Chapter 323: Stagnate Meeting

———Wiina———

<11: 07 am>

“Ah. So we’re actually talking about it this time?” Rico said with a smirk, taking the spotlight out of everyone at the round table. “...So?”

“We’re not going to do anything. At least not right now. We already established all the defense systems for this place, so even if they plan anything this town will be secure.” Walsuna replied. “No matter what happens not much will change. Tell me, do you know when they will attack if they get very desperate?”

“This Saturday… No, Sunday.” Rico answered. “Plenty of times to worry about if you’re paranoid, and it’s not during school days, so there won’t be any disruption to school schedule.”

“Aside from that they might try to intercept the school trip on Thursday, though that is much less of a concern since they are obviously top notch vessels. No aircraft in the current era can harm it.” Edea chimed in. That thing could withstand anything on Earth at the moment outside of the obvious, so that is nothing worth thinking over. It’ll just be a distraction for the students to marvel at. “By the way, are you all sure we won’t organize an event for this week?”

“No need for that. The spectacle on the weekend can be it.” Walsuna said. So she does intend on broadcasting the whole thing. “Rico and Edea can deal with the logistics. Mana and I will stay put.”

“Very well then. I can handle that.” Edea said. It’s just a few flying drones needed for the broadcast, they have plenty of those.

“Hmm… But who to choose…” Rico muttered. She clearly doesn’t want to be in the spotlight. For someone who doesn’t have many rules stopping her from killing, she wants to keep some of her mystique intact despite being a devil in plain sight.

“We can leave that for later. If no one can come up with a volunteer, then Wiina or Rico can go in with a disguise.” Walsuna declared.

“I’ll probably end up going with how Wiina has been moving as of late.” Rico mockingly said. “...So what else is on the agenda today? It’s been a while since we had a meeting like this.”

“I’ve been thinking about adding a tower. As a better way of accurately gauging one’s strength compared to dungeon run. You know full well a good deal of people ran to the next floor without killing everything, so it’s not really accurate.” Edea suggested.

“No one is going to have time for that…” Principal Mana pointed out. “Even people in this town don’t have enough free time for such a thing, and very few people are willing to challenge it for bragging rights, and if there are rewards, who knows what that’ll do.”

“Come on, it’s not like it’s going to take that much space. It mostly eats up the area vertically anyway.” Edea said, trying to convince the board.

“Can’t you just use one of the lower domains and portals for that? Why does it have to be a tower?” Walsuna asked.

“Visual impact.” They bluntly replied. “Nothing gets people going like a tall imposing building. A simple portal doesn’t do much, and the dungeon entrance having only a little bit of decor also doesn’t help.”

“Can’t you just… put a hologram there? Ones that don't show up unless you get too close? I think a tower would’ve been an eyesore more than anything. Also, where are you even going to make this?” Principal Mana proposed and asked.

“Hmm… I’m thinking about near the middle of the town, the town close to me, and a few more… Ideally I want it all over the country, but I know that is asking for way too much right now. Best to leave it for after next weekend.” They answered.

“Seriously though, would it even be anything more than an eyesore?” Walsuna asked.

“What is this about? You want someone else to be in charge of something like that?” Edea replied.

“…I don’t think she has anything else in mind. Unless it’s something that affects the entire world then there’s no need for her to get involved at all, and obviously no need for those two.” Walsuna said, clearly getting annoyed by Edea trying to move things along a bit too quickly. We’re still in the phase where the world hasn’t quite fallen apart to the point that we can piece it back together with an agenda in mind. It felt like that should happen when the Eclipse first started, but sudden movements like that clearly aren't enough. Even the second smaller event doesn’t really nudge things around.

“Can’t you just put it in a dungeon or something? Or all of them? I’m sure there are modifications that can be done to it.” Mana asked.

“Well, the relevant party for that isn’t here, so I’d say we shove that topic to the side for now.” Walsuna suggested. “By the way, what’s the response from the others about that plan?”

“Most of them aren’t interested.” Edea bluntly answered.

“Tch, figures.” Walsuna grumbled. “What about those who are interested?”

“Here, I’ll put the list on display.” Edea said before the device in the middle of the table displays a screen of those who express interest. “Of course they haven’t agreed to participate in the possible expansion plan, but the sign of enthusiasm is a good sign for it.”

“It’s not like they have a lot to do in their free time anyway, can’t they take this as a side gig?” Rico said, despite being reluctant of the whole deal at first. “It’s not like Edea can operate all by their lonesome, or at least that shouldn’t be the case. Way too much control for one person, that is usually how disaster starts.”

“Have a bit more faith in me, will ya?” Edea complained. “I’m one of the few people that could reliably work in multiple bodies at once without much burden, have some faith will you? Or are you going to hire Mori for it?”

“No freaking way.” Mana quickly interjected with good reason. While that person isn’t exactly a loose cannon, they are already part of another faction and therefore shouldn’t be trusted with so many roles. One can only wonder what scheme they might impulsively enact. “I think you have already managed enough by yourself, and I think we can shut down the idea of anyone splitting themselves to teach multiple classes forever. That’s final.”

“This is going to take a long while to plan out, and if that doesn’t work…” Walsuna began speaking. “Well, looks like English is about to be an even more predominant language in the future.”

“What are you implying, world conquest?" Rico sarcastically said with a grin of contempt.

“Hmph, it might happen if the development level isn’t equalized throughout the region. I don’t like the sound of that either.” She calmly defended herself. “Besides, the guardians of other areas won’t sit still to let such a farce happen. There is no way things will remain in harmony for long in a world with magic. It’s simply that one region will be looked on much more favorably if things continue its course, which might lead to that if centuries passed, and at that point not many people would mind.”

“Huh? Is that really any different?” Rico complained.

“A slow change has considerably less disturbing implications to them, at least on the surface.” Walsuna half-heartedly replied. “And regardless, as long as they intervene more often, be it in cooperation or otherwise, it wouldn’t actually happen. This isn’t the time for them to be slacking off. They only need to be active for… no more than a decade if things go smoothly, surely they can spend a bit of time on that.”

“Aren’t some of them not even more than a century old? Those folks probably feel like it’s too much time for commitment.” Rico pointed out.

“It’s just a simple job! I don’t even think most of them even have anything to do nowadays anyway.” Walsuna argued.

“Some of them probably haven’t been off their couch in ages. They probably don’t even remember what a job is.” Rico sarcastically argued back.

“As if dealing with those idle folks wasn't annoying enough as is…” Walsuna commented. The meeting is certainly lively with these two around. Who knows if anything will even come out of this gathering aside from those two bickering and some nebulous promises. There isn’t anything that needs immediate attention so chances are we will be pretty.

“Alright, this is going to go in circles forever. Knock it off, you two.” Edea interrupted their usual banter. “Let’s move onto a different topic for now, that plan isn’t actionable at the moment, and no one has actually expressed their willingness to commit to the plan just yet.”

“What else is there to talk about?” Principal Mana asked.

“Hmm… A few things were left on the table. We don’t have a lot of time to discuss everything on the more sensitive ends, so perhaps let’s talk about how the shop and point system is coming along.” Edea opens up to that particularly trivial topic.

“What about it? Was there a trend you noticed?” Walsuna asked.

“Nothing in particular. We added a bunch of random stuff into the shop one day and that was it. Only a few people actually buy anything from it, and only Emmie bought at least one of every item.” They explained.

“...Even stuff like mana orb and spell cards?” Walsuna asked, wanting clarification. Those are actually quite expensive and probably seem like a money sink for anyone not familiar with them. They cost more than the potion pills and stock weapons.

“At least one of everything.” Edea repeated. “She obviously has by far the most points to spend thanks to that… experimental competition. She can easily buy all the practical items off the shelves if she wants to since we didn’t put that many items into the shop, and yet she chose to do that.”

“Who knows what is happening in that head of hers, and what we figure out it’s related to rather trivial matters that don’t reveal anything.” Principal Mana remarked. “Anyway, what are the most bought items overall?”

“The pills, obviously. Speed-related consumables are also pretty popular.” Edea answered. “It’s not a big enough sample size for me to make any definitive conclusion. Lest we forget, only a small majority of students even utilize the mission room, and even less use the shop.”

“We really need a bigger incentive…” Rico said, tapping the table with impatience.

“Something that’s not cash as well, mind you.” Edea pointed out. We have ruled out actual money as a prize for anything since we started this operation… Or rather, since they started. I’m mostly here because if I’m not caught up to speed I might accidentally disrupt the plan. I’m still more of a student than a faculty member.

“Food is also a bit too much as well.” Walsuna remarked. “Something magic-related while having clear value… Only the potion pills have something like that.”

“Now we’re really sounding like drug dealers.” Rico jokingly said. “Can’t all of us with way more brainpower than most of the world combined not think of anything better than drugs?”

“We can without the limiting factor we set ourselves with.” Principal Mana replied. “If there is something fantastical everyone is enamored with, then perhaps we would’ve come up with a solution already.”

“Not really a thing around these parts.” I mindlessly said without thinking too much about it. I could use the inhumane level of computational power to think up a solution, but if the others aren’t doing it then I won’t be doing it. “Only a few things that people really talk about when it comes to magic, right?”

“...Oh, I know, old hag, can you call your parents again?” Rico spoke up with a grin.

“What?” Walsuna replied in annoyance. Even when she came up with an idea to help the group she couldn't help herself but to take a jab at Walsuna.

Now what could this idea be about?