Part Thirty

“So it’s gotten that bad?”

“Yes Director. The number of monsters in the neutral zone has almost tripled since last month. I estimate we have a few more weeks until the overcrowding begins to push them towards us.”

The Kyushu Defensive Line hadn’t been built where the edge of the disaster area was, but rather a few dozen kilometers away. This neutral zone served as a buffer between the defenders and the monsters. And every week, patrols were sent in to monitor the number of potential threats and to thin their numbers. It was one these patrols that first discovered the threat.

As for the overcrowding, that was always going to be a problem. While their numbers weren’t a problem now, monsters reproduced at a much faster rate than humans and animals. They even matured at an accelerated pace, with some reaching maturity in a month. Overpopulation would inevitably cause monsters to seek more territory, causing conflict between them and mortals.

“If that happens, we might see multiple attacks in the same day. I highly doubt we could hold out against that.”

“Definitely. Haaah, I’ll need to petition for more recruits. Or for them to at least send us more weapons. And what of these Gluttonists? What do you know about them?”

“They’re probably the cause of all this. We encountered several of the creatures and every single one tried to eat us. They were single-mindedly focused on it, as if it had consumed them. They would even abandon their current meal to attack us.”

Ouka was closer to the truth than she knew. Through one method or another, several monsters had managed to escape the Gluttonists. These lucky few had alarmed other monsters, causing them to flee. This set off a chain reaction in which the monsters continued to flee in ever increasing quantities. This was honestly the same reaction you would expect of lemmings.

“They’re also incredibly dangerous. Even killing one is difficult, fighting multiple would be impossible for most. Their skin is apparently tough enough to repel small caliber bullets and they’re strong enough to kill someone in one attack.”

“Haaaaaaah. Well crap. It’s hard enough to keep the lines supplied and manned, but if those things start showing up, it’s going to become near impossible. There’ll be deserters left and right. I need a countermeasure, something to preempt that.”

Chris was so discouraged by what he’d heard, that he’d lapsed, back into English. Ouka wasn’t exactly fluent, but she understood him all the same. Ordinarily, she would try and assuage his worries, but she was already preoccupied by the fact that she’d been gone for a week. She didn’t have time to wait around.

“Director, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I must be going. I’ve been away from my post for too long.”

“Ah, I’m sorry about that. Please, have a safe trip back.”

She gave a quick bow and left the room. It Ouka had a habit of being curt with those she didn’t trust and while she respected the Director, she couldn’t quite trust him yet. There was still some hesitation in her heart.

I need to get back quickly. I’ve been gone for over a week. That’s long enough.

[Saito’s POV]

Wasn’t that Ouka? I should really say hi, but the Director needs to see this as soon as possible. I just hope her report was good.

Chris had asked him to do a personal favor for him the other day. Saito had gotten in contact with some of his old friends in order to investigate. And their findings were ominous.

The Director was at his desk, his head resting in his hands. Apparently Ouka’s report hadn’t been good at all.

“Saito. Tell me you have some good news.”

“I’m afraid I don’t. Or rather, I don’t have any news.”

“None? Isphael Industries hid their tracks that well? A global corporation starts making suspicious movements and no one’s aware?”

“Someone’s conspiring with them, helping them cover their tracks. And I’m certain they’ve been using mercenaries, but I don’t know what for.”

“People like to say no news is good news, but I just don’t agree. They’re definitely up to something and I want to know what it is.”

This had all started when Isphael Industries, one of the world’s largest conglomerates, issued a proposal to the Committee. They would provide quality weapons to all the volunteers and soldiers in the defensive lines at little to no cost, in exchange for the mineral rights to the disaster zones.

Now since this concerned multiple countries, it had sounded absolutely insane. If only it weren’t for the quality of the weapons.

Reptilian Knife

Rank: D

Effect: Increase to Speed, Increase to Dexterity, Inflicts Minor Poison

Description: A knife imbued with the scales of a reptile monster during creation. Even though it’s a mass-produced item, its quality is rather high.

“Even if they can mass-produce these, why would they give them away? Sure, they might receive more material from the mineral rights, but I can’t imagine it would offset the costs. What’s their endgame?”

It wasn’t like Isphael Industries were the only ones who knew about the magical metals. A number of countries and other corporations had discovered them as well. But they were the only ones producing weapons on this scale.

“The worst part is that nearly everyone involved has agreed! Only Director Wallace and the Russian Government are still negotiating and it’s only a matter of time until they cave. Soon it’ll just be me and God knows I won’t be able to stop them then.”

“And to be honest, with what’s happening here, it’s a very tempting offer. Ouka just gave me her report and things are definitely heading downhill.”

He handed the document Ouka had prepared to Saito, letting him in on the shit they were in.

“She says there were eighteen of these Mutated monsters!? And that each one can kill a D-Rank human single-handedly!?”

It was worse than that. She’d speculated that what she had seen was but a fraction of their total numbers and that there could be more than a thousand of them further inland.

“W-what do we do Director!?”

“Settle down Saito. I’ve already got a plan. A risky, dangerous plan, but a plan nevertheless. Here’s what we’re going to do…..”

[Emilia's POV]

“He’s late. Again.”

“Just be patient. He had to go all the way to Corgan’s workshop. It’s not exactly next door.”

I know that. It doesn’t mean I have to like it. Just because Lord Ixan likes him, I don’t see why we should be inconvenienced by his tardiness. He never seems to take anything seriously and it’s infuriating.

“Where is Lord Ixan? He called us here, so I thought he would already be here.”

“There was a minor issue with shipping out the weapons next month. There are those who think we might be trying to start an incident.”

“That’s preposterous! Lord Ixan would never do such a thing! Emilia, who are these people? I will personally pay them a visit so they may see the error of their ways.”

But that’s exactly what we’re trying to do, though it’s well into the future. Those things take priority for now. But except for these odd outbursts of hers, she’s practically a picture of perfection. That someone a decade younger than me could be so competent and extreme is both gratifying and worrying in equal measure.

“Regina, calm down. There’s little you could actually do to help the situation and attempting to correct them will most definitely not help. Just sit back down and allow Lord Ixan to negotiate. It’s what he wants us to do. Our time will come.”

“Very well. I shall wait until then.”

The two continued to discuss various topics, waiting for the others to arrive. Eventually, the discussion moved to a particular event occurring in Africa.

“Over three hundred people failed!? What kind of Dungeon could kill that many people so easily?”

“That’s the big mystery. This Dungeon is beyond what anyone has cleared so far. And since no one can leave for a week, we don’t even know how many are still alive. It is a most perplexing situation.”

“We'll have to keep an eye on anyone who does survive. They could become an obstacle for our plans.”

“Oooorrrrr, they could be an asset.”

Both women let out shrill screams, before trying to stab the man who’d snuck up on them. They’d obviously realized who it was, but they had also decided to teach him a lesson.

“Whoa! Um, ladies? Those knives are awfully close to some sensitive areas.”

“Die.”

“Whaaa! Regina, save me!”

“No. You deserve to suffer a little. Only children think it’s okay to sneak up on someone.”

“I’m sorrrrrryyyyyyy!!”

The two would continue to try and castrate him for a half-hour. By the end, he was completely pale and shivering in fear.

“Women are scary. Women are scary. Women are scary.”

“Did we break him?”

It was a fair question. He was currently curled up on the ground, softly murmuring to himself. One might think he’d just been traumatized, except that this had happened several times before. It seemed some people were incapable of learning from their mistakes.

“What did ya do ta him? He looks like he just saw the end of the world.”

“No comment.”

“You’re better off not knowing.”

“Help me Corgan! They’re beasts! Monsters with no empathy. Hags with no souls.”

“Looks like you have yet to learn your lesson. Administrating second punishment.”

“Noooooooo!”

“Just don’t kill him. We don’t want ta get blood all over.”

“Alright then.”

[Ixan's POV]

“………….What happened here?”

There was what appeared to be a corpse in the middle of the room. Regina and Emilia were calmly sitting and sipping tea, while Corgan was idly looking at a notebook.

“Is he alright?”

“He’s just being dramatic. We only roughed him up a little bit, but he’s acting like he’s dead.”

“Ah, alright then.”

He took his spot at the head of the table, before distributing several documents to everyone else. He’d become used to his subordinates’ shenanigans over the last several months. They were certainly spirited, if nothing else.

“So first order of business. Director Wallace agreed to cooperate last night thanks to our dear friend. In addition, the Russians are close as well. It seems that there was a drastic change of leadership recently. Meaning that only Director Walters is still opposing us.”

“Huh, that happened quicker than I expected. I thought we’d have ta bribe a few more of em.”

“At this point, would it not be easier to eliminate the Director. Surely a more cooperative replacement could be found after the fact?”

“No, that won’t be necessary. I believe Director Walters will capitulate on his own. The recent occurrences in Kyushu will force his hand sooner rather than later. He will almost certainly need to cooperate if he wants to stop what’s happening there.”

For some strange reason, Ixan talked as if he already knew exactly what was happening on Kyushu. But how could he know about events halfway across the world? And that were top secret, even among the Committee?

One more piece falling into place. That is all it will take. Soon, very soon and it will all begin.

Unbeknownst to all, a dark ambition had formed in plain sight.

[W---- ---t--'s POV]

::Dungeon Protocol V77 has been initiated. Selecting target……Complete. Rerouting additional resources……Complete. Inducing random Mutation in target……Complete. Changing Priority settings of target……Complete. Adjusting the setting of Dungeon CSZ4572……Complete. Dungeon Protocol V77 has completed.::