Episode 202: Itinerary
Yuma and the others boarded the aircraft, took their seats, and fastened their seatbelts according to the crew’s instructions. It seemed they would be departing soon.
“Hey, hey, isn’t this first class? The seats are like private rooms, so spacious.”
It was Yuma’s first time on an airplane, and indeed, the seat spacing was wide, and the ride was comfortable. He was a little impressed, wondering if this was first class.
“No, I think it’s probably business class. Although, since it’s a government plane, I don’t know if there are business or economy classes,” Rui said with a wry smile, and Akito looked disappointed, saying, “Is that so?”
They were near the front of the plane, where the seats were arranged four across, and Yuma and the others were sitting in the front row. Yuma, who had taken the second seat from the right, spoke to Rui, who was to his right.
“Are we going straight to India from here?”
“No, it seems we’re stopping in Indonesia first, and then taking a ship to India from there.”
“Indonesia? Why are we going there?”
When Yuma voiced his question, Akito, who was to his left, answered.
“What? It was written in the travel plan documents, wasn’t it? Didn’t you read them?”
“Ah, yeah… I guess it was, but I didn’t read it at all.”
Akito looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.
“What would you have done if you were alone? Wouldn’t you have gotten lost before even reaching India?”
Yuma couldn’t argue. It was entirely possible. An announcement was made in the cabin, and they prepared for takeoff.
“We’re departing already… I’m a little scared.”
He had been on a Self-Defense Forces helicopter before, but this was his first time on an airplane. Yuma was a little nervous. The crew members also sat in the front seats and fastened their seatbelts. The plane began to move and gradually accelerate. Yuma felt his body tilt and knew the aircraft was ascending. He bit his lip, but it seemed they had taken off safely.
It wasn’t as scary as he had imagined. The crew told them they could unfasten their seatbelts, and all three followed the instructions. Then, a man approached from the seats behind them.
“Excuse me. My name is Kaieda from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I’ve been assigned to support your travels this time. I look forward to working with you.”
Yuma and the others bowed to Kaieda, who had greeted them. There were several officials on this government plane, mainly from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense. Their job was only to guide them to their destination, not to protect them. That was probably for the best. There shouldn’t be anyone stronger than them around.
“I’d like to talk about our plans in Indonesia, so could you come to the conference room?”
“Conference room?”
Yuma frowned at Kaieda’s words. Could there really be a conference room on an airplane? He felt a little strange, but Yuma and the others decided to follow Kaieda.
“This way.”
When Kaieda opened the door to the room, the three of them gasped in admiration. It was indeed a conference room. It wasn’t very large, but it was a chic room with two tables and six seats. Yuma and the others took their seats, and Kaieda sat opposite them.
“Now then, I’d like to discuss our future plans.”
“Discuss? What kind of discussion?”
Akito asked Kaieda with a dubious look. Yuma also found it puzzling. The travel plans had been decided in detail.
“Yes, of course, we can go to India immediately via Indonesia as originally planned. However, the Indonesian government has said they might be willing to give us a White Magic Gem in exchange for subjugating Monsters.”
“Seriously?”
“How big of a Magic Gem are we talking about?!”
Excited, Yuma leaned forward involuntarily.
“It has a Mana Index of about 3800, and the request is to conquer the White Dungeon.”
The three of them looked flushed. It was an unexpected opportunity.
“Yuma, if it’s the White Dungeon, we might be able to get a Magic Gem. This is killing two Birds with one stone… we should definitely take it!”
Rui was excited, but Akito calmly cautioned him.
“Wait, wait, how many floors does that White Dungeon have? I don’t want to deal with it if it’s too deep.”
Kaieda nodded as if it were obvious.
“It has forty-eight floors. It’s a mid-level Dungeon, so considering your abilities, we believe it’s realistically possible to conquer.”
Silence fell in the conference room. Everyone was weighing the risks and benefits. After thinking for a while, Rui opened his mouth.
“The Monsters in the White Dungeon are the strongest of the six Dungeons. The Indonesian Seekers must be having a hard time with it.”
“So that’s why they asked us to conquer it?”
Rui nodded silently and continued.
“I’m sure they can handle the other Monsters. White Monsters have high recovery power and combat ability. Even high-ranking Seekers often struggle with them. It’s not strange to ask Japan, who defeated the Red King, to subjugate them.”
If that was the case, the locals must be in considerable trouble. They didn’t have time to help people, but if they could get a White Magic Gem, that was a different story.
–The Magic Gems I can get in India and Indonesia. And if I combine them with the White Magical Power I already have, the Magical Power I can use for recovery will exceed 20,000. That means I can use recovery magic up to the third tier. If I can get that far, I might be able to save Kaede.
When he glanced up, both Rui and Akito were staring intently at Yuma’s face. This was, after all, an expedition that Yuma had requested. Where they went and what they did was ultimately up to Yuma to decide. He pursed his lips and looked at Kaieda.
“I understand. We will conquer the White Dungeon in Indonesia!”
◇◇◇
The government plane arrived at Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Indonesia. Yuma and the others stepped off the ramp and squinted at the glaring sunlight. The sun was still high, and for Yuma, who had said he wanted to go near the Dungeon today, Kaieda and the Japanese staff had been negotiating in various directions.
“The pick-up car will be here soon. And here, take this.”
Kaieda handed Yuma and the others, who were waiting in the airport lounge, something that looked like white earphones.
“What’s this?”
“It’s an auto-translator. We prepared it so you can communicate with the locals.”
Yuma looked at the earphones in his hand with interest. They were small wireless earphones, indistinguishable from regular ones used for listening to music.
“It supports about a hundred languages.”
“That’s amazing.”
Yuma and the others immediately put them in one ear and checked how they worked. The power was on, but they wouldn’t know how well they performed unless someone spoke to them in a foreign language.
“Mitaka-san. Our Japanese staff cannot go to the site due to the danger. We will be waiting at the consulate, so please contact us if anything happens.”
“Understood. Thank you very much.”
Yuma and Rui thanked Kaieda, left the airport, and got into the limousine that had come to pick them up. They bowed to the Japanese staff who were seeing them off and looked out the window as the car started moving. They were now heading to Mojokerto, the city where the White Dungeon was located.
“Here we go. I’m getting excited!”
Akito was raring to go, and Rui nodded in agreement. Yuma also felt something hot welling up in his chest. The battle to save Kaede was about to begin.