Earth With Dungeon: Saving the World With an Economic Boom

Chapter 196. Yoko

Oda Yoko, also known as the Fox Girl, was in a dire situation. Infiltrating the secret lab had gone well enough. With Nitta dead, she swiftly switched sides, reporting to Hijiri Sei, who was acting suspiciously at night, so she tailed her. Fortunately, Hijiri Sei didn’t notice the tail, allowing her to infiltrate the lab.

To be honest, the lab was creepy. Metal walls and floors were covered with tightly clinging tree roots, making it clear it was a mad scientist’s research facility at a glance.

But such places are precisely where important things happen, she thought, smiling as she sneaked in… only to be caught easily. Hijiri Sei believed her claim of being a Sword Saint who came to talk. She was misled by her pretense of being an honorable samurai, so she was off guard. But she was also careless. She had assumed Hijiri Sei, a healing mage, was weak in combat.

However, she possessed far superior power. Her magic didn’t work, and neither did her inferior sword skills. She was captured, knocked unconscious, and… when she awoke, things had gotten much worse.

“Sword Saint Yoko, how are you feeling? Any injuries preventing you from wielding your sword? Any pain, Sword Saint Yoko?”

The one asking mockingly, with a sharp gaze like a knife and an even more dangerous aura, was a middle-aged man. With a medium build and a trained body, he was a terrifyingly cold and ruthless man, Amano Sakimori.

Though she had seen his pictures, seeing him in person made her body naturally tremble.

He kept calling her Sword Saint sarcastically, clearly knowing she was lying about being one. The title had been convenient for various reasons.

“Sword Saint Oda Yoko. Thank you for rescuing me.”

She changed her expression to a serious one and expressed her gratitude. The room she woke up in was where she was captured, but the tree roots were burning, and smoke was billowing out. Spring flowers and crystallized spring flowers were starting to burn, and some equipment was in a miserable state of disrepair.

Behind Amano Sakimori, Hijiri Sei and a masked girl were standing, watching her.

“It was close. We saved you from the clutches of the evil mad scientist.”

“But I was captured by that woman, wasn’t I?”

“She was disguised like some fox girl. Sei came to help us as a hero.”

Amano Sakimori casually patted her shoulder. She looked around again slowly. The flames crackled in the darkness, illuminating the area, but the scene was dreadful. There were craters, broken equipment, and a terrible mess. Dead bodies were piled up by vine monsters, and the floor was frozen.

It did seem like the aftermath of a fight by heroes. But the mastermind didn’t seem to be around.

“The heroes came. So, what were you doing here, Sword Saint Yoko?”

Amano Sakimori smiled and kept lightly tapping her shoulder, making it clear what he wanted to know.

“I visited Sei, but I don’t remember anything after that.”

“I thought so. Good. Now, let’s escape.”

For some reason, not Amano Sakimori, but Rei, the vice-captain of the Jester Knights, stepped forward and carried her out in a fireman’s lift. It seemed like Amano Sakimori should be the one to carry her princess-style, though.

“The self-destruct system has been activated. This lab will explode in ten minutes.”

Rei cheerfully said the ominous words while escaping to the surface, causing her to feel uneasy.

It seemed Hijiri Sei was not involved in this research. The situation was becoming complicated, making her want to escape…

“I don’t need plush toys anymore. Next, I’d like a fox taxidermy, so make sure I don’t get that urge, okay? I already know your true identity.”

“…Understood. I’ll be careful.”

Yoko sighed and reluctantly agreed, facing Amano Sakimori’s intense gaze that seemed to smile but didn’t.

Sakimori inhaled and gathered mana into his palm to cast a spell.

[High Flame Bomb]

A midnight fire. The underground facility was engulfed in flames, leading to a massive fire above ground, so he blew up the room with an explosion. The flames were extinguished, leaving only flickering embers, which he completely put out with [Aqua Mist].

The event in the middle of the night surprisingly didn’t resonate outside, as the soldiers under mental control simply collapsed.

She was taken to Sei’s house and rested in the reception room. In the usually barren room, Yoko was tied up with shadow threads, cocooned, and thrown onto the floor.

“Ouch! That hurts!”

“You were on the verge of death, you know? You were having dangerous convulsions.”

Half-eyed, she told the fox girl, who complained after being thrown onto the floor. If things had continued, brain death wouldn’t have been surprising.

“Thanks to President Sakimori’s mercy, your body was healed. Show humble gratitude and revere President Sakimori from now on.”

Sei, eyes closed and smiling kindly, spoke to Yoko… Wait a minute? Sei seemed a bit off. She only changed the administrator privileges, but something was wrong.

Sei smelled like a blind zealot.

She glanced at Shizuku, who was now wearing a mask. By the way, Sei had already disguised herself with black hair.

[…The human body died. It was reconstructed, and the personality was set to serve humans. Maybe you shouldn’t worry?]

Exchanging thoughts with Shizuku, who seemed unconcerned. As a human, Sei died, and the residual skill activated, reviving her as a fairy unit, and bringing the machine-like settings to the forefront.

[High default loyalty… I’ll give up. But, the initial fairy units’ personality settings are sloppy.]

I didn’t set the high loyalty myself, so there’s no need to worry about it. I’ll leave it be, as the personality settings are definitely simplistic.

“Hijiri Sei-sama, hasn’t your personality changed?”

“It’s my original personality.”

Yoko asked with a suspicious look, and Sei immediately responded. It couldn’t be more suspicious. Yoko looked at me with distrust, probably suspecting I had brainwashed her. Since I couldn’t reveal that I had created a new body, I just shrugged. Denying brainwashing here would have zero credibility anyway.

“Well, you don’t need to worry. Relationships change all the time. Just like ours.”

We should be able to get along from now on, considering our mutual interests.

“Hmm… What’s your goal?”

“You get straight to the point. From now on, I’d like the Oda family to stop hindering us. Aren’t you acting behind the scenes everywhere?”

The Oda family’s secret maneuvers are honestly troublesome. I plan to have Sei change the status quo in Narashino City. If that happens, the Oda family’s meddling will be a problem.

“What’s in it for the Oda family?”

“The Three Great Families can fight amongst themselves. Like the Three Kingdoms. That alone would make things easier. With the Oda family’s interference, the calculations get thrown off.”

The Three Great Families have no intention of cooperating to manage the inner city. They’ll pull each other down, trying to secure as much profit as possible. But with only the top three families, it’ll be a bit easier.

The problem is the Oda family. Yoko is disguising herself as Tatsumi to guide us, attacking with helicopters. Their methods are subtle on the surface and always have scapegoats for their secret maneuvers. They need to calm down a bit.

“You’re not seeking peace, as expected of the infamous Amano Sakimori. But I am honest and upright, a warrior, ouch!”

“If I spread rumors that you can’t use the Sword Saint skill in combat, it wouldn’t look good for you. Some of my comrades know the Sword Saint skill.”

Yoko’s response was too thick-skinned, so I flicked her forehead. I understand wanting benefits, but she’s a greedy fox girl, even after being saved.

“Hmph. My magic can easily surpass the Sword Saint skill.”

Yoko boldly declared, showing no sign of giving up on her deceit. She probably has enough sword skills to make it seem like she possesses the Sword Saint skill, even if rumors spread. I leaned back on the sofa, arms crossed, pondering what to do. Should I just kill her? Dead men tell no tales.

“I can tone it down a bit. If I completely stop my activities, I’ll be devoured in the inner town. How about I provide some information? I’ll pay for it.”

“…No. Goodbye, Yoko.”

There’s no point in killing her. I appreciate her persistence in seeking profit, but her partner might not agree to the deal.

I turned my palm towards Yoko, my mouth curling into a thin smile. As I gathered mana to cast a spell, she seemed to realize I was serious.

“Alright. I’ll agree to your terms.”

Yoko, cocooned like a silkworm, nodded frantically and tried to roll away on the floor, her face contorted in fear. She probably planned to end it with a verbal agreement, so she has zero credibility.

So, I decided to secretly slip a familiar onto her. That should take care of things.

“I can’t trust you, but thanks for agreeing to the deal. Inform your family as well.”

“Understood… So, what will you do about Narashino City? What will you do after brainwashing Hijiri Sei?”

“Don’t ask such blatant questions. If I had a brainwashing skill, I’d use it on you, and I wouldn’t make such obvious brainwashing.”

Since she asked directly, I had no choice but to rebut.

Yoko nodded, still trying to gather information.

“Hmm… indeed.”

“The Earth Federation Army seems to be operating behind the scenes too.”

I sent a thought to Sei as I looked at her.

[Earth Federation Army. Does that ring a bell?]

[Of course. That’s where I used to belong, president Sakimori.]

I was slightly surprised by Sei’s straightforward answer. …Could the level of classified information be different from Shizuku’s?

“The Earth Federation Army mentioned in Haruna… I saw them for the first time recently, but they do exist.”

“Indeed. They might interfere with us, so use that as a bargaining chip. Make some connections in the inner city.”

“Depending on how it’s used… Understood.”

Yoko began considering how to handle the Earth Federation Army information. She started to show a bit of confidence, wagging her fox tail, but she could do whatever she liked.

[Sei, you’ve seen Haruna, right? How did you send Haruna away? Did you receive any orders?]

[I’m sorry. My memory of that time has been erased.]

I sighed at Sei’s apologetic response. She must have been manipulated somehow… Why did they leave Sei behind? She has healing magic, which is quite valuable. I’d definitely take her with me.

[It is indeed strange… Was there a reason not to bring her along?]

Shizuku joined the conversation, puzzled. Was there a problem with bringing back a nymph?

[I speculate that they were wary of me, an older model of fairy unit. Compared to Shizuku and the others’ knowledge, my command settings are quite old. They probably didn’t want to risk bringing an unstable unit like me back to the base.]

[Ah… They were worried about hidden commands… I see.]

Shizuku and the others also have troublesome restrictions. They wouldn’t include a rogue fairy unit that’s too old to understand well.

Well, honestly, I don’t know what the enemy is thinking. But I do know one thing. For now, Narashino City is settled. I’ll leave the negotiations to Sei. Later, I plan to get a piece of the action with Amatsukahara Corporation.

Time to go home and take a summer vacation.