Side: Yuki

Right now, we are in a room within Enaria Castle.

It is the guest chamber allocated to us, and I am gathered here with my wives. Only Jessica is currently absent, as she is stationed with Mist to guard Princess Miffy.

Well, as a guy, it wouldn't exactly look proper for me to hang around an unmarried woman's private quarters indefinitely while waiting for things to move forward.

"So, what's our next move?"

Seraria asks, clinging tightly to me as she speaks.

"For the time being, Seraria, Derieu, Rurua, Ria, Peace, and I will stand by right here. Kirika and her crew are scheduled to check in with a status report, so we need to stay calm and listen to what they have to say. Plus, officially speaking, we're supposed to be on guard duty."

When I say that, Seraria and the others nod in agreement.

"Eris, Ratz, and Milly—I need you three to head down to the capital town and gather intelligence. I'm not giving you a specific target. Just poke around wherever catches your interest. You three should be able to handle that seamlessly, right?"

"Yes, leave it to us."

"Of course, Onii-san."

"Yuki-san, you can count on us~!"

These three have backgrounds as travelers, adventurers, and guild receptionists, meaning their communication skills when dealing with everyday citizens are incredibly high.

Kirika and her vanguard have already secured the intelligence regarding the nobility and potentially dangerous organizations, which leaves only the common populace.

However, you can't afford to underestimate the common folk. Rumors are just rumors, sure, but the very existence of a rumor means it originated from a specific source somewhere. And for a piece of information to spread widely enough to reach the general public, it usually means something notable happened.

As exceptionally thorough as Kirika and her crew are at gathering intelligence, there is no way they could collect more local gossip than the actual citizens living in the capital town. There is a high probability that pieces of information Kirika hasn't grasped yet are floating around as casual chatter. That's exactly why I'm assigning these three.

"I've already cleared this with Aegil, and we're scheduled to receive official travel passes from her. It'll make things a lot more convenient if you three meet up with her directly so she can memorize your faces. Aside from that, try to move together as a trio while gathering info. Strength-wise, I'm not worried about any of you handling yourselves solo, but there's no guaranteeing that an unforeseen crisis won't clip you. It's much better to operate in a setup where you can watch each other's backs."

The three of them clearly understand the stakes, nodding along without raising any questions.

"One last thing. We're going to be spending some time here in Enaria, and even without my personal bias, it's a fact that my wives are all incredibly gorgeous. Given our current positions, we're framed as Princess Miffy's security detail. Because of that, some high-and-mighty scumbag might try to use their authority to sexually harass you. If that happens, I want you to dodge it with everything you've got. Even if it blows up into a massive diplomatic incident, I'll take care of the fallout. So, please, for my sake, don't feel like you ever have to let anyone touch your bodies under any circumstances."

Yes, this was something I absolutely had to spell out.

Even if our primary objective is to investigate the source of the magical energy depletion, I have zero intention of letting another man get his hands on my wives. Frankly, if anyone tries, I'll grind them to dust.

When I took a moment to look at my wives' faces, every single one of them was wearing a massive grin... Yeah, yeah, I am perfectly aware of the kind of line I just dropped. In short: I am never handing my wives over to anybody.

"Naturally. After all, my heart, my body, and everything else belong entirely to you."

"Precisely, Danna-sama. If any worthless trash dares to lay a hand on us..."

Seraria and Rurua speak up, and then all my wives take a synchronized deep breath...

"""We will erase them."""

You don't have to erase their lives over sexual harassment...

"Yeah, let's not go that far."

Calm down.

Even in Japan you don't get the death penalty for sexual harassment.

Actually, not even anywhere on Earth.

"""Ehhh~"""

"No ‘ehhh' Do you want to turn this entire castle into a sea of blood? Also, a country being destroyed over sexual harassment would be one insane reason."

Would this fall under one of the three causes of a nation's downfall—the "women" category?

No, that can't be right. The remaining two reasons are flatterers who whisper sweet words, and gold—money.

"Alright, now that I've gone over the warnings, let's talk about the actual plan."

What I said earlier was just precautions and confirmations. Diplomacy and information gathering are to make sure our main objective isn't hindered.

Our true purpose for coming to the Enaria Holy Country is to take control of the ruins — the dungeon — here.

We need to check if there are any records, supplies, or remnants left behind by the previous master who was investigating the mana depletion.

I pull up the usual Map Monitor in front of everyone. It displays the layout of the Enaria dungeon. It seems the previous master hadn't extended the dungeon territory all the way to the surface, so after receiving Kirika's report, I went ahead and converted every single structure on the surface into part of the dungeon.

Granted, just like the Outer District of Weed, the DP absorption rate is terribly inefficient, but being able to acquire real-time Map intelligence like this is incredibly convenient.

"I've glanced over it a few times, but the cityscape looks to be roughly on par with Roshure or Gartz."

"Well, it is one of the preeminent superpowers on this continent, after all."

"So, Onii-san. How are things looking inside the dungeon itself? Any progress?"

Ratz asks, prompting everyone else to shift their gaze toward me, waiting for my words.

"Unfortunately, it looks like the Holy Sword wielders thoroughly cleaned out the place when they originally occupied the dungeon. The subterranean structure beneath the Great Cathedral is definitely a dungeon, just as Peace described. We even located the chamber where the Holy Sword was supposedly kept, but that's entirely confined to the upper strata. My crew searched the main dungeon via the hidden passages, but all they found were some everyday sundries from that era. There didn't seem to be any documents or records left behind."

"...It seems like there weren't?"

"Right, exactly as Rurua caught on. It seems like it. Items that looked like mere junk to Kirika and her crew might actually reveal something to us if we inspect them ourselves. Therefore, we'll set up a rotation for guard duty, and the members off the clock will head down into the dungeon to appraise the artifacts. Ah, leave them exactly where they are in each room; do not bring them back here."

"Eh? Why is that, exactly?"

"Think of it as preserving the crime scene. For example, if you see that I woke up in the morning but left my futon laid out, you'd assume I was still somewhere close by, right?"

"I see. So by analyzing those remnants of daily life, we can deduce the exact circumstances under which they abandoned the dungeon?"

"Precisely. So even though it might be a bit tedious, I need you to actually visit the dungeon chambers. For the record, I've already disarmed the built-in traps, but those were strictly the traps integrated by the dungeon system itself. Improvised traps—like a heavy book propped over the top of a door frame—are still perfectly active, so keep your wits about you."

"Surely such rudimentary traps pose no real threat to us?"

The moment Peace drops that comment, every single eye in the room locks onto her.

Without a doubt, it is a collectively frigid glare. Naturally, mine is included.

"Listen closely, Peace-san. The example Yuki-san gave was merely a joke-tier trap, but if a book happens to conceal a tiny blade coated in lethal poison, the danger level spikes exponentially. No matter how much our current bodies are doppelgangers, we still experience physical pain, and these vessels can absolutely die. Furthermore, Peace-san, you only have a single body to your name. Yuki-san is telling you never to let your guard down."

Ria steps forward to explain the reality to Peace on behalf of the group. Honestly, it looks less like an explanation and more like a stern lecture. Peace is practically shrinking into herself.

"Well, it's exactly as Ria said. Just execute the investigation with absolute caution. Though, I imagine Kirika and her crew have already cleared out the vast majority of those handmade traps anyway."

"Speaking of which, what are Kirika and the others up to right now?"

"Ah, most of Kirika's unit is currently surveilling the high-ranking officials in the castle. Their job is to prevent any unnecessary trouble from brewing, or to ensure we can instantly counter it if a crisis is forced upon us. The rest are acting as dungeon guides and gathering intelligence throughout the town."

As I answered, there was a knock at the door.

"Yuki, I've brought the travel permits."

It looks like Aegil wasted no time delivering them.

"Yeah, it's open. Come in."

"Pardon the intrusion, then... Oya? Did I happen to interrupt something private?"

Ah, right. From an outsider's perspective, walking into a room where a guy has gathered all his stunningly beautiful wives usually implies exactly one thing.

"No, we're not doing that sort of thing in broad daylight, Aegil."

Seraria steps away from me and addresses Aegil directly.

Hey, we totally did the deed in broad daylight after raiding the Demon King's castle because you said you were bored, remember?

"Even if we were to do it, we'd make absolutely certain no interruptions could get in the way."

"As expected of Seraria. No wonder you completely overwhelmed Prism."

Yes, it's exactly as Aegil says. Seraria had previously engaged in a duel against General Prism and secured an overwhelming victory.

When we initially converged with General Prism's unit near the Enaria capital, Prism took one look at Seraria and instantly sensed her immense strength. Because of that, they held a friendly sparring match without using magic swords during a rest break.

Needless to say, there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell of General Prism winning; the match concluded in an absolute landslide victory for Seraria.

Fortunately, Prism walked away muttering, "If only I'd been allowed to use my magic sword..." So the ordinary soldiers still believed their general was stronger overall. Even Prism herself probably believed that.

...In reality, even if you threw an entire army at her in a head-on clash, Seraria's defense wouldn't buckle for a second. And if underhanded tricks were permitted, it wouldn't even qualify as a fight.

"So, should I just give the permits to Yuki?"

"Ah, hold on a second. A few of us are heading down to check out the capital town today. If it's not too much trouble, could you escort them as far as the castle gates?"

"Hmm? Sure, that's an easy favor. I actually need to head down to the capital town to do some shopping myself anyway. If you'd like, I can show them around the marketplace."

"Oya? Is General Aegil truly going out of her way to shop in person?"

Ratz tilts her head in genuine curiosity.

It's exactly as Ratz implies—someone holding the rank of general isn't supposed to move around so lightly. Everyday errands and minor shopping trips are things you're supposed to dump onto your subordinates. If a general has that much free time on their hands, they're usually told to get back to work.

"I operate on the same logic as you, Ratz. When it comes to the items I personally use, I prefer to inspect them with my own eyes."

"I see, so it's for your research. If you happen to spot any fascinating items, I'd love it if you could point them out to me too. Would that be alright?"

"Gladly. Honestly, whenever I try to talk to anyone else, they either can't keep up with the conversation at all, or they start freaking out about 'the General this' and 'the General that.' But as expected of Ratz, you understand the thrill perfectly."

"Hehe, well, my Onii-san keeps me incredibly busy with all sorts of projects in that field, after all."

"Ah, I see. So the fact that I've managed to gain such an excellent friend is all thanks to Yuki keeping you busy, then? Alright, who else is joining the trip?"

After wrapping up her chat with Ratz, Aegil turns her gaze toward me.

"Right, Eris and Milly are heading out as well."

"Please take care of us."

"Nice to meet you, Aegil-san."

Following my introduction, the two of them step up next to Aegil.

"Looking forward to working with you both. If there's anywhere specific you'd like to visit, just speak up. I'll guide the way."

"Thank you so much."

"Well, Yuki-san, we'll be heading out now."

"Onii-san, we'll make sure to bring back plenty of souvenirs!"

With that, the trio exits through the door.

As I'm sitting there thinking that having Aegil act as their guide should guarantee their safety, my eyes suddenly lock with Aegil's right before she departs.

"Yuki, don't you worry about a thing. I am more than capable of protecting your lovely wives."

"Oh? That's pretty cool of you."

"...I'd much prefer it if you called me cute, you know. Despite appearances, I am still a woman. Well then, I'm off."

And with that, she steps out into the corridor. After a brief silence...

"...Isn't Aegil-san the one who actually needs protecting?"

Ria mutters, prompting a unanimous nod from everyone else in the room. I feel like something about that framing is slightly off, but strength-wise, the three girls certainly aren't in a position where they genuinely need Aegil to shield them.

"Alright, while those three are out gathering local intel, the rest of us need to get down to business and search the dungeon. I'll give a brief overview of the dungeon layout one more time..."

After giving a quick explanation, Ria and Peace headed out to investigate the dungeon. The rest stayed on standby as Princess Miffy's escorts.

Though, if I'm being completely honest, the remaining lineup consists of Seraria, Rurua, Derieu, and Jessica—which is essentially an optimal deployment specifically tailored for dealing with high-ranking political figures.

The plan was for the four of them to brainstorm strategies for handling the nobility, but since Derieu has been constantly glued to Princess Miffy's side, I ended up discussing the matter with the remaining three wives instead.

"Well, the common sense here doesn't seem too different from Roshure, so I don't think we need to be too tense."

"But since they call themselves a holy kingdom, they probably worship something like Rithea does. We should ask Prism-san about any taboos."

"Indeed. Religious nations are especially strict about etiquette."

While we were discussing how to deal with important people, an emergency alarm suddenly rang out from the call function.

Including myself, everyone instantly snaps their eyes to the monitors.

We still haven't clearly categorized the factions within the Enaria capital on our tracking system. Nobility and castle personnel are marked as yellow, common townspeople as white, the King and critical figures as purple, and our own forces as blue.

The red marker, indicating hostile intent, is specifically configured to trigger only under a strict set of conditions.

That specific condition was...

『Aruji-sama!! Multiple monsters with levels hovering right around 100 have suddenly manifested inside the royal castle, throughout the capital town, and even outside the city walls!!』

We configured the system to flag anyone exceeding a specific level threshold as red. That said, there shouldn't be a single entity in Enaria whose level exceeds 90.

"Where did they come from? Can you pinpoint the source? What did the unit monitoring the Map say?"

『I am the one who was monitoring the Map. However, there were absolutely no prior distortions or warning signs. It is as if they simply materialized out of thin air...』

"They just suddenly appeared, huh. Well, the surroundings are certainly starting to get noisy."

Shifting my awareness slightly toward the corridor outside our door, I can already hear the faint echoes of distant screams, panicked shouting, and furious roars echoing through the halls.

"Mino-chan, how are things looking on your end? You haven't accidentally gotten targeted along with the spawned monsters, have you?"

『We're fine, An-chan. We've been here longer, so everyone recognizes us. We're taking them down together... But this is looking real bad, see? At this level tier, there isn't a single person in their military capable of matching them besides us.』

"Don't commit to a full assault just yet. We're going to investigate the cause from this side. Just hold your ground and maintain the current line."

『Understood.』

Where on earth did they come from?

While scanning my eyes rapidly across the Map Monitor, I quickly establish a connection to Ratz's group.

"Ratz, are you all safe!?"

『We're perfectly safe! But what are these things? There aren't that many, but level-wise, the regular citizens here are going to get absolutely massacred if left alone!』

"Work with Aegil to eliminate the monsters."

『Leave it to us—Hey, you piece of trash! Get your filthy paws off that mother and child!!』

A deafening explosive boom echoes through the line, cutting off the transmission.

Wow, Ratz-san's personality flipped a bit too completely there.

『Yuki-san, what in the world is happening!?』

"The cause is currently unknown, but unidentified monsters are spawning all over the place. Ria, I need you to monitor the Map and catalog the exact numbers and types of enemies. We need to focus 100% of our attention on finding the source."

『Understood! Fortunately, it looks like no enemies have spawned inside the dungeon itself.』

Excellent. We can leave the situational assessment entirely to Ria's group.

"So, Dear, do you have any inkling as to what's causing this?"

Seraria asks, drawing her blade and taking up a defensive posture right beside the door frame.

"No idea. To summon monsters not under my control inside a dungeon I manage, it would have to be either self-summoning or something similar. But there's no person or item on the monitoring map capable of summoning level 100 monsters..."

What the hell is going on?

...Could someone be setting up a summoning process outside my surveillance and calling monsters from a long distance?

What an absolute, astronomical waste of mana.

"Hey, Yuki. How about putting the monsters under your control for now?"

"No. Whoever is behind this is operating with a specific objective in mind. If we suddenly hijack their pawns right out of the gate, we won't be able to predict how they'll react next."

"...I see. Even if we put an immediate stop to it, we won't uncover the culprit's identity, meaning they'll just repeat the exact same stunt later down the line."

"Exactly. That's why, Rurua, I need you to prepare to deploy a wide-area recovery spell encompassing the entire capital town."

"Understood... The time has come to use the power I gained through training to save many people."

"Yeah. But remember, the mana consumption on this continent is insane. Think carefully about when to use it. You won't be able to maintain it for long."

"Yes, I bear it in mind."

If Rurua used wide-area recovery magic on the Weed continent, she could maintain a spell that recovers people from fatal injuries for nearly six hours.

She could create an invincible army that revives instantly unless killed outright. In that sense, she was in a league of her own among the wives.

『Aruji-sama!!』

『Yuki-san!!』

As I'm speaking, Kirika and Ria simultaneously cut into the communication channel.

『『A massive reaction detected just outside the Enaria Holy Capital!!』』

I immediately shift my gaze to that specific sector of the Map Monitor.

A red dot was rushing straight toward the castle at incredible speed.

The display reads: Level 150+... Is this the mastermind?

But with just this level, they shouldn't be able to summon that many monsters on this continent... Maybe they're a type with ridiculously high mana?

With that theory in mind, I tap the red dot and execute an Appraisal...

"What!?"

"No way?!"

"For real!?"

The moment the status window pops up, Seraria and the others freeze in absolute speechlessness. I also stared with my mouth wide open.

The raw stats are completely ordinary—exactly the kind of numbers you'd expect from a standard level 150 combatant.

However, the Race column is completely, utterly twisted.

Name: Sia Enaria

Gender: Female

Occupation: Founder of Enaria, Holy Sword Wielder, The 13 of Betrayal

Race: Dungeon-Human

※ A race created by embedding a Dungeon Core into one's body, allowing the use of dungeon functions even without a dungeon. However, since there is no land like a normal dungeon, the only thing that can be manipulated is one's own body. The convenient part is that you can carry a magic power tank and summon monsters or weapons. However, unless you possess overwhelming control over such absurd amounts of mana, you'll probably self-destruct. Not recommended. Think of it like firing a tank shell through a handgun. The barrel explodes. Ah, but Yuki might actually be able to pull it off. - By Luna

"Like hell I would!!"

Even in a crisis like this, that useless goddess still finds a way to insert her annoying commentary...

Still... would someone really go this far?

If Luna's explanation is correct, she carved a summoning circle somewhere in her body, poured magic power into it to call monsters, and used a skill to transfer them to Enaria — all while risking self-destruction.

What exactly drove her to do this?

...At any rate, stopping her had now become our highest priority. Going by the details in her profile, she appears to be one of the legendary figures who originally fought against Peace.

"Alright. Ria and Kirika—expand your dungeon territory immediately and search for any accomplices."

『『Yes!!』』

"The rest of us will move out to suppress her directly. Everyone else, focus on eliminating the monsters and racking up massive approval ratings from the citizens of Enaria!"

『『『Understood!!』』』

Well, it looks like she meticulously calculated her timing to cause the absolute maximum amount of chaos, but executing her grand plan right when my crew happened to be in town was her ultimate mistake.

I have no idea what kind of twisted philosophy you're operating on, lady, but we're going to hijack this entire incident and exploit it to make our own operations as smooth as humanly possible.