Sitting in the car traveling from Tokyo towards Nagoya, the blue coastline could be seen along the highway.
Kazuma, looking at the distant coastline, tiredly closed his eyes slightly, but after only a few seconds, he suddenly turned excitedly to Keli, who was sitting beside him.
"Keli, do you think we're saving the world?"
"Huh?"
Keli, who was pondering something, turned to look at Kazuma.
"Think about it, if what that thing said is true, if that policy is implemented next year and the whole world is attacked, then wouldn't what we're doing be saving the world?"
Keli listened to Kazuma's words, paused, and then shook his head slightly.
"We're just getting rid of that priest to prevent him from getting angry if he finds out his subordinates were killed by us, or from going underground. And it's very likely he's already noticed."
As he spoke, Keli pulled out what looked like a custom-made phone—it was Ryouzan Etsuya's—and focused his gaze on the chat box with the note "Mr. Qianhai."
There was a message there that Keli had sent in Ryouzan Etsuya's tone, reporting that something had happened, but nothing major.
However, the other party had not replied yet.
Then Keli looked at Kazuma.
"Getting rid of him is just a precaution, but to truly solve this problem, we have to eliminate one of two things."
Kazuma didn't say anything more after hearing Keli's answer, because he clearly understood what the two things Keli was referring to were: either they found a way to eliminate those ocean cities, which they weren't sure truly existed, or there was a simpler method, which was to influence policy and stop the discharge.
This sounded like they just needed to disseminate the information they had learned, but the reality was not that simple; private opinions cannot influence public authority.
Just like residents living near US military bases often protest and demand Americans leave, but when the media reports interviews, all the interviewees excitedly say on screen that they feel truly safe with Americans protecting them! And they are tall and handsome.
However, sometimes, because those who say such things are often women, people can't tell if they are media stooges or divine beings.
The most convenient method Kazuma thought of was to assume there were high-ranking Japanese officials who knew about supernatural events while concealing their own identities, and then let them know about this.
However, Kazuma misunderstood. Keli's meaning of 'solving' was actually: kill whoever advocates for it, until no one dares to advocate for it.
And this matter still had many questionable points, for instance, modern ocean exploration technology is not comparable to earlier years; if there really were underwater cities, would they truly not be discovered? Also, there were issues like the stance of these merfolk.
But these did not affect Kazuma's enthusiasm. It seemed that just this slight change in mindset suddenly gave Kazuma motivation.
"If it's true, then this trip of ours will be a journey to save the world."
Although Kazuma kept his voice low, and they deliberately used vague words for some key parts, this did not prevent the driver, who knew part of the story, from hearing snippets and breaking out in a cold sweat.
Wh-what did you do? Please, I beg you, don't say any more. I don't want to know. After today, I'll definitely take leave to spend a few good days with my wife, children, and parents.
Hours later, in the dead of night, Keli and Kazuma arrived at the Far Moon Resort.
Although it was night, the lights here were still dazzling.
This was not the time for student culinary training; there were no invited guests from national catering-related businesses for tasting, as there would be during training. It was simply operating as a high-spec resort facility with cuisine as its main selling point.
It must be said that the scale here was also immense, and unlike Totsuki Academy's emphasis on retro style, while many buildings here used retro and aged designs, there was a greater focus on design and luxury, satisfying both guests who came purely for photos and those who truly came to enjoy themselves.
Different styles of cuisine were offered in different buildings here.
And even at night, many buildings were lit up, indicating that they were open all night.
Keli and Kazuma were led inside, into a spacious courtyard, and then walked to the guest accommodation building. They were even given two separate residences. Keli remembered seeing similar buildings with rooms connected like a normal hotel when they walked by earlier, even at the resort.
The attendant bowed and left with respectful words.
"Guests, please feel free to ring if you need anything. As per the Director's instructions, your itinerary has not been disclosed to anyone else, so I will be your point of contact. Please forgive me if I neglect you due to rest.
The Director has already retired for the night. If you need anything, we can leave a message for the Director. Welcome to Far Moon Resort!"
After the others left, Keli and Kazuma huddled together again.
"How about it? Want to grab some late-night snacks first?"
Kazuma raised an eyebrow.
"Speaking of which, everyone working here must be at least Totsuki Academy graduates, right? If the students' food is so delicious, wouldn't the graduates' food make people fly?"
"So weren't you just excited about the journey to save the world? Why are you thinking about eating as soon as we arrive?"
"It's fine. Anyway, according to what Ryouzan Etsuya said, the other party is human, right? So they can't possibly live in water like before. If we're going to investigate, we'll definitely go to places that are still lit up."
As they spoke, the two began to walk towards a restaurant.
However, as they walked, their pace gradually slowed.
Until finally, Keli and Kazuma stopped directly.
Kazuma swallowed, looking hesitantly at Keli.
"Are we... are we still going forward?"
Keli also frowned, somewhat indecisive.
"Our preparations might not be enough."
Undoubtedly, there was only one reason for the two to stop like this.
It was the smell, a smell that was like butter and tartar sauce squeezed onto grilled salmon for them.
And the worst thing was that this smell didn't come from a single individual but from this entire place.
Smells dissipate quickly, especially those from living creatures. Just like freshly baked egg rolls, even though their smell is extremely aggressive, if you throw the egg rolls into water, even if some crumbs are left on the road, the smell will quickly disappear.
But at this moment, for Keli and Kazuma, this place was like a floor covered in egg roll crumbs.
Keli and Kazuma had only smelled this kind of situation in one place before: the caves where the ghouls lived.
Even in empty rooms without ghouls, there was still a faint scent, just like a snake discovering an empty rat hole; even if there wasn't a single rat there, by flicking its tongue and sensing the air, it could tell how many rats had been active there before.
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