Chapter 463

It was unclear when it had begun.

However, the successive heads of the government were certainly aware that inexplicable incidents, which could only be described as divine abductions, were occurring in this country, and since they had existed from before the previous regime, the successive emperors had also noticed them.

But because the cause was unknown, no preventive measures could be established, and moreover, the locations were limited to the capital, Maron.

The number of victims was not significant in numerical terms, and by turning a blind eye to the disappearance of 2-3 people annually, the nation of Adorarim and its capital Maron did not particularly shake.

But if it became known to the citizens, it was inevitable that it would become a problem.

The country avoided that and had striven to keep it from becoming public as much as possible.

However, as the times progressed, the once-dominant nation of Adorarim lost its national power, and the emperor's authority contracted accordingly.

As a result, the kings of the other governed countries vaguely sensed it and felt uneasy, and fearing that the same thing might happen in their own countries, they became independent, and now the traces of the former great empire were but a dream.

Even so, there were no problems in continuing as a nation, and they thought that the country called Adorarim would not disappear from now on--but recently, they could no longer say that.

"Lately... the number of mysterious disappearances has been increasing..."

"Increasing? Specifically, how many?"

"The phenomenon called divine abduction itself has been occurring since thousands of years ago, but up until now, it was at most 2-3 people, and even in years with many, it never exceeded 5. But from the beginning of this year until last month, there have been 18 unexplained disappearances."

"18 people..."

If considering only the population of the capital, 18 people was a number that could blow away like dust.

But thinking back on what had happened before, the eerie disappearance incidents known as divine abductions had jumped to six times the previous amount.

It was no longer a situation where they could pretend not to see it.

"Eitan. Give them the list of the disappeared."

"Yes."

"And contact Prime Minister Ramos as well. Have him come here."

"Understood."

Following Emperor Fion's orders, the elf secretary Eitan left the room.

A few minutes later, Secretary Eitan returned with a bundle of papers.

"This is the list of all known disappeared persons. And this is the list for just this year."

"Thank you."

Tatsuro accepted it and spread it out on the desk so everyone could see, then began reading.

(Age, gender, occupation, race... no common points at all? No, but the place of origin was limited to this country... or so it should have been, but this year, two tourists have also fallen victim.)

Regardless of gender, ages ranged from 2 years old for humans to 1723 years old for fairy species.

Until this year, it had been limited to residents born in this country and living in the capital Maron, but recently, even that common point seemed to be wavering.

January, 2 people. February, 1 person. March, 4 people. April, 2 people. May, 0 people. June, 3 people. July, 2 people. August, 4 people.

And already this month, two more were candidates for being such.

If those two were also victims of the divine abduction incidents, that would mean a total of 20 disappearances in nine months.

Including candidates for candidates, the number swelled even further.

At this point, information control was difficult, and sharp-eared merchants and adventurers were already starting to notice, and some were beginning to leave the country.

"It's unthinkable that so many people could vanish without any clues-or so I'd like to think, but we truly have no idea what it is..."

When they first met, Emperor Fion had been pretending to be calm, but now he looked quite tired and hung his head.

{Something about his face stays young, but he looks a whole lot older.}

{It can't be helped. A problem that generations of emperors ignored has suddenly come crashing down on him, so the pressure must be immense.}

Even if it's said that he has almost no political power now, he is still the emperor of this country. He can't remain unrelated.

As Tatsuro and the others quickly scanned the documents and began examining the circumstances of the disappearances, a grizzled man in his late 50s with rabbit ears on his head entered, accompanied by several attendants.

{Pfft}

{Hey. Absolutely do not laugh out loud! That's probably Prime Minister Ramos.}

{But, but, an old man with bunny ears~~!}

It wasn't that kind of situation, and they knew it was rude to laugh at someone's face, so Ai was venting her urge to laugh only within telepathy.

If it were an ordinary old man, maybe, but a gentlemanly older man with a romance-gray aura, sporting bunny-girl-like rabbit ears.

Tatsuro had almost burst out laughing when he first saw it, but in this world, it seemed normal, as Leah, Leela, and Ishtar remained unfazed.

"Nice to meet you. I am Pancho Ramos, currently serving as the prime minister of this country. You must be the famous revolutionary of food and one of the highest-rank adventurers, Lord Tatsuro. Pleased to make your acquaintance hereafter."

"I'm Tatsuro Hasami. Pleased to meet you."

After that, they exchanged greetings with everyone for a while, but the beastfolk and his attendants didn't seem to notice that Leela was a Clear Elf.

High-ranking elf species must be special after all.

(This means it might be better not to show Leela's form to King Howl of Casapisti.)

He too was one of the high-ranking elf species, a Nymph Elf.

Since the high-ranking elf in front of them noticed, there's no reason he wouldn't.

While Tatsuro secretly thought such things, they discussed the matter again to obtain permission for a full-scale investigation, including the prime minister.

"I understand the situation. We were also thinking we had to do something, so honestly, this is a relief. After all, it's normally unthinkable that Lord Tatsuro, Lady Ai, and all the members of their party would fully commit to solving this."

From the way Prime Minister Ramos said it, Tatsuro felt that their treatment in this era had become something incredible, but since things were proceeding smoothly, he had no complaints.

And for the Adorarim side, there was no one more capable and trustworthy in character than those related to the gods, so they wanted to secure their cooperation at all costs here.

Thanks to both sides' intentions meshing firmly, their unreasonable request to exercise Dispel Magic over the entire capital, which normally wouldn't be granted easily, was immediately accepted.

In a city with this population, many would notice if Dispel Magic was used around them.

"Now then, Your Majesty, how should we explain it to the citizens? There are those sensitive to magical power, and if we say nothing, it might cause a commotion."

"But if we tell the truth, it will also cause a commotion. Hmm."

As the prime minister and emperor discussed this and that, Emperor Fion's secretary Eitan interjected from the side.

"Then, why not announce that we will use Dispel Magic on a large scale under the pretext of the scheduled maintenance of magical tool infrastructure coming up soon?"

"Hmm... If we actually have the workers perform tasks, it won't seem out of place. Lord Tatsuro, how about that?"

"We don't mind that."

Since they didn't even know what was involved, it might be bad to announce it unnecessarily and create a situation completely different from usual.

With that in mind, Tatsuro and the others supported not explaining it to the citizens.

Thanks to their interests aligning, the discussion proceeded more smoothly than expected.

Tatsuro and the others would start the investigation on 9/10, one day later.

The one-day delay was to secure workers today and tomorrow and to notify the citizens of the infrastructure maintenance.

But from the residents' perspective, it would seem too sudden, so some might sense that something odd was happening, but that couldn't be helped.

In a situation where they didn't know when or what might happen, there was no time to leisurely prepare and arrange things.

And Tatsuro and the others wanted to resolve it as quickly as possible, for their own sake and for the sake of the yet-unknown future victim candidates, to wrap it up swiftly.

After that, they ironed out the detailed precautions, and it was decided that Tatsuro and the others would exercise Dispel Magic from the rooftop of the imperial palace here, so they would visit again at 9 AM on the 10th.

"Then, as such. Prime Minister Ramos, please handle the arrangements."

"Understood. But with this, things might turn out well, Your Majesty."

"Yes. What would have happened if Lord Tatsuro and the others hadn't come..."

"You're getting ahead of yourselves when it hasn't been resolved yet. We can't do everything, you know."

Tatsuro and the others were not gods. They couldn't casually guarantee success before doing it, so they hastily denied it, but Emperor Fion seemed to have made up his mind, as the tragic air was gone, and he wore a smile.

"Hahaha, how modest. Besides, if even you all can't do it, then it's the same no matter who tries. If that happens, I will protect the citizens as much as possible and perish with the country."

"I will accompany you, Your Majesty."

"Me too!"

Prime Minister Ramos and Secretary Eitan nodded to Emperor Fion's words.

Judging from their eyes, it didn't seem like a joke, so if a crisis arose that Tatsuro and the others couldn't handle and the country collapsed, they probably intended to follow through.

{Heavy... this is heavy, Emperor...}

{It's nice to be trusted, but expectations being too high is also a problem.}

Amid the emperor, prime minister, and their camp getting oddly fired up, Tatsuro and Ai were left feeling a bit melancholic.

After leaving the imperial palace, since their future actions were decided for now, Tatsuro and the others lightly toured the country and headed to the future department store.

Since they were there, they found a Veicle stop, so they boarded it on a whim.

"It's surprisingly quiet, and no shaking either."

"Yeah. No sound, so it seems like traffic accidents could happen, but being able to move without vibrations is amazing."

"No, brother. This magical tool uses simple Detection Magic around it with Dispel Magic, so if people or obstacles appear in the direction of travel, it automatically stops, so please rest assured."

"Seriously... Communication functions are still where Earth wins, but cars-or whatever this is, we might be losing in performance."

"Automatic stop systems? They were starting to appear here and there, but this seems higher performance. Ah, but once autonomous driving gets serious, it might change again."

"That world sounds fun too."

While whispering such things, they arrived at the stop in front of the department store, so they paid 400 Shis each and got off.

After that, Tatsuro and the others each went shopping where they liked, looking at books, magical tools, clothes, and new materials unique to the future, enjoying shopping, and returned to the inn that day.

On the way back, Tatsuro and the others purchased shoes that allowed them to float a few centimeters off the ground and move-or rather, magical tool soles attachable to shoes, and equipped them.

"It's faster to run, but since there's no need to balance, it's pretty easy~"

"Plus, it's a bit like skating, which is fun."

""It's fuuun.""

"Woof woof."

Athena, Leah, and Aito and Aika moving while holding Mameda also seemed to like it.

"Hey, Leah. Is it possible to make this in our base too?"

"Fufufu. I've already analyzed it, so as long as we gather the materials, reproduction is possible."

Leah grinned mischievously and gave Tatsuro a thumbs up.

"Really!? Ah, but but if the materials are special, it might be difficult?"

"No, sister. The material is a metal I've never seen in modern times, but upon checking, it's an alloy of metals and materials collectible in our era, so no problem. However, due to differences in monetary value, buying it over there would be quite expensive, so gathering here in this era would be cheaper."

"Leah looks kind of shady..."

"What do you mean shady! Call it frugality, Nana!"

While having such conversations sliding smoothly over the ground, the inn where they were staying consecutively came into view in no time.

"Importing future technology, huh. Feels a bit cheating, but if it's just our private land, it's fine, right?"

"Of course! Convenience is good! Tatsuro."

"Is it okay?"

"Is it?"

To the two who were fully intent on incorporating various things into their original era, the Clear Elf and True Dragon, who were also world arbitrators in a sense, tilted their heads.