Withdrawal (Day 9, Evening)

[Tier-Group 3, the Control Room]

An unpleasant warning tone was blaring through the control room, and on the monitor showing the Core Room, the Dungeon Core was saying something in English.

"Mint-san, the Core's going on about some overlord or other."

"Not overlord, overload. An excessive amount of dungeon energy is flowing into the Core. The Core is automatically carrying out its reserved library summonings, but the inflow is too fast, and whatever it can't process is being diverted into expanding the dungeon's sphere of influence."

Just as Mint was saying this, the dungeon shook for an instant, and the Core sounded another alarm in English.

"Now what? Something about a breakdown of one gross harlon, and a purge, or some such."

"Director-dono, please calm yourself. One gross is 144, a harlon is 201 meters; in short, a sphere of influence of about 29-kilometer radius collapsed under the overload, so it was cut loose from the dungeon. The excess dungeon energy that the Core can't store up is being expended on building the tower higher and expanding the sphere, so there's no danger of this tower collapsing."

"Ah, 144 harlon. Wait, 144? Not even a stayer could manage that. Erm, 29 kilometers, that comes to…?"

"From a little past Heta outward, the Nameless Bridge and the forward fort have been lost. Within that range, the roads, the water mains, every dungeon structure has presumably crumbled to dust. The dungeon monsters vanish too, all but the named ones, though fortunately the only ones this dungeon had to begin with were the feed-rats. Summoned equipment like the automobiles probably remains, but since the area is now outside the sphere of influence, the situation is unknown."

"There's no chance the whole lot got blown to pieces, is there?"

"If the Dungeon Core's energy had been discharged directly, that would be a possibility, but this was a collapse from our dungeon failing to absorb it all, so it should be fine."

[Beside the Zombie Dungeon, the Ruins of the Forward Fort]

Perhaps because the sand had cushioned them, Kishi Harima-no-suke and the others, caught up in the fort's collapse, were covered in sand but somehow unharmed. The night heron that had crashed seemed to have gotten off lightly too, using its wings as a parachute, and was now floundering half-buried in sand.

"What in the world. Everything's turned to sand."

"Lord Harima-no-suke, the dungeon is safe."

Where a soldier pointed, to the northwest, beyond the billowing sand-dust, the Library-City Dungeon could be seen, looking somehow much taller than before.

"Director of Books-dono!"

"… I'm, I'm all right, I'm… la."

So saying, Marie lost consciousness again.

"She is alive. We withdraw at once. The question is how far the collapse reached. If the Nameless Bridge is intact we can walk that far, but if Heta has been lost, we'll be stranded."

"Sir, let us head for Hiratsuka first. There may still be a few headless dead about, but even if the Nameless Bridge is gone, there's a road by way of Fuchū in Musashi to the Iruma Magistracy at Kasumigaseki, with villages scattered along it where we can rest."

"No, that would take ten days or so, and the Director of Books-dono won't last. Somehow we must call for relief from the dungeon. So, is everyone accounted for? Had any of them been inside the fort, they'd have been buried alive."

"Sir, there are only two of the Kishi Band here, so all of us are safe. As for the other warrior bands… one, two, three, four…"

"Lord Harima-no-suke, we've dug out the night heron. The fellow's so high and mighty, it might have been better to report him as missing and leave him buried, but…"

"It must not be. For all that, he holds the genuine Senior Fifth Rank, and not by self-styling either. He could be branded an enemy of the court."

Though whether the court even existed anywhere was itself unknown.

[Tier-Group 3, the Control Room]

"Outside the dungeon's sphere of influence we can't even grasp the situation. Mint-san, can you fold the area around the Nameless Bridge back into the sphere?"

"I'll try… No problem. For some reason the now-deserted Hiratsuka and the nearby villages folded into the sphere without trouble too."

"So not just the dungeon's sphere of influence, but the 'spheres' that towns and villages have of their own, those were cleared as well? Could it be that if we evacuate the residents of an existing town and then deliberately destroy a dungeon nearby, we could fold the whole town into our sphere?"

"That's far too dangerous a discovery, so I'll keep it secret. If such a thing were possible, it could turn every neighboring country against us. The sphere of influence has already expanded chaotically from that runaway just now, probably to its present limit."

"Chaotically?"

"In every direction, anywhere with no existing town, village, or other dungeon, the sphere of influence has spread to a radius of about 480 kilometers, which in the yard-pound system is probably 100 leagues, that is, 300 miles. To the west, toward Musashi, the effect is still small, perhaps because there are many villages, but to the east and north, except where there are villages or what look to be dungeons and the areas behind them, it's the sphere of influence right out to the 480-kilometer limit across the board."

"This is not a situation I can handle. Once Marie-san comes back, I'll have no choice but to leave the cleanup to her."

"Fortunately, a dungeon's sphere of influence isn't something just anyone can see at a glance, but a strong blue light was observed from the sudden expansion driven by the excess energy, so the neighboring countries will surely realize something extraordinary has happened."

"That was, if I recall, Cherenkov light?"

"It's air ionized and made to glow by the dungeon's energy. Cherenkov light occurs when an object exceeds the speed of light, but since nothing can exceed the speed of light in a vacuum, it can only be observed in environments where the speed of light is considerably slower than in a vacuum, such as underwater."

"I understand it, and yet I don't."

"Ah, video and audio have come through. Commander Kishi is unharmed, but the aide-de-camp scribe-dono appears to be unconscious."

"What did you say? But we've no means of contacting Commander Kishi from here. Mint-san, can't anything be done?"

"I'll extend a provisional road to Hiratsuka at top speed, and send a messenger by car from Heta."

[Beside the Zombie Dungeon, the Ruins of the Forward Fort]

"Sir, it seems a rescue party has come."

One of Kishi Harima-no-suke's men spotted a column of vehicles, one small car and one bus, racing along atop a road that was being extended as they went. Strictly speaking, the one extending the road was Mint, back in the control room.

"I am Heta Tsuno-no-Tairyō. I've come to fetch you. General Rāja remains at Heta to manage the situation."

"Only two vehicles?"

"There are only two retainers at Heta who can drive a car. After we recover all of you, the search party that came on the bus will conduct the rescue work here."

"Fortunately, there's no need for that. I can't say we're unharmed, but everyone is accounted for. Get the Director of Books-dono to a doctor at once."