Chapter 2: The Legion is on the Move

[Republic of Woori — Blue House]

<This is an announcement from the Japanese Government. Shinjuku Dungeon, which was a concern in regards to the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, has successfully been cleared. The Rank B dungeon has been cleared by Dungeon Busters. The government had expressed worries regarding potential radioactivity issues in the area as well as the dungeon. Now, that one of these issues has been cleared, the DOC—Domestic Olympic Committee—has expressed relief...>

President Park Jae-An turned off the TV, his expression gloomy. He sat in his office with Park Jae-In, the Special Advisor on Foreign Affairs, Diplomacy, and National Security. The men shared a surname, and their first names were extremely similar as well—only one syllable was different—so they were frequently confused for one another outside of the country.

“And? What was the Kingdom of Ko’s response?”

“We have yet to hear a word from them. King Kim has expressed his support for Venisuela but has not commented on our country, nor has he paid any mind to our attempts to open communication.”

The Special Advisor stayed quiet as the President clicked his tongue. The President was facing heavy criticism both inside and outside the country as people called him two-faced or even tone-deaf when it came to economic matters. However, he remained consistent on one front: he wished to achieve peace and prosperity for the whole Woorian peninsula. For the sake of that goal, he had no choice but to form an alliance with the absolute monarch of the northern part of the peninsula and slowly lead both countries down the path to creating a federation. He continuously reached out to the Kingdom of Ko with reconciliation plans, such as joint participation in the Tokyo Olympics and collaborative dungeon clearing efforts, but he had not made much progress.

“We are reaching out to the Kingdom of Ko behind the scenes, but they seem to want us to publicly express our intentions. However, we cannot afford to vocally support Venisuela. The Kingdom of Ko appears to be dissatisfied with our stance on this.”

“Are they saying that breaking the US Woorian Mutual Defense Treaty and getting out of the GSOMIA weren’t enough to signify our intentions?”

“The North considers both of these decisions as the results of ongoing circumstances, not because we took the initiative. I believe vocal support for Venisuela is the only thing that can effectively prove our stance.”

President Park contemplated the situation for a while. If Woori supported Venisuela—a country currently threatening G20 members—getting kicked out of the G20 was a very real possibility. At the same time, the reunification of the North and the South was the people’s dearest wish. If the Woorian peninsula became one again, it would easily become a superpower, miles ahead of Japan, the Oriental Republic of Sina, and even Gamerica. President Park, at the very least, was convinced of this.

“I understand. Please draft a statement immediately. Make it sound as sympathetic toward Venisuela as possible without it irritating Gamerica and the rest of the G20 members too much.”

President Park knew such a feat was virtually impossible. Still, he believed that, as an independent nation, Woori was free to express support for foreign countries as it pleased. President Park’s sight was not on Japan, The Oriental Republic of Sina, or Gamerica. It was on the Kingdom of Ko alone.

◇ ◇ ◇

[Kagurazaka — Traditional Restaurant Menosou — Ezoe Kazuhiko]

The heat and humidity could still be felt well after sunset once June started. On a night that said summer was right around the corner, I went to Kagurazaka at the invitation of a certain someone.

I turned right and entered Honda Yokocho, a narrow path off of Kagurazaka Street. I had reached my destination.

“Thank you for joining me. I apologize for having you come all the way here when you are so busy.”

“Are you not a much busier man than I, Mr. Prime Minister...?” I asked.

The person who had called me here was none other than Prime Minister Urabe Seiichirou, who must have currently been drowning in work due to the double election. It was right before the elections kicked off, so he must have had meetings left and right to adjust his party strategy and debate with other party leaders.

Dungeon Busters made a point of accepting as few political-oriented questions as we could. I had ended up answering a few when I had appeared on Tokyo TV, but I never intended to support one party or another. Due to my position, it was better for me to stay away from all of this.

“I hoped to have a leisurely talk with you at least once. It seems you managed to clear Shinjuku Dungeon a few days ago. That’s the fifth one... Thanks to you, we have been able to prove how safe Japan is to the whole world. Foreign investments are steadily coming in.”

The Prime Minister held a sake bottle out toward me, so I picked up my cup with both hands as I nodded to acknowledge his words.

Japan’s economy was slowly moving on from mere recovery to growth. The appearance of the dungeons had had a huge impact on the world economy. Stock prices had fallen in every country, but Japan’s were the first to recover. Considering the Japanese dungeons were being cleared one after another, and the island was protected by the sea on every side, it was believed that if the Monster Stampede was to truly occur, Japan might be the last country standing in the end. This belief had prompted many investors to start moving their funds to Japan.

“The production of crude oil from red magic crystals and liquefied petroleum gas from white magic stones has advanced to the practical application stage. Next year, after the Olympics, our country should become one of the leading producers of energy.”

“I assume the transition won’t be so easy to handle. How will the companies that have been benefiting off of crude oil and petroleum imports endure? We will need to consider the electric power companies as well. On top of that, we need to continue research on nuclear energy, even if we are able to stop using nuclear power plants for a while. There is no guarantee that the dungeons won’t disappear once the Monster Stampede is prevented, after all.”

The Prime Minister had to keep the country’s best interests in mind at all times. For instance, I often saw people online saying, “The government should get rid of the pachinko parlors!” If pachinko parlors were prohibited, however, a twenty-trillion-yen market would suddenly disappear. What would happen to all the people who worked there? What about the plots of land close to train stations that would become vacant? Few tried to offer solutions to this “cycle of loss” government regulations tended to bring about.

“Consider the effects of every policy while trying to gradually reach an ideal” was how conservative politicians thought.

We poured one another’s drinks formally for our first round before switching to pouring our own drinks. I had only been told he wanted to meet. I had no idea why the ever-busy Prime Minister had decided to go out of his way to see me.

“Ezoe-san, it might be a bit early to discuss this, but I would like to have your opinion on the direction our world should take after the Monster Stampede has been dealt with,” the Prime Minister admitted.

He was finally ready to talk.

＊ ＊ ＊

“Let’s assume that the dungeons will not disappear after the Monster Stampede has been prevented, and we will be able to keep mining magic stones. If that were to happen, the number of dungeons within a country’s borders would have a tremendous impact on national power. The dungeons don’t only produce magic stones. They also drop food, water, and even Japanese yen or Gamerican dollars. If a Japanese dungeon was able to produce dollars, I doubt Gamerica would stay silent for long,” I explained.

“Naturally. This is why dungeon control should be left to the UN. Even if each country were allowed to manage and mine dungeons independently, the UN should still be able to conduct inspections the same way nuclear power is controlled by the international community nowadays,” he answered.

I thought it might be a bit early to start thinking about all this, but it seemed Prime Minister Urabe wanted to discuss the state of the world in ten years.

I agreed that if the dungeons remained ten years from now after the Monster Stampede had been dealt with, the international community ought to have the right to inspect dungeons in every country. The materials produced by the dungeons were dangerous enough to warrant that.

“I must say I have another worry. You, that is,” he told me.

“I assume you are wondering how to deal with those who are Rank C and above who have transcended human limits. Am I right?” I asked.

“Sadly, Joker has proven how much of a threat you all pose. Adventurers wield tremendous power and have the ability to topple whole nations. If Dungeon Busters suddenly decided to start a rebellion, neither the police nor the JSDF could stop you. You have the capacity to bring ruin to our country. Even inside our ruling party, some worry about this.”

As a person, Prime Minister Urabe might have faith in me. As a statesman, however, he could not afford that faith. Our existence was too dangerous. If a civilian came to be in possession of a nuclear or chemical weapon, the...