Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?

「Just who the heck was this idiot who committed the outrage of abducting an infant dragon?」

「It’s said to be under investigation currently.」

Seated at the emergency conference, the one who moaned that while at his wits’ end was the President who represented the country of Dazdoldia.

「What’s the damage?」

「For now it’s only gone as far as a warning, but if the search continues without progress then who knows……」

「Is the search making progress?」

「It seems even the perpetrator’s objective is unknown.」

「So in the end, it all depends upon the mood of the dragons huh.」

The President breathes a heavy sigh. An oppressive air enshrouds the conference room.

The origins of this began in an ally nation situated overseas in another continent, with an urgent appeal for support. According to them, “the dragons might rampage so we want you to dispatch reinforcements”.

Dragons. They are the creatures reigning at the summit of the ecosystem on this planet. Endowed with much greater intelligence than humans, endowed with much greater strength than humans, living for much longer than humans, and most of all, possessing the mysterious technique that humans cannot use called magecraft. In all regards they exceed humans by far, but they almost never meddle with humans. One of those rare exceptions is occurring. It was clearly an unusual situation. On inquiring for the details of the situation from the country requesting emergency aid, they were informed that there was an announcement from the dragons.

「An infant dragon has been abducted by humans. Immediately hand over the culprits, and safely return the infant dragon that was taken.」

That was the announcement from the dragons. At first, the ally nation that received the notice was thrown into confusion. Not only was it a bolt from the blue, but beyond that it was because dragons were simply too terrible to go against. Dragons were sacrosanct creatures, never to be interfered with. That was considered common sense across all of humanity, and they had never expected that there would be a fool who would violate that. However, that announcement from the dragons was the reality. That unbelieveable announcement that there was someone who had committed the outrage of abducting an infant dragon.

「Well then, Mr President. Shall we dispatch reinforcements?」

The Defence Secretary made that weighty inquiry. If the President gave the order to dispatch reinforcements, then as the one administering the military he would have to take action.

「Like hell!」

However, the Defence Secretary’s concerns were blown away with a loud rebuke from the President.

「They’re dragons you know? Have you forgotten the Tragedy of Tetmaia? Should the dragons go on a rampage, then it would be meaningless no matter how much our country reinforces them. The damage would simply be increased.」

The Tragedy of Tetmaia. That was an incident from the past, one of the few cases where their fury was demonstrated. In the country known as Tetmaia, a new type of bomb had successfully been developed, and of all things they dropped that in a region that dragons lived in. The new type of bomb had extraordinary power. Enough power to be able to genuinely rewrite the map. However, the reason why it is called the Tragedy, is because it became an opportunity for the fearsomeness of dragons to be demonstrated once again, as the damage brought about by that bomb was in no way a match for the dragons. As for why Tetmaia perpetrated such an outrage, nobody knows the truth. Because on the same day that the bomb was dropped, Tetmaia itself disappeared from the map. Able to shrug off the force of a bomb powerful enough to rewrite the map, and wielding the might to erase a country from the map. That’s the sort of creatures dragons are.

「However, although dispatching the army is out of the question, we can hardly sit back and do nothing either. Send appropriate people from the Investigation Bureau. Have them team up with the existing search members to help find the culprit.」

「Would they actually be welcomed?」

「Worried about the investigators’ pride? Feed that stuff to the dragons. Issue a directive that our people are free to operate independently if the other side doesn’t intend to cooperate. This might not be limited to just that country. This isn’t the time to be worrying about appearances.」

The Investigation Bureau responds to the President’s orders.

「That’s enough for dealing with the other country. We must tighten our defence here as well, right. Reinforce all the surveillance at all airports and harbours. Absolutely do not allow the abducted infant dragon to enter our country. It’s not a problem even if the inspectors have to get a little rough. Check everything that is suspicious. Ah, better watch out for smuggling as well I guess?」

After the rapid succession of orders, the people in charge began to grimace. The country of Dazdoldia is a superstate that encompases an entire continent. Naturally there are an enormous number of airports and harbours, and when private ones and illegal ones are included, it’s no simple task to monitor all of them. However, if they don’t and the abducted infant dragon was brought into the country, in the worst case it would mean that the dragons would target this country instead. That could not be allowed to happen. Precisely because he understood that, the President had to give the orders no matter how difficult they were to achieve.

「……Also, spread this to the Sariera Society.」

The President was vague, but even so the order was clearly given.

「That will mean disclosing confidential information to a civilian charity though. Are you sure about that?」

「It’s fine.」

In response for the request for confirmation, the President gave an immediate reply. The one asking understood as well. If the dragons actually did rampage, the only one who could stop them was the Sariera Society. Or to be precise, only the Sariera Society’s president.

The Sariera Society is a charitable organisation not attached to any country. Their range of activities is wide-ranging. Protection of plants and animals. Support for hospitals. Aid for the poor. On top of that, they even have experience mediating in wars. They are an organisation that undertakes every activity that is considered to be charitable. That is the Sariera Society.

There is a plausible seeming rumour regarding the Sariera Society. Namely, that the president of the Sariera Society is not human. None of the humans who knew the truth about that were in this conference room. However, they did know that it was true that the president of the Sariera Society could stop the dragons. Because on the occasion of the Tragedy of Tetmaia, the one who suppressed the raging dragons was precisely that person.

「I don’t know how the Sariera Society will respond. But, there shouldn’t be any downsides to informing them.」

The Sariera Society performed charitable activities. Furthermore, their actions were far purer than any other charity. Unselfish to the degree that people wonder if they’re actually human, purely aiming to provide salvation every day. The number of humans saved by those activities were countless, and in addition their activities impressed countless wealthy individuals who then provided backing. Originally, the organisation called the Sariera Society was formed by people who had been deeply impressed by the actions of the president and wanted to support the president. The Sariera Society was not formed by the president – it was formed to support the president. So long as the president never commits a crime, the Sariera Society will never side will evil. And so, based on the President’s knowledge of the Sariera Society, upon learning about the current incident, it was inconceivable that the president of the Sariera Society would ever misuse that information. At any rate, she was so pure and noble that she was even called a goddess by the public.

「Fearing the wrath of dragons, we cling to the kindness of the goddess. Seriously, we sure are powerless.」

In response to the President’s grumbling, the conference ended without anybody responding.