ch01-ch20 · 017-ch16

Chapter 16

"I'm Hamamatsu Nanami, manager of the clan 'Anthem.' Thank you all for gathering. First, I'd like to note that this meeting concerns matters of very high public interest, so we may publish its contents. Does anyone object?"

The woman in the pantsuit stood and gave a vague bow to the room as she spoke.

The one who reacted was the arrogant old man.

"Publish? What is the meaning of this? We come all this way in the midst of our busy schedules, only to be told the meeting will be published? What public interest? This is a scheme to shift blame for your failures onto others."

"Councilman Yonejima... is that correct? Do I take that to mean you do not consent?"

"On what authority do you propose to publish the contents of this meeting? I fail to comprehend. What must be communicated to the public is the outcome, not the process. What purpose could there possibly be in disclosing information about what kind of meeting was held?"

"Since the 'World Fusion' of 1999, the significance of national defense has increased as one of the nation's highest priorities. Measures against labyrinths. The 'Chain Labyrinth Rampage' of the early 2000s manifested this as a tangible crisis for the populace. Whether this 'Labyrinth Mutation' is a phenomenon unique to Kamioka Dungeon or a threat that may spread in a chain like before—we believe that disclosing how we are discussing these matters to the public is beneficial to no one more than the citizens themselves. Is there something incorrect in that?"

"What benefit could that possibly have? I utterly fail to understand."

"Then allow me to be blunt. The matter of Kamioka Dungeon is already widely known to the public. Anthem's labyrinth exploration was streamed. Naturally, the possibility of 'Labyrinth Mutation' is also known to the public. The public has the right to know how we are responding to this situation. By holding this meeting, we can demonstrate that we are working to protect the lives and property of the people. And by witnessing our activities firsthand, the public can rest assured that we are not merely tax thieves."

"I utterly fail to understand."

Councilman Yonejima declared this as if he hadn't heard a word Hamamatsu Nanami said. His thick-skinnedness surprised Toru a little, but at the same time, he figured it was just how these things went.

Arrogant people were always like this.

It didn't feel good to have that confirmed, though.

"Understood. In that case, Councilman Yonejima, please exit the room. The condition of this 'discussion' as communicated to all parties in advance was that its proceedings would be widely shared with the public."

"On what grounds must I listen to the words of a mere girl like you?"

"There are grounds. Is there a problem?"

The old man glared, but Hamamatsu Nanami showed no sign of intimidation.

Though, Toru thought—he certainly hadn't been told in advance that the meeting contents would be published. What about that?

He didn't feel like raising his hand to interrupt, so he stayed quiet for now.

In the end, Councilman Yonejima let out a "Grrr" sound and banged on the table in obvious displeasure, but he didn't leave the room.

"I'm glad we have your consent. Then—"

The conversation flowed on, as if the old man's tantrum didn't matter.

For now, the meeting mostly consisted of confirmations.

Who decided to call Anthem. Who actually contacted Anthem. Why did they decide to call Anthem. Why was it Kamioka Dungeon... this and that, everything and anything.

Toru started getting sleepy partway through, but Tia beside him was listening with a perfectly serious face, so he reluctantly kept his ears open.

He let out a few yawns, but that couldn't be helped.

The council members and mayor were probably on official business, and Anthem's members received government support. But Hayasaka Toru was just here because he was told to come.

The topic shifted to the Kamioka Dungeon Labyrinth Mutation—whether there had been signs, whether the prefecture's Labyrinth Department was at fault for not noticing, including surveys of nearby labyrinths. Toru thought it was all ridiculous.

Of course there were faults.

Humans didn't even understand labyrinths that well to begin with. There was no such thing as a perfect survey, and what even constituted "perfect" anyway?

"It's true that we invited Anthem, but it was your side that decided to accept the invitation and explore the labyrinth. We provided all the materials we could prepare. There's no way we could have known the labyrinth would mutate."

"I see. But is that really the case?"

Saying this, Hamamatsu Nanami took out her phone and operated it.

Soon, a projector in the conference room displayed an image on the white wall. Not a video—some kind of document. It was titled "XX Prefecture S City Labyrinth Department Interim Report," and the signature read Sadoyama Koji.

"This is a document submitted by the S City Labyrinth Department section chief to the mayor and the prefectural governor. The governor isn't present, but I obtained a copy from a prefectural staff member via the deputy governor. According to this document, multiple strange reports have been received from explorers."

They said: ear ringing could be heard in the upper floors of the labyrinth.

This report came from all three labyrinths within the city. When the investigation was expanded to the entire prefecture, the reports were limited to the labyrinths around S City.

"How did such a report reach the prefectural office!"

The one who stood up with visible anger was probably the mayor. Toru didn't know the current mayor's face, nor did he know a single city council member. He didn't even know how many city council members there were. He'd see election posters sometimes when there was an election.

To put it bluntly, he wasn't a model citizen.

He didn't even properly exercise the voting rights he had.

"Well, I tried submitting it to city hall, but they wouldn't accept it. So I took it to the prefectural office, considering the urgency."

The person who answered with a loose laugh was Sadoyama, the document's author. He'd been standing near the entrance door the whole time, as if no seat was prepared for him.

"What urgency! We can't take every explorer's ramblings seriously!"

This time, another old man shouted. Toru was already past caring who was who. If being a proper member of society meant enduring meetings like this, Toru figured it was completely beyond him.

"Ramblings? That's a rather cavalier thing to say. Thanks to the magic cores explorers collect, the world's energy problems are half-solved. Thanks to the rare items they bring back, magical studies have advanced and various magical devices have been invented. Mr. Ishikawa... no, let me ask everyone here instead. What exactly do you people contribute to this world?"

His tone was still relaxed, but the warmth had leached out of his voice.

Toru could clearly see the old men who'd been shouting flinch in fear. The one who'd been acting the most arrogant was even covered in oily sweat.

If Sadoyama kept applying pressure for another twenty seconds or so, one of the old men might have a heart attack—just as Toru was thinking that, the air suddenly relaxed. He'd withdrawn the pressure.

Huh, that's weird, Toru thought, stifling a yawn at the inappropriate moment. He tilted his head.

Even though he'd sensed Sadoyama's pressure... he himself hadn't been scared at all. Before, he'd felt fear just from Sadoyama's presence even when he wasn't radiating pressure.

"Well, investigating that part isn't my job—it's the citizens' and the public's. Anyway, to continue—that report, about hearing ear ringing inside the labyrinth, he also submitted it to the branch office. But it was buried by an administrative clerk."

With that statement from Sadoyama, the room's attention focused on Toru.

But just because attention was on him didn't mean Toru could start speaking fluently. He intended to answer if asked something, but honestly, he had no idea why he'd been called to a place like this anymore.

"Um... Hayasaka, was it? Could you tell us about the situation?"

Hamamatsu Nanami said, looking slightly reluctant.

"Ahh... 'the situation' from where to where?"

"You were confirmed to have appeared from below the boss room on the fourteenth floor of Kamioka Dungeon's middle layers after the mutation, alongside the woman next to you. However, there's no record of you entering Kamioka Dungeon. Moreover, you entered Sugai Dungeon the day before the incident, with no record of having exited. Please explain the circumstances."

"Th-that's right! And what is that sword you were holding! And the woman next to you! What were you two doing in the lower depths of a mutated labyrinth with someone who easily dispatched that dragon! Don't tell me... you were up to no good!"

One of the old men raised his voice, following Hamamatsu Nanami's lead. But Toru didn't feel any fear toward that old man either.

Before, he thought being yelled at by an arrogant old man with obvious status would make him feel apologetic or something...

"'Up to no good' like what? You've got some specific something in mind, right? You think I did something somewhere? What exactly do you think I was doing?"

He found himself speaking roughly like this too.

Well, not like his manner of speaking had ever been particularly polite.

"Wh-what—who do you think you are! How rude! Why won't you answer the question! I'm asking if you were colluding with the woman next to you to commit some crime!"

"I mean, what 'crime'? You're saying we were plotting something—what exactly were we supposed to be plotting? You're asking so vaguely, I don't know how to answer."

"A crime is a crime! A plot is a plot!"

"I'm not doing anything wrong, as far as I know. I'm not plotting anything either."

"Do you have proof! Proof that you haven't done anything wrong! Proof that you weren't plotting anything!"

It was ridiculous.

Toru involuntarily pressed his thumb against his temple, wondering if he needed to question his own sanity. He never imagined a man well past sixty would try to pull something like this on him.

"Show us your proof! You can't show it because you were doing something wrong, right!"

"Shut up. You're too loud. I'm not a hundred meters away, so could you talk at a normal volume?"

Almost reflexively, words like a thug's slipped out of his mouth.

Well—come to think of it, society probably did call a high school dropout who'd been scraping by as a cleaner in labyrinths a thug anyway.

"Y-y-you...!"

"Besides, isn't it the accuser's job to provide proof? What's this 'proof you didn't do anything wrong'? Is this a false accusation scandal? I came here planning to answer if I was asked something, but if I'm going to have to listen to this the whole time, can I just go home?"

Without hiding his irritation, Toru asked Sadoyama, who was standing near the door.

He was probably going to get scolded. If so, he'd just get properly angry and leave—Toru mentally steeled himself with a thug-like resolve. But Sadoyama didn't get angry. Instead, he lowered his eyebrows as if troubled and raised his palm toward Toru like he was calming a horse.

"Whoa, whoa... that'd be... a problem. That old man seems to have lost his marbles a bit, haha..."

Laughing conspicuously, Sadoyama reached up to scratch his head.

In the middle of that motion, he sent something flying from his hand—Toru saw it.

The next instant, the shouting old man's head snapped back and he crashed face-first onto the table with a solid thud. It looked painful, but he showed no signs of waking up.

"Whoops. Guess his blood pressure spiked from getting too worked up? Better have a doctor look at him, just in case. I'll take him to the infirmary for now. Nanami-chan, continue the meeting. Alright then."

Talking in an overly deliberate way, Sadoyama hoisted the unconscious old man under his arm like a piece of luggage and hurried out of the room.

All the old men were totally creeped out. Hamamatsu Nanami, who'd been running the proceedings, looked exasperated. Saito Megumi and Kagurazaka Chizuru of Anthem were staring at the old men with blank expressions.

Tia, on the other hand... her bored-looking gaze was directed somewhere behind Hamamatsu Nanami.

There was the projector there, and the white wall displaying the image. But it didn't seem like Tia was looking at the projected image.

What was she looking at?

Toru found it curious, but Hamamatsu Nanami's deliberate "Ahem" cough brought his attention back.

"Despite a minor incident, let's continue. Hayasaka-san... Hayasaka Toru. Would you tell us what happened from your perspective?"