◇
"Everyone, thank you for responding to my call despite your busy schedules. I am Solda, the new Grand Master of the explorers' guild."
As the representatives and proxies from each country gathered, a staff member from the explorers' guild began the opening remarks.
So he is Belia's successor as Grand Master…
It may be rude to say, but he is a rather unremarkable man.
As a member of the royal family, I am confident that I never forget a face or name once I have seen or heard it, but with him I feel I might forget if I'm not careful.
It is less that he lacks distinctive features and more that he lacks presence, perhaps?
"Given the current situation, I would like to move straight to the main topic, but may I say one thing first?"
Normally, gatherings like this would include social events before and after the meeting, but there are none this time.
Thanks to our effective countermeasures against the empire, our kingdom was able to respond quickly to the initial wave of labyrinth overflows, but that is not the case for every country.
Quite a few nations are still far from stable, which shows just how pressing the current situation is.
That is precisely why we must discuss and then immediately move to action.
"As you all know, the previous Grand Master of the explorers' guild, Belia, passed away the other day. He possessed the special ability of longevity and was an outstanding individual who had supported the guild since its founding. There is no one else who could unite the guild the way he did. Now, of all times, when the world has become like this, we needed his strength more than ever. It is truly a great loss."
Solda spoke with a trembling voice while pressing the corners of his eyes.
He must have greatly admired Belia.
He probably does not know that Belia himself was the mastermind behind creating this world.
No—how many people in this room even know the truth?
"I intend to devote my entire being to helping humanity overcome the threat of the magic beasts. However, I am far from reaching the greatness of a man like Belia Sans. Therefore, I ask for all of your support!"
The moment Solda bowed his head after making that declaration, one elderly man began clapping.
That person was Gunnar Stern, the Federal Chairman of the Rudain Federation—a major power in the eastern part of the continent that holds strong influence there and possesses the eastern Great Labyrinth.
"…I have watched your work for many years as the eastern guild master. That is why I can say this with confidence. Right now, there is no one more suitable to lead the explorers' guild than Lord Solda. The responsibility of succeeding Belia will be immense. However, I believe you are the one who can fulfill that duty. I support Lord Solda. Let us overcome this harsh situation together."
Gunnar clapped again.
The others followed suit one after another.
(The Rudain Federation, which holds the eastern Great Labyrinth, is pushing for Solda, who was the eastern guild master, to become Grand Master. There is a very strong political smell to this. Personally, I do not find it amusing, but the groundwork has clearly already been laid, and while this choice brings no benefit to the Nohitant Kingdom, it also does not cause any clear disadvantage.)
Realizing that speaking up here would only buy resentment or leave a bad impression—which would be more harmful to the kingdom—I stayed silent and joined those clapping.
"Thank you, everyone. Though I am unworthy, I will do my utmost. —Now, let us begin the summit meeting to discuss countermeasures against the threat of the magic beasts."
After Solda declared the opening of the summit, he disclosed the information the explorers' guild possessed regarding the current state of the world.
According to him, labyrinth overflows had occurred without exception in every labyrinth.
And, as I already knew, the Great Labyrinths were not included among those that had overflowed.
"—I would like to ask again. Does everyone here who responded to our call agree with the explorers' guild's position that 'now is the time for people to set aside national borders and unite to confront the threat of the magic beasts'?"
After finishing his explanation of the current situation, Solda asked us.
One of the participants raised his hand and spoke.
"I have no objection to the idea itself. But what exactly do you mean by joining hands?"
"As a premise, we believe our highest priority should be securing 'human lives' and 'the safety of infrastructure such as roads that form the foundation of society and the economy.' With that in mind, we intend to install the labyrinth cores currently held by the explorers' guild in various locations."
"…Labyrinth cores?"
"Yes. Since the overflows began, the guild has conducted several experiments and discovered several behavioral differences in magic beasts that have emerged on the surface compared to when they were inside the labyrinths. One of those is that magic beasts on the surface show a much stronger attachment to labyrinth cores than to magic stones."
Labyrinth cores are enormous magic stones located at the deepest part of a labyrinth and are what sustain the labyrinth itself.
They contain far more magical power than ordinary magic stones, but until now magic beasts had shown little interest in them.
Magic beasts have a characteristic of being drawn to magic stones.
That is why, at present, large numbers of magic beasts are being drawn to major cities where many magic stones are gathered.
Since most major cities are protected by outer walls, it is possible to halt the advance of the magic beasts, but access between cities has become extremely difficult.
Just as Solda mentioned earlier, securing the safety of the roads connecting cities and countries is currently very challenging.
In particular, the transportation of magic stones—which used to be routine—now requires considerable effort.
Given how deeply magic tools have become integrated into daily life, magic stones are indispensable, yet their supply has become difficult.
It is fortunate that, while the magic beasts show strong attachment to magic stones, they show no interest in crops.
If the magic beasts had also devoured the food humans eat, humanity would likely have already been culled by them.
"By making use of this behavioral trait of the magic beasts on the surface, we plan to place labyrinth cores in locations with few people where it would not be a problem even if large numbers of magic beasts gather, and lure a certain portion of them there."
"What about protecting the labyrinth cores?"
"We would like to entrust that to explorers. The plan is to station several teams of outstanding explorers selected from each country at every labyrinth core and have them rotate in subjugating the magic beasts drawn to the cores."
When speaking of people with high combat ability in this world, the main groups are soldiers and explorers.
Soldiers are basically trained with human opponents in mind. It would be more appropriate to assign them to maintaining public order within their countries rather than fighting magic beasts.
Explorers, needless to say, are the ones who have fought magic beasts inside labyrinths.
Until now, it was they who had effectively supported people's lives by bringing back magic stones from the labyrinths.
However, in recent years when magic stones had become readily available as a matter of course, there were people whose gratitude toward explorers had grown thin.
With magic beasts now spreading across the surface, many seem to have revised their thinking and realized how indispensable explorers truly are.
"I have no objection to that plan. But wouldn't it be better to conquer all the labyrinths in parallel? If we do that, no more magic beasts will appear."
"That would only be postponing the problem."
One participant suggested conquering the labyrinths, but Felix Lutz Kreutzer, the crown prince of the Sauber Empire and known as the Hero, raised an objection.
He had invaded the royal capital alone two months ago.
In the end, he had been stopped by a woman named Shion, the White Demon, but thanks to Philly Carpenter's special ability, that fact has been erased from existence.
On that day, the narrative was rewritten so that "Orun killed Belia, who had come to the capital to stop the war between the kingdom and the empire," and everyone connected to Philly Carpenter had their memories altered accordingly.
I alone, thanks to the magic tool that nullifies Recognition Alteration, still remember what actually happened that day.
I do not even know whether Prince Felix himself remembers that he invaded the capital.
"You call it postponing the problem?"
"It is true that if the labyrinths disappear, we could eliminate the threat of the magic beasts. But what awaits beyond that is another hell—fighting over magic stones."
I agree with Prince Felix.
Magic stones are a resource obtained by defeating magic beasts.
And magic beasts are born only inside labyrinths.
If we conquer all the labyrinths, no new magic beasts will be born, which also means humanity will lose its means of obtaining magic stones.
Given how difficult it would be to remove magic tools from people's lives at this point, what awaits after conquering all the labyrinths is a world war fought over magic stones.
Even so, it leaves a bad taste that the one saying this is the representative of the empire that attacked our country citing a shortage of magic stones as the reason.
…However, I cannot show that feeling here.
Solda nodded in agreement with Prince Felix's opinion and spoke.
"As Prince Felix says. What we should conquer is not the labyrinths. —It is the Great Labyrinths."
(…So they are steering it in that direction after all.)
As I thought that to myself, a murmur spread through the room.