A fleeting sensation of floating lasted for a few seconds before the light from the magic dissipated, revealing not the hard stone pavement I expected, but sand that crunched underfoot.
Even though one of the spies had thought that, the sensation transmitted from my feet was the feeling of stepping on sand that made a crunching sound.
Without showing any disturbance, I immediately assessed the situation to respond to the abnormal circumstances.
The brick walls exposed bare rock, and there was no sign of the soldiers I had expected to be there.
Unlike the students who were flustered about being brought to such a strange place, the spies were busy grasping the discrepancies between the expected location and their current one.
That’s probably why I quickly spotted a silver-haired, expressionless girl who, with her small flag, was out of place in this cave.
Based on my experience as a spy, I couldn’t help but find this girl suspicious.
Adding to that, the location, the current situation, and the timing all led me to judge her as an enemy.
“Welcome. We’ve been expecting you, Japanese people.”
As hostility simmered among the spies, the girl began to interact with us as if she had known the heroes would be teleported here.
Her fluttering flag, as if to draw our attention, didn’t seem nervous.
To the Japanese students, she probably looked like a tour guide.
However, the spies, unaware of this, didn’t take long to realize it was a trap upon seeing the girl calmly performing her role.
“My name is Memoria. I’m sort of a guide to send you back to Japan, but you don’t need to remember it. You will sleep here.”
Indeed, that thought was not mistaken.
Sleep.
The spies thought it meant death.
The students, who thought this was their destination, began to stir at the sudden turn of events, with some even suggesting that their evacuation point was Japan.
As the situation gradually worsened with cries of “That’s impossible,” the spies wanted to scream from the bottom of their hearts.
The students likely didn’t know that using magic to travel to another world so easily was not possible.
For starters, even the summoners themselves didn’t know how to send them back.
The spies, belonging to a country proud of its superiority in summoning rituals, activated their magic tool to signal their location, needing to call for reinforcements without showing even a hint of their agitated emotions.
“For now, you fake heroes over there, please remain calm. I have no time to waste.”
At the same time, the spies were suspended in mid-air.
“Mikao!?”
One of the students cried out, worried about the spy suspended in mid-air.
Caught by surprise, some students instinctively reached for their swords.
But that, including everything else…
“Huh? My body?”
“It won’t move!?”
“Eh? Why!”
In an instant, everyone was incapacitated.
“This is an ancient dungeon in Isal, a region where the Sun God’s blessings are weak. We can prepare traps that can contain even heroes like you, who are not yet mature.”
The shadows wriggling from the girl’s figure attacked the students with clear intent.
“Don’t worry. There’s no pain, and it’s not life-threatening. When you wake up next, you’ll just return to your somewhat noisy everyday lives.”
Therefore, the students couldn’t be reassured by the girl calmly proceeding with her task, telling them to sleep.
Instead, her almost expressionless face fueled their fear, causing them to struggle even more.
Nevertheless, the shadows mercilessly and surely enveloped them.
Some spies realized from the magic and the immense magic power that the opponent was not human, but it was too late as more than half of their bodies were covered in shadow, rendering them unable to even scream.
The other spies, trying to resist even a little, unleashed their magic, swung their arms, and tensed their legs along with the other students, but as if mocking their futile efforts, the shadows continued to engulf the students without losing momentum.
The scene was like a person trapped in quicksand desperately trying to escape.
Then, one by one, their vision was covered by shadows, and finally, the vision of the student who had been resisting until the end was obscured, and silence fell upon the place.
Another side END
Side Memoria
Gazing at the still faintly wriggling black ground, I confirmed that the plan had gone well.
Now, it’s only a matter of time until suppression.
Even heroes with high magic resistance can be captured and suppressed if they are immature.
All that’s left is to wait for the forced sleep spell to take effect.
I cannot move from here to maintain the spell.
Also, this spell indiscriminately captures all beings except the user, so I cannot call someone to talk to.
In short, I am bored right now.
And I can neither move nor talk to anyone.
I don’t have a book to read at hand either.
The only thing I can do with my hands idle is to ponder.
The first thing that came to mind was the process of capturing these heroes.
It’s perfect, a good opportunity to check for any loopholes in the process so far.
According to Jiro-san, my emotions tend to show in my actions, so I tilted my head slightly and recalled the events up to this point.
It all began before I parted ways with Jiro-san, when we were discussing how to bring these heroes back to Japan.
“The first plan is for the heroes to return with the agreement of both the country and the students. The second plan is for a surprise escape with the consent of the students only. And the third plan is…”
“A forced return by abduction, disregarding the other party’s will.”
“Hearing it again, it sounds incredibly criminal.”
Our final meeting in a room at an inn before parting.
I would maintain regular contact, but the next time we met would be when I returned to Japan, regardless of success or failure.
Jiro-san was reviewing and trying to memorize the detailed contents of the documents in front of me.
I had already memorized them, so there was no problem, and I accompanied him in his review work.
It wasn’t a hardship, as I also had the maidenly desire to be with him.
Now, regarding the content of our discussion, the first plan is to return the heroes peacefully through negotiations with the country.
Both Jiro-san and I believe this is unlikely.
It’s hard to believe that country, after summoning heroes, would readily hand them over.
If it succeeds, it’s a plan we can consider ourselves lucky for.
The second plan is the main plan for this time.
There must be someone among the heroes who wishes to return to Japan. We will cooperate with that person and escape.
The condition is to make contact with the heroes, but in terms of success rate, it is the most realistic.
The means of transportation for that purpose have also been arranged.
And the third plan, this is a plan to be enacted if neither the country nor the heroes wish to return.
From my personal perspective, if the situation reaches that point, I think it’s better to abandon them.
Jiro-san said it was to cause trouble, and he probably has that feeling, but his true intention is different, isn’t it?
He’s fundamentally serious and kind.
He can be cold at times, but he’s fundamentally a good person.
He wouldn’t choose to abandon them until the very last moment.
“But Jiro-san, can you really deceive them with something like this? I can’t imagine they wouldn’t have countermeasures for something this simple.”
“You’d think so. But Memoria, conversely, the moment you think that, the success rate of this trap actually exists.”
This plan was also intended as a backup.
However, in the end, this plan bore fruit.
“The biggest mistake humans make is when they don’t notice the ‘feeling of incongruity’ when something they usually do is slightly off. In terms of human error, it’s like reporting something is okay because it’s always been done that way, and omitting details. At this point, a gap is created between the reporter and the reported. This is what leads to mistakes.”
Jiro-san said he himself often failed because of that.
The third plan, in essence, was to create an emergency situation, disrupt information during that chaos, and abduct the heroes.
If running away leads to being cornered, then guide them into the net.
In other words, it’s just that kind of plan.
“The key to the third plan is how much of a fuss I can make, but the crucial part is to embed several small manipulations that are perceived as correct. It’s like how changing just one word in a game of telephone can lead to a completely different meaning. That alone will make the Japanese students act obediently.”
The plan Jiro-san devised was something we, the Demon Race, could never have conceived.
That’s precisely why I, wondering if things could really go so smoothly, asked him to elaborate.
Jiro-san said my doubt was natural and leisurely explained the overview to resolve my doubts.
What Jiro-san said was obvious to him, but I felt it was a difference in perspective between us and the Japanese.
“There’s a Japanese saying, ‘To shoot the general, first shoot the horse.’ We aren’t aiming for the heroes or the Knight Commander, let alone the top leaders of the country. We’re aiming for the limbs. We’ll put suggestion on some messenger-like individual and subtly alter the report. We’ll infiltrate the magic engineers responsible for teleportation with personnel from the underground guild and rewrite a part of the teleportation spell, specifically the destination. Then, we just need to create a situation where students living in Japan, a country prone to earthquakes, move without feeling out of place. That way, they’ll naturally follow our evacuation guidance. The destination of that path will be our territory. Then, we just need to seal them off without confirming their will.”
Instead of defeating them, it was about neutralizing them.
It was a strategy, not brute force. By embedding misinformation during the transmission of information, they would be guided in their actions. Utilizing the characteristic of Japanese common sense, the “bomb” called heroes would be sealed, and the top official on-site who could stop this plan would be drawn to Jiro-san, who was causing a commotion and drawing attention.
“Then, we just need to diligently transport the sealed students and send them back to Japan, where the media will be making a fuss.”
Jiro-san said he didn’t think it would go so smoothly, and he laughed.
That’s probably why he had various other contingency plans prepared.
I also instructed my fellow vampires to cast suggestions on soldiers frequenting bars and brothels so as not to be discovered.
However, Jiro-san.
I thought so at the time as well, but it turned out that this plan was the most effective.
The initial negotiations proved fruitless, and the plan to win over hearts and minds through internal coordination turned into a high-risk plan due to the use of the forbidden jutsu, Face Ripper.
As time dwindled, only this plan operated smoothly.
“And that’s the result.”
By the time I confirmed that there were no major issues with the overall flow, all sounds from the surroundings had disappeared.
Instead, there were numerous cocoons made of shadow scattered all over the ground.
“I made flags to imitate Japanese tour guides, but looking back, it was a waste.”
Now, I just need to transport them to the teleportation circle on the lower floor. My role will be complete then.
By this time, Jiro-san should have already begun his escape.
This assignment will be over soon.
If Jiro-san returns safely, it will mean we’ve managed to pull one over on that country.
Thinking about it makes the corner of my mouth twitch upwards slightly.
“Well then, I’ll summon some golems to transport them.”
But that’s after I finish my work.
I return my slightly upturned mouth to its usual expression and become myself again.
Hoping to read a book at that quiet shop soon, I call forth several golems using magic stones.
A golem appears from somewhere, bringing a cart, and the other golems start throwing the heroes into it.
“I hope Jiro-san is safe as well.”
While watching the scene, I worry about him.
He should have been picked up by one of the Demon Lord’s Army’s top cavalrymen.
I’ve heard rumors that he has a bit of a personality issue, but Jiro-san will be fine.
For now, I will trust and wait.
Seeing the cart loaded with heroes completed, I proceeded further into the dungeon.
Memoria side END
Memoria Tris, Age 193, Single
Boyfriend: Jiro Tanaka
Occupation: MAOcorporation, Retail Store Employee
Magic Aptitude: Unknown
Position: Store Manager
Today’s Word:
Haste makes waste. Believing something is right can be dangerous.
This concludes this installment.
It has been long, but the business trip arc is nearing its end.
I aim to wrap it up in about two or three more episodes.
Thank you for continuing to support this work.
