A Special Natural Monument

[Biwabashi, the Western Edge of the Library-City Dungeon's Sphere of Influence]

Biwabashi, now thoroughly the dungeon's front entrance, saw immigrants arrive nearly every day. The ones who came that day were a woman with pink hair who looked rather soft in the head, and a penguin-man, bird from the chest down and in the arms, larger than an emperor penguin.

"Tajima Sakura. That's what I'm called～."

The woman gave the greeting. Somewhat petite, pink-haired.

"Sakura, as in cherry blossom? From the look of you you're an Asura, but you don't seem to be of the Rose family."

Scarlet, who handled the western, Iruma-facing side, attended to them. The cherry is of the Rose family. The Rose genus is by and large handsome fellows in male form, but the rest are not necessarily male in appearance. Even so, anyone used to classifying Asura could tell she was something else.

"Yes～. I'm of the Sakurasō, the primrose family～."

"So, a primrose, then. And the gentleman there?"

"Senior Fifth Rank, Noda Uchūben. A heron, I am."

"An alien and a fraud, then. Now, what's your reason for coming to this dungeon?"

His office, Uchūben, sounds like uchūjin, an alien; and a heron is a sagi, the same word as a fraud.

"I'm fond of bright, sunny marshes～, but it's a desert, so such places are rare～. Until now I lived along a dry river to the northwest～, but since a dungeon with plenty of water has come to be, I thought I'd like to live here～."

"Long ago, my ancestors lived in a dungeon that lay east of here, but I am told the dungeon dried up, grew uninhabitable, and we scattered. Bird-folk are one thing, but every last one of us half-bird-folk cannot fly without borrowing a dungeon's power, so for generations we have lived crawling upon the ground. Hearing that a new dungeon had arisen, I hurried here."

[Core Room]

"By Scarlet-san's report, this time it's a primrose and a fraud. Marie-san, really, all sorts do come, don't they."

"For foxes and tanuki to take human shape, for dragons to command the weather, for winged races such as bird-folk to fly, all of it needs a dungeon's power. And so such races either possess a corresponding unique law, or else they gather at a large dungeon with abundant energy. For my part, I'd rather have more horses, for getting about in places where cars can't be used."

As for bird-folk, there are those who, at great cost, can fly without borrowing a dungeon's power; but the constraints of physical law make it hard to reconcile a fair degree of intelligence with the power of flight. When, rather than a true bird-person, the head is human, as with this night heron, flight is impossible.

The night heron's Japanese name, goi-sagi, means "fifth-rank heron," which is why this one fittingly bore the court rank of Senior Fifth Rank.

"So this dungeon counts as a large-scale dungeon, then."

"A height differential of 19 km, a population of about 70,000, a cumulative 140,000 sacrifices. It's likely the largest in the Eight Provinces of Kantō. Mind you, for sheer area, Nasu-Shiobara is broad as well."

"A primrose, then. For a fraud, I can see a dungeon's power being of use, but would a primrose have any need of dungeon energy?"

"Who knows. The Tajimagahara primrose colony and the heronry of Noda are both special natural monuments in the otherworld, so there's likely a counterpart to each in this world as well. The Wisteria of Ushijima, being one particular specimen, has no counterpart on this side; and the Mirror Rock of Mitake is probably a bald-headed Preta. Should you spot such a Preta, you'd likely want to slam a turtle down onto its head."

"A turtle……"

"There's no particular reason to refuse them, so I'll have them come this way and discuss taking them in."

[Tier-Group 4, Conference Room]

Marie held a meeting with Senior Fifth Rank Noda Uchūben and Tajima Sakura.

"Scarlet reported that you resemble a penguin, and indeed, you do and you don't."

"What is a penguin?"

"A bird found in the otherworld. The otherworld's black-crowned night heron disguises itself as a penguin and lives by swindling food off others."

Marie pointed to a penguin in an illustrated reference.

"I have neither seen nor heard of such a thing."

"Now then, your reason for coming to this dungeon is to fly. Correct?"

"Indeed. We night herons, together with the great, intermediate, and little egrets and the scarlet heron besides, once dwelt at a dungeon that lay around this eastern region; at its height, 6,000 households, 30,000 souls, made their lives there. But the dungeon dried up, and the herons, having lost both their food and their power of flight, scattered. Now that a dungeon encompassing the land of our forebears has come into being, we have returned once more."

"Drones, er, contrivances that fly through the sky, are hard to come by, and limited in performance besides, so even if it's only within the sphere of influence, a sky-flying race is welcome. Now, do you know where your ancestors lived long ago?"

"I cannot say precisely, but most likely… it was somewhere around here."

The night heron pointed at the map, though he did not seem altogether sure.

"For a dungeon with clear ruins remaining, pinpointing it would be possible, but yours was a heronry. Whether so much as a withered tree is left is the question. There's no guarantee the positions correspond to the otherworld either, so a map of Saitama Prefecture is no help. And you were Tajima Sakura-san, weren't you."

"Yes～."

"You don't appear to have any particular need of a dungeon's power."

"No, I don't～. I'd just like to laze about in a warm, damp, sunny spot～ and take a nice naaap～."

This idle, useless spring ephemeral. So Marie thought, though even she did not say it aloud.

"For you herons, I'll prepare Noda Village, fifteen ri east-northeast of the dungeon; for you of the primrose, Tajima Village, around fifteen ri southwest of the dungeon. As for an elementary school that looks summonable… there's no problem."