ch21-ch40 · 026-ch25

Chapter 25

"Shit... shit shit shit shit... why the hell did it come to this..."

Muttering filthy curses, Sasamori Takeshi stomped on the accelerator.

The hybrid magic vehicle owned by Sasamori, a prefectural assembly member of XX Prefecture, responded far more nimbly than his self-awareness could keep up with.

He flew down the prefectural road at eighty kilometers per hour in the night, arriving at his office—located a bit outside the city center. It was in an ordinary mixed-use building: a barbershop on the first floor, a judicial scrivener's office and legal consultation office on the second, and the entire third floor was Sasamori's office.

Not that Sasamori had ever done any office work in this building.

His secretary managed the schedule, and clerks handled the paperwork. Sasamori's job was to attend about eighty assembly sessions a year and read the papers his secretary prepared, and to show up at gatherings of his support base and local volunteers, nodding and laughing with a "leave it to me."

Everyone had a role they were expected to fill, and in that sense, Sasamori Takeshi had been faithful to his role.

He'd had an older brother who was excellent since childhood, and his parents' expectations were poured into that brother. It had been decided that his brother would inherit their father's hospital, so Sasamori Takeshi merely acted in ways that would please those around him. Since his brother was excellent, he, as the younger brother, just needed to play things cleverly.

To avoid losing out—create people below you.

He'd learned that before even starting elementary school, at a gathering of relatives. Sasamori's parents did the same, so Sasamori himself put on airs and treated kids his age as beneath him. Once established, the hierarchy wasn't easily overturned, and by expanding his circle, Sasamori Takeshi's fortress grew even stronger.

Why was he above them?

Obviously—because he was above. Whether he had any particular ability or how excellent he was had nothing to do with it. That was Sasamori's gut feeling, and though he wasn't very aware of it himself, that very instinct was Sasamori Takeshi's talent.

The ability to act arrogantly without shame or hesitation.

The thick-skinned refusal to reflect on himself.

Sasamori Takeshi's talent as a politician boiled down to that one point. He didn't believe in his own abilities in the slightest, had no political ideology, never pushed back against his supporters' opinions, had a keen nose for people more capable and higher in position than himself, hesitated not at all to ingratiate himself with such people, and possessed the talent to be carried as a palanquin by those he deemed beneath him.

There was nothing he wanted to do, and nothing he didn't want to do. In the first place, Sasamori himself didn't do anything—he just made others do it. In a certain sense, as a reflection of some form of public opinion, Sasamori Takeshi couldn't actually be called a terrible politician.

Of course, he was neither upright nor excellent.

"Shit... shit shit shit... what's with the stream, those brats..."

Scattering curses like incantations, he pulled a bottle of bourbon whiskey from the office shelf, poured it into a rocks glass, and downed it without ice. The sharp heat flowed through his body and settled in his stomach.

"My brother and the old man... what the hell... that stuff, everyone thinks it, it's just honest opinions, isn't it... shit! What's with the labyrinth? Ridiculous... Those brats playing around are public welfare? The hell are you joking about...!"

Sasamori Takeshi's behavior during that meeting with 'Anthem' had been streamed worldwide, just as the manager had declared.

He hadn't thought it was being streamed in real time, but he'd agreed to the streaming itself, so he couldn't very well blame 'Anthem.' Well, strictly speaking, it was a kind of trick—streaming it like that—so he could technically blame them, but considering the current state of public opinion, going after that point would be meaningless.

A fierce wave of backlash.

It was completely incomprehensible to Sasamori, but apparently, the honest opinions he'd expressed at the meeting had rubbed the public the wrong way. He'd thought everyone thought the same thing, but apparently not.

Those people running around in incomprehensible labyrinths with swords and blades generate revenue—so fine, let them play all they want and drop their money as they please.

That's what he'd thought. He assumed almost everyone thought that.

"Shit! The old man, my brother... every last one of them!"

Immediately after that meeting, he'd been called to his family home. When he went, his father and brother wore terrifying expressions and lectured Sasamori Takeshi for what felt like forever. It continued even after spending the night there, and he'd only just been released a short while ago.

Being 'scolded' at his age dealt a severe blow to Sasamori Takeshi's pride. Being called out for his careless remarks and arrogant attitude, being disappointed in him, being reprimanded—from his perspective, it was utterly unreasonable.

Because he'd always acted this way. If there were going to be criticism and reprimands, wasn't it too late for that now?

Apologize for his remarks and attitude now, belatedly?

Unthinkable. Doing that would make him 'lower.' Once you became lower, you'd have to trample countless others to rise again. At over sixty years old, he didn't have the energy for that.

The bourbon whiskey burning his throat was a twelve-year bottle gifted by a supporter. Not exactly top-shelf, but probably in a price range that would be a bit steep for the common person to drink regularly. He had tons of whiskey at this level sent to him.

Should he retire...?

The thought crossed his mind, but it didn't feel real. He'd lived his entire life as someone else's palanquin, acting arrogantly—that was Sasamori Takeshi's job. If he quit at this age... what would he even have left?

"Ughhh...!"

The glass was empty in no time. He thought about just sleeping at the office, and then—wondered what he was supposed to do after today ended.

He still had a while before pension age. His savings would last until then, but... Sasamori had far too little experience managing his own money. He'd left almost everything to others his whole life, and it had never caused him problems.

Would his secretaries and clerks keep working for a fallen Sasamori?

He considered it, but the answer was simple. Of course they wouldn't. They worked for Sasamori because he was 'above.' Because it benefited them. If that was the case, there was no reason for them to follow a fallen Sasamori.

If only there was some way—some way to turn things around, or wipe it all away...

Letting his head spin with impossible comebacks, he poured bourbon into his glass, emptied it, poured again.

—Then, a knock.

A regular, quiet knock—knock, knock, knock—echoed from the office door. A journalist driven by stupid righteous indignation? Sasamori reflexively tensed up, but the knock was too subdued for that.

The self-righteous types always charged in aggressively and greedily into others' territory. When there'd been a medical malpractice scandal at his family's general hospital, he remembered a few outliers from the media barging in, snorting with excitement.

But this knock wasn't like that.

Sasamori silently stared at the office door. The knocking stopped, and soon, the doorknob turned with a click. Come to think of it, he hadn't locked it.

What appeared was a strange man in a suit and bowler hat.

Lanky and tall, with legs making up half his height. A cane in his left hand, slightly stooped. His dark gray suit was clearly haute couture—the sleeve and hem lengths perfectly tailored—yet he lacked the aura of the wealthy.

"I've been looking for you, Sasamori Takeshi-san."

A resonant baritone voice.

Though he seemed to wear a faint smile, the man had no expression. His facial features seemed well-proportioned, yet strangely left no impression.

What a sickly-looking man, Sasamori thought.

"Wh-who are you? What business do you have with me?"

"I'm not worth naming. But that would stall our conversation, so let me reveal my affiliation. I'm from the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office."

"Cabinet...?"

"Oh, haven't you heard of it? To put it simply, Japan's CIA. I'm in charge of the labyrinth division. Due to the nature of our organization, I can't give you my card."

"The Cabinet... you mean the Cabinet Office...?"

To Sasamori, who was not a National Diet member and merely received support from a national political party, this seemed like something from beyond the clouds. Even with a figure who might appear in fiction standing before him in reality, he couldn't muster any sense of reality.

He semi-automatically refilled his bourbon, brought it to his lips, and swallowed.

The heat of the alcohol gave him a grip on reality. This sickly-looking man was not a dream or illusion—he had actually come to Sasamori's office and existed before him.

"Regarding 'Anthem's' recent actions, and the matter involving you, Sasamori-san, including the XX Prefectural assembly members, S City council members, and the mayor... it has been judged quite problematic. Do you understand what that means?"

"Uh, the backlash... is the problem, right...?"

"Well, yes, but that level of awareness isn't enough. No—perhaps it's precisely because your awareness is at that level that you were able to utter such a line."

"What do you mean!"

He slammed the desk without thinking—bang!—but immediately regretted it, considering the standing of the man at the office entrance. The man was visibly younger and used polite language, so Sasamori had gotten careless, but considering his position, couldn't he dispose of Sasamori Takeshi however he pleased?

"I mean, well. I can somewhat understand why 'Anthem'—and by extension the Labyrinth Agency—is angry, but you see, we can't have people shaking national security over face-saving and pride. The public hasn't noticed yet, and that's a good thing. Making them notice would be troublesome. This time, we're cleaning up your mess."

The cane-wielding man sighed with a "tsk-tsk" air, but neither his tone nor his attitude revealed any emotion. His words seemed exasperated, yet no sense of exasperation came through.

Like someone interested in how a lab rat changes, but having no interest or affection for the rat itself.

"In many countries overseas—especially those formerly called developing nations—it's become natural for explorers who gained power in labyrinths to be involved in state management. And that makes sense. When beings against whom guns and rocket launchers are ineffective start existing, and those people run wild—what would you do? Ordinary humans have no choice but to cling to the same monsters. The reason that didn't happen in Japan is because it was truly peaceful. Peace is born from rationality and laziness. Change is troublesome, isn't it?"

Tap, tap—his cane striking the floor as he walked.

The office wasn't that big, so it didn't take long for the man to sit on the sofa across from Sasamori.

"The monsters called explorers need to stay in a good mood to work. This time, you people irritated the explorers and their supporters to a degree that can't be overlooked. So, what should we do? What do you think is best?"

"...An apology... is that what you're saying...?"

"Hahaha. My, my, the assemblyman has a good sense of humor. Even if you bow your head as low as possible, any elementary schooler could tell it's not from the heart. The situation is no longer at that stage. You've turned off your devices in fear, haven't you? You don't want to hear anything—not from your family, not from your secretary, not from your clerks—am I right?"

"...What do you expect me to do...?"

"We'd have a problem if people like you assemblymen and mayors started being seen as unnecessary. 'Oh, we don't need people like that after all. They just take people's money to line their own pockets, do hardly any real work, yet make more than the average salaryman... wouldn't it be better to let explorers handle it?'—a Japan like that would be a problem, you see."

Saying this, the man reached inside his suit and placed something on the table, next to the rocks glass.

A tiny black stone.

Smaller than a thumb. Small enough to hide entirely in a fist.

"Let's smash things up for now. After the chaos, they'll definitely be needed. The power of local government, the mayor's decisiveness, the assembly members' support, the cooperation of support groups... or the Self-Defense Forces being deployed. They're needed, in our country. Explorers are needed too. Both are necessary—so let's demonstrate that necessity. Sasamori councilman."

"What..."

"The S City dungeons are connected. I don't know if you're aware, but currently, the 'Anthem' you mentioned is exploring the mutated Kamioka Dungeon. Apparently, they refused S City's cooperation and obtained direct permission and support from the Labyrinth Agency."

What a troublesome situation, the man laughed—but his face wasn't laughing.

No expression at all.

The man continued.

"That stone is a stone that erases 'labyrinths.' There aren't many people who would deliberately erase a resource-rich 'labyrinth,' but as far as the Japanese government knows, at least thirty-one of them should exist worldwide. Usage is simple—just toss it into the entrance from outside the labyrinth. Several labyrinths have been confirmed to have vanished this way."

"The 'labyrinth'... disappears? If it disappears... what happens? Those girls..."

"Ah, they'll simply be expelled from the vanished labyrinth. There's a bit of lag between tossing the stone and the labyrinth's disappearance, so I'd recommend getting out quickly."

"S-so... if we erase the Kamioka Dungeon... what happens? What gets smashed? What about the local government?"

"I told you, the S City dungeons are connected. The Sugai Dungeon, the Kamioka Dungeon, and the Noumi Dungeon in the urban area. If Kamioka—the center of the three—disappears, then what should have been in Kamioka will flow into the remaining two. There's precedent for this, so it's almost certain."

"Flow... into?"

Sasamori parroted back stupidly, and the man gave a magnanimous nod.

As if to say, that's fine.

"The post-mutation Kamioka Dungeon is probably now equivalent to A-rank or even S-rank. If the 'something' inherent in that labyrinth flows into the D-rank Sugai Dungeon and the C-rank Noumi Dungeon—naturally, the internal pressure will be tremendous. They probably won't be able to withstand it. If they can't withstand it, what do you think will happen?"

"...Outside...?"

The conclusion of a neglected labyrinth.

The same thing—would happen within S City?

"Let's smash things up. If a 'Dungeon Rampage' occurs, local governments and politicians will inevitably have their turn. Then you can act high and mighty and give orders. What's the problem? You don't need to make any decisions yourself. Isn't that right? That's how it's always been. You receive someone else's judgment, put on a face as if you decided it yourself, and just order others around. Same as always. And the public will understand—ah, so we do need people like this."

The corners of the man's mouth lifted.

But it didn't look like he was smiling.