"Oh, it's coming!" Itami shouted over the radio, looking up at the sky impatiently. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"The body confirmed. Let's drop the cargo down!"

[You don't need to stamp the receipt anymore, so please, remember to bring some souvenirs back.] See you soon!]

The pilot's voice came over the radio speaker. Then, above the blue sky, a C-1 medium transport plane whizzed past with the roar of turbojets. The roar was so violent that the sound of Durja's piano was completely drowned out - the C-1 transport plane flew at such a low altitude.

At that moment, a large box on the transport plane fell from the top of Itami's head as if it had broken free.

"Oh yes, you'll break if you fall from such a high place!"

"Danger!"

This kind of delivery, which can almost be described as rough, made Du Jia and Yao exclaim at the same time.

However, the parachute mounted on the cargo immediately opened, and the speed of the fall began to slow down gradually. It's hard to say it's falling slowly, but even then, it doesn't have the momentum to cause a violent impact on the ground.

"Leilai. Head in the direction where the cargo has landed. ”

Itami said as he pointed to the parachute and said to Relai, who was gripping the steering wheel.

"Understood. ”

Despite the look of wanting to speak, Raylai nodded slightly, and slightly flicked the steering wheel to change the path of the tall motor.

Itami, who had been relieved of his post as leader of the Third Reconnaissance Team, was given the next task to conduct a survey of the state of resources in the SAR.

His main responsibilities can be summed up in a nutshell: to walk around the zone and survey in detail what kind of mines are in the vicinity of the area he visits. He was even asked by his superiors to look for locations where important resources such as oil or rare earths might be buried. However, to accomplish the task, an unresolved imperative is on the horizon.

-- Itami himself is neither a geologist nor a mine technician.

One glance at the small stones can tell if there are mines here, and if geologists change careers, it must be the stone business or the building materials business. But on the other hand, at Itami's level, a small stone is a small stone no matter how you look at it. Therefore, in order to carry out the investigation smoothly, he can only ask the locals directly about the mining situation of the nearby mines. With this information alone, it seems that we can get a rough grasp of the distribution of local resources.

"Yes, understood. But I didn't expect my superiors to really let me go to investigate alone, which is a bit surprising~"

In fact, Major Higaki, who is Itami's immediate superior, has been worried about him - during this period of idleness, will his subordinates who have just finished their suspension suffer from depression because of this?

"Why are you still saying such things now? Not long ago, in order to obtain information on the distribution of underground resources, didn't you go to the Kingdom of the Elbe Domain alone?"

As for Itami's previous unauthorized actions in order to eliminate the Flame Dragon, the official version is that "Itami, who was on a resource investigation mission, came across a Class-A pest in the Special Administrative Region, commonly known as "Dragon", very accidentally, and then eliminated it with the assistance of the locals] - this is the content recorded in the official report after summarization.

"How could I go alone. Aren't they still there~"

"Well, let's hire some local helpers this time. The budget for this expenditure is ready!"

Hiragaki flipped through a stack of papers and pulled out a budget sheet from it and spread it out to Itami.

As a result of the success of the discovery of diamond mines and oil fields, the budget for resource survey activities has been significantly increased compared to the initial level. While this should have been a cause for celebration, the prospect of continuing to achieve the results in the next actions has become the focus of everyone's expectations, and this alone has dampened the desire to cheer.

Itami's fingers slid along the numbers on the budget sheet, and he was shocked.

"Wow, ten, hundred, thousand, thousand, thousand, one hundred thousand, one million, so many rewards that need to be paid!"

"Those who can only use the pen feel that if they are willing to spend money, they will be rewarded. Thanks to them, this time in addition to you, I will send some more people to carry out the task of resource survey-"

"It's easy to do things with money, and it's naturally a good thing that the superiors can allocate more budget to us. But the question is, are the locals who are hired with money reliable?"

"You're not the only one who has a good relationship with the locals. Of course, it's just not as noticeable as you. In addition, the Black Elves who have been helped in the past plan to lend a helping hand to us~"

"What time are those black elves?"

"They came to your door while you were out of office. [Although I finally regained the peace of my hometown, my family was exhausted during this period of seclusion, so I wanted to come out to work to help], "Give us some work" They said. In addition, the Kingdom of the Elbe Domain will also send people over. ”

"No one expected that old man to be a king, and the fact is always dumbfounded. However, there is a good saying - when you rush to the ferry, you just stop the boat. ”

"That's why it is said that no matter which side it is, it has ulterior motives. Still, at least you don't have to worry about being stabbed in the back all of a sudden, and that's enough for that alone. Anyway, Idam, let's start this task as soon as possible. Got it?"

"Yes. I see!" Itami saluted in a standard upright position, and then turned to leave the captain's office as he stole

"Ah, yes, you wait!"

Itami, who had been stopped from behind, turned around and asked, "Is there anything else?"

"I almost forgot to give this thing to you. ”

Hiragaki handed Itami a detailed list of allowances. When he opened it, he was taken aback, and even wondered if there was something wrong with his eyes.

"One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, wow, this is-"

"Just take it upon yourself. Didn't someone give you a diamond as a token of appreciation? With that thing in hand, the deduction is insignificant, isn't it?"

"It's not the same thing as that. And given the quality of that diamond, it's not so easy to put a price on it. Truth be told, until the actual value is determined, it's just an ornament. ”

As soon as Itami got his hands on the diamond, he took it to a fine jeweler in Ginza for evaluation.

However, due to the high quality and size of the diamond itself, Itami was told that an appraisal could not be made.

If you smash it, you can really sell it. But-

"We can't do this kind of sensationalism. It is precisely because of the size of this diamond that it has such value, and it would be a desecration of the gemstone to smash it recklessly according to the owner's wishes!!" the gem dealer sincerely refused.

However, the value corresponding to this volume cannot be expressed in a series of scattered numbers. If you have to describe it in written language, it is "astronomical", and it is not an exaggeration to use "radio astronomical figures" that far exceed it. (Radio astronomy: The study of astronomical phenomena by observing the radio waves of celestial bodies.) Since celestial phenomena are observed through radio waves, they involve more in-depth and distant places than general optical observations. ）

"I can say with certainty that there is simply no one in the country who has the ability to pay. If there were buyers, it would only be the Arab royal family, or the big chaebols of the Jewish family. Even gem merchants like us don't have the means to connect with the big names, so there's nothing I can do to introduce you to buyers. However, it is possible to try to ask around through a trading company that specializes in diamonds. I can't guarantee what kind of reply will be there in the end, and when it will be there, so I ask for your patience. ”

The gem dealer explained, pushing the diamond back to Itami with a trembling hand.

For this reason, Itami's financial situation is still very poor, and not only did he not get rich overnight, but now he is destitute.

- This is what Itami experienced after the crusade against the Flame Dragon.

"Ugh-" Itami took out the notepads issued by the Self-Defense Forces from his bosom and drew horizontal lines on some of the items one by one to delete them.

Sighing at each line, the act of making the women around him focus their attention on him.

"What's wrong? Why are you sighing?" Lori leaned out of the backrest of the back seat, peeked at the notepad in Itami's hand and asked, "What is this?"

"It's nothing, it's just a purchase list. Revenues have decreased, and expenditures have had to be cut somewhat. But I can't give up any of them, and it would be a shame if I didn't buy them. ”

Saying "I can't bear this, I can't bear that", and also put a list of exhibiting groups at the doujinshi sale side by side.,This series of actions is the reason why Itami is [Itami] (otaku). If Lori knew the truth of the matter, she would definitely poke him in the head from behind, and complain and say, "Don't worry me about this kind of thing." However, she wasn't really good at reading Japanese, so she expressed sympathy for her, "That's a pity," and then turned around and sat back.

If anyone in this car can read Japanese at a glance, it is Relai. But now she was sitting in the driver's seat to the right of Itami, her hands on the steering wheel, her feet on the gas pedal as she stared ahead. So there was no time to peek at what Itami had on hand.

High motor vehicles are now heading north at a steady pace.

Since there are no man-repaired roads in the grassland, there are rocks or dirt pits in the direction of travel from time to time. Led to the helm of the wheel, Leylai was able to avoid these obstacles effortlessly, which meant that she could skillfully steer the vehicle over obstacles, surpass them, and easily solve all kinds of problems on the road. Of course, this is possible thanks to the automatic driving assistance system installed in the car, but on the other hand, the driver who can control the steering wheel so smoothly is unimaginable to anyone who has just started to learn to drive the day before.

"To drive in a place where there are no traffic laws, adaptation is more important than learning. ”

The things I learned in driving school are basically safe driving methods under the premise of obeying traffic rules. But in the Special Zone, where there are no traffic lights and road signs, this is not so necessary.

Incidentally, Lori, Dujia and Yao have also test-driven, and Eva said that she can fly and doesn't need a 'ride'.

As a result, Itami truly learns the horrors of a novice female driver (a female driver from another world). Itami made the following statement to the three of them.

"I will never sit in the car that you three drive!!"

[No matter what time in the future, forever, absolutely, no matter what happens, these three people can't touch the steering wheel], "It's too dangerous", "There will definitely be an accident", "It will definitely hurt the innocent", "In short, absolutely forbidden!", these are what Itami said about them.

However, only Lelai, who was confident in his handling ability, was allowed to practice driving.

By the way, although Eva says she can fly, her usual familiarity with modern things makes Itami suspect that she is actually a modern and not an otherworldly.

In this regard, Eva said that they have a civilization that is thousands of years long ahead of the earth (in fact, it is more than that), and the technology of the earth is equivalent to the level of [primitive people who are still fighting with stones] in their opinion, which instantly killed Itami's pride as a modern person.

"It's a good adapt. Looks like she's almost tired!"

"Swap places with me—" Itami said this because he cared about Leilai, but to his surprise, Leilai had no intention of stopping.

For some reason, she continued to hold on to the steering wheel and look forward as if she had taken Itami's words as if she had heard it.

Immediately after, she spoke: "There is no need. I hope you can continue to stand by. ”

Then Itami looked at her side for a moment—the girl, who had recently put on malachite earrings, and whose barren body had begun to grow quite noticeably with a slight curve.

"Don't you think driving is fun?"

Afterwards, Raylay replied, "Very interesting. ”

"Yes, what's interesting?"

"Quickly analyze the road surface conditions and the friction of the wheels, and control the steering wheel according to the power and inertia of the vehicle. The results of the steering wheel control are immediately reflected in the actual driving. I believe that driving a vehicle is the embodiment of a person's intellect and rationality. The vehicle itself is a collection of intellect, and the feeling of being one with it is similar to the feeling of casting magic—"

Leilai didn't even take a breath, and was still commenting endlessly.

"Pleasure・・・・・・" Itami thought to himself.

When Leilai made this comment, it wasn't that she didn't change her face at all—[slightly flushed on her cheeks], or "a little shy] were all appropriately described.

However, just now, when Leilai was concentrating on driving the car, he was like a part of the car, and his face was always expressionless.

Then, after answering Itami's question, she added.

"In addition, the study of Lendel is not far ahead. You can see it over that ridge. ”

As Raylai said.

As soon as he crossed the top of the mountain, Itami's eyes suddenly opened up—stone buildings were clustered in front of him.

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Update -

The murderers and booksellers are not changing today, and they are all left for tomorrow's holiday!

Lao Tzu is going to win his first victory tonight with Elusa!