A Hopeless Person

"My, you're not surprised?"

"You said you received a report from the knight order, didn't you? You weren't trying to hide it, right?"

"Well, no, I wasn't."

Haku-san smiled happily with a soft laugh.

"So, what was your reason for keeping the [Ordinary Cave] as such a weak dungeon?"

"Because she's cuter that way… is part of it, but it was to protect Number 695-chan. That's why I was truly panicked when I heard that bandits had settled in."

"… To protect Rokuko? … Why?"

"Because she's my adorable little sister? I honestly wanted to station guards and set up lookouts so no one could get in, but if I went that far, she'd catch the eye of God's Vanguard and get hunted instead, right? So I had her keep an extremely low profile… Well? Does that answer satisfy you?"

She asked if I was satisfied.

… If I had to say… there was still something bothering me.

"… What's your reason for hunting other Dungeon Cores?"

According to what was said earlier, knights need the experience of destroying a Dungeon Core to become Holy Knights.

In other words, Haku-san was intentionally having them do so.

While protecting Rokuko on one hand, she was attacking other cores on the other. Or rather, it was because of that very system that the Dungeon Core nearly got destroyed during the bandit subjugation.

"That has nothing to do with Rokuko-chan… It's because I would be hunted by God's Vanguard otherwise."

For her own sake. A very easy reason to understand.

"I'm convinced."

"I see. Is there anything else you'd like to ask? Since this is a special occasion, I'll answer, you know?"

"… That's quite generous. What's the reason for that?"

"Yes, well, this is a reward. I heard from Rokuko-chan that you exterminated every last one of the bandits who kicked around Rokuko-chan's core, not letting a single one escape. If you had let even one get away, I would have had to organize a mountain hunt."

Hmm, I see. Then since we're at it, maybe I should ask about Holy Knights and such.

"Come to think of it, one of the knights who came here tried to destroy the core."

"Yes! The Seventeenth Knight Order! Even though I had my eye on them and was giving them special treatment, of all things, the report said they tried to thrust a sword into Rokuko-chan. Can you believe it?! Honestly, humans are hopeless since they can't understand how adorable Rokuko-chan's core is. Naturally, they'll be executed, every last one of them! Since I can't write Rokuko-chan into their charges, I've lightly fabricated some treason against the nation for the knight order as a unit. No, trying to destroy Rokuko-chan and thinking they could get away with just a pay cut? That's nothing but treasonous intent, right? So it's a legitimate execution. Ah, the people in question are probably marching triumphantly back to the imperial capital right about now without knowing anything."

Ah, this person is hopeless. And the sheer excess of power she wields makes her impossible to deal with.

Executing an entire knight order is way too much of a reign of terror!

"Oh my, do you think that's going too far?"

"No, not at all. Ah, those guys were slacking off too, doing sloppy work saying that adventurers would somehow handle it if there were bandits outside. Was that in the report?"

"Hmm, additional charges then."

But for now, I went along with it. If I carelessly oppose her, I'll be in danger too.

… I see, I was starting to understand. This person definitely wouldn't become Rokuko's enemy.

After all, Rokuko is the starting point for all her actions. At the very least, she won't become Rokuko's enemy as long as Haku-san isn't harmed.

"By the way, you mentioned something about Holy Knights earlier?"

"Holy Knights? Ah, I just hand that title out casually. Destroying cores is meaningless unless you're God's Vanguard. Those people apparently get increased divine favor for contributing to the circulation of mana or something…"

Ah, right, I'm pretty sure I'm one of those Vanguard people… I'll keep quiet about that.

Please forgive me, I have no intention of destroying Dungeon Cores.

"Hmm. You don't seem to be a complete incompetent who just sleeps all the time, so I'll tentatively acknowledge you as Rokuko-chan's master."

Looks like I've been acknowledged somehow… If she's not an enemy, that's fine. This person has beautiful legs, after all.

People with beautiful legs can't be bad people… no wait, sorry, now that I think about it, there were actually quite a few villains who'd want to be stepped on.

"However, let's have a Dungeon Battle."

Ha ha, yet another term I don't know has popped up. And it's radiating a seriously troublesome vibe. Give me a break.