Chapter 225 – Social Invasion!

“Мr. Shоgо! Therе’s sоmе hugе nеws going on!”

“What? Whаt is it?”

I hаd just woken uр and was wаshing mу fасе whеn Mashirо camе rushing in, flustеred.

А livе strеаm wаs plаying оn the PС sсrееn in the living roоm.

“Huh? Isn’t thаt the Prime Мinistеr shaking hands with a monstеr?”

“Тhat’s right! Apparеntlу, there was some rесonciliаtion оffеr frоm thе Dungeon side! Or sоmething like thаt. Sо, thеy’ve dесidеd to crеate а day where wе dоn’t cleаr Dungеons, оr something аlong those linеs, it seеms!”

“Whоa!? What’s that about!? Аre thеу insаne!?”

It wаs late Арril.

Тhe beginning оf Goldеn Wееk.

Реoрlе wеre mаking а fuss about the miraculous thirteen-day holiday! But as a streamer, for me, times like these are actually prime earning opportunities.

Which Dungeon to stream from, what kind of stream to do…

It’d also be nice to interact with listeners through game streams…

That’s what I was thinking about this morning.

I had no idea something like this was unfolding behind the scenes of the world.

I immediately called Shino to get the details.

Then, the fox girl and a male Labyrinth Ministry employee showed up at the same time.

“Gooood morning! I’m an external collaborator, so I don’t know the details, see. So, I brought along an employee who happened to stay over last night.”

“Hello, hello.”

The employee bowed repeatedly.

“So, what’s going on with this?”

“Yes, I believe this was a matter being handled in secret as top-secret. Even we general employees weren’t informed. It seems the Director-General put up some resistance, but he’s not the type to go against a major trend.”

“Ah, I see.”

So, the cabinet gagged him, and the Director-General didn’t leak it either.

You could say the Labyrinth Ministry employees are on our side, but the Director-General is just a politician serving his term.

Someone like Mr. Daikyo, Slayer V, is more the exception.

Speaking of which, I also got a message from Slayer V on Zakko.

‘Wha, what is this!?’

“Mr. Daikyo was surprised too, huh?”

‘Of course I’m surprised! I haven’t heard a thing about this! Well, I’m an outsider now, so that’s to be expected. A Dungeon holiday bill…!? Something like that offers no benefit to humanity at all. It’s clearly a bill that only encourages the expanding Dungeons. If that monster is a being representing the will of the Dungeon side, then this is an invasion. They’ve finally launched a full-scale attack.’

“It looks like a pretty peaceful invasion, doesn’t it? Shaking hands and smiling with the Prime Minister.”

It was a monster with a human-like form.

Deep blue skin, pointed ears.

Otherwise, it only seemed to consist of a robe that looked unaffected by gravity.

From within that emptiness, an arm extended to shake the Prime Minister’s hand.

“Grimoires! I seek the opinions of the knowledgeable!”

‘That’s right! Spice has Grimoires with him!’

“Well, well, convenient for times like this.”

The summoned Grimoires popped out with a pyon and began chattering, stating their own views.

On this matter, Mentaris and Karafuri seemed to have strong opinions.

‘They understand that in today’s society, a political attack like this is more effective than military force, I see. If this guy’s the one up there, he’s a troublesome fellow who’s figured out a thing or two!’

‘Master’s wife and the employee-san probably shouldn’t watch this too much, zansu. They’re broadcasting something like a light brainwashing audio on public airwaves and sound, zansu. It’s nasty, zansu. And to flow this much Magic Power over such a wide area all at once! Even just this messenger-like monster is a real pro, zansu…!’

“I see, that’s easy to understand!”

‘Hmm, shall we crush this press conference right now?’

From the other side of the Zakko, I could hear the sound of Slayer V standing up.

Oh no!

Slayer V would become a criminal.

He’s a man of justice, but he’s a bit too reckless for a modern nation governed by law.

Once the shackles of being a Diet member are off, he’s the type to go to any lengths freely.

“Since the opponent is coming at us head-on like this, we have to come up with a different countermeasure. The only other option is to somehow stop this press conference…”

‘That would be me, right? I’ll go mess with them on the net.’

Marinna sounds happy.

It seems she’s acquired the power to traverse the internet sea and tamper with communications.

Reliable!

“But that won’t work for TV, will it? Older folks’ homes overwhelmingly use TVs.”

‘Ah, TV isn’t my specialty. If it’s internet TV, I can handle it.’

Me, the Grimoire corps, Shino, and Slayer V on the other end of the Zakko all fell into deep thought, hmm-ing.

If this is an attack from the enemy side, it’s the most troublesome one yet.

Having their hands work behind the scenes unnoticed, invading from within society itself.

At first glance, it looks reconciliatory, and they’ve deliberately made it seem like a policy that poses no problem at all to the general public who have no connection to Dungeon clearing.

This… has turned into something incredibly troublesome.

Just as I was thinking that…

I noticed the live stream’s chat was open.

Most comments were favorable towards the Prime Minister and the monster’s amicable relationship.

No, were they just picking out those kinds of comments?

The occasional negative comment or a comment from a familiar streamer would disappear in an instant.

Were they getting BANned?

Is this the kind of development where even the country’s side becomes our enemy?

No, I’d really rather not!

The next moment.

The name ‘Kiraboshi Hazuki’ appeared in the comment section.

The comment content was: ￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥…….

Clearly a mis-sent message.

※ ‘Huh!?’ ‘Hazuki-chan!?’ ‘What’s this!?’

While the comments were reacting, the stream feed was going absolutely crazy.

A dazzling light slammed into the venue, creating a scene of pandemonium.

The monster shaking hands with the Prime Minister was sent flying by some mysterious power, screaming something like ‘UGWAAH!?’ as its entire body was burned by the light.

And then it vanished.

The stream cut off with a putsu.

What the heck!?

‘It seems she did it.’

Slayer V sounded somewhat satisfied.

His voice even held a hint of a smile.

“Did it, you say… Little Hazuki wasn’t that ridiculously powerful before, was she?”

Did her mis-sent comment become an attack?

And one powerful enough to disperse a strong monster in a single blow.

What was that!?

‘While we were active, she too must have been active, continuing to grow. To the point where she can crush a veiled conspiracy with sheer force. In other words, we need a division of roles: leave the fight against overt, powerful evil to her, and we take on the role of fighting the enemies her eyes cannot reach.’

“Ah, I feel like that kind of relationship was just born this very moment, with this.”

I was convinced.

Here, I remembered the word ‘Demon King’ that the Hermit Sage had mentioned when we were leaving Graz.

That must have started moving, and Japan was on the verge of something unbelievable, and Kiraboshi Hazuki is probably the one who can stop it.

“Alright, let’s leave the dazzling main stage to the youth, and us old folks will support from the shadows!”

A new development seemed to be starting, and I was getting excited.

By the way, the Grimoires bathed in Kiraboshi Hazuki’s light all said ‘UGWAAH!?’ in unison, then rushed into the Japanese-style room with a waa, huddled in a corner, and were chattering and trembling.

She’s like your natural enemy, huh…