kscans

Chapter 79 - Epilogue - Part Two

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Tokyo, Central Government Complex.

The Dungeon Agency, housed on one of its floors.

They were as busy as ever today, but the situation was slightly different this time.

The ‘Act on Special Measures Concerning Vacant Houses’—several clauses had been added to it jointly by the Dungeon Agency and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

To put it simply, the new content stipulated that, ‘If an owner cannot be identified for over a month, or if the owner has not checked the inside of the house for that period, the local municipality can, at its discretion, investigate the interior with the police.’

Furthermore, ‘If leaving a house vacant for business trips or hospitalization, one must either report it to the municipality beforehand and submit documents stating that the management of the house has been entrusted to a reliable person, or temporarily entrust the management to the municipality itself.’

In many ways, the contents were unreasonable. Criticism naturally came from both within the country and abroad, but that wasn’t the only problem.

Simply put, it increased the workload of government offices. Without any increase in staff or funding.

Inquiries were flooding in to the Dungeon Agency and the Ministry of Land from all over the country, asking, ‘What should we do in this situation?’

Of course, a basic manual had been created and distributed. But unexpected situations are a fact of life. The Dungeon Agency and the Ministry of Land were busy responding to such inquiries and recording them for future reference.

All while handling their regular duties.

The Dungeon Agency occasionally had incidents of strange odors, but recently, similar incidents had apparently been occurring in some departments of the Ministry of Land as well.

Then again, lately, every ministry and agency was in a similar state. Providing compensation for those who lost their homes in the ‘overflows’ that had occurred so far. Dealing with the fact that some roads were no longer usable. And a mountain of other tasks that had to be done.

With no help from other departments, the bureaucrats were running around in a state that would make even the most exploitative of companies flinch. Some had submitted their resignations, unable to take it anymore, while others had collapsed from overwork.

And at this busy time, another ‘dungeon overflow’ had occurred.

As if things weren’t bad enough, an ‘incident’ had also taken place, in which ‘some JSDF members went rogue, deploying before receiving permission from their superiors, engaging the monsters, and dying.’

To discuss how to handle this, Director Akasaka had to make his way to the Ministry of Defense in Shinjuku.

"…Then. We will respond to the media and the bereaved families in this manner."

"Yes. Understood."

After a meeting involving several bureaucrats and high-ranking JSDF officers, a slight sense of relief filled the air.

However, everyone was busy. They immediately returned to their respective jobs.

Director Akasaka was about to return to the government complex as well, but he was stopped by General Marui.

"Akasaka-kun. I’m sorry, but do you have a moment?"

"General Marui. Yes, of course."

He nodded, and the General and the Director sat back down in the chairs they had just been using.

The two men, left alone in the large conference room. Facing each other across the large table, they both let out a heavy sigh.

The exhaustion was clearly visible on both their faces.

"I’m sorry. I know this is a lot of trouble."

"Not at all. It’s my job."

"Yes… this is a job."

General Marui took off his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose.

"They… shouldered more than just the responsibility of their job. As a ‘senior officer of the JSDF,’ it is unforgivable."

His tone was flat, devoid of emotion.

Conversely, Akasaka took that as the answer and nodded silently.

"Those who acted on their own had too strong a sense of justice."

"Yes. ‘If our deployment is delayed by one second, one person will die. If it’s delayed by ten seconds, twenty will die. We can’t wait for permission’… That’s what they apparently said over the radio."

"…From an organizational standpoint, that way of thinking is unacceptable."

"Indeed. As members of the organization, it is utterly unforgivable. Their actions were a reckless act that could have threatened the very existence of the JSDF. As a result, the chain of command was thrown into confusion, and the departure of the unit that was supposed to head for the rescue was delayed."

Director Akasaka and General Marui both condemned the actions of the deceased JSDF members.

But as individuals──they were a little, just a little, envious of the JSDF members who had been able to rush into action like that.

The actions of the JSDF members who died in that battle deserved to be condemned.

Therefore, the men who remained in this room silently prayed for their souls.

"…Let’s get to the main topic. There are two things I want to discuss with you."

"Yes. One is about the ‘Awakened Persons who protected that school,’ correct?"

"You catch on quick. Unfortunately, we don’t have the ‘means’ to investigate that sort of thing. I’d like to get some information from you."

"I was under the impression that the JSDF had taken them into custody."

"Let’s stop beating around the bush. We conducted a brief interview, but we couldn’t ask for more. They’re minors, and it was right after the overflow."

"That’s true."

The JSDF wasn’t so heartless as to grill a group of young people who had fought for their lives while their schoolmates were dying.

There might be some members who wouldn’t care about that, but there was another reason why the interview had to be kept short.

The public image of the JSDF.

This had happened right after the insubordination of some of their members. Any more negative press would put the JSDF in an irreparable position.

"I’d like you to tell me what you know about them. It’s fastest to ask you."

"…Yagawa Kyouta. Rinzaki Erina. Busujima Aika. Ooyama Shizuku. Those are the four Awakened Persons who were there. And Yagawa Kyouta’s characteristics match the eyewitness accounts we’ve had of a member of the ‘Invisible Ninjas.’"

Akasaka stated this slowly but clearly.

His tone was one of ‘conviction.’

"‘Invisible Ninjas’… Honestly, what a ridiculous name."

"It’s likely some form of camouflage. It’s a name a middle schooler would come up with in three seconds. If a high school student like him says it, those who don’t know the situation won’t take it seriously, assuming it’s just youthful indiscretion."

If the one who had named them heard this conversation, she would surely be shocked. And the boy who was being treated as a core member would undoubtedly shout, ‘Don’t drag me into this.’

"A name designed with the premise of using students in operations… Even if they have a real organization name, it doesn’t sit well with me."

"Indeed. However, this Yagawa Kyouta can no longer be considered a mere member. His last reported level was ‘LV: 21’… It’s reasonable to assume he has leveled up even further after the battle with the demon."

"Level 20 or higher… a fighting force comparable to an armored vehicle, or perhaps even a tank."

The furrows on General Marui’s brow deepened.

"He’s certainly no ordinary member. And it’s not just his level. We should assume his skills and growth rate are also phenomenal."

"Yes. If I recall, the level of the JSDF’s Awakened Person unit is…"

"The few who are stationed at the dragon’s dungeon are close to ‘40.’ But besides them, the highest is ‘18.’ The majority are in the single digits."

"Leveling up isn’t going well, I take it."

"We don’t have time. Culling dungeons is all we can manage. If we don’t rely on the ‘speed’ of firearms, we simply can’t keep up with the processing."

"What about the ‘anti-monster rounds’ made by those with ‘Potion’ type production skills?"

Potions.

As the name suggests, they are medicines imbued with mysterious powers using mana. Some can heal burns and cuts just by being applied to a wound, while others are poisons more lethal than aconite.

The JSDF had been secretly researching what would happen if they were incorporated into bullets.

That is, they had been.

"Unfortunately, that project was frozen. We were told by some Diet members that it ‘gave off a bad image’ and that it ‘might be used in interpersonal combat.’"

"Is that so…"

"I understand their concerns. But having all the data we had collected taken from us was unexpected. I doubt they had it canceled for that purpose, but it hurt to have it snatched away as an afterthought."

"Taken…? By whom?"

"Who knows. That’s beyond what I can know from my position."

General Marui’s eyes shone from behind his glasses.

From the way he looked at him, as if piercing him, the Director understood. He was a former official of the ‘Ministry of Foreign Affairs.’ In other words, this was about what was happening across the ocean.

On top of that, a man who was a General had said that it was ‘not information he could obtain from his position.’ The list of possible opponents was short.

"Let’s get back on topic. What else have you learned about the ‘Invisible Ninjas’?"

"Yes. Regarding Yagawa Kyouta, Busujima Aika, and Ooyama Shizuku, we found no particular organization behind them. Looking at their backgrounds, they are perfectly ordinary students. However, Rinzaki Erina was different."

"I heard she was a quarter, I believe…"

"Yes. Her grandmother is British."

"British… could it be…!?"

"Yes. Her grandmother has since become a naturalized Japanese citizen, but… she was originally from a ‘ducal house.’"

A duke. A noble house with power second only to the royal family. In some cases, they could even have a claim to the throne.

"…Any connection to ‘MI6’?"

MI6—Britain’s famed foreign secret intelligence service.

"It’s still unclear. She is currently a university professor who goes by the name ‘Arisugawa,’ but she corresponds with her family quite frequently. She also seems to be buying and selling ‘dungeon items’ with British nobles and wealthy individuals."

"The details?"

"That is also still unclear… and it will likely be difficult to investigate the ‘underbelly’ of this in the future."

"I would imagine so."

General Marui let out a small sigh.

"The ‘Invisible Ninjas.’ It’s reasonable to assume the British government is involved, then…"

──They did not know. They had no way of knowing.

The letters Professor Arisugawa exchanged with her family were mostly idle chat.

The ‘dungeon items’ that were part of the financial transactions were simply low-research-value items she sold to collectors she had known in the past, a kind gesture to ‘let her granddaughter and her friends earn a little money,’ with the profits being passed on to Yagawa and the others.

However, the fact that Erina and the others’ grandmother was from a ducal house was an undeniable fact. As a result of various political ‘considerations,’ Akasaka and the others currently had no way of learning the truth.

As a result.

"If the UK is involved…"

"Yes. If we pry carelessly at this time, we have no idea what kind of retaliation we might face…!"

Somehow, things had become incredibly complicated.

Incidentally, the originator of all this, Erina, had only identified themselves in such a manner when they saved Yamashita’s group and when they protected a family evacuating from centaurs. In the latter case, she had just said something that sounded cool, without even mentioning an ‘organization’ or anything of the sort.

Other than that, the circumstantial evidence had just piled up on its own. Whether this was a tragedy or a comedy remained to be seen.

"…Now for the other matter. This also involves ‘the other side of the ocean.’"

"Yes. That matter."

Putting the ‘Invisible Ninjas’ aside for now, the General and the Director moved on to the next topic.

"The Japan-U.S. joint… in reality, the U.S.-led, ‘initiative.’"

The wrinkles on Director Akasaka’s brow deepened by several degrees.

The ambitions of a great power were slowly closing in.

＊　　　　　＊　　　　　＊

"…This is that guy from the ‘Invisible Ninjas,’ isn’t it?"

The guild, ‘Walkers.’

They were located in a rented building in Kanagawa Prefecture. In the ‘Guild Master’s Office’ at the very back, the Yamashita siblings, their childhood friend, and the sister’s friend, a total of four people, were gathered.

They were huddled around a tablet on the desk. It was displaying a blog post with the headline, ‘The Girls Who Fought the Demon.’

You can’t stop people from talking, and even though this incident was being treated as having little impact as a topic of discussion, there were still those who had uploaded it to social media.

On the screen was a person in a maid outfit staring up at the sky, and another person in ‘Arcane Gear,’ drawing a sword. In fact, both were Yagawa Kyouta.

"But this is that boy from back then, right? Why the maid outfit?"

"It was a sports festival, so maybe they had some kind of event like that? The quality is pretty high, though."

Yamashita Akemi and Shougo tilted their heads in confusion.

"Cross-dressing… that could work."

Kiriko muttered under her breath.

Watching his companions, Yamashita Hiroshi broke out in a cold sweat.

"…Don’t you guys realize?"

"Huh? What? That you’ve got a bald spot the size of a ten-yen coin on your head recently?"

"That’s not it."

Answering his sister, Yamashita discreetly covered his head with his hand.

"There are far too few posts about this incident…!"

"…That’s true."

"Isn’t it just that the public is tired of news related to ‘overflows’?"

"If the public is tired of it, it’s the media’s job to ‘create smoke,’ isn’t it? And yet, the only ones covering the incident at that high school are personal websites."

"…Is there pressure coming from somewhere?"

"Probably. As expected, they’re a dangerous organization. The ‘Invisible Ninjas’…!"

Yamashita covered his mouth with his other hand, a cold sweat running down his back.

"Let’s not talk about them too much from now on. We don’t know what kind of retaliation we could face."

"Yeah…"

The four of them nodded in agreement, and Akemi scratched the back of her head.

"Still. There’s no end to the dangerous things happening in the world. We’ve had our own share of trouble over here, too."

"Yeah…"

In fact, until just a little while ago, they too had been through a different kind of hell.

‘The problem of bullying of Awakened Persons by non-Awakened Persons.’

This issue, which was on the verge of becoming a social phenomenon, had befallen an adventurer belonging to the ‘Walkers.’

The victim was a boy, still in his second year of high school. He had been extorted for money and beaten with metal bats by his classmates. And to top it off, they had threatened to attack his family if he fought back.

It was only natural that he, being treated as a punching bag and a wallet, would eventually snap.

They had managed to talk him out of his plan while he was on the verge of becoming a murderer. Then, the four of them had moved to resolve the situation.

As a last resort, the solution was to…

‘Hey there. Don’t you guys want a wife who can make a crater in solid rock with a lariat?’

‘Read this book. I wrote it. Furred multi-breasts are the ultimate form of erotica in this world.’

They contacted the chairman and vice-chairman of the ‘Alchemy Enthusiasts Club.’

Given the circumstances, they had no time to be picky about their methods, so they consulted with a high-ranking police officer and someone in the court system.

As a result, the students who had been bullying him faced legal repercussions… It seemed their minds had been broken after a conversation in a closed room with the chairman-vice-chairman combo, but that was beside the point.

However, the problem came after that.

"I can’t believe some idiot would come out and say, ‘If you’re not an Awakened Person, you’re not human’…"

"And some of the guys in our guild are starting to agree with them."

The Yamashita siblings sighed, their faces filled with disgust.

Yes. An NPO that called itself a ‘human rights group for Awakened Persons’ had, from somewhere, caught wind of the situation and approached the boy and the Yamashitas.

They were an organization with rather extreme views, with most of their members being Awakened Persons. They thoroughly looked down on non-Awakened Persons and were even talking about creating a nation solely for Awakened Persons.

Apparently, they had originally been interested in the ‘Alchemy Enthusiasts Club’… and, by extension, the ‘Walkers,’ who were connected to them. They had seen this as an opportunity and had come to them with a friendly handshake.

Regarding this, the ‘Alchemy Enthusiasts Club’ had commented,

‘We’re best buds with the Walkers, so we’d appreciate it if you talked to them first ♡’

In other words, they had passed the buck to the Yamashitas. On top of that,

‘You understand, don’t you, Yamashita-saaan? You dooo understaaand, riiight…’

was what the vice-chairman had whispered into Yamashita’s ear, in a sticky, drawn-out voice. Not only had they passed the buck, but they had also ordered him to get rid of them gracefully.

"We have non-Awakened office staff in our guild, too… I can’t imagine running the guild without them, with all the taxes and applications and stuff."

"Seriously, those guys are nuts. They were saying stuff like making Awakened Persons nobles, like something out of a middle schooler’s fantasy."

"…But I think the executives’ skills are the real deal."

At Shougo’s words, the Yamashita siblings fell silent.

The world of Awakened Persons was even more of a ‘world of talent’ than that of non-Awakened Persons.

The differences in individual aptitude were starkly revealed through numbers called stats and special powers called skills.

One hero or monster was stronger than a hundred warriors. That was the reality for Awakened Persons.

"Besides, what they say is extreme, but we need a group that can express those opinions clearly, right? Otherwise, we’ll be ‘exploited’ too much by the non-Awakened."

"But their actions will only deepen the rift between Awakened and non-Awakened people."

Kiriko muttered from the side to Shougo, who sounded annoyed.

"Kiriko-chan. I’ll say this first, I don’t like those guys either. But we need a ‘spokesperson.’ Otherwise, no one will understand. Distorted prejudices will become common sense. Like, ‘It’s natural for Awakened Persons to fight for non-Awakened Persons.’"

"Even so. We Awakened and non-Awakened are all human. A spokesperson might be necessary, as Shougo-san says, but not them. I don’t want to live in a world where being an Awakened Person, and the strength that comes with it, is the sole measure of ‘value.’"

"Hold on. Both of you."

Just as the atmosphere was turning sour, Yamashita clapped his hands.

"You’re both getting off-topic. We all agree that we don’t like that organization. Let’s not forget that."

"…Yeah."

"Yes…"

Watching the two of them, Yamashita felt a sharp pain in his stomach.

This kind of conflict was happening within the guild as well.

The ‘Walkers’ had, at some point, become one of the leading ‘Awakened Person organizations’ in the country. To the point where multiple ‘clans’ were now under their umbrella.

No one questioned their use of the name ‘guild’ anymore.

The main reason that NPO had gotten involved with the ‘Walkers’ was their connection to the club.

But even without that, there were more than enough reasons for them to approach the Yamashitas.

Depending on which way the ‘Walkers’ leaned, something in Japan would change.

"What should I do…"

Yamashita sighed and looked up at the ceiling. And so, he didn’t notice.

His companions, who had exchanged a look in an instant and grabbed his shoulders from both sides.

"I have a good idea."

"Same here."

A cold sweat ran down Yamashita’s back as his childhood friend and his sister’s friend spoke in perfect sync.

"You, no, we will!"

"Become the bridge that connects Awakened and non-Awakened people! …is what I think."

"Eh?"

"Well, we can’t do it all at once, so we’ll take it slow, one step at a time."

"At least in this area… for the sake of our own safe lives."

"…Eh?"

A cat beastman staring into space.

Looking at her brother, Akemi suddenly thought of that.