed to stop it that time, but after the dungeons closed for the holiday, Miyuki-kun went to the Chiba branch—for treatment purposes.
And that treatment was supposedly to restore Kasugano Haruki's lost memories—yet per Ishikawa's report, his memory had already returned before the treatment.
According to Ishikawa's report, the memory loss itself was genuine.
He apparently lost his memory while Ai-kun was still at the Chiba branch, and at that time he was unable to use 【Presence Concealment】, 【Presence Detection】, and his various other skills.
But when they met again after so long and he entered the dungeon, all of it was back.
He was using flawless 【Presence Concealment】, so there is no doubt his memory had returned by that point.
In which case—his memory had returned, and yet he summoned Miyuki-kun and Ai-kun.
For what purpose?
Furthermore, Ishikawa and Akutsu say they had left the two of them during the treatment.
What was the escort even for!?
The Chiba branch manager and Watanabe Kasumi were present?
Those two are Kasugano Haruki's gang!!
"There is also a problem with the culprits we caught...... The culprits apprehended at all three sites share the same nationality. We sent photographs to their country's Association for confirmation: among the culprits caught at each site there is one Triple-Rank apiece. Moreover, two of those Triple-Ranks belong to the same party—and the Triple-Rank man who appeared at the Mizuki residence is reportedly one of the most renowned adventurers over there."
Oh—apparently the report continued while my thoughts wandered.
That is the problem, though.
Besides the places where Ren-kun and Kasugano Haruki appeared, there is one more dungeon where intruders were caught—there, the staff could not subdue them inside the dungeon and came away wounded.
The police apprehended the culprits once they exited and moved well clear of the gate, so it came to nothing—but a high-rank adventurer among the culprits had been anticipated.
Yet a Triple-Rank at all three sites—and the same nationality, no less......
The culprits who came out of the dungeons were carrying large quantities of drugs and weapons.
If they appeared precisely where the new dungeons surfaced, their appearance prediction was more accurate than ours.
They are moving as an organization.
The name of the country they came from is an unsettling one.
Setting aside their country's Association, which shared the information—should we assume the country itself is involved?
"Then Kasugano's group caught that renowned Triple-Rank inside a dungeon. What do you think?"
Renowned meaning what we would call a top-tier adventurer.
Three Double-Ranks together should not be able to lay a finger on a single Triple-Rank standing at the threshold of Floor 40.
In which case, should we assume all three hold upper jobs?
"Aikawa Natsuki, Kasugano Haruki, Natsukawa Soushi. All registered as Double-Rank. Even as Double-Ranks, that promotion speed is abnormal. We should assume power leveling with a carry. Then should we assume they were carried through Floor 30 as well? There is Watanabe Kasumi's precedent—she, too, has filed no Triple-Rank promotion report...... It is the Chiba branch, so that is possible as well."
There are people who will raise your rank for money.
An old story.
But I do not understand the point of not reporting it.
The rich raise their ranks to show off.
A Triple-Rank at eighteen would be fawned over in Japan.
No—Triple-Rank promotion carries danger.
To avoid accusations of making minors do dangerous things?
But that does not apply to Watanabe Kasumi.
Why hide it?
What are they hiding?
The method of leveling, of raising rank?
The Self-Defense Forces again?
Hm? Is this Aikawa Natsuki the daughter of Aikawa Gen Ichiro?
A top-tier adventurer......
Did he level his daughter for her?
And yet they say the only one injured this time was this girl.
He put the girl in front and watched from behind?
Kasugano Haruki—what an utter scoundrel.
Furthermore, he apparently broke the arms and legs of every culprit he caught.
He carries cruelty as well.
Far too dangerous.
Shall I meet him myself?
Miyuki-kun...... I pray nothing was done to her......
"Obtain photographs of the remaining party members of those culprits. If there were two, the rest must have come as well. The other man's party too, of course. And do not forget to share the information with the police. Also—Kasugano's group will be questioned at headquarters. I will attend personally."
"The Chiba branch manager insists the questioning be held at the Chiba branch...... The examinees shouldn't be made to travel far, he says."
Guh—outplayed before I even moved.
So the Chiba branch manager is in on it too.
Curse you, Marutasuke!
But in this busiest of periods, I cannot go to Chiba myself.
"Send someone to sit in."
The reports from Chiba may well be falsified.
"Yes. Also, regarding the Mizuki matter......"
Ah—the biggest problem remains.
They had my attention, and I overlooked Kasugano's part in it.
"For now, do nothing. Leave the 'Dungeon Gate' security to the police. Only do not neglect the sharing of information. Have the government send someone for the negotiations."
It is a bother, so I am passing the whole thing off.
For security as well, our staff are useless outside a dungeon—leave it to the police.
No one would go out of their way to enter a dungeon whose entrance is locked down.
They would only be a rat in a bag.
I am tired.
I want to be soothed.
That's right—shall I invite Miyuki-kun to dinner?
Little time remains to me.
An early approach, then......
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......Refused.
DAMN YOU, KASUGANO HARUKI!!!