Episode 297: Ice Tsunami
In the conference room where Hans had departed, the ministers had gathered to discuss the city’s defense from now on.
Due to the current state of emergency in England, Parliament was suspended, and policies were decided solely by the will of the current administration. This effectively meant that all decisions were made by the eleven ministers gathered in this conference room.
As usual, the cabinet meeting ended without any problems, and Prime Minister Leila breathed a sigh of relief.
Before the world was overrun by Monsters, she had been troubled by declining approval ratings. But now, elections were suspended, and she would not be removed from her position.
Should this be called a blessing in disguise? Leila smiled self-deprecatingly.
If this hadn’t happened, she would have lost the election and been forced to step down to take responsibility.
All that was left was to get through this safely.
She just had to avoid causing anxiety or dissatisfaction among the people, and prevent criticism from being directed at her.
What to do about the Monsters was something for the United Nations or America to figure out.
There was no need for her to push herself. That was Leila’s thinking.
As Leila stood up to leave the conference room, the door suddenly opened and someone rushed in.
“I-It’s terrible!”
It seemed to be someone from the government office, shouting in a flustered manner. “What? What is it?” she thought, frowning, when the man told her something she could hardly believe.
“The city of Cambridge has been devastated by an Ice Tsunami. All the residents have been killed!!”
“What!?”
All the ministers were stunned. And for good reason. Cambridge was inland, north of here. It was impossible for it to be hit by a tsunami.
Besides, what was an “Ice Tsunami”? Ignoring Leila’s questions, the man continued.
“The military’s investigation team immediately went to confirm, but they were blocked by a large number of Monsters, and many lost their lives. There’s no doubt that Monsters are invading inland!”
Leila made a bitter face. This was what Hans and the other Seekers had been persistently saying. Was it really happening?
She just wanted to continue being a politician quietly… Hans, the Monsters, everything seemed to be getting in her way.
Leila gave instructions to the man, trying not to show her irritated expression.
“In any case! Fortify the city’s defenses. Don’t let a single Monster in, and protect the lives and safety of the people!!”
“Y-Yes!”
The man turned on his heel and ran off. Leila sat back down, sighed deeply, and covered her face with her hands.
–She had to protect it at all costs… her position and her safety.
◇◇◇
“I see… I’ve got a pretty good grasp of the situation,”
Yuma, Rui, and Akito were hiding in a building in a corner of the city. The glass-walled building was stylishly designed, and the city was clearly visible from the fifth-floor office.
Rui’s opinion was that if they were attacked by Monsters, they would notice it immediately from here. Yuma and Akito agreed, and they decided to talk here.
“Even so, to be hated by the government and kicked out. Yuma-san is treated like a ‘plague god’ wherever he goes,”
Yuma frowned at Akito, who was laughing gleefully, and said, “Shut up.”
“Anyway, what we do from now on is important. If we can’t get Magic Gems, we should get out of here and go to another country,”
“It’s not that simple. There aren’t many countries that said they would give us White Magic Gems, and even fewer that have a large quantity of Magic Gems. I think it’s more realistic to persuade the English government than to go to another country.”
Yuma could only nod silently at Rui’s words.
Outside of England, it would be impossible to obtain Magic Gems with a high Mana Index. Even if they could, it would only be Magic Gems with a Mana Index of a few hundred to a thousand at most.
It would be too inefficient to collect them.
As Rui said, they wanted to do something in England, but…
“In other words, we need to make the English government more aware of the crisis and realize that they need our help, right?”
“That’s right, but… Akito, do you have a plan?”
Akito grinned at Rui’s question.
“If that’s the case, I don’t think we need to do anything,”
“What do you mean?”
Rui asked with a puzzled look.
“It’s simple. Before I came here, I observed the cities of England from the sky. Well, it’s my first time traveling in the air,”
Rui urged him to continue, “And?” as Akito spoke with a smug look.
“I saw some strange things. One was a city covered in ice. That’s the ‘Ice Kingdom (Ice Kingdom)’ you guys went into, right? But there were three other cities like that,”
Rui and Yuma remembered Charlotte’s words. She had said that there were several cities in England that had ice defenses.
Each of them accepted and protected millions of people.
What Akito saw must have been those cities.
“But what surprised me more was the [Great Ice Tsunami],”
“The Great Ice Tsunami… are you talking about the ice that the Fish-men and Sea Serpent were moving on?”
When Yuma interjected, Akito shook his head, “No, no.”
“It’s not like that. It’s much bigger! There were huge Ice Tsunamis all over the place, big enough to swallow entire cities. With that, even large Monsters can come inland like crazy,”
“Then…”
Rui’s face became grim.
“Yeah, the Monsters are already on the move. It’s only a matter of time before the ‘Ice Kingdom (Ice Kingdom)’ you guys were in is attacked by Monsters. Probably in the next few days… or maybe even today,”
At Akito’s words, Rui and Yuma exchanged glances.
If that was true, there was a high possibility that the English government would need their help.
“So, we’re going to help them when they’re about to be attacked by Monsters, right?”
Seeing Yuma enthusiastically saying “Alright!”, Akito sighed, “Haa~.”
“You’re too much of a softie no matter what. What’s the point of rushing to help them?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Akito shook his head at the bewildered Yuma before answering.
“Listen up, okay? They said they didn’t need our help. What’s the point of helping them so readily?”
“Then, what should we do…”
Akito turned to Yuma and gave him a devilish grin.
“Even if we do help, it should be after a considerable number of sacrifices. Have you forgotten? We’re not traveling to help people.”