Part Nineteen

Life could certainly be a rollercoaster.

For close to two weeks, Leland had been fruitlessly looking for Dungeons to clear, but in an ironic turn of events, he’d found two back-to-back in the last few days. And now, now he was looking at….. wait, what was he looking at?

“Magnificent! How does it work? Could we learn to do this ourselves? And why does it appear the same regardless of the angle viewed from? So many wonderful questions! I must try to solve them all!”

A very….strange man was screaming his head off in front of the crack in space that signified a Dungeon. The man was wearing a lab coat and had an old-fashioned bolt rifle thrown over one shoulder, and a bandolier around his chest. Honestly, he looked like someone role-playing as their ideas of an apocalyptic survivor. Meaning he was probably going to die.

“Now, how do I enter? All the reports I read said that merely approaching the opening would suffice, but one can never be too careful. Oh-hoh? So this is a D-Rank Dungeon? Hm, perhaps it would be best to abstain from this one. I suppose I’ll just-. Oh? Why hello there.”

Just as Leland feared the man would enter the Dungeon, the stranger turned around and spotted him. Though instead of showing suspicion at the clearly suspicious person observing him, the man instead cheerily approached Leland, a big smile on his face.

“Hello Monsieur! Were you perchance going to clear this Dungeon?”

The man spoke mostly fluent English, but spoke very quickly and enthusiastically, which when combined with his slight French accent, made him slightly difficult to understand. Leland was very perplexed by his behavior, especially the part where he seemed to be very excited to see another person.

“…I suppose I might’ve considered it. But if you want it yourself….”

“Nonsense Monsieur! I was just admitting to myself that this particular Dungeon is likely beyond my meager abilities. I’d have no complaints about you taking it for yourself.”

“I’m, I’m good. I doubt I’d be able to clear it myself. Uh, so I’ll just be on my way….”

“Aha, wait Monsieur! I have had a wonderful idea! Why not clear this Dungeon with me! You look able-bodied, and I have plenty of ammunition and rations I’d be willing to share if you’d help me.”

“I don’t know. This is probably a bad idea.”

I can kind of handle E-Rank Dungeons on my own. I doubt I could deal with a D-Rank one, even with his help. And let’s face it, he’d probably just be deadweight in there.

“I, I see. But allow me one question. If it was an E-Rank Dungeon, would you agree then?”

“I suppose so. I’ve cleared them on my own before, so I wouldn’t be as hesitant.”

“Excellent! Then let us go in search of one! Come Monsieur! Adventure and discovery await us!”

“…..Huh?”

***

Over the next week, Leland was quick to discover that this man, the French scientist Warren Laurent, was highly eccentric. Not only was his outlook on everything strange and overly excited, but he also seemed to view the world through the eyes of a child. If something caught his eye, he’d throw everything else aside to study it, regardless of the consequences for Leland.

The best example was probably when a rather strange four-legged beast had run out in front of their van, and Warren had swerved the van off the road to follow it for miles. They’d eventually ended up running the poor thing down, only to discover that it was a type of monster called a Lesser Behemoth. Warren had spent a day observing it after Leland had killed it, and then they’d grilled and eaten the corpse, which was actually quite delicious.

As for why he continued to stick around, well he wasn’t certain. While the man would surely die without aid of some kind, he was in no way obligated to protect the man.

But for some reason, he just felt like he had to. Like leaving Warren alone would lead to the man's demise, a thought he didn’t want to acknowledge. After all, he was enjoying his time with the man, and maybe that was all that mattered.

“Ahaha! Leland, come see this! Look at this oddly shaped flower! It looks-. Ah! It’s trying to eat me! Help me Leland! Help me!”

And perhaps the man would eventually discover something amazing. If he wasn’t killed by something first.

***

Warsaw, Poland. Temporary Headquarters for the Allied Committee of International Defense……

“…Then the motion is approved. Isphael Industries has the mineral rights to the disaster zones, except for Australia and any future disasters. Next on the agenda is?”

“I believe that would be the motion to incorporate the mercenaries into some sort of fighting force. Both the Americans and the Australians are intending to establish some form of oversight to prevent them from running wild.”

“Ah yes, I remember now. This was proposed by Director Forzerenth. Then….”

This was the Committee’s Executive Board, the heart of operations for the entire Committee. If the Defensive Line Directors were the arms and legs of the Committee, then this was the brain. They were mostly in charge of logistics, ensuring that supplies were distributed where they needed to go, and . Though that last part was sketchy at best. After all, a part of the Executive Board was already in the pocket of Ixan Isphael.

Haaaah, and to think I came out of retirement for this. Even in the worst of times, humans can’t help being humans. We’ll destroy ourselves before the monsters even get the chance.

As the Committee’s Executive Director, Natasha was mostly responsible for ensuring that the Executive Board didn’t become completely corrupt, though that was hard to do at her age. Especially when they weren’t outright corrupt. Just enough to push certain proposals ahead a tiny bit faster.

She had to agree with Director Walters that Ixan was planning something. He’d been making some very overt moves in the background lately, and this proposal was just the latest of them. Arming the Defensive Lines was good and all, but he clearly had an ulterior motive. And then there was his support for the establishment and regulation of mercenary groups. Natasha smelled something fishy, but she hadn’t found any concrete evidence.

With no way to really discover what he was up to, there was little choice but to wait and see what he’d do. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too late by then.

***

Somewhere deep in the Kyushu Disaster Zone……….

“Haaah….haaah….haaaah….haaaah.”

Torn, bedraggled and beaten, but not dead, Ouka Sasaki had finally escaped the Gluttonists. Things had gone well until an errant mistake had caused a single one of the creatures to notice her, and disposing of it had alerted the horde. If not for her quick reactions and her Unique Skill, she likely would’ve been caught then and there.

As it was, she’d spent days running for her life, dodging around teeth-gnashing horrors until she could barely move. But she’d kept going, and had eventually thrown her pursuers off her trail. However, she now had the daunting task of making it back to the Defensive Line, without getting caught again.

And though her armor was torn and she’d lost a sword along the way, her spirit was yet whole. Which had surprisingly granted her a new Title. One that boosted her recovery and toughened her resolve. And with that, she’d preserver, if only because someone had to tell the Committee what was about to happen.

Gotta keep going. Gotta warn them. Its coming.

***

Somewhere along England’s eastern coast. Ixan Isphael’s secret manor…….

“Welcome back, Lord Ixan. I trust everything went well on your travels?”

“About as well as could be expected. There were a few hiccups, but all went mostly as planned. How has the manor been in my absence, Regina?”

“Quiet. The monsters seem to have designated this as a no-go zone, as few approach these days. And the few that do are quickly dispatched by the security team.”

“Excellent. Now then, would you prepare the conference room for me. And Emilia, tell the others to gather in an hour. We have much to discuss.”

“”Yes Lord Ixan.””

***

Approximately an hour later, Ixan and his four closest compatriots were sitting down for their meeting. Considering that it had been close to a month since they’d last all been together, there was much to go over.

“I’ll start us off then. To begin, the Committee has officially accepted our proposal. A total of six mining operations have already begun producing adequate amounts of material, and I expect another dozen to begin in the next two months. To that end, we’ll need to ensure we have enough security personnel assigned not only to each operation, but to protect our other interests as well. Clint, I believe this is your field.”

“As much as it is anyone's, I suppose. Let’s see. All of our initial recruits have already reached D-Rank as you requested, and we’ve also secured two dozen C-Ranks as well. But that won’t be enough to fully man every operation we have going.”

“Hm. Have the second group started their training yet?”

“Yes, but they’re only halfway through. If anything drastic happens, they won’t have the experience to handle it right now. Though, since the area around the manor is safer than it was, we could siphon some of its personnel away temporarily. Or we could hire some mercenaries to fill in the gaps. Assigning a few here and there would keep too many disruptive elements from gathering together.”

“…No, go with the first option. There’s too great a risk of leaks if we hire mercenaries for such important tasks. And once that’s done, recruit twice as many people as we already have. Use the same channels as before. We’ll need the manpower for phase three and four.”

“Alright Lord Ixan….”

Clint's distaste for those channels was quite evident, though it was a feeling shared by the entire group, including Ixan. However, some evils must be tolerated, if for nothing else than the sake of one's goals. Having a group of armed individuals that couldn’t rebel against them was an advantage too good to pass up when the world was at stake.

“Moving on from that distasteful topic. Emilia, what have our observation subjects gotten up to in my absence? And will we need more ‘scouts’?”

“Yes Lord Ixan. All twelve that we purchased last time have since been destroyed.”

“Ahhh, then we’ll need to contact our dear friend and see if they have some more for sale. Please contact them at your earliest convenience.”

“Very well. As for the actual report, it’s much of the same. Subjects D and P seem to be expanding their respective Armies, and Subject U is as undetectable as ever. We haven’t even been able to discover where its base is. Subject P's Puppets have been expanding their hunting grounds little by little, and the number of Subject D's Thralls and Undead has also increased.”

“Mnnnn, and what about the Servant? Has it continued its activities?”

“Yes, it seems to be acting as Subject D's representative outside of London. Actually, there was an odd incident the other day. The Servant encountered a group of mercenaries on the edge of Subject D's territory, though it left them be after converting the nearby monsters into Undead. Unfortunately, the Servant caught our scout soon after, so we have no idea what may have happened afterwards, nor where the Servant is now.”

“Interesting. Where did this happen?”

“Bournemouth, I believe. The mercenaries came in from the west on the same day the Servant began converting the nearby monsters into a Thrall.”

“Hm. They most likely chartered a small boat across the channel. Regina, send someone to investigate in all the costal towns directly across from Bournemouth. If they stayed anywhere, there’s probably a paper trail we can follow. If the Servant is taking an interest in them, so must we.”

“Yes Lord Ixan.”

“Was there anything else of note Emilia?”

“Hm, no, I don’t believe. I would like more Intel to report on Subject U, but all our attempts to follow it have utterly failed. I even tried using a drone as bait, while having another observing from a distance, but it destroyed the observer first. Whatever it is, it’s highly intelligent.”

“That’s fine Emilia. It will have to reveal itself in due time. Now Corgan, how has your department fared?”

“’bout as well as can be expected. We’ve met the quota ya set for next month’s shipment, and we’ve already begun on what ya requested for phase three, so I’d say we’re ahead of schedule. We’ve also got smelters set up to process the ore once it starts to come in.”

“Very good. Then ensure things stay this way.”

“Yes Lord Ixan.”

“Then I suppose we’re done here. Keep me posted on any changes that occur, and begin preparing for phase two. You’re all dismissed.”