The Prince's Circumstances

Entering the Storage Area, we fended off Irregular Golems like the Multi-Armed and Multi-Legged Golems as we made our way to the room where the prince and his party obtained a magic sword the other day.

Upon confirming that there weren't any magic swords, the prince sighs in disappointment.

"The magic sword was here the day before yesterday."

"Well of course it'd be gone if you took it, Prince. No matter how well-known of a dungeon it is, magic swords can't just reappear that easily. Do you agree, Uuma?"

"Jangalia is right."

I mean, I totally could replenish Magic Sword Blade Golems as much as I wanted.

"I see… it's nice that Iron Golems keep appearing though, huh? I'm envious."

"Yeah. A mining dungeon where you can get an infinite supply of iron… I really wish our country had one. If only we had more iron, Daido's position would improve…"

"We do have copper mines, but… we import most of our iron."

The prince and his two aides sighed.

Daido's international standing seemed to be poor. It was overwhelmingly worse compared to the neighboring Empire, Demonlands, and Holy Kingdom.

… It appeared that they are surrounded by three countries and treated as something of a buffer zone. The Holy Kingdom was on the other side of a mountain range, which was—at least in practice—relatively better.

"It's only a matter of time before we become a vassal state of one of these countries."

"There's also the possibility of being annexed by the Empire like Pavera and Tsuia…"

"Daido's territory… ugh. No! Our country must maintain its independence! We need achievements for that!"

Oooh, that's good to know. I just learned one of the prince's goals.

The prince was burning with determination… but achievements? What sort of achievements could be gained in a dungeon like this? Let's dig a little deeper.

"Hoh, achievements you say?"

"Yeah. We're planning to—"

"—use the magic swords we acquire here to conquer even more dungeons."

Krush interrupted the prince who'd been trying to tell me their goal. Having been stopped mid-sentence, the prince looked a bit dissatisfied.

I guess they'd be selling any extra magic swords for funds?

"More dungeons then, huh? Well, this dungeon's already been conquered and its magic swords are the only worthwhile target, so it makes sense."

"… Is that so?"

"Didn't you know, Harks? Even I knew about it."

"Mm, Kenho? No, so even you knew… I see."

I couldn't believe the prince didn't know that the guild had reported that the Dungeon Core had already been conquered… I'd love to just come out and tell him that he needs to investigate more thoroughly.

It looked like the seemingly-muscleheaded Kenho knew about it because he'd heard it from Jangalia in turn. Jangalia is quite competent. [Shadows] sound pretty useful. Maybe I should raise someone like that in our group too…

…

Upon further thought, everyone in my group was pretty much like that.

Rokuko was surprisingly cunning and Niku was primarily a fighter who could also be stealthy with her deceptively diminutive appearance.

Rei was a dungeon administrator who could handle torture while posing as a saintess… Not to mention that Kinue-san and Nerune were also monsters. There's always something going on behind the scenes…

——Huh? Could it be that Ichika is… the most normal one? Maybe I should try to make more friends with ordinary people. Maybe I should buy some more slaves.

"Ah, no, there are Iron Golems too. That's right, can't we send the Iron Golems we hunt back to our country? What do you think, Krush? It's a good idea, right? Please consider it as our next prime minister."

"There's a major flaw in that idea. The transportation costs from here to Daido would be quite high… not to mention the cost of customs, so we might only send one Iron Golem for every two we hunt."

"… We would never be able to secure an advantage in that case."

"Attempting to mine in another country's mines in the first place is reckless."

If they had to pay the Empire an equal amount of iron they obtained from one Iron Golem, it would only serve to strengthen the Empire (albeit in a minuscule amount).

I know I'm just a mere village chief and all, but I couldn't help but think that Daido was a weak country… Well, it's tough, isn't it? Hope things get better. Not much else to say.

"It's quite difficult for you too, Prince."

"You understand me!? Alright, Uuma, join our party! We'll welcome you with favorable treatment!"

"Sorry, but serving in a palace isn't my thing. Try someone else…"

"Mugugu, I won't give up!"

Why's this prince so fond of me?

"No, it's just that securing personnel is an urgent matter. This is a confidential conversation, as I trust Uuma, but our country has been experiencing some tumultuous circumstances… We have something of a shortage in competent people right now."

"Tumultuous circumstances, you say?"

"Yes. Uuma-dono, are you familiar with the term [Rencarnate]?"

Rencarnate? Reincarnators, perhaps? Judging from the name, they might have memories from a previous life.

"Please keep this between us… in our country, many noble daughters and sons have become [Rencarnates] and are making strange moves behind the scenes."

"Oh? That's news to me."

"Even as a prince, I have no idea who or how many are [Rencarnates]. However, at least among the [Rencarnates] we have caught—almost all of them have been collecting money from within the country and showing signs of planning to eventually flee abroad. In other words, they're practically traitors."

Taking money accumulated in Daido and moving it out of the country… That's no different from foreign merchants forcibly taking away Daido's assets.

And under current laws, a [Rencarnate] is treated the same as a regular merchant, so it was difficult to take action against them. Just hearing about it makes them sound quite troublesome.

So, the prince and his party are seeking a significant achievement in order to change these laws somehow. I see, they had such a background.

"All the [Rencarnates] being competent is also a problem. Thus, we don't know how many people are hiding the fact that they are [Rencarnates]… The more competent they are, the more suspicious they seem. At least, Kenho, Krush, and I have confirmed that the three of us are not [Rencarnates].

"Is there a way to determine that?"

"Yes. Our country's magic research institute director is quite skilled. Oh, and of course, this director is not a [Rencarnate] either."

The prince chuckled proudly.

"As for these [Rencarnates]… The director's investigation found that they have been subjected to memory manipulation and are not reincarnated at all. They are genuine citizens of our country, with false [previous life memories] implanted in them."

"… That's… quite unsettling, indeed."

"You understand, as expected of Uuma! Yes, this is an act of invasion. Who or which country is behind this invasion… In fact, we are on this journey, in part, to investigate that. If we can just manage to pinpoint the culprit, it would be a great achievement."

I see. So Prince Harks and his party are nobles (plus one prince) who are working hard out of concern for their country… good work, man.

… Come to think of it, I happen to know a Chaos God who might be involved in something like this. Should I do something here?