The Empire! So that's a thing too.

"That's right, let me give you a communication item as well."

I created five magatama identical to the one I'd given Mashiro-san and placed them on the table.

"If something happens, tap it lightly and speak. Your voice will reach me. The effect lasts two weeks, with room to spare."

"These are… To think you'd give us such valuable magic tools. Thank you for your cooperation."

They're not magic tools, but I won't correct that. It works out since Healer is supposed to be able to make magic tools anyway.

"And Healer. There's one more thing I'd like to ask, if you don't mind."

"Hm? What is it? Depends on what you're asking."

"It's about the bomb that was planted on the dungeon core."

Oh right, there was that too.

"Oh. What's up, Guild Master? Did you already find something out? That was fast."

"Obviously, Silver. It's a dungeon emergency. Though I had a pretty good idea when you brought it in yesterday."

"Heh, you could've said something sooner then."

"Good grief," Mashiro-san shrugged.

Garuon brushed it off with a light laugh.

"If I said something hasty based on personal hunches, it could become an international incident. Well, the investigation confirmed my suspicions anyway."

"Hm? So another country is involved. The Empire?"

"Yes. It appears to be the work of the Gidlarga Empire. A bomb was planted on the core, bypassing the barrier magic tool… The barrier being bypassed isn't all that surprising in itself. The Empire is second only to the Alchemy Kingdom in magic tool advancement."

The Gidlarga Empire! So that's a thing too.

"Garuon. What is the Gidlarga Empire? Forgive me, but I'm not well-versed in worldly matters."

"Is that so? Then allow me to explain."

The name is pretty cool with all those voiced consonants. I wonder if it has an evil emperor or something. Kind of exciting.

"The Gidlarga Empire is a great nation that controls half this continent. They claim that 'dungeons are evil existences that drain the world's energy, and at this rate the world will be destroyed. The number of dungeons must be reduced'… They are incompatible with our Kingdom of Pavelkant."

Oh, that's actually truuue. The Empire was saying the right thing…

More precisely, it's not just dungeons but divine artifacts in general, but they're not wrong about a single thing.

"You'd think they'd start by destroying their own dungeons, but they actually are doing that… They don't destroy all of them, of course, but they're definitely reducing the number."

"And now they're trying to force that on other countries."

Hm? But why didn't they just blow it up right away? Let me ask.

"Was there a reason they didn't detonate it immediately?"

"According to our alchemist, a timer was set to detonate it on the new moon in a few days. The theory is that they were targeting when the core would be weakened."

Apparently, the Empire that goes around destroying dungeons has pretty advanced dungeon research too.

To guarantee destruction, they targeted the day when it would be weakened.

Indeed, if I hadn't found it, it would've been blown up.

"I see. Mashiro, does the core weaken during the new moon?"

"No, actually the dungeon becomes more active. More monsters spawn."

"Silver is correct. However, if the dungeon's activation is actually 'the core weakening and fortifying its surroundings,' then it makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Oh, true! As expected of the Guild Master, you're sharp."

Oho. I see, you can look at it that way too.

"So the expectation is that the operative who planted the bomb will make a move as the new moon approaches. The other side shouldn't know the bomb has been removed yet, but… there's also the question of how the operative got deep into the dungeon in the first place."

"That's it, the door guard! If we ask them, we can find out who's suspicious!"

"… Incidentally, if you look at the circumstances alone, the most suspicious person is you, Healer."

Hm? Me?

"You bypassed the door guard and went to the lower floors. And the claim that there was a bomb on the core could just be a lie—you could have just shown Silver a bomb you brought and tricked her, couldn't you? That wouldn't require getting past the barrier in front of the core. Plus, that getup of yours…"

… True, there's nothing but suspicious elements about me, isn't there?